Double Crusted Chicken Pot Pie

I’ve become somewhat of a cake maker for my community, hired here and there to make all buttercream cakes (no fondant, never fondant) for birthdays, First Communions, and… well, that’s it really. Birthdays and First Communions. I love to bake cakes, and I’ve gotten better at decorating them too. However, my heart beats for another. His name is Pastry, but people know him as Pie. He’s buttery and rich, and a bit of a flake, but that’s a good thing. Sometimes he’s so sweet to me, and other times he’s salty, but I like a bad boy. Cake? Oh, cake is nice, and is very attractive looking, but he’s not… Pie.

Oh my God you guys, he did the cutest, most delicious thing the other day. He became a double crusted chicken pot pie! And he put dry vermouth in his filling! I’m a martini girl, so this was a real treat. He even sprinkled dry sage and sea salt on his top crust! On his top crust!! 

I’m falling hard, aren’t I? Come on, I want you to meet him.

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Success Tart

In honor of the new year, I made the famed Norwegian dessert Success Tart. It is my way of starting 2019 with the best possible foot forward. Sure, I could have made a “hope cake”, or a “fingers crossed” woven bread, but I decided to cut to the chase. This year is going to be a success, I can feel it. In order to bring about a successful life I am going to do what lights me up. That is my one resolution for the year. I figure, I can’t go wrong with that intention. And what lights me up at this very minute is the glorious, golden speckled, Success Tart. It’s made up of individual, delicious layers, each their own baking lesson, and together they create a masterpiece. And I’ll have you know that I made the Success Tart three times. I couldn’t get it quite right. Two were complete failures. The last one was a complete success. Each one lit me up. Continue reading →

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Chocolate Sablés With Pink Peppercorns and Sea Salt

This chocolate sablé sprinkled with pink peppercorns and sea salt is delicate in texture, and has a deep, chocolaty taste. You’ll fall in love as soon as you take your first bite, but then it suddenly bites you back with the zing of a pink peppercorn. After that, it sprinkles coarse sea salt in your wound. Finally, and when you’re feeling like you just don’t want this cookie in your life after all, it leans over and gives you a sweet kiss and whispers in your ear that all the flavors work together and everything is going to be alright. So you eat another, and ride the roller coaster once again.

By the way, that was my 2018 in a nut shell cookie.   Continue reading →

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Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Every Sunday after church my parents would take us to the local bakery for doughnuts. I loved this tradition. I found church to be so boring (I’m sorry Jesus), but knowing I’d have a warm, fresh, glazed doughnut in my hands was worth every long sermon. On this one bitterly cold, December Sunday the bakery was packed. A line of irritable costumers snaked around the cramped space, and out through the door. We didn’t seem to be moving very fast, and that made the adults in the room grouchy. Suddenly the man behind the cash register (he was the owner of the shop) started yelling, “Hey! Hey! Stop him!”. I didn’t witness it,  but apparently a customer grabbed his baked goods and fled without paying. It all happened so fast, and nobody was able to help out. When it became apparent that this fella got away with the crime the mood in the bakery went from mild irritation to down-right abysmal. People were grumbling. The owner was very unhappy. And the line went from moving at a snail’s pace to a complete stop. Out of no where a very tall customer with a very deep voice began to sing Jingle Bells. We all just stared at him, and marveled at his complete inhibition. Before I knew it we were singing along with him– the whole shop. When we finished the song we burst into applause. After that, another customer paid the owner for the stolen baked goods along with what he was buying. That got applause too. It was a magical moment. One I will never forget. Let’s make some peppermint whoopie pies. Continue reading →

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