Madeleines

My husband has been asking me to make him madeleines for quite some time now. I always had an excuse. But he recently took the Bar exam and I promised him I would make them the day after he finished the exam. So the day came and I baked them for him! He was excited and very happy. He loved them. I will probably bake them more often from now on. Hope you guys enjoy the recipe! 

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup butter

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Butter and flour 12 madeleine molds. Set aside.
3. Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.
4. In a bowl or the stand mixer  beat eggs, vanilla and salt at high speed until light.
5. Beating constantly, gradually add sugar and continue beating at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in bowl when the beaters are lifted, this should take 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Sift flour into the mixture 1/3 at a time, gently folding it after each addition.
7. Add lemon zest and pour melted butter into batter.
8. Spoon batter into the molds.
9. Bake for 14 to 17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertip.

Butter the madeleine molds. 

Flour the madeleine molds.

Set aside. Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.

Add the eggs to the bowl.

Beat the eggs, the vanilla and salt at high speed until light.

Beating constantly, gradually add sugar and continue beating at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in bowl when the beaters are lifted, this should take 5 to 10 minutes.

Once the mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in the bowl, start adding the flour, while sifting it.

Sift flour into the mixture 1/3 at a time, gently folding it after each addition.

Add lemon zest and pour melted butter into batter.

Mix and pour in to a jug. It's easier to transfer to the molds.

Spoon batter into the molds

 Bake for 14 to 17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertip.

Monkey Bread

It's no secret that I just love to make sweets! Making them takes away my stress, it's therapy. There are a lot of ways you can make monkey bread. The original recipe I found didn't add the icing on top, but the reality is that I wouldn't eat it without it. It tastes amazing! I made this recipe for my hubby and brother. Even though my husband, brother and I gorged ourselves, there were plenty of leftovers! It tasted amazing the next day cold from the fridge with a cup of coffee.  I will be making this as a dessert for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I really hope you guys enjoy making this and eating it as much as we did! Until the next one!!

Ingredients:

3 (16 oz packages) of refrigerated biscuits

2 sticks of unsalted butter

3/4 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 tsp of cinnamon

Icing:

You can find the icing recipe here!

Procedure:

Grease the bundt pan.

Open the refrigerated biscuits.

Cut the biscuits into quarters.

Put the sugar in a bowl.

Add the cinnamon.

Mix the sugar and the cinnamon.

Add the biscuit quarters to the mixing bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap. 

Shake the hell out of it!

Once mixed, put the biscuits into the bundt pan.

Melt the butter and the brown sugar together.

Once melted and mixed, pour the butter mixture over the biscuits. 

Make sure to pour all of the butter/sugar mixture!

Add any sugar/cinnamon that's left in the mixing bowl over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Take it out of the oven.

Enjoy the marvelous smell of sugar and cinnamon that will invade your kitchen!

After 3 minutes put a plate over the monkey bread.

 Flip it over.

Enjoy the view. I know you are tempted to try it out, but don't! 

Just wait a little bit.

Put the icing in a pipping bag and drizzle it all over the monkey bread.

Now enjoy!

Seriously, enjoy!! It's amazing!!

These were the left-overs!  

Easy Stove-Top Macaroni & Cheese

The first time I made Mac & Cheese was in 2012. It was amazing to go back through my blog and see where I was then as opposed to where I am now.  I really loved that recipe, it was the only recipe I 'd seen for homemade Mac and Cheese. So I decided to look for other recipes and do a little trial and error until I found the one I loved the most! This version of the recipe is one I've wanted to make for a very long time. I found it a long time ago on food.com. Why the fascination with Mac & Cheese? Well, I used to eat lots of Kraft Mac & Cheese when I was a kid. I remember loving those boxes. Then I grew up and realized that the stuff in those boxes wasn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world. Since having my baby I've decided to really make everything from scratch, from the baby food to everything that he's eating right now. Recently homemade macaroni and cheese has had a resurgence in popularity. Lots of restaurants are even making fancy versions of this classic dish. So I decided to make this recipe at home, relive some of my childhood joy and share it with my son. The result was that he loved it! Hope you guys love it too! I will probably be making some personal versions of this recipe pretty soon. Enjoy! Until the next one!

Ingredients:

8 oz. elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 dash black pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or 8 oz. (by weight) cheddar cheese


Procedure:

Cook macaroni according to package directions.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour, salt and pepper, slowly add milk.
Cook and stir until it begins to bubble.
Stir in cheese. Keep stirring until fully melted.
Drain macaroni and add it to the cheese sauce, stir to coat.

Measure 8 oz. of macaroni.

Shred the cheese.

Measure out your cheese.

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

Put the butter in a medium saucepan.

Melt butter over medium heat.

Measure your flour.

Add the flour, salt and pepper.

Keep stirring.

Stir in the milk.

Cook and stir until it begins to bubble.

Stir in cheese.

Keep stirring until fully melted.

Drain macaroni and add it to the cheese sauce.

Stir to coat.

They are done!

Enjoy!

Top with a little cheese!