April baking

Howdy,
I have been baking in April but didn't have time to photograph and post about the yum. I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies. I made these for E's birthday in April and they were a huge hit. I modified the recipe by making the cookies smaller and everyone liked the two-bite size better. Also, this recipe makes a million cookies, so I froze some of the dough to use later. For the second batch of whoopie pies I decided to go with a dulce de leche frosting which was also delicious. I actually thought I might have pioneered this whoopie pie meets alfajore concoction, but google-ing reveals otherwise. Anyway, here's how to make that dulce de leche and put it in frosting: 


Dulce de Leche
Take a can of sweetened condensed milk and put it in a soup pot. Put enough water in the pot so that the can is covered. It is imperative that the can remain covered with water the whole time otherwise it will explode. Put the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Boil the can in the water for 3 hours. At the end, you'll open up the can and voila, dulce de leche.

Dulce de Leche Frosting
Now, take a half stick of butter (1/4c) and cream it in an electric mixer. Add 2 tbsp (or more but it throws off the consistency) of dulce de leche and 1 cup of confectioners sugar to the butter. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Mix until it's frosting. If it's too thick, you can add more dulce de leche or a little bit of milk. If it's too thin, you can add more confectioner's sugar a little at a time. I added too much milk and dulce de leche because I was playing with it, so it came out runny. I just stuck it in the fridge and it firmed up. This doesn't make that much frosting so if you're making a ton, I'd use a whole stick of butter and 2-3 cups of confectioner's sugar and play with the amount of dulce de leche. 

Baked Stuffed French Toast: Lower Fat

This recipe is too good to ever lose, so I'm putting it here for safe keeping. It comes from a co-worker and baker extraordinaire. I made it for Jess's baby shower and E made the delicious asparagus pancetta hash from Smitten Kitchen's recipe. Yum!

I have to admit, the food was great. Check out this spread!

Baked Stuffed French Toast (not exactly Low Fat, but lower...)

16 to 20 slices of cinnamon-raisin bread (or challah if you're not into raisins)

cinnamon

nutmeg

6 large eggs

2 c fat free half and half 

2 c skim, 1% or 2% milk 

2 tsp vanilla

1 c sugar

Filling:

16 oz (2 bricks) Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat than cream cheese, same taste)

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c sugar

1. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan or dish with Pam (or butter). 

2. Arrange 8 to 10 slices of bread (I overlapped the challah a bit so that the bottom of the pan was covered) in the baking pan. 

3. Sprinkle bread lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix filling ingredients (I used a whisk and it was slightly lumpy, but this is OK, you could also use a mixer) and spread over bread layer. 

4. Arrange remaining bread on top, and sprinkle lightly with more cinnamon and nutmeg. 

5. Mix the 6 eggs, half and half, whole milk, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1 c sugar (again I used a whisk and a *big* bowl), and slowly pour this mixture over the bread. (It bubbles up, so be careful.) Try to leave as little bread sticking out of the liquid as possible. I found that I had about half the liquid left over, but I'm not sure if this was just because my pan wasn't deep enough. I'd say, for the first time baking it, make all the liquid and then adjust according to your pan. 

6. Cover with tinfoil and refrigerate overnight.

7. The next day, bake, covered, at 350 for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake 20 minutes more. Cut into center gently and make sure the inside is moist but not soupy. Bake a little longer if necessary. Let stand 10 or 15 minutes before cutting.

8. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, or serve with maple syrup or sauteed apples or peaches.