i triple dog dare you...

my first Daring Baker's Challenge: Chocolate Eclairs
w/ Thai Tea Pastry Cream

I was really excited about joining the Daring Bakers and tackling my first assignment. I say was because I made these nearly a month ago (I know, I jumped the gun a little) and the photos have been sitting on my desktop for weeks. It goes without saying that a good amount of my enthusiasm for these eclairs has worn off.
That is not to say that they didn't taste great.. they did.


Instead of going with the chocolate pastry cream, I opted for a thai tea flavor. The filling was a bit of a disaster, it wasn't nearly as thick as I would have liked which in turn made the eclairs themselves look...well..kind of limp

all things delicious must come to an end

When we ask the question, "What is the greatest cereal ever known to man?", the answer is clear.

No contest, Count Chocula is king.
Or.. "Count" rather.

Yes, there are many chocolate cereals and many cereals containing marshmallows but when you really break them down, they can't stand up to the sugary goodness that the Count delivers.
The cereal itself is superior. The marshmallows divine. It simply cannot be beat.

This brings me to my next question: Where has it all gone?
It's been years since I last saw a box of Count Chocula on the supermarket shelves. Believe me, I'm looking.
Needless to say, I'm devistated.

In honor of the aforementioned culinary breakfast delight, a word from our sponsors:

put 'em in the toaster, that's the way you're sposter

Fig Pop Tarts w/ Ginger Frosting & Classic Chocolate Fudge


Ever since I was a child, I have loved pop-tarts

For years and years breakfast meant... pop- tarts.
And, well, pop-tarts meant a whole lot more than breakfast; they were delicious at all hours of the day, particularly 2am.
I was always fond the of chocolate fudge and frosted strawberry variety


Having said that, I should note that up until this morning I've been clean for over two years, no contact with toaster pastries whatsoever. As you can imagine, I had high hopes for what my first venture back into pop-tartdem would be like.
Unfortunately, I was rather dissapointed; it wasn't half the tart I remember it being.


So I decided, with the help of Mr. Alton Brown, to bring back the toaster pastry in style... and without all those weird chemicals.
Don't call it a comeback:

Alton's Pastry Recipe
::I should note that I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 AP flour::

The ginger icing consisted solely of powdered sugar, apricot nectar, and powdered ginger.

the quest for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie: part II

I think I may have found them.

Were the cookies I made last night the best cookies in the entire world? I can't say for sure, most likely not.
However, they were by far the best I've ever baked myself.
In fact, they were so good I didn't have the opportunity to photograph them before.. well.. before I, and a few others, ate them.

The majority of the cookies met their demise straight out of the oven, the other two lasted just until 7:30 am this morning.

The recipe, again, was adapted from the Ghiradelli link I included in my previous post.
I used bittersweet chips (Ghiradelli), 60% cacao (makes for a better cookie than semi-sweet, jus' sayin)
Let them mingle, marinate, mellow, whathaveyou, in the fridge for just under 2 days
And finally, I sprinkled them with kosher salt before placing them in the oven (thank you NY Times)

I also made them a little larger than your typical cookie and baked them for 10-11 minutes at 375