Favorite Shots: Pinteresting Preview

Get jazzed. There is a healthily Pinteresting post coming your way next week. Look how those non pareils pop! Happy birthday, Waynes.

L

Pipe Dream #198: To Exhaust Into Frost – Grasshopper Oreo Pots

These pots are a product of exhaustion. Sometimes I plan to bake something and then have some extra ingreds to use up, which is a problem because of my natured and nutured sense of frugality. My thought process is like this:

“Oh, I’ll just do one more thing. I’ve really wanted to try this recipe again. Dang, now I will have an extra egg yolk? Heaven knows I don’t want to be wasteful and throw it away…what’s a girl to do with egg yolks? Pastry cream! But I need two. Ok, now I have an extra egg white! What to do with…ok, frosting, obviously. This recipe split last time I tried it. I think the kitchen was too warm. Or I overbeat it, one of the two. Might as well try my hand at two different flavors while I’m at it. I like Oreos. Ok perfect.”

And thus, a two-hour baking project turns into a day-long baking frenzy, the end of which results in zero self-control, eight cookies and that nauseous feeling you get after “taste-testing” the thirty kinds of frosting you’ve just made.

I don’t remember what these even tasted like, but their praises were sung by all those who partook in their rich, creamy depths. I made the portions small, because heaven knows eating frosting and pastry cream with a spoon should only be done in the smallest of doses.

Goodbye,

L

Grasshopper Oreo Pots

An LH original

Oreo Pastry Cream

Inspired by Serious Eats

1 cup whole milk

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 package of Oreo cookies, maybe 15?

Set out a large bowl over an ice bath. Pulse up the Oreo cookies in a food processor until you have both fine and large chunks.

In a small saucepan, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, salt and milk. Stir frequently and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the pudding is thick with slow bubbles breaking the surface (about 2 minutes). Remove from the heat and pour immediately into a large bowl.  Whisk in the vanilla. Set the bowl over the ice bath and whisk frequently to cool to room temperature, which should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in  about half of the Oreo crumbles to the pastry cream, using the finer crumbles and reserving the larger chunks for a garnish. Transfer into six small ramekins and refrigerate while you make the buttercream.

Note: The pastry cream can be made in advance, but make sure to put some cling film on top of the cream to prevent a skin forming.

Grasshopper Buttercream

Adapted from The Great British Bakeoff

2 egg yolks, at room temperature

85 grams white sugar or caster sugar

150 grams (or 1 1/2 sticks, 12 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon creme de menthe, to taste

1 teaspoon creme de cacao, to taste

Put the egg yolks in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat briefly to combine.

In a small sauce pan, heat the sugar with 4 tablespoons of water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. When the sugar is dissolved, heat the sugar water until it boils. Using a candy thermometer, wait until the mixture has reached 225 degrees F; you shouldn’t need to stir it. Make sure the mixture does not start to caramelize.

With the mixer on medium speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the eggs, letting the syrup run down the side of the bowl in a thin, steady stream. Continue to beat the mixture until it is pale and mousse-like and completely cold.

At this point, start adding the butter, one tablespoon at a time and whipping until incorporated before adding another tablespoon. Whip until fluffy, then beat in the creme de menthe and creme de cacao.

To assemble the pots, pipe a swirl of buttercream over top of the chilled pastry cream and garnish with the reserved Oreo crumbles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pipe Dream #197: To Scare Them Away – Cookie Dough-Stuffed Rice Krispie Treats

So I brought these to work, right? And I set them in their usual place of glory–the centrally-located filing cabinet space by the two fellas in my division. I mean, this positioning spares me some lectures from the ladies. (Ok, they don’t chastise me when I bring in treats, but we are just all so very, very aware that boys can handle eating mass amounts of treats and work a desk job without any adverse effects. Thus, the treats land there.)

But before I brought these bars over, I walked past another dude from a different division. It’s a long hallway, and though there weren’t too many bars, I thought it would be rude to wave a plate of fabulous treats under his face and not offer him any, so I asked him if he wanted one.

As he reached for the plate, he asked, “What are these?”

I replied, “Chocolatechipcookiedough-stuffedRiceKrispiebars.”

Quick as a wink, he jerked his hand back from the plate.

Taken aback, I was like, “Dude, what’s up? Is that the worst thing you’ve ever heard of?”

And he said, “Wait, say that again. What are these? They had such a long name, I was worried that they were something weird.”

And I was just amused. It’s just not the usual reaction people have to baked goods. What do these look like, chocolate covered scorpions? Glazed eel ovum? He seriously jerked away like they were going to bite. So scared of Rice Krispie bars, one of the most classically delicious treats out there.

And these bars just happen to be stuffed with marshmallows and cookie dough, a few other innocuously delectable American delicacies.

You know you are going to make these tonight. Come on. So easy and fairly harmless compared to white chocolate cheesecakes. Like the Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies I made once, these were a bit sweet for me, but they’re worth a shot as an easy weeknight treat.

Happy Halloween,

L

Cookie Dough-Stuffed Rice Krispie Treats

Inspired by averie cooks

For the cookie dough:

4 tablespoons salted butter, softened

1/8 cup coconut oil*

1/8 cup vegetable shortening*

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg**

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

* You can really use whatever fat you like, as long as you have 3/4 cup worth. So you could use all butter, all coconut oil, or all shortening, but there will be flavor differences for sure.

**This batch makes enough to stuff the bars and have some leftover for cookies, which is why I included an egg. If you’re worried about eating raw cookie dough, try a vegan version, like this one.

Melt the coconut oil and shortening in a microwave safe bowl, and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together, then add in the melted oil, stirring until well-mixed. Beat in the in egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Dump all of the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips into the bowl and stir together until dough forms. Make sure to beat this pretty well to distribute everything if you don’t sift the dry ingredients together. Stir in chocolate chips. Stick this in the fridge to chill.

For the bars:

1 10 ounce bag of marshamallows + 1 cup mini marshmallows, reserved

4 tablespoons butter

5 1/2 cups Rice Krispies or other rice cereal

Melt the butter in a large pot of over medium heat. Add the marshmallows (not the mini marshamallows), stirring often until the butter and marshmallows are melted and combined. Remove from the heat and add the rice cereal, stirring until well-combined.

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray. Press half of the rice cereal mixture into the pan using a spatula sprayed with non-stick spray. (Mine only took up aabout 2/3 of the pan, but try to spread it out–my bars were a little thick.)

Remove the chilled cookie dough from the fridge and sprinkle decent-sized chunks all over the cereal layer. Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the first layer as well. Take the remaining cereal mixture and spread that over the dough layer, pressing it down firmly. The “firmly” part of this is key, otherwise your bars will break apart.

Let cool, then cut into bars.