Of all the breakfast pastries in all the world, I would have to say almond croissants are my absolute favorite. True story!

The soft buttery folds of dough, the flaky crust that shatters with each bite, the nutty sweetness from the gooey decadent filling, the taste and fragrance of almond – I love everything about almond croissants. And a good almond croissant is so hard to find, why is that? So often the are either dry, chewy, too soft or too sweet. When they are bad they are really bad. But when they are done right there is nothing that can compare to the perfect almond croissant. It is probably all the butter that makes them oh so good and I’m okay with that.

Having recently learned how to make these gems from scratch and having baked them almost daily for a month I am an even bigger fan girl of almond croissants. Sure it takes an incredible amount of work. Sure my arms were bruised from rolling out the dough and then folding the dough and then rolling it again. But knowing the delicate and intricate process of making croissants made me appreciate them even more. While it is nice to have your favorite cafe to pick up a morning croissant from, it can be very satisfying to make them for yourself. So here is your chance. A complicated and maybe confusing recipe below, go ahead and give it a try. You will feel rewarded  when you pull out those golden brown croissants from the oven and sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy one hot and fresh from the oven!

If you don’t feel like doing all the work… here are a few of my favorite spots for Almond Croissants:

The Market on Holly

Urth Cafe

Euro Caffe

Susina Bakery

Proof  Bakery

This recipe is intensive, will take a couple of days with time for the dough to rest and your arms will probably hurt afterwards. But the end result will be 100% worth it! Email me if you have questions about the recipe I wrote the directions from memory and with such a detailed process it was a little tough to describe. Hope you treat yourself to a decadent almond croissant.

Almond Croissants

yields 20 large croissants

Dough-

1ounce salt

1.5 ounce sugar

3 ounce room temp butter

2 lb bread flour

24 oz warm milk

15 grams yeast

7 oz room temp butter

2 oz bread flour

Filling-

16 ounce almond paste

8 ounce butter

8 ounce sugar

2 large eggs

10 ounces graham cracker crumbles

2 ounces cake flour

Dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, set aside. In an electric mixer with a dough hook mix salt, sugar, butter. Add milk and yeast. Slowly incorporate flour until mixture comes together in a ball. Add more flour if needed. Dough should be tacky to the touch my not overly wet or sticky.  Combine 7 oz butter with 2 oz of flour. Wrap butter in plastic wrap and form into a rectangle. Chill in refrigerator until use.

Filling: In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment combine all ingredients until fully incorporated.

Let dough rest overnight in the fridge. Take rested dough and roll out four corners. Place butter block in middle of dough and wrap rolled out corners over the butter block like an envelope. Roll out dough into a rectangular shape about 1 in thick. Brush off excess flour and fold into thirds.  Let dough rest for a few hours.

Take dough and roll out again into a rectangle 1 in thick. Fold into thirds one last time. Roll out dough again until half and inch thick and approximately 27 “ wide and 15” tall. Using a pizza roller cut out 5”x4” rectangles. Fill each individual rectangle of dough with almond filling at one end, brush opposite end with an egg was and roll one corner to the other. Press down gently to ensure dough will not roll open. Place on baking sheet and allow to proof. Once the croissant has proofed to double it’s size brush with egg wash, sprinkle with toasted almond slivers and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Naturally when it is gloomy out I feel the need to bake. Even if I still have carrot muffins with graham frosting and chocolate chip cookies lying around the kitchen waiting to be eaten, I still feel the need to add one more sweet to the bunch. Having recently enjoyed reading about a jam cake on the lovely blog Slow Like Honey, I was inspired to use my favorite Sqirl Santa Rita plum jam and make a plum jam cake. Sqirl’s plum jam screams summer stone fruit sweetness. Every time I have this jam (it’s my favorite jam flavor) I feel like I’m biting into the perfect backyard plum- juicy and ripe. I get nostalgic eating it and remember childhood summer days playing in my aunts backyard eating plums straight from the tree.

Two and a half sticks of butter and a whole lotta sugar later you get a beautiful pound cake that is gooey, dense and aromatic. I added the juice and zest of some cara cara oranges that brighten up the cake. This cake is perfect with a cup of tea on a gloomy morning. I love how rainy day baking warms up the house and the belly and makes a you feel cozy.

Plum Jam Cake

Adapted from: Always with Butter
Yields: 10 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 eggs

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup plum jam

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mixing at medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Then add vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest and blend.

Slowly, add the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture, mixing only until just combined. Add 1/2 cup of apricot jam into the batter and mix. You want the jam to mix in with the batter but you still want to see the ribbons of jam in the batter.

Pour batter into the pan. Dollop and swirl the remaining 1/4 cup of jam into the batter. Smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove cake from the oven and let cool 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a wire rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cake cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

So I was going to lie to you and tell you that I baked you carrot MUFFINS today for Muffin Monday, but who am I kidding. I put the most decadent graham frosting on top of these super fluffy and sweet carrot muffins so I can’t honestly call them muffins anymore. Once you put frosting on a muffin into moves into cupcake territory right? But we ARE eating these for breakfast so what the heck, I made you carrot muffins with a graham frosting. They may not be the healthiest breakfast, but you deserve to indulge every now and then.

Today’s muffins were inspired by Christina Tosi and her awesome new cookbook Momofuku Milk Bar. Milk Bar is a must visit every time I’m in NY. I think Christina is a dessert wizard and I’m absolutely besotted with her cereal milk ice cream and crack pie. Her cookbook is filled with incredible recipes that make you want to spend the day in the kitchen. Which is exactly what I did baking these muffins and playing around with this graham frosting. I chose graham frosting because as much as I love carrot muffins I thought they need a little oomph. This frosting is essentially graham cracker that has been liquefied and added to a rich and velvety buttercream. The result is so magical that it will be hard to not eat spoonfuls.

So I guess this is not only Muffin Monday, but Milk Bar Monday as well. I hope you enjoy each and every deliriously delicious bite! Go bake yourself some of these little beauties they are sure to put a smile on your face.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. It is a culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Carrot Muffins with Graham Frosting

muffins-

8 tbsp room temp butter

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

¼ canola oil

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2-3 large carrots grated

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and cream together until fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl and then add eggs one by one.  Scrape down sides of the bowl and add vanilla, mix again until combined.  On low speed stream in the oil. Mix on high until fully incorporated. Mixture should double in size. On low speed add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until incorporated. Fold in carrots. Scoop into muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes.

frosting –

(recipe adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook)

1 ½ cups graham craker crumbs

¼ cup milk powder

2 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

___

graham crust

1/3 cup milk

¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp butter room temp

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

Combine the graham crust (first four ingredients) milk and salt in a blender. Puree until smooth and homogenous.

Combine the butter, sugars, cinnamon and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on med-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy. Scrap down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed paddle the contents of the blender. After 1 minute crank up the speed to med-high and let her rip for another 2 minutes. The mixture should be uniform pale tan. Use frosting immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

pie is the new cupcake

Hey it’s me, you know, the girl who loves sweets. I haven’t been around here much in the past few months I know. Just a muffin recipe here and there or maybe an awesome sundae find. But I’m still around and still getting my hands on all the sweets I can find, I’ve just been a bit busier than usual with new exciting projects. You know what I’ve been doing most lately (besides working)? Eating pie! Yes pie, all kinds of pie, every flavor of pie. Maybe I’m still holding on to Thanksgiving? I don’t know. What I do know is that I love pie and it is my latest obsession.

Can we all agree that pie is the new cupcake?  Ok great, now let’s eat some! I’d love to know where you get your favorite pie, so please share your favorite pie finds with me in the comments below. Who knows – you may turn me on to a new pie find to continue my oh so unhealthy obsession (fingers crossed).

Here are a few of my favorite pies around LA-

Best Classic Apple:  Apple Pan or Jones of Hollywood

Best Fruit Filled: Cranberry with Pecan Crumble from Short Cake Bakery

Best Cream or Custard Filling: Banana Cream and/or Key Lime Pie from Clementines

Best Hand Pies:  Blackberry and/or Cherry from Village Bakery

Best Pie Delivery: fruit+flour’s Pie of the Month Club

I have a soft spot in my heart for lemon desserts. It all began many years back after one memorable and luscious lemon tart from Le Pain Quotidien. After that moment my love of lemon never ceased. The way a lemons tartness marries so perfectly with sweetness in desserts in something magical. Lemon tarts, lemon meringue pie, lemon cake, lemon shortbread cookies, lemon bars, lemon ice cream, the list of lovely lemon desserts is endless. Make those lemons Meyer lemons and things get event better.

That brings me to this week’s Muffin Monday – Meyer Lemon Pound Cake Muffins. These muffins are aromatic gems of deliciousness. They have a nice density and heft (a la pound cake) and a pleasant acidity from the Meyer lemons. I added creme fraiche to the mix which rounded out the sweet and tart flavors of the muffin. If you like your muffins to be a little lighter and soft you can soak these muffins in a lemon glaze after they cool. I however love a rich dense pound cake so these were perfect for me so the only topping I added was some sugar before they went into the oven which gave them a bit of a crunch and caramelized the Meyer lemons slices that crown the muffin. Give me some lemon and I’ll give you my heart!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Lemon Pound Cake Muffins (below)

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup crème fraiche

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

            GLAZE:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract, beat to incorporate.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in

crème fraiche. Combine the flour, salt and baking

soda; add to creamed mixture just until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at

400° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the

center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan

to a wire rack.

Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over muffins. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 dozen.

National Pie Day may have come and gone, but let’s be real. I don’t need a national food holiday to find a reason to eat pie. In fact I find myself celebrating National Pie Day at least once a week if I can: a slice of banana cream pie from Clementine, a cherry hand pie from Village Bakery, amongst others.

Coincidentally, I happened to get a very special delivery just in time for National Pie Day from Sarah Williams of fruit+flour, who happens to make the best pies in town!

True story.

 I met Sarah a few months back through my good friend Krista. I was at Krista’s apartment enjoying a glass of wine when she asked if I’d like to have some of the crack pie her friend Sarah baked. Crack pie?! Do you even have to ask? So I eagerly dove in and enjoyed each buttery sweet bite. Then Sarah, the pie maker, came over. I have to tell you it was love at first bite! We got to talking about pie and her love of baking pies and I knew we would be friends.

So Sarah runs fruit+flour. She has an awesome pie of the month club, which I of course joined. Now each month I get to enjoy a new pie creation delivered right to my doorstep.

This month’s delivery, Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Grapefruit Curd, was mind-blowingly delicious. Delicate, velvety, tart and sweet, this is one of those pies that you want to savor, closing your eyes in bliss with each bite. It really is that good. I can’t wait for next month’s pie.

If you love pie, check out fruit+flour because Sarah Williams was born to make pie. I’m in love with her Pear & Cardamom pie and her Fig & Bourbon tart, but nothing holds a flame to the Goat Cheese Cheesecake w/ Grapefruit Curd. That is, until next month.

Nothing like a rainy day to get you in the mood for baking. And nothing like a Monday to make you want to eat muffins!  For this week’s Muffin Monday I bring you mocha chocolate chip muffins with pecans.

We recently moved to a new house and are nestled in the hills. Things are a little chillier up here especially on a rainy morning, but all the more reason to get my new (old/vintage) oven going to warm things up. I am absolutely in love with my new kitchen, especially the vintage O’Keefe and Merritt oven and stove. They don’t make things like they used to, let me tell you. This oven is not only beautiful, it works like a charm. I get excited for each opportunity I get to bake in it.

So back to muffins…I’m generally not a huge fan of chocolate in the mornings unless it is wedged inside a flaky croissant, but this muffin may just be an exception. The bitter dark chocolate chips melt and fold into the fluffy muffin dough, adding a complexity and sweetness while the coffee gives the muffin a nice balance of flavors.

From past experience with using coffee in baking, I was sure to add a double dose of coffee as well as a sprinkle of coffee grounds to really give the muffins a nice coffee essence. These muffins are chocolatey, rich, toasty and warm and just perfect with a cup of coffee on a rainy morning.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins with Pecans

from Bon Apetite

• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder or coffee grinds 
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (about 4 ounces), toasted

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners. 

Stir 1/4 cup hot water and espresso powder in medium bowl until espresso powder dissolves. 

Add buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. 

Add buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans.

Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. 

Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes. 

Transfer muffins to rack and cool.

Why hello 2012 nice to see you!

I know the start of a new year is usually ushered in by resolutions, many of which involving diets or healthier eating or the call for more hours spent in the gym. Well I’ve never been one for resolutions – making them or sticking to them – so instead I’m starting the year off with Oreo Muffins. You see I like my sweets and I just can’t fool myself into thinking that I’m going to eat less of them so I’m skipping the games and diving into 2012 sweets first!

It’s all in the name. Oreo muffins are everything you would imagine them to be. They have a rich chocolately flavor with a hint of smooth creamy decadence. The addition of  sour cream creates a soft springy texture. The cookies fold seamlessly into the muffin dough, permeating each bite with Oreo goodness. These muffins are decadent and satisfying but light enough that they don’t leaving you feeling too guilty, especailly if you bake them as mini muffins. Bake a batch of muffins and start the year off with some sweetness.

Happy New Year!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Oreo Muffins

adapted from Food.com

1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg

1/4 cup margarine , melted

20 Oreo cookies , coarsely chopped

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, sour cream, vanilla extract, melted butter and egg. Stir until combined. Fold in cookies. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Happy Holidays everyone and Happy Muffin Monday!

Here is a great way to round out the holiday season and use up all of that extra eggnog. While I’m not an eggnog fan, I am definitely an eggnog muffin fan. The warm, nutty and sweet creamy flavors of this muffin scream winter. My favorite thing about these muffins is their bold nutmeg flavor, they just taste festive! They are perfect enjoyed with a hot cup of tea on a leisurely morning sitting around and enjoying holiday vacation, friends and family.

Everything tastes better in muffin form, even eggnog.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Eggnog Muffins 

recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

Batter

¼ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 ½ cups King Arthur AP Flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp eggnog flavor

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup eggnog or half and half

Topping

½ cup brown sugar

½ King Arthur AP Flour

¼ tsp eggnog flavor

½ tsp nutmeg

3 tbl sp melted butter

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, beating for several minutes and scraping the bowl, till the mixture is smooth and light colored. Beat in the baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and eggnog flavor or vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog or half and half, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups. 

Stir together all of the topping ingredients JUST till crumbly. Stir gently, and don’t overmix; you don’t want to turn this crumbly topping into a solid mass. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.
Yield: 12 muffins.

I’ve been doing a lot of baking lately. And I’m not talking about the usual holiday-season baking or muffin baking I do regularly. No, I’ve become a real, professional baker.

I wake up at 4am. I’m in the kitchen by 5. Croissants are proofing by 6, and all of the morning’s baked goods are ready by 7.

I’m not going to lie. It is excruciatingly hard to wake up so early and get working. But it is a labor of love. A laborious, labor-intensive labor of love. And why would I put myself through this? Well, I happen to be a big fan of the Market on Holly in Pasadena (if you haven’t checked out this lovely cafe it should be on your list of things to do). I also happen to think that their croissants are some of the best in the city. And I love their wonder bars and cinnamon rolls and lemon cakes. So when I was given the opportunity to bake there for the month my answer was, of course, yes!

So my last few weeks have been filled with intensively learning everything from their pastry chef. She is now away for the holidays and I am taking everything she has taught me and baking for the Market on Holly until the new year. Here are a few things I’ve learned from baking in a commercial kitchen…

1. Making croissants from scratch is no joke! I mean seriously. Rolling Danish dough, incorporating the butter then rolling it again the next morning to make croissants is hard. It is hard to get right and it is just downright hard to do. I have had bruises up and down my forearms from rolling this dough each day. But the rewards are priceless. There is nothing like a freshly baked croissant with fluffy sweet layers and folds, especially if it is filled with almond paste. And while I now know the exact quantity of butter that goes into those folds, I still love croissants – butter be damned!

2. Space is key. Baking at home is not half as fun as baking in a commerical kitchen. There is actually space to roll out dough, to line up large baking sheets, to have your ingredients on the table with you as you work. And having the space to move around makes baking so much more enjoyable and inspiring. This is somehow a blessing and a curse. I’m going to love this month of baking professionally, but when I have to get back into my own kitchen I’m going to long for the counter space I once had.

3. Everything is better in muffin form. One of the things I love about the baked goods at the Market on Holly is their cute and compact individual nature. Pull-apart breads are baked in muffin trays creating a wonderfully sized individual serving. Sweet pumpkin rolls and cinnamon rolls are thrown into muffin tins creating perfectly circular and compact treats. The possibilities are endless. Creating desserts in individual portions by baking them off in muffin trays is just pure genius!

This week at the Market on Holly I am getting creative with holiday cookies. My favorite of which are these thumbprint cookies. What sets these a cut above your average thumbprint cookies is the jam. I used Sqirl‘s Mcgrath Farm raspberry and fresh lavendar jam. Sqirl is a local artisan jam and preserve company owned by the lovely Jessica Koslow. All of her jams are made with produce from family-owned farms that practice sustainable, certified organic methods that are in close proximity to her kitchen in Los Angeles.  You can really taste the fruit in each jam – they are not masked by artifical flavors and sweeteners. The flavor combinations add a subtle depth to each jam. Tomorrow I’m making thumbprints with Santa Rosa plum with Shear Rock flowering thyme. I can’t wait!

Happy Holidays!

Thumbprint Cookies w/ Sqirl Jam

yields about 2 dozen

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart