Sometimes you need that extra somethin’ in your baking. Usually, I reach for Bourbon (god bless you, Kentucky), but lately I’ve been reaching for Amaretto. You may remember this lovely almond-infused liqueur from this california almond fudge pie or this incredible amaretto almond bunt cake.
What’s up, people? Are you ready for another round of the fabulousness that is Bundtbakers? I mean, I can’t hear you through my laptop so I’m assuming you all responded with a resounding “Yes!” This month’s theme is Strange but good flavor combinations. I found some weird ones out there, particularly this avocado pound cake…
You and your chocoholic loved one will devour this Dark Chocolate Heart Cake on Valentine’s Day. I can’t believe Valentine’s Day is almost here. It feels like I was just baking a Nutella Glazed S’more Bundt Cake and complaining about how it felt like Fall would never come. Ironically, here it is the middle of…
I am feelin’ this mocha biscuit cake, y’all. And I gotta tell ya: I have a soft spot for desserts that come together easily…and this dessert falls into that category.
After a much needed break, I’ve returned with a Southern favorite: Coca Cola Bundt Cake. Okay, I know what your thinking… Coca Cola Bundt Cake is not really a thing, but I’m making it a thing for this month’s #Bundtbakers. The theme, as you may have guessed, is retro desserts. When pondering old-school desserts the…
Happy All Things Thursday, people!
Are you as excited as I am? Probably not, but that’s ok. I still love ya.
A former McDonald’s employee was sentenced to 29 months in jail for spitting in a cop’s sandwich. Apparently, Dalton Ursulean spit on the sandwich for approxinmately 50 seconds. Not only did he serve the cop a Spit Sandwich, he super-sized it with a dose of Hepatitis C. Jeez, that’s a lot of hate, right there. (Huffington Post)
I thought I was obsessed with cookies. Then I saw a video of Chip Chocolate sitting in a vat of milk wearing a giant cookie a la Flavor Flav. Pardon me while I rethink my definition of ‘obsessed’.
I’ve taken crappy food photos with my phone. Who hasn’t? I would think the answer to that question is ‘Martha Stewart’. I guess her food doesn’t always look perfect after all.
On the recipe front…
Ms. Gina over at Skinnytaste has created a recipe for Slow Cooker Garlic Sweet Potato Mash. It looks absolutely delicious. Count me in. (Skinnytaste)
I’ve been making a lot of stove top popcorn lately, but I haven’t tried this method. Color me intrigued. (Pastry Affair)
Easy Garlic Bread is something I’m quite keen on. I’ve heard of this recipe before, but never tried it. Perhaps, this weekend? (Simply Recipes)
My mom used to make us pan-fried pork chops back in the day and they were fantastic. I miss them. Perhaps, these Crisp Pork Cutlets would be the next best thing. (Food52)
It’s been a long and beautiful rainy day in L.A. and I loved it. Wherever you are I hope you are nice and cozy by the fire, drinking a cup of tea and enjoying some great conversation.
Until next time, my friends.
Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.
Mark Twain
(Photoshop collage template courtesy of Project Alicia)
Once upon a time…
I got canned while on vacation. Yes, me. vacay. fired.
It was slightly embarrassing and perfectly understandable. You see, my boss was a troll.
Wait…that’s not fair. Perhaps, she was just a perfectionist? Nah, she was a troll.
At the time I was working at a bakery. I was super excited because finally, someone was paying me to do what I love. My neighbor, we’ll call her ‘Miss Good Intentions’ got me a job making pastries at a second bakery around the corner. I should’ve known it was a bad idea as she never had anything good to say about her boss; but I took the job anyway. I worked at the second bakery for three days. Here’s how it went.
I met with the owner, a scary looking woman who looked like she desperately needed a bowl of soup and a nap. I kinda felt sorry for her. Little did I know she would soon can my ass so my sympathy was a bit misplaced. She showed me the recipes and how she wanted everything baked. No problem.
After my 4 hr training session(Day 1), I was left to my own devices. I baked all the scones, muffins, cookies, etc. and plated them. It was ten minutes until opening and everything was ready, but wasn’t yet placed in the display case. Troll noticed and hit the roof. Queue the tongue-lashing I received with an audience. The cashier felt so bad for me she offered to make me a latte.
With 20 ounces of Low Carb Monster in me I returned to the bakery energized and determined to please Troll. I kept to myself, focused on the tasks at hand and got everything baked and displayed under the wire. There was no praise from Troll she just hobbled over and gave me a new list of ‘things to prep’.
At the end of my shift she asked me to return the next weekend. I couldn’t as I planned to spend a week with my great friend Marsha, who was pregnant with her first child. I offered to come back the weekend after my return and Troll accepted.
The following week, whilst vacationing in Alabama, I got a call from the manager. She asked where I wanted my wages sent as my services were no longer needed. There was no ‘wtf’ reaction from me; I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Politely, I answered her question and ended the conversation.
What upset me most is the fact that I never got to try their donut muffins. You see, the bakery was famous for them. Did I mention that Troll never let me try any of the baked goods? Good lord, Troll…have a heart!
Ever since, I’ve been obsessed with donut muffins. Now that Fall is upon us, I had to make a pumpkin version. I give you…jumbo pumpkin donut muffins!
I love these bad boys. They’re big, lightly spiced and stay super moist. Put them in a basket and give them to your mom, or your boss. Unless, your boss is a scary looking woman that looks like a troll.
Jumbo Pumpkin Donut Muffin recipe adapted from Rachel Schultz
Glaze recipe slightly adapted from Love and Flour
To make the glaze, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 1 heaping tablespoon of heavy cream over low heat. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of brown sugar and remove from heat once fully melted. Vigorously whisk in 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar. Use immediately.
by David
This was a good one. After a lousy shoot last week that produced unusable pictures, I was relieved this session went well.
Frankly, when things go bad, it’s typically due to a lack of planning and bad technique. It’s nearly impossible to “wing it” with studio food photography, yet I’m still dumb enough to do it on occasion.
This week, I planned, metered, and carefully coordinated the colors and composition before I picked up the camera. When I finally took the first shot, I knew I had nailed it.
Lighting
The lighting was composed of three lights. The main light was a monolight bounced off a white wall at f11.5. The second light was bounced into a large piece of foamcore at f8.5 to give a little more wrap and the third was a soft silver umbrella set at f4.5 to provide fill from the opposite side.
I liked the natural look of this setup, but there were problems with specularity off the top of the muffins. A little specularity is normal and necessary, but the top of the muffins were completely blown out. I adjusted the camera and lighting angles but I finally used my hand as a Gobo over the top of the muffins. It was a stupid simple solution, but sometimes it’s just easier sticking your hand on to the set and blocking the light.
Wrap Up
This was a fun shoot and I saved a $1000 on lighting modifiers by bouncing a light off the wall and a piece of cardboard. It’s easy to get caught up with all the latest gear, but when it comes down to it, once light bounces off something or travels through a piece of nylon, it’s all going to look the same. The only thing that truly matters is the size of the light relative to the subject. Of course, if Chimera calls tomorrow with a sponsorship, I’ll sell out faster than M.C. Hammer jumping off a Taco Bell.
Setup
Technical
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Strobes: White Lightning x1600
Tripod: Manfrotto
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 50mm
Shutter: 125
Aperture: f/11
God Morgon, ladies and gents!
Happy All Things Thursday!
Got some things on mind. Wanna know what they are? Check this out.
Apparently, some Canadians love pork so much they would take it over sex. Just in case they want to combine the two, J&D Foods created bacon condoms. Say what, now? Seriously, I don’t know who’s worse here: Canada or J&D Foods? I’m going with Canada. (Huffington Post)
The McRib is back! You want some? If you said ‘yes’, click here and then rethink your answer. (Huffington Post)
The Kitchn poses the question: Has Quinoa Jumped the Shark? Well, if it has it’s not my fault. I don’t eat that stuff. Gasp! Is that a deal breaker? (The Kitchn)
On the recipe front…
Not sure why I’ve been avoiding my slow cooker. I need to reacquaint myself so I can make this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. (Two Peas and their Pod)
Chocolate Cake. Simple and incredibly satisfying. Gimme. (Alexandra’s Kitchen)
Cauliflower Fried Rice…with Sriracha. You got me. (JChong Studio)
I guess my obsession with pumpkin isn’t over because I need to make some version of Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins. It will happen. (Martha Stewart)
It seems like I’m in a bit of a quandry, folks. I had Oreos for breakfast and dinner, so what do I do for dessert? Suggestions?
The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
Amelia Earhart
(photo credit: J&D Foods)
The Nikon faithful worked themselves into a fit this week with the introduction of the retro wunderkind: the Nikon Df. After weeks of raised expectations stoked by a series of ingenious teaser videos, the Df landed in the hands of reviewers with an enormous thud. The gear fanatics, who inhabit the camera blogosphere, envisioned such an insanely great photographic tool that nothing short of the Second Coming would’ve satisfied critics. When Nikon finally pulled the veil off a beautifully crafted camera with a bounty of manual metal dials that flashed back to the film era, the response was one of vitriol and disappointment.
The Nikon Df is a new digital camera that looks like a film camera from the 70’s. It has a bunch of metal control wheels that appeal to old farts who still lament the golden age of film. For every photographer who used to blame the photo lab for their lousy technique, this is the Holy Grail of cameras.
The problem is that the specs don’t match the price. The Df is an expensive mishmash from the Nikon parts bin. It may have the exceptional pro D4 sensor, but with the rent-a-center autofocus from the prosumer D610 and a $3,000 price tag, the Nikon loyalists are crying foul. Nikon is betting the farm that every guy with a closet full of golf pants is going to buy this camera, but pre-orders are already off the pace of last year’s D800.
From a distance, I love this camera (I guess I’m one of those old farts). I grew up shooting with an all manual Pentax K-1000 so this camera gets me on a very emotional level. It may be missing a few things like video and a backup SD card, but these features aren’t a big deal if the camera feels right in the hand. At the end of the day, all that matters are the images. If the Df gets it done, Nikon will get my money.
Photo credit: Nikon
Ever have one of those days?
One of those…just my luck, stay in bed, bag of of Oreos, watch Die Hard days?
Of course, you have. You’re a human being! Well, as luck would have it, I experienced just such a Crapfest the other day.
I don’t wanna go into details but I was feeling a bit blue. Whenever I get like that my first reaction is to eat/drink my feelings. But if I have an ounce of will power, which is rare, I force myself to get out of the house, out of my head and into my car. So I hopped into P-POS. P-POS stands for Purple Piece of Shit. Hey, it’s a term of endearment, ok!
So…I was driving along, thinking about how I can make beer and cookies go together, when I slowly came to a red light and noticed some green paper on the ground.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: How slow was this chick going?
Answer: Slow enough to know that green paper was $20.
Needless to write, I pulled over, picked up the twenty, stuffed it in my jeans and took off like my ass was on fire. The rest of a day was a blur, but I remember feeling surprised and relieved. Yes, it was only twenty bucks but that’s a whole lot of Oreos…enough to eat through my feelings properly.
In the future, if Oreos aren’t an option, I hope I will have enough energy to make this Brown Butter Pumpkin Shortbread. I’ve worked on this recipe for a minute because cakey pumpkin cookies are just not my thang. It took a few tries but I finally removed most of the water content, as to produce a crispy shortbread. Here’s how I did it.
Go on, now. Make some brown butter pumpkin shortbread. It’s a wonderful treat…much like the six bags of Oreos I bought with the twenty that I found in the street.
Note: Use this recipe for Decadent Pumpkin Butter. I used the glaze from Lauren’s Latest Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies.
by David
This wasn’t fun. Over the years, Mondo and I have shot a lot of cookies for Mondo’s Morsels and frankly, when it comes to photographing cookies, the creativity tank is on “E.”
The Old Days
Years ago when I first started shooting food, film was my thing. It’s almost laughable now, but I would use a 24 exposure roll and dedicate 6 shots to each setup. Film and processing was expensive so this made complete sense. If I didn’t get the shot in 6 tries ….. tough luck.
With digital, I usually dedicate 10-20 shots per setup. For this shoot, I was at 100 shots and had gone from bad to average. The cookies in the cup just weren’t working. I finally got something usable, but it wasn’t great.
When we finally moved over to the green mat with the cookies on the grate, we got it in 6. Go figure.
Lighting
The lighting is the same as the Decadent Pumpkin Butter shoot. Both were done on the same day so I didn’t bother rearranging the strobes.
Technical
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm 2.8
Strobes: White Lightning x1600
Tripod: Manfrotto
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 50mm
Shutter: 125
Aperture: f/11
