Under a blue moon

Chocolate Caramels with Sea Salt

Back when I was experimenting with macarons I discovered a baker on YouTube whose channel is called Cupcake Jemma.  While perusing her videos I came across her recipe for chocolate caramels with sea salt.  I thought they would make a great Christmas treat to give out.  

It is a very simple recipe to follow but it does require two kitchen tools to be successful; a kitchen scale and a candy thermometer. 

For baking and candy making it is always better to weigh your ingredients than measure them.  I have this scale that measures in both grams and ounces.  You can also place your dish or bowl on it and set the scale to zero then add your ingredient. 

Jemma's recipe called for golden syrup which is hard to find here in the US.  Corn syrup is NOT a good substitute.  I did find liquid raw sugar and used it in my batch.  I will try to locate the golden syrup for my next batch.

There are only six ingredients which are cream, dark chocolate, granulated sugar, golden syrup, butter and sea salt.  Amounts are listed on her video (I'm always hesitant to post someone else's recipe unless I have modified it in some way).

For the chocolate I used Trader Joe's dark chocolate with 56% cocoa.  It comes in a three pack and I used all three minus seven little squares.  What you do with the leftover squares is entirely up to you.  No judgement here.

A couple of notes on the steps.  Jemma's instructions had precise temperatures for caramelizing the sugar and for bringing the temperature  back up after adding the chocolate.  Both were just slightly above hard crack and hard ball.  I figured I would just use those settings (hard crack and hard ball) and I think I should have followed her specific temperatures.   My carmels turned out a little soft.  Good enough to keep in the fridge but not great for gifting. 

I also want to try the recipe with the golden syrup like I mentioned.  I have read that World Market carries it or I can make my own rather easily.  

In other news I should get my laptop back today.  I took the pictures in this post with my cellphone because I can't get photos from my camera onto my notepad.  So sorry for the poor quality.  Things should be back to normal on Wednesday.

Pumpkin Cake

Happy 1st day of October!  The countdown to Halloween officially starts.  I thought I would kick it off with pumpkin cake topped with deliciously light whipped cream cheese frosting.  

As I was taking pictures I realized that this is very close to the apple spice cake I made last month.  The difference is I found a much better cream cheese frosting.  The previous recipe had four cups of powdered sugar where this one only has one.  Much less cloying and oh so much fluffier. 

The cake recipe I used is the One-Bowl Pumpkin Sheet Cake from A Cozy Kitchen.  I followed the cake recipe exactly but used a different recipe for the frosting.   The frosting recipe I used comes from Natasha's Kitchen and it is so fluffy and light and just the right amount of sweetness. 

Here's something that happens behind the scenes...Since I don't eat cake (or any sweets) it is a little ridiculous to make an entire cake just for Rick so I tend to bake on Sundays so I can take it to Sunday dinner at my Dad's.  But I also want to take glamour shots of whatever I make.  I first take pictures of the whole cake then I cut a piece to get pictures of the inside of the cake.  Afterwards I carefully put the piece back and smear the frosting along the cut lines to hide them.  Ha! No one is the wiser.

A Cozy Kitchen decorated her cake with pretty pastel jimmies that she made herself.  Not having the patience or the wherewithal to do that I settled for a mix of white and orange.  But I love the idea of less garish colors when decorating cakes and found this shop that sells a huge variety of different colored jimmies.  I would have done a mix of peach and ivory.  

On Wednesday I'll share the Halloween Party invitations.  They have been all sent off on Saturday so the recipients should have received them and it won't ruin the surprise.

 

Pumpkin Spice

A couple of weeks ago the Minister of Creative Ventures (is that not a fabulous title?) at The Republic of Tea reached out and asked if I would like to try some of their teas.  They had seen a previous post on tea, my beverage of choice, and thought I might like to review some of their offerings.  Free tea?  I'm in!

And just to get the disclaimers out of the way I was sent the tea for free but am not being paid or even required to review it.  And if it turned out I didn't care for it I wouldn't review it all, to be honest.  The old 'if you don't have anything nice to say' adage runs deep in my veins....

I was invited to visit their website and pick anything I like - an old favorite or maybe something new.  I did both.  I am a black tea drinker (English Breakfast being my favorite) and could have stuck with that.  But their line of cozy weather teas caught my eye and I choose the Pumpkin Spice tea.  The pumpkin spice latte folks shouldn't have all the fun.

Of course I had to make a pumpkin pie as a prop.  Even though the temperatures are in the 90's right now.  Fall?  What fall?  

I start every morning with my low-carb muffin which I make with pumpkin pie spice.  I thought the tea would be the perfect pairing for it.  It is a black tea with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.  To me it is a little more sophisticated than pumpkin pie spice you would use to make a pie.  I find that some spiced teas can go overboard with the cinnamon but this is nicely balanced.   I use a vanilla coconut cream and almond milk creamer in my tea and the addition of vanilla is really nice.  

As for the company itself, The Republic of Tea is headquartered here in Northern California and is committed to creating a fair and sustainable tea industry for tea workers, farmers and the environment.  They also routinely donate to a number of non-profit organizations and causes like the American Red Cross for the relief efforts of the Northern California wildfires that have devastated our state.   

Great company with an admirable ethos and lovely tea.  Thank you, Minister of Creative Ventures, for inviting me to try your tea.

Apple Spice Cake

I'm kicking off the fall season with an apple recipe.  Okay I know it's not technically fall yet, and won't be for a few weeks, but to me September is fall and apples especially are fall.  

This is a simple apple spice sheet cake with cream cheese frosting.  I have no idea how it tastes because I don't eat cake but Rick assures me it is good, although maybe could have been a bit apple-ier.  

I will say the whole house smells fabulous.  Since I've been eating low carb I rarely bake.  I am starting to slowly add carbs back into my diet and while I don't think I'll be binging on baked goods anytime soon I think the occasional small treat won't derail my efforts.  

I may or may not have eaten a spoonful of cream cheese frosting while making this cake...

Apple Spice Cake (adapted from The Baker Chick which is adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

• 2 large Granny Smith (or other tart apple) apples peeled and cut into small pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⅓ cups vegetable oil 
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 350F. Oil and flour a quarter sheet pan and set aside.  If you don't have a sheet pan use 13 x 9 baking pan.
2. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and add the apples, 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until the apples are slightly soft.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until the mixture is fluffy and light. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed until just combined. Add in the apples and gently incorporate.
6. Spread batter in the sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time until creamy. Add the vanilla extract.
2. Frost cake in the pan and serve.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Pickled onions

Happy 4th of July!  This is going to be a quick and easy post.   I am packing up to head over to my son's and his wife's house to do grandma duties then we are going to have a bbq to celebrate our country's independence.  

This recipe for pickled onions is so easy and is perfect for Summer menus.  It's great thrown in a salad or coleslaw or used as a topping for burgers, hot dogs or any kind of sandwich (banh mi, anyone?).   And some people are known to just eat it straight out of the jar..ahem.

The jalapenos add just the right amount of heat but if they aren't your thing feel free to leave them out.  I prefer to use rice wine vinegar because I think it is a little more delicate than regular white or apple cider vinegar but either will do in a pinch.

On to the recipe!

Pickled Onions

• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

In a medium sauce pan bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil.  Add sliced onions and jalapenos and simmer for a minute or two.  Take off heat and allow to cool slightly.  I used a clean 13 oz. jam jar and this batch fit just perfectly.   Let chill at least an hour, overnight is even better.  It will last a week or two in the refrigerator (if it isn't eaten before then.

I hope you'll give them a try!