Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I know, I know. You're thinking: Didn't you just make these? Well, yes...and no. Here are the Matcha-Chocolate Chip Blondies v.1 . This recipe is more streamlined and a little bit more chocolate-y. That's always a good thing in my book. Ingredients 1 C butter 2 C flour 2/3 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1 t baking powder 2 egg yolks 1 t organic chocolate extract 1/2 t unsweetened cocoa powder 1 T matcha green tea powder 4 to 5 T semi-sweet chocolate pieces Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. With your hands, press the butter into the flour, flattening the cubes into flat leaves. Add in the egg yolks, chocolate extract, cocoa powder, and matcha; press together gently to form dough. Press two-thirds of the dough mixture into an 8" square pan. Spoon chocolate pieces over the top of the dough. Crumble the remaining flour mixture over the top. Bake for 35 minutes...

What do you do when you look at the dessert you had planned - Lychee Panna Cotta - and you realize that it's not setting up firm and your dinner guests are arriving in less than two hours? Panic? For a second, yes. I did. Run to the store for a pre-made dessert? Not my style. So I took a deep breath, opened my cupboards, and realized that I always have ingredients to make brownies. So, I split the brownie batter into two pans, found some chestnut paste to use in place of frosting, cut out a heart-snowflake, asked D to use his Hand-Dipped Candles , and dusted the whole thing with powdered sugar. Crisis averted!  Do you have a go-to sweet that you can whip up in case of a dessert emergency? Ingredients 4 large eggs 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 C organic coconut sugar 1 T raw honey 1/2 C butter, melted 1-1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 t organic chocolate extract 1 t coffee liqueur 1/2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 t freshly ground salt chestnut puree,...

We love shortbread. I love that it's shippable to friend and family far away. And it's so easy - and flexible - to make. The kids who were in my Spice it Up! class still talk about the Sage Shortbread ; I sent Matcha-Black Sesame Shortbread to my #FBCookieSwap recipients in 2013;  but I think my favorite has been the Salted Fennel Pollen Shortbread .  I realized that I have never made a chocolate shortbread. I had to fix that after our Chocolate Tour in The City yesterday afternoon. I added in raw cacao nibs and some instant espresso for even more decadence. Ingredients 10 T butter 1/2 C organic granulated sugar + some for rolling 2 t pure chocolate extract 1 T honey 1 T instant espresso powder 2 T raw cacao nibs 1 egg, beaten 1-1/2 C white whole wheat flour 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder Procedure Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Stir in honey and espresso powder until well combined. Beat in the egg, then carefull...

I was craving something sweet last night. So, I opened the fridge and saw the pouch of mango puree D had picked up at the Mexican market when we unsuccessfully hunted for prickly pears this week. That was it: inspiration! I also had duck eggs and edible flowers. Feel free to substitute for chicken eggs - just use more. Use vanilla extract if you don't have chocolate - or pour in your favorite liqueur! Also, skip the flowers completely if you don't have any. The cake and the glaze, on their own, are divine. Ingredients Cake 1 1/2 C butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan 3 C flour 1 1/2 t baking powder 4 duck eggs (or 6 large chicken eggs) 1 t organic chocolate extract (use vanilla, if you like) 1 C organic granulated sugar 1/2 C organic sour cream 1/2 C mango pulp Glaze and Garnish 1/2 C mango pulp 2 C organic powdered sugar edible flowers for garnish (I used rose petals and marigold petals) Procedure Preheat ...

For Darth Gaber's birthday cake I needed a lot of cake. I just bake the layers; Jake's the cake architect. We started with these Devil's Food layers. This recipe made two 9"x13" rectangles + 1 bundt cake; you can easily halve or third the proportions as needed. Ingredients makes two 9"x13" rectangles + 1 bundt cake 9 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate 4 C flour (I used a white whole wheat flour) 2 t baking soda 18 T butter (2 sticks + 2 T), cubed 2-1/4 C boiling water 4 C organic granulated sugar 9 T organic sour cream 9 T buttermilk 6 large eggs 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract Procedure Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your baking pans by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside. Place the chocolate and the butter in a large saucepan. Heat until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth. In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, baking soda, granulated sugar, sour cream, buttermilk, ...

This made a gob of frosting. We needed a lot - a lot! - to cover a Darth Vader cake. I actually made 2 batches of this recipe. Yikes...that was a lot of sugar. Hopefully our favorite five-year-old will love it! Ingredients 6 C organic powdered sugar 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder 2 sticks butter, softened 3/4 to 1 C organic milk 1 t organic chocolate extract Procedure Sift together sugar and cocoa. Set aside. Cream together the butter and organic chocolate extract. Add in 2 C of the sugar-cocoa mixture, then 2 T of milk. Mix and repeat until all of the sugar-cocoa has been added. If the frosting is too thick, thin it out with more milk. I ended up using about 1 C milk. Frost cooled cake immediately. Let set for about 20 minutes before serving.

I have only worked with fondant once before. Thankfully, my cousin Tiffany, AKA the Cake Whisperer!, gave me some pointers and sent me links to a recipe for homemade modeling chocolate and one for chocolate marshmallow fondant . Thanks, Tiff! Of course, I can't follow directions to save my life, so I took aspects of both recipes, and the first marshmallow fondant recipe I made, and created my own chocolate marshmallow fondant. Ingredients makes three 5" rounds of fondant 12 C minature marshmallows - loosely poured, not tightly packed 12 C organic powdered sugar 6 T water 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract cornstarch for kneading food coloring gel, optional (we made black!) Procedure Place the marshmallows and the water in a large saucepan. Cook, on low heat, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. S...

At a local organic farm some woman handed Brian a weed and declared, "you know if you tuck this in your bra strap, you don't have to wear deodorant." He was appalled. Do I look like I'm wearing a bra?!?" "No, I mean - here! - maybe you can hang it behind your ear." Do I stink?!? "No...it's just good for you." So, he graciously took the weed, enclosed it in a baggie and [I quote] "brought it to his resident weed expert." That would be me. Lemon verbena. When I searched for recipes, I was drawn to lemon verbena cake. But the resulting cake was too eggy. It was dense, though the lemon verbena flavor was nice. Ugh. I was out of the weed. So, I had Brian go back to the farm, hunt down the woman, apologize, and beg for more. He did and promised her a taste. Here we go for take two. I am glad I attempted this again with some major modifications. Fluffy, light, not too sweet. And the lemon verbena really comes through. The verd...

The boys asked me the other day why we never eat cereal. Like what? Like other kids do. What are you talking about? You know, Mom, like Cherrios or Corn Flakes. I'm sure that you can find an organic kind of Cherrios. Okay, I get it. What do you think about granola? You can make granola? Sure. And it's organic? Sure.     Here goes... 4 C rolled organic oats 1/2 C sugar in the raw 1/2 C organic unsweetened flaked coconut 1/2 C raw organic cacao nibs 1/4 C organic flax seed meal 1/2 t smoked sea salt 1/3 C canola oil 3 T raw honey dash of ground ginger, ancho chili powder, ground nutmeg 4 t organic chocolate extract* In a large bowl mix oats, sugar, coconut, cacao nib, flax seed meal, and salt. In a saucepan heat canola oil and honey until warm. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate extract. Pour this mixture over the oat mixture and mix thoroughly till everything is completely coated.     Spread this evenly on a parchment ...