Happy National Cocoa Day!

Today is National Cocoa Day. Given Mexico's history with cocoa, this recipe seemed perfect to share as it involves Abuelita Chocolate. 

http://sweetlifebake.com/2012/10/24/easy-mexican-hot-chocolate/#axzz2C9r76XO9

Monday Morsel: Vanellope Von Schweetz

Love her.

 

18th Stop: Belize

Welcome to Belize and its Tropical Coconut Cake.

Above is, essentially, a caramel topping being whipped into shape. 

This cake's topping is amazing if you love caramel and coconut. I imagine you could use this lusciousness for other creations, too. Ice cream, perhaps? It would be tropical, caramel goodness on top of some vanilla ice cream. Instead of hot fudge, go for hot caramel coconut. 

 

I'm telling you, I'm on to something here....

Anyway, below is a photo of the cake right before I started to bake it.

And here is a photo of it all done, after the topping had been broiled to give it a bubbly, lightly brown and crunchy top.  You can see, I've already tried a piece. 

 

The actual cake part didn't have much flavor and was a bit of a disappointment to us. It was more "bready" than "cakey." 

It did remain wonderfully moist, but it lacked pizazz which probably a little more sugar would have given it. 

 

But the topping, again, let me repeat, was AMAZING. 

Just make the topping.

Add it to vanilla ice cream. 

Kind of wish I had.

I'm sure the the person behind My Global Kitchens makes a better rendition. She's actually been to Belize and had this there.

I envy that and thank her for her recipe, which you can find at the link above.

Monday Morsel: Not My Gumdrop Buttons!

Q. How did gingerbread become so gender-specific? 

A. Gingerly of course.

Ha.

"Of course, when gingerbread cookies are shaped like everything from popular politicians to baby animals, polite consumption can be tricky. Is it barbaric to bite off the head first? Or worse to start by amputating an extremity? If you nibble on decorations first, does the plaintive voice of that character from Shrek echo in your imagination ('Not my gumdrop buttons!')?"

~ Amanda Benson at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2008/12/a-brief-history-of-gingerbread/ 

 

Happy National Brownie Day

Photo from: http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2010/05/caffeinated-triple-bypass-brownies.html

As Bakery Traveler, I must tell you one of my favorite things to do is travel the Internet for recipes. I'm sure you gathered that. When I learned that today is National Brownie Day and then I found this blog - well - I just had to share it with you. 

 

I am going to try this for sure: http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2010/05/caffeinated-triple-bypass-brownies.html. 

 

But I wouldn't have known about Caffeinated Triple Bypass Brownies if it weren't for this blog: http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/2011/08/23/the-best-brownies-bites-from-other-blogs/. If you love brownies as much as I do, then you must check-out this link. It's a bountiful list of fabulous brownie recipes from all over.

Monday Morsel: Saveur's Smart Cookies

If you don't know about Saveur, then you'd probably like to.  This link, from Saveur, is perfect for this time of year: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Smart-Cookies-International-Holiday-Cookies!  I really like Saveur.  I like pretending I can pronounce it properly.  I like putting Saveur in italics.  The whole thing just makes me feel far more sophisticated than I really am.

 

Tomorrow is National Cookie Day. "Well, of course it is," I thought when I discovered that. Did you know English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje?" Now you do. 

 

(I learned about that here: http://www.punchbowl.com/holidays/national-cookie-day.)

Yukon Cornelius

Here is a fellow Bakery Traveler if I ever knew one. He is ready to join me as we explore the delightful month of December.

 A little quote from Yukon Cornelius:

Yukon Cornelius: This fog's as thick as peanut butter!
Hermey: You mean pea soup.
Yukon Cornelius: You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like!

17th Stop: Belgium

Hearty. Belgium. This is Pom Koek, also known as Belgian Coffee Cake. It looks like a sweet bread and is more like a heavy sweet quick bread than a coffee cake. The beauty of this recipe, however, is that it actually has coffee in it. Which is very appropriate for Belgium - a country that takes its coffee very seriously. I learned that here. I would love to have coffee in Belgium - especially at a well-know cafe called Caffenation.  I digress. But it's really easy to digress with this recipe because, well, it was just so-so. It is kind of plain. All I could think about while trying this was how much better it would be with peanut butter. I'm not sure that's a great sign. But I like that this is a traditional recipe.

 

The recipe calls for a cup of honey and a cup of coffee. 

Here it is in its doughy form:

Here it is once done and I started thinking about adding peanut butter to it.  A toasted slice of this with peanut butter would fill you up. That would make a nice breakfast on the go.

 

I couldn't taste the coffee at all. Honestly, I used half a cup of honey as a cup of it, in addition to a half cup of sugar, just seemed like way too much sweetening going on for this kind of coffee cake.

 

Belgium:

 

 

Recipe for Pom Koek: http://www.food.com/recipe/pom-koek-belgian-coffee-cake-140852

Happy National Bavarian Cream Pie Day!

Looking for a reason to add some chocolate to your day?  Like to mix your chocolate with your coffee? No bias, but chocolate with coffee is one of those forever blended flavors of goodness. While Bavarian Cream Pie recipes in vanilla, pumpkin, and standard chocolate flavors abound, what better way to celebrate the day than with a mocha one? You know I like chocolate and coffee, and put the two together in a custard, add a pie crust, and see what happens on this National Bavarian Cream Pie Day.

Recently discovered this website (link and recipe below) all about pies.

Mocha Bavarian Cream Pie

http://pieofthebeholder.com/2011/11/07/pie-50-mocha-bavarian-cream-pie/

Monday Morsel: Sandra Boynton

Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate.

~Sandra Boynton

Happy National Cranberry Day!

November 23 is National Cranberry Day. Oh, how I love cranberries.

Let me count the ways:

1.  Sauce (as in this fab recipe at  http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/11/simple-and-amazing-cranberry-sauce-recipe/)

2. Scones (as in this sumptuous recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/cranberry-scones-13067 )

3. Bread (as in this brilliant recipe at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cranberry_nut_bread/ )

4. Juice -- I adore a nice, tart cranberry juice. Mini Bakery Travelers and I like to add a spritz of lime seltzer to ours to add a little more pop.

5. Everything else - and to know what I mean you must look at this link where there are 12 more sweet ways - including ice cream - to enjoy cranberries: http://www.thekitchn.com/gallery-12-fresh-sweet-and-fes-72407 )

16th Stop: Belarus

If fruit could be categorized as models, then apples would be supermodels. So photogenic. I'd totally work with them again (but with a different recipe...read on).

 

Belarus:

 

Belarusian Sweet Apple Pie made with Sour Apples:

Everything about this recipe and its style is rustic. Nothing risky. Somewhat plain in flavor (I'd add a little cinnamon to the top if I were to make it again). Still, I'm glad I ran with it because I love apples. 

So pretty - look at 'em all elegantly sliced:

I added butter - something told me this recipe needed it (it did...well, it didn't hurt):

And now...egg, sugar, flour mixture on top (this is where I would have added just a little cinnamon):

All baked:

I convection-baked this at 325 degrees for 60 minutes.

Again, rustic. Bakery Travelers didn't care for this much. I didn't care for it that much, either. Which is sad because I do love apples. However, if you have someone who doesn't care for much flavor in a dessert, then this would be a good choice. I know, hard to believe, but I have met people who actually don't care for dessert. I cannot explain this phenomenon or these people. The phenomenon just is, the people just are.

Recipe is  at: http://www.belarusianfood.com/

Monday Morsel: Butter and Love

 

 Cookies are made of butter and love.  

~Norwegian Proverb

Given how many people are starting the holiday season by baking dozens and dozens of wonderful cookies, this proverb seemed especially fitting.   

Now, seriously, if you are looking for an easy and yet amazing cookie to bake this holiday season, one filled with lots of butter and love, consider the Sacher-Torte Cookies I shared here: http://bakerytraveler.blogspot.com/2012/10/10th-stop-austria.html

They were amazing. You could forgo the apricot jam in these and fill each thumb print with the same melted chocolate you'll have from drizzling (just melt more chocolate). This was a winning combo among Bakery Travelers.

Everyday Can Be Brownie Day

Photo and recipe for these turkeys from: http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2009/11/gobble-gobble.html

Accidentally posted about National Brownie Day a month too soon. I figure everything happens for a reason and we're meant to see this sooner than later. So - big brownie fans - did you know National Brownie Day is December 8? All the brownie research has been done for you, so be sure to investigate my blog post on brownies here.

I also keep my facebook friends in the loop and would love you to join me there at The Bakery Traveler.

Cranberries!

Heads-up! 

National Cranberry Day is in a week on Friday, November 23!

I will have a berry special blog post on that day.  

(Sorry couldn't resist using some berry lingo.)

15th Stop: Barbados

Hello Barbados! Hello trusty ingredients! 

When I see a recipe with cake mix and pudding, I know it's going to be good. You should know this, too. You will not go wrong with this combo.

Chocolate Rum Cake is a treat traditionally associated with Christmas on this Caribbean island. I researched this to be sure, as it seemed a little "too American" to me at first, what with using cake mix and pudding. I wouldn't steer anyone wrong...not on purpose anyway. Granted, the ingredients represent modern conveniences to which I say, once again, "Hello!"

Mixed all together and put into a bundt pan, the batter looks pretty low here (below), but she rises into quite the beauty. The recipes calls for nuts, by the way, but I didn't feel like adding them. The cake doesn't need them. It's perfect all on its own.

Once out of the oven, the cake gets soaked in a buttery rum sugar glaze. See the glaze soaking into the cake (below). The more glaze that soaks into the cake, the better.

Now she is done. (I am using the pronoun "she" on purpose, as that is a Bajan thing to do.) Look at how proud she stands (below). She might look too unadorned, but her flavor is chocolatey, moist, and rich. No icing needed for this rum-soaked cake.

One last photo, before I ate it:

 Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-rum-cake/

Two for Tuesday: Tolkein

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world

                                                        J.R.R. Tolkein

Here's another delight, as it is a special Two for Tuesday day.

Little by little, one travels far.

      J.R.R. Tolkein     

 

 

                                    

Monday Morsels return next week!

Happy National Cook Something Bold Day!

Well, when I recently "cooked" the coffee from Bahrain, believe me, I was being bold. That's the coffee cooking above. (See my entry here: http://bakerytraveler.blogspot.com/2012/11/13th-stop-bahrain.html .) I love coffee. But coffee with Rose Water and cardamom? And saffron? It was bold, really, and not just in terms of ingredients, but in terms of flavor. My first sip was refreshing. But subsequent sips were pretty much yuck (at least for me and remember I have a sweet tooth). This coffee didn't have much sweetness to it. But that's what makes it more bold, don't you think? Feeling bold? What better day to try this recipe?

If you try this coffee, you must let me know!

14th Stop: Bangladesh

Bangladesh loves mangoes!  Still on a little bakery beverage leg of the tour, I thought I'd make a favorite Bangladeshi drink, called the Bangladeshi Mango Milkshake. If you like creamy and fruity drinks, then you'd probably like this.

Above are some of the main ingredients. If I had added a carton of milk to this photo, then you'd see all of the ingredients for this recipe. I chose to use 2% milk as opposed to the powdered milk suggestion in the recipe. Honestly, given the sweetness of the ingredients, you needn't add the sugar at all (the recipe calls for one tablespoon of sugar). The recipe also calls for two ripe mangoes, but I couldn't find any! No worries - at the suggestion of a Bakery Traveler friend, I used frozen mango chunks instead. (I used two cups of the frozen mango chunks, as per the serving sizes on the package.)

All the ingredients blended into a creamy, milky froth. The milk to mango ratio was marvelous. So, go ahed and use frozen mango chunks if need be - you'll be fine.

An elegant milkshake, don't you think? I thought so! My little Bakery Travelers, however, did not like it. They were expecting something more like a smoothie (made with a juice as opposed to milk).  Their loss.  It would have been a good way to sneak in some protein and calcium for them, too. Stubborn little tigers. 

I found the recipe (apparently written by an 11 year old from Bangladesh!) here: http://www.food.com/recipe/bangladeshi-mango-milk-shake-241647