Mini Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcakes

Dagan's class had a harvest feast last Friday. Each child had to pick an ingredient and bring a food that showcased that ingredient to the potluck. Dagan picked strawberries. He wanted to bring cupcakes but I thought that would be too sugary. Instead, I found a recipe for whole wheat shortcakes. The only not so healthy ingredient was the whipped cream but it was not very sweet. I used mini whoopie pie pans/ macaron pans to make the little "hats" to make them look more like shortcakes. Sage did the piping of all of the whipped cream and stacked the strawberries. He said when he grows up he wants to be a baker or pastry chef.

Mini Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcakes
Adapted from recipe  http://www.tammysrecipes.com/whole_wheat_strawberry_shortcake

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup water

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 lb. (2 cups) strawberries, sliced

2 cups chantilly cream

Chantilly Cream recipe:

1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Grease and flour mini muffin tins or use paper liners. Spray mini whoopie pie/macaron pan with non stick spray. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. In a large mixing bowl use electric mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment to whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup of sugar (2 Tbsp. at a time) until sugar is dissolved and egg whites form stiff peaks.

3. Mix egg yolks, flour, water, oil, baking powder, vanilla and 1/2 cup of sugar together in another large bowl. Fold egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula.

4. Spoon batter into mini muffin tins about 3/4 full. Fill whoopie pie/macaron pan with batter. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven when toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

5. To make the chantilly cream, place stand mixer mixing bowl and whisk attachment in fridge until cold.

6. Whip heavy cream on medium speed for 3 minutes until thickened. Turn mixer onto high and add confectioner's sugar. Add the vanilla extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Fill a piping bag with a large star tip with the chantilly cream.

7. Pipe chantilly cream onto the mini shortcakes. Place a slice of strawberry on top. Add some chantilly cream on top of strawberry. Gently press a "hat" (macaron shortcake) onto the chantilly cream. Pipe more cream onto the "hat" and top it off with another strawberry piece.

8. Refrigerate until serving. These topple over quite easily if the whipped cream starts melting.

Pumpkin Spice Mini and Micro Cream Puffs

 Naked Puffs

 Filled Puffs

I had a craving for cream puffs since eating some Beard Papas about a month ago and a can of pumpkin has been sitting in the cupboard since last fall (It expires a year from now!) Because I try to make about 40 little bite size treats a week, I made pumpkin mini cream puffs. For the first batch, I tried out a new recipe on the internet. They turned out tiny and doughy, barely big enough to hold any filling. Even though it was late at night, I decided to make another batch. This new batch from the Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America Cookbook  turned out much better. I also made the coconut cream puffs (earlier post) from the same book with good results. I researched many different sites trying to figure out why they didn't rise. My theory is that the eggs weren't mixed in well enough. The dough when piped was shiny, greasy and didn't pipe well. The second batch's dough was sticky and more like bread dough in texture.  I was about to throw the tiny ones in the trash but saved them overnight. The next day I cut them in half, pulled out the middles, crisped them in the oven for 5 minutes and filled. They tasted just as good, only smaller. The pumpkin filling is a cross between a pastry cream and a whipped cream. It's called a diplomat cream. The tops are sprinkled with powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spices.


Pumpkin Pastry Cream (Make ahead of time, needs to be refrigerated until cold)

(Inspired by recipe from http://frenchfood.about.com/od/pastrycream/r/Pumpkin-Pastry-Cream-Recipe.htm)

1 cup whole milk

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cloves

2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare an ice bath. Whisk together egg yolks, pumpkin, sugar, flour, spices and cornstarch until smooth. Heat milk just until steaming in a small saucepan over low heat. Add milk to egg mixture 1/4 of a cup at a time whisking constantly. When all of it has been incorporated, pour it back into the saucepan and heat. Stir constantly until mixture is very thick and reaches 170 degrees F on thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Place saucepan in ice bath and stir occasionally until cool. Push through a mesh strainer to get out any lumps. Transfer pastry cream to a container or bowl. Press plastic wrap onto the surface so a skin doesn't form. Chill in refrigerator.


Pumpkin Diplomat Cream (Make just before filling puffs)
Inspired by Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America Cookbook

1 package powdered unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 tsp.)

1/4 cup cold water 

2 cups pumpkin pastry cream (see recipe above)

1 cup cold heavy cream

cold stand mixer bowl and cold whisk attachment (I like to put mine in the fridge for an hour or so)

Stir gelatin into cold water in a small bowl. Set aside for 2 minutes. Microwave (20 sec.) or heat until gelatin is dissolved. Stir into pastry cream with rubber spatula.

Whip heavy cream in bowl with whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream with rubber spatula. Scoop into piping bag and use immediately.


Pumpkin Pie Powdered Sugar- For Sprinkling on Puffs- (Can be made ahead of time)

2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 tsp. powdered ginger

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup powdered sugar- sifted

Mix spices together in a small bowl. Mix in powdered sugar. Use sifter to sprinkle on top of puffs. You can also use store bought pumpkin pie spice. Store in airtight container.


Mini Pumpkin Cream Puffs
Inspired by Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America

Pate a Choux:

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup bread flour sifted ( I sifted first then measured)

3 large eggs

1 large egg white


egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 2 Tbsp. water)

2 cups pumpkin diplomat cream

pumpkin pie spice powdered sugar



1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a medium saucepan combine milk, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon about 5 minutes until the dough dries a bit and starts to form a ball. Transfer dough to stand mixer with paddle and beat at medium speed until cooled to body temperature. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well and scrape down sides of bowl after each addition using a rubber scraper. Add in egg white. Beat well until the dough is sticky and well blended.

3. Transfer dough to a pastry bag with a plain round tip  or use a disposable pastry bag and cut off the tip to make a 1/2"- 3/4" hole. Pipe onto parchment covered baking sheets, about walnut size. 20 should fit on one baking sheet if making mini cream puffs. Use a wet finger tip to smooth down any peaks so they won't burn. Brush lightly with egg wash.

4.  Bake about 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.  Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake another 20-25 minutes until puffs are dry and golden. Remove from oven. Use a toothpick to poke a hole in each puff to release the steam. This will keep the puffs from getting soggy. Cool on wire rack.

5. If not using right away, store them in an airtight container. Recrisp at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes when ready to use. But be sure to cool them first so they don't melt the filling. Slice puffs in half or poke a hole in them to prepare for filling.

6. Fill a pastry bag with a large star tip with pumpkin diplomat cream. Pipe into cooled puff shells. Cover with puff tops and sprinkle with pumpkin spice powdered sugar. These will keep assembled and refrigerated up to 4 hours. They taste better the fresher they are though.

Pumpkin Raisin Walnut Bread

Fall is here and with it the flavor of pumpkin. This recipe makes a moist bread that's healthy and great for breakfast or snacks. It freezes well too. The bread turned out well even though I forgot to put in the brown sugar. The streusel was too sweet. I ended up scraping some of it off. August
 said it looked like mold. I included the recipe here for the streusel but lessened the amount  if you want to try it. I would suggest either use the brown sugar in the bread or the streusel on top but not both unless you like it really sweet. The kids loved this for breakfast.

Pumpkin Raisin Walnut Bread
Makes two regular  loaves or four mini loaves

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup unsweeted applesauce

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (leave out if making streusel topping)

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

15- 16 oz. can of pumpkin (if you use 14 oz. add a little extra applesauce to add moistness)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. table salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

2/3 cup raisins

Streusel topping:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter cut into bits

1. Butter and flour two loaf pans or four mini loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together oil, applesauce, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well blended. I used a paddle attachment on my kitchen aid but you can also use an electric mixer or mix by hand.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until evenly distributed.

5. Fold in the walnuts and raisins.

6. If you are making streusel, mix flour, sugar and butter in a small bowl with your hands until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle crumbs on loaves.

7. Bake for 30 minutes for mini loaves or 50-55 minutes for regular loaves until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Remove from pans. Slice and serve. If you want to freeze the loaves, wrap tightly in foil and place in a ziplock bag.

Scented Preschool Playdough

Lemon Playdough - lemon extract

Pumpkin Pie Spice Playdough- pumpkin pie spice


I've read a few Montessori books that talk about learning through the senses. The playdough that I've made uses touch, sight and smell. I've been making playdough since the boys were little. I try to make just one color since most times too many colors will get mixed up and turn into an unappealing brown or gray. Analogous colors work best if you want to make more than one. Here's a recipe I was given from the family preschool the boys went to when we lived in Sunnyvale. If it's too wet for you, add flour. If it gets too dry, add a little vegetable oil. The recipe works well halved or quartered if you don't want to make so much.

Preschool Playdough

6 cups all purpose flour

3 cups table salt

4 Tbsp. + 2 Tsp. cream of tartar

6 cups water

 3/4 cup vegetable oil (you can use a little less)

food coloring

extracts, oils or spices



1. Mix all ingredients together in a large pot. Add  food coloring or liquid watercolor.

2. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until ball forms.

3. Turn out onto a floured board and knead. Add in a few drops of extracts or oils or sprinkle in some spices.

4. Leave on board at room temperature to cool. Knead occasionally. When dough is cool transfer to airtight container or ziplock bag.

Some ideas for colors and scents:

Valentine's Day- Brown- Add cocoa powder. Make "candies" and put into empty candy boxes.

St. Patrick's Day- Green- Add mint extract. Shape into clovers.

Fall- Red- Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Shape into apples.

Summer- Yellow- Add lemon extract. Shape into suns and create a beach scene using dough as sand. 

Halloween/Thanksgiving- Orange- Add pumpkin pie spice. Shape into jack o lanterns and turkeys.

Winter- White- Add clear vanilla extract and silver glitter. Make into snowflakes and snowmen.

Sweet and Salty Soft Pretzels

It was dinnertime Friday night and we were out of food. Tummies rumbling I searched in the fridge and found leftover dough from the boule recipe. A quick roll and shape and we had pretzels. August wanted his salty but the kids wanted them sweet. I found a combination of sweet and salty worked for me. The boys had fun shaping these themselves. They came out of the oven hot and fluffy. They tasted much better than the boules since they didn't have a hard crust.

Sweet and Salty Soft Pretzels

Makes 4 large pretzels

1 lb. of boule dough (1/4 of the full recipe found in Middle of the Week Bread post)

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

coarse salt for sprinkling

coarse sugar for sprinkling

unsalted butter (optional)

cinnamon (optional)

mustard (optional)

parchment paper

flour for dusting

1. Dust work surface with flour. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Dissolve baking soda in hot water in a medium bowl or pan.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

4. Take boule dough out of the fridge and place on work surface. Cut into 4 equal parts. Take a piece of dough and roll into a long snake shape. Twist it into a pretzel, heart, or other fun shape. Carefully dunk it into the baking soda solution. Place it on the baking sheet.

5. For sweet cinnamon pretzels, sprinkle with cinnamon and coarse sugar. For salty pretzels, sprinkle with coarse salt. For sweet and salty pretzels, sprinkle with coarse salt and sugar.

6. Bake for 8 minutes until browned.

7. For salty pretzels, brush with butter if you like. I also like to dip mine in dijon mustard.

Peppermint Pattie Ice Cream

I had some extra heavy cream and milk but I couldn't figure out what kind of ice cream to make. I consulted David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop. The recipe for peppermint patties were in the mix in section. I decided to combine them with the Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream which is like the regular vanilla ice cream minus the 6 egg yolks.

Peppermint Patties

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. glucose

2 tsp. water

1/8 tsp. peppermint extract or few drops of oil (oil is much stronger than extract, use with caution)

6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Dust lightly with 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

Mix glucose, water and mint extract. Stir in the remaining powdered sugar. Knead it until it turns into a smooth ball. Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten to 1/3 in.  Let dry at room temperature at least 2 hours.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or metal bowl placed over 1 inch of simmering water. Stir until smooth and set aside. Dust powdered sugar off of patties and dip in melted chocolate. Set aside on parchment  to cool. Place in fridge or freezer to firm chocolate. Chop into small pieces if using as a mix in.

Vanilla- Mint Ice Cream- Philadelphia Style

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar (I lessened it to compensate for candies mixed in)

pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean (optional)

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. mint (optional)

Pour 1 cup heavy cream into saucepan. Mix in sugar, salt, vanilla bean (seeds scraped and pod). Stir until sugar melts over medium heat. Remove.

Add remaining 1 cup heavy cream, milk, and vanilla and mint extracts.

Chill completely in fridge. Remove vanilla bean pod. Churn with ice cream maker. If adding chopped peppermint patties, fold them into ice cream. Freeze.

The ice cream turned out creamy and smooth with a little crunch from the chocolate and chewiness from the peppermint patties. Subtle mint flavor. If you love mint, add more extract to the candy or ice cream. You could also try making this with a chocolate or chocolate mint ice cream as well.

My journey into candy making continues. Peppermint patties are very simple to make. They take a few hours to dry. I left mine to dry at room temperature over night. They are very sticky and stick to the knife and parchment. When chopping them up, the chocolate cracks and is not the most attractive but if it's going to be mixed in with the ice cream anyway it doesn't matter.

Chocolate Banana Tartlets

These tartlets have a shortbread cookie crust covered with bittersweet chocolate, a fresh banana slice, and chocolate pastry cream with the subtlest hint of rum. Chocolate was grated on the top as a garnish.
A chocolate craving and too many bananas in the house. I decided to try out my new tartlet pans that had been sitting in the cupboard for months. They are so small, I doubted they would even hold a banana slice much less any pastry cream. I tested them out anyway and found that they do work. I just needed to use some melted chocolate as glue so the bananas wouldn't slide off.

Tartlet Dough (adapted from Cook and Be Merry http://cookandbemerry.com/mini-tartlet-shells-food-art-an-optical-illusion/)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. table salt

1/3 cup sugar

8 oz. cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and butter in a food processor or using a pastry cutter or two forks till the mixture is mealy. Whisk the egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and process or mix until the dough sticks together. Press it into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (approx. 1 hr. ) Line up tartlet tins or mini muffin pans on a baking sheet. Do not grease. Take dough out of fridge and using a melon baller, scoop balls of dough and fill tins. Use fingers to press dough to cover the sides. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool on wire rack. Unmold cookies from tins. When using mini muffin pans, I turn the cookies slightly to release before popping them out.  When cool store in airtight containers until ready for use.


Chocolate Pastry Cream (adapted from the pastry cream recipe from the Baking at Home With the Culinary Institute of America cookbook)

1/4 cup cornstarch

3/8 cup sugar-divided (I lessened it a little to compensate for the sweetness of the chocolate and banana)

1 cup whole milk (divided)

2 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. rum

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chopped chocolate in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, use a small metal bowl. Fill a small saucepan with water and set the metal bowl on top. Turn the stove to medium heat. When chocolate starts melting, stir it with a rubber scraper. Be sure not to get any water in the chocolate. Set aside.

Mix cornstarch with 1/8 cup sugar and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup milk. Add egg yolks and blend with wooden spoon until smooth.

Prepare an ice bath. Combine 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar and salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Set aside.

Gradually whisk egg mixture into hot milk. Start with 1/3 first. When it is all combined, return the mixture to saucepan. Whisk in melted chocolate. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until it boils and thickens, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in rum and butter. Put saucepan in ice bath. Let it cool stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Store in fridge in a container until use up till 3 days.  Be sure to press parchment paper onto the surface of the cream so skin does not form.

Assembling tarts:

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. This step is optional but chocolate is good for adhering bananas as well as keeping the cookie crust from getting soggy.

Fill pastry bag with large star tip with chocolate pastry cream.

Slice 2 large bananas.

Grate chocolate bar using a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. 

Use a spoon or pastry brush to coat inside of tarts with melted chocolate. Place a banana slice on top. Pipe chocolate pastry cream on banana. Sprinkle with grated chocolate.

I thought these turned out rather well. I could still taste the freshness of the banana even with the dark chocolate. The crust was crumbly, the pastry cream smooth and chocolaty. I debated making a chocolate shortbread crust but that would be chocolate overkill. Whipped cream sounded good but would melt into a soggy puddle quickly. This was my updated version of a banana cream pie.

A few challenges I ran into were delicate crusts who's rims would break if you bump them and crusts were a bit thick toward the bottom of mini muffin tins opposed to the tartlet tins. Tartlets made with the tins didn't hold as much pastry cream. The pastry cream recipe is adapted from a regular vanilla one. You could take the cocoa powder and chocolate out and instead add vanilla bean and vanilla extract. I also added a little rum which I don't think you would notice. I didn't want to put too much and have the pastry cream become runny. To add more rum flavor, I would soak the bananas in rum but do not cook them or they will become mushy.