friday links

 Baked Elements by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito

The most amazing cookbook yet.  Baked Elements has homemade Devil Dogs with Malted Buttercream. I am so making these.
You need to own this cookbook!
And if you don't own it....stay tuned, as the Baked Boys and I are teaming up to giveaway 3 sets of their cookbooks.  Yes, 3 sets.
Three people will win a set of their cookbooks: Baked New Frontiers In Baking, Baked Explorations and Baked Elements.
Aren't they the best?  Love them for this.
Stay tuned!!

My Trader Joe finds:

is this good?

This is new.  Sounds like a party planning helper. 

A giant peppermint cake shaped like a cookie.  Great, now I have to buy it. 

This was the free sample of the day.  It was not that good.  Not truffle like at all.

These are new.  Did not buy them for fear of eating entire box.

Had to get these. I am such a peppermint junkie. These are really good!

This sounds so good. Who has tried it?

Can't wait to give these a go.

These are new. Haven't tried them yet.

These were pretty good!

These are really good. Normally you're supposed to grill them, but I experimented and put them in the crockpot (7 hours) with a large amount of hoisin sauce.  Delish!  Try it, you'll love it.

Who tried these? Like?

Afraid to get these, so I walked right by them.  Good thinking, I know I'd eat them all up!

These are fabulous as in a savory cheesecake crust.

And these are also perfect for a cheesecake crust.

Guess what's back??  Finally!

These are new.

Can't wait to experiment with this one!

Are these any good?

Any good?

How cute are these?  12 in a box is a snack to me.  They are small.

I think these are new and just might be dinner!

Around the web:
nice list of creative peppermint cocktails from bliss tree
tea: wellness in a cup from divine caroline
anti-depressants: how effective are they? from divine caroline
historical hair locks selling at auctions from NYTimes
original "blade runner" storyboards from flavorwire
holiday art book (different indeed) from bloomberg
mick jagger love letters hit the block at sotheby's from galleristNY
worlds smallest humidifier? from gizmodo
transcendental meditation, why people love it (do you?) from well & good nyc
how to create a surreal self-portrait that shows you holding you from petapixel
sriracha lip balm! (lol) from the oatmeal
$100 to know everything about your DNA from gizmodo
this is your brain on fatty foods from blisstree
what's really in that gatorade? from NYTimes
the charlie brown school of dance from youtube owen weber
fruitcake ice cream from serious eats
peppermint sugar cookie bars from cookies & cups
eggnog ny crumb cake from culinary concoctions by peabody
snickers fudge from pip & ebby
pomegranate tabbouleh from chow & chatter
gift guide for the pizza maker & pizza lover from serious eats
gift guide for chocoholics from serious eats
classic european nougat from serious eats (I am making this one)
orange & chocolate coconut macaroons from pastry studio
those NY times famous chocolate chip cookies, have you tried them yet?


cake kitchen paper placemats from west elm

spill proof sippy wine cups from givesimple.com

peppermint-coffee nutella french macarons from design, bake, run

chocolate whoppers from vintage kitchen notes

have a wonderful weekend!

salty smores bark

Now before you go calling the "salt police" (I stole that from Emeril).
Remember when he used to say that?
I love him and dearly miss his show Emeril Live.
He was such a presence, I mean he truly got you into the food, whether you were watching from home
or were live in the audience.
I loved watching Doc watch him.  Ohhh those faces Doc would make when Emeril was putting the
finishing touches on his creations.  Priceless.  The man was hungry!


OK so why the salt on a smores-themed bark?
Simple--it's so needed to balance out the sweetness of the marshmallows, chocolate and graham chunks.
With all those there is just too much sweet going on--we needed salt.
And the bottom of the bark is a nice buttery shortbread crust. Not too sweet not too salty, just right.
You know my love for barks around this time of year, and how I'm always striving to make a really good bark to giveaway to friends and my clients.
Everyone loves my Cheez It bark, but this year I wanted to do something different and something tasty, so that when they took their first bite, they said "oh, ok, this is rich and different--what is that crust...".
And the verdict from everyone that got a sample of this bark?
Thumbs up, can I order more? How long till I get it?
And the best part?  It's easy to make.
A hard part ? (because you always ask me "what's the hard part of this?").
If you have to find a hard part?  I just can't.
We mix the butter shortbread crust, we bake it, we immediately top it it with toppings, and let it set up.  That's it.
So maybe waiting for it to set up is the hard part?
And, trust me on adding a touch of sea salt to the top of the chocolate?
AND!!  If you're thinking of adding nuts to this?  I do think you are a clever little foodie--that sounds
fabulous.
You're gonna love this one--it's perfect for gift giving.


Note: this is when you add on a touch of sea salt!




salty smores bark
from vanillasugarblog.com
shortbread recipe from pastrychefonline.com
print recipe

shortbread:

8 oz. unsalted butter, room temp

½ cup confectioners sugar 

2 cups cake flour 

¼ teaspoon salt

smore toppings:

8-10 ounces good quality milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup +/- mini marshmallows

1/2 - 3/4 cup rough chop graham crackers

pinch or 3 or sea salt

(adding nuts might be a good idea too!)

I used an 8 or 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom; this would work best, if you don't have this

then use an 8 or 9 inch baking pan and spray with non stick spray and/or line with parchment paper.  

In a bowl (stand mixer or otherwise), cream together butter, sugar and salt.

Slowly work in cake flour until well combined. No need to overmix, lumps here and there are fine.

Using wet fingertips, spread dough into pan, making sure to get all the corners evenly.

Place prepared pan into fridge to firm up a bit before baking.  At least an hour. 

If you cover this well enough you can leave it overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat over to 350 degrees.

Bake 21 - 25 minutes until edges are LIGHTLY golden brown.  

Don't look for complete golden brown. 

Make sure to rotate pan halfway through baking too. 

Once it comes out of the oven place the milk chocolate chips on the top, let them melt a bit then spread

with knife or spoon and evenly spread around pan, not getting too close to the edges.

Sprinkle the chocolate with a nice hint of sea salt.

Place on the chopped graham crackers and the marshmallows.   

Using your hand, GENTLY push down the toppings so they sink into the chocolate--

don't push too hard. 

Please let this cool, then harden before slicing into it.

Makes about 15-18 bars; depending on how you slice them. 

homemade peppermint-white chocolate Nestle Crunch bars

Well that was fun!
Man did I love making these.
Actually had Nestle Crunch copycat recipe on my "baking bucket list" for a couple years.

They were easy to make too.
And you know what would make them a lot easier?
Square molds.
I need to invest in candy making molds: squares, triangle,, circles, etc....
That would have made this recipe fly by.
So, if you want to make these buy some cheap molds--any shape really will do.
Although I'd love to use a square one to replicate the square mini Nestle Crunch bars.
With molds, you can make batches of these with ease and grace.


These bars make the ultimate gift for family, friends and those office parties that have that horrid food.  Bring these and everyone will be jealous of you.  For reals.

Why did I double dip?  Why not!  Seriously I really wanted that "shock factor" of two colors.
Plus I wanted to make sure the rice krispies were not seen, and they looked more like candy bars.
Do you have to use white chocolate? No.
Use whatever you want, but I highly recommend the double dip.
Who doesn't want a double dip candy bar?



See this is where molds come in handy!



Or decorate with sprinkles.

homemade peppermint-white chocolate “Nestle Crunch” bars

recipe by vanillasugarblog.com

print recipe

for the bars:

11 ounces good quality milk chocolate (like Ghirardelli)

¾ - 1 TB vegetable oil

½ ts or more peppermint extract

2 cups rice krispies

for the white chocolate coating:

11 ounces high quality white chocolate (they melt much better)

¾ - 1 TB vegetable oil

½ ts or more peppermint extract

¼ cup (about) crushed candy canes, optional

In a large mixing bowl, place the 2 cups of rice krispies, set aside.

If you have small square chocolate molds I highly suggest using those for this creation. If not, line a small jellyroll pan with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, over low heat melt the vegetable oil and the milk chocolate—constantly stirring until chocolate is melted.  After chocolate is melted and off the heat, add in the peppermint extract and mix.  Taste test it to see if it has enough mint in it for you.

Pour melted milk chocolate into bowl, and mix with spatula.  Mix until nice and combined, but being careful not to crush the rice krispies. 

Pour mixture over jellyroll pan and flatten as much as you can before it starts to set up.  Don’t make it too thin.  You should get a 10-inch long by 6-inch wide square—roughly.

Let this cool and harden.

Using a sharp knife, slice off the edges for a nice clean square. Then slice into small squares or whatever shapes you want.

Melt the white chocolate with the vegetable oil over low heat, stirring constantly.

Just when it starts to melt is when I take it off the heat and keep stirring.  If I need more then I put it back in, then back off, back on, etc..—this way you can avoid the chocolate seizing up.  The vegetable oil helps to thin the chocolate out and make it easier for dipping.

After the white chocolate is melted and off the heat, add in the peppermint extract and mix.  Do a taste test and see if it’s ok to you.  If not, add in more, in small amounts.

I dunked the chocolate squares into the melted white chocolate using my fingers.  I find it’s the best way for me. Use whatever method works best for you.  Let excess chocolate drip off then place on wire racks or parchment lined pans to set up/harden.

Immediately place the crushed candy cane on the tops of the bars. 

Let bars harden for at least a few hours.

This makes a small batch, about 15-20 bars, depending how you slice them.