French Yule Log

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

All I can say about this months challange is that it took all day, but it DID taste delicious. 

My favorite part was the mousse, the ganache and the praline feuliette. 

My chocolate frosting gelatized before I got a chance to spread it all around the cake, so I ended up whipping my leftover cream and plopping it all around the cake to look like snow, then sprinkled powder sugar to add to the affect. It looks frost bitten in this picture, it was still very frozen when I snapped the shots.

Pizza Party!!

 This months darking bakers challenge was pizza! It was really a blast making this challenge. I invited  two of my bestest friends, Sarah and Heather over and we tossed pizzas until we dropped them on the floor. (but still ate them anyway)

-AHEM- Video! Here's the video of me tossing the pizza. Sarah and Heather are in it first, then me. I'm with the long, plain, black sleeved shirt. MY VOICE SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE THAT. And notice the flour all over my pants. xD

Sarah and Heather think I'm weird when I photograph my food...^_^;

Anyway, the main problem with my dough is that is wasn't wet enough (as in, the dough didn't have enough water), and it formed a crust in the fridge over night so it wasn't soft and didn't rise well.

BUT.

It tasted AWESOME. Everyone loved it, including myself. I'm definitely making it again and again and again.

Daring Bakers--EXTREMELY late!

 I feel terrible! I've seriously been neglecting my blog. I've been working more hours lately, I'm getting over a cold, school's started, and I was so busy sewing my costume for an anime convection until a few weeks ago. But this is gonna change! Not to mention, just until a few days ago my compter has been down so I wasn't able to find the pictures I took.

Last months daring bakers challenge was Lavash Crackers. I didn't have the time or ingredients to make a dip, sojust salted crackers is what I made.

These crackers were delicious! I can't wait to make them again.

I'm sorry I haven't commented on anyone elses blogs!! This will change, I promise!

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

There was a beautiful breeze blowing through my kitchen window on Sunday morning. Everyone in my family was taking a nape, leaving the house was quiet, with the exception of the birds chirping outside, the trees blowing in the wind, and the sound of the an occasional card driving by on this dead end road. It felt so much like autumn I think I should've been baking apple pie instead of blondies!

These blondies are very moist, dense, soft but still chewy, with the wonderful taste of peanut butter and chocolate. I've used this blondie recipe before, and I stole the chocolate frosting recipe from my awesome friend "hollie". The difference? This time instead of nuts and chocolate chunks, put chopped Reeses peanut butter cups in the batter. No, it's not original at all, but it's extremely tastey!



I used a 12 oz. package of reeses minature peanut butter cups and chopped them however I liked. Usually fours, thirds and in half.



Blondies (recipe found here, on SmittenKitchen)

one 12 oz. package of Reeses miniature peanut butter cups.
16 tablespoons butter (2 sticks) , melted
2 cup brown sugar (I used dark)
2 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Pinch salt
2 cup all-purpose flour

Unwrap Peanut Butter cups and chop into pieces of either fours, thirds, or halfs.
Butter an 9x13 pan
Mix melted butter with brown sugar - beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
Add salt, stir in flour. Stir in chopped Reeses.
Pour and spread into pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. (mine cooked a little longer than this)

While baking, prepare frosting.

Chocolate frosting:

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tbls. boiling water
1 stick butter
3 cups powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

add the cocoa powder and water in a medium bowl and stir into a soft mass. Add butter and blend to combine, about 30 seconds. Beat in powder sugar and vanilla on low speed until incorperated. Beat on medium speed until forsting lightens and is fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Let Blondies cool the spread with forsting. WARNING: these won't last long!

Daring Bakers and an award!

Okay, so this months challenge was Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream. I was excited to find out this cake was from Carole Walter's "Great Cakes".

To start, I made this cake on monday night. I had no idea I was making the cake, but I got an unexpected tip from work.

so I picked up the ingredients at 4 and got to work at 6, after dinner. That's the last time I'm ever staring a daring baker project at 6 in the evening! By the time I was done I was ready to break down and cry myself to sleep. It was almost midnight, and nothing was going my way!

When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling a little better and decorated the cake. The only pastry tip I have is very small, and it kept getting clogged. The big splatter on top were accidents because the butter cream came right out of the top and plopped right on my design...*sigh*







Taste review:
I didn't like it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it.

My sister liked it! Maybe she has a more "adult palette"?

My friend Heather didn't like it, so she brought it home to her mom

My fron "Hollie" didn't like it very much but ate it anyway because she loves me. XD

Needless to say, I won't be making this again! But I'm glad I tried, it was worth the experience!

Luckily, "Hollie" brought over her peanut butter cup cheesecake! AMAZING. I'm seriously going to steel the recipe from her one of these days.



EDIT:
Karen of Do Better awarded me with the smiles award! It made me very happy and definitely put a smile on my face!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times–we are all human)
2. Must love one another3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Now I'm not sure if I can do this, but I want to award Karen with the same award! So I give the award to

1. Karen of Do Better. She's an amazing baker and extremely nice. She has 2 children who take after her beauty and her family seems so loving.
2. My very own sister, Christina, of Stuff By Stina. She's beautiful, talented and of the nicest people I've met!! She's great with little kids and when she smiles the whole room glows. (sorry, that was cheesy...but true!)
3. is Mother Bliss. She has a wonderful family and I love reading about her life! She's a great baker and cook, and her kids are adorable.
4. is Daily Delicious! Everything she makes looks so incredibly delicious! I'd love to visit her house for tea one day.
5. is Christina of She Runs She Eats. She's an amazing athlete who knows good food! I lkove to read how she's doing and all her tips. Everything she posts looks great, wether she's eating it or making it herself!

Carrot Cake

I wish I were about to show you some really beautiful cake, covered in fondant, with gum paste flowers, edible gold and other fancy decorations.

But no.

Here is a carrot cake. The same way My mom's been making it for years. This cake is heavy, dense, very filling (and satisfting) if you eat too much. The cake is so good you could eat it on it's own, without the frosting! Of course, I'd say the same thing about the frosting...I can't remember how many times I've licked the bowl out! It's creamy, rich, thick and smooth.

But it's sloppy. The whole cake, whenever I make it, it looks sloppy. It's just not a naturally beautiful cake. But it's whats inside that counts, right?









This is one of my favorite cakes. My sister claims she could this off of this, eating nothing more. I tend to agree with her...(If we did, we'd all get really fat! )

Carrot Cake recipe:

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups shredded carrots
8 oz. crush pineapple (from a can)
1 cup rasins or walnuts (optional)

Greese and lightly flour a 13 X 9 pan. *

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat together sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Add the flur mixture and beat together just until combined. Do not over beat. Add the shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, and raisin/walnuts. Gently combine together,on very low speed with hand mixer for a few seconds or with a large wooden spoon.

* My mom and I always double the recipe and use 2 9-inch pans. If you do this, you'll have a little leftover which can be baked in a loaf pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, soft
2 1/2 cups powder sugar
6 tbls. butter, soft
1 tsp. vanilla

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Warning: powder sugar likes to fly out of the bowl and mess up all you counters and measurments. Be sure to use a large bowl, especially if doubled!

Daring Bakers -- Danish Braid!

The Daring Baker have decided it's time for more yeast. This months challenge was a Danish Braid. I'm going to keep my post short. (I appoligize in advance for the crummy pictures. The lighting in my house was terrible at 9 PM)



I made my braid on Friday. I started around 10 AM and it finished baking at 9 PM. That wouldn't have bothered me so much, but the whole bottom of my braid was burnt. Pitch black. Thankfully that was the one part that burnt. The filling and the top stayed nice and fluffy/flaky. But nearly twelve hours and I burnt it!!





It didn't seem like I had any problem doing the turns, but I'm not sure since this is my first time making anything like this.

The filling was pineapple/cheese, and I got the recipe from Carole Walter's "Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More". I liked the filling a lot, but I should've added more. I added a crumb topping from the same book to the top.



Anway, as for why it burnt, I'm not sure. I didn't have any parchment paper so I wasn't able to use that one the pan. Instead I greased it with margarine. Is that the reason why?

Please go to this months hosts blog for the recipe, as well as great pictures of the process!
Sass and Veracity and What's Cooking