Petit fours

After 7 years of blogging, with plenty of home baking throughout that time, it amazes me that there are always still things I've wanted to make and find myself finally doing for the first time.  

This time, I'm finally making petit fours (or petits fours, or "fancies", as the Brits call them). Really, they're nothing more complicated than small bites of iced almond cake but made ever more attractive - and, yes, just a bit fancy - by their petite size.  I've always been drawn to pretty little things, particularly in pastel colors, and I've always adored these little cakes that look like miniature presents all on their own.  I recently made them right before Easter and they are perfect for celebrating spring, or for a wedding or baby shower, a tea party, or, thinking slightly ahead, for Mother's Day.  

These petite cakes are great for any celebration...including a 7th blogging anniversary!  Yes, it's now 7 years since I started this little blog and I have a healthy roster of favorite recipes, and lots of memories and learning, to show for it.  I've slowed down the pace of my blogging quite a bit in the last year or so but I am cooking and baking as much - if not more - than ever.  It's nice to spend time baking family favorites and to try recipes on a whim without documenting every endeavor.  No matter how much or how little I blog here going forward, I hope to be baking and cooking - trying new things and learning along the way - for a long time to come.  

Now back to the petite cakes.  As you might know, I favor small batch baking and as simple a process as possible so that's the approach I took here.  After looking and saving many petit four recipes through the years, I settled on a recipe from Martha Stewart that I've had my eye on for a long time.  I made a few adjustments by dividing the recipe in half and using apricot preserves as a filling instead of cherry.  

It starts with a moist almond sponge cake.  Once baked in a single layer, the cake is sliced crosswise to be stacked into 2 layers.  I filled the center with smooth apricot preserves, reminiscent of one of our favorite things - Italian tri-color (or rainbow) cookies.

Some petit four recipes call for frosting.  A layer of frosting on top of the cake can provide a smoother surface for the glaze to rest on but I think this version without it is simpler and I like the sharp flavor from the jam filling.  These petit fours are coated with a basic glaze of confectioners' sugar and milk.  I really like this simple 2-ingredient glaze from Martha Stewart that doesn't require corn syrup, and you can tint it to whatever color you like; I went with white and a pale pink.  There's plenty of room for customization in not only the jam filling you use but also the color and design you choose for your glaze.  I topped some of the cakes with ready-made sugar flowers.

And now because this is me, the resident chocoholic, I could not resist coating some of my petit fours in chocolate!  They might not be quite as visually appealing but they sure taste amazing; I used (one of) my favorite 70% dark chocolate and the combination of almond cake, apricot jam, and dark chocolate is, as always, stellar.  

So here's to great times in the kitchen and at the table!  Let's celebrate as often as possible and may there always be some form of cake involved!

Baked banana chocolate-chip donuts

For no particular reason, I felt like taking my donut pan for a spin.  I've been wanting to make a banana bread-like version so I did just that.  On the eve of all the July 4th festivities to come, I thought these would make a quick breakfast in the morning (not to mention a good snack today) before we head out tomorrow for some fun.

These are simple baked banana donuts.  I started with this recipe but made a few tweaks.  I used a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour, added ground ginger (because that's what I put in our favorite banana bread), and some mini chocolate chips.  I topped it with our usual, quick and easy, chocolate glaze.  It's all very easy and rather fun at that.  A donut pan gives us the option to eat our favorite treats in a different way.

I made use of the buttermilk in my fridge for this recipe.  I was a little concerned that there's no oil or butter in this donut batter but they turned out moist and flavorful so no worries afterall. 

Most baked donut recipes, like this one, will leave you with a little bit of extra batter. I filled my six donut molds and, with the rest of the batter, I made a few mini muffins.  They're almost like little donut holes.  

Given it's the 4th of July tomorrow, I made use of the appropriate sprinkles for the occasion.  Here's to kicking off the holiday weekend!

Chocolate chip donuts (Déjà vu)

Well...here we go again!  We find ourselves in the midst of another snow storm.  As I type this, there's a good feet of snow on the ground and another half-dozen or so inches expected before dawn.  This one snuck up on us.

Another snow day, another batch of donuts...

The little one had a half-day at school today and it'll be a delayed open or, more rationally, a full snow-day tomorrow.  The last snow day we had was little more than two weeks ago and if you recall, we kept busy by finally breaking in our donut pan and making donuts together for the first time.  It was fun because donuts are not only tasty but so pretty to look at.  Turns out, we found that baked donuts are easy to make and awesome to eat, too.

So this is where the déjà vu comes in.  With the afternoon ahead of us, I thought it'd be fun to do it again.  I wasn't planning on making donuts (and thus post about it) again so soon but it was such a good snow day project last time that I thought of it again today.

After that first batch two weeks ago, the little one and I had a few other varieties in mind to try. Being very much like his mother in this kind of thought process, the varieties essentially boiled down to...chocolate, or adding more chocolate!  So this time, we made chocolate-chip donuts.

We very closely followed the recipe from last time but omitted the nutmeg altogether and added one-third cup of miniature chocolate chips into the batter.  Mini chips are definitely the way to go here and I like using it in cupcakes and muffins in general.  I made things even easier by using plain melted butter this time instead of browned since the chocolate chips give us plenty of extra flavor.  With the same easy chocolate glaze, these came together quickly and the little donut chef was very pleased!

The white nonpareils were our ode to the snow day

The little one loved these so much that I think we'll be making this version for a while to come.  The pure vanilla-chocolate flavor is familiar and the moist spongy donut itself just make for a great package.

These donuts were ready by the time the little one's dad walked in the door from work.  After a long and messy commute, dad was hungry and more than ready for some donuts.  He raved endlessly about them, as dads/husbands are supposed to do.  Needless to say, the donut chef and I were very satisfied with our second donut project.

Donuts with my dumpling (on a snow day)

A few months ago, I saw baked doughnuts at Joy the Baker and I literally went out within a few days and bought a donut pan (I realize the proper spelling is "doughnut" but I've always gone the shortcut route so I'll stick with it here for the most part).  There was something about those gorgeous chocolate-glazed donuts. They are the very kind I always went for as a kid (albeit fried, of course) and the same ones my son likewise favors now.  Chocolate-frosted donuts with sprinkles have a special place in my heart. 

My little one presenting the results of our snow day project

I took it as a sign that I really should get a donut pan and make donuts - baked donuts - at home.  I showed my little one and he was certainly enthusiastic about it since he is, not surprisingly, a big donut lover.  I think I may have simply used him as an excuse because I was thinking all along about the many times I walked over to a local donut/coffee shop (a non-franchise one in the neighborhood) as a kid, to order one, two or a half-dozen donuts.  Once in a while, I went for a toasted bagel with cream cheese instead.  

  

It took about 4 months for us to get to this project.  Meanwhile, I was happy to have the little donut pan tucked away in the pantry.  This was essentially my first real baking project of 2014 and I'm thrilled I got to share it with my little dumpling - my rapidly-growing 3rd grader!  We made these last Friday, on a snow day from school.  As my husband shoveled the 8-9 inches of snow outside in the frigid cold, the two of us "toiled" away in the warm kitchen making these beauties.

I learned that baked donuts are easy to make, a great project to do with kids since it's simple, fast, and there's no frying involved.  I love working/playing in the kitchen with my son and I'm so glad he's shown more interest in it lately. To hang on to that interest, I try to keep it simple and interesting because like most 8-year old boys, he has the attention span of well...an 8-year old boy!  I think he does get a kick out of these food experiments and learns a little something along the way too.  I know it makes me feel useful and we all certainly enjoy eating these "projects"!

And in this instance, we get to play with sprinkles so you know it's fun!  The only problem I have with sprinkles is deciding which and what colors to use.  Rainbow is too classic to resist but it's certainly fun to decorate them for different holidays.  I was thinking ahead to Valentine's Day for one of them.

The young donut chef and his parents enjoyed this inaugural batch of homemade baked donuts. They're somewhat spongy and moist, a bit denser than cake, which makes it easier to dip them in the glaze.  We went light on the nutmeg in this recipe - I usually prefer it in moderation and so does the little one.  

The chocolate glaze is very simple and as you might imagine, we had some leftover glaze after dipping our half-dozen donuts.  You know what we did with it?  We used it as a dip so we enjoyed our donuts, fondue-style! Talk about guilty pleasure!  I was channeling how churros, and even beignets, are eaten (at least these donuts are baked).  So yes, it's indulgent but we had so much fun.  And we will all attest to the fact that baked donuts, served with a side of extra chocolate glaze for dunking is a very delicious experience!

We are looking forward to more homemade baked donuts in our future.  Would you believe my son just told me that we should dip the entire donut in chocolate glaze next time?  I don't know where (or who!) he gets these wild ideas from!  ; )