mint chocolate cookies

These cookies are delicious, professional looking, yet super-easy to make! the trick is using andes mints for the chocolate mint topping. I used the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Mint-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx. Not much narration is required...

melting butter and sugar - yum!

adding some chocolate to the mix

plopping them down on our awesome silpat mats (you've got to get these!)

the shortcut - andes mints

stick one on each cookie right after you take them out from the oven. be patient, they will melt almost completely

the final result - delicious!

pumpkin cheesecake w/ gingersnap crust

this is a little late, but I promised it was coming so here goes... we had a thanksgiving potluck at work a couple weeks back, and I decided to try making a pumpkin cheesecake. once again i combined a couple of recipes, and it turned out quite well :)

gingersnap crust

the idea of a gingersnap crust sounded delicious, so I took the crust recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Cheesecake-in-a-Gingersnap-Crust/Detail.aspx. Instead of ground hazelnuts, I used pecans, and I stuck it in the oven to bake for about 5 minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

filling

For the rest of the recipe, I used the double layer pumpkin cheesecake recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Double-Layer-Pumpkin-Cheesecake-2/Detail.aspx. I made a few modifications based on recommendations by readers:

• I increased it to 3 pkgs of cream cheese
• I used most of a can of pumpkin puree ( i think it was 12-14 oz?)
• I added more ground cinnamon and more nutmeg
• I folded in 1/2 cup sour cream after blending in the eggs

Here's the cheesecake just prior to putting it in the oven I baked it for 1 hr in a water bath then left the door open for another hr, though it didn't prevent all the cracks:

whipped topping

The cracks didn't really matter though, because I covered it up with some yummy whipped cream (+ sour cream) topping. I followed this recipe exactly: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Whipped-Cream/Detail.aspx

I can't say for sure how it turned out, but at our potluck, when I went to check out the desserts, all the other desserts were virtually untouched but there was only one small sliver of my cheesecake left. So... it sounds like it was a hit! I had several requests to make this again the next day as well... :)

bienvenidos y tres leches

Welcome to our blog! If you just happened to stumble upon us and don't know us personally, we are a bunch of friends who enjoy baking and cooking - and anything resulting in something yummy :) I personally wanted to call this "four girls and a spatula" but I suppose the official title gets a similar point across...

We'll try to post everytime we make something new and of note... we also have a couple resident photogs, so we'll give you a nice glimpse into the process/result whenever we can.

This first dessert was made for a VERY special event - Ji's birthday! Unfortunately that meant the cake-baking was rushed, hidden, and lacking photos. Even the first photo below we snuck in while she was opening presents ;) Next time I'll try to demonstrate the process a little more.

.: tres leches :.

This cake's recipe was courtesy of Emeril Lagasse on Food Network (Thanks Emeril!): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tres-leches-three-milks-cake-latin-america-recipe/index.html. We didn't want it to be too sweet, so we cut out about a cup of sugar and only put in half of the condensed milk - compensating a little by adding in a tad more heavy cream. We also used two 8-inch cake pans instead so we could make it two layers (okay, also because we didn't have a plate/container to put a 9x13 inch cake), and baked only 20 minutes.

For the frosting/filling, we adapted the meringue recipe posted here that's used for the delicious La Duni Cuatro Leches cake in Dallas. For some reason that recipe wasn't very complete... so I've filled in the rest of the directions :)

Meringue:
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup water
1 cup egg whites (from 7 large eggs)

To make the meringue, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, undisturbed, until the syrup reaches 240˚F (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat. When the thermometer registers 200˚F, begin beating the egg whites on medium speed in an electric mixer fitted with the wire whip until soft peaks form. Once the peaks form, slowly pour the sugar mixture in a steady stream into the egg whites, while still beating with the mixer. Continue beating until all the sugar mixture is added, and the mixture is glossy and delicious-looking. Apply the frosting/meringue to the middle and the tops/sides of the cake. Use a blowtorch to add a beautiful effect!


The result? A beautiful, delicious, moist, still-very-sweet tres leches cake! It's all gone now... that speaks for itself :)

Up next... I'm planning to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Gingersnap Crust for a Thanksgiving potluck later this week... stay tuned!!