Showing posts with label winner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winner. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Cinnamon Roll Bake: April's Winning Dessert

I must apologize for the lateness of this post.  Due to my 30th birthday and having my grandparents here visiting, I was having a hard time making time to do the dough part.  I did not forget and here it is as promised.  Overall this dessert turned out well.  I don't feel like the person gave directions very well again and had to skip between recipes.  I would also add some cream cheese icing on the top as well if I were to make it again and change the dough recipe.  It is still very delicious though.

Ingredients:
Dough:
4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cup Half/Half (more if needed)
3 Tbsp Butter (Melted)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Yeast

Filling:
8 oz (1 pkg) Cream Cheese (Softened)
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Topping:
5 Tbsp Melted Butter (Separated in half)
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar (Separated in half)
Sprinkle of Ground Cinnamon



Directions:
Dough:
(If you have a bread machine, you can add the dough ingredients to it and set on dough cycle or you can do it the old fashioned way like I did)
Step One: Make the Dough
Use an electric mixer to beat a portion of the flour and the remaining ingredients together, making sure all of the flour and yeast are moistened.
Use a wooden spoon to stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can (using an electric mixer at this stage can strain the motor). Stir until the dough looks ropey and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Tip: Start by adding in the minimum amount of flour in the range. If you add too much flour during mixing and kneading, the bread can become heavy and dry.
Step 2: Knead the dough
Cinnamon rolls call for moderately soft dough, which is still slightly sticky and requires 3-5 minutes of kneading.
To knead place dough on a lightly floured surface (I use baking paper on the counter), fold dough over and push down with the heel of your hand. Turn, fold dough over, and push down again. Repeat this process over and over. You know the dough is ready when it is smooth and elastic. Shape it into a ball.
Tip: Kneading helps the gluten to form in the dough and creates the sturdy structure needed
Step 3: Let the dough rise (This took about an hour and a half for me)
Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl that is at least twice as big as the dough ball, and turn it once to grease the surface. This keeps the dough from drying out.
Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Punch down the dough by pushing your fist into the center. Cover the dough and let it rest on a floured surface before shaping. This calms the dough and makes it easier to work with.


Once dough is complete split the dough into two equal pieces.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray/Grease an 8 in baking dish
Spread half of the dough on the bottom of the bakign dish
Spread with half of of the brown sugar mixture.
In a mixing bowl add the filling ingredients and beat until smooth.  Spread over the brown sugar mixture.
Cover well with the remaining dough and top with the remaining brown sugar mixture.
Cook for 18-20 minutes or until brown.  Cool 10-15 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy! 
Add the dough ingredients into a mixing bowl starting with half of the flour
Beat on low speed
Add the remaining flour to the dough and mix with a spoon

Sous Chef Liam showcasing the dough
Dough should be sticky

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes
Chef selfie
Place dough in a large bowl and cover to allow to rise
Allow dough to rise to about twice the original size

Punch the dough in the middle
Place on lightly floured surface
Roll the dough out
Add half of the dough to the greased baking dish
Add half of the brown sugar mixture and top with the sour cream mixture
Fully cover with the remaining dough
Top with the remaining brown sugar mixture
Bake for 18-20 minutes
Serve & Enjoy!


If you would like to view the previous winning desserts, click here:



January's Winner: Black Forest Pavlova

December's Winner: Pumpkin Tiramisu

November's Winner: Caramelized Banana Pudding

October's Winner: Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

September's Winner: Apple Raspberry Crumble

Monday, March 31, 2014

Caramel Filled Brownies

Having been a choice in the past it was great to finally get a chance to try this recipe out!  As with any other dessert I suck at having the patience to wait for things to set up, so my final brownie picture is more a delicious pile of warm goo than the picture perfect brownie square, after a night in the fridge it should be more picturesque!  I had never made brownies from scratch before so this was a fun adventure.  Pretty easy and delicious!  Thank you so much for your votes and in deciding on this dessert!  I couldn't have done this without you!  I hope you enjoy it!  As always, please feel free to submit any recipes you would like for me to cook next month and thank you for reading!

Ingredients:
Brownies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 oz. bittersweet Chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp Almond extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose Flour
1/2 tsp salt 
Caramel Filling:
11 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped
2/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil REALLY WELL, with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Heat, stirring occasionally, until all is completely melted and smooth.
Mix in sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well incorporated. Then add in flour and salt until just combined.
Spread about 1/3 of the brownie batter into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let the brownie layer cool for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, make the caramel filling by combining the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Keep stirring until melted and immediately spread the caramel mixture over the cooked brownie layer.
Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer. Try to spread it evenly as it is pretty difficult to try to smooth it out evenly over the caramel layer.
Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting and serving. You’ll definitely want to wait for it because otherwise, your squares will be a complete gooey mess!

Melt the chocolate and the butter
Mix in the eggs, sugar and almond
Add the flour and salt
Mix it all together
Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the foil
Cook for 20 minutes

Melt the caramel and the cream in a saucepan
Thoroughly mix it

Pour on top of the cooked brownies
Top with the remaining brownie batter
Cook for a final 20 minutes
Serve & Enjoy!


If you would like to view the previous winning desserts, click here:


January's Winner: Black Forest Pavlova

December's Winner: Pumpkin Tiramisu

November's Winner: Caramelized Banana Pudding

October's Winner: Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

September's Winner: Apple Raspberry Crumble

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Carne Asada: The Winning Dish!

I have to admit that this must be one of the easiest dishes that I made based on your votes.   Not to say that it takes away from being tasty in any way.  Having never made Carne Asada before, I never realized just how quick and easy it was.  The longest time is spent in marinating the dish, and the rest goes by very quickly!  Thank you so very much for your participation and your votes in deciding what I would cook for this month!  As my readers, you are my motivation for keeping this up every single day!   If you have any recipe suggestions, please feel free to share them with me and I can add them in to my monthly vote! 

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs flank or round steak
Marinade:
2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
1 tsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Alpine Touch (Salt & Pepper)
1 Large handful of cilantro (cut thinly, stems included)
2 Limes worth of Juice
2 Tbsp White Vinegar
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 small Yellow Bell Pepper (Seeded & Chopped)

Corn or Flour Tortillas
1 Avocado (Peeled, cored & chopped)
Tomatoes
Salsa
Green Onions



Directions:
Combine all of above marinade ingredients and the steak in a large bowl and soak in the fridge for 1-4 hours. 
Preheat your grill (I just use my George Foreman Grill).  Remove the steak from the marinade. If you are cooking on a pan indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan.   Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.

(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high.
Feel free to add whatever toppings you would like.  I listed which ingredients I added into it, but cook according to preference.  Serve & Enjoy!

Marinate the steak
Grill it to juicy perfection
Warm up your tortillas
Serve with toppings and enjoy!

 Here are the precious winners if you are interested in checking them out! 

February's Winner: Chicken Cordon Bleu

January's Winner: Sauteed Scallops

December's Winner: Pizza Pot Pies

November's Winner: Lasagna Stuffed Manicotti

October's Winner: Pumpkin Risotto

September's Winner: Burgundy Pork 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Strawberry Lemonade Cake: February's Winning Dessert

Your votes brought the dessert choice down to the wire.  Until the very last day I thought for sure it was going to be the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, but at the last minute the Strawberry Lemonade Cake pulled through for the win.  This was an interesting recipe to make!  I have never before attempted a layer cake.  I find them to be a bit intimidating and they always seem like a lot of work.  Overall this really wasn't a hard recipe, the challenge came in frosting it much too soon, and my frosting began to melt on me causing the cake to slide on the second layer and my frosting to start dripping off of the cake...  In the future I would recommend chilling both layers of the cake in the fridge for half an hour before frosting and then continuing to chill it for another half an hour to give the frosting time to set before serving!  Otherwise, everything turned out wonderfully! 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup buttermilk
8-10 large strawberries, sliced
*3 lemons should be enough for both the zest and the lemon juice

For the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
2-4 large strawberries, chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray two 9-inch round baking pans with non-stick cooking spray.
In large bowl place the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients and set aside.
With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly in between. With the mixer still running, add the lemon juice. (batter will look curdled, but it's not).
Add one third of the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk. Mix, then stop and scrape the sides of the bowl. Repeat, adding another third of the dry ingredients and the remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk. Mix, then stop and scrape. Add the remaining third of the dry ingredients and mix until completely combined and the batter is light and fluffy.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for about half an hour in the fridge before removing from the pans.
While the cakes are cooling, make the strawberry buttercream frosting. Combine the butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Mix together on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the milk and strawberries and mix on high speed until the frosting is very fluffy and pale pink in color, with flecks of strawberry.
Invert one of the cake rounds onto a cake plate; generously spread with frosting and top with strawberry slices. Repeat with the remaining layer of cake and frosting. Frost the sides of the cake. Put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set. Serve at room temperature.

Mix the butter, sugar & lemon zest
In a separate bowl mix all remaining dry ingredients together
Beat the eggs in one at a time and add the lemon juice
Mix the remaining ingredients in together.
My sous chef helping pour the batter into two pans
Pour the batter evenly into the 2 cake pans and stick in oven
Remove the cake layers from the oven and cool
Sous chef trying out the frosting
Mix together the butter and powdered sugar for the frosting
My sous chef happy about helping add strawberries to the mix
Get ready to mix it all together!
Mix in the strawberries and the milk
Invert the cake (turn it upside down) and set it on a dish or a plate
Spread frosting along the top of the 1st layer
Add the sliced strawberries on top of the frosting
Place the second cake layer on top of the filling
Frost and add strawberries for decoration, place in fridge to chill
Serve & Enjoy!

If you would like to view the winning desserts from past months, here they are:

January's Winner: Black Forest Pavlova

December's Winner: Pumpkin Tiramisu

November's Winner: Caramelized Banana Pudding

October's Winner: Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

September's Winner: Apple Raspberry Crumble