TWD- Cherry Nectarine Pie

What is it about baking in someone else's kitchen that makes you feel out of sorts? We're visiting family and we're staying at my parent's. For some reason, I cannot bake very well in my mom's kitchen. Cooking is ok, just not baking. Things turn out like this and this. So sad.

I wasn't sure how this week's TWD for Blueberry Nectarine pie would turn out, but I thought pie doesn't have to rise. I should be ok. I opted for cherries because, well, I like cherries more.

The fruit is cooked in sugar, flour and lemon zest for a few minutes until it's syrup-y and the fruit is soft.

Pour it in the pie crust, top with the other crust and pretend you know how to crimp the edges.

The recipe says to bake 30-40 minutes. Mine took almost 40 minutes. Maybe not the prettiest pie. It was hard to make the edges look good because it's baked in a cake pan. That's my excuse.

This recipe was really fantastic. The cherries were juice and a little tart, and the nectarines added some more tartness. I probably should have used a little more sugar, but paired with ice cream, this was delicious.

Hilary and Liz have the recipe!

TWD- Semolina Bread

I meant to make this recipe for Semolina bread last night. About 7pm, I read the recipe. Three rises of two hours. Not a feat I was willing to start at 7pm. So I started this morning. By dinner time, we had a nice loaf of bread. That was too hot to eat.

The recipe starts with a starter of yeast, water and flour:

Once it's risen, add some more flour- all purpose and semolina, salt and oil. Rise again. Shape in a loaf and rise again. Slit (with a razor??!! I used a knife) (also, was anyone else confused about the slitting instructions?), and bake:

The bread is tender and chewy, with a nice crust. This is a great, easy recipe, if not hands-off time-consuming. Anna of Keep it Luce and Renee of The Way to My Family’s Heart have the recipe!

Hello Kitty Cake IV

I made this cake a couple months ago, but I didn't get any pictures of it except for this one from Instagram. It was for 2 sisters who had the exact same birthday, two years apart. It was made to match the same Hello Kitty party decor as this and this.

Cinderella Cake

When I was pregnant with my first son, one of my good friends was also pregnant with her first daughter. Her daughter was born a couple weeks before my son. Now, three years later, she asked me to make little Hanna's birthday cake. I can't believe how quickly time goes by! Hanna wanted a Cinderella cake (when I dropped it off on the morning of her birthday, Hanna was already in her Cinderella dress ready to party). 

Cake was strawberry with vanilla filling.

Noah's Ark cake

The same cute mom who requested the Cars 2 cake also wanted me to make her son's christening cake that was for the same weekend. She wanted something similar to this cake, and this is what I came up with. She liked the animals and colors, so I stuck with that. I know Noah's ark wasn't a sailboat, but the boat was made of rice krispie treats and I wasn't sure structurally how to make a tower sit on top of it.

Cake was red velvet with vanilla buttercream.

Cars 2 Cake

Someone contacted me on Facebook to order a cake like the Cars 2 cake I made last year. She wanted it for her little boy, who turned 1. This one was to be bigger, so it's three tiers. The cars are made out of rice krispie treats and covered and decorated in fondant.

My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Cake

First My Little Pony cake I've made- what happened in the past year that MLP has completely changed? They're all sleek and less cutesy. Anyway, Liv and Sadie are sisters almost exactly two years apart and they love MLP from Netflix. :) Rainbow Dash is their fave.

The inside was rainbow vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Fire Engine Cake

This fire engine cake was for Drake, who had a Cars 2 cake last year. I tried airbrushing the red, which was fun and worked fine. Until I cleaned up. Red. Everywhere. Even upstairs on the bathroom counter (must have gone through the vents). Crazy!

Cake was chocolate with chocolate filling.

TWD- Chocolate Almond Cinnamon Biscotti

This week's TWD is for Hazelnut Biscotti. Biscotti is Italian for "baked twice," and are crispy cookies (my husband, who speaks Italian, will remind me that "biscotti" is plural and "biscotto" is singular) that are usually eaten for breakfast with some kind of coffee drink. In Italy, they're yummy, probably because you're in Italy. But also because everything is better in Italy. 

I started mine with toasting some sliced almonds in a pan. I opted for almonds because I was on the fence about making these until yesterday afternoon when I saw Sugar Hero's picture on Instagram and that's what I had on hand.

I halved the recipe because I wasn't sure what we would eat these with since we don't drink coffee and it's not hot chocolate weather. I added about 1/4 c cocoa powder and 1/4 t cinnamon. I omitted the liqueur and added almond extract.

I followed the baking time- it says the first baking should be exactly 35 minutes (I took  mine out at about 33 because it was looking pretty hard). For the second bake, the recipe says at least 10 minutes. I baked mine for about 8. They are tasty, but pretty dry. Maybe nothing a dunk in some chocolate milk can't fix?

Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys will have the recipe!