Bourbon-Pecan Tart with Chocolate Drizzle

Those who know Mrs. Yuppie know there are two things in this world that she can't live without (besides, of course, Mr. Yuppie): pecan and bourbons. These two ingredients are married deliciously together in Cooking Light's Bourbon-Pecan Tart with Chocolate Drizzle (Nov 2007).

This has been a favorite recipe of ours since we first tried it 2 years ago for a Christmas party. Now, we always keep the ingredients on hand in case of birthday lunches and special occasions. (Especially the bourbon, but then, we've always made sure to have that on hand!)

The real selling point is how easy it is to assemble: simply grease up a tart or pie pan, drape the pre-made pie crust over it and trim the edges, mix together the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate) and pour them into the crust.

The tart bakes for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. If you're so inclined, once it's cooled, you can drizzle melted chocolate over it, but that part is left to the most decadent eaters - the tart on its own is fantastic enough!

For its tried and true, sinfully delicious taste and ease of preparation, we hearby crown Bourbon-Pecan Tart with (or without!) Chocolate Drizzle a YTK Favorite. Happy no-fuss baking!

Mardi Gras King Cake

Mardi Gras season is just around the corner, and when we saw our friends begin posting Facebook statuses about king cake last week, we knew it was time to make one ourselves!

King cake is an addictive, multi-colored confection that takes a number of forms: cinnamon roll-style, donut-like, cream cheese-filled. This particular version is more of a bread dough accented with cinnamon and other spices, and it comes from a personal favorite, Chef John Besh. You can find it in his book, My New Orleans, but the Louisiana State Tourism Board has helpfully posted it for us on its website.

Those taking on this king cake should be aware that the dough requires a lot of resting time. You'd be best to save this for a lazier day or evening so that you can take your time and enjoy the process!

We begin by making the dough, which employs not one, but two sticks of melted butter. (We're kickin' it Paula Deen style, y'all!) The milk is warmed, then the sugar, yeast, and a tablespoon of flour are whisked in until the yeast is dissolved and the mixture begins to bubble. Then, the butter, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest are mixed in, and, finally, the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg) are combined and folded in as well.

Once the dough is combined, find yourself someone who's experiencing some pent up aggression, because it's time for the dirty work. You'll need to knead the dough on a floured surface for 15 minutes, which doesn't sound like a long time until you actually start doing it. We looked at the clock after what seemed like an eternity to find that only 2 minutes had passed.

After kneading, form the dough back into a large ball, place it back into your mixing bowl, cover it, and walk away, because the dough will require one and a half hours for this first rising.

When the dough has doubled in size, dust off your old friendship bracelet skills, because it's time to braid! You'll shape the dough into three ropes of equal length and width, then braid them together into a large circular "loaf".

The dough will have some elasticity to it, so don't get frustrated when, just as you have the perfect dough-braid, it begins to shrink up on you. Just keep pulling at it and eventually you'll have a beautiful looking wreath of dough. (And if you don't, no worries - the icing will hide it well!)

It's probably for the best, after that frustrating experience, that you once again have to take a hiatus and allow the dough to rise. This time, it's only thirty minutes, so go take a bubble bath or do some tai chi to calm yourself down, because you've made it through the labor-intensive part!

When you return, your king cake will be about twice as thick as before, and ready for the oven. In case you're skeptical and wondering where you went wrong when you see your initial, paltry braid, the image at left shows our cake about to serve time in the oven. It's astonishing how much the dough fluffs up!

The cake is baked at 375 degrees for just 30 minutes, then cooled on a wire rack for another 30 minutes, which should provide you with ample time to assemble the icing.

One of the hallmarks of king cake is that it sports the carnival colors: purple, green, and gold. If you don't want to invest in pricey decorative sugars, you could always try your hand at tinting the icing with food coloring in those shades.

The icing is comprised of just three ingredients: powdered sugar, condensed milk, and a bit of lemon juice. Now, we've used this recipe twice before, and every time we have some trouble with the consistency of the icing. It just seems like the powdered sugar-to-condensed milk ratio is a little off, resulting in an icing that's just too thick to mix, let alone spread. We usually (slowly!) incorporate a few tablespoons of 1% milk as we go, which seems to help things along.

If you end up with icing that's too runny, you can always add more powdered sugar. We also recommend pouring the icing over the cake while it's still in the jelly roll pan, then, after it's firmed up some, transferring the completed cake to a serving platter.

While the icing is wet, it's time to dust it with your (beautiful!) decorative sugars. (Or tinted icing, if that's the way you roll.) You'll want to work somewhat fast for maximum icing-to-sugar adherence.

Pick a color to start - we always seem to go for green for some reason, which probably says something about us. Imagine your cake is a clock, and spread the first color sugar at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions; the second at the 1, 4, 7, and 10; and the third at positions 2, 5, 8, and 11.

If you want to get really authentic, make sure you tuck a plastic baby (or an uncooked fava bean) up underneath the cake and into the dough before icing it. Tradition dictates that he who finds the baby (or bean) is king (or queen!) for the day, so make sure you aim that section of the cake at someone you like! (We kid!!)

Now that's some beautiful baking, huh?! We love this recipe for a winter weekend because even though the total time is a little long, there are plenty of opportunities to sneak off and do household chores. Or just be lazy and watch TV - you've totally earned it!

Chipotle Peanut Brittle

Ladies and gentlemen, we have pictures! Don't ask us how we managed this feat with the most high-maintenance recipe of the holiday, but we pulled it off with our Chipotle Peanut Brittle (Cooking Light, May 2009).

When we say high-maintenance, we mean it. This recipe moves fast, so be sure to have all of your ingredients AND all of your implements out, measured, and ready before you fire up the stove.

Particularly, make sure you have a rolling pin that fits the jelly roll pan you plan to use. Do not - we repeat, do NOT - use the trick of an aluminum can, because the can conducts heat! (We're embarrassed to say that we learned this lesson the hard way) Also, be sure you have 2 sheets of parchment paper cut and coated with cooking spray at the ready.

First, the sugar, corn syrup, and sugar are combined in a saucepan over medium high heat. The recipe recommends a temperature, but if you don't have a candy thermometer, just be watchful of the mixture as it caramelizes. It should start to turn a little brown, the color of a light, milky mocha, but not dark. The picture at right is a good yardstick for those flying solo.

Next, the peanuts are added and the mixture is stirred constantly for 3 additional minutes. Then, the chipotle pepper and baking soda are added, which should cause the mixture to bubble - it's quickly removed from the stove and poured out onto one of the waiting sheets of parchment.

The other piece of parchment is placed on top, oiled side facing the brittle mixture, and the brittle mixture is rolled out with a rolling pin. (Not a can - we're serious!) The top piece of parchment can then be removed to ensure that it doesn't stick. The mixture will require about 30 minutes to cool, at which point it can be broken into pieces and stored in an air-tight container.

The ground chipotle imparts a fiery heat to this brittle, so unadventurous eaters beware! It can easily be omitted or cut in half, if preferred, but trust us, your holiday guests will get a kick out of the unexpected kick.

Sugared Pecans

Let's start with an old standby, shall we? Well, old might be an overstatement - we found this recipe for Sugared Pecans (Southern Living, Dec 2007) while preparing for last year's Christmas party and were blown away by how easy and tasty they were. An added bonus is that you'll have most of these items on-hand already. (And if you're like us, you'll probably already have the pecans, too!)

This recipe is such a cinch to put together - simply whisk together the egg white and sugars, then fold in the pecans. Spread the coated pecans out on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and into the oven they go for about 20 minutes. You'll want to check on them once or twice and stir them around, to make certain that the pecans bake evenly and don't begin to burn. They'll need to cool for 30 minutes prior to storage.

According to the recipe, these can be stored in plasticware for 3 days before serving. (Bonus: Make double or triple batches and freeze some for later!) Good luck keeping them around for 3 days, though - Mr. Yuppie just can't keep his mitts off of them, and they're usually polished off by holiday guests within an hour of their arrival!

For an inexhaustible list of reasons, these pecans are most definitely on the short list of YTK Favorites. Try them this holiday week and let us know what you think in the comments!

Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pistachios

Halloween is fast approaching, and what better way to prepare than with a sinful treat? (No tricks, we promise!) This one comes from our new favorite recipe destination, Williams-Sonoma.com, and they call these their Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pistachios.

First a warning - do not start eating this dough, or you will not be able to stop. Seriously, we clearly missed the part where it said we were actually adding crack to the dough. It must have been in the butter.

Let it be known that those pistachios and cherries came with a Williams-Sonoma price tag, but boy were they worth it! The cookies themselves were very easy to assemble. Beyond combining the powdered ingredients, the bulk of the recipe relied heavily on our old friend, the stand-mixer. Add, mix, add, mix, add, mix...you get the idea.

Placing the cookies on the prepared sheets was challenging, because the dough was a) sticky, and b) delicious. To save yourself a few extra hours on the elliptical, we recommend using two teaspoons to shape the dough into balls, flattening them with the palm of your hand, and quickly stashing both baking sheets in your oven. Then lick that mixing bowl clean!

Swapping the baking sheets midway through cooking creates a problem because those sheets are good and greased up. Your cookies will slide if you don't keep them level, so take your time!

We offer this caution because we, of course, did NOT take our time. Zombies must have eaten our brains last night, because one of us tried to perform the whole sheet-swapping task without setting down either baking sheet.

That's how we ended up with Mega-Cookie.

Most of Mega-Cookie was salvageable with a few quick cuts from the edge of a spatula, and one of us appreciated the excuse to sample some of our less attractive product.

The verdict? These. Cookies. Are. Delicious. In fact, we've already pulled the trigger and added them to our Christmas Party must-have list. They are so crammed full of delicious fall flavors that we could eat them all season. (And since W-S doesn't include nutritional information with their recipes, we just might!)

So make these. Make them now. This weekend, if you have to wait. And...have a tasty, treat-filled Halloween!

Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Bread

Let's sweeten up our Saturday, shall we? Last week for work, we attempted the Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Bread (Cooking Light, Oct 2010) for a coworker's birthday. Chocolate, bananas, more chocolate - it seemed like a recipe for success.

The bread was straightforward to put together and required mostly the kinds of staples we tend to keep around our kitchen. (What, you don't keep a bag of chocolate chips on hand at all times?) We popped it in the oven and sat down to relax while it baked the requisite 55 minutes.

It came out of the oven smelling a bit burned, which puzzled us. Generally, our oven temperature runs a little low, so we have to cook things a minute or two longer than stated by the recipe. When we went to pop the chocolate and milk topping mixture into the microwave, we realized why: the 5 tablespoons of melted butter that were supposed to go in the batter were still sitting in the microwave.

Heartbroken, we sliced off an end of the bread and gave it a taste...and, much to our surprise, it wasn't bad at all! Most likely, it was the addition of plain yogurt to the dough plus the bananas themselves that kept things moist and bound despite the lack of fat from the butter. Once we decided that this could still be served to coworkers without destroying our baking reputation, we went ahead with assembling the topping.

Perhaps it was the type of chocolate we used (Nestle semisweet mini chips) or the fat-free milk, but the topping wasn't nearly as thick as shown in the recipe image. But that - and our own inattention to detail! - was our only difficulty with this recipe. All in all, it receives our recommendation for a tasty, anytime treat.