Okay, so it has been a while since the last post. Truth is, I have been really busy lately and not cooking or baking much at all.
A few days ago I came across a recipe for these British yummies. Shortbread with a layer of caramel and chocolate on top. I decided right then and there I was going to make them. The recipe is fairly simple and I believe that any cook whether they be pro, or someone who only uses the microwave, can whip this up in no time.
Alright, here goes!For the shortbread:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar 2 cups flour
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Make the shortbread. 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a 9 x 9 baking pan with butter.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, salt, and sugar and whip on medium speed until the b
utter becomes fluffy and white - about 5 minutes.
3. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour and cornstarch. Mix to incorporate.
4. Pat the dough evenly into the pan.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the edges just begin to darken. The shortbread will remain white. Set aside to cool.
For th
e
caramel: 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup light brown sugar 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Next, make the caramel.
1. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Continue stirring and allow mixture to boil for another 5 minutes.
3. Remove caramel from heat and stir 
vigorously for a few minutes. 4. Pour over shortbread and allow to set up at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
For the chocolate:
1 1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate, chopped
Chocolate. 
1. Simply place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 45 seconds, then stir and continue to heat and stir at 20 second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.
2. Pour chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover.
3. Chill to set the chocolate - about 30 minutes.
When this is all said and done, you will have an amazingly yummy British treat. Have a cup of tea too! :) Be prepared for soft caramel, and hard chocolate and sort of a bitter taste from the shortbread. Together all of the flavors are something I haven't really tasted. I loved it though and can't wait to experiment with it!
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The other day I was watching The Wedding Singer when I had a sudden craving for pop tarts. I didn't have any of the tasty pastries to satisfy my hunger, so I decided to make some.
I was on Stumbleupon.com a few days before my pop tart craving day when I stumbled upon a pop tart recipe. Now I didn't follow the directions, but I got the main idea and did my own thing. You can find the recipe at: http://bakememore.com/2009/02/15/sorry-kelloggs-these-pop-tarts-will-make-you-crumble/
I made a simple pie crust, and made some Boston Chocolate Cream Pie filling to make the filling of the pop tarts followed by a homemade chocolate glaze. The pie crust I used, I doubled but I have posted it below:
Pie Crust
1 1/4 C. Flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. Butter, Chilled & Diced (substitue 1/2 C. shortening)
3 tbsp. ice water
1. Whisk the flour and salt together.
2. Cut in the butter until it resembles a crumb like texture.
3. Add ice water to moisten.
4. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Now I thought that the recipe wasn't going to be enough, so I went ahead and doubled it. If you have too much in the end, that's okay, you can make mini pies!
The cream pie filling I am going to share is not as good as my mother's, but it is pretty darn close! It reminds me of the holidays when we would all get together as a family and eat until our pants burst... Well not really, but anyway, here it is:
Chocolate Cream Pie Filling
1. C. sugar
1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks
1/8 tsp. salt
2 C. scalded milk
2 squares of baking chocolate (substitute 3 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp butter per square)
1 tsp. butter
1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate in the milk .
2. Mix in dry ingredients gradually. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.
3. Mix in egg yolks one at a time, stirring after each one.
4. Cook for 3 minutes longer, then add vanilla.
So go back to the link I shared with you and follow the directions of adding the filling to the crust. Or you can use preserves, lemon filling, anything you want! The possibilities are endless.
The chocolate glaze I made is rather simple. I added a little bit of cocoa powder to about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, and about 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/4 tsp watrer. You can make it how you want. Without the chocolate, it is just a plain vanilla glaze, or you can make it maple, or even mint with either mint or maple extracts.
I hope you enjoy your homemade pop tarts!
Feel free to send me recipes to try or perfect. I will add them to my blog so be careful if you don't want me to unleash the secrets of your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's chunky corn bread. Check back often to see what else I'm cookin' up!
Every Christmas, my mom buys almond rocca. As kids we used to joke around saying it looked like cat turds. Gross I know. It is one of my favorite candies, and the only time I ever got it was during the Christmas holiday.
When I was taking my culinary class in high school, we made almond rocca. It was good, but there were no almonds due to some students being allergic to them. So we made rocca I guess you would say :) Anyways, I have taken this simple chocolate-less, almond-less recipe and have added those two key ingredients to it. Now if you are allergic to almonds, or chocolate, just don't add it to the recipe when you make it. Here it is:
Almond Rocca
1 pound butter (NOT MARGARINE)
1 pound brown sugar
1 C. finely choped almonds*
2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips* (or dark chocolate chips)
1 piece of wax paper the size of your cookie sheet
Directions
1. Prepare a cookie sheet with Crisco (or any shortening you have). Make sure you cover the ENTIRE sheet, sides included as well as corners. Place in the oven at 200 degrees to warm up.
2. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan on high heat. If you have an electric stove, use setting 9. Stir until completely melted.
3. Add all of the brown sugar and stir CONTINUALLY, or else it will burn.
4. Cook to hard crack stage. Test it by placing small amounts of the hot melted sugar and butter in a bowl of cold water. It has reached to the hard crack stage when the sugar breaks when bitten. If it sticks, keep cooking and repeat the process often.
5. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
6. Mix almonds into the sugar mixture. Carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the middle of the cookie sheet. DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE SAUCEPAN! And burnt sugar on the bottom of the pan will ruin the candy.
7. Let it cool completely on a counter top. Do not put in the fridge. It will not set properly.
Chocolate
Make sure the almond rocca is completely cooled. This should be about an hour and a half to two hours.
1. Break the almond rocca into small pieces.
2. In a double boiler, add water to the bottom, and the chocolate chips in the top.
3. Place wax paper to your cookie sheet.
4. stir chocolate until melted.
5. One by one, dip the almond rocca into the chocolate, and place onto cookie sheet.
6. When all pieces are covered, place cookie sheet in freezer for 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy your homemade almond rocca!
Typing up this recipe makes me want to go make some :)
Instead of spending gobs of money on almond rocca during the holiday season, instead use this recipe to make the delightful treat.
Feel free to send me recipes to try or perfect. I will add them to my blog so be careful if you don't want me to unleash the secrets of your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's chunky corn bread. Check back often to see what else I'm cookin' up!
utter becomes fluffy and white - about 5 minutes. 
e
vigorously for a few minutes. 
