Little Crumbs

I've Moved!

2010-05-21T17:26:00.001-05:00

I've moved!!

If you would still like to keep up with me, go to www.thelittlecrumbs.wordpress.com

2009-08-18T13:13:00.001-05:00

After much online searching for a strawberry dessert, I found one I was excited about making. I didn't want one that had so much juice oozing out of it, or that you could only taste strawberry. I believe I found a happy medium between the two.

One thing I would suggest adding that I didn't, is either whipped cream or ice cream on top of each slice. It wasn't necessarily dry, but it felt like it needed more creaminess.

Arrange the strawberry in any pattern you like, or you can copy mine.

Strawberry Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a round cake pan.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of and electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium- high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 min. Reduce the speed to low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to pan. Arrange the strawberries on the cake as you so desire. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the berries.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool cake, then cut into wedges. Cake can be stored loosely covered for up to 2 days.

Munch and devour every little crumb!

The Best Pasta Dish In the World

2009-08-05T20:00:00.001-05:00

If you have read my last post, you know I had a little giveaway. Well if you are talking to your computer and saying, "Ok Alexandra, you show us this strange liquid now what in the world do I do with it?".

I have the answer!!

I can't tell you how many times I have made this, or will make it until I die. This is my favorite meal on the planet. My mom made it one day, just experimenting... Best experiment ever!!

So if you have experimented, or just thought you messed something up. But it turned out amazing, please share! Just leave a comment and tell me about it.

I start by putting some water on to boil, for the pasta. And while it's getting to a boil, start the sauce. So by the time the pasta is ready to drain, the sauce is done. It takes all of about 20-30 minutes.

Balsamic Pasta

1 package pasta
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon chili flakes (add more, if you like heat!)
2 (15 oz.) cans organic crushed tomatoes
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook pasta as package instructs.

In a large saucepan, heat balsamic vinegar and chili flakes on low for 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Turn up heat to medium, sauce needs to reach a steady boil.

If you have started the sauce at the same time as the pasta water (see above), drain the pasta and the sauce should be done. Turn off heat, and add cream. Stir in pasta. Grate parmesan cheese over the top before serving.

Eat, lick, and scrape (believe me, you will) every last crumb!!

2009-07-31T10:14:00.010-05:00

And the winner is.......

Samantha.Danger
Tomato Guts/ Seeds

Her lovely prize is one of my favorite ingredients.

A bottle of Balsamic Vinegar!

OK I know it's not a trip to an exotic land, or some fabulous jewelry. But it's my first giveaway, and I hope to bring you bigger and better prizes in the future.
Check back often for more little crumbs.

Have a lovely weekend!

2009-07-28T16:40:00.004-05:00

Here is a picture hint for the giveaway.

Look in the background...

If your guess is incorrect I will let you know so you can try again. If no one guesses correctly, I will have to keep this wonderful prize all to myself !!

Good Luck!

Grooms Cake

2009-07-21T10:30:00.014-05:00

I made my first grooms cake this past June. It was so much fun and stressful. Transportation is so nerve racking!!

It was a three tiered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate pralines cookies and grated semi-sweet chocolate. Topped with two toy Harley's, requests of the Groom.

There's me!!

I transported the cake unassembled. When I got to the lake house where the wedding was held, I put the cakes together and fixed any mess ups in the icing. I also had my mom break the cookies so they didn't have that "perfect" look to them. Then I stuck them to the cake, and grated a chocolate candy bar over top.

Making cakes for people is something I want to do for the rest of my life. So if you know someone who needs a cake, or you want a cake for your next party, let me know and I would love to do it for you.

My First Giveaway!

2009-07-18T18:55:00.004-05:00

What is this?

The first person to answer correctly gets a prize!!

Make sure you leave your name, along with your answer in the comment box.

Strawberry Hand Pies

2009-05-23T14:31:00.013-05:00

Approaching this holiday weekend, all you are probably thinking about is getting back into that pool, enjoying out of town guests, gardening, and just all around relaxing.

So if that happens to include a Memorial Day party, your not gonna want to spend a whole lot of time making your share of the food. These take all of about an hour, prep and cooking put together.

This is a pretty light dessert and it doesn't make that many so I would suggest doubling the recipe for a party. With it being light, they complement a big lunch or dinner. They are just the perfect bit of sweetness and tartness .

Pate Brisee / Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a bowl combine flour, salt, and sugar. "Cut in" butter using your hands or 2 forks.

Add 1/4 cup ice water to mixture, if it doesn't hold up and is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough holds together without being wet or sticky.

Divide dough into 2 equal balls. Flatten them into disks, and wrap in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour. Dough can be stored frozen for up to a month.

Hand Pies

1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and cubed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Flour for work surface
1 Pate Brisee pie disk
1 egg
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat).

In a bowl, add strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch; stir together and set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface roll dough into a large circle about 1/8 inch thick. using a round cookie cutter cut out as many circles as possible. Transfer to the baking sheet. In a small bowl add the egg and lightly beat with a fork. Place enough strawberry mixture to cover one half of the pie, fold over the circle and seal with a fork. Brush the tops with the egg. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar.

Bake until golden brown 15 to 20 minutes.

Enjoy your weekend and every little crumb!

Three Cheese Baked Penne

2009-04-03T12:53:00.019-05:00

6 reasons I am in love with pasta...

How fast it can be to make.
It can be made creamy (American way) or dry (Italian way).
All the noodle choices you have. My favorite are the trumpet ones. They hold the most sauce.
When you eat it the American way and the pasta just happens to be on the cheesy side and you end up having that very long string of cheese from your plate to your fork and then to your mouth!
The way the tomato bursts in your mouth when you bite down on them!!
You can make up your own version of it. Which my mom continues to do with flare and deliciousness!!

Using the best quality items for this dish is most important. The best cheeses, and spices go a long way. Don't skimp and use "fat free" or "light" sour creams or ricottas. It will skimp on the taste and flavor, resulting in "yes, a possibly lighter dish" but no where near as good.

Sprinkling the top of the pasta with the bread crumbs is totally optional, but highly advised! It adds a very nice crispy-crunchy topping to the pasta that is a little unexpected.

The vegetable I made with this dish is not pictured so I'll just have to describe it for you.

I roasted some asparagus, that was sprinkled with olive oil, salt ,pepper, lemon juice, and bread crumbs. It cooked at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. After taking it out of the oven I grated fresh parmesan cheese on top.

Three Cheese Baked Penne

1 pound penne pasta
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded asiago cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the sour cream, ricotta cheese, and asiago cheese in a bowl; stir to incorporate and set aside. Cook pasta until tender but still firm, a minute or 2 less than the package says. Drain pasta.

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, don't let it burn! Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, rosemary, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Turn off the heat then add the the cheese mixture. Stir in pasta.

In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, transfer the pasta to pan. Top with the parmesan and breadcrumbs. Bake until until heated through and the cheese is melted, 30 minutes.

Enjoy every last tasty, little crumb!!

Brown Sugar Shorties

2009-03-27T21:28:00.021-05:00

If you are looking for the most artistically decorated cookies you have ever seen, you have come to the wrong blog. But if your looking for the easiest, cutest, and oddly addictive little cookies ever, then you have definitely come to the right blog!

I live in Oklahoma where the weather drastically changes from day to day. Yesterday it was 60 degrees, and today there is 3 to 4 inches of snow! If that just doesn't make you want to stay home and keep warm I don't know what will. Why not make these little "shorties" and either have a big glass of milk or some rich hot chocolate.

After you have rolled these into a log, you could slice and bake just a few and save the rest for another day. But who wants to do that when you can bake all of them and eat them right away? Believe me, you will!!

Brown Sugar Shorties

Adapted from Smittenkitchen, who adapted it from Gourmet

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Extra white sugar for the tops of the cookies

Cut the butter into four or five pieces and cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it has a nutty fragrance and flecks on bottom of pan turn light brown , anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes. Transfer butter to a bowl and chill until just firm about 1 hour in the fridge or 30 minutes in the freezer. Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla , then mix in flour and salt at a low speed until just combined. Transfer dough to a sheet of parchment paper and form into a skinny log. These cookies will not rise or get any bigger in the oven so whatever size you roll them out, thats how big they will be. Chill in the freezer for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap and slice dough into 1/4 inch thick rounds, arranging 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until the surface is dry and the edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes. After they come out of the oven sprinkle some sugar right in the middle of all the cookies.

Dough keeps, chilled up to 1 week in the fridge, or 1 month in the freezer. Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

Now go curl up with a good book and stay warm!

St. Patricks Day Dinner with Friends

2009-03-18T09:31:00.032-05:00

Chicken en papillote with Mashed Potatoes,

Green Pear & Celery Salad,and Chocolate Cupcakes.

(oops! forgot to take a picture of the salad)

Ok, well I really didn't make this whole meal , but I helped. This is my Mom's recipe which I think is one of her best. After this has been cooking for about 15 minutes you get this amazing aroma from the kitchen, I can't describe it... it's just wonderful!

Ribboning the vegetables is the best way to to make this dish. You can always slice the vegetables on the diagonal which is also very pretty, but make sure whatever you do that they are all the same size so they cook evenly.

After cutting the pieces of parchment into large hearts, place the chicken on one side, add your spices and then start putting on your beautiful vegetables. Then you are going to start closing the packets by crimping the sides all the way around.

can you tell my sister loved her new fingernail polish??

Chicken en papillote

Boneless skinless Chicken breast Salt

Pepper

Herbes de Provence

White Balsamic Vinegar

Carrots

Zucchini

Parsnips ( a wonderful addition to this meal)

Put the chicken on the parchment paper hearts; sprinkle salt, pepper, and the herbes on the chicken. Wash all the vegetables and peel the root vegetables, then start ribboning using the vegetable peeler. Add extra virgin olive oil to veggies and sprinkle with salt and pepper. After you drizzled the chicken with the vinegar, put the vegetables on the chicken and start closing the packets. Put them all on a baking sheet and cook at 400 for about 30 minuets.

The chocolate cupcakes are simple. Just use your favorite chocolate cake recipe, and then I use the Wilton Buttercream icing. Sorry Crisco users I don't use any Crisco in my icing, I just substitute it for butter. This is the best icing of all time so I highly recommend using it!! The color, obviously is totally up to you. I would like to thank my Mom and sister for their gorgeous hand modeling for this post!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2009-03-16T19:24:00.027-05:00

To be honest I dont think I'm a great cook, baking on the other hand, different story! I love to bake, I love to do it when I'm bored, when I'm hungry, when there is a special occasion, and mostly when I should be doing something else. Baking is very relaxing and also stressful at times. When I go somewhere and see the "oh so perfectly made" store-bought cake, I always think, "Why could they have not spent the short amount of time it takes to make one from scratch that looks just as beautiful?"

The cake below is a perfect example of that, the prep time was about 20 minuets. It would have been shorter but I don't have a microwave, so I melted the chocolate over the stove (which I think is a better way of doing it anyway). You can eat this hot or cold and you really can't mess this up. This cake makes a great birthday cake. It's easier than a regular chocolate cake because there is less measuring. The recipe said it would only feed 8 but I got 16 hearty slices out of it. Enjoy!!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 eggs, separated

1/2 cup sugar

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 - inch spring-form pan. Set aside.

Place the butter and chocolate in medium size sauce pan. On medium /low heat, melt the chocolate and butter stirring until completely melted. Let it cool slightly, then add the egg yolks. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, and then continue beating until glossy stiff peaks are formed. Gently fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest (Do not fold too much or the egg whites will deflate). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake in the oven at 275 degrees, for 45 to 50 minutes. After the cake has cooled, sprinkle a light dusting of powdered sugar.