Latest Music Obsessions: The Temper Trap & Florence + The Machine

Yes, it's about time I got excited about new music. And I have been! Both of these bands have been getting some major mainstream attention since last year or earlier, but they're new to me (and to you?). After happily immersing myself for weeks, I thought it about time I let you all in on the secret 8). Embedding is disabled for the Florence videos, so you'll have to check their stuff out here. Music was my great passion before food joined its ranks, so please send recommendations my way at any time!

You Can't Go Wrong With Peanut Butter + Chocolate

Sometimes life is more like a bumpy roller-coaster than, say, a scenic country road or straight highway. Now would be one of those times :). During such periods, I like to turn to old favorites like peanut butter and chocolate. Whether paired with bananas or cream cheese, this duo has never failed to please. And it doesn't hurt either that my boyfriend is a huge fan.

I found these fun sandwich cookies in a gorgeous new baking book I got for Christmas (thanks, Nancy!). The cookies baked up with a delightfully crumbly texture and rich peanut-y flavor. Their size became quite the mystery, however. Even being generous with my "1/2 inch" diameter balls of cookie dough, I got nearly twice as many cookies as the recipe says. Making them took me so long that I went with a simple ganache instead of the filling in the book.

For you fellow bakers out there, what do you do when a recipe is wonderful in some respects but off in others? Remake and tweak it until you're satisfied or look for a completely different recipe for the same thing? The sizing issue, though vexing at the time, will be easy enough to remedy, so I'll definitely keep these yummy bites in my repertoire :).

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies with Milk Chocolate Filling [Printable Recipe]
From The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox via Leite's Culinaria
Supposedly makes about 2 dozen sandwich cookies

XIAOLU'S NOTES: Following the recipe, I got nearly 4 dozen sandwiches. So I'd recommend making larger balls (3/4 to 1-inch) or, if you like the look of these tiny bites, setting aside some extra time/patience to form the smaller balls! I've read that the filling is a winner, so I'm posting the original recipe below and plan to try it next time.

For the peanut butter cookies
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon lightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature

For the milk chocolate filling
6 ounces milk chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered (confectioners') sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the oil, vanilla, and egg and beat until just combined, about 20 seconds. Add the flour mixture, beating just to combine.

Lightly flour the palms of your hands, and roll the dough into balls about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, about 12 minutes.

Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool completely. (The peanut butter cookies can be stored, unfilled, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

Combine the chocolate, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate mixture. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is completely melted.

Set the bowl in an ice bath, or chill it in the refrigerator, until the filling has cooled to room temperature and is thick enough to spread. Then use it immediately or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 1 week (let it come to room temperature before using).

Using an offset spatula, spread 1 teaspoon of the milk chocolate filling [or ganache] over the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich with the remaining cookies, flat sides together.

Once filled, the cookies are best eaten the same day, but they can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Rhubarb Raspberry Sour Cream Pie

Hello there! First, I wanna let everyone know I'm still alive 8). Life's simply been getting in the way of posting lately. Though I miss blogging and all of you, I won't be posting regularly for a tad longer as I prepare for some major life changes (finally leaving work to return to school for 5 years!). Luckily, I'm not coming to you totally empty-handed today.

This rhubarb raspberry streusel pie is one of the several recipes+photos I've had ready to go for a while. But the time and energy to give it proper introduction has been MIA. Yet it'd be a bona fide crime for you all to miss out on this creamy yet crunchy, sweet n' tart treat that's just perfect for the season.

So this is my peace offering, and I sure hope you'll be back to see what else I've got in the works. Very (food) nerdy of me, but you simply can't imagine how excited I am that a student schedule will allow me more daytime hours for baking/cooking and (equally important) photographing the products of my labor. For the fellow working bloggers out there, do you confine your blogging activities to the weekend or settle for artificial light? Personally, the more food photography I take and see, the stronger my preference for natural light. Guess going back to school is a good thing (for more than that reason 8p).

Rhubarb Raspberry Sour Cream Pie [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Allrecipes
Serves 8

XIAOLU'S NOTES: I found the melted butter in the streusel to be too much, so I added almost double the amount of flour but only used half of the streusel since I didn't want overwhelming sweetness. I suspect Greek yogurt might work as a healthier alternative to sour cream and will try that next time.

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
1 cup raspberries [if using frozen, let thaw and drain]
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon dried ginger powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Press the pie crust into a 9 inch pie pan. Spread rhubarb and raspberries in an even layer in the bottom of the crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, white sugar, sour cream, 1/3 cup of flour, and ginger powder until smooth. Pour evenly over the rhubarb.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of flour, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon. [If the pie crust starts warming up, put the filled pie in the refrigerator while you prepare the streusel.] Stir in melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Continue to bake for 40 minutes, or until the edges have puffed, and the topping is golden. The center may still be slightly jiggly. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Giveaway Winner

UPDATE: Since I wasn't able to make contact with the original winner, I have selected a new winner and updated the information below to reflect that.

The winner of a new set of Kaiser Noblesse Mini Springform Pans from CSN Stores is the author of the comment below. Congratulations and please look out for my e-mail!


I'm announcing the winner 1 1/2 weeks later than intended because I've been in China, and the government there blocked all of Blogger and even Flickr. Isn't that weird? Not altogether surprising considering their record of censorship, but I certainly hope that changes in coming years.

Thanks, also, for everyone's enthusiastic response to this giveaway as well as to my owl cupcakes! I'll continue to give away cooking/baking products and cookbooks from time to time, so be sure to check back regularly :).

Hootin' for Cupcakes (and late for Cupcake Hero)

Oh my...it's less than 24 hours until I have to get on a plane to China and I have yet to start packing. You might say I like to do things last minute ;p. With that in mind, you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you next that I'm tardy for this month's Cupcake Hero challenge, which asked us to take our baking inspiration from either of 2 wonderfully creative cupcake decorating books by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, Hello, Cupcake! or What's New, Cupcake?.

The design for my halloween pumpkin cupcakes last fall came from Hello, Cupcake!, so I already knew this as a treasure trove of unique ideas. After then eying (har har ^_^) their owl cupcakes for months, it took but an instant for me to decide on them for this challenge. I did put my own spin on their recipe and re-tooled the directions, so be sure to read on if you want my version.

Since I already had to buy Oreo cookies for the owl "eyes," I figured I might as well step it up another notch by adding them to the batter. On the other hand, I saw no need to pipe frosting on these already-darling ears, so I (gladly, since it was 2 a.m. by that point) dropped that part with no ill effect that I can tell.

My friend Kelly, upon discovering what the cupcake fairy had left in her office, even exclaimed this was "seriously the cutest thing" she'd ever seen and that she enjoyed its adorable stare. Cupcake.Win XD. To balance out tootin' my own horn hehe and because they're truly charming and creative, I recommend you check out this round-up I found of other owl cupcakes.

Cookies N' Cream Owl Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from VCTOTW via CHOW and Hello, Cupcake! via Duncan Hines
Makes 15-17 cupcakes

XIAOLU'S NOTES: The number of cookies listed below for decoration is if you split and cut the cookies perfectly every time. It's tougher than it looks, but gets easier the more you do it. Even so, I'd have more on hand just in case. An entire regular-sized package of Oreo cookies was enough for me for the batter AND decorations. Splitting the cookies is the most time-consuming part of the recipe but is most important to the final appearance. Since the ganache frosting can set fairly quickly, I recommend having all the toppings ready when you begin frosting, then decorating each cupcake right after frosting rather than going back once you've frosted the batch.

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes (Recipe below)
Chocolate Ganache Frosting (Recipe below)
30-34 Oreo, Newman-O, or other chocolate cream-filled cookies
30-34 chocolate-covered mints (Junior Mints)
15-17 candy-coated chocolates (M&Ms)

Split the sandwich cookies in half crosswise, keeping the cream side hole (microwaving 5 cookies at a time for 3-5 seconds helps to keep the cream side solid). [I found my frosting spatula split the cookies most cleanly.] Use the dull side of a paring knife to remove any excess crumbs from cream filling and to smooth the sides of filling that has shifted during splitting.

Collect the remaining sides of the cookies without cream to use for the ears. Make 2 parallel cuts with a serrated knife in these cookies 1/2 inch from each rounded side, discarding the 1/2 inch strip that remains from the center of the cookie.

Pair up the cream sided cookie halves so that those with similar amounts of cream are together. Gently push Junior Mints into the cream of each, but don't push too hard or you'll squish the mint. [Play around with different positions to give each "owl" its own expression and personality :).]

Use a small spoon or spatula to smooth chocolate ganache frosting onto the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Place the cream sided cookies, cream side up, on the middle of the cupcakes, making sure that the eyes are oriented the way you want. Push gently to make sure they've adhered to the frosting.

To make the ears, attach the cut cream-less cookies to the cupcakes above the "eyes", textured side facing up and round edges inward. These should hang over the edge of the cupcakes, but be sure to press them into the frosting where possible to make sure they adhere well.

Lastly, press M&M candies [standing them up on their sides] between and slightly below the cookie "eyes" as beaks. Show them off to everyone XD!

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes
1 cup soy milk [or regular milk]
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped Oreo, Newman-O, or other chocolate cream-filled cookies
(about 8-10 cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 muffin pans (or use 1 pan plus as many free-standing paper souffle cups as needed) with baking liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK). Gently fold in chopped cookies.

Fill liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
[or use a combination of semisweet and bittersweet]
1-2 tablespoons corn syrup

Combine the chocolate and cream in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Try to submerge the chocolate as much as possible, but it's okay to have some above the cream. Microwave the mixture on medium for 1 minute. Stir and heat again in 15-second increments, stirring thoroughly each time, until fully melted. Stir in corn syrup. Let this cool and thicken (in the fridge if needed) before using. If it cools too much, reheat in the microwave at 5-second intervals until it softens to the consistency you want.

Lemon Sponge Pie and GIVEAWAY!

Certain desserts feel so old-timey they remind me of a childhood spent chasing apron strings in grandma's kitchen, even if it is an imagined memory 8). The fact is that my grandmother survived the Cultural Revolution and raised 6 strong daughters, my mom included. But what she wasn't was an enthusiastic cook, and no baker at all. To this day, you see, it's rare for Chinese homes to have ovens. I hear it's something to do with the expense of heating and that bakeries offer such cheap, fresh, and tasty fare that home baking doesn't seem worth the effort to most (hard to imagine).

To get back on topic, this lemon sponge pie is one of those treats that just seems to turn back the clock. Yet, apart from its vintage charm, its taste makes it truly deserving of being rediscovered and appreciated today. It consists of a luscious, tart sponge pudding sandwiched between flaky pastry and a toasted meringue-like topping. Mine was uber oozy and would've sliced up better with 5 more minutes of baking. But one bite was all it took to wipe away all thoughts but wonderment at such a sublime blend of textures and sweet tart flavors. We're "working hard" to revive this treat -- there's hardly a slice left since it came out of the oven a day ago O=). Join our cause...or tell us of other heirloom desserts that should come back into fashion!

Speaking of my grandmother, I'm actually leaving this Sunday for China to visit her and the rest of my extended family for 2 weeks. I honestly can't wait to see them and catch up on the last 4 years since I was last there. But of course I'll miss P, my friends, and all of you! So when Sean of CSN Stores asked me to host a giveaway on my site, I jumped at the chance to show appreciation to all my lovely readers.

CSN Stores has a lot of sites with fabulous selection, the main ones being Cookware.com, Allbarstools.com, Allchildrensfurniture.com, and Allmodern.com. Plus they have over 200 other sites. Between all of them, I bet you could get nearly anything you'd want for your kitchen, apartment, or house. I even found some cute bunk beds that look perfect for my 2 much younger sisters in the kids beds section.
Okay, now's the time to let your eyes on the prize. CSN Stores has agreed to give this Set of 4 Kaiser Noblesse Mini Springform Pans to one lucky reader. These are so fun and versatile, I had to pick them, and while it's not a requirement ;p, I'd love to see what adorable treats the winner makes with them. Here's how to enter this giveaway:

1. You must reside in the US or Canada (sorry to my overseas readers!)
2. Leave a comment with your e-mail address.
3. For a second entry, become a follower of OR subscriber to this blog (but only if you really are interested in the content ^_^), and leave a comment telling me you became or already were one.
4. For a third entry, link to this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, then leave a comment letting me know.
5. Visit one of these great CSN Stores websites: Cookware.com, Allbarstools.com, Allchildrensfurniture.com, and Allmodern.com.

Easy, right? Just be sure to enter before 12:00 pm on April 20th, which is when I'll randomly select the winner. Good luck!

Lemon Sponge Pie [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from from Betty Crocker Baking Classics (out of print) via The Food Librarian

XIAOLU'S NOTE: As I've done before, to bring out the citrus flavor even more, I used a technique from Dorie Greenspan. I rubbed all the zest into the sugar until it was fragrant with orange. I added this where the original recipe says to add sugar.

Your favorite single crust pie crust [I used this one]
3 large eggs, separated
2 T grated lemon peel [I used a microplane to zest the lemons]
2/3 cup regular or Meyer lemon juice [I used regular]
1 cup milk
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups sugar, depending on how tart you like things
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out crust and line pie pan with crust. Leave unbaked and chill in fridge while you prepare the filling.

Beat egg yolks; beat in lemon peel, lemon juice and milk. Add sugar, flour and salt; beat until smooth.

In a separate large bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the lemon mixture and beat them together thoroughly.

Fold the lightened lemon mixture into the remaining egg whites, stopping when there are no white streaks remaining. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate. Bake until golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. (A layer of lemon will settle to the bottom and a soft meringue-like topping to float to the top.) Serve with sweetened whipped cream if desired.