Love, Loss and What I Baked: Tempest in a Teacup

This was circa 1995 I think, and the blurry photo above was taken with a film camera in our sunny kitchen in San Francisco.

As soon as I saw the chef on the series Cooking Secrets of the CIA making Chocolate Tea Cups with Tuile Spoons I NEW I had to make them.

What you do is melt chocolate, dip in a 3/4 blown balloon - water balloon size - and then let the chocolate harden. Once it does, you poke the balloon with a pin right near the knot and let the air slowly come out. Voila! You've got a chocolate cup. Pipe a "C"-shaped handle and attach it with melted chocolate.

Sounds easy right? It is... until....

Until you have a balloon with a weak spot or chocolate with a hot spot or a deadly combination of the two.

As my husband describes it, "There she was in the kitchen, happy as a clam dipping her balloons. I leave the room for a sec and hear a loud, 'Oh !@#$%^&*!!!!!!'. I go back into the kitchen and it looks like a chocolate crime scene."

Yes, one of my balloons POPPED a couple of inches above the bowl. It looked like a crazy person had splattered chocolate all over the place. I was cleaning chocolate for months and months. It was under the chairs, behind the shelves, on top of the fridge....

But isn't the cup the cutest thing???? I filled it with coffee mouse and topped that with whipped cream and a Tuile Spoon to our friends Beth and Scott - who not only got a yummy dessert, but a funny story.

Tuile Cookies
Recipe from: Your Place or Mine
by JEAN-CHRIST NOVELLI

Tuile means "tile" in French, and is a classic, old-fashioned cookie. The traditional shapes are usually a shaped oval (almost like a Pringle) or rolled into a "cigarette." It's fun to play around with different shapes.

Makes about 24

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

• whites of 3 eggs

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Gradually beat in the egg white, then fold in the flour until you have a smooth paste. Chill for about 2 hours.

3. Place small spoonfuls of the mixture about 4 inches apart on a nonstick baking sheet, then spread these out into rounds with a spatula.

4. Bake for about 4 minutes until the mixture is just beginning to color (keep checking).

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool very slightly until you can handle them. Shape the rounds by draping them over the length of a rolling pin or as described below. Leave until completely cool and set, then lift off gently. you can keep the tuiles in an airtight container for up to a week.

Other Shapes:

Baskets
Depending on the size you want, drape your warm rounds of baked tuile over the top of a clean bottle or gently press them inside a tea or custard cup and leave until cool.

Stencils
Take a piece of clean cardboard and cut out the shapes you want: say, flowers or leaves. Lay the cardboard stencil on your baking sheet and spread the mixture over the top. Lift off the cardboard carefully before baking.

More Cakes I Didn't Make (But Wish I Had)

Threadless is a well-cool web site where you can upload your well-cool designs and have them printed on T-shirts. Cool!

For the past three years they've been holding Threadcakes, a contest for cake decorators to submit photos of cakes inspired by their favorite T-shirt designs. The results are beyond amazing! When I'm asked why I don't make cakes professionally, the answer is right here. Just look a what a real pro can do:

Pie Pops

I didn't make these, someone else did. Some who should be given a McArthur grant for the pure genius that is Pie Pops.

Wanna know how to make 'em? Go HERE. Even if you don't think you'll ever make them, go HERE, the photography is beautiful.

Bacio con Biscotti

The bad news is, I've had to give up teaching Wilton Cake Decorating classes at Michael's. I've loved meeting so many amazing women, learning new things myself, and kvelling with pride as each student has mastered buttercream roses.

The good news is, I have a new, full-time job at Chronicle Books, a fabulous local publisher of stunning books on art, design, cooking, craft, entertainment parenting, and amazing books for children. Also games, kits and fantastic stationery. I'm thrilled!

The best way I know of to make an impression (and OK, I'm not proud, kiss up) to my new co-workers is to bring in a basket of homemade bakies. So at the end of my first week, I came to the office bearing a couple of batches of biscotti.

These crunchy little cookies are not too sweet, and are cheap and easy to make. Almond Biscotti is my go-to recipe, but I only had enough for one batch. I had lots of cashews in the freezer leftover from a recent pesto project, so I threw in those with some lemon zest (love having a lemon tree in the backyard!) and pumpkin pie spice (I would have used ginger if I'd had it, but I didn't...)

Biscotti

2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet with foil and grease well, or use a silpat.

Beat the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale, about 2 minutes.

Beat in the flour and baking soda and continue beating until blended. Mix in the
almonds.

With floured hands, form half of the dough into a 12-inch log. Place on
the baking sheet and press down to flatten to a width of about 3 inches. Repeat
with the remaining dough.

Bake the cookie loaves for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, leaving the oven
on. Let the loaves cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove them to a cutting board.

Slice each loaf diagonally with a serrated bread knife into 12 slices.

Put the slices back on the cookie sheet, laying them on their sides. Return them to
the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

Cookies will keep for about a week in an airtight container, or for up to 3 months
in the freezer.

Makes 24 cookies.

Cashew Lemon Spice Variation

Add the zest of 1 lemon with the eggs and sugar
Replace the almonds with 3/4c. toasted, unsalted cashews
Add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or pumpkin pie spice with the flour

We all scream...

... when we try to make Ice Cream Cupcakes. At least I do. Until now.

I've made these a couple of times with mixed results. The come out top-heavy, the cone gets soggy, and they're really hard to transport from home to a party. Turns out I was doing it ALL WRONG!

You DON'T bake the batter in the cone, you bake the cupcake separately and pop it into a cone. And you fill the bottom of the cone with candy or gumballs to keep the little yummies from toppling over - brilliant. You can also add a mini cupcake on top for a tall, soft-serve look. Yum!

Check out this short, helpful video from Betty Crocker:

Love, Loss and What I Baked: Rice Krispie Wedding Cake

My mom never made Rice Krispies Treats (RKTs) when I was a kid (she doesn't like them) and it never occurred to me to make them until I the boy was around 5 or 6. And now, I kind of can't stop. They're so much fun! You can color them, shape them, mold them, put them on a stick, add M&Ms or peanut butter - or both!

The idea of a tiered RKT cake had been playing around in my head for a while, and when I was invited to a friend's informal BBQ wedding reception in a park, I not only RSVP'd, but offered to bring an RKT cake that would feed the crowd.

The cake had a 12", 9" and 6" layers and took a LOT of cereal and marshmallows (and real butter, natch) I don't remember how much, but there were several trips to the store. I piped a simple design of vines, leaves and a star border with buttercream, but if I had to do it again I'd use royal icing. I also studded it with gold dragees from my contraband stash.

I've since learned that these are a pretty popular wedding cake option - and have been featured on the Today Show and Martha Stewart. Oh well, so I didn't invent the RKT Wedding Cake, but I'm happy with my version.

Marla Can't Be Stopped (Yay!)

Marla was one of the first students to take my classes back in April. At the time she was a novice baker - she didn't even own a mixer! Now just look at the lovely cakes she's making. I'm so proud :)