French Toast Souffle

You're welcome...in advance...

Super easy and super delicious. Brought these souffles to a brunch at my cousin's house this morning!

French Toast Souffle

(recipe makes one souffle)

French toast:

one challah (or loaf of crusty bread). I use challah

2 cups regular milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

8 eggs

2 Tbsp vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 stick salted butter, cut up into pieces

Grease a 9X13 in baking pan. I skipped this step today and it was a mistake because I really had to scrape to get it all out. 

Mix together the milk, cream, vanilla, eggs and sugar. Pour over the bread, which is torn into small pieces (I cut it up). Store in fridge overnight or for a few hours.

When you are ready to bake it, make the topping. Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then cut the butter in (I use a pastry cutter) until it looks pebbly. 

Place in 350 degree oven. 45 minutes for a bread pudding texture. 60 minutes for a dryer french toast. My ideal time is 50 minutes. 

Drizzle with maple syrup as needed.

 The challah torn and cut up with the egg mixture. It's best if it sits in the fridge over night.

 The topping before I smashed it with the pastry cutter.

 The topping should look crumbly like this!

Topping on and ready to hit the oven.

Finished product among the multitudes of food they served. But this was definitely a winner!

ENJOY

#TABLEGOALS

Thanksgiving Table with a VIEW

I know TG is over and we are on to the next December holidays. But I'm flashing back to last week to really appreciate my grandmother's TG tables.

A great hostess pays attention to all the details. And even the second (AKA teen kids) table gets special attention. Say hi to my adorbs grandfather (literally) smelling the roses! 

Oh...and these roses are from my grandmother's garden...of course!

Grilled Cheesus (ala Glee) and Roasted Tomato Soup

Yes, I made a Glee reference there ;)

This week was the first cold weather we have had since EVER. So I made a roasted tomato soup with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a grilled cheese panini. I guess the theme was CHEEEEEESE!!!!!

For the soup, I based my recipe on Ina's Roasted Tomato Soup. So feel free to google her recipe. But this is what I did: 

Roasted Tomato Soup

ripe tomatoes (about a pound)

fresh basil (1/2 cup to 1 full cup)

6 cups vegetable stock

garlic (about 4 cloves, minced)

one onion (diced) 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 can tomatoes (whole or crushed)- optional

salt and peper

******************

Slice the tomatoes (I like Campari) in half, salt them and then roast them in an oven at 450 degrees for about 40 minutes (face up).

Meanwhile, saute the diced onion and garlic in a deep soup pot for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

When the tomatoes are done roasting, put them in the pot (juice and all) along with the rest of the ingredients (onion, garlic, basil, vegetable stock and the canned tomatoes). 

Simmer for 30 minutes.

I use a stick blender to smooth it out. But you can use a regular blender if you don't have one.

Sooooooo goooood!

Oh, and don't forget to salt and pepper it, to taste.

Plus, freshly shaved parmesan really adds here! Let's face it, freshly shaved parmesan on ANYTHING is great.

(This is what the tomatoes look like when they come out of the oven!)

Fall Favorite!

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

Nothing says Fall like Pumpkin does. Here's a yummy dessert to share with a large group. It's sweet, moist and has a great Fall flavor with a crumble topping.

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

1 box yellow cake mix

1 jar pumpkin butter or pumpkin pecan butter

(can be found at Trader Joe’s or William Sonoma)

3 eggs

1 Tablespoon flour

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup butter

3 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

  

Reserve 1 cup of the cake mix and set aside.

Mix remaining cake mix with ½ cup of melted butter and 1 egg.  Press mixture lightly into the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.

Mix 1 jar of pumpkin butter with 2 eggs and 3 Tablespoons of milk and pour over cake mixture in pan.

Mix to a crumble, remaining 1 cup of cake mix with 1 Tablespoon flour, ¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup softened butter and 1 teaspoon cinnamon—crumble over the top of the pumpkin layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden.

Cool, cut into squares and serve.

Thanksgiving Corn Souffle

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Can't wait for you to try this REALLY easy, delicious corn souffle. Think corn bread meets corn pudding. The recipe is embarrassingly easy. But who needs more complications in life?!?

Corn Soufflé

2 sticks salted butter, room temp.

2 boxes Jiffy corn bread mix

2 eggs whipped

2 cans sweet creamed corn

2 cans whole corn, drained

1 pint sour cream

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Blend butter and sour cream.

Add corn bread.  Mix well.

Add eggs.

Add both types of corn.

Pour into buttered soufflé dish.

Bake for 1 and ½ hours.

Enjoy!

Apple Challah for the New Year!

APPLE CHALLAH

Feeling too lazy to post the whole recipe right now. So here's the story...

Here is the yeast mixture with the flour...

 This is my Mom needing the dough... (gotta get her working too)!

 My beautiful ball of dough before it rises...

 Chopping the apples!

 The oh so yummy mixture of apples, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon...

 The dough has risen (for the first time)...

 After the dough rises, I flatten it and press in half the apple mixture...

 Then fold the dough over the mixture and do it again...

 The dough get chopped into 16 pieces and laid down into the pan...

Look! It rose over the top!

 After baking...In all it's glory! It looks burnt on top, but it's not! I promise!

 Here it is on the table with apples and honey (a Jewish New Year tradition), some desserts and the kiddish wine (another tradition)...

 And now...DIG IN! It's sweet and appley...just perfect for the New Year!

Caramel Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

I'm seriously in love with bread pudding...

 and this one's got caramel in it...

 and toasted challah bread...

 Here's the bread soaking up all the yummy goodness...

 Before:

 After:

It's super sweet. So serve with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
It may look a bit underdone...but it's not...you want it gooey...trust me!

Tie-Dye Cake!

 Fun with guest star, Megan!!

Ignore the bad pic of me and focus in on how cute our tie-dye cake turned out! It was slightly painstaking, as we had to separate out the  batter into many bowls and add a different color to each. But it was super fun and it turned out so great:) 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

If you like peanut butter...

then look no further. These bars are CRAZY!
My aunt, Jami, found this recipe on Pinterest (natch). They are a MUST make! NOW! Get to it! Stop reading and start baking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

(from Bakeat350blogspot)

6 TBSP unsalted butter

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (original recipe called for chunky)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 X 8  pan.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set them aside.

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the sugars until combined. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Then stir in the flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips, stirring only until combined.

Spread the batter into the pan.

Bake from 30-32 minutes.

Must cool completely before cutting. Unless, of course, you plan to eat the whole thing in one sitting with a spoon. Who would do that? Don't ask me!

 In the pan. Pre-amazingness.

 The four survivors. They didn't last long.

Here's the original blog:
http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2010/05/peanut-butter-chocolate-love.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+bakeat350blog+(Bake+at+350)

SUMMER is coming!

Let the countdown begin...

2 more weeks till SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

Nothing says summer like watermelon and fresh strawberries! 
How cute is this watermelon basket? You can fill it with any kind of fruit...but this watermelon was sweet and so beautiful I really had no other choice this time. But maybe next time I will try scallop the edges of the basket...

 A big thanks to Esther for the very sweet flower bouquet! 

Monkey Bread Muffins

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you...

MONKEY BREAD MUFFINS!!!!

These babies rock! Oh yes, they do! You've heard of monkey bread. But have you heard of monkey bread muffins? I didn't think so. Behold and ENJOY!

Ingredients:
2 cans of Homestyle biscuits (or regular bread dough)
butter (and lots of it)
cinnamon
sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Get your muffin tins ready, by plopping 1/2 teaspoon butter in each muffin cup.
(You can use muffin liners if you like. I didn't. The amount of butter you use makes the liners a waste.)
Sprinkle 1 tsp. sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon on top of butter in each cup.
Cut the biscuit dough into quarters. Roll each piece of dough into balls. Place three into each muffin cup.
Put 1/2 tsp. butter on top of each one and then add another 1/2 tsp. sugar and a shake or two of cinnamon too.
Bake for approx. 12-15 minutes. 
Remove from the oven when golden and bubbly and drizzle the condensed milk over the top of each one.
Allow to cool.
Pile them on a serving platter and DIG IN!

Parent Appreciation Gifts

 

A JOB WELL DONE!

A Teacher's Parent Appreciation Gift

One of my favorite customers is Tawyna. She's an elementary school teacher. This Spring, she hired me to create a Thank You gift for the parent volunteers in her classroom. What a better way to say thanks than to give Nerdalicious Bakes caramel corn!! I know you've seen this recipe before on my blog. So right now, all I'll show you is the adorable packaging...if I do say so myself. I created the stickers on Zazzle. Check it out...it's a fun site where you can purchase all sorts of creative items. I took an already designed circus sticker that said, "Thank You" and added..."for POPPING by to help!" Clever, right? ;)

FARM FRESH

I know this is a baking blog...
but I have to share what I got from my aunt, Arianna's garden. It's so beautiful!

What to do with such a beautiful array of zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant?
Give it to my mom to grill, of course!
She marinated them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. SOOOOO good!

The tomatoes got a different treatment altogether! Those were left fresh and tossed with fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I love it when she uses fresh peaches in this salad. This time she didn't. But you should try it some time.

Lastly, she gave us some eggs straight from the source. Check out the color of that yolk!!

Thanks to Arianna, Pat and Mackenzie! Great farm fresh food!