Cortnac

Biscoff Mousse Pie

Tue, 07 May 2013 14:14:54 -0400

I’ve been wanting to try a recipe with Biscoff for a long time. I’ve had a love affair with Biscoff cookies for years; certainly years before they became a common product in grocery stores and WAY before the Biscoff spread. I flew a lot as a child and I always wanted to fly Delta because they served these amazing cinnamon cookies—my favorite thing about airplanes (and the Cran-Apple juice which you apparently can’t buy anywhere on the ground).

I made this pie in honor of my cat’s birthday. Even though she couldn’t eat it; she did try.

Recipe follows.

Crust

{ 24 Biscoff cookies ♥ 1/4 c butter (melted) ♥ 2 tbs granulated sugar }

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Crush your cookies in to crumbs. I used a bag and a rolling pin for this.
3. Mix in melted butter and sugar. Pour into 9x9 pan and press down.
4. Bake for 7 minutes. Let cool completely before adding the mousse.

Biscoff Mousse

{ 7 tablespoons cream cheese ♥ 1/2 – 3/4 cup creamy biscoff spread ♥ 1/4 cup granulated sugar ♥ 1 tsp vanilla extract ♥ 3/4 cup Cool Whip ♥ fudge ice cream topping }

1. In the bowl, beat the cream cheese, biscoff spread, and sugar just until combined.
2. Add the vanilla.
3. Beat in 1/4 cup of the Cool Whip just until it is incorporated.
4. Fold in the rest of the Cool Whip and pour over your cooled crust.

5. Put a few dollops of fudge on top of your mousse and use a knife to make a swirled pattern.

6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before eating.

P.S. I cut the recipe in half which is why my mousse isn’t very deep.

Happy 20th Birthday Squirty!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:01:00 -0400

Well, yesterday was a big day for my first baby Squirty. She turned 20! My family adopted her when I was 5, and we’ve been best friends ever since. She’s lived in my parents house for the last 10 years, and I just recently moved her to my apartment. She transitioned swimmingly and is loving her grown-up house. Here she is enjoying the sun and wind on her birthday.

And here she is trying to eat some mousse cake I made. I mean there were candles…and I was singing to her…so I can see why she thought it was her cake. Her cat-cake was a can of tuna and some special cheesy cat food.

It’s amazing what a blessing animals can be in our lives. Here’s to another 20 years together!

How unbearably cute is she here?!

Dresser Redo

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:31:00 -0400

Well, you think you know it all, and then you get a piece like this. The one that tries to break your resolve and make you question whether or not you can handle your chosen career path. Okay, maybe a little dramatic, but this did take hours and a very unexpected and unfortunate 8 coats of paint in some areas. In the end though, it was totally worth it, and I love the results.

I really love antiquing. It’s so much fun, and after meticulously applying perfect coats of paint, it’s fun to be a little more carefree and artistic. Even though the dark stain was a pain during the process, I love how it looks peaking through the cream.

Blondie Bombs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:22:00 -0400

I never make blondies because my goal is typically to consume as much chocolate/square inch as possible in any given dessert. But there’s a first time for everything, and these blondies did not disappoint. My issue with blondies is they typically have too much of a cake or cookie texture, but luckily these came out soft and gooey.

Mine are filled with chocolate covered peanuts, butterscotch, and chocolate, but I called them Blondie Bombs because you could really put anything your heart desires into them (Also because Chocolate Butterscotch Chocolate-Covered-Peanut Blondies seemed a bit long). And as an important side note: When I make brownies I always dive right into the center, and avoid the edge until the very last minute. But the edges of these were delicious—they caramelized and were more like candy than anything else.

Of course my cat, Squirty, likes to be in the middle of all things. She was sitting on the window sill watching the action, and this was her face when I brought the blondies over to the table. Like “omg new smell…must investigate.” The girl will literally eat anything but her favorite foods are pizza and Doritos. My other cat won’t entertain the idea of anything except dry cat food – she won’t even eat cat treats.

Give these a shot and tell me what would go into your favorite Blondie Bomb. P.S. The batter is delicious. I’m surprised I had enough left to fill up the pan! Recipe follows.

Ingredients:
{ 1 stick unsalted butter, melted ♥ 1 egg ♥ 1 cup light brown sugar, packed ♥ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ♥ 1 cup all-purpose flour ♥ 1 cup chocolate covered peanuts ♥ 1/3 cup butterscotch sauce (pre-baking) ♥ 1/4 cup butterscotch sauce (post bake) ♥ 1/4 cup chocolate fudge (post bake)}

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8 x 8 inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Melt the butter.
3. Allow the butter to cool slightly and add the egg brown sugar and vanilla and stir vigorously.
4. Add the flour and stir until just combined. The batter will come together quickly so be careful not to over-mix it.
5. Fold in the chocolate covered peanuts.
6. Pour into pre-greased pan and drizzle with the butterscotch sauce.

7. Bake at 350 F for 28-32 minutes.
8. Once done drizzle with the butterscotch and fudge sauce.

Basic blondie recipe courtesy of Averie Cooks.

DIY pet bowls

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:08:00 -0400

I like to do a DIY project every now and then, and when I discovered the amazing and talented Plasti Dip, I knew I had to find a use for it. I love the look of classic silver pet dishes, but my cats and dogs are ravenous eaters and they tend to shove these all around the house and make a ton of noise while they are eating. Soooo, insert Plasti Dip! It’s kind of like a liquid rubber that will dry solid but flexible. I just dipped the rims of the dishes in and now they are cute and immovable.

I couldn’t find the multi color Plasti Dip, so I just purchased the Blue and Yellow to make these two shades of green. It can be a bit tricky to use, but it is forgiving. I messed up one of these and, with a little effort, was able to peel it off after it dried.

Read more for cute pics of my babies using their new bowls.

Zucchini Bread with chocolate chips

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:38:00 -0400

My mom use to make this for me all the time when I was in college. This was my first time making it, though, and I discovered a new favorite thing — grating zucchini! OMG IT’S SO FUN. It just happens so fast, and its so easy. Forget cheese, I’ll be putting freshly grated zucchini on everything.

Also hiding vegetables inside bread and chocolate is genius. This bread contains more zucchini than I’ve eaten in the last 6 monhts. I need to find more ways to hide my vegetables.

ingredients
{3 Eggs ♥ 1 cup veg oil ♥ 2 cups sugar ♥ 2 cups grated raw zucchini ♥ 3 cups flour ♥ 1 t soda ♥ 3 t cinnamon ♥ 1 t salt ♥ 3 t vanilla ♥ 1 cup chocolate chips}

1. Beat eggs, vegetable oil, and sugar until fluffy.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients (excluding chocolate chips).

3. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

World's Best Pizza

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:11:00 -0400

I’ve been working on a list of the World’s Best Cheese Pizzas for a couple years now, and I’m finally ready to unleash it. I also have a whole wheat pizza recipe to share with you, and while it doesn’t make it onto the list, it is pretty darn good and really fun to make.

1. Pizza Roma - Prague, Czech Republic
I discovered this pizza when I studied abroad in 2010. I went back to Prague in the fall of 2012, and returned to Pizza Roma to make sure this pizza was still, in fact, the best in the world. Pizza Roma is just a little hole in the wall shop. It’s all underground, with brick walls and no windows, and it’s just got a great rustic atmosphere without having tried to achieve it, you know? You get a large cheese pizza for about 5 bucks. It’s paper thin, with a perfect layer of sauce and tons of cheese, oil, and spices. But somehow all those toppings don’t weigh down the paper thin crust. It really is wonderful—even die-hard ABJC’s (anything but just cheese) prefer this cheese pizza to those with meat.

2. Kontiki - Sint Maarten
I certainly wasn’t expecting to find the second best pizza in the world in this particular location. We were in a fairly touristy spot near Orient Bay, and I expected them to serve pretty generic food. But boy, was I surprised. I was with my family and they all agreed that this pizza was exceptional.

3. Burke Street Pizza - Winston-Salem, NC
This is my hometown but somehow I never ate this pizza until I was 17. You know how delicious pizza always looks in cartoons? All thin and cheesey and when you take a bite of it the cheese drapes for like a foot before it breaks. This is exactly what this pizza is like – your favorite cartoon pizza come to life.

4. Lilly’s Pizza - Raleigh, NC
I kind of hate that this place is on the list because they seem pretty pretentious to me. The atmosphere of the shop is definitely not for everyone. But this list is purely best pizza and nothing else so, alas, it takes spot #4. Every single one of their ingredients is special in some way. It’s like they harvested all the tip top meats, cheeses, and vegetables and then found the best recipe for crust ever. You can’t go wrong with anything you get here, although, of course, I prefer just cheese.

5. Big Cheese Pizza - Wellington, KS
Admittedly, this probably slides into spot #5 for sentimental reasons as well as delicious flavor. They are a local place that does mostly deliveries. And while it is pretty rundown and maybe a little dirty, the pizza is awesome. And their other pièce de résistance is their chocolate dessert pizza. Maybe one day I will attempt to recreate this sinfully delicious masterpiece.

Read more to check out the whole wheat pizza recipe. And let me know what your favorite pizza places are!

dough
{1 packet active dry yeast ♥ 1 cup warm water ♥ 1 tbsp brown sugar ♥ 1/2 tbsp olive oil ♥ 1/2 tsp salt ♥ 1 cup whole wheat flour ♥ 3/4 cup all-purpose flour}

1. In a bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, brown sugar and oil. Let sit for about 10 minutes while it gets foamy.

2. Add in the flour and salt. Mix with a spoon at first, and then knead with your hands. If it’s too sticky add in flour a little at a time.
3. Form a ball with the dough, and brush lightly with olive oil. Set in a bowl, covered with a damp towel, and let it rise for about 1-2 hours.

pizza
{ finely minced garlic ♥ mozzarella cheese ♥ oregano ♥ olive oil ♥ rosemary ♥ grape tomatoes}

Obviously, use any ingredients that you want but these are my personal favorites. Whatever you use, load it up though, because we all know whole wheat dough can be a tad dry. The more cheese and sauce the better!

4. Heat your oven to 400 F.
5. After the dough has risen, roll it out pretty thin with a rolling pin.
6. Top with your chosen ingredients, and bake for about 15 minutes directly on the oven rack.

Chocolate Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:31:00 -0400

This was one of my favorite things that my mom made growing up. But somehow it always seemed like she only made it for other people, or when other people were coming over—forcing me to share most of it. Did anyone else have this experience?

I made this in celebration of my friend’s birthday, and also the end of The Bachelor. I got what I thought were cool candles, but they ended up being really thin and cheap, so they started wilting inside the hot cake almost instantly. We barely had time to light 2 of them and blow them out before they fell over completely.

Click below for the recipe →

ingredients:
{1 stick butter melted | 1 cup sugar | 3 tbsp cinnamon | 1 bag rhodes white yeast rolls thawed | chocolate chips}

1. Mix 1 cup sugar with 3 tbsp cinnamon and set aside.
2. Melt 1 stick butter and set aside.
3. Tear rolls into 2 pieces and dip them in the butter.
4. Coat them in the cinnamon & sugar mixture.

5. Place into a greased bundt pan. After achieving one, layer sprinkle chocolate chips.

6. Layer rolls and chocolate chips until you have filled half the bundt pan. (I cut the recipe in half and used a bread pan)

7. Pour any leftover butter and/or sugar mixture over the rolls.

8. Let rise to double the size - about 3 hours.

9. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Check and continue baking until done— the rolls will be pretty brown on top.

the best oatmeal cookies

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:57:00 -0500

I know, I know…I just posted the best cake balls; how could I possibly have the best oatmeal cookie recipe too? Actually, this was probably one of the recipes that got me interested in baking. This was my go-to recipe as a kid, and even though I probably got it off the back of an oatmeal box, it felt like my own and I was always so proud to share it.

My cat seemed to know that these are the best oatmeal cookies too, because she was all over the plate during the photo shoot.

Recipe follows

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

yields: 4 dozen

{1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter | 1 cup brown sugar | 1/3 c granulated sugar | 2 eggs | 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract | 1 1/2 cup flour | 1 tsp baking soda | 2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats | 1 2/3 cups cinnamon chips** | 3/4 cups chocolate chips}

1. Heat oven to 350 F. 2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy. 3. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. 4. Add flour and baking soda and beat well. 5. Stir in oats and all chips. 6. Drop balls of batter onto ungreased cookie sheet. 7. Bake for 10 minutes.

**The cinnamon chips can be unfortunately hard to find. But I’m sure these would also be good with white chocolate chips, toffee chips, or caramel bits.

Island Redo

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:13:00 -0500

I started a furniture upcycling business a few months ago, and just went to Charleston, SC to give this island a much needed refinishing. The kitchen was stunning (as you can see), but the green cabinetry was really taking over. We needed to make the island a focal point that would distract from and compliment the cabinetry simultaneously. I worked with a talented local artist Austin Smith. It was definitely a two-man job!

We did an antique finish and were really pleased with the results! I’m currently taking customers so email cortnac[at]gmail.com if you need something spruced up. I do most of my work in NC but I can travel—just ask! Continue for more before and after photos.

The happy customers using their new island:

the best cake balls

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:29:00 -0500

I’ve made quite a few cake balls in my day, but somehow have always been disappointed. I never quite understood the hype. But luckily I have since figured out the magic. The real secret is texture. You have to perfect the frosting-cake ratio, and get some nice crunchy sprinkles. I added even more texture by using funfetti frosting! Try to contain your excitement. (oh yeah, and I used two colors to make them even cuter)

Cake balls are a long process—make sure you are equipped with a lot of time and patience before you begin!

[ ingredients: 1 package yellow cake mix + necessary add-ins (eggs, oil, water) | food coloring | 1 can vanilla funfetti icing | candy coating | sprinkles]

1. Mix up your cake ingredients. Divide the batter into two bowls and add coloring of your choice to each bowl. Bake the cakes in separate pans according to directions on the box. Remove from oven and let them cool completely.
2. Peel off the firm skin that has developed on the cake. It should come off easily.

3. Take your peeled cake and finely crumble it into two bowls.
4. Mix icing into your crumbled cake. USE CAUTION. This is how many a cake ball has been ruined. Add frosting in a little at a time, starting with 1/4 cup in each bowl. The frosting is there to bind the balls only—don’t let it overtake the texture of the cake by adding too much.

5. Form a small ball (1/4-1/2 inch) using one color of your cake/icing mixture. Take some of the other color and add it to your ball. Line them up on a cookie sheet.
6. Put them in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for a few hours.
7. Melt your candy coating over a double boiler.
8. Put a cake ball into the candy coating; rolling it around with a spoon until it’s covered.
9. Transfer the coated ball onto a cookie sheet and sprinkle immediately. Repeat steps 8-9 until all the balls are complete. Refrigerate until candy coating has set and enjoy!

Now just try not to eat them all in one sitting,~~like I did~~.

potato casserole

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:34:00 -0500

So we all know I pretty much only make sweet things. This is one of the few savory items I make regularly and it’s also probably the most caloric thing ever. But it is sooooo good—I promise. It’s the kind of thing you’ll be sneaking into the kitchen for late at night…and early in the morning…and for a snack. In fact, I’d recommend cutting the recipe in half just in case you eat it all in one sitting.

Mix hash browns, pepper, salt, sour cream, and cream of chicken in a large bowl. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Melt 1 stick of butter and mix with 5 cups of corn flakes. Top the potato mixture with the buttered corn flakes. Bake 1 hour at 350 F.

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:36:00 -0500

So my mom called me yesterday with life-changing news:

Mom: “I bought some new super stuffed oreos today.”

Me: “WHAT?!?!?!” (frantically searches for “super stuff oreos” on the internet) ”MOM I can’t find them what EXACTLY are they called?!”

Mom: “Oh ummm…..Mega Stuf Oreos.”

Me:

After this minor freakout, I finally found proof of their existence, immediately went to target to look for them, didn’t find them, went home feeling despondent, fell asleep, and dreamt about buying them at Stein Mart.

All this to say that I never actually found/bought them; but it did inspire me to make something with oreos. And it’s low-fat, more or less anyway.

awwww yeah, OREO COMPILATION!

I would definitely put this recipe in the Top 5 which currently contains the oatmeal chocolate caramel gooey bars and the red velvet cheesecake!

yields: 18 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 275 F. Break up about 6 of the oreos to be used later in the cheesecake batter. Place paper liners in the muffin tins, and put an oreo at the bottom of each one.

On medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla.

Pour in lightly beat eggs a little at a time. Once combined, mix in the greek yogurt. Fold in broken cookies.

Top each oreo-lined cup with batter, almost filling them. Bake for about 22 minutes or until the filling is set. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Peppered Bacon

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:51:00 -0500

Just jumping on the cooking-bacon-in-the-oven band wagon…speaking of bacon – MERLIN’S BEARD! I still have bacon in the oven…

…yup it’s burned.

Annnywayyysss, cooking bacon in the oven really is the new black. Usually bacon is a guaranteed oil-spattering-all-over-the-counter-&-also-in-your-eyes-experience.

(dramatization)

But this is so simple and almost mess-free.

Ingredients:

[ 1 package of turkey bacon | pepper | oven ]

Heat oven to 400 F. Place bacon on a foil lined cookie sheet (for maximum cleanup ease). Pepper your bacon. Continue to pepper your bacon. Bake for about 15 minutes.

story & a cupcake

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:37:00 -0500

Embarrassing Story Time: There’s a great cupcake shop in Raleigh, but I never go there because I generally refuse to pay a premium for cupcakes. However, they are admittedly delicious, so I stopped in one day on my lunch break. As I walked in contemplating my flavor choice, I noticed, to my pleasant surprise, that there was a plate of samples on the counter! I positioned myself next to the other girl sampling and popped a few into my mouth, happily chewing and evaluating the flavor, trying to non-verbally convey my approval to the other customer and cashier. You know…exaggerated nodding, smiling, winking, pointing, slapping the counter…okay I didn’t take it that far. But during my non-verbal display, I noticed that neither the customer nor the cashier were sharing my emotions. In fact, their faces betrayed surprise and maybe even distaste. I swallowed, looking around, taking in clues I hadn’t noticed before, and all of a sudden it dawned on me…

I had just walked up to a private wedding cake tasting, squeezed myself next to the BRIDE, and popped a few of her PERSONAL cake samples into my mouth! Needless to say I was mortified and I can’t even remember if I bought a cupcake or what I said to explain myself.

moral of the story: Yes, free food is really exciting! But take in your surroundings before you take the food.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt chocolate/butterscotch chips and butter over a double boil until they are completely melted and mixed. In a different bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate butter mixture into the eggs. Then add the flour and mix until incorporated. Grease cupcake tin and use a ice cream scoop to fill the cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cinnamon Frosting
Just mix a ton a cinnamon into your favorite frosting recipe or some pre-made frosting of your choice.

fortune cookies

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:32:00 -0500

Well it’s one month from Valentine’s Day…and if your life is as full of “pinterest-fails” as mine is, then you better start planning your V-day treats now. My sister introduced me to chocolate-dipped fortune cookies almost 2 years ago and I figured now would be the perfect time to try them.

This fold is one of those techniques I definitely thought I would screw up. But it actually wasn’t as difficult as you might think—you just have to move quickly.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Have your fortunes written and ready-to-go. Grease baking sheet. Whisk the egg white, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil together until frothy. Add the flour, cornstarch, and sugar to this mixture and combine. Add enough red food coloring to achieve a deep pink.

Spoon out about a tablespoon of batter onto your pre-greased cookie sheet. If necessary, smooth the batter a bit with your spoon to form a perfect circle. They should be about 3” in diameter. Once the cookies come out of the oven, you have to work very quickly so its best to only bake 2 cookies at a time.

Bake for about 7 minutes. Quickly remove the cookies and use a spatula to flip them onto a dish towel. Insert a fortune and fold both cookies in half. Carefully (because the cookies will be hot) place the cookie on the edge of a glass and pull both sides down to form the typical fortune cookie shape. Then, put your cookie into a muffin tin to hold its shape. Repeat steps until batter is gone.

Naturally, I forgot to take these pictures before I decorated them…

Melt chocolate chips over a double boil and dip your cookies any way you like! Refrigerate and enjoy! And since we were talking about my sister(s)…here’s a picture of us from about 20 years ago! I’m the little one.

cheesy orzo

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 11:57:00 -0500

I learned this recipe when I was about 12 years old at Cooking Camp. Ahh Cooking Camp…what memories. While I learned some invaluable lessons in those classes I never did really turn into much of a cook. I’m just a baker at heart. But I can, however, make this orzo. It’s simple and delicious and it just looks so cute in a coffee mug. Plus it’s only 4 ingredients.

ingredients:
2 c. chicken broth | 1.5 tsp minced garlic | 2 c. orzo | 3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

Set 2 cups chicken broth to boil and add the garlic. Once boiling, add the 2 cups orzo. Stir, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 25 minutes until all the broth has absorbed. Fluff orzo with a fork and stir in the parmesan cheese.

This will last for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:37:00 -0500

I always make dessert for our annual family Christmas party with the Kenney’s (you know those long-time family friends who have a son your age that you are supposed to grow up and marry). This year my dad requested Red Velvet Cake, but I wanted to make it more complicated (I have a lot of free-time right now). I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory’s version of red velvet cake and I knew that making my own version could turn into an impressive Christmas treat.

I think this recipe might even make it into my top 5!

To me, the perfect cheesecake is all cheese and no cake, and this recipe really delivers. It’s so dense and creamy - not a bit cakey.

Preheat your oven to 325° F and set a pot of water to boil. Grease a 9” springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Wrap the bottom of your springform in foil and set into a larger roasting pan. Later, we’ll pour the boiling water into this larger pan and the wrapped foil will protect any water from seeping into the cheesecake.

With a mixer beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and beat until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the salt and eggs. Add the sour cream and finally, stir in the flour.

Pour cheesecake batter into the springform. Pour boiling water into the larger outer pan about halfway up the cheesecake. Bake for 40 minutes or until the middle sets up. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate until cake assembly.

[cake ingredients: red velvet box cake mix** | instant cheesecake pudding mix | an extra egg | cream cheese frosting**]

**Yes! I think it’s okay to use some pre-made ingredients (don’t hate me)...especially if the results decrease cost but NOT flavor! Simply make the cake according to the directions on the box but add the instant pudding dry mix and an extra egg. The cake will turn out really moist and won’t taste like it came out of a box.

Assembly: Level off the cakes (I never/didn’t do this but it’s important here because if the cake isn’t level the cheesecake will slip off over time). Spread cream cheese frosting on your bottom layer of cake. Slap…no wait… gently transfer the cheesecake to the top. Spread another layer of cream cheese frosting and then top the whole thing with your last cake. Frost the whole thing and decorate as you please.

This was really a delicious dessert and it looks pretty impressive. This would be great for Valentine’s Day…hell, why not dye the cheesecake and frosting pink!

Croatia

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:42:00 -0500

I spent about two weeks in Croatia during my latest European adventure. It was one of my favorite places. We swam in the Adriatic every day and for some reason it was a swimming experience unlike any other. We could swim out so far and deep without any fear - which is so unlike swimming on the East Coast here. I swear it washed away all my worries.

My friend and I “worked” our way through Europe - helping families in exchange for food and housing. We stayed in Stobreč and honestly our host was awful. She was a slave driver who cared little about us and our Croatian experience. She just wanted her house cleaned and cleaned perfectly. BUT the one great thing she did was introduce us to a wonderful Croatian desert called Krempita. The best way I can describe it is a sort of thick, fluffy, sturdy, yellow custard in between two thin pastries.

I found a recipe, altered it a bit, and tried it this weekend. The custard turned out really delicious but not exactly the proper texture. This is more creamy and jiggly when it should be more fluffy and sturdy. But the taste was right! It was very nice to have a bit of Croatia at home.

Here’s me thoroughly enjoying my new favorite place to swim.

And here’s a nice authentic Krempita. You can see it needs to be quite a bit fluffier. But I’ll keep trying!

Directions

Let the puff pastry sheets thaw and bake according to directions. Once cooled, cut them to the shape of an 8 x 8 inch pan. Then, cut one sheet into serving-sized squares. This will be the top of your krempita. This step is very important!

For the cream - mix egg yolks with sugar until they become frothy. Add 1/2 cup of milk and corn starch and mix well. Boil the remainder of the milk with the vanilla. Once it comes to a boil, mix in the yolk/sugar mixture and stir for one minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool completely. Whip the whipping cream with a stabilizer (I used corn starch) and then add to the completely cooled cream.

Assemble with whole pastry on the bottom, then cream, then the pre-cut squares on top. Refrigerate for a few hours dust with powder sugar and serve! A little Croatian delicacy at home!

holiday toffee

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:01:57 -0500

This is a fun recipe because once you have the toffee down you can pretty much use any ingredients you can think of - milk chocolate chips mint chocolate chips butterscotch chips topped with peppermint pistachios almonds anything.

For the toffee:

- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbs. water

Combine in pan. Bring to boil over medium low heat while stirring occasionally. Heat the mixture to 300-305 F and immediately pour onto a pre-greased cookie sheet. (If you don’t have a candy thermometer you can use the crack test but it is a bit more difficult)

Give the toffee a few moments to set up and once there is a bit of a hard skin on top pour your chips on top. They’ll soften with the heat and soon you’ll be able to spread them all over the toffee. Top of the chocolate with your crunchy bits and then pop it into the freezer.