earth to victoria

Today I made one of my yummiest masterpieces yet; a raspberry, brie cheese, and mango habanero pizza!   I was kind of lazy, just decided to use a store bought pizza dough instead of making my own, but once I laid out the dough and created a good crust, using my brand new pizza pan from the pampered chef, I laid out some of Sidehill Farms' special mango habanero jam.  This is what the jam looks like. I first bought it at my local grocery store, but then decided to place an order with the Vermont store itself on their webpage. The jam is spectacular! The flavor is excellent and its unlike anything I've ever tried before. After spreading the jam to the uncooked pizza dough I added some brie cheese, fresh raspberries, candied walnuts, and some Rosemary. Next I cooked it in the oven at 425 degrees for ten minutes and then broiled it for one minute before it was cooked to perfection.  The mango habanero jam is quite spicy, but the brie cheese, raspberries,...

Cake 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1/3 cup water 4 1/2 ounces dark melted chocolate 4 1/2 ounces melted butter 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar 1 cup ground almonds 4 eggs 2 packets of raspberries Chocolate Whipped Cream 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup sugar 3 ounces melted dark chocolate Ganache 6 1/2 ounces dark chocolate 1/3 cup heavy cream Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease 9 inch round cake pan, set aside. Blend sifted cocoa powder with water until smooth; stir in chocolate, butter, sugar, ground almonds, and egg yolks. Beat egg whites in small bowl until soft peaks form, then fold into chocolate mixture. Pour mixture in pan.   Bake 1 hour and 25 minutes. Make chocolate whipped cream by blending heavy cream on high and adding sugar.  Once cream starts to come up add melted chocolate and continue whipping.  Cover and set aside in fridge. Make ganache by heating heavy cream over low heat on stove until it starts to boil, then pour over c...

Ingredients: 2 ripened bananas 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt 2 sticks (1 cup) butter 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups finely chopped leftover Holiday candy of your choice (I used Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, Three Musketeers, Kit Kats, and Milky Ways.) Instructions: Heat oven to 350 F. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. Melt butter over medium heat.  Whisk butter and remove from heat as butter begins to brown.  Set aside. Beat butter, sugars, and bananas until thoroughly blended.  Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined.  Add the dry ingredients slowly until combined. Add in chopped candy. Grease cupcake pans, and add batter to them.  Add more finely chopped candy on top. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. 

I made these cute Thanksgiving themed cupcakes last Thursday for the big holiday.   And they were a huge hit.  Everyone was taking pictures of and with them and adding them to social networking sites instantly.  They were so adorable and a real lot of fun to make. Here's how I did it: Corn on the Cob:  Yellow frosting, and all different colors and shades of white, yellow, and orange Jelly Beans. Peas and Carrots:  Green frosting, green jelly beans (or green M&M's, I also used these) and cut up orange Starbursts. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy: White frosting, caramel (I used coffee flavored!), and a yellow Starburst to look like a slab of butter. Turkey Leg:  Chocolate frosting, crushed graham crackers (they taste WAY better then Bran Flakes, even though the Bran Flakes look more realistic!), and melted white chocolate I squeezed onto parchment paper and then froze. Pudding:  Chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles! I hope this ...

My boyfriend Jake turned twenty-one and I wanted to share what I made him, chocolate coffee cupcakes with a whipped chocolate cream frosting with strawberries atop.  Also coffee and cheese filled croissants. Ingredients: 2 cups sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup Cocoa Powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (I used one cup regular milk and one Tablespoon vinegar to make my own sour milk) 1 cup brewed strong black coffee (I used instant coffee) 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon almond extract Instructions: Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside. In mixing bowl mix eggs, buttermilk, oil, and almond extract together. Gradually add in dry ingredients.  Then mix in hot/boiling coffee. You should have a thin batter. Pour batter evenly into prepared cupcake tins. Bake for 30 t...

Ingredients: 3 egg whites 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1 cup almond flour 2 teaspoon instant coffee Nutella Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.   With an electric mixer whisk egg whites until foamy, should double in size.  Then gradually and very slowly add in the sugar.  Whisk until meringue is made and glossy soft peaks form. Mix the almond flour, powdered sugar, and coffee together in a bowl.   Add the meringue to the almond mixture in thirds.  Gently fold in the meringue until consistency is the same.   Fill pastry bag with batter and squeeze out small circles on a flat pan and parchment paper.  Let macarons sit for twenty minutes before putting into the oven.   Once ready to put in the oven turn the oven down to 300 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. When macarons are cool fill with Nutella.

For St. Patrick's Day I made my boyfriend Jake his first ever Shepard's Pie.   I made about six personal Shepard's Pie all in oven safe dishes; all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Ingredients: 1 pound ground lamb (or ground beef) 1 onion 3 medium carrots 1 1/2 cups beef broth 1 Tablespoon flour 1 Tablespoon flavored vinegar (I used Fig!) 1 bag frozen peas 4 large potatoes  1/2 stick of butter 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup of sour cream 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large frying pan cook meat over medium heat.  While meat is browning, dice onions and carrots, then add to meat. Pour broth into small bowl and mix with flour.  Add to meat mixture.  Add in flavored vinegar and frozen peas.  Evenly distribute mixture into casserole dishes. Peel potatoes and boil until soft.  Add butter, milk, and sour cream to potatoes and whip until smooth. Top meat with mashed whippe...

French Toast Ganache 200 grams of heavy cream 60 grams of rum 3 grams of cinnamon vanilla (to taste) 50 grams all natural maple syrup 250 grams white chocolate First make the ganache.  Combine the heavy cream, rum, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla over a bain marie.  Bring to a boil and then pour over white chocolate.  Let sit for about a minute and then stir to emulsify.   Put ganache over an ice bath and then put plastic wrap directly over the surface of your ganache.  Wait until the ganache is cool and then put into a stand mixer with the whip attached.  Your ganache should get light and creamy.  If needed add more heavy cream.   Put in the refrigerator until needed. Cinnamon Macarons 212 grams of almond flour 212 grams of powdered sugar 3 grams cinnamon vanilla (to taste) 82 grams egg whites 90 grams egg whites 20 grams of sugar For macarons, preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Sift the almond...

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of butter 2 firmly packed tablespoons of dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar a pinch of sea salt a cap full of pure vanilla extract 1 egg yolk 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda 1/4 cup of all purpose flour 3 heaping tablespoons of chocolate chips Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Heat butter until softened.  Blend butter together with sugars, salt, and vanilla extract. Then add the egg yolk and baking soda and flour until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips Form cookie dough balls and bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown on a cookie sheet. Remove the cookie tray from oven and tap the sheet against the counter top.  This will deflate the cookie and give it a perfect wrinkly and homemade appearance.

Homemade Rock Candy, you will need: 1/2 cup water 3/4 cup light corn syrup 2 cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons flavoring extract blue gel food coloring candy thermometer Instructions: Line sheet pan with foil, and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray/spray butter. In a saucepan combine the water, corn syrup, and granulated sugar. Place the pan over medium-high heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then stop stirring.  Insert a candy thermometer. Continue to cook the candy without stirring until it reads 285°F on the thermometer. Do not overcook it, or it will start to take on a caramel color. Once at 285°F, take the pan off the heat and let it sit for a few moments, until bubbles stop breaking on the surface. Add the flavoring, I used raspberry extract and food coloring, I used Neon blue by McCormick, and stir everything together. Pour the candy onto the prepared baking sheet; tilt the sheet pan back and fo...

So I know it's not yet fall, but why wait only once a year to have pumpkin?  Especially when it's amazingly delicious, and one of my personal favorites. These muffins were a huge hit; gone in two days from my family and Dunkin Donut employees.   All the feedback I got on these were they are super moist and very chocolaty.  These muffins came out heavenly.  My little brother and Jake claim they don't like pumpkin, but even they enjoyed these muffins. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 cup pumpkin pure 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 2 eggs 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips Nutella Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.   In a bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.  Set aside. Melt butter on medium heat on stove, stirring constantly, wait until b...

Fall is my absolute favorite season, I can't say that enough, and this year I really want to try to make as many fall themed recipes as I possibly can.  Starting with pumpkin french toast.   I got this recipe from thelowercaseh !  Ingredients: 1/2 cup canned pumpkin 4 eggs 1/2 cup milk 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt a pinch of orange zest about 10 slices of bread butter, for cooking Mix the pumpkin, eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, spices, salt, and zest together until they're well combined. Soak both sides of bread in batter.  Battered bread can be cooked immediately or refrigerated overnight. Cook battered bread over medium heat in a lightly buttered skillet until golden brown on both sides. Serve with maple syrup.

Ingredients: 4 Tablespoons butter 1/2 Cup Sugar 1 Pint Strawberry Ice Cream 4 Cups Water 1 Cup Chocolate Chips 1 Tablespoon Chocolate Sprinkles Cool Whip Melt chocolate and dip the rim of each mug into it.  Set aside until later. Mix butter, sugar, and strawberry ice cream over medium heat on the stove.  Whisk water, a cup at a time, until the desired texture is reached.  Remember, this is hot chocolate not a milkshake. Pour into chocolate rimmed mugs and decorate with whipped cream and sprinkles.  I added a chocolate chip cookie! My boyfriend surprised me by having my favorite sandwich from my favorite Italian deli ready for me when I got out of work.  Afterward though I was really in the mood for something sweet.  We were thinking about going to get frozen yogurt, but traffic was super bad and it was getting late so we stopped at the local grocery store instead and picked up a few items.  This is what we made.  This ...