i am 2 kelp

cooking-confessions:

Apple Cider Caramels

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups (945 ml) apple cider
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, or less of a finer one
• 8 tablespoons (115 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (110 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream
• Neutral oil for the knife

Find the recipe here. 

sweetygoodness:

Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Icing:

• 1 cup Confectioner’s sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for five minutes. Gradually mix in pumpkin and lemon juice.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle pecans over the top of the batter.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the center springs back when touched. Loosen edges with a knife. Turn out on two dishtowels that have been dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Roll up cake using towels, and let cool for about 20 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. 
6. Unroll pumpkin cake when cool, spread with filling, and roll up. Place pumpkin roll on a long sheet of waxed paper, and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Wrap cake in waxed paper, and twist ends of waxed paper like a candy wrapper. Refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled; before slicing, dust with additional confectioners’ sugar.

smilestones:

Self-Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes 

Peanut Butter Cupcakes:

2/3 cup plain soymilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup plain soymilk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line one dozen muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In your stand mixer, combine the soymilk and vinegar, and let sit for a few minutes before whisking vigorously until frothy. Mix in both sugars. Grind the flax seeds into a powder with a spice grinder, and whiz them together with the water. Stir the flax seed mixture, peanut butter, applesauce, and vanilla into your mixer, and beat until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly stir these dry ingredients into the batter. Mix until there are no more lumps, but be careful not to mix more than necessary.

In a separate bowl combine all of the ingredients for the frosting, and blend until completely smooth. Set aside.

Divide your batter equally between the prepared muffin tins. Drop a dollop of frosting into each cup of raw batter, and swirl it around with a toothpick, covering the entire top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. When testing for doneness, be sure to find a spot that is free from frosting, as it may cause the toothpick to appear wet, even if the cupcakes are ready. Let the cupcakes cool inside the tins for at least 10 to 15 minutes. You can either let them cool the rest of the way atop a wire rack, or serve them immediately for a warm delight.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

smilestones:

Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (room temperature)
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

Directions

1.Cream butter and sugar together.2.Add cinnamon and vanilla and beat on medium for 2 minutes.3.Slowly add in flour and cornmeal, beating until just combined.4.Divide dough into two equal pieces and form into two squares on wax paper.5.Wrap each square of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.6.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.7.On a floured surface, cut dough into cookie sized pieces, about 1/2 inch in width or slightly smaller.8.Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet about an inch apart. Prick with a fork.9.Bake for 18 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

gourmetgaming:

Request: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Snackoos

Quiet, please… It’s snack time! Snackoos are the favourite treat of one prodigious forensic detective Ema Sky. What better way to ignore people you don’t want to talk to than appear to eat, well… er… something that looks a little like poop. (There have been far too many poop related posts lately! I apologise!) Snackoos are actually based on the traditional Japanese treat of Karinto (Karintou) which is a sweet deep-fried yeast based snack often drenched in a sugar syrup. Since “Snackoo” is a European and American localisation, I thought I should localise the recipe myself, as it seems Karinto recipes are few and far between! I hope none of you object… I’ve based mine on the traditional, but added an American twist and even coated them in chocolate, just like Ema loves. 

This recipe makes 20 Snackoos.

What you will need: A deep pan, paper towels, a mixing bowl, greaseproof paper/baking parchment and a sieve.

Ingredients:

110g / 1 Cup Plain Flour

1 Tablespoon High Quality Cocoa Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

3 Tablespoons Brown Soft Sugar

1 Egg

40ml /⅛ CupMilk

1 Tablespoon Oil

Oil (For Frying)

100g Milk Chocolate

Making the Snackoos:

1. In a mixing bowl, sieve in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar. Next add the milk, egg and oil and mix well. Allow the dough to stand for about 20 minutes in a cool place.
2. Meanwhile in a deep pot, heat some oil on a medium-high heat. Have paper towels prepared and something to scoop the Snackoos out with. You can tell when the oil is ready by dropping in a test piece of dough.
3. After 20 minutes, with well floured hands, roll out the Snackoos. The dough will be quite sticky, but this is normal! Keep the Snackoos quite long and thin, as they double in size when you cook them.
4. When you have all your Snackoos prepared, and the oil is warm enough, drop the Snackoos in one piece at a time. Fry them for no more than about 60 seconds. They should sizzle and expand instantly in the oil and be golden after about a minute. Rotate them to ensure even cooking.
5. Remove the Snackoos from the oil and drain them on paper towels until cool. Once they’re room temperature and dry they’re ready for their chocolate coating.
6. In a large bowl over a small pot of boiling water, melt the chocolate. Dip the Snackoos in one and a time, covering them evenly in the chocolate. Gently shake off any excess, then place on greaseproof paper or a wire rack to solidify before eating.

Snackoos are very unusual. The taste is somewhat sweet, savoury and salted; with a contrast between the soft, fried cookie-cake and chocolate. Despite the flavour combination, I found them to be quite addictive and enjoyed many a Snackoo with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate! I used a dark chocolate (since I’m allergic to milk chocolate) and the bitterness was wonderful. A white chocolate would also make a super sweet casing, so use whichever type of chocolate you prefer! A delicious little morsel I certainly wouldn’t waste throwing at anybody.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Dark Souls - Dung Pie.

foodandcocktails:

Apple Pie Bars

Pastry

1 egg, separated, reserve egg white

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter, cut into chunks

Filling

1 cup crushed corn flakes

8 to 10 medium (8 cups) tart cooking apples, peeled, sliced

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 reserved egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions: Heat oven to 350°F. Beat egg yolk in small bowl. Add 1/2 cup milk; mix well. Set aside. Combine flour and salt in medium bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in egg yolk mixture with fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half. Roll out half of dough on lightly floured surface into 15x10-inch rectangle; place onto bottom of ungreased 15x10x1 inch jelly-roll pan. Sprinkle with corn flakes; top with apples. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl. Sprinkle over apples. Roll remaining half of dough into 15 1/2x10 1/2-inch rectangle; place over apples. Beat reserved egg white with fork until foamy; brush over top crust. Combine remaining cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl; sprinkle over crust. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl. Drizzle over warm bars.

Recipe Tips:

- If pastry dough does not form a ball easily, add up to 1 tablespoon additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.

- To easily transfer pastry to jelly-roll pan, fold pastry in half; fold in half again. Place folded corner at center of pan. Unfold pastry carefully.

- Top pastry should be rolled on lightly floured surface slightly larger than bottom pastry to allow pastry to cover filling easily.