Thomas Keller's Pink Grapefruit Cake

February's Daring Baker's challenge was quick breads and so, because I had some time after handing in my thesis, I made three. This first one is comes from Thomas Keller's book Ad Hoc at Home, which my mother owns and I covet. It is maybe less of a quick bread and more of a cake, but it was easy to make and was baked in a loaf pan, so I'm going to call it a quick bread and then deem it an acceptable breakfast substitute.

Sel de Mordor Caramels

If you get caramels at a shop, the salt sprinkled on top makes them "fancy" and therefore increases the price by a billion percent. As if the salt comes from some place no normal person can easily get to. Mordor, in fact. Let me go back and rename this post.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Sucks

This cupcake reminded me of the one on the banner that S drew for me.
You thought I made that banner? I'm not that clever.

I was originally going to title this post, "Martha, your buttercream sucks." Looking around the internet, however, it turns out that the buttercream recipe I made has also been attributed to Dorie Greenspan, and is very similar to copious other Swiss meringue buttercream recipes. Thus, I have concluded that ALL buttercream recipes suck. That's good, because I hate to pick on Martha. I love her even though she makes me feel completely inadequate. She challenges me to make beautiful things that I would never think to make without the burning fires of feminist hatred her encouragement.

Impossible Nectarine Tart

I made this nectarine tart about two years ago, using the birth of a friend's child as an excuse. I was obsessed with it for a few weeks before I made it, and eventually went ahead and shelled out for the Chambord. It's one of the prettiest things I've ever made, and was obviously made before I got my own camera.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Perfect, puffy and golden.

Yesterday I had a sudden craving for peanut butter cups.

Easy Croissants

These are too pretty for me to have actually made them. I must be lying.

I called these "easy croissants" not because the recipe is somehow different than any other croissant recipe, but because it turns out croissants are easy. I've wanted to try to make them for ages, but didn't because I thought that they might be beyond me. I finally had a weekend free and I thought, "I'm up for the challenge!" But it wasn't challenging and I spent most of the day playing Skyrim.

Chicken Stock for Lazy People

The making of home-made soup (this one in particular) without access to either home-made stock or some seriously good local stuff was previously forboden*. Stock that comes in cans and boxes at your grocery store is like a sad memory of what stock was supposed to be before someone threw it down the stairs and drove over it with an Asphalt Compactor a few times. At least, the type at my grocery store. Maybe your grocery store is magical.