Getting Experimental: Curry Raisin Biscaitie

For the Great Food Blogger's Cookie Swap, I challenged myself to finally bake up an experimental Biscaitie flavor that my friend, Gordon, recommended over a year ago: curry raisin. I looked up recipes for curry confectioneries, and found that there are few. It's a savory spice, but think about it: curries are also sweet. In addition to the curry, I added subtlety to the spice to ease its "curry-ness." There's cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, plus molasses, maple syrup and I soaked the raisins in vanilla and beaten eggs.

Curry Raisin Biscaitie

Dry Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardmom
1/2 tsp curry

Wet Ingredients

3 eggs beaten 
1 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup molasses
1 tbsp maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Beat three eggs in a small mixing bowl, add vanilla and raisins and let soak (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally.
2. Whisk dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry mound and pour the molasses, syrup and egg-raisin mixture into the middle.
4. Turing the dough over with your hands, mix the ingredients until well combined and form into two or three loaves (depending on the size cookie you desire).
5. Place loaves on a parchment lined cookie sheet and press flat. Using one beaten egg, glaze the tops of the loaves.
6. Turn pan into oven and bake for 30-40 minutes.
7. Once loaves are done baking, let them cool 5-7 minutes before slicing and returning to the oven for desired hardness.
8. Enjoy! 

Bake Till You Drop

On Sunday I nearly lost it. I mean sitting in a chair, face flat on hands: I can't bake anymore. I made 20 Biscaitie each for 15 different people, that's 300 Biscaitie all made out of my dinky home oven. On top of that was packaging: wrap them, bag them, tie a bow, label and cushion them, tape them up in boxes and trudge them down to the post office. I'm not ungrateful for the task, because running a baking company I realize is mostly figuring out the logistics. Plus the sense of accomplishment at the end was immense! But the whole "bake till you drop" got me thinking: what is it about starting a new process that can be so frustrating? 

It's the learning curve. I started a new job recently too. I'm a barista at The Queens Kickshaw in Astoria. As with starting my last job, there's a lot of details to remember fast when someone orders a drink. Everything has a place that it's kept, every drink has a cup it's prepared in, every second counts. But when you're learning you make mistakes. You do the wrong thing and it's the only way to seal the idea in your mind that no, an americano is does not go in the small latte cup.

The good news? Every time you repeat a process it gets easier. I now know all the things I need for my shipping including tidbits like "to" and "from." So long as you don't drop, you've learned something. With this in mind, I push on to the next order: this time 100 boxes to ship, followed by a holiday bazaar and a catered office Holiday Party!

What I Call Market Research...#Mmm

I'm starting a new initiative I call #Mmm (Magnificent Morsel Monday) which means I'm going to sample a new dessert every week (and write about it on Monday) so I can absorb ideas about flavors, meet amazing bakers and learn more about confectionery entrepreneurs. Please connect through this blog post, facebook or #Mmm @Biscaitie if you have any suggestions or know someone I should meet!

Baking a Winter's Tale

I haven't set up and sold Biscaitie since the Skidmore Market days in college. Lucky for me I stumbled upon a couple of Shakespeare entrepreneurs who have started their own Accidental Shakespeare Company. Imagine this: all the actors are cast and do not rehearse their performance until opening night. There are props strewn for them to play with and a tally system to keep them on track with their lines. It's like watching Shakespeare improv, and everyone is laughing.

Plus did I mention, there's plenty of wine too! I themed my flavors for the occasion:

Sprites and Goblins: Mint Chocolate Chunk
Pursued by a Bear: Chocolate Coconut White Chocolate Chip
The Hermione: Lemon Poppyseed
Bohemian Winter: Gingerbread
La Perdita: Peanut Butter White Chocolate

Here's to eating, drinking and being merry!

BK Biscaitie

On my way to my second BK Swap hosted at Mealku in Tribeca. I made Mint Chocolate Chunk, Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chai Biscaitie. Stay tuned to see what I bring back!

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Biscaitie

Who knew that it'd be a good combination? I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate and peanut butter so I never tried peanuts with white chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised! The sweetness of the chocolate is countered nicely by the salty peanut butter (especially if you get all natural creamy peanut butter). I'm curious about trying peanut butter with texture next. I imagine the extra crunch could be very nice. As for the chocolate drizzle (you were deceived by the photo, no?) I couldn't resist...it's a fun way to draw on food, and surprisingly hard to pull off! Want one? Stop by Odradeks in Kew Gardens!

Article on Biscaitie

Well, I'm feeling utterly flattered. Turns out one of our regular cafe goers, Jay Flemma, is also a fantastic writer. Check out his wonderful review of Biscaitie and Odradeks here.

Bait for Tasters

Two important events this week prompted the creation of these little sample bags...the first of course is BK Swappers, an event in Williamsburg this Thursday night where I'll be trading my homemade Biscaitie for various other homemade delights. I can't wait! To find out more, check out this link:

http://bkswappers.tumblr.com/post/26416739894/a-food-kitchen-swap-on-july-26

It's not too late to sign up if you're interested in joining in the bartering fun!

You'll be hearing more about the first soon so stay tuned... :)

Caramel Chocolate Biscaitie

Odradeks is now sporting a fancy jar of freshly made Biscaitie on its counter and lucky for me, I have new ingredients to play with. Their dark chocolate morsels go fantastically with swirls of caramel. I sampled them for customers today, we'll see how long they last!

Ginger Almond Biscotti

Its been awhile since I made hard biscotti and I was delighted to find that they are delicious extra crunchy. As I baked my "please hire me" cookies for my barista job interview, I considered that the owner might have a nut allergy or wouldn't be a fan of ginger: I never could have predicted that he is kosher and the manager gluten-free. The only person who tried my creation was the barista whose position I'm replacing...but the teaspoon of "please hire me" worked, I have a job!

Hopefully next week I'll start doing some baking. The small kitchen space is comparable to what I have here in Sunnyside, perfect! Our "trendy" diets will be covered at the coffee shop: kosher, gluten free and now me, the vegetarian.

Baking Biscaitie Minis

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Biscaitie Minis

Mint Chocolate Chunk Biscaitie Minis

How about those soft biscotti? I bake them constantly, so it's about time I write about them! I'm headed to New York City for the week to find some potential distributors for my new product, Biscaitie, so I pumped out mini versions and I'm half convinced to keep them this size (they're so cute!). One night, five flavors: Ginger Almond, Mint Chocolate Chunk, Lemon Poppyseed, Chocolate Coconut White Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. The environment for baking is everything. I had the company of 5 marvelous friends, red wine and Ella Fitzgerald.

Four hours went surprisingly quickly with all the great conversation, soothing music and sweet aroma therapy. YUM! There are lots of samples for my New York City readers! Moral of the story? Creating a desirable environment for baking is half of the process.