OK, Enough Masterbaking Talk For Today - Chocolate, Coconut, and Almond Cookies (with Almond Joy pieces too!)

I enjoy a fun cookie, and this was it. I had recently purchased the Coconut M&Ms and the Almond Joy pieces, thinking I would find a creative way to use them in my baking. The Coconut M&Ms, not so much, they had a very artificial taste to them. But the Almond Joy pieces, wonderful. Then all I had to do was find the right cookie . . . almond coconut cookies with chocolate chips? Perfect. I liked this cookie a whole lot. Not the most creative, not the most out of this world cookie, but a solid cookie, a cookie you can stand behind. I really like almonds and coconut and chocolate, so it was a great way to bring all of the flavors together.

Enough posting for today, when you masterbake on the weekends, and then fly 8 hours on Mondays, you end up tired. Nighty night!

Masterbake Me Up Some Goodness - Mud Pie Mojo Brownies

A totally different brownie adventure than the Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Jam Brownies I made for the Bake Off, but pretty impressive nonetheless. What's not to like . . . brownies stuffed with chopped Oreos and peanut butter chips. Then a chocolaty frosting with some espresso powder mixed in. All of the different flavors really came together to make a great cake like brownie. I enjoyed the bits and pieces inside the brownie, it doesn't sound like they would go well together, but was a nice treat. It was sweet, and big chocolate flavor to boot! Eat up!

Maybe The Best Masterbaking To Date - Fudgy Brownies with Homemade Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Jam

A picture is usually worth a thousand words, but this picture doesn't even come close to doing justice to these bad boys. I think of all of the items I master baked for the Bake Off, this was the best. The brownie was amazing by itself. Thin, moist, not too chocolaty, not too sweet, certainly not overpowering. And add to that this great homemade strawberry balsamic vinegar jam, and magic. A good brownie turned into an amazing brownie with a richness and depth and complexity of flavors. The balsamic vinegar added a subtle flavor, it brought out the strawberries and combined well with the brownies. A hit with everyone, stole the show of all of the things that I made.

Mmmmmmm (asterbaking) - Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Buttercream Frosting

Check out those luscious layers of cake and frosting goodness! I love layer cakes, even if I am unable to make them pretty, even if I am unable to frost them perfectly. Even if the layers are not perfectly level, it is all good, it is about how it tastes. So the cake itself was amazing, just the right amount of spices, I might do a bit more nutmeg the next time around, but other than that, great. The pears could have been more caramelized. I will for sure do that better the next time around. I think there was an issue with not enough heat to get a good caramelized pear. The worst part was the buttercream frosting. I didn't like the recipe at all, which included a soft ball of maple syrup (which was fun to make but not tasty), and this weird meringue fluff in addition to the buttercream. I might go for a whipped cream frosting the next time and just do it in between the layers and then on the top. Leave the sides open and go natural. Let the cake shine!

I Was Masterbaking All Day To Get Ready For The Party - Mango Cupcakes

Mango cupcakes . . . so the batter is orange. Mango colored, if you will, but mostly orange looking. Do you know how you get get mango into cupcakes? You buy mango pulp. Wanna know where you get mango pulp? In the Indian grocery store. I had a little adventure and went and found a grocery store in San Francisco where they actually sell 3 different kinds of mango pulp. I, of course, got the best, the best according to the shop owner. I mean how would I know what the best mango pulp is?

Anyway, a super simple, wonderful cupcake. Moist, not too sweet, and not an overwhelming mango flavor. I like mango, but a strong flavor would have killed me. It almost felt healthy (but only almost). It had a great whipped cream frosting, and then dipped in raw flaked coconut, and then topped with fresh mango and toasted coconut. Pretty amazing, popular with the crowd, especially the little girl at the party, which means it is good for kids too! For sure a keeper, I will make this again.

It's A Bake Off, It's A Bake Off!

So, my friend Mike decided to host a Bakeoff, or a Bakedown, or whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, the headliner was the Master Baker vs. the Fornicaker. Or the Master Baker vs. the Sauce. Whatever you call it, the end result was delicious. Delicious and totally insane. You are never meant to eat that amount of sugar in a single sitting.

You see those trophies on the table? Yep, those are the prizes for the baking. Pretty awesome. I went a bit over the top, and decided to contribute 5 different items, you got it, 5 baked goods. Overall, amazing goodies all around. I was a huge fan of the French Almond Apple Tart, and the Key Lime pie. The most creative and prettiest was by far the Chocolate Cake Volcano, which I am totally going to work on recreating. It was a great way to combine cake and ice cream. I'm a fan.

OK, details of what I made forthcoming.

Can't Stop Till I Get Enough - Rum Bundt Cake with Chocolate Sauce

2 of 2 in the series . . . Mugdha is a huge fan of alcohol, and a huge fan of dessert, so the time came to combine them for her birthday. I liked the rum bundt a whole lot more than the Tres Leches, and it was by far the most consumed at the festivities. It was the right amount of alcohol, and the chocolate sauce was pretty amazing. The cake was light and airy, not overpowering, and the rum combined well with the different spices. Drink up!

Back on the Masterbaking Wagon - Boozy Tres Leches Cake

So my roommate and our close mutual friends had birthdays in August, and I missed the big celebration due to stupid work travel. Anyway, when I finally made it home, it was cake baking time. Deepa is a huge fan of Tres Leches, so I made one . . . but with alcohol. I did it with cachaça. The cake in and of itself was great, and the whipped cream topping awesome too. But, probably too much cachaça. According to the roommate, it was much better the next day (less alcohol taste), so maybe I didn't let it rest long enough. I am going to try again, but less booze, and more wait time. Wish me luck!

Not That I Stopped Masterbaking - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart

Yes, yes, yes, a pause from the blog. I didn't stop baking mind you, but between a trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, a trip to Kenya to go to the Turkana Cultural Festival, and then a whole lot of running around in the US, I have not had the time to post. I have made some great goodies during my hiatus, the best probably being some Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cookies. Genius.

This weekend my roommate had her family over for dinner, and I made the dessert. Her cousins picked out what I was going to make - Coconut Chocolate Cream Tart. It was pretty spectacular, the crust I got from another recipe, and it turned out pretty well, I need to roll out the dough more next time, it was a little thicker than I would have liked. But overall a success. I might make more of the coconut cream since I like coconut just that much. It was a hit with everyone, it had so many great things going on . . . whipped cream, short crust pastry, chocolate cream, coconut cream. YAY for masterbaking!