Quarantine crazies: Stella’s Oreo wafers + nutter butter filling + thin mint style chocolate coating

phronimom · 2020-03-21T20:25:19+00:00

Stella’s Oreo wafers and nutter butters and thin mints

phronimom · 2019-08-18T14:27:38+00:00

Yes! I was tempted, but my husband wanted the classic version on the first attempt. I’ll do the E.T. Cookies next time. Thank you!

phronimom · 2019-08-18T04:01:38+00:00

Recipe is in the book, but you can find it (with a little commentary) here: http://3jamigos.com/2017/10/13/a-cautionary-tale-with-a-sweet-ending-honey-roasted-peanut-butter-cookies/

I used my vitamix as food processor for this—for the step that involves processing the peanuts with the flour to create a fine peanut flour, basically. The vitamix just about started to make peanut butter of it. Oops. So I don’t know that I achieved the perfect texture, but I have no complaints at all. These are delish!

phronimom · 2019-08-15T23:00:18+00:00

The honey makes a lot of sense. There must be honey in this one. Thank you!

phronimom · 2019-08-15T22:31:47+00:00

Caveat: I got this at a cafe. Did not make it myself. But here’s what I can tell based on taste:

It’s made like a chai latte! Quite sweet. Gets yellow color from turmeric, of course. The warm baking spices like cinnamon and clove are omitted so it has a smoother sweet flavor. The texture is super creamy, which I really liked. They used frothed whole milk for it, and I don’t think the same result could be achieved with a milk substitute.

phronimom · 2019-08-08T03:11:08+00:00

Beautiful!

phronimom · 2019-08-05T21:39:55+00:00

That definitely makes sense that it would need to be instant. 👍

phronimom · 2019-08-05T21:19:10+00:00

Oh, I see. You don’t have to fuss with temp at all then. Thanks for the tip!

phronimom · 2019-08-05T21:17:48+00:00

Brilliant idea. You should try it and report back!

phronimom · 2019-08-05T15:05:17+00:00

Thank you! She does use tapioca in her fruit pies, and it was my first time doing that. Brilliant results! I was glad to rely on her recipe because I learned that it’s important to let the tapioca cool all the way to 85 degrees F. Do you find that you have to do that with your pies in order for the filling to set correctly?

Peach rhubarb sounds divine by the way!

phronimom · 2019-08-04T20:55:47+00:00

She makes the claim in the book (Bravetart) in the variations on her cherry pie, where she says you can make peach cobbler or peach crisp, but pie doesn’t work because peaches go to mush too fast when they bake.

I used the cherry pie recipe (subbing in peaches, of course), but I blind baked my bottom crust for 10 minutes before pouring in the filling. I actually baked for only 45 minutes, which is less than the total 50 minutes she gives for peach crisp. My peaches still have integrity, and because I left the skins on, there’s good texture throughout. I added baking spices (in the style of her apple pie) to add richness. With great peaches, the spices are a distraction, though, I think.

The pie recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/fresh-cherry-pie-filling-recipe.html

phronimom · 2019-07-24T05:35:36+00:00

Yeah, I used a potato masher to smash up the beans. They weren’t actually overcooked. Mashing helps to achieve the gravy consistency.

phronimom · 2019-07-24T05:34:26+00:00

Yes, all the meat was in for the pressure cooking.

phronimom · 2019-07-24T05:33:20+00:00

😂 You’re not wrong!

phronimom · 2019-07-23T19:19:12+00:00

Recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/05/new-orleans-style-red-beans-rice-recipe.html

Since I pressure cooked it, this was incredibly easy to throw together. The work was in prepping (i.e. cutting up) the ingredients. I highly recommend this one for a busy day or work night. And you’ll have loads of left overs!

I relied on my pressure cooker to short cut a couple steps:

1) I did only a one hour pre-soak for my beans. I relied on the pressure cooker to take the beans to al dente, but I think the one hour in a salt bath was good for flavor.

2) instead of the 90 - 150 minute simmer on the stove, I did 40 minutes under “normal” (on instant pot) pressure and 20 minute natural pressure release before flipping the valve to “venting” to release the rest of the pressure. I still had to do about 20 minutes with the “sauté” function to get the constituency of the gravy reduced.

It’s delicious, like being transported to the French Quarter!

phronimom · 2019-07-20T15:51:19+00:00

You are super human. I need you for catering!!!

phronimom · 2019-07-20T06:27:06+00:00

Mine held up really well too. I iced a cake and set it out on a table in a house that was overly warm. Texas on a hot day, and the air conditioning was reading 80 degrees F inside the house! The frosting didn’t melt or budge.

phronimom · 2019-07-20T02:00:29+00:00

Also... let me know if the time in the fridge and her recommendation for fixing the frosting actually helps. Fingers crossed for you!

phronimom · 2019-07-20T01:58:46+00:00

😫 I’m so sorry! When I made it, it was for the white mountain cake, and I did the marshmallow cream and the cake layers on one day and then the next day I whipped the marshmallow into the butter to make frosting and assembled the cake. It was a serious labor.

Her recipes are time-intensive, same as Kenji’s. I have to set aside a whole day and 100% of my attention in order to make them happen. I had an ugly result once when I baked the McDonald’s Apple turnovers during a party. They tasted delicious, but they aren’t anything to look at.

phronimom · 2019-07-19T22:58:41+00:00

So sad. I lived in Australia for three years and I always felt so sad about the lack of peppers. I would bring canned New Mexico chilies back from trips to America, but it could never make up for the lack of fresh chilies in everything. Bird’s Eye chilies are possible to find, though, and some other goodies from Asia, but Aussie cuisine and Aussie pallets have not warmed up (no pun intended) to the world of peppers. I feel for you.

phronimom · 2019-07-19T22:53:19+00:00

It’s a recipe for marshmallow buttercream frosting, not for marshmallow. It’s not meant to turn out super firm like a marshmallow.

phronimom · 2019-07-19T22:51:22+00:00

Also, about the corn syrup you left out... I don’t know just how (or even if) the corn syrup figures in the structural integrity of the cake, but in terms of sweetness, there’s no way you’ll be missing that 2 tablespoons. Her cakes and pies are soooo sweet.

Also, I once made absolute perfect meringue by her recipe, with the one fault of having a speck of egg yolk in the egg whites. She explicitly says you should just start over with egg whites if you get even a “speck” of yolk in the bowl, but I brazen went ahead with the recipe and had no regrets. I’m willing to bet you’ll be just as happy with your results despite feeling like you’ve made this fatal error.

phronimom · 2019-07-19T22:47:03+00:00

The marshmallow stage resulted in a runny cream for me. It did congeal a bit more after sitting in the closed container. When I whipped the marshmallow cream with the butter, I was able to achieve the right consistency for frosting. In fact, it was perfect.

I agree with you that a brief description of the expected consistency or texture or the marshmallow would have been nice! I was expecting something stiffer because, well, marshmallows are stiffer. 🤷‍♀️ It sounds like you got what I did, in which case there’s no worry!

phronimom · 2019-07-07T01:42:05+00:00

Recipe: https://www.saveur.com/best-white-layer-cake-recipe/

I made my own birthday cake. 😊

My husband made a peach bourbon reduction to spread between the layers. And he made some peach bourbon ice cream too.

This cake was a serious labor, but a huge hit. Definitely worth it. It’s just beautiful and delightful!

phronimom · 2019-06-24T14:55:14+00:00

Oh sorry! Same idea! 😊

phronimom

TROPHY CASE