I Die for Banana Cream Pie

I wanted to start off my 25 Southern Desserts challenge in the strongest way possible, and nothing is stronger than banana cream pie, my friend. Just about nothin', I tell ya. I started with my mom's recipe, made the pudding myself, and even decided to go with a whole-wheat pie crust to even out the gooey-ness of the cream pie. 

Mmmm, Gooey. Creamy. Pie-y. 

Sorry, I got distracted!

The verdict? A really nice balance between the whole wheat-iness of the crust and the over-the-top sweetness of the filling. If I had to make it again, I might do a nilla wafer crust instead or just go with all pudding. That's the best part, after all. But a valiant effort that even my mom gave the thumbs-up to.

Start with the good stuff... I used half white and half whole wheat flour + Smart Balance

I like bananas as my first layer

...then pudding, then nilla wafers

Drool drool drool. If you let the pie sit in the fridge for about a day, the wafers get soggy and add such an amazing texture to the mushy bananas.

Here, you can see the layers: crust, bananas, pudding, wafers, pudding, bananas, pudding, wafers, whipped cream

The two of us put quite a dent in it in one sitting.

Extreme Close-Up

Recipe after the jump!

Ode to Mint (And My Adorable Kitty)

 The mint is finally coming out of its wintertime slumber, and it's livening up my lemonade, mojitos, strawberry tarts (yes, you got it), and salads. You name it, I've thrown mint on it.

And my cat, Fifi, whom I call Beefy because of her habit of eating everything she sniffs out on the ground, is basking in the California sunshine once again. She's looking as adorable as ever. Thank goodness too because A) she was sick for a while, and B) it's really hard to get good pictures of an expressionless black cat when there is no natural light to be found.

25 Southern Desserts to Conquer

Yesterday, I was browsing around a few of my favorite food blogs that I usually read on Bloglovin, and I happened upon a very cool feature on Brown Eyed Baker, called My 100. The author, Michelle, has a list of 100 recipes that she has vowed to try out at some point in her blogging career.

I found this particularly inspiring for my project for several reasons:

1. Though I've baked many a southern dessert in my time, I've never taken the time to work down the repertoire and really refine everything. I also don't have photos to document these past baking ventures. 
2. There are many southern desserts I've been putting off trying because either they look too time-consuming or expensive or difficult. And I need to stop making excuses.
3. I think this will be a great way to reconnect with my southern past, through looking up old cookbook archives and reading about the history of certain desserts. 

I am excited to start off on my own little venture here, called 25 Southern Desserts to Conquer. 

Anyway, kudos to you, Michelle, for the inspiration!

I'm thinking I'll do banana cream pie or banana pudding to start things off on the right foot. 

Impromptu Southern Pound Cake

My friends and I had a pool party this weekend. They all drank a few beers, got hungry, we had strawberries. So, naturally, I whipped up this pound cake for everyone to enjoy. I'd like to note that I was sober, just so everyone knows that I was not making a pound cake this delicious after I'd had a few Coronas in me. That would be major skillz that I probably don't have.

Find the recipe below!

Close-up (with the Coronas of course)

The final spread

All together now (I just want to note there were a LOT of us there, okay!?)

Simple Southern Pound Cake Loaf

The original southern pound cake gave "pound" cake its name. It included one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and one pound of flour. It also didn't include any baking powder, as the fresh eggs helped it rise like a charm. Sounds delicious... and a wee bit heart-attack inducing. I prefer this modified version adapted from Southern Living. 

Ingredients
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sifted flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture, alternating with additions of the milk and vanilla.
4. Pour batter into a greased and floured loaf pan about 3/4 full (the cake rises a lot).
5. Cook for 75 - 90 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Serve with fresh whipped cream and strawberries, blueberries, or other seasonal fruit.

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

Inspirations for the Weekend

I've been baking all week, and I'm a bit tired of my standard fare. I'm dipping into my Pinterest pool for inspiration for recipe-testing this weekend.

I also just picked up the book Pie, and I'm pretty sure it's changing my life.

Apricot, Pistachio, and Lemon Shortbread Tart via Canelle et Vanille

Cake Batter Pancakes.... YESSSSS via Chez Knox

Bourbon Peach Hand Pies via smitten kitchen

Earl Grey Tea Cake with Rhubarb Cream Cheese Glaze via Raspberri Cupcakes

Well, those are just ridiculous. Now it's 10 AM and I'm in a sugar drought. 

Flour and Sugar,

Carrie Melissa

Wrapping Up Some Pies

I do apologize for the quality of these photos. I was up until 2 am individually wrapping these pies for an order that I am delivering today, and I had to use the worst fluorescent light known to man or woman. Just know that these are adorable, and that my work here is done (for today anyway).

Flour and Sugar, 

Carrie Melissa

Weekend Baking

Friday was a baking extravaganza. I had three events to bake for: 

1. Father's Day
2. A friend's birthday
3. A housewarming party. 

So I did it all in one go. It was pretty intense. I made that salad in the interim because I had eaten far too much buttercream frosting. On a personal high note, I did manage my own buttercream frosting without a recipe! It was delicious and rich and, yes, far better than the stuff that comes in the jars that I used to swear by.

1. First I made these for my dad.

2. Then I made the moist-est chocolate cake I have ever sunk teeth into. And, double yes, I am going to see my dentist tomorrow. The secret to this cake by food blogger Jenn from Foodess? A cup of coffee + buttermilk. So good. So so so good. 

I ate lots o' the batter too. It was chocolate-coffee flavored, what else was I supposed to do!?

So I don't frost cakes very often. Stop judging.

Yes it still tasted amazing even if a 4-year-old could have frosted it.

That's me with the cake. I threw some princesses on it because my friend is obsessed with Disney.

Then we ate it. It got rave reviews.

3. Then I made some funfetti cupcakes that I adapted from the recipe over at Kokocooks. This is a fantastic solid funfetti cake recipe, and the story that goes with it is really touching.

You actually turn the eggs into a meringue for this recipe, which I found interesting. It made the cupcakes super light.

Sprinkles are so pretty.

No, seriously. They're REALLY pretty.

Now imagine that the cupcakes turned out like this except in cupcake form because my friends ate all these before I got a chance to take pictures:

Photo via Kokocooks

Now that's what I call a good weekend!

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

Currently

Wishing I Were Eating Warm Marion Berry Jam-Filled Donuts from Gruner in Portland, OR

Photo via Oh Joy!

Actually Eating Ice Cream for Dinner

The weather is only this nice here 3 days per year. What's your excuse?

Baking Paula Deen's Perfect Pie Crust

You can watch her in action or find the recipe on the Food Network website. I just thought I'd switch things up a bit.

Reading Madame Bovary and SF Food Blogs

I love this post Eat the Love did for San Francisco's Pride Week. Sexuality and cookies are more closely tied than you think. I'm balancing the food posts with an excellent translation of a French classic.


Watching Parks and Recreation

Photo via PopCrunch

The snakebite episode (a.k.a. The Fight) is one of my favorite episodes of any television show ever right now. I can't get over how hard this made me laugh. Props to Amy Poehler for being such a comedic badass. That's right, you keep ironically ironing that toast.


Listening to Bon Iver Covers Galore

I posted about these on my other blog today, so sorry for the repeat, but I really have been listening to this all day. 

02 I Can't Make You Love Me by carriemelissajones

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

California Cuisine: Chicken and Cherry Salad

Roasted chicken and fresh cherries go together like... chocolate and sea salt, or like... peanut butter and bananas, or maybe just like... chicken and cherries. At any rate, this is a fantastic salad. Apricots would have also been a nice addition, but I have yet to find any grown in California that satisfy my apricot pickiness.

To come this week: Cherry mini-pies. Oh yes.

Flour and Sugar (and Lettuce),
Carrie Melissa

Happy Father's Day Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Father's Day, everyone! My father taught me how to make real southern biscuits and how to grill onion-stuffed hamburgers, but he has no idea what to do when it comes to baking cookies. And he loves cookies, so this has been a real handicap for him. He has to depend on my mom and I to make him cookies, which we do for special occassions. 

My dad is also pre-diabetic, and everything he eats is low in sugar or sugar-free. Now I don't even want to know what a sugar-free homebaked chocolate chip cookie would taste like, but I made these low-sugar ones, and they taste pretty similar to regular chocolate chip cookies. The secret: tons of nice vanilla and almond extract, half butter/half margarine, White Lily flour, and egg whites only. 

Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from the Guittard Standard Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of White Lily All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (+ more for sprinkling over the tops before baking)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup margarine or shortening, softened

1 1/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup brown sugar (these are low sugar, not NO sugar!)

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups (or less, depending on your taste) semisweet chocolate chips -- the darker, the better, IMO

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a large bowl, cream the butters/margarines with the sugars until light. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts. 

4. Drop by the teaspoon onto a baking sheet (I prefer to use parchment paper on these and then there's no cleanup). Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

My Local Ingredients

Thought I'd give you an idea of the all-local ingredients I use in my lovely kitchen here in San Francisco.

I use Clover milk and butter, made in Berkeley

Peaches and Apricots from the Burlingame Farmer's Market

I buy sugars in bulk from Rainbow Grocery and store them in glass containers. I buy pecans from Earthbeam (I'm on the Peninsula a lot, if you couldn't tell, plus these pecans are sourced from a Santa Cruz, CA-based company) 

Peaches are lovely things. They remind me of poetry.

I cook with organic Clover butter for my final recipes, but usually experiment with the regular ol' stuff

A shot from the Parkside Farmer's Market in Burlingame. A refreshing change of pace for that town. 

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

Chewy Pecan Praline Cookies

I was reading Paula Deen's Savannah Country Cookbook when I got a crazy craving for pecan cookies. Her recipe called for an entire box (16 oz) of brown sugar. Oh no, honey. Oh no. I'm sorry, but my body won't forgive me for that one. Gotta reduce the sugar for Californians, just a bit.

Anyway, these cookies are so easy and so moist, they'll sort of make you wonder why you'd waited so long to try them. For a nice chocolate touch, you can add small chocolate chips to the batter (about 3/4 cup, depending on how you like your nut to chocolate ratio).

Chewy Pecan Praline Cookies

adapted from Paula Deen's Savannah Country Cookbook

Ingredients
8 tbsp butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Stir the egg separately and then add to the butter and sugar mix, mixing until combined.
4. Add in the flour, a bit at a time, until incorporated. If you want, add a pinch of sea salt to balance the sweetness of the brown sugar.
5. Toss in the pecans and vanilla. Stir until combined. Drop onto a cookie sheet by the tablespoon.
6. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until very light brown. You want these cookies to stay chewy, so do not overcook them! Allow to cool for one minute and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

I had no choice: I had to take a bite.

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa

"That's SO in Season" Fruit Pies

Two nights ago, I spent four hours frantically baking miniature pies and cookies in my kitchen. Though the first batch was a disaster (more on this in future posts about pie crust problems), the second batch was juuust lovely. I mean, look at those little tiny pies up there. Adorbs. I made blueberry, apricot, and peach pies for a friend in LA. Then I sent everything off in a big box in the morning. UPS says it will arrive at his doorstep in about an hour. What can I say? He's a lucky man.

My roommate named these pies the "That's SO in season" pies after a saying that her best friend always uses. Instead of referring to things as "awesome" or "sweet," he says "Dude... that's so in season." It's a little joke about the smugness of San Franciscans and their locavore/organic/all-natural/granola tendencies, but it's also just a hilarious and strangely apt way of saying that something is just right or just as it was meant to be. 

Fruit pies are a southern summer staple. In my house, they were served with homemade ice cream, whipped cream, or Cool Whip. Sigh. Drool.

Here are some photos followed by a foolproof recipe for seasonal fruit pies.

This image via makeandtake; it shows how to cut out the mini crusts with Tupperware

Pressing Pie Dough into Tins

Cut out a smaller top for the pie, and make sure to press it firmly onto the base

It's super easy to make little lattice crusts for the blueberry pies. They're juicy, so this works well for them.

Easy as Pie (Note: pie is not easy)

Then sprinkle with sugar, wrap 'em up, send 'em off

"That's SO IN SEASON" Fruit Pies

Ingredients

Pie dough of your choice (enough for a 9" pie pan)

4 cups of seasonal fruit, sliced (I split this into 4 bowls and made 4 types of fillings)

3 tbsp cornstarch (or flour, but I prefer cornstarch because it congeals better)

3/4 cup sugar

Squeeze of a lemon

Pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

OPTIONAL: Milk (for brushing over the tops before baking)

OPTIONAL: Powdered sugar (for sprinkling over the tops after baking)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Cut the pie crust out into circles and press up against the sides of a non-stick muffin tin.

2. Mix together the fruit, cornstarch, flour, and spices. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over everything, depending on how tart you like your pies.

3. Pour into mini pie crusts. Cut out tops for the crusts and press them onto the bases, or create little lattice crusts from your leftover pie dough pieces.

4. Optional: Brush with milk (this will make them shiny and pretty for presentation purposes)

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are slightly brown. Remove from oven and allow to sit in pan for about 10 minutes to cool. Remove from pan by inserting a knife around the edges. The pies should pop right out. If they don't, your crust is a wee bit too, well, crusty. You've either added too much fat, not enough water, or you didn't mix the dough well enough. Take heed. Learn from the process. It's very zen.

6. Let cool on a wire rack. You can sprinkle them with powdered sugar once they're cool, but these babies taste best when they're warm from the oven. 

Enjoy these. After all, they're SO in season.

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa