Hello again.

Friends, I forgot I had a baking blog.

In case you haven’t noticed (because I know I have a robust following), I graduated college in 2013. As I haven’t stepped foot on a college campus since, this blog is now very outdated and inaccurately named. I did get quite a kick re-reading my old posts and remember just how… creative I had to be in my college kitchen. Today, I live in Boston, own working appliances (including my beloved Kitchenmaid mixer), and try to bake when I’m not working at a local non-profit (to my coworkers’ delight).

Will I continue this journey? Time will tell. I’ll let you know in another 4-5 years.

 

 

 

Chocolate Grahams.

My friend, James (the same one who first mentioned Puppy Chow to me), is fortunate enough to have a mother who bakes very very often. Whenever I visit, I always indulge in some of her treats, and if I am lucky, she packs some up for me to take home or back to school. Some of my favorite recipes are actually from her, including this one.

Once again, I do not have any photographs, but these chocolate grahams (or chocolate bark, whichever you prefer) are absolutely wonderful. The graham cracker makes for a satisfying crunch, the toffee layer in the middle adds a crunchy and chewy texture, and the chocolate on top is thick and sweet.

This recipe calls for quick hands and a watchful eye, so prepare by laying out all of your ingredients first. There was a lot of variation in how the recipe turned out. When I used generic margarine, I had better results than when using Land O’Lakes. Sometimes, the mixture would not thicken as I hoped and occasionally, the crackers would burn a little bit in the oven. Perhaps my friends are not very picky, but no one ever complained, so I would call this recipe pretty foolproof, as long as you are attentive

If you are interested in decorating the crackers, it is easy to melt some white chocolate and drizzle that on top.

Chocolate Grahams
Adapted from James’ mother

Ingredients:
10-12 whole regular graham crackers
3/4 cup of margarine
1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
1 12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Line your baking sheet with foil. Break your graham crackers in half (to form squares) and snugly line your pan with them, edges touching. The size of your pan will determine the number of crackers.
2. Preheat oven to 300° F.
3. In a saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, then continue stirring constantly as you bring the mixture to boil.
4. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, still stirring constantly (this mixture burns easily on the bottom, so you must stir and be careful). It will bubble and thicken eventually.
5. Quickly pour the mixture over the graham crackers, and spread it to the edges of the crackers. The mixture thickens quickly, so you must work speedily.
6. Bake the crackers for 12 minutes. If it smells as though it is burning, go ahead and remove the crackers.
7. Upon removal from the oven, immediately pour the chocolate chips evenly over the crackers. Bake for an additional 2 minutes.
8. Remove the crackers and let them sit for a couple of minutes. Using a butter knife, spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers.
9. If you have prepared the white chocolate mixture (see below), drizzle that on top of the chocolate.
10. Refrigerate for about 3 hours before breaking the crackers into smaller pieces.

White Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients:
4 oz. of white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of heavy cream

Directions:
1. Using a double boiler, melt the white chocolate. Stir in the heavy cream.
2. The mixture will look unsightly (i.e. lumpy), so feel free to add a few more drops of cream so that the chocolate becomes a little more liquidy. However, I found that too much cream meant that the white chocolate never fully solidified upon refrigeration.
3. Using a fork, drizzle the white chocolate mixture over the chocolate grahams.

Puppy Chow.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted on here. First, winter break came and went (along with Duke’s first bowl game since 1994!), then tenting for the annual Duke-UNC game in K-ville, and finally midterms. Now that March Madness is beginning, I seem to have found a little time to catch up on this blog.

First up, a recipe for puppy chow, or muddy buddies as some people call it. I originally heard about this snack back in high school from a friend who had recently moved back from Texas. After my initial disbelief at such a name (he swore he wasn’t making it up), we eventually tested out the recipe, and after that, I agreed puppy chow was indeed a real, and delicious thing. I made this recipe again in January, and it was a huge hit amongst my tent-mates, who raved about how addictive it was. I had to start portioning out how much I would deliver to the tent, to ensure that it wasn’t finished in just one night.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures available. But this is a super easy recipe to make. It makes quite a lot, so you can save it for snacks. I messed around with the recipe a few times, per my tent-mates suggestions. First, I substituted nutella for chocolate. Then, they asked for the chocolate and peanut butter to ooze inside the cereal, so I added more butter, nutella, and peanut butter. Finally, I personally prefer the taste of nutella to peanut butter, so I changed the ratio of nutella to peanut butter. I also found that Crispix cereal was hardier, and was not so easily crushed by the mixing, though I may have just gotten a more crumblier batch of Chex cereal. Also, a large mixing bowl is important, but a shallow bowl (even if it is a cooking pot) is much more helpful for mixing the chocolate mix with the cereal. Puppy chow is easy to customize, so one can always revert back to the original recipe to play around with.

Puppy Chow
Adapted from this Moms Who Think recipe

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of peanut butter
1/3 cup of butter
1 and 1/4 cups of nutella
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
9 cups Crispix or Chex cereal
2 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Combine peanut butter, butter (chopped into pieces) and nutella in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave for 1 minute, then mix. Add the vanilla and continue stirring.
3. Combine the 9 cups of cereal with the peanut butter/nutella mixture in a large mixing bowl. Toss with your hands to cover all of the cereal.
4. Using a gallon ziploc bag, place about 1/3 of the powdered sugar inside, along with a few handfuls of cereal. Close the bag tightly, then shake vigorously to coat the cereal in sugar.
5. Repeat step 4 until all of the cereal is coated in powdered sugar.
6. Store in an airtight container.

Nutella Brownies.

Last night’s Nutella hot chocolate made me wonder why I had gone so long without it, so in another attempt to avoid studying I searched online for easy recipes involving Nutella. I came across these Nutella brownies, which thankfully only require 4 ingredients since our cupboards are getting bare during Finals week. I ran to the campus store and bought the last jar of Nutella and whipped these up.

The original recipe made 12 mini brownies. I said heck, I deserve better than that today. So I doubled the recipe to make 12 normal muffin tin sized brownies. In trying to measure out the correct amount of Nutella into a baking scoop, I lost a lot of Nutella to the scoop and the counter. So #collegebakinggirlproblems tip? Don’t bother messing around with the scoop, just eyeball the amount from the jar. The original recipe made these brownies sound very chewy and fudgey, but I found them to be more of a normal drier brownie texture. For fudgier brownies, I’d recommend using 1 or 2 fewer tablespoons of flour, being a little more generous with the Nutella, and adding a dash of vegetable oil.

I didn’t have time to run to a proper grocery store for some hazelnuts unfortunately. Other topping ideas include powdered sugar, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream. But honestly, I ate half of these brownies plain. And the only thing stopping me from eating the entire batch tonight was my promise to give some away to my roommate and boyfriend.

4-Ingredient Nutella Brownies (makes 12 brownies)
Adapted from Alice on Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients:
1 cup of Nutella (a little over 2/3 of a 13 oz. jar)
2 large eggs
10 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or powdered sugar

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease.
2. Beat 2 eggs, then add the Nutella. Stir until well-combined.
3. Add in the flour and stir.
4. Fill muffin tin about halfway up (If you have hazelnuts, sprinkle them on now).
5. Bake 8-10 minutes.
6. Remove and cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Tea and Hot Chocolate.

Oh, Finals Week. How you make me long to rip my hair out.

It was a pleasant weekend otherwise. I celebrated my birthday. My Secret Santa gave me the beloved mixing bowls I was lusting after. I discovered the beauty of a Whole Foods fruit tart. I booked my spring break trip to Cancun.

While I agonize over a term paper and studying, I’ve been drinking copious amounts of tea using my new infuser (kitchen gadgets are so wonderful). But now, I’ve decided to try a recipe for nutella hot chocolate.

Before you try and tell me I’ve basically discovered the equivalent of adding lemon to ice water, take a moment to put down that packet of Swiss Miss and try this out. It’s simple, it’s college student friendly, and it’s basically heaven. And if you really need a quick fix during finals, just eat the nutella straight out of the jar (no judgment here).

Nutella Hot Chocolate (serves 1)
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
(3/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of half&half if you’re daring!)
1-2 tablespoons of nutella (depending on taste)

Directions:
1. Heat the milk and nutella together in a saucepan until steaming. Don’t let it boil or it will curdle the milk. You can also heat it in a microwave for 1 minute and then in 30 second increments after.
2. Stir until well mixed.

Bailey’s Cupcakes and Chocolate Whipped Cream.

Today, one of my meetings was canceled. Instead of being proactive and starting some assignments or studying for my finals, I had the sudden urge to bake. More specifically, to bake alcoholic goods.

I have a (short) history of making alcoholic cupcakes. It started last year with a friend’s innocent Facebook post about Irish Carbomb Cupcakes. We gleefully made them for St. Patrick’s Day and discovered they were easily the best things we had ever had. The cupcake was moist and dark, the ganache filling was thick and gooey, and the frosting was to die for. So began my journey down a path I will never regret.

Today, I sat down at my computer, searching for an alcoholic cake I could make. I found some interesting recipes, but was limited by the ingredients they required. Finally, I settled on a recipe for a Bailey’s cake. I had all of the ingredients, and it was something I could finish in the few hours before my dinner plans. Luckily, this recipe only required one medium-large saucepan, for easy clean-up!

The cupcakes taste amazingly just like Bailey’s. There is no doubt about what you are eating. It is a rather heavy cupcake though and very rich. As good as these taste, I know I couldn’t eat these every day. My cupcakes may have been overcooked slightly, leading to a denser, muffin-like texture. Next time, I may add a little sour cream to the mix to make the cake a little more moist and fluffy.

To top if off, I paired the cupcakes with a chocolate whipped cream. I figured the chocolate would be a nice contrasting touch to balance out the sweetness and the lightness of the whipped cream would balance out the richness. I won’t lie, my roommate and I liked the chocolate whipped cream so much more, we found ourselves eating the whipped cream straight out of the bowl. There won’t be any left for rest of the cupcakes after we’re done…

Making whipped cream without a mixer is definitely a test of your arm strength. This took a little experimentation. I have failed before at doing this by hand and today’s effort took at least 5 minutes before I realized it wasn’t working. So here are 3 #collegebakinggirlproblems tips to make whipped cream without a mixer.

#collegebakinggirlproblems solution. Ignore all of the other alcohol. It’s there for baking, I swear.

1. Choose a metal pot with a handle, not a bowl. Holding the pot by the handle will prevent the cream from warming up from your hands.
2. Freeze your metal pot for at least 2 hours (I didn’t want to take any risks today after last time’s failure, so I actually chilled mine for 4 hours). The chill will help solidify the whipped cream.
3. If you don’t have a whisk, use a metal fork. But if you use a fork, avoid teflon pans so you don’t scratch them up.

You could use other toppings if this isn’t for you. Instead of chocolate whipped cream, you could drizzle in some Bailey’s for a double whammy of Irish cream liqueur.  Chocolate frosting is also another option. A very simple and delicate topping would be to just dust the cupcakes with some powdered sugar or even a mixture of cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

Bailey’s Cupcakes. Makes approximately 20 cupcakes.
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:
9 tablespoons of butter (1 stick and 1 tablespoon)
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup of coffee liqueur (Bailey’s!!)
2 cups of all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Melt all of the butter in a medium-large saucepan on low heat (cutting it up in small pieces speeds this up). Remove from heat.
3. Stir in the sugar.
4. Add in the eggs. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour in the Bailey’s. Expect it to smell… well… really alcoholic.
6. Sift in the flour and baking powder. Fold the dry ingredients into the mixture (if you don’t have a sifter, I find that slowly adding in the flour, interspersed with the baking powder, works pretty well).
7. Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners. Fill them about halfway.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
9. Cool the cupcakes for about 5 minutes before removing them from the tin.

Chocolate Whipped Cream.

Ingredients:
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar  (granulated sugar will sort of work… but not as well)
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (more or less to taste)

Directions:
1. Pour the whipping cream and vanilla into the bowl.
2. Stir vigorously. Be prepared to do this for a few minutes.
3. When the cream starts to thicken and foam a bit, add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add more or less of these ingredients depending on your taste.
4. Continue beating until peaks form in the whipped cream.

The Start of the Baking Spree

My name is Kitman. I’m a senior at Duke University. I’m a proud member of the marching band and wind symphony. And I love to bake. But as a college student, I face a lot of obstacles besides just homework.

1. I don’t own any helpful kitchen equipment. Oh, how I long for a Kitchenaid…. Or even a proper mixing bowl…

2. My oven door is broken. It doesn’t open all the way.

3. I have an understocked pantry.

It’s not always easy to bake in my apartment. I use a rice cooker pot as my mixing bowl. I’ve caught dishtowels on fire. I use chopsticks to stir sometimes. It gets a little crazy, but I always find a way to improvise.

In order to document my struggles (and then my subsequent successes!), I’ve created this blog.  Here, you can see just what kind of hijinks I get up to in the kitchen, my long wish list of kitchen supplies, and my love of alcoholic baked goods.

Welcome to #collegebakinggirlproblems!