Mint Chocolate Swirl Meringue Cookies

December 28, 2021March 13, 2022 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’ve been experimenting with meringue cookies lately. I made a batch on a whim, and they were pretty good, but I wasn’t obsessed with them until a month or so ago.

Lewis and I decided to have lunch after our dentist appointment at a little cafe in Bay Ridge (a neighborhood in Brooklyn), and I noticed some ugly looking cookies that *might* have been meringue. So I asked our server, sure enough, it was different flavored meringue cookies. So I got one of each to try (I’d only made vanilla and chocolate swirl to that point), and I was so disappointed. The texture was terrible and the flavor was so subtle. So I decided to start experimenting, because clearly these could be done better (not that I plan on telling them that their cookies are terrible, but still… why have bad cookies when you can have great cookies?). And these are great cookies! They’re sweet with a crispy outside and a bit of a chewy center.

This is one flavor version, the base cookie recipe can be adapted pretty easily. I’ve made green tea, pistachio (still perfecting that one), and cherry almond so far.

I’m trying not to be the annoying blogger that forces you to read ten years of background on a dumb recipe. So here it is:

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
1 cup of cane sugar (I use Domino brand because it’s a more fine grain)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of mint extract (this will produce a very mild mint flavor, add more if you want a stronger mint flavor)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
2-4 ounces of dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

Melt chocolate chips and set aside to cool
Heat oven to 350°
Line a large baking tray with silicone baking mats or with parchment paper
In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, whip egg whites for a couple of minutes until frothy
Slowly add sugar and whip until glossy and stiff (you should be able hold the whisk and the egg mixture won’t move)
Add vanilla and mint extract and whip until stiff again.
Sift the cornstarch and cream of tartar onto the egg mixture. And fold over with a rubber scraper until combined.
Drizzle the chocolate around the edges of the pastry bag with a star tip.
Fill with the pastry bag with the egg mixture
pipe cookies into a swirl pattern onto prepared baking tray
Place pan in the oven
Turn oven down to 200°
Bake for 90 minutes
Turn off the oven and allow the cookies to cool in the oven until completely cooled (oftentimes I’ll make the cookies in the evening and leave them in the oven overnight to cool)

I’ve Got a Real Problem …

July 8, 2021July 15, 2021 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’ve got a real problem guys. So I was driving through Bay Ridge (a neighborhood in Brooklyn) when I small sign caught my eye… Handwritten in chalk I see, “best cupcakes in the USA.”

I couldn’t make out the source of said claim, but that’s a pretty bold statement. And obviously, I couldn’t let it stand untested, nay, unchallenged. I made my husband circle the block and double park so I could run in. Before I get to my critique of said cupcake shop, some backstory.

I enjoy a good cupcake, but that’s the rub, there are so many bad cupcakes that finding a good cupcake is a veritable treasure hunt… no even less fruitful than that… a Sasquatch hunt. They probably exist, but they’re the stuff of legends, whispered about by the lucky few who have found them.

I say now, with the utmost humility, that I make a mean cupcake. The cake is light, fluffy, and moist. Its bitter chocolatey goodness is tempered by a sweet and ever-so-slightly salty buttercream. If I’m feeling whimsical I’ll top them with festive sprinkles, but honestly, they don’t need them.

Back to my review. Best cupcakes in the USA? Maybe, if you like a dense flavorless cake with marshmallow frosting. But if you like things like flavor and texture, then no, they are most decidedly not the best cupcakes in the USA. The shop is, however, a socially conscious bakery and they donate money to feed needy folks, and I fully support their efforts.

So what is this problem I have? The main problem is I can’t pass up a bakery and I’m more than a little judgey when it comes to cupcakes.

Lentil Salad

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I made up a recipe tonight. I’ve been craving lentils, but didn’t feel like making soup again. So I decided to throw something together. It was so good! I tried it warm (great) and chilled (still great).

Ingredients:
* 2 cups green lentils
* 2 boneless chicken thighs
* 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
* 1 medium onion
* 1 orange bell pepper
* 2 baby cucumbers
* 1 avocado
* 1 lemon
* olive oil
* salt
* pepper
* pressed garlic (or garlic powder if you prefer)
* cayenne (optional, but I think cayenne goes in just about everything)

Directions:
Cook lentils in a pot per instructions (I did five cups of water to two cups of lentils on high until the water came to a boil, and then reduced to low to simmer). You want to cook the lentils until they are tender, but not mushy. Mix juice from one lemon into lentils and chill. While the lentils are cooking dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and cut onion into strips (I like my onions super caramelized, so I sauteed them in olive oil by themselves in my cast iron skillet). Once tender and charred on the edges remove from the pan and set aside. Then add a bit of olive oil and the chicken to the skillet, add salt, pepper, and cayenne. Slice mushrooms and add to the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms are tender add the crushed garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken/mushroom mixture to the onions you had set aside and chill.
When you’re almost ready to serve the meal dice up bell pepper, cucumbers, and avocado into bite sized pieces.
Stir the vegetables, and the chicken/mushroom/onion mix into the lentils. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne to taste.

This recipe makes 6-8 servings.

Like I said, this was good served warm or served cold, although cucumbers warm is not my favorite thing in the world. I would probably add another bell pepper in a different color, just to give it more of a pop and pump of the veggies a little bit. I’m sure cherry tomatoes would be a good addition if you are going to be serving it cold.

Sourdough Apple Fritters

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Okay guys. So, my husband loves apple fritters… personally, I’m indifferent to them, but I wanted to make them for him. So I started searching for recipes online. I found several, but they were all so wildly different I couldn’t decide which one to use… so I just decided to make up my own recipe. I’ll get right into the recipe, and I’ll give my critiques at the end on how I would tweak it.

Ingredients:
Batter:
1/3 cup of melted butter (cooled to room temperature)
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sourdough starter
2 teaspoons of yeast
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 eggs (room temperature)
3 tablespoons of apple sauce (room temperature)
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups of apples (diced)

Glaze:
3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of hot water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
pinch of salt

oil for frying

Instructions:
Combine butter, milk, sourdough starter, yeast and sugar in stand mixer with dough hook. After combining let sit for five minutes. Add eggs and apple sauce, mix until smooth. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, mix until smooth. Add flour. Once combined and smooth add apples. Let dough sit covered for 30 minutes. The dough is VERY sticky!

While dough is resting mix glaze ingredients in a bowl until smooth.

Heat oil (I don’t have a candy thermometer — a fact I regret every time I have to fry something or make caramel — so I can’t tell you what temperature to fry the dough at, but I’ve seen 375F on other recipes). You want to make sure the oil is hot enough, if it’s too cool the dough will soak up too much oil. I used a cast iron skillet, but you could probably use something else.

I used a 1/3 cup to scoop the dough into the oil. For the temperature I got my oil to, I cooked the fritters for 2.5 minutes per side. After frying, place fritters on a paper towel-lined cooling rack. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes. I was able to cook two fritters at a time without cooling the oil too much. After cooling about 10 minutes dip the fritters in the glaze and place on a cool rack to set. This recipe made about a dozen fritters.

Things I would tweak:
2 teaspoons of salt instead of 1
2 teaspoons of cinnamon instead of 1
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg instead of 1/4
3 tablespoons of maple syrup instead of 2

Despite needing these tweaks, they came out pretty good. My husband loved them at least. Let me know if you try them out and how you like them if you do!

What Happened to November?!

December 9, 2020December 9, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Seriously? What happened to November?! I’m sure I did something… but clearly nothing noteworthy, otherwise I would have written about it. I haven’t posted any book reviews because I’m currently reading three books… it would probably be helpful to finish one of them.

I’ve made a couple of quilts (I’m learning a lot), I’ve been practicing making bread (I’m getting better), I attempted to make a crepe cake (pretty disastrous), I made a lemon meringue pie (it tasted good, looked terrible), I made a pumpkin pie and an apple pie for Thanksgiving, and attempted a new cookie (pretty tasty).

I think I epitomize the phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” Sometimes I’m a little disheartened by this fact… I’ve always wanted to be really good at one thing! But being okay at a bunch of things is okay too, I suppose.

Banana Bread

October 21, 2020October 21, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I should start this post by saying that I don’t actually like bananas that much. I like the idea of them, I guess. Or I like them in certain scenarios, like smoothies, banana pudding, and fruit salad. But to just eat a banana? Blech. And yet, I always buy bananas. My husband does eat them, but usually not fast enough, so I throw the brown bananas in the freezer.

And they sit. And they sit.

I’m always going to “make banana bread.” But I never make banana bread. Seriously. I’ve literally never made banana bread. They just sit in my freezer until I run out of room, and I might use them in a smoothie, but more likely than not, they eventually get thrown away.

I hate throwing away food.

Anyway, we have a member in one of our congregations that is in a nursing home. The pandemic has been really tough on her since she can’t have visitors, and she’s not really able to leave the nursing home either. We receive her mail for her, so Lewis was going to take her mail to her and I decided I wanted to make a special treat for her. I opened my freezer to see what ingredients I had available, and this is when I spied several bunches of brown bananas, just sitting there, mocking me.

I scanned the internet for recipes for banana bread, but none seemed to have all the ingredients that (in my mind) should go in banana bread…. so I made up my own. So here it is, along with photos of the process. At the end of the post I’ll mention some things that I would change.

Ingredients:

8 frozen bananas (thawed)
1 cup of sugar
1/2 a cup of brown sugar
1/2 a cup of butter (softened or melted)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of mini chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F
Grease two loaf pans (I use coconut oil)
I always just throw my bananas into the freezer with peel and all, so I run the bananas under hot water until they are slightly softened; I peel them and then fully thaw them in the microwave for a minute or two.
Mix thawed bananas (along with juices) with softened butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla
Mix in eggs
Stir in all dry ingredients
Add chocolate chips and walnuts
Divide batter between two loaf pans
Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

Frozen bananas (also when I realized I don’t have any microwave safe mixing bowls)

Things I would change: I think I would use more brown sugar and less white sugar, and cut down the total amount of sugar by just a bit (maybe 1 1/4 cup instead of 1 1/2 cup). I would do two teaspoons of cinnamon, instead of one. I would add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I would add another teaspoon of vanilla. I would use regular sized chocolate chips, rather than the minis. And I would toast the walnuts before mixing them in.

Otherwise, this is a decent loaf of banana bread. The texture is good, with a nice crust on the outside. The chocolate chips are a great pop of flavor and the walnuts add a nice crunch.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl Cream Cheese Frosting

June 20, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’m terrible about remembering to document my steps… so this will only have photos of the finished product… hopefully I’ll get the hang of this blogging thing soon! 😳

I made the cupcake recipe as was published (the link is below). It was fine. I wasn’t super wowed by it, but it will do the job as a basic chocolate cupcake.

I did not, however, use their frosting recipe; I used my own (which I will include below). Overall a pretty good combination. Be aware that my frosting recipe uses less sugar than many standard recipes call for, so it will be a somewhat tangy frosting, especially with the addition of the cocoa powder.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 Sticks of butter (softened at room temperature)
2 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
1.5 cups of powdered sugar
2.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract
.5 cup of cocoa powder

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Mix well after the addition of each of the following ingredients: add vanilla, add powdered sugar, add cocoa powder (for a swirl frosting — as pictured — remove 1/2 the frosting before adding the cocoa powder).

*If you want a more sweet frosting add an extra .5 cup of powdered sugar to the recipe above.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/super-moist-chocolate-cupcakes/

Saturday Night Dinner

June 13, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I post a lot about desserts that I make, but that’s because they’re fun and everyone can get behind a good dessert! But, truth be told, we typically only have dessert once a week or less. So, I thought I’d make a post about what we typically eat.

My hubs has been doing a keto diet, and I have gall bladder issues and can’t process as much fat, so we typically try to find something that can be slightly modified to suit both our needs.

Tonight’s menu? Mixed green salad with fresh veggies and baked chicken breast. The husband’s salad had cheese and sour cream on top.

See… nice, healthy, boring, but delicious.

Sour Cream Donuts

May 29, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s the Sabbath, so I made a Sabbath treat – Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts!

I searched a bunch of recipes, but I chose this one because it was posted by a sour cream company, clearly they should know how to make a sour cream donut.

Honestly… meh. It just tastes like a shortbread cookie, but it took way more work – no thank you.

I’m not used to taking photos of all the steps of my cooking, so I forgot… oops. But here are the photos, and I’ll link to the recipe, but honestly, I wouldn’t bother.

https://www.bordendairy.com/recipe/elsies-homemade-sour-cream-donuts/

Custard Pie

May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Growing up my mom had this old, well-used (read: total wreck) “Better Homes and Garden” cooking encyclopedia set, and I loved it. When I was older, I told mom that when she died, I called dibs on the set. Thankfully, my parents are still very much alive, but when they moved from Ohio to Texas they had to downsize just a bit, and she offered me her cookbook set. I was thrilled… but also, why did I want these cookbooks?! I don’t typically use cookbooks or even recipes for that matter. Unless of course I’m making something new, or baking… baking is science, man, you have to be precise. Anyway, I remembered why I wanted these cookbooks, they’ve got some great recipes. I mean, let’s be honest, these are from the late 60’s, early 70’s, there are some terrible recipes in there (not everything needs to be set in Jell-O, BHG!), but there are some real gems, and they give tips on why something might not be working out. This week I started jonesing for some custard pie… I love a good, homemade custard pie. So here are the results. I follow this recipe perfectly, except, I don’t sift the flour for the pastry, and I use butter instead of shortening. I like it warm or chilled.

It says nutmeg “if desired,” but honestly, you’re a monster if you don’t use the nutmeg.

I don’t pre-bake the crust for this recipe.

The pastry recipe said it was for a single 9-inch pie, but I used a 9.5 inch and I still had leftover crust. So I made a bonus mini-blackberry pie. I only added a teaspoon of sugar… it was not enough, talk about tart, but still quite delicious.

You can’t let a good pastry go to waste!

Boston Cream Donuts

May 18, 2020May 26, 2020 by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

So, I’m kind of a doughnut snob. I love, love, love a good doughnut, but so often, they’re just not. Boxed donuts, terrible. Krispy Kreme, also terrible. Dunkin’ Donuts, only slightly better than terrible. Seriously, I’m a doughnut snob. Because of this I don’t eat donuts very often, usually only a couple of times a year (usually on a trip to the greater Cincinnati area, since they have the most amazing doughnut shops there), and while I’m sure there are some amazing doughnut shops here in NYC, none that I’ve found in our neighborhood. Which, honestly, is probably better for my health.

Anyway, it’s been six months since I’ve had a doughnut. And since my annual trip to Cincinnati got cancelled (thanks Covid-19), I got desperate, and I made my own. I have never made them before, so I had no idea how these would turn out.

I found a recipe online, and I mostly followed the instructions. I followed the recipe for the dough, but I didn’t have cornstarch, so I made the custard without it, and I used milk instead of heavy cream. For the chocolate topping, I made a chocolate ganache instead of the recipe included on the website (the ganache I made was 10 ounces of ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips and eight ounces of heavy cream).

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017066-boston-cream-doughnuts

Here are photos from the process and the final product. So, how did this doughnut snob find them? They were pretty good. Weirdly, I only made one dough, but half of the dough didn’t rise like the others. But overall, better than Dunkin’ for sure.