HCB: Apple Caramel Charlotte

September 20, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Baking Club, Cake, Cookbooks, Desserts, Fruit, HCB, Sweets

Disclaimer: this post is long and there is a bit of a rant. Just as long as making this cake was and reading about it.

A few months ago, I was emailing with Jenn from Knitty Baker and we were discussing those cakes that were still left to do in our HCB list and this one in particular came about in conversation. We both were totally dreading it.

With 7 pages of instructions and 7 different steps, we knew it was going to take A LOT of resilience and baking savvy to do this one. Jenn was hoping that Marie would give us this one on a long weekend so we would have more time to plan for it. I was hoping that Marie would have a total Opps-y moment and would forget about this one.

We totally jinx ourselves. Because not even a week after this whole discussion took place - there is was in the baking list, and NOT on a long weekend.

This cake, even from the start was a total Prima Donna, and not in a good way. Did you know that the word “diva” means evil in some parts of the world?

Sweet Kitchen Tips 6

September 17, 2010 by Monica in SKT

How many of us has their way of seperating our eggs yolks from the whites? Show of hands? yep. You could doit the old fashion way, crack, cup your hand and gently let the whites run thru your fingers. Done it, broken more yolks that I can count. Then there is the using the shell - done, and broken more yolks than I can count. When I finally thought of buying one of those egg dividers I realized that I can make my own with the a slotted spoon

Shrimp in Red Curry – Thai Style

September 16, 2010 by Monica in Dinner, Main Courses, Quick Meal, Seafood, Vegetable

I love Thai food. And there is nothing that I love more in that cuisine that their Red Curry. But, then, I love anything that has coconut, or coconut cream or coconut milk - That is why my signature cake is a coconut cake – but let’s leave that one for another day in another post.

But, simply put, if it has coconut, I’m going to dig in and try it.

When I lived in Miami, I had a favorite Thai restaurant, called appropriately “The Thai House”, it was only a couple of blocks from my apartment in North Bay Village, over the bridge into North Miami Beach. This place was a bit out of the way; right on the causeway and only the local folks knew it was there. It did not stop them from having a pack house every night.