So there are a lot of random things that are fairly common foods to make that I have never even attempted to bake/cook.  I decided to record them on here – my goal is to attempt all of these before my (gulp) 26th birthday, which is in early September – so approximately 6 months.  Hopefully having them here for all the world to see will give me extra incentive to actually try all these and not just resort to my tried & true recipes!

Without further ado, here are my top Foods To Make Before I Enter My Late-Mid Twenties.

The Baked Goods (aka the majority of this list)

·         Fudge - I know, the simplest thing ever – or so I’ve heard

·         Pillow Cookies - essentially a brownie stuffed into a cookie.  I’ll have to save this for a diet-busting day

·         S’mores Cupcakes – I love s’mores. I love cupcakes. These should make me ecstatic (which means “like, really really happy” as Deena from Jersey Shore taught us last night)

·         Popovers – I’ve tried Jordan’s popovers in Bar Harbor.  I don’t expect mine to be nearly this good.

·         Layer Cake – I’ve never made one of these from scratch.  I tend to stick to smaller, more manageable treats.

·         Bread – I’d like to try honey wheat, but any (non-dessert) bread will do!

·         Soft Pretzels – from SCRATCH (sorry Crate & Barrel, I loved your kit but it’s time for me to put on my big girl pants and venture into the great world of pretzel-making on my own!)

·         Angel Food Cake – one of my favorite desserts when I was younger; I’ve always used the store-bought variety (I know, boo! hiss!)

·         Shortbread – I LOVE shortbread, but have never attempted it.  I once tried butter cookies and they were nothing short of a DISASTER; I think it scared me off all similar recipes.

·         Cappuccino Cupcakes – a special request from my boyfriend, who is a weirdo and doesn’t like sweets, and usually just humors me by having a bite or two of my baked goods. 

·         Cake Pops – I love Bakerella’s website; and love looking at all the images of these cute pops.  But I’ve always been too afraid/lazy to make them.

·         Whoopie Pies - normal sized ones this time. 

The “Real Food”

·         Beef Stew – nice n’ hearty; I better make this before the weather warms up!

·         Roast Chicken – yup.

·         Soup – any soup. I’ve only ever used the canned variety.  I’d like to conquer this; or at least attempt it.

·         Macaroni and Cheese – the possibilities are endless.. truffle oil, bacon, spinach, oh my!

Obviously I’ll record my successes (and failures!) here.  Godspeed to me!

Whoopie!

Sur La Table recently had a big winter bakeware sale and I ordered a Whoopie Pie Pan.  It arrived this weekend and I was so excited to use it!  Since Valentine's Day just passed, I decided to try out Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.  I adapted this recipe.

First I whisked together the dry ingredients - 2c flour, 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.

I set that aside and creamed 1 stick of butter with 1c brown sugar then beat in an egg and 2tsp vanilla.

I didn't have buttermilk, so I mixed some lemon juice with 1/2 cup of regular milk and waited for it to curdle (sounds gross, but it works!).  I added this and the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, then mixed in about 2 tbsp of red food coloring.

It made exactly 12 cakes - or enough for 6 Whoopies.  At least, enough for 6 whoopies the way I poured them....

These took approx 12 minutes to bake.  While they were in the oven, I made vanilla cream cheese frosting for the filling.  I combined 1 stick of butter with one package of cream cheese, then added in confectioners' sugar (approx 2-3 cups, I was measuring based on consistency) and 2 tbsp vanilla extract.

When the cakes were done, they were HUGE.  Way too big!  I guess I poured too much batter into the molds; I filled the molds to the top, and probably should have only filled them 1/2 - 3/4 full.  Oops :)

Like I said, BIG whoopies!  Once they cooled, I added a dollop of the cream cheese filling to six cakes, and pressed down with the others to make sandwiches.  I made about twice as much frosting as I needed.  Maybe these should be called WHOOPSIE Pies?