Our Next Adventure!

Here's what we are making next-just decided!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/31/deep-dish-cookie-pie/

It's a deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie - only the secret is it's made with pureed garbanzo beans and oats instead of flour and butter. I've made a similar recipe for choc. chip cookie dough dip (from the same website) and never told the kids what was in it. It was a hit and I have a sneaking suspicion this will be too.

I LOVE that Chloe knows the ingredients to this and still wants to try it. She also wants to make chocolate mousse to put on top of the pie - adventurous and ambitious!

As there is no picture to go along with this post, I wanted to post a pic of Chlo in her Tae Kwon Do uniform after she did a totally awesome job in class tonight (plus it is super cute) but Chloe declines on the grounds that it does not go with the theme of the blog and because she thought it would be bragging. so sweet. But I feel comfortable bragging - Chloe is completely amazing at Tae Kwon do! (Anthony and Soph are amazing at countless things too. I have encouraged them to start their own blogs about stuff they love doing with me. They both said no)

We can't wait to make the pie and share it electronically with you!

The Chai Tea Cupcake Project!

Today Chloe and I embarked upon an epic project- Chai Tea Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Meringue Buttercream Frosting. It was a fun & exhausting hours long adventure. Let me preface our story by saying that I am absolutely not a baker. I bake because it's something Chloe loves to do & I love doing things she loves with her but I am in no way good at it. Baking is such a science and I am so not a exact minded type of person. This may come as a surprise but I am sort of all over the place. But Chloe has a special way of encouraging me in her special Chloe way to do things that are out of my box. And so Chloe and me, who can mess up boxed brownies, made cupcakes that could have been a recipe from cupcake wars.

First we made the chai tea. Then I realized I did not have enough flour for these cupcakes- so we had to use some whole wheat flour which in my mind combined with the fact that they are made with tea, makes these cupcakes healthy.

The next trial was that the recipe called for cardamom which was really hard to find and I could only find the whole seed SO we had to toast it and hand grind it. Anthony ground it for us and Chloe was kind enough to include a photo of him doing it on her blog.....it took some begging though.

After that we completed the batter which was awesome. It was such a pretty color and smelled so delicate.

The frosting was an ordeal. I have never made anything remotely meringue-like and had no idea what was involved. Chloe was so interested and such an eager learner that it was totally worth it. Even when we ran out of frosting 5 cupcakes into the first batch after we had spent 30-40 minutes making that batch and had to immediately make another bigger batch. Yes, even when that happened it was worth it, kind of, ok totally, because Chloe was so delighted with the final product. She gave the cake an A+ and the frosting an A because she thought the honey was over powering. When we made the 2nd batch and added less honey and more cinnamon she upgraded the frosting to an A+ too. I adore her, gives constructive criticism yet is easy to please!

This was quite literally an all day event but I feel so so lucky that life slowed down enough for us to do it. Sophie even contributed by eating half the batter and criticizing the process simultaneously. It was joyful. Not to sound lame, but it really was.

Chloe has yet to decide what to make next but I can't help but think it will be a walk in the park after this. I think we should veer towards something healthy since I shudder to think of how much butter and sugar we have plowed through!

Thanks for reading - and if you are craving a chai tea cupcake I have about a dozen to share! Chloe says Bon Appetit!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake!

Tonight Chloe and I made this yummy breakfast cake to eat tomorrow morning! It was super fun to make and the batter was very very thick and rich and delicious. It smelled lemony fresh while cooking. We can't wait to eat it! Tomorrow morning after our breakfast feast, Chlo and I are making the aforementioned chai tea cupcakes...super excited! Here is the recipe for the breakfast cake. Chloe gives a five star review!

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2012/02/buttermilk-blueberry-breakfast-cake.html

Our First Post

Hi There. Chloe and I made Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Oreo Buttercream Frosting this morning (we found the recipe here: http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2011/12/m-i-c-k-e-y-m-o-u-s-e.html ) and we got to talking about how much we loved cooking together and how maybe one day we would open up a bakery in downtown Milwaukee when Chloe was older. Given that is probably a few years off, we decided we wanted to do something now to take our love of cooking to the next level. And so this blog was born.

Our next for sure project is Chai Tea Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting. Here is the recipe: http://une-deuxsenses.blogspot.com/2009/05/chai-cupcakes-with-honey-ginger-cream.html

That will probably be made next weekend sometime, but I'm sure there will be some haphazard food adventures during the week that we can write about.

Chloe says she is really excited about this blog and eating lots of good food!

I say thank you to Chloe for liking to spend time with me in the kitchen and for always trying what I make no matter how crazy it is.

More to come!