Melting Chocolate Failure Monday, Oct 29 2007 

Snacks amateurbaker 5:40 pm

For a trip over the weekend, I had attempted to make chocolate covered pretzel rods.  I had bought Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate, and that melted fine.  I used the microwave to melt the chocolate.  I dipped the pretzel rods into the melted chocolate.  I had bought peanut butter chips, and white chocolate chips, figuring I could use the microwave to melt these as well.

Well, they melted fine…  but then hardened right up and faintly gave off a burnt smell (especially the peanut butter chips!)  I know theres different ways of melting chocolate, using a double boiler.  I tried the double boiler after the microwave failure, and it the chips still hardened up quickly.  Am I supposed to add butter and water to these chips to keep them melted and unburned?  Does anyone have a reference to melting chocolate?  I would love to attempt these chocolate covered pretzel rods again for the Christmas season… 

 

Weekend Cat Blogging Monday, Oct 29 2007 

WCB amateurbaker 12:30 am

Felix taking a nap with his daddy…. :)

sleeping boys

 

Fall for Pumpkin Biscotti Sunday, Oct 21 2007 

Cookies amateurbaker 9:25 pm

I found this recipe on Elise’s site, and I knew I wanted to try it asap.  I love love LOVE biscotti, and I love pumpkin.  So with my two favorites together in one recipe, I knew they were going to be a success.  A lot of people who tried this recipe on Elise’s site said their biscotti came out too soft, and not as crunchy.  Well, I made two batches, my first was perfect…. they came out semi-soft when warm, but hardened up as they cooled and were perfect.  My second batch was way too moist to even form the biscotti shape, so I baked them off as drop cookies.  I had used too much pumpkin puree in the second batch.  So when making this recipe, stick to the 1/2 cup of puree.

  • 2 1/2 cups of flour
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • Pinch of ginger
  • Pinch of cloves
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.

2 In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Give it a rough stir to generally incorporate the ingredients, the dough will be crumbly.

3 Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches. The loaves should be relatively flat, only about 1/2 inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes at 350 F, until the center is firm to the touch. (Feel free to also form two smaller logs for cute two-bite biscotti; just cut the baking time to 18-24 minutes.)

4 Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then using a serrated knife cut into 1 inch wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Biscotti may be still a tad moist and chewy, so if you prefer it crisp let it sit uncovered overnight in a dry space. Serve and enjoy.

Makes approximately 15 cookies.

Pumpkin on Plate

 

hello there! Wednesday, Oct 17 2007 

Uncategorized amateurbaker 2:44 pm

Welcome to Cinnamon Sweet, a delicious food diary chock full of recipes and food photography.  There is always something new heating up the kitchen so stay tuned for some cinnamony sweet delights!!