martha monday: pistachio tartlets with crème fraîche and berries

welcome (back) to martha mondays, where i work my way through her baking handbook ... trying things out, challenging myself, and hopefully learning (and eating yummy things) along the way.

i have to admit i'm a sucker for photos. if a recipe doesn't have a photo, i'm apt to neglect it but if something has a gorgeous photo, i can't wait to dig in even if it has ingredients i'm not fond of (exhibit A, mocha roulade).

so with warmer weather finally here, there are several things i've been wanting to try out, purely based upon martha's photo :)



i decided to start with the pistachio tartlets with crème fraîche and berries (p. 255) as they seemed easy and fresh. the dough was quite soft, but really lovely and definitely a keeper for other fillings. i loved that the crème made it not too sweet, which was perfect with the berries.



for some other tartlets, please check out zakia over at the frosted bakeshop who also loved the pistachio dough. and new blogger, lynn from bites and pieces also joined us this week. and she made the crème fraîche from scratch, quite impressive!!



next martha monday: either the peach, apricot, and cherry pie (p. 236) or the sour cherry cobbler (p. 279). both seem your standard summer fare, but i would love the challenge of doing a "real" lattice top. post by monday, 28 july and email me your link: marthamondays -at- gmail.com!

and i apologize for the poor overexposed non-color corrected photos of my delicious pistachio tartlets! i promise next time not to wait until 11pm the night it is due!! :)

the best savory galette, ever

i implore you to make this galette.

it is one of the best things i have made, ever. okay sure, my home made repertoire is pretty darn small, so i guess that isn't saying much! hehe. but really, this is one of the best things i have ever eaten at home.



i know what you're thinking ... mimi, how can something simple be so delish? yes, surely you think i'm exaggerating. but please, make this galette and just try, just try!, to tell me that it isn't also one of the best dinners you've ever made.

leek and goat cheese galette: serves 6
from deborah madison's vegetarian cooking for everyone (1997, p. 498)

galette dough (p. 696)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tb sugar
12 tb cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 - 1/2 cup ice water, as needed

1. mix flour, salt, and sugar together in bowl. cut in butter, leaving some pea size chunks. sprinkle with ice water by the tablespoon and mix with flour mixture until you can bring dough together. (you can also use a mixer or food processor if you like.) press into disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. roll out disk on lightly floured counter about 1/8" thick. you can either make one large galette or six small ones. i'd suggest the small ones because with the filling, it becomes a bit unwieldy. and for dinner, it's nice to serve individual size galettes. either way, roll it out to a circle of your size, and no it doesn't have to be a perfect circle, that's the beauty of the galette.



for the filling:
6 large leeks, including inch of green
3 tb butter
1 tsp chopped thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup crème fraîche
salt + pepper
1 egg, beaten
3 tb chopped parsley
4 oz (herbed) goat cheese, less or more to taste

1. preheat oven to 400F. thinly slice and wash the leeks. you should have about 6 cups.

2. melt butter in medium skillet. add leeks, thyme, and 1/2 cup water. stew over medium heat, stirring frequently, until leeks are tender, about 12 minutes. add wine and continue cooking until reduced; then add the crème and cook until it coats the leeks and little liquid remains. season with salt and plenty of pepper. let cool 10 minutes then stir in all but 1 tb of the beaten egg and 2 tb of the parsley.

3. spread leek mixture on top of rolled galette dough, leaving a 2 inch border around the edge. crumble the goat cheese on top, then fold the dough over the filling (fold it over a little or a lot, up to you). brush with reserved egg and bake until crust is browned, 25-30 minutes. garnish with remaining parsley. bon appétit!

just what i needed

some of you may have already seen the new york times article (or maybe even better yet, and you've known about matt since 2005). i actuallly saw that article on the "most popular" links for a few days and with the title i was like whatever.

but now i'm so fortunate that jen over at use real butter posted about it.

after all that i've been thinking about, and all that doubt, and all that i've been struggling with recently ... this video was exactly what i needed.

maybe it will be for you too.



if you want to watch a clearer version, click here and make sure to click on the link for "watch in high quality" (right below the "views" number)

for more info about matt, click here.

cherry clafoutis

this post is going to be short and sweet, as befitting of such a jewel of a late night sweet snack.

the truth is i hate cherries. no really, i do! but when you see the ephemeral pints come 'round just about now, all defenses are down. even a cherry hater couldn't pass up picking these up at the farmer's market.



but what to do with them? because goodness forbid, you can't just eat them ... you have to bake something with them!! (what have i become?!) i didn't have enough to make a pie (plus, that would just give me bad flashbacks of warrant's cherry pie). so i googled around until i found an idea for a clafoutis. i never even heard of a clafoutis until i started blogging and then i saw a couple and they all looked so small and good. never heard of a clafoutis either? clotilde from chocolate and zucchini writes it best:

"Clafoutis is the epitome of the French grandmotherly dessert: unpretentious, easy to make, and blissfully comforting. The fluffy custard, light as a cloud and studded with fruit, hails from the Limousin region in the heart of France, where each family has its own well-guarded recipe."

easy to make and blissfully comforting sounded perfect. there are many recipes online. i was intrigued by martha's addition of almond, but really, it seemed to only complicate things and on this night i wanted super simple. and when trying a new french dessert, go to a french source, n'est-ce pas?



this classic cherry clafoutis is brought to you thanks to the simple recipe of la tartine gourmande. for the recipe, click here.

i didn't have the exact same size ramekins so i didn't know how high to fill mine. needless to say as you all know, i'm an overfiller, and did so on these.



yet, the custardy overfill peeled off and and was a yummy hint of what was to come. and it was oh so lovely with a little whipped cream melting on top! i think this will be my new favorite way to bake with early summer berries. i want to try this one next!

penne with seared scallops and asparagus

last bite


hopefully most of you enjoyed a better holiday weekend than i. sure, we went to a great beachside party on friday, but the rest of the weekend was plagued with bad weather. no more beach, no tennis, no bbq, no nothing! but ahh, there's always my faithful blog! :)

so back to the photoshop vault for another dish we made back in may. i love pasta with seafood. it's the ultimate easy dinner that leaves you completely satisfied without feeling overstuffed. and as always, simple is better. and for that reason, make sure to befriend a good fish monger and get the freshest pieces of goodies available. we're lucky enough to have a great source at the farmer's market. it makes all the difference in the world. and their fresh scallops are just to die for.



penne with seared scallops and asparagus: serves 4

1 lb penne (or other bulky pasta)
1 lb sea scallops, cleaned and muscle pulled off (make sure they are dry, not treated)
1 bunch asparagus, cut on 1/2" bias
3 leeks, cleaned and sliced
olive oil
salt + pepper
old bay
white wine
chopped chives

1. heat olive oil in skillet on medium high. season scallops (toss in bowl to coat) and then gently place scallops in skillet to sear. don't touch scallops until they can easily release from the pan. gently turn over, and cook for another 2-3 minutes (rough time estimate; they are done when you touch them and they bounce back).

2. take scallops out of pan. add leeks and caramelize for about 5 minutes. add wine to de-glaze and scrape off the fond.

3. meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. reserve water to blanch asparagus. add to pan with leeks, and add scallops too. mix, and heat through a little if necessary. combine with pasta and chopped chives and mix gently.

like this dish? try this recipe too.

"hamburger" pizza

before i start posting some of my newest baking and cooking adventures, i want to try to get rid of a backlog of older photos from previous forays. here's the first installation.

i am a sucker for pizza. i love pizza. it's my all-time comfort food. so when i saw a recipe for hamburger pizza in may's issue of everyday food, i knew i just had to try it!

there's nothing really all that complicated about making your own pizza at home. even less so if you take the really quicky route and pick up some dough from your local pizza joint. but nothing beats the fresh taste, the endless variations, and lip smacking goodness.

so i implore you, especially if you live outside of new york city (oh please, don't give me no nasty chicago deep dish or tacky california wolfgang puck style!) - make your own pizza! if you really need more validation, from a source that is more respectable than my endless babble, then read smitten kitchen's ode to painless pizza.



we were lucky that week to have some leftover marinara sauce with our usual smart ground "beef". the rest of the ingredients were just red onion, tomato, and fresh mozzarella. easy, peasy! for the original recipe, click here.

martha strikes back

well if i have returned back to blogging, then shouldn't martha?

welcome (back) to martha mondays! inspired by my previous forays into tuesdays with dorie, martha mondays is pretty simple. i have her baking handbook and i want to try (almost) every recipe in here and i thought it would be fun to have some company sometimes too. i love learning while i bake, and learning what works and what doesn't. now that it's summer (here) i find myself dying to get back into her book again with all those tarts i have wanted to try.



so here it is ...

martha mondays will still be a bi-weekly bake. i will choose a recipe to try out from her baking handbook, and will post my results every other monday. you are welcome to join me, sit one out, and join again - whatever strikes your fancy. all that i ask is you link back to my announcement and send me a quick email to marthamondays (at) gmail.com so i can create a link for you too.

to (re)start it off, i'm picking one that has struck my fancy since the beginning, but for which i have been patiently awaiting the arrival in the farmer's market: pistachio tartlets with crème fraiche and berries on page 255.

so go ahead and bake away and post/email me no later than july 13. i will have my tartlets posted with your link on monday, july 14.

to see some previous martha mondays, click here, here, here, and here!

daring bakers: danish braids

wow. what a time to come back, huh? just in time for this month's amazing daring baker challenge, co-hosted by kelly at sass & veracity and ben at what's cooking? how did they know i just LOVE laminated doughs?! uh, i mean, i love eating them cuz i've never made one before today (yes, i made my danish bread TODAY!) so i didn't know if i would love that part too. and well, wouldn't you know it ... now i'm a little afraid that i will indulge the new love making (hehe) with more puff pastries, turnovers, croissants, and danishes than ever thought imaginable.



the recipe chosen is from sherry yard's the secrets of baking. i bought this book a couple months ago and was intrigued by the fundamentals building block nature of the recipes. classic culinary learning style (or so i'm told by mr. mimi, CIA grad). it makes sense, and yet feels a little unfamiliar. two months ago i did try one of her frosting recipes, but it was written so scratchily and sparse, and i didn't make it right. for someone with more knowledge about frostings and how they work, i'm sure they would have easily filled in the missing pieces of info and been fine. but this was my first frosting that did not come from a betty crocker tub and sigh, it was a mess.

but what she has sometimes with sparsely written recipes, she makes up with lovely written introductions to each section of fundamentals. from the intro to laminated doughs:

"laminated dough is made up of two components: a ball of dough, or the détrempe, and a butter block, or the beurrage. the two are sandwiched together in a pâton, then rolled out and folded many times into a tour (turn). each fold and roll is call a turn, and each turn results in several thin layers of dough alternating with thin layers of butter. when the dough hits the heat of the oven, the water in the butter evaporates into steam, and pushes each layer of détrempe. and voilà! you now have beautiful, flaky pastry." (p. 264)

each type of laminated dough has a slightly different recipe. for a wonderful tutorial on la pâte feuilletée with tour double (double turn, folded like a book rather than a letter) please visit the lovely foodbeam. i was surprised to know that danish dough has cardamon and orange flavors. and it's not even a danish creation, but a pastry made up by viennese bakers replacing striking danish bakers in denmark. who knew baking history could be so gossipy!



umm, really. did you need all this rambling text? let's just get to it, huh? the dough itself was easier to roll out and turn than i expected, my butter stayed in place and there was no oozing or tearing. but there is still some refinement to be made in my handling because i seem completely unable to understand how thick 1/4" really is, even with a ruler in hand! i cut my sides a little wrong and my resulting braiding was a little (lotta) loose, so it didn't shape up ideally. i have a perennial problem with overfilling, and it reared its ugly head with these braids too. (trust me, i made sure to photo only the good side of things!) oh yeah, and as you see, i didn't watch it in the oven and it came out a shader darker brown than desired.



but despite all those little flaws, i loved this challenge. i made two versions, sweet and savory. the first one was a traditional strawberry marmalade with tonka bean pastry cream. the savory option was a mediterranean style fennel, onion, cured olive, and herbed goat cheese. wowzers, that savory one was to die for.

the sweet photos ...







and really, almost anything could go in these braids of pastry. to see more combination creations, please do check out every other daring baker out there! my fellow bakers have some kick ass talent. in the meantime, please try to clean up that drool on your keyboard :)

the savory photos ...

i'm back ...

... are you ready for me?

it's true, i'm still in this nebulous, indescribable funk of funks. it's just a web of burden related to time (or lack thereof), self-doubt, misdirection, and missed connections. i hadn't taken a photo (of anything) since my last post. i've hardly been in the kitchen. i didn't even browse online. and you know what? i was still in a funk! so then i had the epiphany that baking and blogging was surely not a cause of my funk, and if anything, it was a happy distraction that i was sorely missing.

so i'm back. and let me begin with something that is way over due. lovely farida of the beautiful blog farida's azerbaijani cookbook passed along the "yummy blog award" to me back in may and what an honor! i was supposed to list my 5 favorite desserts i prepared. going down memory lane, here are my faves, in no particular order:

almond-mocha roulade
bill's big carrot (cup)cake
best brownie ever (tied with the lovely flying hearts)
chocolate hazelnut biscotti
passover fruit tart
chocolate macarons

(haha, okay that was technically 7 and if i don't stop now i'll end up listing all of them as faves!)


and drumroll please for the next 3 blogs i am passing along this yummy blog award to. i have a growing list of favorite blogs i make sure to read, and these are the more recent ones i have found:

stephanie from a whisk and a spoon
melody at my sweet and saucy
kid diva with the sugar bar

congrats and a toast! here's to many more days and years of beautiful blogging!

martha mondays, strawberry shortcake, and a little break

this is going to be an all-purpose post ...

martha monday on a wednesday? sure, why not! i was very happy to see that patricia from technicolor kitchen brought us her best brazilian martha dinner of rolled flank steak. oh yes, flank steak is my favorite, how did she know?! and with roasted peppers and mozzarella, need i really say more? go over and check out her post and all her other wonderful creations.

and what did i bring? some lousy herbed couscous. honestly, after i told the world to go out and check out martha's little "best easy dinners" i took a more careful look and couldn't find anything that caught my appetite, which is of converted omnivore who sometimes prefers to be a vegetarian. so i made the couscous (minus the chicken breast), which was super simple, but it didn't really have enough flavor. nor was it very photogenic so you'll just have to take my word for it!

but i don't think i'm going to continue with my little martha monday endeavor. i "met" some people with great blogs: addicted sweet tooth, the frosted bakeshop, columbus foodie, and technicolor kitchen but it was kind of a lonely event. so for now, it's taking a little break, and maybe it will come back tweaked and tinkered to attract more people. or maybe ya'lls just hate martha?? ;)

and honestly, when i started blogging i had no idea why i was doing this, who i was doing it for, and creating food wasn't even on my brain. but then it grew with me and i loved it and i couldn't wait to cook and bake and shoot a gazillion photos along the way.

but now i just don't feel the love anymore. it could be (probably is) because of personal things going on. it could be i'm a little bummed about the nomination, okay i'll admit it, a lot of pissed. it could be i have probably eaten more butter and sugar in the past few months than i have in the past few years. it could be, it could be, it could be.

whatever it is, i guess i feel i need to shrink back a little and be a little quiet. which is perfect timing because in a couple hours i'll be on my way to a sunnier place. it's only a week but hopefully i will come back to new york refreshed, balanced, happy, and energized.

and then we will see what happens.

in the meantime, here is a strawberry shortcake to get you excited about summer (i mean, if you live in the northern hemisphere). the strawberries have finally arrived in the farmer's market and what's not to love? i didn't even sugar these because they were so fresh and delish, none was needed.

maybe that should be my motto right now. no extra sugar needed, because it's great just the way it is ...



strawberry shortcakes: makes 8
from martha's great food fast (2007, p. 86)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup butter, cold cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tb
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
6 cups fresh strawberries
whipped cream

1. preheat oven to 425F. in food processor, combine flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. process until mixture resembles coarse meal. add milk and pulse just a few times to moisten. do not overprocess.

2. turn out dough on floured surface. with floured hands, gently pat dough into 4 x 8 inch rectangle.

3. dust knife with flour and cut dough into 8 squares. transfer to baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. bake until golden, 25 - 30 minutes. cool on baking sheet. split biscuits with knife, layer with berries and whipped cream.

mad for macarons

can you believe i went to paris and never ate a macaron or any other baked goods besides croissants and baguettes? no macarons??! well, two years ago i hated sweets. and now i can't get enough of them. i still don't love sweets, but i am in love with trying them.

actually, now that i write that ... can you believe that two years ago i never even heard of a macaron? the horror!

and of course, some of my favorite bloggers are the queens of sweets, and since then i've learned what they are and seen the most beautiful macarons ever. so when minko over at couture cupcakes announced a mad for macarons event, i was instantly excited! here was my chance to try baking the wonderful loveliness that every one adores and which i have never had!

after hemming and hawing with whose macaron recipe to try first, i decided to go with david lebovitz's chocolate version. why not? i have a blog crush on monsieur lebovitz and the idea of chocolately meringuey almondy cookies sounded delish.

and for my first ever batch of macarons, i'm pretty happy. not ecstatic, because they didn't really come out correctly. but happy that i tried them and more than happy that they taste absolutely delish.



i got the cute little feet on my macarons, but the majority of them cracked on the top, as you can see in the tray above. the optimist could reason that i did them right, but some messed up. or the realist could argue that i f*cked them up, and was lucky to get a few to come out nicely. but either way, i would really love it if any of you more experienced macaroners could clue me in to what might have been wrong?



because i've never had a macaron, let alone an excellent one, i don't know what to compare mine to. basically the filling was lovely (although i think i may have not put enough on) and the cookie crust was thin, not really crisp, but like a thin shell, and the inside was soft. i don't know, it's hard to describe it properly (or maybe les adjectifs français serve this purpose better.) the taste was oh so chocolatey and the smell of these were just amazing.

next time, and oh yes there will definitely be a next time, i would like to sift my almond meal even a little bit finer to get a smoother shell. and pipe out my batter a little more evenly in size and shape so i can actually match tops and bottoms!

but this macaron virgin is now officially in love. i can't wait to visit paris again to get the real thing.



for david lebovitz's recipe, click here and you won't be disappointed!

for a description of french macarons, i really like this write up.

beautiful bones with golden tofu red curry

susan over at food blogga is hosting a special event to honor osteoporosis month and raise awareness of this disease. there is a long list of potential causes of osteoporosis she reprints on her blog. one was asthma, although i wonder if this is more about the medications used to control asthma, rather than the difficulty in breathing itself. for instance, oral steriods such as advair can reduce normal calcium consumption and bone formation.

unfortunately every time my physician asks if i'm taking calcium supplements (because i do have asthma and take advair) i sheepishly say no as if i think it won't affect me. but honestly, i know better. so i was happy to join in this event, and even happier that non-animal sources of calcium were welcome (don't even get me started on the media's industry paid misplaced emphasis on cow milk!)

so here is my humble entry ... the incredible edible amazing tofu!



there are so many different ways of cooking (or not) and serving tofu, but this is one of my favorites, even if it isn't the most healthiest of options. we used this in a simple thai red curry with onions, carrots, scallions, cilantro, red peppers, and farmer's market snap peas that were the freshest things this side of perfect.





golden tofu: serves 2 - 4 (more like 2 for tofu lovers like moi)
adapted from deborah madison's vegetarian cooking for everyone (1997, p. 598)

1 1lb package firm style tofu, cut into 1" cubes
2 tb peanut oil (or other high heat oil)
salt + pepper

1. drain then blot the tofu with paper towels. cut into 1" cubes and lightly salt and pepper.

2. heat oil in medium nonstick skillet over fairly high heat. add tofu and fry until golden. it takes several minutes to color, so let it cook undisturbed while you do something else, then come back and turn the pieces.

3. drain briefly on paper towels and serve up in endless ways!

the daring baker that wasn't ... but here are some peanut butter chocolate cookies instead :)

there's no excuse her ladies and gents. it just didn't get done. along with the human rights paper that i am totally dragging my arse on.

but that doesn't mean it won't get done! i HAVE to finish my paper this weekend and i WILL make that opera cake!

got. to. get. it. together. ugh.

but in the meantime, please go check out hundreds of other more worthy daring bakers than i and their beautiful opera cakes of all shapes and flavors. and for a little sweet to tide you over, here are some chunky cookies i made awhile ago. super easy, super delish!





chunky peanut, chocolate, and cinnamon cookies: makes 5 dozen
from martha's website (click here)

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cups roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
2 tsp vanilla

1. preheat oven to 350F. whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. put butter and peanut butter in bowl of mixer with paddle attachment and mix on medium until combined, about 2 minutes. add sugars and mix another 2 minutes. mix in eggs. gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined. fold in chocolate chips, peanuts, and vanilla. refrigerate until slightly firm, 15 minutes.

3. roll dough into 1 inch balls. space about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. flatten slightly (i didn't, wanted them more humped). bake until just golden, 13 minutes. transfer to wire rack to cool.

martha said to serve these with ice cream ... and who was i to ignore her instructions! ;)

twd: brioche overload with snails and french toast

for this week's tuesdays with dorie, madam chow of madam chow's kitchen choose dorie's ooey gooey sticky pecan buns. everyone loves sticky pecan buns ... except for the mimis. even the gorgeous gooey photo in dorie's book didn't appeal to us.

but brioche ... now that is something even the village idiot would love! i've never made brioche before, so i was up to the challenge. also, dorie's brioche method is slightly different than others i have read, from the way the butter is added to the way it is rolled for the loaf pan. so let's give it a whirl and see what happens!

and a whirrled it went, my poor KA was huffing and puffing and still those butter chunks were just whirrling around the side of my dough instead of getting properly incorporated. no way i could finish this dough on LOW speed as dorie instructs. so a little faster, a little more huffing and puffing, and finally it came together.



for my alternative to sticky buns, i chose a previous TWD selection of brioche raisin snails. yumm. i didn't quite have enough raisins on hand, but i always have a bunch of dried apricots around, so i chopped those up too. i also used armagnac instead of rum for a more traditional flambé. i also doubled the sugar filling because i like it like that.



but oops, i used a pastry cutter to slice my snails and they ended up a wee bit squished. and oops, i don't know what happened but they got really really brown (burnt?) and i cooked them for probably 10 minutes less than indicated. i have an oven thermometer, so i know the temp was right (in fact, it was a little low in the beginning) so i have no idea what happened. but it wasn't anything a little drizzled sugary icing couldn't fix!

a little toasty


meets a little icing


and what about the rest of the brioche dough? we went for the obvious. some classic brioche french toast the next morning. to make myself feel better for all that buttery goodness i tried to pretend i wasn't eating i went out and played two hours of tennis afterwards. somehow it all balances out, riiight? ;)





to get your goo on with hundreds of sticky pecan buns, please check out the rest of tuesdays with dorie!

brioche raisin snails
adapted from dorie's baking handbook (p. 56)

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
a pour of armagnac or other brandy
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
your favorite brioche recipe
your favorite pastry cream recipe
your usual sugar icing recipe

1. line one or two baking sheets with parchment. mix sugar and cinnamon (you probably won't use the full doubled amount, so reduce if you want).

2. put raisins and apricots in small pan, cover with hot water and let them steep for about 4 minutes until they are plumped. drain raisins/apricots and return to pan, stirring, and warming them over low heat. pour a bit of armagnac on the mix, and ignite with long match or lighter. if your kitchen hasn't burned down (haha, just kidding, really flambéing is easier than you think) set aside.

3. on well floured surface, roll dough into rectangle 12 inches wide and 16 inches long, with short end towards you - oops!! i don't think i did this either! spread pastry cream across dough, leaving 1 inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. scatter raisins/apricots and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix.

4. starting with side nearest, roll dough into cylinder. with chef's knife, using sawing motion, trim just a bit of the ends if not even. then cut the log into rounds 1 inch thick. put snails on lined baking sheet, leaving some space between each. cover with wax paper and let double in volume, about 1-2 hours.

4. meanwhile preheat oven to 375F. bake snails for about 25 minutes or until puffed and richly brown (or really dark brown in my case, mwahaha!) transfer snails to cooling rack and then drizzle with the good sugary stuff.