Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte

I should have been a housewife

I saw this salted caramel chocolate torte floating around Facebook a couple of weeks ago and it looked right up my alley. I looooovvveee caramel and you can't go wrong by adding the chocolate ganache with a  sprinkle of sea salt.

The full original post with recipe and pictures can be found on the Home Cooking Adventure blog. Below are the instructions and ingredients from Tastemade's Youtube video. 



The recipe took me almost all day to make but was well worth it. To save time I would make and chill the crust the night before and roll it out in the morning.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte
Makes about 6-8 servings

Almond Chocolate Sweet Pastry
1 1/4 cups (160g) flour
1/4 cup (30g) ground almonds
1/4 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (110 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small (1/2-inch) cubes
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1-2 tbsp ice water

Caramel
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
1/2 cup (100g) water
1/2 cup (120 g) heavy cream
5 tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter
1 tsp salt

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup (120 g) heavy cream
4 oz (120g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Garnish
sea salt crystals


Directions
1. Prepare the sweet pastry. In a large bowl mix flour with ground almonds, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.

2. Incorporate butter to the flour mixture, using a pastry blender, a fork or a pastry processor, until crumbs are formed. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix them in. Add water and incorporate into the dough. Wrap it with plastic, knead slowly to form a disc and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

3. On a floured surface or over the plastic wrap roll the dough to a circle with about 1 1/2 inches larger than your tart pan. Lift up the rolled dough and place it on a greased 9 inch tart pan. Remove the edges and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.

4. Prick the dough with a fork, line a parchment paper over the dough. Fill with dry beans, rice or pie weights.

5. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated 350 F (180C) oven. Remove the weights and the parchment paper. Return to oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the tart pan.

6. Prepare the caramel. Place the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook without stirring until sugar dissolves and gets a caramel color.

*This step took me approximately 10-15 minutes and I actually had to do it twice. The first time I was afraid of burning the caramel so I took the mixture off way too early and it was nowhere near caramel when I tried to mix in the cream and butter. The second time I thought I burned and ruined the sugar mixture when I waited for it to turn a caramel color since it was smoking slightly and smelled a hair burnt, but it came out prefect after mixing the cream and butter.

7. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream. It will bubble a little bit.

8. Cook for about 1 or 2 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat and add butter and salt. Stir well until smooth.

9. Let the caramel cool slightly and pour over the chocolate crust. Refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.

10. Prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream in a small saucepan. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.

11. Pour the chocolate ganache over the caramel. Spread it evenly and refrigerate for another 2-3 hours before serving. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve.

Enjoy!

Monday, May 18, 2015

Mother's Day Sugar Cookies and a Recipe for Tropical Trifle

I should have been a housewife

i should have been a housewife

For Mother's Day a couple of years ago I made some really cool monarch butterflies from Hello Cupcake. They were my favorite cupcakes to make by far and I wanted to try and recreate them into a sugar cookie for Mother's Day this year.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I hosted a Mother's Day BBQ for my mother and mother-in-law and decided to make my cousin Jeff's trifle to accompany the cookies for dessert. Every year his trifle is requested at all of the family holidays and it's a perfect springtime dessert with hints of coconut, crushed pineapple, and mandarin oranges. The best part is you can cook the components the night before and assemble it the day-of to make the day even less stressful.

I should have been a housewife

 Jeff's Tropical Trifle
2 cans crushed pineapple, juice reserved
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box vanilla cook and serve pudding, not instant pudding
1 box coconut cook and serve pudding, not instant pudding (can used 2nd box of vanilla if coconut isn't available)
3 cans Goya coconut milk
2 cup shredded coconut, divided
1 cup malibu rum
1 pint heavy cream

Night before/morning of

1. Substituting coconut milk for regular milk, make pudding according to package directions (mix powders from both packets into one pot). While the pudding is cooking make sure to stir the pudding constantly so the bottom of the pot doesn't get scorched. Once pudding has thickened add 1 cup of shredded coconut to pudding and place on counter to cool. To prevent a skin from forming, place plastic wrap directly on the pudding. 

(If making the night before, once the bowl is cool to the touch, place in refrigerator until you're ready to assemble the trifle)

2. Drain the two cans of crushed pineapple, saving the juice, and place solids into a non reactive bowl. Prepare the cake mix replacing the water with an equal amount of pineapple juice and bake on a jelly roll sheet following the box instructions.

3. Drain the mandarin oranges and add the fruit to the bowl of crush pineapple. Add 1 cup Malibu rum and allow to soak into the fruit as long as possible (night before would be best). If there's any left over pineapple juice after the cake is baked, you can add it back into the fruit mixture. Refrigerate mixture if making the night before. 

Day of

4. Assemble trifle by cutting a circle of cake using the trifle bowl as a guide. Build by placing a layer of cake into trifle bowl, topping that with a layer of mixed fruit (approximately half) and drizzling some of the leftover juices onto the cake. Top the fruit with a layer of pudding and repeat until you reach the top of the trifle bowl.

(I actually had enough left over to make one more mini trifle in a canning jar for lunch the next day... Yum!)

5. Top trifle with fresh whipped cream and remaining coconut.

Enjoy!



Monday, May 4, 2015

Happy Star Wars Day: May the Forth Be With You

I should have been a housewife

Happy Star Wars day everyone! Ever since I found out this was a real thing I've been wanting to make cookies for it. The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle has a bunch of really awesome cookie pictures and tutorials for Star Wars cookies including what cookie cutters you can use, R2-D2 and Yoda tutorials, and a post of the whole set. If you haven't been to her site before, you need to take a look at her work, it's simply amazing. Anyway, here are some pictures of the Star Wars cookie set I did for Star Wars day.

Enjoy!

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife


Another Busy Weekend at the Farm and Some Waterfall Pictures

I should have been a housewife

The weather was beautiful last weekend and when I wasn't helping my parents getting the farm ready for the warmer weather, I was walking around taking pictures and experimenting with my camera. 

I always used to wonder how photographers were able to take pictures of waterfalls and get a misty, soft shot of the moving water, making it appear almost magical. I've read up on it a few times and learned its due to the shutter speed. When the shutter speed is slower, moving objects become blurred when the picture is taken while motionless objects remain the same. Since we have a small waterfall on the farm I thought it was the perfect oppertunity for me to practice with moving water.


Since the water was flowing and the rocks were motionless with a steady hand I was able to play around with the shutter speed and get my shot! It took a bunch of different adjustments to ISO, shutter speed, and going back and forth between my lenses, but I finally got some I was happy with. I ended up having to wait for the sun to go behind some clouds and that gave me some pictures that weren't so over exposed.

I should have been a housewife
Waterfall with a "normal" shutter speed

I should have been a housewife
Waterfall with a slower shutter speed but still not there
I should have been a housewife
Waterfall with an even slower shutter speed, magical!
In hindsight I would have gone back and switched from JPEG to RAW to try and save some of the white tones,  I didn't realize I had switched it until we were getting ready to go home for the weekend.

I also had a lot of followers throughout the day, the chickens were especially interested in what all the clicking was about.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

Julie and Lilly both followed me all around the farm, keeping watch over the chickens and running along the paths.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

After all the running, picture taking, and prep work, we took a break on the new deck, enjoyed a bit of the warm weather, and took in all the changes that come along with spring. Lilly is such a ham and enjoyed sitting on the deck with her Mr. Grandpa.

I should have been a housewife

Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more pictures and posts

I should have been a housewife

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Great Weekend for a Horseback Riding Lesson and Some Much Needed Barn Time

I should have been a housewife

This weekend the weather was gorgeous and on top of that I even had some time to go horseback riding and take a lesson at one of my favorite barns, Legacy Farm in Telford, PA.

I started riding at Legacy Farm during my second year of optometry school, taking lessons on the weekends and eventually half leasing a horse once I had more time after taking boards. Their riding program is awesome and they have such nice and suitable horses for every level.

I was so happy to be able to stop by and spend time with everyone and was able to take some cute pictures of their four legged friends.

Enjoy!

Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more equestrian and horse related posts

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife


I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife



Sunday, April 5, 2015

Happy Easter and Some Bunny Themed Sugar Cookies

I should have been a housewife

Spring is finally here and my Easter wouldn't be complete without some sugar cookies.

I love all of the designs from Cookies with Character but when I saw the Peek-a-Boo Bunnies, my heart flip flopped. An animator by trade, her designs are adorable and original and I could spend hours looking through her blog.

I also drew my inspiration for my Easter bunny cookies from the Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle. If you haven't been to her site before she has a ton of information on cookies and cookie decorating.

The recipes for sugar cookies and royal icing are both from Sugar Belle's and can be found here and here.

Enjoy!

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

Friday, April 3, 2015

Some Animal Portraits and Our Trip to California Academy of Sciences

I should have been a housewife

One of my favorite things about my new camera is learning as I go and figuring out what shooting on manual is all about. I find myself practicing on pets and animals since that's what almost always readily available and they don't mind if I'm taking my time to figure something out. Here are just some of the pictures from trips, visits, and rotations from the beginning when I was first learning to shoot on manual.

The first couple of pictures are from California Academy of Sciences from our trip to San Francisco. It was a great museum/zoo and they had a bunch of really cool exhibits. If you're going to the area it was a great way to spend the day.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

Some of the butterfly pictures really remind me of  desktop screen savers for some reason. California Academy of Sciences had a great walk through butterfly dome/rainforest exhibit where we took all of the amphibian and butterfly pictures.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife
The rest of the pictures are pets of family members and friends, usually taken spur of the moment or when I'm in between something/ running errands.

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife

I should have been a housewife