
Move over chocolate covered strawberries! This dessert will steal your heart!
By Gina Michak
Move over chocolate covered strawberries! This dessert will steal your heart!
By Gina Michak
It’s “Tip Tuesday” here in the kitchen, and I’ve got a quick tip that saved me a few times during this quarantine.
Yeast is a hot commodity in my area of Virginia these past few weeks.
Are we ALL baking our own sandwich bread all of a sudden? I don’t know about you, but when I can’t find something (ingredient wise) that’s when I go to the “googles” for substitutes.
I could write an entire blog post about ingredient substitutions, (and I just might ), but today I’ll leave it at this wonder called “DIY Self Rising Flour”
You probably have the ingredients on hand right now in your pantry. It’s three basic baking ingredients, that when combined, can be used instead of yeast in some recipes. You won’t get the same softness as with a yeast dough and it’s multiple risings… but your recipes will still be soft and have great texture to them. So if you can’t find yeast in these crazy Covid-19 times, run to your pantry to make this easy substitute!
DIY Self Rising Flour
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt.
There you have it, my first ingredient substitution blog post! I hope to do more in the future.
If you try it, tell me what you think.
Gina
By Gina Michak
It’s May already foodie friends. MAY. Can you believe it?
I’m excited to move into a new month with new recipes to try. This is the May installment of “A Year of Brownies”, courtesy of Food Network Magazine.
This month was a fun take on a brownie, for several reasons.
First of all, you bake them like a cupcake. Next , you make a decadent chocolate ganache to top them off, and finish off with a layer of crushed Oreos!
The “sprouts” on top of the Oreo crumb “dirt” make the brownie look like a sprouting plant. So, I had to bring out piping bags and decorating tips. Not something I’m used to doing for a brownie, but, oh well… I have time now.
Lastly, I learned a little about a new-to-me baking product called “Black Cocoa Powder”. I got mine on Amazon, and it only took about 4 days to come in. I’m not complaining, either. I was happy to be able to get it all!
Back in October, I stumbled across a recipe for a cool Halloween themed cake. I couldn’t find this specialty cocoa powder in stores or get it delivered in time, so it was a no-go on the cake . I’m happy that I read the May recipe ahead of time, otherwise I would have been out of luck again!
Here’s a quick read all about the product on the TheKitchn.com. It’s meant to give your baked goods an almost “black” color, one that regular cocoa powder just can’t achieve on its own.
Here’s a picture of an unfrosted brownie. What do you think of the color?
As for my take on this month’s brownie recipe, I LOVED it. Not a fan of the “sprouts” on top (I’d rather do flowers or leaves), but, hey, I tried!
Sharing is caring, and I shared these with neighbors (and my family) and they loved the recipe as well.
If you’d like to make your own, here’s the link !
These can certainly be made anytime of the year, with no decorations and just the Oreo crumbs. Or, I’d use a different decorating style. Or, maybe I should practice piping “sprouts” lol!
Enjoy! And let me know if you make these!
Next month, get out out your cast iron skillet for a skillet brownie with pecans!
Gina
By Gina Michak
It’s not what you think, foodie friends.
I’m not a big techie gal. Computers scare me. My iPhone scares me sometimes, lol . So this purchase was a bit nerve wracking for me.
So? What do you think I’ll be using this bad boy for? I’m thinking cupcake and cake toppers, goody bag tags , logo labels, cards and more!
Do you have a Cricut? What do you use yours for?
I want to know!
Drop me a message or email with ideas and suggestions. I could use all the help I can get with this toy. It’s not my comfort zone for sure.
Wish me luck !
Gina
Wife, mom of three (four with the fur baby golden retriever), foodie, Disney addict, Pittsburgh native still bleeding black and gold although I'm living in VA! I went from assistant meeting planner to stay at home mom and combined my love of food, family, and parties into one little business "From Gina's Kitchen" . Not only do I bake custom desserts, I love to help plan parties and offer classes on cooking and baking for kids! Read More…