breathe and bake.

chai cupcakes

I'm going to go ahead and say that Chai Lattes are my favorite coffee shop drink, besides black coffee.

I buy Bigelow's Vanilla Chai tea bags, do half a glass of vanilla light soymilk, the other half is water, put 1 (or 2 if I'm feeling risque) tea bag in it, and heat it.

Yes, I heat my liquid in the microwave. I am convincing myself it's bad for the liquid.............. convenience conquers conservation.

So I've wanted to incorporate Chai into some sort of dessert recipe for a while. This morning, my class ended early.......way early...so I needed to do something with myself. So I baked.

Unfortunately, I rationalize being bored as a good excuse to bake. The most unfortunate part about this....is I eat what I bake. Usually just one, but... but still.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 pack oregon chai mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp vanilla

1/3 cup canola oil (of course i substituted half of that with unsweetened apple sauce..maybe more than half)

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup water

2 chai tea bags (i used vanilla chai)

boiled water, steeped tea bags. while tea bags are soaking, mix dry together. make a well. pour one cup of tea in dry mixture, along with the other wet ingredients.

i just sprayed some muffin tins with olive oil spray (all i had was the olive oil kind)

i mixed together two cups of confectionary sugar , 3 tbsp milk, the other 1/2 of the oregon chai mixture, and like..3 spoonfulls of shortening. of course you'll be able to tell by the mixture if you need to add more of anything.

i filled the tins 2/3 the way, put a dollop of the confectionary sugar mixture in it, then topped it off with a bit more mixture just to cover the dollop.

bake at 350 for like..20 minutes.

these are not pretty, they bake hilariously (i said it, that's a word), but they are absolutely freakin scrumptious.

HA ha ! My camera is absent, so an iPhoto will have to do.

half.

So far

breakfast-1/3 cup fat free yogurt, blob peanut butter, 1/2 banana (180 cals?)

biggest freakin lunch eva- spinach salad. consisting of.....lots of spinach, 6 cucumber slices, 3 baby carrots, handful of dates, handful of feta, balsamic vinaigrette and a sprinkle of EVOO. 1/2 apple. i'm thinking......300 calories.

Mostly good calories, though.

I am SO freakin full. I'm downing my vinegar water so I won't feel so bloated.

I'm making the peach/nectarine tart tonight. I'm pumped.

and that was it. and it was delicious. I had probably , over the course of the night....two pieces. Small. That made about 8 pieces. With the chocolate, I'd average 200 calories a piece. It was seriously the most buttery, flaky, sweet, lush, beautiful tart ever.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flower

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

11 tbsp butter (i used margarine), cold, in pieces

1 egg yolk

3 tbsp milk

Filling:

2 nectarines, peeled, cored, sliced

2 peaches, peeled, cored, sliced

1/2-3/4 cups sugar

1 tbsp+1 tsp cornstarch

line springform pan (or whatever you want, some sort of baking sheet, i found the springform to be easiest) with parchment paper.

mix together dry for crust. with a mixer on low speed, gradually add in butter. will get crumbly. add in yolk and milk. beat on low for about 20 or so seconds. continue mixing with your hands, form into a ball. wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least 20 minutes (i did for about 3 hours. can be up to 3 days).

unwrap, let it become room temperature.

mix together fruit slices with sugar, carefully and gradually. add in cornstarch, mix.

put dough on parchment paper in form pan, flatten (i used my hands) for a thin middle and bring the excess dough to the edges. beat the egg and brush it on the crust. sprinkle sugar over. add in fruit mixture. bring excess dough on the edges to form a barrier and fold over the edges. brush egg mixture on this part of dough. sprinkle with sugar.

bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

i also melted chocolate and drizzled it on it.

and then last night, i had and ungodly amount of popcorn.

Coconut Shortbread.

I made Coconut Shortbread bars (courtesy of Baking Bite's blog) for my brother before he left town the other day. They turned out nicely.

ba-dum !

I made a white, double layered cake with a whipped white chocolate pudding icing. I put strawberries and icing in between the layers. It was the whitest, most delicious cake I've ever made.

1 cup milk
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract (personal taste. I love vanilla flavoring! can add less if you'd like)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4c margarine (or butter)

sift together the dry. beat in the butter. add in the egg whites (do not mix egg whites before adding them in). I added in one at a time and mixed for about 20 seconds each. then add in your milk and vanilla. I placed parchment paper in the bottom of two 9X9 pans. Place in a 350 F oven for about 20 or so minutes. Just watch the cakes as they bake. When it starts to brown around the edge and center is when you should consider taking it out : )

For the icing, I had two small boxes of white chocolate pudding mixture. I mixed them with one cup of milk, let sit for a few minutes, and then whisked in the BIG container of Lite Whipped cream. After the cakes were cooled, I spread the icing on the first layer, put some sliced strawberries on top, then put the other cake on top, and did the same. I made this cake the day before 4th of July, so I waited til the next day to add the strawberries and blueberries on top.

Was super delicious ! I love that the batter for the cake tastes like sugar cookie dough. A lot of people who ate the cake said the actual cake tasted like sugar cookies smell. Which was a big hit if you like sugar cookies.

www.ohsheglows.com is a great site to check out. She's got an online bakery deal and provides healthy ways to cook delicious food.

breathe and bake.

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chai cupcakes

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Coconut Shortbread.

ba-dum !

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