 I'm not sure what I like more about Saturday mornings, the extra sleep or the big leisurely breakfast. Who am I kidding? - it's the food. (It's always the food.)  My sweet sixteen year old daughter had a three hour soccer camp this morning so todays breakfast was especially important. Her favorite weekend breakfast is waffles and I tried out a new waffle recipe on her this morning. Thankfully - she was a big fan. I am normally not a waffle eater but even I couldn't resist the intoxicating aroma of cinnamon and sugar lofting from the waffle iron this morning. These Snickerdoodle waffles were unbelievable. The perfect Saturday morning indulgence.  Snickerdoodle Waffles 2 cups flour 1 tsp. salt 4 tsp. baking powder 2 TB sugar 2 eggs 1½ cup milk warm ⅓ cup butter melted 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. almond extract
In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs. Add warm milk, ⅓ cup melted butter, vanilla and almond extract.
Mix well and add to your dry ingredient bowl.  Add 1 tsp. cinnamon to your waffle mixture. Pour into waffle iron and cook.   While waffles are cooking melt ½ cup butter in a bowl. Also place ¾ cup sugar and ¼ cup cinnamon in pan (for the topping). Remove waffles from waffle iron.   Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.   Enjoy your weekend friends! Ciao!
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 I really do love living in Georgia but there are times when living in the South makes me feel like a fish out of water. Like when I start to talk to a Southerner about biscotti and I get blank stares in return. When I mention things like fresh cannolis - again - no response.  Living in the South has taught me to love red velvet cake, Italian cream cake and hummingbird cake. I may never be a fan of boiled peanuts but I can respect the fact that it's a Southern staple. I've learned a whole new respect for Southern baking but there are times when I do miss some of my Northern favorites.  So what is this Southern transplant supposed to do when she can't find a decent cannoli within 100 miles? Make them for herself. Introducing the Amy Davis cannoli cupcake - compliments of my never ending quest for delicous cannolis.  Cannoli Cupcakes 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature 2 large eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup sour cream Cannoli Topping 1/3 cup Mascarpone cheese 1/3 cup Ricotta cheese, strained slightly* 3 Tbsp powdered sugar Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting 8 ounces cream cheese 1/2 cup butter 2 Tablespoons heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup dark chocolate, melted 2 cups powdered sugar Cream butter and sugar in standing mixer.  Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.  Combine dry ingredients. Add to batter, alternating with sour cream.   Scoop batter into paper lined cupcake pans.
  Bake 25 minutes at 350. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.    Stir together filling ingredients with a spoon. Spoon a small amount of filling on top of each cooled cupcake.    Beat together frosting ingredients in mixer.  Pipe frosting on top of cannoli topping and decorate with a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips.    Cupcakes so good - it make me wonder why I waited so long to make them. By far the best cannolis that I've had since moving to Georgia. Ciao!  Atlanta is bracing for a winter storm this afternoon. The Governor even issued a state of emergency for 50 counties in Georgia starting at 2:00 this afternoon!  In lieu of this information - I made a gigantic mistake - I went to the grocery store!!! (Along with several hundred panicked Georgians.) At nine o'clock this morning, there were only a few loaves of bread left on the shelf and less than 6 gallons of whole milk was all the remained in the dairy case.  Most of the shoppers had carts full of soup and bread and I was pushing my cart full of Cheerios and dog food through the supermarket. I also picked up a few vegetables because nothing tastes better to me on a cold winter night and a plate full of roasted root vegetables. Serve these veggies along side a nice big pot roast or roasted chicken and you've got yourself a warm, hearty dinner - perfect for a cold February night.  Maple Balsamic Roasted Vegetables 5 thin carrots, peeled and cut 3 small white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes 1red onion, sliced thickly 1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced 3 zucchini, peeled and cut into 1/2" disks 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes 1/3 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons Herb De Provence 1/2 cup maple syrup 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar Fresh rosemary Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl combine all of the vegetables.  Combine oil, salt, pepper and herbs and toss to coat well.  Pour over vegetables and toss to coat.  Transfer to a cookie sheet.   Place in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes, checking that the point of a sharp knife spears the vegetables easily.   White vegetables are roasting, prepare sauce. Combine maple syrup and balsamic vinegar.  Place the maple syrup and balsamic vinegar in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer slowly until it has reduced by about half and is nice and thick. Once the vegetables are ready, lightly drizzle some of the syrup over them and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.  Serve with fresh rosemary.   Stay warm tonight friends and with any luck, I'll be posting some snow pictures tomorrow. Ciao!  I can honestly say that I've never met anyone who has admitted that they LOVE washing dishes. Let's face it, it's not a very glamorous job. It's certainly not my favorite kitchen task. Most of the time, I'm a master and creating dirty dishes. Seriously - if there was an award for producing the greatest amount of dirty dishes in one meal - I would get it. Good thing I have a super helpful hubby who jumps in to wash dinner dishes every night.  Even though I have a dishwasher that never complains, I have to give him a break some nights. This one pot pasta dinner is a GREAT way to save on dirty dishes. At the end of this meal, I had 1 pot, 1 cutting board and a knife. That was it! (I think that may be some sort of record for me.) I love this dinner - not JUST because it didn't require a ton of dishes to wash but because it was quick and easy to put together and it tasted delicious too.  One Pot Spaghetti 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes 3/4 cup chicken stock 1/4 teaspoon oregano 4 ounces spaghetti, broken in half 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 ounces fresh spinach 1/2 ounce grated parmesan  Heat oil in skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until browned.  Add tomatoes, oregano and stock. Bring to a boil. Add noodles, cover pot and reduce to simmer for 8 minutes.  Uncover and add salt and spinach to pot. Replace cover and cook another 3 minutes.   I like my spinach a little firm and not too wilted so I uncovered my pot a little early. I also thought that my spaghetti would stick together but surprisingly, it separated beautifully with a simple stir. Sprinkle with a little parmesan and voila - dinner in one pot. A perfect weeknight meal for anyone who hates to wash dishes as much as I do. Ciao!  If you've followed my blog for very long at all you know about my extreme love affair with chocolate - dark chocolate in particular. I'm a purist when it comes to chocolate too - I prefer straight chocolate -- without anything added to it.  I have been know to slice the chocolate off of a Snickers bar and throw the rest of the candy away. I've also been known to peel the chocolate off of a Klondike bar, eat it, rewrap the naked ice cream and put it back in the freezer. (By the way, I wouldn't recommend this - my family FREAKS OUT when they find naked Klondike bars in the freezer. They all know who to blame though.) :)  The only candy bars that I really ever crave are chocolate bars with English toffee. (Heath Bars, Scor Bars) I still eat the chocolate off first and then savor the toffee but I really do like the toffee/chocolate combination. When they first came out with the bags of Heath Bar bits, I was adding them to everything that I baked. If you haven't tried these - you really should. They are great in chocolate chip cookies and brownies so it was time for me to try them in a batch of chocolate cupcakes. Heath bar cupcakes? Why not?  Heath Bar Cupcakes 1 cup flour 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar 1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup hot coffee 1 cup Heath Bar Bits Chocolate Ganache 1/3 cup dark chocolate 2 Tablespoons heavy cream 4 Tablespoons powdered sugar Vanilla Buttercream 6 egg whites 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 7 Miniature Heath Bars Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in bowl of standing mixer.  Melt butter in microwave safe bowl.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in mixer and beat for 1 minute on medium speed.  Add hot coffee and beat until just combined.   Stir in Heath Bar Bits.   Scoop batter into 14 paper lined jumbo cupcake tins. Bake 23 minutes at 350.
 Prepare a batch of vanilla buttercream. Pipe a small amount of buttercream on top of each cooled cupcake.  Refrigerate cupcakes at least 10 minutes to set buttercream slightly. Make ganache and drizzle a small amount on each cupcake. Top with another dollop of buttercream and garnish with a miniature Heath Bar.    A Heath Bar cupcake that passes the test of even the most critical chocolate purist. Give these a try and let me know what you think. Ciao! |
