What Can I Say? It's a Gift!

No, I'm not talking about my baking skills (those I had to work for!), I'm talking about the amazing cookbook that my Grandma Lynn sent me in the mail!  I came home this week to find a mysterious package at my door, and I opened it to find an AWESOME book called "The Craft of Baking" by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox.  Okay, just to reiterate, this book is amazing!  Recipes for donuts, cakes, breads, puddings, everything!  And believe me...I want to try everything!

So my first foray into the book was for a night out at our friends Beth and Justin's house.  We had an awesome dinner with them of pot roast, broccoli, and delicious red skin mashed potatoes.  I brought dessert that was supposed to be in the form of "Devil's Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling" (much like a Hostess cupcake!), but unfortunately my icing tips weren't quite strong enough to get the cream into the cake.  No matter, though.  The cupcakes with the ganache were delicious enough!  They were so rich and chocolatey, and went perfectly with the (many) glasses of red wine we had with them (and the hilarious rounds of Mad Libs with new friends Hanna and JP!).  I would definitely recommend making the cream filling work for you if you aren't a fan of very rich chocolate desserts.  The cream would very much lighten it up. 

The most important part of this baking experience? Not overcooking the cupcakes!

I'll repeat it: NOT OVERCOOKING THE CUPCAKES!

I have learned the hard way that cooking chocolate cupcakes for too long creates a dry, tasteless cupcake.  If you can perfect your baking time, it doesn't matter WHAT you put on top of them!

On to the recipe!!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling

from "The Craft of Baking" by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox

For the Cupcakes:

• 3/4 C plus 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 C cake flour
• 2/3 C unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/4 C plus 2Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 C plus 2Tbsp buttermilk
• 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin (I actually used two...must have made my cupcakes smaller) with paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and 1/2C plus 2 Tbsp warm water to form a paste; set aside.

In another bowl, sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown sugar with the butter on medium speed until they are well combined with no pieces of butter visible.  Add the cocoa paste, making sure to use a spatula to get all the cocoa paste into the mixer bowl.  Once this is well combines, add the egg and egg yolk.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  In three additions each, add the buttermilk and vanilla extract, alternating with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full (I really like to use a zip-top freezer bag for this, with the corner cut off.  Really easy to control, and one less thing to clean!).  Bake, rotating the tins halfway through, until the cupcakes spring back to the touch and a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes*.  Invert the cupcakes onto a wire rack, turn them top side up, and let them cool completely.

*I actually recommend removing them when the toothpick comes out when there are still a few crumbs on it.  If it comes out totally clean, they're usually overcooked.  Also, these took me 17 minutes, but again I made 24 cupcakes instead of 12...12 would have been some LARGE cakes!

 For the Cream Filling:

• 1 C heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

To make the filling, combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  Beat on medium speed to soft peaks, about 4 minutes.  Put the cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small piping tip.  Using a paring knife, make a small cut in the bottom of each cupcake, through the paper, to insert the tip of the pastry bag.**  Insert the tip of the pastry bag about 1.5" into a cupcake.  Gently squeeze the bag while holding the fingers of your other hand over the top of the cupcake.  When you feel a slight pressure on the top of the cupcake, stop filling.  Repeat with each cupcake.

**Okay, me again.  I don't know about you, but it drives me CRAZY when I read a cookbook, and get to a step like this where they just assume that everyone keeps crazy kitchen gadgets like piping bags and tips in their kitchens.  I like to bake, and I've made some crazy investments in things like piping bags, tips, bench scrapers, etc...but most people don't! SO.  If you would like to do this, do as follows:

Take the paper liners off your cupcakes. Using a small paring knife, cut a small circle into the bottom of your cupcake, only to the middle-not all the way through.  Gently pull out the cake circle (SAVE IT! DON'T EAT IT! Yes I see you ready to pop that in your mouth...sneaky sneaky!) and set it aside.  Put your cream filling into a zip-top bag (a sandwich bag will work) and cut off a small tip in the bag.  Insert your brand new fancy piping bag into the hole you just made in your cake and fill.  Take the circle of cake, cut off the end  so it's about 1/4" long.  Now, "plug" your cream center with the bottom of the cake, and voila!  You're ready to frost.  And you didn't have to break the bank at Sur La Table for new gadgets that you'll only use once a year!  Just be careful, as you now have a hole in your cupcake.  Be gentle! Don't use your kung-fu grip on them when you dip in the ganache. 

For the Ganache:

• 4 oz  semisweet chocolate, chopped (I just used chips, unchopped. Mini chips would be even better)
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup

To make the ganache, put the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.  Combine the cream and the corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Pour over the chocolate right away, and stir slowly until  all of the chocolate melts and the ganache is silky and shiny. (It takes a while! Be patient and keep stirring, it will get there!)

Dip the top of each cupcake in the ganache, tapping gently to remove the excess.  Return the cupcakes to the wire rack to let the glaze set up, at least 30 minutes.

The cupcakes can be kept in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 3 days.

SO delicious! I would totally make these again.  Especially because I'm not a huge frosting person.  Ganache fits my taste much better.  Thanks to our wonderful friends Beth, Justin, Hanna, and JP for being my taste testers, and as always to my husband for being a good sport and always telling me everything I cook tastes good (last night it was in the form of "Get me another cupcake woman!" ;) what a gentleman.).  Enjoy!!

Lost my marbles...

Holy snow day Batman!!

So if you haven't heard, the DC area is being HAMMERED by snow this week.  We're talking day number FOUR tomorrow of this week where my office has been closed.  What does this mean for me?  Well, it means that I've been living solely off of the contents of my pantry and fridge (slim pickings friends...seriously).  The good news?  I've lost 5lbs in the last week (YAY!).  The bad news?  I feel like if I don't have something sweet soon I might just trek the 10+ blocks through knee deep snow to the obliterated grocery store and scarf a donut or something.

Here's what I made instead...Marble cake!  Infinitely better than some crappy donut or an Oreo creeping around in my pantry!

Oh man, this stuff is so delish.  I've made it before as a birthday cake with vanilla bean frosting, which was good.  This is just as awesome on it's own, though.  It's from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Alexandra's Kitchen.  It's in the oven as I write this, and I literally don't know if I'll be able to make it until it's cool enough to eat!!  I'm so excited.  Like Ali, I didn't make this with chocolate chips (I also don't think you need them, the chocolate batter is so deliciously rich). 

Okay, on to the recipe!

Buttercake Bakery’s Marble Cake
Total time: 1½ hours
Servings 12 to 16
2½ cups sugar, divided
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup light corn syrup (I used brown rice syrup)
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
2 2/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature is ideal)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips (optional — I did not use them. This cake really doesn’t need them.)
powdered sugar for dusting
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together ½ cup of the sugar, the cocoa powder and syrup with ½ cup hot water. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add ½ teaspoon of vanilla off the heat and set aside.
2. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan. (I never flour anymore — it always burns for me. I coated the bundt pan with cooking spray.)
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), cream the butter with the remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then whisk in the remaining vanilla.
4. Whisk about a third of the flour mixture into the batter, then a third of the milk. Continue whisking in the flour mixture and milk, alternately and a little at a time, until everything is added and the batter is light and smooth.
5. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. (I really think the chocolate chips are unncessary, but that’s your call.) Divide the batter into thirds. Pour a third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
6. Whisk the chocolate syrup with another third of batter, then pour this into the bundt pan. Pour the remaining third of batter over this, lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a “marble” effect and place the pan in the oven.
7. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about an hour. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

And voila!  Next time you're craving something sweet, give this a go.  Enjoy!

Lemon Cake, Part Deux

So yes, once again I'm a repeat offender.  I made the lemon cake again.  What can I say?  It was my boss's birthday, and his wife told me he loves lemon cake!  In my own defense, though, I did it up a little different, using fresh whipped cream as frosting, and fresh raspberries on top.  SO good.  I'd actually venture to say that it was better than the lime frosting!  Especially in the middle of winter, such a refreshing dessert!  I've gotten rave reviews in the office so far (but hey, who's going to call me up and say, "Hmmm. Yeaaah.  Your cake kiiiiinda stunk. Sorry!" ;)

So I don't leave you hanging, though, I've got a non-baked good recipe to share.  The other night I made this OUTSTANDING soup that my best friend of 10 years, Anne,emailed to me.  She told me it's incredible, and that I had to try it.

Oh. my. god.

She was right, it's amaaaazing!  While I'd normally make a soup like this in the fall, when squash is more plentiful (or maybe it's just my grocery store, but I had to buy organic.  It's all they had!), this was so satisfying on the chilly and rainy Sunday we had this week in DC.  The only warning I'll throw out was that peeling and cubing an acorn squash was like nothing I've ever experienced before.  Flat out: it was hard.  Be sure you have a sharp knife!  Also, if you wait to peel, core, and cube your apples until after the squash, you'll feel like a ninja with your knife skills.  Substantially easier!!

On to the recipe!

Apple Squash Soup
Acorn squash makes the richest soup, even though it can be difficult to peel; butternut or even yellow zucchini may be substituted. This simple soup adds color and elegance to any meal!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onion
About 3 pounds acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (about 6 cups)
2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, cored, and cubed
3 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1-2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, for garnish
In a large soup pot, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add squash, apples, chicken stock, and salt.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes or until squash and apples are tender. Puree the soup in a blender (I used my immersion blender, worked beautifully!) and return to soup pot. Stir cider into pureed soup. If necessary, reheat soup until hot. Pepper liberally.

Grate or chop apples into tiny pieces just before serving and garnish each bowl of soup.

**I also added a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg to mine, which turned out excellent.  Anne likes to add some curry powder to hers.  There's a ton you could do with this!  I also think that some warm, chewy french bread is a must when eating this soup.  SO good!

Cookie Fail/Win

**Note to my faithful readers: I made these cookies about a month ago.  I didn't want to post until I had a recipe for you!  These would be great any time of the year, perhaps some heart-shaped treats for your favorite valentine? :) I also have a recipe for pumpkin pie coming up that will knock your socks off!  Same thing, just waiting to get another copy of the recipe here (I lost mine! Woops!).  Enjoy, and I apologize for being a little late!**

Alright folks. I gotta be straight with you.

The "horn" cookies didn't make it to fruition. This is the point where I tell you all that *cringe!* I'm human. See, the recipe calls for evaporated milk, and I'll be darned if that's not RIGHT next to the condensed milk in the grocery store! My snarky, sarcastic side says I should blame this cookie failure on the grocery store...but I'm fully aware that I was rushing through my list of things to buy. The worst part? I even opened the can!!! The only reason I caught the mistake was that I looked at the recipe to see that it called for 6.5 oz of evaporated milk and thought, "Gee, this a 14 oz can, what a pain...wait...CONDENSED?!?!!? OH come ON!" So I scratched the idea (and about 6 cups of flour on top of that..."ouch!", says my wallet) and moved on.

So what I have for you today are some perfectly delightful Sugar Cookies, courtesy of Everyday Food Magazine. They turned out to be really cute, thanks to my new cookie cutters, and sparkly white decorative sugar from my favorite cooking store: Hill's Kitchen. Seriously. If you live here, go there! It's nothing short of the best!!

Today's sugar cookie recipe was a bit strange. The method to make them was very much like making pie dough, in that it required the butter to be cold and cut into the dry ingredients. I made these right after my mix-up with the horn cookies, so I started off flustered. Genius that I am, I forgot to add one of the sticks of butter at the beginning! So where it says "Pulse until it looks like coarse crumbs" I was thinking, "Well, not really...but onward!" Yep. So I added the eggs, the vanilla, and I pulsed and pulsed wondering just why it wasn't looking like "wet sand" as the recipe said. So I walk over to grab a spoon to clear the sides of the bowl, and what do I see? a FULL stick of butter on the counter. I won't repeat the expletives that were shouted for your innocent eyes...but I'm pretty sure my landlord upstairs might think I have Tourette's after this day of madness.

So here's where, if my husband were home, I would cry and probably throw a couple things around. Since I had no audience, my thought was, "Well...at this point it can't get any worse!" so onward I went.

AND IT WORKED!!!!!! Holy guacamole folks. I was seriously not expecting this. I cut the butter into pieces, popped them in the food processor, and together it came. Amazing. These cookies turned out so cute, and so delicious! I used a simple recipe for royal icing for some of them, and I used red and white sugar for the candy canes. So while I hope you don't feel the need to throw things around or scream expletives while you bake them, I do hope you enjoy them as much as I with did! With that, on to the recipe!

Citrus Sugar Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, December 2009 issue

Makes 40 3-inch cookies

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for working
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (if you're like me and you don't have a food processor, you can sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then grate the butter into the dry mixture, lightly tossing to incorporate). Add sugar, eggs, and lemon zest and process until the mixture resembles wet sand.
2. Turn mixture out onto a lightly floured surface; knead several times until dough comes together. Divide into 3 portions; flatten each into a disk. Roll each disk to an 1/8-inch thickness between sheets of parchment (or wax paper). Stack dough (still in parchment/paper) on a baking sheet; refrigerate 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in middle and lower thirds. Working with 1 dough sheet at a time, peel off parchment. With lightly floured cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and arrange, 1 inch apart, on baking sheets (reroll scraps). Refrigerate 15 minutes.

4. Bake until cookies are set but still pale, 7 to 9 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.

Another word for the wise? I used a spoon to decorate my cookies, and I found it to be the easiest way to get to the edges without looking too messy. The biggest trick is icing all the cookies before the frosting hardens in your bowls, so if you're really smart you'll recruit some helpers!  Or, you can be like me and watch The Goonies on TV like a zombie, and before you know it you're all done! :) Enjoy!

Stop...Cookie Time.

I think we can all agree that some point in our lives, "C" was for cookie, and it was good enough for all of us. Well this weekend, friends, I'm heading back to my little kid days, and whipping up some dee-lish Santa Snacks to share with all of you! I'm going the classic route, with sugar cut-out cookies. The Cleveland route, with Klotchky (Kolachy? I've heard both. Klotchky is to appease my huband...who is "always right.") Cookies, a classic for anyone who ever went to an old relative's house in Northeast Ohio during the holidays. And finally, the Cobb route! My wonderful mother-in-law passed out recipe cards in addressed envelopes to everyone who attended my bridal shower, and one that I got just recently was from my good friend Brenna Cobb. She passed down her grandmother's recipes for "Horn Cookies" which sound delicious!

So on we go, to tons and tons of cookies! Hopefully they make it long enough for me to get them to work tomorrow! :) The first recipe I did this weekend was for Klotchky Cookies. These are little cream cheese based cookies with a bit of jam in the middle. I don't know why they were so popular in Ohio, but I'm pretty sure that someone made them for just about every family event we ever had. Sometimes they were filled with Almond Paste, some filled with strawberry jam, even my Mom remembers her Great Grandmother making Prune filled cookies (go figure, they were her favorite!)! Well since I was making them this time around, I decided to go with my two favorites: Apricot, and Raspberry. Any jam, jelly, or preserves will work in this case, though, so get creative!

Klotchky Cookies

("Jam-filled cream-cheese cookies" from Everyday Food Magazine)

Makes 48. Prep time: 45 min. Total Time: 1.5 hr + chilling

• 8 oz bar cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 C all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 C jam, jelly, or preserves (I didn't measure this out, just scooped portions out of the jar)

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer (I used my stand mixer), beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add flour and salt. Beat until combined (but don't overmix!).

Divide dough into 3 portions. Flatten each into a disk. Roll each disk to a 1/8 inch thickness between sheets of parchment. Stack dough (still in parchment) on a baking sheet; refridgerate 20 min.

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix egg yolk with 1/2 tsp water. Working with the dough 1 sheet at a time, peel off top sheet of parchment (save for baking!). With a 2" round, or 2" star cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Spoon 1/2 tsp jam into the center of each, and brush exposed edges with egg wash. Shape cookies, and arrange 2" apart on two parchment lined baking sheets (mine didn't spread at all, so I went about 1" apart) and refridgerate 20 minutes (I did no such thing. Into the oven they went!). Before baking I brushed the tops with egg wash and sprinkled with plain sugar.

Bake until cookies are light golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks. To store, cover and keep at room temperature up to four days.

Okay, so as you can see above, I used the star cookie cutter method. Below is what the end product looked like:

Aren't they pretty?! Like little jewels! I used the star method, because as a kid, we always had them from round or square cookies with two sides folded in. These were much prettier, but most likely much more of a pain to get through. It took a while to make sure the edges were together, and even so, some came apart in baking (what a bummer! I get to eat the mess-ups! haha!). Another thing to note was that 1/2 tsp is a LOT of filling here. Some stars had an extremely hard time closing, and some (as you can see above) overflowed a bit during cooking. Towards the end, I used a tiny bit less, and pressed my thumb into the middle of my stars to give the jam a little more room.

These were SO good, though. I'm actually thinking about making more, since I have all of the ingredients. But onward we go!! Up next are the horn cookies! Stay tuned!....

There's a hole in this cake...

"It's a bundt"
"Boont?"
"BUNDT! BUNDT!"

Ah, one of my absolute favorite scenes from a movie ever. I can't make a bundt cake without saying it to anyone who may be around to listen...

So back to the story! This week's cake is a beauty. Even my picky-pants husband liked it (seriously, that's saying something)! This week I made a Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pound Cake courtesy of Ms. Paula Deen. I need to tell you it's by Paula so when you look at the recipe below and say "Natalie, what the heck is WRONG with you?! A stick of butter?!" you'll know it's not me...it's Paula. And DANG is it good! I'm quite convinced that the pudding is what makes this recipe so delicious. It stays so gooey and moist, I bet you could leave it on the counter for a day and it would still be delicious!

I made the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pound cake on the premise that I would slice it up and bring it to the office bake sale. Yay me, good deeds. Welp. Not the case.

Turns out that the office bake sale was more of a department bake sale...and I have too much pride to bring it downstairs with a big smile and say, "I made you a cake to sell!" to a bunch of people I don't know. So now I have a big honkin' cake on my counter at home. Great.

I think I'm going to bring a big chunk to my landlord upstairs, wrapped up all pretty like I planned this all along :) Anyway, on to the recipe!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
by, Paula Deen from The Lady & Sons, Too

• 4 eggs
  
• 1 1/2 C Water
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 pkg butter recipe cake mix
  
• 1 3.4 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding mix*
  
• 1 3.4 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix*
  
• 1/2 C (1 stick) melted butter
  
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 6 oz chocolate chips
  

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour tube pan.

In mixing bowl, beat the eggs, water, and vanilla by hand**. Stir in the cake mix and pudding mixes. Slowly add the butter and oil, and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes***.

Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate. Sift confectioner's sugar over the cake, or drizzle chocolate sauce over it, if desired****.

Alrighty, here's where I put in my two cents.

*I have no idea what kind of mutant pudding packages they sell in Georgia, but here in our lovely Nation's Capitol, they sell 3.9oz packages. Normally I'd just throw in the whole package, but the cake is already so dense and moist, I just eyeball it and leave some pudding in the package. Use your best judgement.

**If you're looking to beef up your arms (maybe you're going for the Schwarzenegger look?)...go ahead and beat everything by hand. But I'll tell you that when the recipe tells you to mix in the oil and melted butter slowly, that batter is going to be so thick you'll be swearing like a sailor by the time you need to "mix well". I had Jeff come in and pour slowly, so I could hold the bowl with one hand and mix with the other. The next time I make it, I'll beat the eggs, water, vanilla in my KitchenAid mixer bowl by hand, then just attach it to the mixer for the rest, and keep it on low speed.

***For once my super-charged oven went the full time on a recipe! I cooked mine for the full 60 min.

****Call me a purist, but I say this cake needs nothing but a cold glass of milk.

Hope you enjoy!

But I would be proud to partake in your...

Pecan Pieeee!

Chocolate pecan pie to be exact. *gracefully receives "ooh"s and "aah"s from the peanut gallery. A-thank you, a-thank you*

Here's a little back story:

I had such a wonderful weekend. I took off work on Friday because my wonderful mom came to visit! We spent the weekend shopping, eating at awesome restaurants around DC (Seventh Hill, Co Co Sala, and Chef Geoff's to name a few), and of course made a stop at the incredible Georgetown Cupcake. We always have the best time when she's in town, and I'm always sad to see her go. So she left this morning, and I was admittedly a little mopey. What better to lift my spirits than baking?!

I started off with a pie crust recipe that I got from a cooking class at Hill's Kitchen. It's a Butter/Shortening pie crust that creates nothing short of heaven. Any other day I would post it here, but it's so involved and so tricky, that I would just recommend looking up a recipe on your own, and working through it. Pie crust seems to be a tricky beast to tame, and while it's been edible the two times I've made it, it's a serious science to figure out the consistency of the perfect crust.

Here's my step by step process for tonight's baking fun:

First: Make the dough!

Would ya look at that pretty little dough ball? Well after I let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours (it needs at least 30 minutes to chill) I rolled it out to find an extremely cracked hunk of dough. Lucky for me I had that handy-dandy glass of water there to help me. I have found, also, that this little baby makes pie dough a piece of cake...well...a piece of pie at the very least:

Meet my mean, green, dough making machine:

This little baby makes cutting butter and shortening into flour a cinch. No forks, no knives, just pulse! It's a beauty, and I doubt I'd be as adventurous about making pie if I didn't have it.

Next I followed Paula Deen's recipe for Chocolate Pecan Pie and used some adorable little mini fall cookie cutters that my mom got me this weekend from Hill's Kitchen. Seriously, if you haven't been to that store here on the Hill, it's just awesome. If you like cooking the tiniest bit, you will *love* this store! Here's what I ended up with (pre-baked):

How cute are those little leaves?! And here's what it looks like post-baked:

HA! Just kidding, I didn't eat the whole thing...just a slice. Bringing it to work tomorrow, though, because leaving it in my house is a dangerous dangerous thing!

Hope you all have a Happy Monday!