Tis the season for baking (pt2)

Christmas day.. I worked.. well, it felt like I worked. I woke up early to finish an order for my Etsy shop - 4 dozen freshly baked cookies, wrapped and to be delivered by noon. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for my cream cheese and butter to get to room temp so I can make a cream cheese frosting for a carrot cake that would be dessert at the family's Christmas dinner. Good thing Christmas lunch was cancelled this year! Actually no, I was rather disappointed there wasnt going to be lunch, but it did give me time to finish my carrot cake.

It took a lot longer than I anticipated, knowing that I only had one 8 inch round when I was going to make 2 to layer them with my cream cheese frosting in between. The batter itself took a while, fresh finely grated carrots, chopped up drained pineapples and loads of chopped up walnuts. I had to double the recipe since all the reviews said I should. It didnt take too long to bake each layer but I had to wait for it to cool down completely before frosting and covering them with walnuts. My husband actually helped me with covering the cake with walnuts, which was really nice. It took all afternoon to finish the cake, just in time to be picked up by the parents to go to the uncle's house. By that time, I was completely pooped.

What a relief to find out that it was delicious and my husband even rated it just about the best carrot cake he's had. Well, next to the carrot cake he remembered having at Just Desserts. The cake itself is very moist, light and a little nutty (tons of walnuts!). I didn't put too much cream cheese frosting, although maybe a little more would have been good. I ran out.

We left the party with only a quarter left to ourselves and I'm now wishing I had more.

Tis the season for baking (pt1)

So I've been baking away this holiday season but the reason I haven't posted anything is because I keep forgetting to take pictures of my finished products. Sometimes I wish I had a camera hung around my neck at all times like a fobby tourist. (actually not really)

First family Christmas party I made a Raspberry Napoleon. YUMMM! A napoleon is a pastry also called Mille-Feuilles meaning a thousand layers in French. It is made with layers of puff pastry filled with some kind of cream and fruit. I used puff pastry that has been pressed down during the baking process so that the layers are thin and not too airy but still has all that flakyness and crisp. I layered my napoleon with freshly whipped cream flavored with pure vanilla extract and fresh bright red raspberries, super festive! Even the powdered sugar dusted on the top of the napoleon looks like snow... The tartness of the raspberries goes great with the sweet whipped cream and is perfect with the buttery flaky puff pastry making each bite a bit of sweet, tart and crisp. It's a wonderful dessert that is simple enough to put together and it'll look like you got it from an expensive pattisserie. Unfortunately when I made it, I didnt think it would be such a hit that I didnt make a bigger one. Next time, I'd be sure to make a bigger one and maybe flavor the whipped cream with almond or maybe orange blossom.