So last week’s cookies went over pretty well with my coworkers, but I decided this time around, I needed to step it up a bit and do something a little more dramatic. So I decided cupcakes would be the way to go. I trolled around on the Internet for a while, looking for an exciting cupcake recipe when I found the S’mores Cupcakes at How to Eat a Cupcake. They looked pretty simple to bake, but were showstoppers once decorated. Winner!

The recipe started with crushing up graham crackers. My food processor unfortunately is in storage right now, so instead I filled up plastic zip-top bags with crackers and rolled them with my rolling pin:

The graham cracker crumbs were mixed with flour, baking powder and salt. Butter and sugar were creamed together in the mixer and four eggs were added one at a time, followed by some vanilla. The graham cracker crumb/flour mixture was added, alternating with milk. Finally, mini chocolate chips were added to the mixture:

The batter was doled out into cupcake tins and baked for roughly 18 minutes until they were nicely browned:

Once the cupcakes were cooled, I went to work mixing eight egg whites with sugar over a double boiler. Once this had reached a temperature of 160 degrees F, it was transferred to my stand mixer which was fitted with the whisk attachment, and whisked for about ten minutes until it was light and fluffy and spreadable:

I put the marshmallow-y mixture into plastic bags and cut off the tip to form a makeshift piping bag. Each cupcake got a generous swirl of meringue, a dusting of crushed graham cracker crumbs and a square of Hershey’s chocolate:

I think they came out quite cute:

I had a ton of the meringue left over, so I thought I’d make myself a little snack:

These cupcakes went over very well at my work. One of my coworkers remarked that they were better than Crumbs, which is a highly regarded bakery in the city. Quite the compliment!

It was quite an adventure getting them there. I take a bus from where we are temporarily staying in New Jersey into Port Authority in New York City. From there, I walk about three blocks to my job. On the walk, as I was stopped at a crosswalk, a guy leaned over my cupcake carrier (which is clear plastic and see-through) and said, “Are those cupcakes? Is that chocolate in there?” to which I replied in the affirmative.
“Are they for a party?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m taking them to work, just because.”
“I wish I was at your job!”
This prompted the guy on the other side of me to ask, “Can I have one?” I probably would have given him one if I could have gotten that carrier open with one hand, which I couldn’t. So I told him that unfortunately, I needed them all for my coworkers.
“Let’s just follow her to her job!” the first guy said.
Further up the street, where people lurk, waiting to hand you a flyer or ask you, “Hey, do you like comedy?” I was confronted by yet another person.
“Hey! Do you like come…whoah! Cupcakes! Those look awesome! Enjoy!”
So, word to the wise. If you don’t want people to hand you flyers, carry cupcakes.

This week one of my coworkers requested a baked good with caramel, so I found something that looks pretty awesome. More next weekend.

This week marked the first time I’ve brought baked goods into my new coworkers in Times Square. Now that I’m not driving myself to work, the baked goods I take in for my coworkers have to be fairly easy to transport. I don’t know if any cakes will make their way into that building. Pies, maybe, but the idea of taking a cake on the subway makes me cry.

So, for the first experiment, I thought cookies would be good. And what’s more sturdy and stable than a sugar cookie? But I couldn’t make just a boring old sugar cookie – and my cookie cutters are in storage, so I couldn’t even make cute shapes. I’d have to amp up the flavor.

Luckily, “The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book” had variations on their sugar cookie recipe that included a Lime Sugar Cookie. Sounded pretty delicious to me!

The recipe started with rubbing some lime zest into sugar, which the cookie dough balls would be rolled in prior to baking:

Next, a fairly straightforward cookie dough was made, with the addition of some more lime zest:

The first batch of cookies didn’t turn out so hot. I made the balls way too big and forgot to flatten them out before baking. So they turned out like this:

I made the cookie dough balls smaller the second time around and remembered to flatten them out. I also sprinkled some additional lime sugar on top to give them an extra crunch:

Much better. Unfortunately, I didn’t take very many pictures as I needed to get out the door with these cookies! My coworkers seemed to enjoy them quite a bit:

Last night, I made the next baked good in my series: S’mores Cupcakes. I plan to write about them this weekend. Highlight: Check out the reviews of Crumbs Bakery on Yelp! One of my coworkers said my cupcakes were better than the ones at Crumbs.

Sorry it took so long to get this posted. You wouldn’t believe what moving to a whole new state and starting a brand new job can do to a person! But here it is, finally!

This past Saturday, Rob and I attended our first New Jersey party. It was our friend Jennifer’s birthday, so she celebrated by throwing a Mexican-themed party at her house. Earlier in the week I had planned to bake for her party, and I found a recipe for Apple Hand Pies; little hand-held apple pies with a powdered sugar glaze. Perfect! Once I found out about the Mexican theme, I realized that these little hand pies looked suspiciously like empanadas…what a perfect match!

Baking in a brand new kitchen, with only limited utensils and pots and pans is quite the experience. I brought a lot of stuff with me, but there were times I found myself reaching for something, only to say, “Oh yeah, that’s in storage…”

The recipe started with making a standard two-crust pie dough, which had two tablespoons of sugar added for sweetness. The dough was divided in two and chilled in the fridge. While the dough was chilling, I got busy cooking up the apples for the filling:

When the apples had cooled down, I removed one of the two halves of the dough from the refrigerator and rolled it out fairly thin. Next, I cut out circles from the dough and placed them on a greased cookie sheet. A tablespoon of the apple filling was placed on one half of each circle:

Once each circle was topped with filling, the pies were folded in half. The edges were crimped with a fork and the tops were brushed with egg wash. Finally, two one-inch slits were cut in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape:

The pies were baked for about 20-25 minutes until they were a golden brown color. Once they had cooled down, I mixed up a powdered sugar/water/vanilla/corn syrup glaze to drizzle over them:

They were a big hit at the party, and I really want to make them again sometime. My only issue was that two Granny Smith apples were not quite enough. Next time I’d definitely use three apples at least!

I have no idea yet what I’m baking this week. I should probably make that decision today, because I plan to make a grocery store run tomorrow!

A bittersweet post. This was the last baked good I made in our Columbus kitchen. The last baked good I would take into my co-workers. And yet, not surprisingly, the first post I will write in New Jersey.

Yes, folks, we made the move. Our house is all packed up and in storage in New Jersey and we’re staying with Rob’s dad for a while so we can scope out neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. We hope to move into a new place by September 1st.

With only two cookbooks and a couple of issues of Cook’s Country left unpacked, my choices are limited until we get our new place and I can unpack the rest of my books. This week I chose an Apple Coffee Cake that used yeast and looked quite pretty on the page.

The recipe started off as a typical yeasted baked good would, only with more sugar in the dough. The dough was kneaded several times and rolled into a ball, which was placed in an oiled bowl and left to rise until doubled in size:

While the dough was rising, two apples were peeled and sliced and then the slices were chopped into small pieces. These were cooked with sugar and butter until the apples were softened. The dough was then spread out onto a cookie sheet:

(Please excuse the disposable cookie sheet – most of my stuff was packed at this point.)

Once the apples had cooled a bit, they were spread out down the middle of the dough, leaving several inches of dough uncovered on either side. I then cut slits one inch apart down the dough and began layering the strips to resemble a braid:

Once the cake was completely layered, it was left to rise again for an hour. Once it was risen, I brushed the cake with egg wash and baked it for 35 minutes. It came out looking pretty good:

I then mixed some powdered sugar and milk together to make a glaze and coated the cake with it:

I didn’t even give this thing a chance to cool down before I cut into it:

Fan-bloody-tastic. This was absolutely amazing. There are several variations on the filling and I want to try a few more of them. My co-workers devoured the rest of the cake pretty quickly. It seemed like a successful way to say goodbye.

This week I’m trying to figure out what to bake. I’m thinking there may be a Lemon Meringue Pie in the future, but I’m still getting used to our new digs and the new kitchen that came with them.