Banana Bread Donuts

I want to thank you all for sharing your stories of your days in braces.  While I'm not looking forward to the next year and a half, I know that it will be all worth it in the end.  Sure, I'll spend some time sipping on smoothies and spooning up risotto, but I'll come out of it all with the smile I've always wanted.  I'm thinking that we'll have to start  monthly smoothie and monthly risotto posts!  I'm going to get so good at stirring!

After my orthodontia appointment Wednesday night, I was feeling fine.  It wasn't until the next afternoon that I was starting to feel the difference and, as strange as this may sound, I was completely aware of my teeth.  Every last one of them.  There wasn't pain, just the sensation that I had a whole bunch of teeth in my mouth and that they were trying to move around.  After reading a bit about the actual process that occurs during braces, I was happy to know that the worst of it would be over after three days. 

Sure enough, come the weekend I was ready to have some (soft) solid foods!  I spent the weekend cooking and baking, filling the house with sweet and savory smells.  If you were following my crazy series of tweets this weekend, you got a sneak preview of Thursdays bagels.  Boyfriend got a cheesey and meaty dinner Sunday night.  And I got to break in my new donut pan.

I waited and waited, until I had a good idea of what I wanted to make, before buying a donut pan.  I figured that if I didn't have any recipes in mind for the pan, it would just sit in the cupboard and gather dust.  Once I collected a bunch of ideas on scraps of papers, boyfriend and I picked up a pan while shopping at Michael's.  You can look forward to many donut recipes to come and I'll enjoy eating them all year long, even with my new braces.

Why Bother? 2012 - Fondant

Sorry for the delay in this challenge post, my kitchen was all in boxes from our move!  Believe me when I say, this was worth the wait!

Fondant is a strange concept.  When explaining what I was making to my friends and coworkers, they were all confused.  They asked "What is fondant?"  "Is it that stuff you peel off of wedding cakes?"  "Why would I want to eat solid frosting?"  Those who watch too much Food Network knew exactly what I was talking about, most were still confused until I brought in the goodies.

 I'm sure you've all had an experience with fondant.  Generally it covers wedding cakes and has a minimal amount of flavor.  Mostly sugary, sweet, stretchy and tough, most people I see at weddings have removed the outer shell of the cake to eat the insides.  So I wondered, does fondant have to taste so gross?

I looked through several of my cake cookbooks, searched the internet and read through old baking magazines until I found two different fondant recipes.  Traditional fondant, made with gelatin and glycerin as additives, is pegged as the trickier version to make.  Marshmallow fondant, made with marshmallows and powdered sugar, is billed as the "everymans" fondant recipe.  I found this to be exactly the opposite.

I started the day with making the marshmallow fondant.  The recipe calls for melting an entire bag of mini marshmallows in the microwave.  Once the mini mallows are melted you pour in almost a whole 2 pound bag of powdered sugar and start mixing.  Then comes the messy part, you have to knead all of the sugar into the marshmallows, by hand.  Even with repeated greasing of my hands with shortening, I was a big mess.  The fondant was sticking to everything it touched.  It took a good fifteen minutes to incorporate all of the sugar into the marshmallow and form a smooth fondant.  My arms were tired.

Once the marshmallow fondant was safely in a zip-top bag, I started with the traditional recipe.  The most difficult thing required of me was to microwave some gelatin in water.  The remainder of the hard work was complete by my stand mixer.  Everything mixed together much more easily that in the marshmallow recipe and required only two minutes of hands on kneading to finish.

You might be wondering if there was a difference in the outcome of the two recipes.  First, they both rolled and shaped easily.  Other than a modest color difference (the traditional fondant was pure white, while the marshmallow fondant was slightly off-white), I found no physical difference in the recipes.  The major difference came with the taste. 

The marshmallow fondant tasted just like a marshmallow, like vanilla.  I used this fondant to cover the cookies and they were a smash hit.  People were raving about how good the fondant was and how delicious the cookies were (Click here for the cookie recipe).  The traditional fondant had the same texture, it was just almond-flavored (because I added almond extract).  I enjoyed the fact that I could flavor the fondant with whatever extract or oil that I wanted.  Imagine chocolate cake, covered in mint fondant or red velver cake covered in cheesecake flavored fondant.  So many possibilities!

In the end, I think that I preferred the traditional fondant recipe for two reasons.  1. The ease of preparation.  This fondant came together so much quicker and cleaner than the marshmallow fondant.  2. The flavor.  Being able to add different flavors to the fondant open up a whole world of possibilites. 

I don't think that I will be buying prepared fondant in the future.  Comparing all three recipes, the store-bought stuff comes out as a definite loser. 

Chocolate cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

I am and oxymoron.  My job title is "synthetic organic chemist."  When I tell people this I get many, many looks of confusion.  As an explanation I tell them that I make chemicals synthetically that are naturally found in nature.  Are you confused yet?  Most people just walk away.

You can also call me a natural products chemist.  Is this any less of an oxymoron?  I'm not really sure.  As a graduate student and postdoctoral associate I have been making natural products for the past eight years.  Here is a step-by-step explanation of why a synthetic organic chemist does what they do...

1. Sea sponge (or plant or animal or dirt) is collected by isolation chemists

2. Sea sponge is extracted and lots of neat-o chemicals are found inside of the sea sponge

3. Neat-o chemicals are tested against many, many cell screens.  The biologists look for activity against human disease

4. Neat-o, disease-killing chemical is published and given a fancy name like Neatoside F

5. Synthetic organic chemists (like me!) decide it's a worthwhile target and try to make neatoside F

6. On Friday, June 17th, they succeed in making neatoside F and celebrate with cupcakes!

That's right, after months of hard work, I finished my target.  It's a big day in the life of a synthetic organic chemistry, the day you bring your molecule into the world.  You've watched it grow, seen it make bad choices and even seen it fall apart in the face of tough conditions.  The SOC continues to nurture their target until finally it comes shining into existence.  There is no prouder day in the life of a SOC, until that work finds it's way into a major publication, of course.  It's like a birth announcement.  Welcome to the world neatoside F!

Sponge Cupcakes with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Frosting

Let it be known that I have never had a real job. Nope, not ever. I’ve never had a nine-to-five, five day a week, holidays off kinda job. Sure, I’ve been employed since I was thirteen, but I can’t seriously call any of my jobs a profession.

My first job was as a coat check girl at my mom’s hotel. I would take the coats and give out the tags. For the next three hours I would guard the coats and read a book. At the end of the night I would return the coats to the correct ticket holders and reap the rewards. Drunk people and guys with fancy hats were good tippers. Once everyone was gone my mom and I would head home, my pockets full of one dollar bills. And yes, jokes would be made as I paid for things, through the week, with lots of ones.

Eventually, I got myself a job with a paycheck. A job with tips. A job with an awesome title. I was a Soda Jerk. I spent evenings working at a diner, making ice cream sundaes, chocolate milkshakes and brown cows. I wore my hot pink t-shirt and a pony tail. I ate way too much ice cream every night and came home with caramel in my hair and down my leg and on my back. Not quite sure how it got where it did. I would inevitably slip on some ice cream, entertaining all of the customers with my mad falling skills.

The job I held for the longest actually started out as my senior internship. In high school, I decided that I wanted to be a photographer when I grew up. I was going to zip around the world and shoot for National Geographic. Since Nat Geo didn’t have a local branch, I got an internship at a portrait studio. I got to learn the ins and outs of taking portraits, camera equipment and running a studio. I learned so much more as the years went by and I became great friends with the owners. People I’m happy to say I stay in touch with, even though I haven’t worked at the studio for eight years.

Eight years ago is when I held my last real job. Now, I haven’t been unemployed since then, I entered into the world of academia. Academia is a totally different world from the industrial or consumer world. I’ve passed from undergrad in a lab to graduate student with a hood of my own to postdoc on a mission. Working seventy-hour weeks, seven days a week, getting one paycheck a month and eating very haphazardly.

The most noticeable thing about academia is the constant flux of people. Every year there are new people coming and old people leaving, someone never being around for more than five years. Your facebook friends list gets longer and longer as your labmates shift through the years. It seems like you’re either saying hello or goodbye to someone, just like today.



Ignore that missing one, I don't know what happened to that cupcake. 
Must have wandered off...

Today is the last day of a labmates academic life. I know, it sounds dramatic, but it is a great thing! He’s leaving us for a job in the real world, with all those real world benefits and pitfalls. It’s the day that everyone in the academic bubble dreams of. (Unless you want to be a professor, then you’ll live your life in the academic bubble!) To celebrate his departure I made him cupcakes. Good riddance! Get out of here! We won’t miss you! I’m just kidding, you’re awesome, but then again, you already knew that. It says so on your laptop.

Green Velvet Cupcakes

Sorry mom, I’ve been bad this week. I haven’t eaten dinner all week. I know, I know, I’m terrible but I have some really good excuses! Let’s go through my week.

Sunday – Travelling back from New Jersey after a long weekend of unpacking boxes and moving furniture. My huge, strong, girl muscles were tired and it was all I could do not to fall asleep on the train. Making dinner was near impossible, so I decided to eat a brownie. Not even a good brownie, one that I had bought on Friday and was in my purse all weekend. I’m gross, I know.

Monday – Girls night! Okay, I actually did eat dinner Monday night, but it was not of my own doing. Recently I’ve been hanging out Monday nights with some awesome ladies from my department. We eat dinner, we gab and we watch silly girl TV. It’s excellent and a fantastic way to start the week. There are usually baked goods too, awesomeness.

Tuesday – I finally made it to the grocery store! I had big plans to leave work by six o’clock. This way I could walk home, get my car and be to the grocery store by six thirty. Thanks to a major accident on the highway, (right before my desired exit!) I didn’t make it to the store until seven thirty. Grocery shopping (plus a much needed trip to TJ Maxx!) done and I’m home by nine. Dinner was a banana. No, I’m lying; it was those rice crispy treats I showed you on Wednesday. They were delicious.

Wednesday - I’m now halfway through the week and you’re thinking I haven’t had a single real meal. Not true! The first two days of the week I had lunch at the food carts. Chicken and veggies over rice , it’s like having dinner for lunch. Which is good, because Wednesday I had Lettuce for dinner. The reason? I had grand plans of heading to the gym. With my gyms shoes on I get ready to head out the door and I glance at my computer. At some point in the evening I had picked up some malware and my computer was all jacked up. I spent the next two hours trying to restore my computer. Gym and dinner plans are thrown out the window.

Thursday – I decided I’m just going to start over next week with real food and I had toast for dinner. I slathered it with my own raspberry-peach jam. Then I made these, which will be quickly devoured by my coworkers. Then everyone will have green tongues. So festive!

Don’t worry mom, Friday comes with big plans! I’m taking the train to visit boyfriend and we’ll go out to dinner. I’ll have some protein and a whole lot of vegetables. I’ll even pay! I’m such a good girlfriend. Let’s not pretend that we’re going somewhere fancy though. Boyfriends new apartment is right around the corner from Panera and I’m going to get a salad.

S’mores Cupcakes

I don’t know about everyone else, but these are the facts of my life. Once I moved out of the house, my parents got all sorts of cool toys. I’m not saying that I was a deprived child (other than my sad cable tv-less existence), I had plenty of things to fill my childhood days with fun. I played the flute and my parents bought me a fancy flute with open keys. I still have it and think about trying to play it once and a while. I was a baton twirler and went to competitions all over the country. My trophies are still in residence at the Wilde parent household. My brother and I spent summers camping out in the backyard and riding our bikes along the creek.

Look at that chocolate ooze!

What I’m talking about are the cool toys that would have made our childhood even more carefree. It started slowly, with the John Deere. Johnnie showed up when I was in College and he was my dad’s new best friend. They would ride around the lawn in the summer and plow clean canyons in the snow in the winter. What Johnnie didn’t know, was that he was taking someone’s place. He was replacing my brother and I, Johnnie didn’t complain when he had to plow two feet of snow from a very long drive-way. Dad just had to feed Johnnie some gasoline and away he went to chew up the snow or grass.

Then came the boat, the hot tub, the air conditioning. The current toy that I’m totally jealous of is a fire pit. I think that is what I was thinking of when I threw together this recipe. Spring is coming soon, I can feel it trying to sneak up on winter, and spring is when the fire pit comes out. My dad gathers the firewood, the dog breaks up sticks to make kindling and my mom gets the marshmallows. Sounds like a great evening and I don’t think my apartment building would go for one in my unit.

Cinnamon Rolls

When I was little, I loved the weekends. Wait, my love of the weekends was not because I wanted to sleep in and I didn’t have to go to school. No no. I loved school. I loved doing homework. I loved practicing my flute. I was a big ole nerd, just not the briefcase carrying, coke-bottle glasses kinda nerd. I was a secret nerd, but now is not the time to discuss my secret nerdiness, perhaps another time. Now we are talking about the weekend!

The weekend meant enjoying a warm breakfast with my family. Mom and I would toil in the kitchen as dad read the morning paper and brother played computer/video games in his room. I would toast slice after slice of bread or watch the bacon get all crispy (then forget it and it gets burnt). Mom would make everyone omelets or cook up dippy eggs. Dad would clip coupons and brother would slaughter monsters, or something like that.

Sometimes, I would take control of the whole breakfast situation. This meant heading to the fridge and pulling out a tube of dough. I’d proudly rip off the label and crack the tube on the counter top. As the dough exploded from its cardboard prison it would let off an amazing aroma of cinnamon and yeast. I always thought the raw dough looked delicious, mom suggested I didn’t eat it, please.

Cinnamon rolls were always my favorite and I preferred when we got the tube of seven, rather than the tube of 5. Sure, the tube of 5 meant bigger cinnamon rolls, but the tube of 7 meant leftovers! I’d have one right out of the oven, then try to sneak back later in the day to get another. Sometimes I’d be too slow and brother would have eaten them all, blast him!

Now I get all the cinnamon rolls. I don’t have to share. I’m greedy with the cinnamon rolls, so here’s the recipe. You have to make your own, I ate all of these and there aren’t leftovers.

Be sure to stop by Candy Challenge 2011! (see it up there?  Below the banner?)  This is where I'll link all of my candy recipes for this year.  This is also where you must add your challenges.  Got a candy you want me to try and make?  Post a reply and consider the gauntlet thrown! 

Orange Chiffon Cupcakes & Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Can you believe that it’s been one-hundred posts already! I feel like we’ve been through so much together. Since I’m 100, does this mean that Willard Scott is going to mention me in his Smucker’s 100? Maybe make some terribly inappropriate comment about me?

I thought that we should celebrate with some cupcakes. I know some people have been on the lookout for some savory posts; that will have to wait until after the party! Savory posts later this week, after I’m all sugared up.

Every time I ask my lab mates what I should make, I get the same suggestions. There are always requests for cheesecake, chocolate and cupcakes. One lab mate even went and bought me some cupcake liners, because he really likes cupcakes. I realized that I haven’t made cupcakes in months, so I made some to celebrate this momentous occasion.

No matter what anyone says about cupcakes being “so last year,” I’m still a HUGE cupcake fan. Every time boyfriend and I go to New York, we head to different bakeries and get cupcakes. Well, we get cupcakes, then I eat them. Boyfriend isn’t much of a dessert fan. I have more cookbooks for cupcakes than anything else. Cupcakes are just that perfect single serving of dessert. They are just the right size to have two, without feeling guilty about it. Macarons might be hot right now, but they will never replace my beloved cupcakes. Especially not these cupcakes, they were delicious.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Welcome to the last day of the year. We’ve made it! We’ve made it through earthquakes and lunar eclipses, volcanic eruptions and mudslides. Our nation’s capital was inundated with snow and our coastal waters were filled with oil. And according to my boyfriend, Ronald Reagan passed away. It’s been a tough year. Luckily we have many reasons to celebrate 2010. For one thing, Conan is back on TV! And I made cookies for you.

Hopefully your personal year has treated you a little better than it did the planet and at least now you can watch Conan to cheer you up. After a rousing success at my 2010 new year’s resolutions I’m finding it difficult to decide on my 2011 goals. I mean, how can I beat “Eat more Chinese food?” That was one awesome resolution. If you are thinking about your goals for the New Year, try to think more liberally. Goals like “Lose 50 pounds” only set us up for a lot of stress. More fun goals like “eat more strawberries” are much easier to meet. So, here we go, my 2011 goals and resolutions!!!

1. Find a really good pair of jeans. I had an amazing pair, but then I wore them too much and they fell apart. I had a little funeral for them. I’ve mourned them and now it’s time to replace them.

2. Convince Wegmans to install a store in the first floor of my apartment building. It would make my life so much more easy, and awesome. This one might be a difficult one…

3. Use more bacon in my cooking. A coworker of mine has been touting the many merits of bacon, he carries a bag of bacon around with him at all times. Or at least, this is what I think he does.

4. Determine the perfect cupcake to frosting ratio. Many cupcakes will need to be consumed in accomplishing this goal, but I feel as though I am up to it.

There we are, my 2011 goals. Here’s hoping that I can accomplish at least half of them! I’m thinking that number two will be exceptionally difficult, but the benefits would be exponentially greater than the amount of work I have to put into it. I feel as though it would benefit mankind as a whole.

To celebrate the last day of the year, enjoy some cookies. A simple a delicious recipe, reminiscent of an

Oreo cookie. One last cookie recipe before our January health-fest. Remember, we’re spending the month of January eating healthy! Don’t think that means we’ll be without cookies and desserts, there will be dessert.

Blueberry Macarons

The year is coming to an end. Have you accomplished your new years resolutions and goals? At the beginning of 2010 I made several resolutions and decided upon a number of goals. My resolutions might sound a bit strange, but I wanted something that would be attainable and fun at the same time. During my first BodyPump class of the year, I shared my goals with my class. There were mixed reactions. I think it’s because none of my goals and resolutions were fitness or health oriented. Maybe next year, I’ll have to think on that and get back to you on Friday! Here were my resolutions for 2010.

1. Wear more Hats. Now, I was not trying to be metaphorical, suggesting that I wanted to become more of a renaissance woman. I meant that I literally wanted to wear MORE HATS. Berets and cowboy hats, beanies and chapeaus. I look good in hats. Sadly, I did a poor job of accomplishing this goal. Send me pictures of cute hats, I need to try again this year.

2. Eat more Chinese food. Why? Because it is delicious. I’m not sure if I can check this one off the list. I think that if I had made it a more generic goal, like “Eat more Asian cuisine,” then I could put a check mark there. I ate an exceptional amount of Thai food this year. I’m going to include all the Indian food I ate as well, since India is on the continent of Asia. Asian Cuisine accomplished.

3. Complete current work project. Easy enough to understand - finish my total synthesis. A work goal. Sometimes being a synthetic chemist is a little disappointing because it can take an entire year (or five) to complete a single project. Thankfully it is done and I’ve moved on to another project, which will hopefully be done soon!

Making French macarons was not on my original resolution/goal list. They weren’t even on my radar in the beginning of the year. This year I have transformed into more of a foodie, with the start of Wilde in the Kitchen and my many worldly travels, I have learned so much more about cooking, baking and eating! Here’s to 2010! I hope that whatever the year brought you, you’ve learned, loved and had some great moments along the way.

Banana Whoopie Pies

It would seem that I’ve been making a lot of cookies recently! I suppose that it’s that time of year! This year I wasn’t in the mood for the regular old boring cookies. I didn’t want to make raspberry thumbprints and chocolate mint cookies, I wanted to break out of the mold. Go cookie crazy! Throw tradition to the wind and have some fun. So I started out with the dark chocolate hearts, wonderful. Then I thought, let’s get nuts! It’s whoopie pie time!

The whoopie pie. If you haven’t heard, it’s the cupcake of 2010. They’re getting more hits on Google than “What to buy my husband for Christmas.” That’s pretty popular! If you’ve never had one, then apparently you’ve been hiding under a house all year long. Now is your time to embrace the whoopie pie.

Wikipedia describes them as “made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them.” Cake mounds? Cream filling? Sounds right up my alley! How about you?

Apple cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

I love apples. I even have photographic proof of my deep and enduring love of apples.

Notice how the woman behind me looks on with disgust of my apple love. Too bad lady, I’m hugging my apples. They were so perfect. Right off the tree, hand-picked by me. Jonathan, McIntosh, Honeycrisp and red delicious, these were all keepers. My ten pound bag of apples would be turned into crisps, pies and sauces. They would be eaten fresh and with each bite, a loud crunch. Ten pounds of apples to enjoy into the cooler months of the year.

I also love picking apples. It is just a wonderful way to spend a crisp Saturday morning. Wandering the rows of the orchard you seek out the best, brightest, freshest fruit. You reach high to get that just out of reach red jewel. You climb up the tree (shhh, don’t tell) and finally have the one you were looking for. Oh, wait, there’s a hole in that one. Never mind. That one goes on the ground.

Once you’ve filled your bag full of delicious apples (and you’ve eaten a few along the way), it’s time to bring them home. But what do you start with when faced with ten plus pounds of apples? You must start with this cake. It perfectly shows off the bright apple flavor, while complimenting them with the right amount of spices. Once baked, the cake is drowned in brown sugar frosting. Warm with ice cream, or with a cup of coffee, this cake delivers.

Now I’m down to 8 pounds of apples. You can expect to see several more apple postings in the weeks to come! So head out to your local apple orchard and pick some apples. It’s easy, throw on a light sweater, lace up your hiking shoes and grab the sunglasses. Fall is settling in, and it brought apples.

Chocolate buttercream & Peanut butter cream cheese frosting

Making frosting is a very messy process, especially when you are the proud owner of a possessed hand mixer. The settings on the mixer range from 1-6. Now one would assume that 1 would be a nice slow speed and 6 being cement mixer speed. My hand mixer has a system all to itself, most likely due to the fact that it is possessed by some angry baking spirit.




Setting 1 – Whoa! Your flour just went all over the counter!
Setting 2 – Seriously, you wanted your ingredients to stay in the bowl?
Setting 3 – Similar to setting 2, but with a nice burning smell
Setting 4 – Considerable burning smell, insane mixing velocity
Setting 5 – Off
Setting 6 – Still Off

It would seem that my mixer tires itself out by setting 4, and decides it’s not going to try anymore after that. By then you haven’t got any ingredients left in your bowl, so why would you need a fifth or sixth setting. However, after considerable fighting with the hand mixer, delicious frosting was the result. Enjoy my hard won battle and go make yourself some frosting for those cupcakes you made the other day.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from Elinor Klivanis – Cupcakes!

1.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
1 ½ sticks butter (room temperature)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup heavy cream

. Melt chocolate (I like to use the microwave at half power), set aside to cool slightly
. Mix together powdered sugar and cocoa powder
. Mix in butter until smooth (about 2 minutes using possessed hand mixer)

. Add Chocolate and mix until evenly colored
. Add vanilla and heavy cream, mix until light and fluffy and frosting has lightened in color

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup heavy cream

. Mix together cream cheese and peanut butter
. Add in powdered sugar and mix until smooth
. Add vanilla
. Slowly add heavy cream 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved.

(This is a smoother frosting than the chocolate buttercream. I piped a chocolate buttercream retaining wall on the top of my cupcakes, then filled them in with peanut butter frosting.)