I made my very first Buche de Noel this weekend. It was quite tasty, and amazingly, was a weight watchers version.

I made the cake the night before and left it rolled in the teatowel until I was ready to assemble it.

Cake:
3 tbsp icing sugar
3/4 c flour
1/3 cocoa
1 oz semisweet chocolate (grated)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c skim milk

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray 10 x 15 cookie sheet with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper. Spray with non-stick spray and lightly flour.
Dust a clean kitchen towel with icing sugar and set aside.
Combine 1st 7 ingredients and set aside.
Mix the eggs, sugar & vanilla at high speed with electric mixer until a ribbon forms when beaters are lifted. At low speed, add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Pour into pan. Spread evenly. bake 8-10 minutes. Invert onto sugared towel and roll up.

Frosting:
8 oz light cream cheese
1 c icing sugar
1/3 c cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz melted semisweet chocolate (cooled slightly)

Combine 1st 4 ingredients. mix unitl smooth, then add melted chocolate. Beat another 2-3 minutes on high.

Filling:
2 c whipped cream or cool whip (I used ultra low fat)

Unroll cake. Spread topping over, and roll up.Place seam side down on platter.Cutoff a wedge, and put along the side as a branch. Cover with frosting.

I am looking for a biscotti recipe with out almonds or almond extract. My sister and I both have an allergy to almonds. It seems all of the recipes out there call for almonds or almond extract. I know I can take out almonds, but does it matter if almond extract is substituted for vanilla?

Hi! This is my first time posting here, so I hope I've done everything right :)

I had a bit of a bake-a-thon this evening, trying to come up with something interesting with the guidelines of "chocolate and mint" (and of course, vegan!). Mint around Christmas time immediately makes me think of candy canes, and so these whoopie pies were born. I then realised that the theme for this month's contest was peppermint, so here is my entry!

( To save your friends page, click for the recipe... )

I am looking for an amazing, easy dense brownie recipe. I am making brownies as a gift for a co-worker from England, and he said he really wished for some good dense brownies. Im used to the ooey gooey kind, and I know that it doesnt fit the bill. Any tried and true recipes?

Dear all,

this is a little something I have recently made, and it is quickly done and might do for a nice ladies' gift.

The base is a crochet circle, upon which I have sewed plastic beads.

I have in mind to use it as a pendant, but you could also sew it onto a purse or pullover or make a brooch out of it.

Hope you like it, or might even put the idea to use. Depending on your working speed, it should be accomplished in an hour.

I'm debating the spiral sliced dilemma this year and wanted some opinions from other foodies.

We don't normally do a big Christmas dinner type thing, but this year I've got guest coming over so was going to do a simple dinner- ham, oven roasted potatoes, broccoli, and perhaps a tart.

However, the reason I stopped making ham, quite simply, was because they always end up the beast to carve with the tools I've got (and I'm not running out to buy a special carving set when I've got decent carving knives already). I've been to other holiday parties where the hams are spiral sliced, and well... it seems like a much easier carving and portioning job. (Thin slices vs. thick uneven slices)

The cost is what's killing me, though. Depending on where I purchase it from, it's between $2 and $6 per pound more!

So, what is the opinion of the cooking community? Is it worth it to pay for spiral slicing?

Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters


Instead of a mimosa, I went with a poinsettia (cranberry juice instead of orange), and some hot chocolate to ward off the chill. My friend had her requisite Bloody Mary.


( there's food too )

( +11 )

More on my Flickr

Hi you guys and girls!

My first post here!

I'm for the Netherlands (I already apolgize for any grammar mistakes ;) ) and I made a lot of gifts.

This year was a bit difficult to find something to make. Both my grandmothers moved into a home for the elderly and they have little storage room for christmasdecoration. Just a small Christmastree en some guirlandes.

So I came with a nice solution! My son and I love to work with clay, fondant and marzepin.
But those things don't dry that well or break easily.
When I was younger my mother made saltdough en dried it in the oven after modelling!

The recipe:

1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of salt
1 cup of water

Stire it together and let it set for about 20 min.

If the dough is a little bit wet add extra flour.

Then the fun can begin!!!

We created this year little stars, angels, hearts etc.

Dry it in the oven at about 125 degrees Celcius (260 degreed Fahrenheit) for about 2 hours with the oven slightly open.

Let them cool and paint. After the paint is dry, finish with a clear coat of varnish.

Oww.. And make a hole so you can put a wire or ribbon in it to hang!!!

Lots of crafts and best wishes for the holidays!

Chantal

These are a soft shortbread cookie with a nice peppermint buttercream holding them together then rolled in peppermint sugar.

( recipe and picture under here )

I adore carrot cake and cream cheese frosting.
My friends are having a potluck and I'd like to bring this (among a few other things.. I'm just baking things I've been meaning to so I can eat them and I really love dessert)

SO I was wondering what you guys think is the best carrot cake recipe that you have.
A delicious frosting is definitely important.

I wanted to maybe make a layer cake.

Thank you!

Just wondering if you could link me to your favourite cherry pie recipe. I'd prefer it to have a shortcrust pastry base rather than a graham cracker base.

Thanks in advanced! <3

Hello bakers!

I want to make some Christmassy cupcakes to take into work this week and I've decided on using cinnamon but I can't decide whether to put it with another flavour or not.

My ideas are either orange cupcakes with cinnamon frosting or vice versa? Or just cinnamon with cinnamon?

Any other simple Christmas suggestions you have, throw them at me! Emphasis on the simple though...I have so much to do this week already, last week of term means many a Christmas party/carol service/hyperactive 5yr olds!

Thankyou :)

I recently acquired several tubs of sour cream, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it all before it goes bad. I like using it as a condiment for burritos and refried beans, but that's the extent of my sour cream use and it certainly won't make a dent in my massive sour cream stockpile. Any ideas on what I can do with it all beyond giving it away would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

My friend and I attempted chocolate covered brandy soaked cherries tonight. It went...well, it ended okay.

First, I somehow turned a bag of chocolate chips into chocolate powder that has the texture of salt. It's been determined water was the culprit.

Second, the sugary-coating wouldn't stick to anything but itself and my fingers.

I'd like suggestions on sugary-coating recipes that come out more like dough and incorporate the maraschino juice for flavor.

I'd also like suggestions on how to make the process easier. I think I dipped the hardest/most inefficient way possible. It involved two forks and lots of giggling.

PS Does anyone know why it takes 10-14 days to cure? Is there any way to speed that up?

hi. i'm Stu, 22 year old girl from Helsinki, Finland. i study photography, and i share my home with 2 other students. i've posted my room before, like a year ago or something. and i thought it was time to do this again! idk if much has changed... oh well, let's get started.

Dear Assface on Gaia,

I wasn't calling you a lazy jackass. The homophobe that was bashing you said I was. Why the fuck did you believe him? I wasn't being anything but polite to you, and trying to get you to see that starting a roleplay didn't have to be the root of a bunch of drama. I rescind my previous apology to you. You are a lazy jackass. Get over yourself.

Lots of anger,
The dude who would have roleplayed with you if only you had kept an open mind and not been a fucking asshole.

I just found this community and absolutely love it. :)

I looked through the tags, but couldn't find what I was looking for - please forgive me if I missed the perfect solution hidden in the depths of the community. Here goes:

Who is the gift for? My boyfriend of eight months.

What is the occasion? Christmas (my first with a significant other, oh my).

List at least three of their interests: Music (metal, drum 'n' bass, synth pop), everything nerdy (Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Dr. Who), politics, reading, and... Satan. He just loves Satan, sorry to any religious people. Haha.

Any stipulations or things to avoid (i.e., has to be something small, or they already have enough scarves, etc.): Nothing too cheesy - I'm hoping for something quirky and hopefully nerd-themed. I'd be okay with any slightly cute ideas to add to a generally non-cutesy gift, though (eg. creative versions of lists of things I like about him, etc.). I'm making him a custom Guess Who? with a political figure bent, but I was looking for instructions on making a Star Trek pin (or something along those lines) and couldn't find anything I felt I was up to skill-wise.

What kind of crafting do you do? I have a penchant for turning traditional types of crafting into offensive political statements (eg. I'm just learning to quilt so I can eventually make an extremely offensive quilt) because I love the juxtaposition. I sew but don't have a working sewing machine at this point, scrapbook, collage, cross-stitch, and pretty much anything else I can get my hands on.

Name some other crafts that you would be willing to try: I want to learn to sew for real, not just smaller projects by hand. I'm also really interested in beadwork and just watched a video about hand-knotting necklaces that really inspired me.

Do you have a price range for materials? Not specifically - the cheaper, the better, but I can go up to about $40 Canadian if I get a really good suggestion.

Do you have a time limit to make this present? Christmas is next week (!!!!!!!).

Any other information you'd like to include: If anyone can point me to a good tutorial on making wrist cuffs (the fabric, non-clasp kind), that'd be a great bonus item for this gift.


Thank you for any help you can give me! I'm feeling the creative buzz but I really want to impress my nerdy boy this Christmas. I gave a lot of detail, but I'm open to whatever you think might be good...