Friday, December 30, 2011

Lemon Raspberry Breakfast Rolls - My birthday treat!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Or at least I hope you had a good one. Personally, my holidays could have gone better. My date fell sick and that kind of bummed me out. Our dinner plans fell through and I felt the blues. I started listening to the blues and usually I'm quite upbeat. What made it worse was we had planned to meet on my birthday which was a few days ago. Sigh...

But, I realized, it's my birthday. I'm not going sit around moping. I'm going to take control of my life and do something. Carpe Diem! 

So I decided to do what I do best - bake. I had this recipe that I've been meaning to do for such a long long time and today was the perfect occasion.

Lemon Raspberry rolls....

Just let those words sink in or a second. My mouth was watering the moment I feasted my eyes on those three words. A sunny dish to lighten up my day and match my sunny personality (hey it's all relative here...)

Friday, December 23, 2011

Recipe #3 - Rosemary Ciabatta bread


I love Ciabatta bread. I go several times a week to the nearby Trader Joe's and grab myself a loaf of their par-baked bread. Usually to make an amazing Panzanella tomato bread salad (which will be coming in a bonus post soon).

But then I asked myself - since I have been making breads for the last few weeks, why can't I make this one as well?

Ciabatta bread, here I come.....

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Recipe #2 - Orange Brioche Bread


I love the holidays - Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza -  every single day. I can feel the holiday spirit oozing from every person I meet. The joy, the cheers, the drinks, the food, and the happiness just invigorate me.

I need the energy too - I’m chugging along through the book and I wanted to take it up a notch. I’ve been baking cookies for the last month or two, and I missed one of my baking pleasures – breads.

The book from the Culinary Institute of America is famous partly because of the fact that they have amazing recipes on their breads and detailed instructions on how to proof and bake each one.

So I decided to start off with something tough and challenging (between you and me, it was pretty simple) – Orange Brioche Bread. This is the perfect holiday bread to make for your family.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Recipe #1 - Double Chocolate Bing Cherry Cookies

If you saw my last post, my goal was to go through my 1st edition 1000 page book from the Culinary Institute of America for baking and pastry. Well here goes.....

My first recipe from the book.... Page number 326.



Double chocolate Bing Cherry Cookies.....

Yes, I saw you do a double take and rightfully so. They are absolutely delectable.

Friday, December 9, 2011

A New Phase begins .... my own Baking Challenge



Hey all,
So I was looking back and I realized that it's been a little more than a YEAR since I started. Omg! One year! Can you believe it?

Thank you to all who have stopped by so far and inspire me to keep going.

I've loved making every single baking recipe so far, but now that I've gotten my feet wet, it's time to take it to the next level....