Please allow me to introduce you to my new best friend, Cookies & Cream Cupcakes. In case you need any convincing about how amazing these cupcakes are (which you probably don’t), they received numerous compliments along the lines of “this is the best dessert I’ve ever eaten.” These were actually just an afterthought for me since I had so many oreos left over after stuffing chocolate chip cookies with them. Turns out they’re more of a revelation than an afterthought.

It’s hard to ...]]>

Please allow me to introduce you to my new best friend, Cookies & Cream Cupcakes. In case you need any convincing about how amazing these cupcakes are (which you probably don’t), they received numerous compliments along the lines of “this is the best dessert I’ve ever eaten.” These were actually just an afterthought for me since I had so many oreos left over after stuffing chocolate chip cookies with them. Turns out they’re more of a revelation than an afterthought.

It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the cupcake batter is filled with oreo chunks and baked on top of half an oreo (quite similar in style to these Mini Oreo Cheesecakes, actually). The frosting is a hybrid cream cheese/buttercream, and is the perfect light compliment to the massive quantity of oreos that these cupcakes deliver into your mouth. Although I’m a sucker for anything oreo-related anyways, I can say objectively that these will melt your heart. At the very least, they’re a front runner for best cupcakes I’ve ever made.

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
Adapted for Playing House from Annie’s Eats, originally from Beantown Baker
Makes 24 cupcakes
Printable Recipe

For the cupcakes:

• 24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

For the frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream

For the garnish

• Oreo cookie crumbs
• 24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo half in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract.
4. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.
5. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
7. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2011 · Permalink · 1 comment · StumbleUpon It!
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Image courtesy of author’s personal collection

I set out on a mission to do a taste-test of sorts, systematically trying recipes until I found one that I could adopt as my go-to favorite. ...]]> It’s confession time. I just made chocolate chip cookies for the first time. I mean, I’ve made other types of cookies before. I’ve even made cookies that are really similar to chocolate chip cookies. But I’ve never made straight-up, classic, plain old chocolate chip cookies from scratch before today.

Image courtesy of author’s personal collection

I set out on a mission to do a taste-test of sorts, systematically trying recipes until I found one that I could adopt as my go-to favorite. Doesn’t every American home baker need a chocolate chip cookie recipe in their back pocket? I didn’t get too far in my experiment, though, since the first recipe I tried was a winner.

These cookies are of the crispy edges/chewy center variety. My cookbook says that using melted butter instead of room-temperature solid butter is to thank for the perfect texture. If you have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend using it for the flour and brown sugar (and in any recipe where weight measures are given). It’s far more accurate than using measuring cups, and increases the likelihood of a massive success in the end.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
Makes 24 cookies
Printable Recipe

2 cups plus 2 tbsp (10 2/3 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed (7 oz) light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

2. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chips until incorporated.

4. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart (12 to a sheet). Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2011 · Permalink · 3 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Cooking and Food

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{Image Source: Maistora on Flickr}

Since I don’t have any concrete plans yet over there (besides exploring the biggest mall in the world), I’m hoping to use my time to learn ...]]> I have some epic news to share. Andy and I are moving to Dubai! His company is sending him to the Middle East to work, and I’m tagging along to play! We’ll be there for about 3 months in early 2011, and we’re ridiculously excited for the adventure of a lifetime.

{Image Source: Maistora on Flickr}

Since I don’t have any concrete plans yet over there (besides exploring the biggest mall in the world), I’m hoping to use my time to learn about the food of the region: how to shop for it, make it, and especially eat it. I’m also planning on sharpening my photography skills and working on my 101 in 1001 goals list (which expires next summer), honing the fine art of napping (kidding. Sort of.), and taking plenty of weekend trips to places I’ve never imagined I’d get to go.

{Image Source: Jrodmanjr on Flickr}

I’m pretty flabbergasted that we have such a cool opportunity, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you.

{Image Source: JrodmanJr on Flickr}

Has anyone ever been to Dubai, or lived halfway across the world from home? I’d love some insider advice.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 8 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Travel

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These Pumpkin White Chocolate Cookies taste like coziness. They have the warmth of pumpkin pie spice and the creaminess of pumpkin puree, with that lovable sweet shock that comes with any high dose ...]]> Now that I’m reclaiming my Sundays (previously dominated by long half-marathon training runs and subsequent ouchiness), I feel like myself again. My heart’s been a little broken since life has forced me to stay away from the kitchen. But I’m back, and so are my oven and my healed heart!

These Pumpkin White Chocolate Cookies taste like coziness. They have the warmth of pumpkin pie spice and the creaminess of pumpkin puree, with that lovable sweet shock that comes with any high dose of white chocolate. They’re also on the soft, cakey side of the texture spectrum, which I love. The original recipe calls for a brown sugar frosting, but mine turned out sweet enough on their own so I skipped it.

What are you baking this fall?

Pumpkin White Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from Taste of Home
Printable Recipe
Makes 3-4 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (11 ounces) white chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in white chocolate chips.

2. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 4 comments · StumbleUpon It!
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Pie is a really interesting concept. There are a million different ways to vary the preparation: one crust or 2, the type ...]]> Pie and I have not always been the best of friends. After my last relative success, I decided that the stress to fun ratio for pie was too high. So I faced the fact that it’s my weak spot and I gave up trying. I don’t regret a lot in my life, but that was indeed a poor decision.

Pie is a really interesting concept. There are a million different ways to vary the preparation: one crust or 2, the type of fat used in the crust, and the type of thickener and fruit(s) used in the filling, for example. All resulting in relatively similar final products. I’ve come to realize that making a good pie is about finding the right combination of all these variables in any given situation, which takes a lot of patience. I had assumed that because I made a few pies that I wasn’t happy with in the past, that I wasn’t good at pie, but that’s not true at all. I just had to try. A lot.

I’ve been hearing a lot about pie this summer. Maybe I’m just more aware of it this year, but everywhere I turn– blogs, podcasts, restaurants– all have pie on the brain. The biggest thing I’ve learned from all of this is that there’s no “right” way to make pie. It all comes down to personal preference and practice, practice, practice. Armed with this knowledge and surrounded by gorgeous California fruit, I was overcome with the burning desire to make a peach pie. So I summoned all my courage and did just that.

For the top crust, I used a technique I saw in a magazine once: use a circular cookie cutter to cut rounds of dough and arrange them in concentric circles around the top of the pie. This trick is key if you’re a total klutz like me when it comes to handling and shaping pie dough. I used quick-cooking tapioca as the thickener, which worked great but left little tapioca pearls inside the pie which was a bit strange. Next time I’ll use tapioca flour.

This was most definitely the tastiest and best-looking pie I’ve made so far. I’m hooked now. Can’t wait to try again, and again, and again. It’s almost apple time!

Double Pie Crust
Adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Williams Sonoma
Makes 2 9-inch pie crusts

Note: all divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into small pieces
6 tbsp. ice water
1 egg, beaten

1. To make the first crust, combine the half of the flour, half the sugar and half the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly to blend. Add in half of the butter pieces and mix on medium-low speed to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse sand and the largest butter pieces are not much bigger than peas. Mix in half of the cold water on low speed just until the dough comes together.

2. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (This dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

3. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients (except the egg, you’ll use that later) to make the 2nd crust. While the dough is chilling, make the pie filling.

Peach Pie Filling
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Makes filling for 1 9-inch pie

2 pounds of peaches (6-10 peaches, depending on size)
Juice of 1 lime
About 1/2 cup sugar (more if the peaches aren’t quite ripe)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
2 tbsp instant tapioca or tapioca flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into bits

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. Peel the peaches: Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the peaches into it, a couple at a time, for 10-30 seconds, until the skin begins to loosen. Plunge into a bowl of ice water. Slip the skins off, using a paring knife to ease the process. Pit, slice, and toss with the lime juice.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients and toss the peaches with this mixture.

Peach Pie
A Playing House original method

1. Remove one of the crusts from the refrigerator. Working quickly, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface, flouring more as needed to prevent the dough from sticking as you work.
When the dough is large enough to fit a 9-inch pie dish, transfer the crust to the dish. Use whichever method feels the most comfortable to transfer the dough: slide it, drape it over your rolling pin, pick it up and drop it. Just make sure it’s intact when it arrives!

2. Shape or flute the edges of the crust if you’d like.

3. Drain any excess juice that has collected from your peaches, then pour the peach mixture on top of the pie crust. Stud the peaches evenly with the small butter bits.

4. Remove the other crust from the refrigerator and roll it out. Don’t worry about making it perfectly round, we’re going to butcher this one. Take a cookie cutter (the one I used was 2 inches round with fluted edges) and cut out circles of dough. Place a circle in the middle and build a spiral of circles until the whole pie is covered. You may need to gather dough scraps and re-roll the crust to get enough.

5. Lightly beat an egg with a splash of water. Using a pastry brush, paint the entire crust with egg wash. Sprinkle with granulated or turbinado sugar if desired.

6. If you have a pie crust shield, place it on your pie now. If not, go buy one! Kidding. Make a makeshift crust shield using aluminum foil and place it on the pie.

7. Bake the pie at 450F for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake until golden brown, 40-50 minutes more. Do not underbake.

8. Remove pie from oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Printable Recipe

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 1 comment · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Cooking and Food

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Recently, my mother-in-law put together a very special recipe book for me. It’s a handmade collection of recipes from her mother, who passed away right around the time I met Andy. On the cover is a picture of my adolescent husband and his grandmother, and inside are photocopies of pastry recipes in Grandma Ida’s own handwriting. I never got to meet Grandma Ida, but she now ...]]> Let me tell you about one of the most meaningful, touching gifts I’ve ever gotten.

Recently, my mother-in-law put together a very special recipe book for me. It’s a handmade collection of recipes from her mother, who passed away right around the time I met Andy. On the cover is a picture of my adolescent husband and his grandmother, and inside are photocopies of pastry recipes in Grandma Ida’s own handwriting. I never got to meet Grandma Ida, but she now lives on in my kitchen.

This recipe in particular stood out among the rest because of a little comment that Grandma Ida wrote in at the end: (tastes good). She was right.

Grandma Ida’s Orange Cake
A Playing House Original

For the cake:
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1 c sugar
2 large eggs
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp orange rind
3/4 c sour cream

For the glaze:
1/2 c freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 c sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine shortening and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and mix to combine. Sift flour and baking soda together and add to sugar mixture.

3. Stir in orange rind and sour cream, and pour mixture into a well-greased bundt (or other circular) pan.

4. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. While the cake is still warm, invert onto a cake plate. Combine orange juice and sugar until sugar dissolves (microwave for a bit if needed) and pour over the warm cake. Enjoy!

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 3 comments · StumbleUpon It!
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Here ...]]> This Day in the Life project came at an awkward time for me. We’ve been living in Northern California after our big move for 3 weeks now. I’ve been at my new [dream] job for one. We’ve been adoring every second, but trying to show you all what my life is like is an interesting challenge when I don’t even know what it’s like yet. While I try to figure that out, I’ll share with you what I did today.

Here is a Tuesday in my brand new life!

6:30 am: Alarm goes off. Ouch. Trying to get used to working full time again after years as a grad student continues to be a shock to my system that early in the morning. Shower, play with dog, check email, snarf a bowl of cereal, and make coffee for the road. Lots and lots of coffee.

8:00 am: Hit the road, armed with caffeine. I spend a good chunk of my day in the car. I live in San Jose and work in San Francisco, which is just over an hour each way. I entertain myself with a combination of phone calls (my family’s spread all over the place but we talk a lot. A lot a lot.), NPR, and audiobooks (just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire). I also made up a new game called Pick Your Favorite Row House on Each Block. Pretty self explanatory, pretty great if you’re easily amused like I am.

(Source)

9:30 am: Park and enjoy the walk to my office. I work in clinical research at a giant healthcare organization. Rhymes with Schmeterans Schmadministration. The campus is in a stunning part of San Francisco, with incredible views all around. Usually it’s shrouded in the infamous SF fog, but today is picture perfect.

9:30-11:30 am: Since it’s my 2nd week on the job, I’m still getting oriented. As part of my training, I check out an actigraph, a plastic watchy thing that I’ll wear on my wrist 24/7 for the next week. It measures my activity levels, and I’m wearing it to see what it’s like for the participants in the research study I’m working on. It helps us look at their sleep/wake patterns, and is also the next big trend in accessories.

11:30 am: I eat a quick lunch, head to my car, and I’m off to a meeting across town. My drive takes me through some of the most scenic parts of San Francisco, including the Presidio, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Ghirardelli Square. Getting to do things like this while I work in SF makes my long commute infinitely worth it. My meeting is right across the street from Fisherman’s Wharf. I’m a bit early, so I lose myself in the throngs of tourists for a while. I’m on a lifelong mission to replicate the Mrs. Fields cookie cake, so I buy a cookie and ponder the frosting.

12:30-5:30 pm: I attend a training on mental health assessments. You may think it sounds boring, but I love this stuff. Can’t get enough of it, really.

5:30-7:00 pm: Stuck in more traffic. This time I get to see views like this, and I pinch myself, thinking about how much I love my new life:

7:00 pm Dinner at my husband Andy’s office. He works at a ridiculously cool company where 3 meals a day are catered (like GOOD catered, not meh catered) and partners are welcome to eat there too. It’s such a luxury, at least for the few nights a week when I don’t have time or energy to think about cooking. I mean, I always have the energy to think about cooking. You know what I mean.

8:00 pm We race home and change into running clothes, and pop back out the door to get in a quick workout before it gets dark. Running is the last thing I want to do at the end of a long day, but my first half marathon is sneaking up on me, and my desire to not pass out in the middle of the Magic Kindgom gets me going. So do the signs on the street that say “No Stopping at Any Time.”

I feel super cool wearing 2 watches.

9:00 I finally sit down with husband, dog, and my beloved Macbook to check my Google Reader and other social media stuff, and here I am writing this post. Pack tomorrow’s lunch, including a red velvet whoopie pie left over from the weekend, and get ready to do it all over again.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 12 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Life

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This recipe, inspired by Mark Bittman (the man who taught me how to cook), is especially versatile. You can mix and match fresh fruit in any combination, as long as it’s 6 ...]]> Happy Strawberry Season! I don’t know about your part of the world, but here in Oregon the strawberry bounty is overwhelming. Even though I feel a little heartbroken with most of my kitchen in storage (last time I complain, I promise!), I had to give the strawberries some love.

This recipe, inspired by Mark Bittman (the man who taught me how to cook), is especially versatile. You can mix and match fresh fruit in any combination, as long as it’s 6 cups’ worth: berries, stone fruit, apples, you name it. Just use some extra sugar for tart fruit like rhubarb, and a bit of flour for extra-juicy fruit like berries. You can use this recipe to make your wildest fruity dreams come true.

Did I just say that?!

Strawberry Peach Crisp
Adapted from How to Cook Everything

3 cups strawberries, quartered
3 cups peaches, sliced (about 2 large peaches)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus some for the pan
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for juicy fruit
Dash salt

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon or apple pie spice, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar (and a tablespoon of flour if your fruit is juicy) and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine all the other ingredients, including the remaining cinnamon or apple pie spice and brown sugar, in a food processor and pulse a few times, then process a few seconds more, until everything is well incorporated but not uniform. To mix the ingredients by hand, soften the butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, then work in the butter with your fingertips, a pastry blender, or a fork).

3. Crumble the topping over the fruit and bake until the topping is browned and the fruit is tender and bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 2 comments · StumbleUpon It!
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I am now Amy I., MSW. Qualified to manage your cases, write your grants, organize your communities, and mess you up even more in therapy. Grad school is over. I’m so relieved and ready to have more time to read for fun, take more naps, and of course play in the kitchen as often as possible.

The graduation thing is just the beginning of the excitement I have to share with ...]]> Big life changes are happening around here.

I am now Amy I., MSW. Qualified to manage your cases, write your grants, organize your communities, and mess you up even more in therapy. Grad school is over. I’m so relieved and ready to have more time to read for fun, take more naps, and of course play in the kitchen as often as possible.

The graduation thing is just the beginning of the excitement I have to share with you, though. The real news, the big life change is that…

we’re moving to the Bay Area!

My techie husband got a phenomenal Silicon Valley job, and we could not be more thrilled to be returning to our home state of California next month after several wonderful years in the Pacific Northwest. I’m most excited about living in a foodie wonderland, not to mention the sunshine, year-round veggie gardening potential, and proximity to friends and family. For the next month or so, life will be full of boxes, selling our house (fingers crossed!), and lots of takeout.

So tell me, friends… anyone out there in the Bay Area? Can we play when I get there??

p.s. I wouldn’t dare leave you without telling you about those ridiculously adorable mortarboard cupcakes. Use your favorite cake and frosting as a base (I used devil’s food with cream cheese frosting). Construct the caps using an upside-down Reese’s peanut butter cup, a square of Ghiradelli chocolate, and a thin slice of sour belt. Glue everything together with small dabs of frosting and refrigerate overnight to solidify.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 5 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Cooking and Food, Life

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