Posts Tagged ‘dough’
strawberry whoopie pies
It’s been an amazing week. Working the cookbook photo shoot was so much fun and such an awesome change of pace from my usual schedule, I don’t even care I now have trucker’s tan from the Boulder-Denver commute every day. Everyone’s been so laid back and we’ve all been collaborating and just creating beautiful food and beautiful shots (including the above which we did for fun!).
As a way to say thanks to everyone at the shoot, I knew I wanted to bring something sweet in on Friday to show my gratitude, but I couldn’t decide between breakfast pastry or dessert. And then I remembered reading a post on CakeSpy recently about how whoopie pies are the ‘big next thing’ on the pastry hot list. Normally two chocolate spongey cookies with whipped glossy filling sandwiched between them, they’re like a froufrou Little Debbie snack in all the best ways. Although the original is amazing, since I just made chocolate chocolate CHOCOLATE cookies and try to use in-season fruit as much as possible, I wanted to go in a different direction. And then I found these.
Based on the recipe from now infamous Baked bakery in Brooklyn, these whoopie pies are still ridiculously indulgent, sweet and over-the-top, but since they aren’t rich chocolate and have fruit in them, you don’t feel as guilty as you normally would eating a whoopie pie.
They aren’t the easiest thing in the world to make. The batter/dough has to chill, you have to use a double boiler to make the filling, multiple bowls will get dirty, etc. But when you really want to say thanks, a fussy dessert that everyone can take home is worth it. Plus, they’re called whoopie pies. How can you not love them?
pizza part one
Everyone has comfort foods. My list is long – crazy long. Mac n cheese, Reuben sandwiches, chocolate milkshakes… it goes on and on. Hovering in the top however, will always be pizza. Whether it’s fond memories of my mom and I picking up our usual order from the slummy, but amazing Original Pizza at our local mall or making Totinos frozen shamepies (as I affectionately call them) in college, I have nothing but fond memories of pizza. During my time studying abroad in Russia, one of my strongest memories is the day I broke down and went to Sbarro to nurse my homesickness with two slices of cheese NY-style pizza on Nevsky Prospect.
I still love frozen pizza and happily eat it probably once a week for dinner (my fav being the Kashi roasted veggie pizza nowadays), but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to homemade pizza. The best part about it is how few ingredients you really need, it’s just the time and elbow grease that makes it work, and oh boy is it worth the effort.
I use Lidia Bastianich’s recipe from Lidia’s Italian-American cookbook, one of my favorite Italian resources next to The Silver Spoon. I also use a variation on her sauce recipe from the same book, and both are total winners. The big “ugh” a lot of people will give this recipe is you have to let the dough raise overnight or up to 24 hours. I actually like this because I can prepare it the night before, and my dough is ready and waiting for me when I get home from work the next day.
So let’s get started..
Dough mis en place.
