Once again, my ability to stop time has failed, and my birthday has rolled around again.
I’ll admit that 37 was not quite the year I thought it was going to be, it had a high learning curve, but then I guess you need those every now and then.

This year I will be celebrating in an unorthodox capacity…I’m going to Beer fest. I actually already went to one a couple of weeks ago, but this is the big Seattle one and I didn’t really have any plans. We are making the controversial (read most likely regret later) decision to bring the dog. My husband cringed at this idea, but it’s my birthday so he has to go along with it. Don’t worry, Crazy Cocker Spaniel won’t be doing any beer sampling. She will however most likely be annoying people and trying to jump and lick on them. Which some people like to get jumped…and licked, just not usually by animals.

I don’t usually bother with a cake for my birthday. Since my husband’s birthday is three days after mine we make cake for him. Unfortunately for me though, he likes BOXED yellow cake with STORE BOUGHT icing. Oh the horror. But as a good little wife I make it. I do however want a birthday treat of my own.

So when I ran across a recipe that encompassed all the food I love (except no bacon darn it all) I almost fell over. Pumpkin. Love that. Cheesecake. Love that. Bread Pudding. Duh, love that. But a Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread Pudding…are you F*ing serious with that. They were.
It was about as awesome as it sounds. Next time I might add a little more spice to mine but other than that, oh my. And now that I’ve made one, I see many more Cheesecake based Bread Puddings in my future. Watch out hips…here it comes. I topped mine with some butterscotch sauce that a friend of mine brought back from Oregon. You can use a caramel sauce just fine.

Hope everyone has a great Canada Day (those celebrating it) and I hope you all enjoy my birthday (July 2nd)…have a beer, it will be like you are with me.

Birthday Girl Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread Pudding
14 to 16 1/2 inch slices brioche

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

For the topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

Preheat to 350F. Set rack in middle. Spray a 9-x-13-inch oven proof glass (I used metal) baking dish with baking spray.
Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth.
Combine eggs, pumpkin, milk, heavy cream, salt, and spices in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment,. Beat until smooth. Add cream cheese mixture and combine.

Pour 1/2 cup custard in bottom of baking dish. Tilt and swirl dish until bottom is completely covered with thin layer of custard. Layer 6 slices of brioche on top of custard. Pour half of the remaining custard over brioche. Add remain brioche and custard in layers.

Use a knife to cut 8 slits though layered pudding. Cover the top of pudding with plastic wrap and press down gently with your palm. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle brown sugar over top of pudding. Pour melted butter over sugar.

Place baking dish on a rack in a large meal pan. Pour hot water from glass forming a water bath. You want to go half way up the side. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until top is nicely browned and the custard has risen to top of baking dish. Check water bath occasionally and add more water if needed. Do not let the water evaporate from the water bath.

Carefully remove baking dish room oven and water bath. Allow pudding to cool on rack 1 hour. Serve slightly warm or cold. Store covered with a paper towel and plastic wrap in refrigerator.

Adapted from Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters by Marilynn Brass and Shelia Brass

I will admit that I am not one to hang out with women all that much. The vast majority of my female friends tend to fall on the tomboy side of life. So when Sex and the City came out years ago on HBO I didn’t watch it. I went years having my friends go on and on about it. So when we finally got HBO, I sat down and watched the series over a few months. I also saw the first movie.
It was alright.
I just don’t relate to any of the characters. In fact, when people ask me which character am I, I always tell them Jennifer Hudson’s character. I think Louise? Her I could relate too. A thicker gal. Poor. Living with roommates. Educated but can’t really find a job. But still wants to be fashionable. This was my girl. And the fact that she squealed with delight over her LV purse. Which I also did. I also petted mine for days like it was a cat or something, but that’s just me.
So when the second movie came out, I was asked to go out with a bunch of girls to go see it. Okay, why not, I’ve come this far right? I had a great time. I actually enjoyed the movie. But I think that might have been artificially enhanced by the fact that the movie place we went to allowed cocktails. You had to be 21 or over to get into the place as well. Which I love and now only want to go to those types of movies. Imagine going to the movies where there are no kids or teenagers….and beer is on tap. And they bring you replacement beer throughout the movie! Heaven.  Everybody else had cocktails though. Just me and the token two guys at the movie were having beer. Needless to say, I think cocktails could have helped me enjoy some movies that I thought were subpar.
The same week I saw the movie I received a copy of The Perfect Finish (disclaimer…I got my copy for free, from the publisher). I was particularly interested in this one because it was written by the pastry chef for the White House. It seems that as of late all the cookbooks seem to be from some TV celebrity (I use that term loosely), so it was nice to get something written by a pastry chef.
Now my one concern though is that when it is done by a pastry chef, it can often become very technical. Those kind of cookbooks tend to scare off the average home cook by using big fancy words. Boo on big fancy words I say. The good news is that this cookbook is good for your average and above average baker. It gives the ingredients in both standard measure like the states people love as well as in metric, which everyone else (especially those of us who weigh their ingredients) love. There are plenty of recipes that I want to make from this book. The Walnut Layer Cake with Apple-Caramel Filling and Calvados Cream Cheese Icing will so be made come this Fall. The Candied Bacon Peach Cobbler will also be made once the peaches are how I like them. But what caught my eye this time around was the Fresh Coconut Cupcakes with Orange and Rum. Which I immediately decided should become Pina Colada Cupcakes. And so it was done.
These were made into minis because I was thinking cocktail party. And bite size just seemed the way to go. Though you probably want to use fresh pineapple, don’t. You need the juice from the can for the icing.
Oh and for all you Sex and the City fans, I will answer the other question SATC people always ask me…Aidan…all the way!!!

And if you’re not following CCbP on Facebook and want to….here.

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Coconut Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, pulverized  into a powder in the food processor
10 TBSP unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBSP rum
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
Position rack into the center of the oven and preheat to 325F.
Grease a 24 cup muffin tin with baking spray.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, coconut, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and rum until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
Add one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the sour cream. Beat on low speed until just combined. Repeat twice.
Using a spoon or piping bag, divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins. Bake for 13-16 minutes until the cakes are golden and the tops bounce bake when pressed. You can use a cake tester or wooden skewer to see if it comes out clean. Let cool in the tins on rack.
Cake recipe adapted from The Perfect Finish by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark,  W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
Pineapple-Coconut Buttercream

 
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
6-8 cups powdered sugar (this will depend on the consistency you want)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
Juice from the can of pineapple
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut, pulverized into powder in the food processor
2 tsp rum
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl.
Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the pineapple, coconut,  and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. and mix thoroughly.

One of the most often emailed question is “if I did it this way, do you think it would turn out?” And my usual response is, “only one way to find out?” Now granted if they ask can I use skim milk instead of heavy cream and I know it wont turn out then I tell them right away. But if they just want to get a little creative, I say go for it.

And that is how this little gem of breakfast treat came about. I wanted some french toast. Only problem was that the only kind of bread I had laying around was not the kind that would have made for very good french toast. But what I did have sitting out on the counter was a loaf of angel food cake that I had made to help us up the large flat of strawberries I bought (why do I always think I can eat a whole flat of strawberries in time). I stared at it and thought…it’s shaped like bread, why the heck not. So I sliced it up, dipped in the ol’ egg and milk batter and threw it in some butter. And WOW! That was soooooo good. The only problem is that it is so light, that like rice krispy treats, you almost didn’t know you ate it. Which is good that you have a light breakfast but bad because you eat the whole loaf…well half. Okay, whole. Who am I trying to kid?

I wasn’t even going to post the angel food cake recipe (most people have one). But when I posted on Facebook that I made french toast out of Angel Food Cake, people became highly interested. So I figured, why not put it up.

And speaking of Facebook, Culinary Concoctions has it’s own page on there. The benefit for you is that sometimes I put recipes on there that don’t make it to the blog…so you might want to become a fan of the page.

And lastly a quick shout out to my dad on this rainy and gray Father’s Day. I hope you had a great one Dad. No doubt you spent the day in your chair watching TV while “resting your eyes”!

Wont Know Till You Try Angel Food Cake French Toast

1 loaf Angel Food Cake (you can make or you can buy…I wont tell), sliced like bread

4 eggs
1 tsp maple sugar (or just granulated if you don’t have)
1 cup milk (I used almond milk because of my dairy issue and it was fine)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of fresh nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, extract, and spices until completely incorporated.

Over medium-low heat, heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter.

Place the cake slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time.

Transfer cake slices to griddle or skillet, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast hot with butter and syrup. Or strawberries and yogurt. Or whatever you want. 

Angel Food Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

*Note that I made mine is a steel bread pan. The baking time is about the same, a little less. Check. You can bake in a regular loaf pan as well.

Angel Food Cake recipe from Alton Brown Food Network.com

I was at Costco the other day standing in line. The man in front of me had a large bouquet of red roses. The man that was in front of him in line turned around and asked him how much the flowers were.

His reply, “I don’t know. Whatever the price of I totally f*$#ed up is…I didn’t check the price, it doesn’t matter at this point.”

Ah yes, the I totally messed up, not even sure why, but boy is my wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/person I have and want to continue to have sex with mad at me, please forgive me, flowers. Now I’m not totally sure what the man did. But it had to be bad enough that he wasn’t really caring what they cost but not too bad because he was after all buying them at Costco and not having them sent. Just an FYI, most girls like their flowers sent. Especially to work. Where everyone can see them. Just saying.

Poor men never know quite what to get/do when they screw up. For anniversaries they have a guide. It’s a stupid guide, but a guide nonetheless. And let’s face it, most men need a guide (don’t puff up guys…you know it’s true). I just celebrated my 6th, which means sugar or iron. We gave neither, but he had a guide.

Now someday, perhaps when I am feeling more creative, I will sit down and write one. Probably sell it, make a big profit, tour the nation and neglect my blog. But for now, since this is a baking blog, I will just make one suggestion. If you do a small mess up, nothing says sorry like a nice home baked good. It shows you cared to take the time to make them something. Just make sure to make them something they actually like.

Todays treat is a perfect example of what to bake. It’s pretty easy to make and most people like chocolate. These are called muffins but not really. They are about as healthy for you as eating Nutella for breakfast. Which I do, but just not healthy. These are definitely best when warm and with ice cream. I topped mine off with Ben and Jerry’s Mud Pie Ice Cream which is described as “Chocolate & Coffee Liqueur Ice Creams Swirled Together with a Chocolate Cookie Swirl”. Because I put Kahula in the muffin I thought it would be a great match…it was!

And a quick little note, due to people asking, I now have a Facebook page for this blog. Feel free to go and Like me. If you go to the page then you will most likely find out what is coming on the blog before others do.

And lastly, our winners.

98.Charlene Says:
June 12th, 2010 at 3:12 am

“Happy 5th Birthday! I am new to the blogging world, but am hooked. I stumbled across your blog while looking for a samoa cheesecake and when I searched, yours popped up. I made it and well there are no words to express how truly sublime this was. I plan to try many more recipes. Here is wishing you all the best and keep your recipes coming because you have a wonderful blog filled with so many exceptional recipes. Enjoy your week-end!”

and

17.Valerina Says:
June 11th, 2010 at 5:32 am

“A very Happy 5th to you and your blog!! Congratulations. I’ve been following your blog for a little over a year now, it’s actually one of the blogs that inspired me to start my own.
My favourite recipe from here are your Snickerdoodle muffins. I think I’ve made them at least 5 times.”
Congrats to our winners! I will be emailing you shortly to get your addresses!
And thanks to everyone who has been a loyal (and heck, not so loyal) reader over the years!

Sorry I F’ed Up Milk Chocolate Chip Brownie Muffins

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup + 2 TBSP unsalted butter
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP Kalhua (optional)
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
6 ounces milk chocolate chips

extra milk chocolate chips for topping

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 12 muffin forms with paper liners.

Melt semisweet chips and butter in top of double boiler over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from heat; set aside to cool.

Beat in eggs, sugar, Kalhua, and vanilla. Stir in flour just until incorporated. Fold in milk chocolate chips.

Fill lined muffin cups about ¾ of the way full. Top with 10-12 milk chocolate chips.

Bake 30-35 minutes; do not over bake. A toothpick inserted in center will still have moist crumbs clinging to it. Remove from muffin tin and cool on rack.

Serve warm with ice cream!

Adapted from the Guittard Chocolate Company