Categories
Cheesecakes Easy Baking Strange and Yummy

Sad Shibow Loves Surprises [Feat. Oreo Cookies]

I love surprises, but I am rarely surprised. Really. Nothin’ gets past Shibow…usually. So when it happens, I tend to really react. Last weekend, Sylvapotamus surprised me with a friends-and-cousins-filled surprise party that was stuffed with pizza, cake and, uh, eventually, whiskey. And then, Pommes Frites. And then, a place called Winners Bar. Maybe that’s all I need to say to convince you all that it was a really fabulous surprise. Thanks to everyone who lied to me about it…you are all excellent human beings.

In addition to that amazing day and night, I received some seriously sweet birthday presents from my lovely friends Atrish, Sofia and Dhanwanti, including a Betty Crocker cookbook, a set of baking pans, AND….

My new Sad Shibow apron!

Yes, I did tear up a little upon receiving this lovely present in the mail. The combination of receiving a gift, receiving it in the mail and having it be one that’s so personal really touched me. And it’s always a surprise to learn that other people actually read and like this blog, even if those people are people that I love. Thank you, you three beautiful ladies. While I’m at it, thank you to everyone who reads and likes/does not hate this blog. Let’s be friends forever.

Was that too gooey and mushy for you guys? Maybe I’m getting sentimental in my old age. Plus it’s been kind of a confusing and hazy week that I guess contributed to me reflecting on all of the awesome in my life. And there’s a lot of awesome. Did you see that apron? Awesomesauce.

I’ve also realized that it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve baked something, which has also probably contributed to my recent moodiness. So, in keeping with the tradition of surprises, I’m making Mini Oreo Cheesecakes. Where’s the surprise, you say? Well, each mini cake has a full Oreo cookie at the bottom. Did I just ruin the it? I’m a loser. Let me make it up to you with a recipe…

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes (Makes 1 dozen)

18 Oreos– 12 left intact and 6 roughly chopped

1 8oz package of either cream cheese or neufchatel cheese

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of sour cream

Tiny pinch of salt

So, if you’ve clicked over to the original link (By the way, is “Foodbeast” not an amazing blog name?), you’ll notice that I’ve halved the recipe. This is for two reasons: 1. People still think it’s my birthday and won’t stop feeding me, and 2. I live alone and can’t find anyone to eat 30 of these right now. But these idle hands need to create, so let’s do this.

Chopped Oreos: As with most things in life, these were incredibly messy, annoying, and WORTH IT.

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Line a muffin tin with liners and place one whole Oreo at the bottom of each. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until fully whipped. Gradually mix in the sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl that are certainly splattered with cheesy, sugary goodness (Yay, aprons!) then add the vanilla. Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time, before finally mixing in the sour cream and salt. Stir in the chopped cookies, and pour the mixture into your mouth evenly into each muffin tin.

Bake for 22-25 minutes (mine took a bit longer), until the sides look set and the center still jiggles a bit when you gently shake the pan. If you’re not gentle, you will burn yourself. It will be worth it, but you will burn yourself. Trust. Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, then send into the refrigerator for about 4 hours to cool completely.

So, as you can see, I went a little overboard with the chopped Oreos. I probably used closer to ten cookies, and while I’m a huge fan of all things Oreo, I’d recommend chopping no more than 6 for a dozen mini cheesecakes, if you really want to get a proper Oreo-to-cheesecake ratio. Obviously I was still pretty happy with where I went with these, and I think you will be too.

Categories
Cakes Strange and Yummy

For My 25th Birthday, I’d Really Like My Voice Back. And Maybe Some Cake. Actually I’d Settle For Just Cake.

Man, I really like to talk. Like, really. I guess this is one of those “don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone” situations, because my voice has been pretty much nonexistent and/or unrecognizable since Saturday night. I wish I could say it was from doing something fun like finally telling off Stamos or rocking out at an Appetite For Destruction show, but I truly have no explanation for where my voice went. My friend Jeff suggested that this was God’s way of telling me “to shut yo’ mouf.” Indeed, Jeff. Indeed. The other night a friend called to discuss the latest Project Runway and instead of putting my two cents in, all I could do was hoarsely laugh in agreement/frustration. When I woke up this morning I sounded like Gollum. Tomorrow I will probably sound like my dad. I call that progress.

Oh, and, as I write this, I am dealing with a serious bout of inexplicable nausea. I don’t want to go into too much detail about that on a baking blog, because, well, gross, but let’s just say that my fellow commuters are very lucky that I was able to woman up and stay strong during this morning’s rather rocky subway ride. Blech.

So I’m not feeling super fantastic. Plus, I’m turning 25 in a couple of days, so I figured that instead of putting myself to work this week, I’d kick back and gorge myself on sweets made by the hands of other, more experienced bakers, like those of Butter Lane, easily the best cupcake shop you will ever experience. And I’m not just saying that because I recently won a dozen free cupcakes from them for answering a trivia question correctly (OMG. YAY). To get serious for a hot minute, the place pretty much brought me back to my love of baking about a year ago. More on that another time, in a more in-depth post.

This was a birthday present from Sylvapotamus a couple of years ago. It is also possibly the best present I have ever received.

Anyway, I always get a little sad around my birthday. I don’t have a concrete reason for it, usually, but there is this weird, fortunately brief, seasonal moodiness that seems to like to always pop up around the beginning of October. This year it lasted for an hour, during which the emotional half of my brain got, um, emotional, and the zombie half of my brain, sensing Sad Shibow, got ready to bake like crazy. Coffee and doughnuts crazy.

Yes, dear readers, there lives the Coffee and Doughnuts Cake, which, as the creator so brilliantly describes, tastes “like a muffin and a doughnut holding hands.” Um, yes, please. Now, there are a few steps to this cake, including a cinnamon-sugar coating and an espresso glaze. This statement may deter you from making this cake, but I beg you to go into the doughnut-shaped light. Go, and don’t ever look back.

Coffee And Doughnuts Cake

5 tablespoons of unsalted softened butter

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, or 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose plus 1 cup of whole-wheat flour (I used the latter option which gave the cake a yummy nutty flavor)

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/4 cup of vegetable oil (I used canola)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

You can use a bundt pan for this cake, but I just used a 9×13″ pan because I like rectangles. Also because I don’t have a bundt pan. Grease whichever pan you decide on with a tablespoon of butter and preheat your oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, and set aside. In a separate larger bowl, using a hand or stand mixer, beat together the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, oil and sugars. When mixed, beat in your eggs one at a time.

Before I get to my pictures, let me just say that I neglected to charge the battery on my beloved DSLR. Instead of just giving you less-than-stellar pics of these creations, I decided to finally put the hipster-picture app on my iPhone to use. I think it’s called Instagram, but I like my name better. If you hate these pictures, I’m sorry, it will never happen again [until the next time my fancy camera gives out]. Anyway, here’s what you should have at this point:

Now, with the mixer on low, start putting in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk. Once all your ingredients are in, you can increase the speed on your mixer until the batter is fully combined. Add the vanilla and beat this thang ’til it’s beaten.

Pour the batter into your pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking, and then remove and let cool for a good 10 minutes. In the meantime, let’s work on our cinnamon sugar coating.

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

1/4 cup of sugar (I used turbinado which I highly recommend because the crystals are larger and make more of an impact on the tastebuds)

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoons of melted butter

Combine all of the ingredients except the butter in a small bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, when your 10 minutes of cooling time is up, start to brush the bottom of the cake with the melted butter. Then invert the cake onto a baking sheet/plate/some other flat surface and brush it all over with melted butter. (Now, what, I ask you, would you NOT want brushed with melted butter?) Sprinkle your cinnamon sugar over the cake and mix in with your fingers. I really enjoyed doing this.

Yeah. I REALLY enjoyed doing this.

Once the cake’s completely covered, send it into the fridge to cool completely, about an hour. Since I am impatient I used the freezer and cut my cooling time in half. I highly recommend this process. Either way, while it cools, you can work on your espresso glaze.

Espresso Glaze

2 tablespoons of milk

2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder

1 cup of confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Heat the milk in either a saucepan over low heat or a small bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds. Stir in the remaining ingredients until you have a thick, coffee-scented glaze. Pour over cooled cake, spread evenly, and serve. And serve. And serve.

Now, I’m not going to lie: I was skeptical of this cake. The entire time I was making it I had an eyebrow raised and a backup plan (cookies) ready to execute. I guess the batter by itself didn’t seem terribly special to me, the cinnamon sugar on its own was sort of eh, and that espresso glaze was just incredibly strong. I was afraid this would be a failure. But let me tell you people something, and let me speak honestly because I like you: this finished product is one big pan of YES. After a night in the fridge, it’s an even bigger pan of HELL YES. Make this. Make it for your birthday, make it for my birthday, make it for Columbus Day, whatever. The outer layer has an unbelievable crunch to it that’s reminiscent of a freshly-baked doughnut, while the inside is buttery soft, just like a coffee cake should be. Fascinating, isn’t it? And completely worth the baking time. Make this. Please. If I could, I’d shake each and every one of you into making this, but luckily for you, I have no voice with which to annoy. Does anyone have a lozenge?

Categories
Desserts with Fruit Muffins Sort of Healthy

An Open Letter to The Family (Now With Apples!)

Dear Family People,

Hi! How have you been? Quite well, I hope. Thanks for all of the randoms you’ve been sending my way: the random text messages, random concerns, random pictures of random brown dudes chillin’ with their probably-also- concerned random family members. Thanks! But my dad is still not convinced I have the whole “act like a lady” thing down pat. So I’m going to spend the next several (and by several, I mean “around ninety”) years perfecting that, drinking Jameson, being an ordained minister, playing the drums, going to shows and stalking Glen Hansard, blogging about my frustrations and the baked goods that come out of them, and not committing myself to random dudes.

XOXO Best Friends Forever,

Shibow

P.S. Do you like apples? Well I made apple muffins. How d’ya like them apples?

Why doesn't anyone ever text me pictures of this guy and tell me I should marry him?

Yes, I did have to throw a thinly-veiled Good Will Hunting reference in there, because a. I made apple muffins and b. that is a damn good piece of film. So anyway, it appears that the matchmakers of my family have struck again. And no, to the shock of everyone involved, it was not my mom who conceived of this particular dastardly plan to try to get me hitched. In fact, she was the one who called the evil genius individual who dared send me images of a mystery suitor, to set him straight and basically scare the crap out of him. I’m not going to dwell on this one too much, mostly because I’m not that mad and it’s kind of hilarious to imagine my mom yelling at anyone who isn’t me. Love you Mama. Thanks for sticking up for me!

Let’s talk good news: Saturday I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which is a 5K race. Oh, and I actually ran the whole thing. Yes, I can hear you saying “Um, duh, moron, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” which is warranted I suppose. But I was a kid who spent far too many days and nights, including one Christmas, laying in a hospital bed with a stupid nebulizer strapped to my small and adorable face (yes it really was both of those things, hush now), so I’m sorta proud of myself. I’ve since decided to train to become a competitive runner, and my next mission is to complete a triathlon.

That is not true, and will likely never be true. I’m going to leave the hard stuff like triathlons to rock stars like my best friend Melinda. She’s a triathlete with two races under her belt! But I did feel a tiny bit healthier post-run, which led me to try to up the good-for-you factor of these Apple Muffins. Yes, I did borrow from Martha, but I kind of only used her recipe as a guideline and changed pretty much everything about it. I also used more apples because my dad dropped by my apartment and for some reason brought a 3-pound bag of Galas with him. Thanks, pops!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins That Might Actually Be Sort of Good For You

2 medium Gala apples, peeled and chopped into cubes

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar (I used turbinado)

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

big pinch of salt

bigger pinch of cinnamon

1 large egg

1 egg white

1 cup low-fat buttermilk (I used 1 cup of skim milk with a tablespoon of vinegar mixed in; let sit for a couple of minutes and you’ve got a buttermilk substitute)

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

So I’d heard from various sources that applesauce can work as a stand-in for butter, but only in small doses. I’ve been experimenting in my lab for weeks now, and decided it was time to really commit to trying this. What better recipe than one already involving apples, right? And anyway, the sauce cuts down on the fat and cholesterol contents, so yay!

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Sift together, then toss the apples in this mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together your egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and applesauce. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and combine just until completely mixed. Don’t go crazy now– if you mix too much you’ll basically beat the air out of the batter and your muffins will come out heavy and lumpy. And then I will laugh at you. Spoon the batter evenly into your muffin pan, and sprinkle the tops with a bit of brown sugar if you please (I myself did please).

Toss into the oven for 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops look browned. Let them cool for a few minutes in the pan before turning them out onto a plate to cool completely. Then go crazy and eat like five of them. That’s totally healthy.

I decided not to take yet another photo of me holding up the baked good in question, mostly because I am starting to get a little self-conscious about my wonky thumb. I’ll tell you all about it later. Maybe that story will ward off all of these weirdos the family’s been trying to set me up with. Anyhoo, I’m pleasantly surprised by these muffins. They’re not overly sweet, but they’re also soft and pillow-y, especially when warm. With a low fat and high fiber content mixture, I don’t really feel too badly about eating them. But I never really feel too badly about eating anything, so I guess I’m not an accurate litmus test. Let’s just leave it at this: they’re yummy, they’re not at all bad for you, even my parents liked them, and no I am not marrying your random friend/cousin/cousin’s friend. Bye!

Categories
Bars Chocolate Cheer Cookies

I Make A Pretty Mean Cookie Bar. Oh, Also, I AM THE WORST.

So originally this was going to be the post where I tell you about my fabulous weekend, which, in my world, started on Thursday with a killer TV On The Radio show in Brooklyn. The show really was fantastic, so much so that my throat was sore from yelling and my feet were pretty much numb from all of the crazy dancing I did. On Friday I finally started to get my running game back up after some major/minor/then kind of major again asthmatic issues, then celebrated by baking the delicious treats I’ll eventually get around to telling you all about. I handed out these treats to Sylvapotamus and several friends who were all thrilled with the free sweets. Here I am frolicking through the land doling out presents like Indian Santa, being the good little baker I am. Sounds great right?

Blurry ball of fire= awesome, awesome night.

Sunday, my friend Andrew was kind enough to invite me over to watch the latest Project Runway episode and the Giants game. I thanked him by bringing over beer and some baked goods. Then I thanked him again by smacking him in the face with a pillow and breaking his glasses–his only pair of glasses– in half. So just be forewarned: if you invite me over, I will bring you delicious sweets. Then I will destroy something you need, love, or need AND love. Oh, and the Giants lost, in case you’re not into football. These things may or may not be related.

I am joking about this, but I feel like a total tool. I mean, sure, he’s got contacts, but who breaks someone’s only pair of glasses? I am a bag of lame. I can only hope that the Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars I left him will tide him over until the next visit to the optician.

I know, I am killing it with the segues. I’m just going to get right into talking about the bars so that I can distract myself from thinking about what a monster klutz I am. They’re delicious. They won’t give you 20/20 vision, but they’ll make you smile. There I go again. 😦

Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 2/3 cup of dark chocolate chips

14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts of your choice (optional)

1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9 x 13″ pan. Beat softened butter, flour, sugar and salt until you’ve got a crumbly/fluffy mixture that looks like this:

Press about 2 cups of the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and set aside the rest. Throw the pan into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are browned. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a small bowl with the condensed milk in either or in a small mixing bowl. If you use the saucepan, stir frequently over low heat until the mixture’s fully melted. If you go with the bowl option, microwave the mixture in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and combined with the milk. Stir in the vanilla extract. Remove the pan from the oven and evenly spread the melted chocolate mixture evenly over the crust (make sure you’re using oven mitts while you do this…I’ve got ten burned fingertips that can tell you why).

Meanwhile, stir the nuts, remaining 2/3 cup of chocolate chips, coconut, and other random goodies you might decide to add in (M&Ms perhaps?). Spread this over the chocolate mixture, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top looks slightly browned and the center is set.

The before.

Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. You can then pop this into the refrigerator to cool completely before cutting into individual bars. You’ll end up with about 30.

Friends and family seemed to really enjoy them. They’re pretty difficult to screw up. I’d post pictures of some of my friends getting into them, but apparently I was too busy beating the crap out of all of them to snap photos. Maybe next time.


Categories
Bars Chocolate Cheer Cookies

I Make A Pretty Mean Cookie Bar. Oh, Also, I AM THE WORST.

So originally this was going to be the post where I tell you about my fabulous weekend, which, in my world, started on Thursday with a killer TV On The Radio show in Brooklyn. The show really was fantastic, so much so that my throat was sore from yelling and my feet were pretty much numb from all of the crazy dancing I did. On Friday I finally started to get my running game back up after some major/minor/then kind of major again asthmatic issues, then celebrated by baking the delicious treats I’ll eventually get around to telling you all about. I handed out these treats to Sylvapotamus and several friends who were all thrilled with the free sweets. Here I am frolicking through the land doling out presents like Indian Santa, being the good little baker I am. Sounds great right?

Sunday, my friend Andrew was kind enough to invite me over to watch the latest Project Runway episode and the Giants game. I thanked him by bringing over beer and some baked goods. Then I thanked him again by smacking him in the face with a pillow and breaking his glasses–his only pair of glasses– in half. So just be forewarned: if you invite me over, I will bring you delicious sweets. Then I will destroy something you need, love, or need AND love. Oh, and the Giants lost, in case you’re not into football. These things may or may not be related.

I am joking about this, but I feel like a total tool. I mean, sure, he’s got contacts, but who breaks someone’s only pair of glasses? I am a bag of lame. I can only hope that the Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars I left him will tide him over until the next visit to the optician.

I know, I am killing it with the segues. I’m just going to get right into talking about the bars so that I can distract myself from thinking about what a monster klutz I am. They’re delicious. They won’t give you 20/20 vision, but they’ll make you smile. There I go again. 😦

Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 2/3 cup of dark chocolate chips

14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts of your choice (optional)

1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9 x 13″ pan. Beat softened butter, flour, sugar and salt until you’ve got a crumbly/fluffy mixture that looks like this:

Press about 2 cups of the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and set aside the rest. Throw the pan into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are browned. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a small bowl with the condensed milk in either or in a small mixing bowl. If you use the saucepan, stir frequently over low heat until the mixture’s fully melted. If you go with the bowl option, microwave the mixture in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and combined with the milk. Stir in the vanilla extract. Remove the pan from the oven and evenly spread the melted chocolate mixture evenly over the crust (make sure you’re using oven mitts while you do this…I’ve got ten burned fingertips that can tell you why).

Meanwhile, stir the nuts, remaining 2/3 cup of chocolate chips, coconut, and other random goodies you might decide to add in (M&Ms perhaps?). Spread this over the chocolate mixture, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top looks slightly browned and the center is set.

Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. You can then pop this into the refrigerator to cool completely before cutting into individual bars. You’ll end up with about 30.

Friends and family seemed to really enjoy them. They’re pretty difficult to screw up. I’d post pictures of some of my friends getting into them, but apparently I was too busy beating the crap out of all of them to snap photos. Maybe next time.