TWD: Rewind! Pizza with Onion Confit

I actually made Pizza with Onion Confit in January, but I never posted it. Below is my late post that sadly stayed in limbo for four months:

This week's recipe was pizza with onion confit. At first, I wasn't very impressed with the pizza. I either rolled the dough out too thin or cooked it too long. The crust was way too crunchy for me, but the toppings made it worth while. I devoured the whole thing all by myself. MuHAHAHa!!! I fell asleep in a food coma for 5 hours. What a great day...

For the toppings, it was recommended by this week's host to add blue cheese and fig to the pizza. I thought this was a brilliant idea and so, I went with it. On top of the confit, I added figs and parmigiano reggiano, arugula, and blue cheese dressing. The texture and flavors were amazing. The crunchy arugula and sweet, chewy figs did a great job mellowing out the sour onion confit. And about half way through inhaling the pizza, I added extra shaved parm on top for a little bit more saltiness. So good....

For the recipe, check out Paul's blog, the boy can bake. He was this week's host! Also, if you want to see other baker's yummy pizzas, check out the TWD blogroll. 

TWD: Madeleines

Finally!!!! I baked! It's been four long months without baking. I missed it so. 

I've been pretty busy at work since two people left in December. I basically took on another person's workload on top of my existing impending doom workload. Plus, last September, I joined a leadership program, which I'm really enjoying, but it has definitely cut into a lot of my free time. Blahhhhhh...

Anyway. This week's TWD recipe was Madeleines. I totally needed to make these. It felt so good to bake again. I can't really describe the feeling, but it kind of felt...soothing. 

I've never made or had madeleines before. I loved the crisp edges and the quick cakey bite. I sprinkled half the batch with powdered sugar and slathered the other half with an almond glaze. MmMmMmmm Both nicely satisfying. 

For the recipe, check out Kate and Amy's blog, Counter Dog. They were this week's hosts! 

Notes: The experienced madeleine bakers recommend to brush melted butter on the pan twice and to refrigerate it between coats. Also, to refrigerate the batter overnight in the pan. 

I brushed it twice and refrigerated for 2 hours.

At some point, it would be interesting to compare and see if overnight refrigeration really makes a difference in the cookies. 

Almond glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

3 Tbs hot water

1 Tbs almond extract

TWD: Finnish Pulla

Loved it. Uber soft and fluffy. Sweet with little hints of floral spice. It had both the texture of a bagel and a cinnamon roll. Just loved it.

I made this after watching two episodes of Downton Abbey. I would usually make the dough in the mixer, but my mind was in Downton. I started mixing it in a regular bowl and I didn't realize what I was doing until I was already kneading it by hand. Wah! I felt like Daisy when Mrs. Patmore points out her bumbles.

I love Downton. I love this bread. Yay....

For the recipe, check out Erin's blog, the daily morsel. She was this week's TWD host!

TWD: Gingerbread Baby Cakes

Crapola. I need to get off my behind and start shopping for Christmas presents. I can't believe it's already December! I'm usually pretty good and have ideas on what to get people by mid-October. But this year. Oh man....

Oh well! I'll just distract myself with baked goods instead. This week's TWD recipe is Gingerbread Baby Cakes.

These things are evil! EVIL I SAY! I couldn't stop eating them! Maybe because they are packed full of caffeine. Or maybe because they are just spicy enough for your body to release some endorphins. I don't know...but I sure did scarf a lot down.

Alone, they are rich and sticky from the molasses, with a big kick in the face of ginger power. The black pepper is really apparent in the aftertaste. It lingers on your tongue, just long enough, that you lose your willpower and have to take another bite.

To tone down the spiciness, I made some lemon mascarpone. The sweetness definitely mellows the cake out and brings in yummy tartness into the mix. Yay.

I liked having the cake either way, but I think I enjoyed it more on its own. Every time I took a bite, my mind would immediately think of the fight scenes from the old Batman TV show. KAPOW! WHAMM!

For the recipe, check out Karen's blog, Karen's Kitchen Stories. She was this week's host!

Notes: I used random amounts of molasses, because I was running really low on unsulphured molasses. I had 1:1:2 ratio of unsulphured molasses, blackstrap molasses, and agave nectar. Also, I used grated ginger instead of minced ginger. The batter was baked in a mini muffin pan and some of it was placed on a parchment paper lined sheet pan to make mini-cookies/whoopie pie-ish things. Yum.