Flying Dreams

My boss tipped me off to this series by Tabitha Vevers, titled "Flying Dreams." She painted all sorts of people's dreams about flying - simple but delicious, isn't it?

Pi Day and a weekend of baking

They are sold out of buttermilk in my section of Brooklyn, so that meant no soda bread baking today. Instead of buttermilk scones (another thought), I tried cream scones, which are lackluster but taste very nice with strawberry rhubarb jam.

I've now made three chocolate bourbon truffle-turtle tortes in approximately two days. I don't recommend the recipe unless you own a candy thermometer. It's clearly an excellent pie, it's just difficult to get the caramel to the right consistency when you're unsure of its temperature. (A friend also told me that you're not supposed to stir it at all, which is not what this recipe says.) I tried cooking it for some hours on Friday night, but it never held together. Tonight it again took an hour, but it was much closer to real caramel. I think it is only supposed to boil for about eight minutes, but the recipe is not specific. I tried a new baker's chocolate for the top layer tonight and it didn't turn out so smoothly as chocolate chips did on Friday.

I also tried the Darn Good Chocolate Cake recipe from the Cake Doctor, which seems to have come out well. I suspect I would trust this cookbook to care for my firstborn, had I a firstborn. So darn good.

Things worth making

Image via Omnomicon.

Cooking crushes from FoodGawker:

King Cake
Chocolate chip cookies
Hot pretzels
Cannoli ice cream
Homemade butter

Fey has her cake, eats it too, before Annie Leibowitz photoshoot

Photo from Flickr, by Tracey Gessner.

The Tina Fey interview is as bland as a grocery store cupcake with a photo sprayed on it, except for one section:

Her true vice is cupcakes.

Feeling ambitious

(A photo I took of my friend Sarah on our most recent baking day.)

"I don't want no trouble. I just want to make pies. That's all I want to do, make pies."

Thoughts for tonight's baking adventure:
Chocolate Bourbon Truffle-Turtle Tart
Pear Gruyère
Candy Apple Pie
Bailout Pie
Pie Chart