South in Your Mouth

TWD: Apple Cheddar Scones

2008-07-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

I’m not a coffee drinker. And as such, I’ve always kind of stereotyped coffee-type of baked goods into the…. “Not for me pile.” So, this means that when it comes to scones, biscotti, tea cakes, coffee cake, etc… I’ve just completely ignored their realm of baked goods.

And then, as usual when I actually try something that I think I don’t like…. I end up loving it and wondering why I was so opposed to the darn thing in the first place.

Case in point: Scones.

A few months ago, while staying at the Elizabeth Street Inn, I heard from another hotel guest that their scones in the morning were “to die for.” Which seemed ridiculous. I mean, how could a scone be “to die for”? That phrase is saved for Pecan Pie Cheesecake or Guinness Chocolate Cake, something really decadent and luscious. Not some silly coffee accompaniment, right? Well, even though I wouldn’t describe a scone as to die for, the scones at the hotel were absolutely delicious. Especially a lemon flavored one they had. And ever since that morning, I’ve been craving more scones. I’ve looked for a recipe, but hadn’t decided one specific one yet.

Anyway, fast forward to this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection: Apple Cheddar Scones. I was super excited when I saw this selection…. I mean, apples, cheese, and bread. Three of my favorite things (although, admittedly I’d never had them all together). These were a breeze to whip up, but you know what…. Mine turned into light, fluffy biscuits instead of crumbly scones. The scones I had at the Elizabeth Street Inn were a crumbly, harder texture. Whereas mine turned out light and fluffy (the best biscuit texture I’ve ever made, in fact). Maybe I did something wrong? I did use a cookie scoop to dollop them out, so that I’d have evenly sized pieces that I didn’t have to fight with bare hands. Could that have been the problem? Maybe it needs to cook as a larger mass?

Regardless… they were really, really good. I would definitely make these again as a brunch bread.

Thanks to Karina for the great choice and if you want to check out the recipe, head over to her blog… The Floured Apron.
And…. Guess who got to pick out next week’s selection? Yup, me. Woo

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2008-06-26T13:49:00.003-05:00

So, yes, I've been on a little bit of a bar cookie kick, lately. I actually still have another bar cookie that I made last week that I have yet to blog about. But, a couple of days ago... I decided I wanted something chocolate-y, rich and sturdy. Normally, I would just make brownies... but for some reason, I haven't been in a brownie mood lately.

I flipped through my recipes and came across this recipe that I found on a blog a few weeks ago. As I looked over the recipe, I thought to myself... now, this sounds perfect! Chocolate! Chocolate Chips! Pecans! Coconut! You can't go wrong, there, right?

I was imagining a big, chewy cookie... but the recipe called for all white sugar. So, I decided to substitute all the sugar for brown sugar. And, for someone that likes intense chocolate flavor these cookies would be great. But, I found myself wanting the cookie to be sweeter and chewier. A good cookie, indeed... but, next time I think I'll kick up the sugar a little more. I'm a sugar fiend. Try it if you're looking for a sturdy, chocolatey, substantial cookie.

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies
found at: Genesis of a Cook

2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup large pecan pieces
1 1/8 unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until well incorporated, then beat in cocoa powder.
3. Mix in flour, salt and baking powder until just combined. Gently fold in remaining ingredients.
4. Transfer dough to a clean work surface and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients. Divide into 12 equal portions and transfer on a sheet pan with parchment paper.
5. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Take care not to over bake. Let cool on rack.

TWD: Mixed Berry Cobbler

2008-06-24T08:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend, I went to Memphis to visit my best friends April & Greg and of course, their dog, Banner. I know that April loves fruit as much as I do, and since cobblers usually seem to be fairly easy recipes to make, I decided that I could just make this cobbler while I was there!

My fellow Tuesdays with Dorie participants had been talking all week about how their cobbler toppings just weren't that impressive. That it was kind of flavorless. So, what did I decide to do? I decided to use a different cobbler topping from Dorie's Recipe for Cherry & Rhubarb Cobbler and instead of ginger (which I didn't have) I opted for Cinnamon. Ummm.. lots of cinnamon. Too much cinnamon, in fact.

The berries (raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries) weren't super flavorful and the topping just turned out too dang cinnamon-y. Uggh. My bad on this one. Better luck next time.

Thanks to Beth of Our Sweet Life for this summery selection! Be sure to check out everyone else's cobblers at Tuesdays with Dorie!

Cherry Pie

2008-06-19T09:07:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, I took it upon myself to officially dub it as, Family Extravaganza Weekend. Aside from Father's Day, this weekend was also my Grandma's 89th birthday, as well as my brother Jason's birthday. Busy weekend, no? You could say that.

As has become customary, I asked Jason what he wanted for his birthday dessert. I had assumed that he'd ask for either a coconut cake or banana pudding. But, instead... he surprised me and willingly shared his selection with my dad. He chose Cherry Pie (which, is my dad's favorite dessert). I was pretty excited about this selection, because you see... Cherry Pie is probably one of the most favorite things that I make. And this Cherry Pie is a recipe that I came up with all on my own. Which makes it even more special to me. It's like my little baby.

Usually, I make a double crust and use an Emeril Pie Crust Recipe, but this time, I decided to try a pie crust recipe from my book Baking From My Home To Yours (which is incidentally on sale for 12.99 from Amazon right now!). And you know what folks? As much as I love Emeril, I gotta say... Dorie's pie crust was better. Tender and thick. And I made it without a food processor. Just me, a pastry blender and raw palms.

This time around, I decided to do things a little differently...
I decided to attempt a lattice top. Using this wonderful guide from Elise at Simply Recipes, I rolled my dough, cut my strips and started assembling the lattice top, using the instructions constantly.

And it turned out beautifully...

I brushed the top with heavy cream and then even sprinkled a little brown sugar on top to get a caramel-y color to the top. I then wrapped aluminum foil (that I had sprayed cooking spray on...learned that one the hard way, last time) around the edges of the pie, so they wouldn't brown too quickly. And away into the oven it went.

It was a delicious pie, if I do say so myself. And I am so excited that I gave the lattice top a try. It made for a much prettier pie that screamed "homemade with love!"

Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day!Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
- makes enough for a 9-inch double crust -
Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ½ sticks very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces 1/3 cup very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening (non-trans fat), cut into 2 piecesAbout ½ cup ice water
Procedure

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing—what you're aiming for is to have pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, add 3 tablespoons of the water—add a little water and pulse once; add some more water and pulse again; and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. If you've got big pieces of butter, that's fine. The dough is ready and should be scraped out of the work bowl and on to a smooth work surface.

Separate the dough and shape the dough into two disks and wrap them. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour before rolling. (If the ingredients were very cold and you worked very quickly, you might be able to roll the dough immediately—you'll know: the dough will be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge.) The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Once the dough is fitted into the pie plate, refrigerate it again. If you don't have time for a longish chill, just keep the pie plate in the fridge while you preheat the oven.

Cherry Pie
2 cans of Sweet Pitted Bing Cherries (14.5 oz cans)
1 can of Tart Cherries
3 tbsp cornstarch
½ cup Dried Sweet & Tart Cherries (about 3 ozs)
¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1 tbsp Butter
½ tsp Almond Extract
Red Food Coloring
Cream or milk
Pie crust for a double crust pie

Strain syrup from bing cherries and reserve juice. Strain tart cherries and reserve it’s juice separately. Combine the bing cherries and the tart cherries in a bowl with ¼ cup of the sweet juice (save the leftover juice), 2 tbsps of the tart juice, and the cornstarch; stir to blend and set aside.

Combine 1 cup of the sweet juice along with 1 tbsp of the tart juice with the dried cherries in a large saucepan. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes on medium low heat to allow the dried cherries to plump up. Uncover and increase the heat to medium and simmer until mixture bubbles thickly and it has reduced to about ¾ cup, stirring occasionally (about another 10 minutes). Add your other cherry mixture to the saucepan mixture along with the butter and sugar and heat thoroughly over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens (about 3-5 minutes). After mixture has thickened, pull off heat and add almond extract and a few drops of red food coloring. Transfer pie filling to a medium bowl and let it cool completely.

After it has completely cooled, position a rack in the second to the bottom row in your oven and preheat oven to 400 F.

Roll our pie disk on a floured surface to 12 inch round. Transfer to a 9 inch diameter pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1 inch. Put pie plate into the fridge while you roll out your top. Roll the top crust to 12 inch diameter. Spoon pie filling into bottom crust and then cover with top crust. Crimp edges decoratively (you may refrigerate pie for a little while at this point, if dough is very warm)and lightly brush the top and edges of the pie with cream lightly. (I also sprinkled brownsugar on top the crust). Make four slits in the top of the crust to allow the steam to escape (unless making a lattice top). Place aluminum foil strips around the edges of the pie to keep them from browning too quickly. Put pie on a baking sheet with a rim and place into the preheated oven.

After 25-30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and continue to cook.Cook for about 50-55 minutes, until crust is golden.

Transfer pie to rack and allow to cool for 2 hours. Serve pie lukewarm or room temperature.

TWD: Chocolate Cream Puffs with Crunchy Hazelnut Topping

2008-06-17T07:58:00.003-05:00

Apparently, I’m a simple girl.

I’ve never had a chocolate éclair, a cream puff, or any other fancy dancy pate a choux. (I never even saw this phrase till this week and I’m still utterly clueless to how it’s pronounced).

I’m not a big bread pastry type of gal in general. I’m very picky about my donuts, etc… Basically, it boils down to one thing… Sugar. I like sugar. And lots of it. This totally explains my love of milk chocolate. So, for this reason… the only donuts I’ll even entertain eating are Krispy Kreme… and you know why? Because it’s basically pure sugar.

Mmmm.. sugar.

So, initially I was worried about liking this recipe that was chosen by Caroline of A Consuming Passion for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. But, when the actual dough came together super, super easy, I started to get excited. I halved the recipe and made éclairs and cream puffs.

Instead of making peppermint filling, I made Dorie's Chocolate Pastry Cream...which for me, turned out to be just like a chocolate pudding. (Is that what Pastry Cream is supposed to be?) And out of sheer laziness, instead of making a glaze... I opted to heat up a little crunchy nutella (world market brand) and spread over the top.

These turned out alright. Not my favorite thing, but at least now I've had one. And the recipe was actually super easy, although, I thought my arm was going to fall off whipping the pastry cream.

S'more Pie

2008-06-16T13:51:00.006-05:00

The first time I had S’mores, I was getting ready to graduate college. I mentioned this fact yesterday while at my parents house for the Family Extravaganza weekend. My mom insists that I had S’mores in my childhood. She claims, at some point while we were camping.. . we had S’mores. But, let’s be honest here… I would most definitely remember the first time I had a S’more. I can guarantee you that.

So, yes, my first S’more was when I was 21 years old. There was a campfire involved… and I believe there was even a guitar… And there was lots of bossing underclassman around the park to find more sticks to keep the campfire burning. Ahhh… college life.

Anyway… Let’s just say I have some catching up to do with the ole S’mores concept.

Enter this Pie.

I’ve been trying to figure out the perfect time to make this pie… and luckily, the time came sooner rather than later. This weekend was a big weekend in my family… My brother Jason celebrated a birthday on Saturday, my grandma turned 89 on Sunday and it was father’s day! Throw in the U.S. Open final round (well… it was the final round, although the outcome is still unknown) and it was a Sunday packed full of family and celebrations.

As customary… I asked my brother what he wanted for his birthday dessert. He chose a cherry pie. Which was perfect because for one, I’ve been craving cherry pie, and two, cherry pie happens to be my dad’s favorite dessert, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Or… two occasions with one pie, rather. (More on the cherry pie later this week).

This is all fine and dandy, except for my brother Mike. You see, Mike is more of a chocolate lover… less of a fruit lover. So, I knew I’d have to make something else as well, that he could eat for dessert. And that’s when I thought of the S’mores Pie. I think this pie more than made up for his less than perfect birthday cake I made a few weeks ago....

It came together very easily. I didn’t make homemade graham crackers or homemade marshmallows. But, I did make the crust and the filling and then added marshmallow fluff to the top and broiled it for a few minutes to brown up a bit.

Not being a bittersweet chocolate fan, I actually used all semi-sweet chocolate in the filling and next time I make this.. I might use half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate. What can I say? I’m a sugar fiend.

This would be an awesome July 4th dessert. Quick (I made the pie the day before, chilled it and then just topped it off with marshmallow fluff and broiled it before serving), easy, and extremely tasty.

A slice also makes for a tasty breakfast… even cold, fresh from the fridge. Or, at least that’s what I hear.

Hazelnut Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-06-12T14:40:00.003-05:00

So, I know everyone and their brother is sick of hearing how I was in Oregon last month for a week. So, I’ll spare you the details, except… the one thing I wanted to buy while I was there… (well besides a UofO track t-shirt, chocolate covered hazelnuts and pinot noir) was hazelnuts. Fresh Oregon Hazelnuts. Yum.

I ended up buying some the morning I left at the Portland Airport. And... I know what you're thinking... hazelnuts at the airport?? But, there is this cool store in Oregon called conveniently... "Made in Oregon" where everything they sell is stuff produced in Oregon. Cool, huh? I went to one of these stores in Newport and didn't pick up any hazelnuts, thinking I'd go somewhere later in the week that would have a bigger selection. Turns out. I didn't. So, the Made in Oregon store in the Portland Airport had to do. I’ve had these hazelnuts sitting in my cabinet for a month now and I’ve vigorously searched for the right recipe to use some in. Finally, one day on Cookie Madness, Anna posted a recipe with Hazelnuts that she got from this website. I perused the website and decided on these cookies. Oatmeal, Toffee, Chocolate Chips and Hazelnuts... I mean, you can't go wrong there, right?

These cookies are delicious! I used Heath Brickle Bits instead of Heath Bars cut up, so I added more chocolate chips to the recipe. I must disclose, also, that I added probably a quarter cup more sugar than the recipe called for, because my nuts were salted (ha ha).

These cookies turned out chewy with a little crisp and the hazelnuts and the toffee really go well together. A definite winner.

Hazelnut Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blondies

2008-06-11T15:45:00.003-05:00

Just when you thought I was done with the ooey, gooey bar recipes…

I’ve had this recipe for awhile… Cookie Baker Lynn's blog is one of my favorite blogs to check out. I have bookmarked a bunch of her tasty looking recipes, but this is the first that I’ve gotten around to making. The first and not the last, I might add.

Blondies… I realize that the toffee bar recipe I made last week is named a blondie. But, it’s technically not. No, it’s not really cakey or brownie-like (well, maybe it was supposed to be, I just didn’t cook it enough). This is what a real blondie is. Rich, buttery flavor with the sturdy-ness of a brownie. (I mean, isn’t a blondie just a brownie without chocolate?).

These blondies are absolutely delicious! I honestly don’t feel the need to ever try another blondie recipe again.

Again, I underbaked these… I’m beginning to think it has to do with my oddly sized 7x9 inch glass dish that I’ve been using. But, honestly.. that’s fine with me… I can always use some gooeyness with my blondies.

Make these blondies if you are in the need of a comforting sugar fix and want something other than chocolate. You won’t be disappointed.

(Recipe linked above).

TWD: La Palette's Strawberry Tart

2008-06-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

This week, for Tuesdays with Dorie, Marie of A Year from Oak Cottage selected Dorie’s La Palette’s Strawberry Tart. Yay! An easy, refreshing recipe that incorporates a summer fruit!

When I was growing up… we grew strawberries (well, at least for 3-4 years). It was great to have fresh strawberries, but man.. picking them sucked. Luckily, I was young enough, where I wasn’t expected to hunch over in the garden and pick the strawberries. All I was expected to do was sit around and not get into trouble (too much). Ahhhh… to be a young child again with low expectations for your actions.

I guess my maternal grandma grew strawberries too (though, I don’t remember) because, she almost always had strawberries that had been sliced and sugared till they formed this delicious strawberry syrup and she’d freeze it all in a little Tupperware container. She’d take one out and thaw it to go on hot biscuits for breakfast. Yum.

Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and with them being so good for you, I was so excited to try this simple dessert.

So, this recipe is supposed to be made in a tart crust. You make the crust and bake it completely, then spread some strawberry jam on it and cover that with fresh cut up strawberries! Easy!

I decided to half the tart dough recipe though and I rolled it out and cut out little cookie sized dough rounds and baked those off. So, I essentially had very hard shortbread cookies.
The only thing I had to buy was strawberry jam…I went to my neighborhood Harris Teeter and perused the jam aisle. I was getting ready to just pick up a jar of Smuckers Strawberry Jam when I saw this near the top of the shelf…
Trappist Rhubarb Strawberry Preserves.

Even though it was like 5 bucks for a little jar, I had to have it. And folks, I could easily take a spoon and eat this entire jar without batting an eyelash. This stuff is like crack.. The monks are surely getting by with their chastity vows because of these preserves. SERIOUSLY.
Overall, I really liked this dessert. It was light and refreshing and you could easily keep some frozen dough rounds in your freezer and pop them in the oven whenever you have some particularly yummy strawberries. The tart dough is VERY crunchy though. And for whatever reason, I’m kind of a soggy food girl. I know, it’s weird. I like plain untoasted bread for my hamburgers and sandwiches and I like nachos after they’ve had the queso sitting on them for awhile and the chips are all soft and soggy. Weird, right? I made up a couple of theses and put them in the fridge, hoping that they would sog (is sog a word? According to spell check, it is not) up some. But it didn’t. Still, very delicious.

Chocolate Coconut Dream Bars

2008-06-06T11:53:00.003-05:00

Boo - Ya. Look at me. I think this is the first week ever that I've posted every day Monday-Friday. After this week, you may not see me for about a month while instead of spending time baking, I'll be spending time running my ass off to burn all these calories. Literally.

I kid, I kid. (Well, about the not baking part, at least).

Today, I bring you... another bar recipe. But, this isn't your typical bar recipe. And by typical bar recipe I mean: get a bowl out, throw a bunch of stuff in it, whiz it around with the hand mixer, plop it into a pan, and bake it. The end. Thats my typical bar recipe.

This recipe is a little more involved (not much). You make a simple crust, bake it off and then add the filling and bake it again. Easy, just requires that extra baking step. Unfortunately for me, I forgot the salt. And some of you may think... oh, big deal, she forgot the salt. But it is a big deal. It is a huge deal. When I took the first bite, I immediately realized I forgot the salt. I used to always skip salt in recipes... but, it really does make a difference. It makes the sweet flavor pop or whatever. I can't describe, just don't ever leave out the salt, ok?

At first, I wasn't too crazy about this recipe.

But, now, after eating almost the entire half batch I made... I like it. It's very chocolatey. The coconut adds some good texture and flavor. And the crust is sturdy and crunchy. But not too crunchy.

Coconut Dream Bars

Toffee Pecan Blondies

2008-06-05T12:04:00.004-05:00

Sometimes… sometimes you just get that craving for something gooey, chocolatey and sweet. I get this craving most… when I watch Russell Crowe (dressed in 1970s attire, no less) strut his stuff as a tough, womanizing cop/attorney. So… it goes without saying… that after watching American Gangster… I was ready for some gooey, chocolatey, sweet stuff. I dunno… it probably had more to do with hormones than with Russell Crowe, but whatever.

The thing is… when I get this craving… not just any ole thing will do. No…. for this particular craving, it typically has to be in bar form. And it always has to be easy, because I’m lazy and unmotivated when I’m dealing with a craving.

This Recipe fit the bill. It took me a long time to find it. Actually, now that I think about it… I should just set up a separate tabs in my recipe collection based on these cravings… there would be a Daniel Craig tab (all things brownie-ish and substantial), an Edward Norton tab (all things creamy and decadent), and.. an Eric Bana tab (yummy salty and peanut buttery things). Okay, enough with the man tabs (but... it is an idea).

So, this recipe was very gooey (I definitely underbaked these bars) and really sweet. I added the optional chocolate chips in the recipe (of course). But, I found that the toffee bits were just kind of wasted in the recipe. I didn’t really get any flavor from them. I don’t know, maybe they melted in and contributed, but I think next time, I might swap something else out for the toffee bits. Something like butterscotch chips, or more chocolate chips.

David Leibovitz's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-06-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve been holding out on you…

And for that, I apologize.

It’s not because I’m trying to keep a recipe away from you… that’s not it at all. It’s more because I’m afraid you’ll think of me as a one trick pony. I mean, how many chocolate chip cookie recipes can a girl try?

So, to be sure… I made this recipe 4 times in one week. And while, one time, the cookies came out kind of thin (because I made them too small, I think), they’ve been delicious and easy everytime.

Please… don’t groan. It is another chocolate chip recipe, but this one is a really, really, really good one! And I’m not the only one who thinks so!

David Leibovitz, I thank you, sir. These cookies are delicious.

Recipe Notes: I’ve been on a kick lately where I’ve been using Ghiradelli’s Milk Chocolate Chips, but for this recipe, I use Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet. Also, make sure you make these cookies big. Three times I’ve made these, I’ve double my cookie scoop for the cookies and they turned out perfect. One time, I just used one scoop from my cookie scoop and they thinned out significantly.
They are very chewy, with the right amount of crisp that you would expect from a chocolate chip cookie.

Great Chocolate Chip Cookies from David Lebovitz's Great Book of Chocolate

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch (1cm) pieces

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup(130 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust the oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 300F (150C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon (5cm) balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches (10cm) apart, on each of the baking sheets.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Make about 20 cookies.

TWD: French Chocolate Brownies

2008-06-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Fruit? Good.
Chocolate? Good.
Fruit and Chocolate together? Not good.

Or so I used to think. You know how it is… it’s hard to shake your childhood palette sometimes. In my head, some things just aren’t supposed to go together and to illustrate that… I present the following evidence…
Russell Stover’s Boxed Chocolates.

Oh sure, they are innocent looking enough, with all the deliciously draped milk and dark chocolates. But beneath that luscious, silky chocolate… lies potential secret grossness. Oh, sure there are a couple in there that have caramel in them.. (my bet was always on the milk chocolate square shaped ones… and I was usually right) and there are a few nutty type ones that were good. But, the majority of these are filled with yucky orange, strawberry, lemon, or raspberry creams. Presenting a tastebud game of roulette that I could never resist, but always regretted (sounds eerily familiar to the vegas roulette, no?).

Whenever I hear of chocolate and fruit, I think back to those chocolates.

There was one exception though. The cordial cherry. For whatever reason, a chocolate covered cherry got a free pass in my culinary world. My argument would be that the chocolate didn’t actually touch the cherry… the syrupy goodness served as a buffer between the two.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve slowly warmed up to some fruit and chocolate marriages. For instance… chocolate covered strawberries. While, I’d probably enjoy them more, if they were separately on their own, I do like chocolate covered strawberries and will eat them happily.

So, when I first saw that Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook chose something called French Chocolate Brownies, I was initially very excited. Yum. Brownies. Then I read the recipe…

RAISINS? WITH CHOCOLATE? WHO EATS RAISINS AND CHOCOLATE TOGETHER??

… oh yeah…apparently lots of people do (raisinetes. duh). And then I realized… my palette has grown, but it hasn’t grown quite that far yet. So, instead of raisins, I subbed dried cherries. Problem solved. .
The only other issue I had with the recipe, is that while I do love rum, rum doesn’t love me. In fact, it hates my body so much, that I can have one rum and coke and about 15 minutes later… well… I’ll just leave it with the comment, that I need a ponytail holder close by. I realize that by baking with rum, I’d not have a problem… but, I didn’t want to make a special trip to the liquor store to buy a mini bottle of rum (basically, because instead of leaving with just the one mini bottle of rum, I’d presumably leave with 5-6 bottles of wine, some tequila and maybe some vodka, oh yeah and hopefully I wouldn’t forget that mini bottle of rum. Okay, you’re right, I would). At first I thought, well I’ll just plump the cherries in some water and skip the flambéed part. But, I started snooping around in my cabinets and fridge looking for a sufficient cherry plumper. That’s when I saw the unfinished bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon sitting on my counter. People drink wine with chocolate, don’t they? So, that’s what I used instead of rum.

These brownies are what I would call sophisticated brownies. These are the type of brownies that you’d bake for your significant other’s snooty sister that lives in some up and coming chic neighborhood outside of Seattle or Chicago or Austin or something. You know what I mean… these are pretentious brownies. They present a multi-leveled flavor buffet for your palette. I think it has more to do with the cinnamon than anything else. I’ve never had cinnamon with chocolate, and the jurys still out on whether or not I actually like the two together.

Try these brownies sometime when you are looking to serve something that looks simple, but tastes different. I might make these again sometime, especially as a dessert for a wine tasting party or something.

Be sure to check out everyone elses over at Tuesdays with Dorie.

French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Butter Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2008-06-02T09:13:00.002-05:00

I have taken it upon myself to dub myself as the official special occasion baker of the family. I don’t really think anyone minds so much. My mom is the only one who enjoys cooking and she’s not one for following recipes or trying out new recipes… she’s more of the “cooking” type, I suppose.

So, as the special occasion baker, I asked my brother whose birthday was Thursday, what he wanted me to bake for his birthday. My brother, Mike is one of the smartest, most creative people I know. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of knowledge that is floating around in that head of his. He’s always been that way, too. But, aside from that… aside from the intelligence and creativity, he has a huge heart. And while it’s great to be smart and talented… having a big, open heart with lots of love to give is what I look up to the most in my big brother. For his birthday dessert, he simply asked for a yellow cake with chocolate icing. No problem.
The thing is… yellow cake is a color of cake… not a flavor! So, I waffled between a vanilla cake (which typically turns out white in color) and a butter cake (the more traditional yellow color). I finally decided on a butter cake after finding this recipe.

The icing… well, that was interesting. I wanted to make a buttercream. But, for whatever reason, like a dumb ass, I just made the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Dark Cocoa Box. Once I made it and tasted it, I decided that this wasn’t the frosting that I thought I was making… No, I wanted to make this frosting. But, I couldn’t find this recipe in my folder. This is one of those times that instead of being glad that I don’t have a computer at home…. I was quite frustrated. So, I had to find another buttercream recipe and decided to try one of Dorie’s buttercream recipes: Chocolate-Malt Buttercream. Except… I couldn’t remember if my brother liked Malt (incidentally, he does), so I left the malt out. I ended up using the dark frosting for decoration.

Anyway… long story short… This cake and frosting was a miss. The cake was dry and tasteless and the frosting was sweet and gritty (from the brown sugar). I think that not using the malt, made the frosting have less flavor, I should’ve amped up the chocolate since I was leaving the malt out.

I’ve not had a lot of luck with cake textures. It seems that I do well with chocolate cakes, they are usually pretty moist, but for whatever reason, I can’t get a really moist cake texture from any other cake. The cakes previously had still been good, but honestly… not as good and moist as a boxed cake. Which seems so weird to me. Homemade should be better, right?

The worst part is that when you bake for a special occasion you want it to be something really great. So, it sucks that my brother’s cake wasn’t really all that great. I’m not quite sure if it was the recipe or me (though, let’s be honest… the cake recipe was a 5 star recipe on Southern Living…. It must have been me), but I’m not giving up on cakes just yet.

Happy Birthday Mike! I’m sorry your cake kind of sucked.

Also…. As a side note, my blog also had a birthday of sorts… May 23rd was the one year anniversary of my blog! C-R-A-Z-Y!

For the Chocolate-Malt Buttercream

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup malted milk powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted, butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
To Make the Buttercream: Melt the chocolate with half the brown sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the malt powder and cocoa together in a small bowl, pour over 3 tablespoons of the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Whisking the melted chocolate gently, gradually pour in the hot malt-cocoa mixture and stir to blend—it should be dark, smooth and glossy; set aside.

Working with the stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining brown sugar and beat for 2 to 3 minutes more, until well blended. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract, then reduce the mixer speed to low. Scrape in the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Still working on low speed, gradually add the confectioners' sugar. When all the sugar is in, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for a couple of minutes. Lower the speed and add the remaining tablespoon of boiling water, then increase the speed and give the frosting another quick spin. It will be light and should be thick enough to use immediately. If it doesn't hold its shape, beat it just a bit more.

TWD: Madeleines

2008-05-20T08:03:00.005-05:00

Admission: I minored in English and consider myself to be fairly well-read, but I cannot name you one thing that Marcel Proust has written. And it's funny, because... you hear his name tossed around at cocktail parties a lot (okay, well not at the cocktail parties that I go to, but I'm sure that in cocktail parties in new york or paris they're comparing Proust to Camus while sipping absinthe). Thanks to wikipedia I was able to read up on him and now... the next time I'm at a swanky cocktail party (which is likely to be never) I can confidently throw out something about Proust's greatest work: In Search of Lost Time.

Strangely enough, though I didn't know a thing about any of his work, there is one thing that I've always known about Proust. He loved him some madeleines. Coincidentally... that's the only thing I knew about madeleines, also. That Proust wrote something about how magnificent they were. And now, thanks to wikipedia I know that he referenced them in In Search of Lost Time.

Wow, isn't learning fun, y'all?

Anyway... back to the cookies or are they tea cakes? I was pretty excited when Tara of Smells Like Home chose Traditional Madeleines because it's something I've always wanted to try, but since there's no chocolate or nuts and it requires a special pan, I'd likely never try to make. But, I'm so glad I did.

I didn't have any lemons, but I did have oranges, so I used orange zest instead of lemon, which made these smell heavenly as they baked. They were so light and airy, I couldn't help but continue to pop them into my mouth while I took pictures of them. So delicate and tasty. Yum.

I made mini madeleines and decided to go a little overboard and fill some of them with a cream cheese-orange zest frosting to make mini madeleine sandwiches and they were delicious, too. Although, honestly... the madeleines didn't need any frosting. They were brilliant on their own.

Another thing I now know of Marcel Proust... he had great taste!

Be sure to check out all the other bloggers Madeleines at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

2008-05-19T10:37:00.005-05:00

Ohhhhh... Jennifer . I don't know you. But somehow... somehow, you manage to read my mind. Somehow you manage to post the most delicious looking chocolatey, peanut buttery, pecan-filled, hazelnut laced recipes and for that, I thank you. I also hope that you find imitation to be a form of flattery instead of a nuisance, since I tend to make the recipes you've blogged about and then immediately put them on my blog, as well.

Digressing... I know that I've gone on ad nauseum about how much I love chocolate and peanut butter together. So, I won't go into the fact that it's a veritable divine partnership of flavors. No, I'm just going to say that if you, too, like Chocolate and Peanut Butter together... then you should try this recipe.

Faux Skor Bars

2008-05-14T12:01:00.007-05:00

When I was a kid... one of my most favorite places was the gas station. I know, I know... that sounds really weird, but its very true. The gas station was like this smorgasboard of sugar. Rows and rows of candy bars and soda... and anytime the whole family was in the car for more than an hour or so and my dad was driving... we'd stop at the gas station and get a drink and a candy bar. Which was a real treat in my family.

You see... my mom... she was kind of into health food when I was growing up. I mean, we ate roman meal wheat bread when it was the ONLY wheat bread available at the store. I can even remember the first time I ever had white bread... it was at a friends house and I was probably 8 years old and I thought it was the most disgusting thing, because it stuck to the roof of my mouth. I couldn't believe that people preferred that to the wheat bread I was used to. So, you can imagine... if we weren't eating white bread all the way back in 1982 or so... then, high fructrose corn syrup was a pretty big no-no in our house. If we wanted something sweet to eat... my mom would whip up a batch of Grandma Cookies.

So, it was a big deal to get a soda and a candy bar. Even if my dad had to go to the gas station on a saturday to fill up gas tanks for the lawn mower or tractor... my brothers or I always wanted to go so that we could pick out our sodas and candy bars... but, if we didnt go, my dad would just bring a bag of snickers and cokes home for us anyway.

One of the candy bars that I got quite often was a Skor bar. Yum. Chocolate covered toffee. I used to eat all the chocolate off the bar first and then savor the toffee on it's own. It seems like now a days... there aren't as many candy bars out there to choose from... and whenever I'm in line at Target or Harris Teeter.. I'm lucky if they've got candy bars in that aisle at all.. let alone a skor bar or a whatchamacallit, etc...

I've had this recipe printed out for awhile, but never had any saltines. I picked up a box of whole wheat saltines just to try this recipe out... and as soon as i had a bite of this... I was instantly taken back to my childhood... they taste exactly like a skor bar! Particularly since I used milk chocolate chips in my recipe. Who knew that you could make skor bars out of wheat saltine crackers???

Anyway... these are delicious and so simple to make!

Saltine Candy/Toffee

TWD: Florida Pie

2008-05-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

Back from Oregon! And just in time to whip up something for mom on mother's day. How serendipitious that this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie Recipe chosen by Dianne of Dianne's Dishes was something that I knew my mom would love! (And she did, incidentally).

So... I love me some key lime pie. The mix of a sweet and crunchy graham cracker crust with the tart and creamy lime filling is something that I absolutely adore and when you throw in an layer of chewy, sweet coconut goodness between the two... I'm sold. One thing I'm not a fan of, though.... meringue. So, I skipped that and opted for some whipped cream. I loved this pie and would definitely make it again.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you and appreciate all the big and small things you've done for me and I hope that one day I will be at least half as good of a mom as you are!

There always has to be one photo where we're squatting down for no reason. At Mt. Hood.
Happy Mothers Day, Mom!

Florida Pie

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes) **
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended.

Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling. Bake the pie for 12 minutes.

Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue: Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

** Recipe Note: I had just shy of a full 1/2 cup with 5 limes... so, you might want to have 6 limes just in case.

Baking Hiatus...

2008-05-01T08:27:00.002-05:00

...but just for a week or so!

I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to head to Oregon where I will be running the Eugene Marathon! I'll be gone till next Friday... so, no posts until next weekend.

See y'all in about a week!

Praline Butter Bars

2008-04-30T14:39:00.004-05:00

About a month ago, I blogged about some extraordinary bars that my friend Steph brought me one day. They were called Praline Butter Bars and she bought them at Whole Foods. One of the first things she said to me after I took my first bite was... we've got to learn how to make these!

I was fairly sure that I could do the top layers no problem.. it was the crust that I was nervous about. It was SUPER buttery and moist. I came across a recipe for Caramel Butter Bars on a blog. The recipe was written by Jill O'Connor and is in her book: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. I decided it was now time to attempt to copycat the Praline Butter Bars using this crust and the filling and topping from Paula Deens Low Country Bars.

I decided to put all this together this weekend and see if I could get close to the original Praline Butter Bars. And I was very pleasantly surprised when this first experiment pretty much nailed the recipe. The only difference is the filling and topping are reversed. In the original Praline Butter Bars... the white is the filling and its thicker, while the praline part is a thinner topping. But, I don't really mind it being reversed.

The picture was taken with the bar sitting out at room temperature for awhile. Normally the white topping is firmer.

These were great and I don't really think I'm going to need to experiment anymore with them.

Praline Butter Bars

For the crust:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour

For the filling:
12 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup coconut, optional
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

For the topping:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp milk

Spray a 13x9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

To prepare the crust:
Preheat oven to 325.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using an electric mixer mix at medium speed and beat together till creamy. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture adn beat on low speed until smooth and soft.

Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan and slide into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Until dough is soft, but lightly puffed. It doesn't need to change color. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To prepare the filling:
Measure your nuts, graham cracker crumbs and coconut (if using) and set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan on low heat and add sugar. Beat the egg with the milk together in a prep bowl and then pour into the dissolved sugar and butter mixture. Stirring constantly (to keep the eggs from scrambling), turn the heat up a little and stir until mixture comes to a bowl. Remove from heat and add the graham cracker, nuts, and coconut. Stir to combine and pour and spread over the crust.

To prepare the topping:
Beat all ingredients together and spread over the filling.

Chill the bars and allow them to set up before cutting into squares.

Recipe adapted from Jill O'Connor Caramel Butter Bars and Paula Deen's Low Country Bars.

TWD: Fluted Polenta & Ricotta Cake

2008-04-28T15:22:00.005-05:00

Cornbread is one of my most absolute favorite things in the whole entire world. My mom’s cornbread, especially. I love the crispy edges, the coarse but tender texture. Yum.

In my family… cornbread is always savory. We refer to sweet cornbread as yankee cornbread and because it’s just something so foreign to me and also because I like my sweet dishes to be sweet and my savory dishes to be savory… I’ve just never been a big fan of sweet cornbread… whether it was made for dinner or dessert.

So, yes, I was quite nervous about this recipe. I honestly, would have skipped it altogether, but I’m going to be out of town all next week and won’t be able to participate, so I knew that I needed to complete this week’s recipe.

It came together really easy. I used dried figs and also dried cherries in the recipe. And when it was made… all I could think was… wow, this is just like a really sweet piece of cornbread. So, I took my pictures and then proceeded to throw the rest away.

I wish I could shake this whole sweet vs savory texture thing… maybe one of these days my palate will mature enough for that.

Anyway, a lot of other people really liked this recipe… so if you like sweet cornbread and would like it as a dessert, you should definitely give this recipe a try. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the groups cakes at Tuesdays with Dorie

And thanks to Caitlin for picking such an unusual recipe this week! Check her blog out, too.. it’s really good! Engineer Baker

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed
1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal
½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. tepid water
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.
Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.
Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the panm, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2008-04-24T13:58:00.003-05:00

I’m kind of a routine eater. I eat essentially the same thing for breakfast every morning, I eat at the same 4-5 restaurants for lunch and eat the same thing at each restaurant. It’s not that I’m not adventurous when it comes to eating… because, I can be. It’s that I’m generally too lazy to try new things. I mean… the old stand-by is stable and for sure. I don’t want to have to read a menu or think up something new to have for breakfast.

Eventually, though… I get bored. It takes a long time to happen, but it does. Such is the case of the bananas that had been sitting on my kitchen counter for a week or so. My favorite way to eat bananas is in cereal. So, when I’m not eating much cereal… I’m not eating many bananas. I only like bananas when they are bright yellow, still a little green at the stem and devoid of any black or brown spots. At the onset of even one brown fleck, the banana is essentially dead to me and must be used up in a recipe.

Which is why I was looking for a new banana recipe...for whatever reason I have become a peanut butter fanatic in recent months, so I was really feeling like I wanted to try some sort of peanut butter and banana combination. And… with bananas and peanut butter… why not throw some chocolate chips and pecans in there, right??

Yum. These were delicious.. but you know…I might add more peanut butter and more chocolate chips next time.

I made half a batch and got 10 muffins.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Also… so.. I really need to figure out how to manipulate my camera to blur the background more and focus in on the actual baked good. I also need to learn how to notice shadows when I’m taking pictures instead of later when I’m looking at them on the computer. Hopefully the issue is my skills and not my camera, cause I really don't want to have to buy a new camera.

Lesson... Pay attention when measuring.

2008-04-23T09:44:00.005-05:00

So, a couple of weeks ago, my friend Leigh was in town for the weekend. She was here during a stressful and sad time for both of us, but we managed to enjoy each other’s company and also enjoy catching up one-on-one, which we hadn’t gotten to do in years.

Usually when someone comes to visit me, I like to make something for the occasion. Cookies, muffins, whatever… I like to be the hostess with the mostest, ya know? But, this time around… I didn’t really have the time to make anything before she came into town. So, on Sunday afternoon, while we were relaxing, I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I have two favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. This one which is crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside and the one posted at the bottom of this post which I adapted from this recipe.

So, we were chatting away and she was talking about how she never makes chocolate chip cookies from scratch, etc.. and I was all like.. “ohhhhh.. they’re so easy, who needs cookies from a tube?” And while I was going on and on about how easy cookies are to make and how this recipe is awesome… I measured some ingredients wrong.

I thought that the dough seemed a little runny, but I was confident in my cookie making skills… I chilled the dough for a bit in the freezer and then started scooping them out. 8 minutes later when I checked the oven… I laughed my ass off:

And that is when I realized… hmmm… I seem to have measured either the wrong amount of butter or the wrong amount of flour. Whoops.

This recipe is awesome though if you like soft, chewy cookies. I made some last week with great results. Just make sure you measure everything carefully...

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups of flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda and powder, vanilla and eggs until ingredients are mixed.
Add chocolate chips and mix.

Add flour and continue to mix until well blended.
Cover and chill in fridge for 45-60 minutes.

Use a cookie scoop or a tbsp to measure out dough and form a ball of the dough in your hands and then slightly flatten it and place it on non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 7-9 minutes. Cool on pan and then transfer to baking rack

TWD: Bills Big Carrot Cake

2008-04-22T08:13:00.003-05:00

Generally, I don’t like surprises. Well, I should probably preface that statement with the following disclaimer: I do like surprises. But only if I have no idea that it’s coming. On the otherhand, if I know about something that is coming up… but it’s a surprise. I freaking HATE that. I’m the type that overanalyzes everything and so knowing that I’m going to be surprised by something in advance… drives me absolutely crazy. And not in a fun way… but in an irritable, cranky, and annoying way.

So, when I’m culinarily surprised by something… I tend to not like it. For example… let’s take sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are a vegetable and supposed to be like a potato (at least by their name). That means, to me they should taste like a yukon gold potato. They should be served alongside steak with lots of salt and butter. But, no. No, they are sweet and should be served for dessert not for dinner. You see.. that’s the problem.. I don’t want sweet food for dinner. I want savory food for entrees and sweet foods for dessert.

It is because of this rule I have about food, that I had never had carrot cake previous to my friend April’s wedding last year. I mean… first of all, I don’t even really like carrots and second of all… a carrot isn’t supposed to be sweet. It’s a vegetable. Someone mentioned to me that a carrot cake really just tastes like a spice cake. That you can’t taste the carrots. I started thinking… I do like spice cake. And lord knows I love cream cheese frosting. So, at Aprils wedding, I tasted the grooms cake which was a carrot cake and loved it! That was the first and last time I’ve had carrot cake… so I was pretty excited about this latest Dorie recipe.

When does a single gal need a whole cake? Well, sometimes… but, not this weekend.. so, I opted to Quarter the recipe and came out with 6 cupcakes. The cake was absolutely delicious! So moist and tender and full of flavor. I loved the addition of the nuts (I used pecans). And actually… I think I’ll make this recipe as muffins. I mean, the cake part was by far my favorite part (which usually, I’m a big frosting fan) and I think with some whole wheat flour they would make healthy, delicious muffins.

This was a definite winner for me and it will become my go-to carrot cake recipe from now on. Hooray for carrots. Thanks to Amanda from Slow Like Honey (you should check her blog out anyway, it's awesome) and be sure to check out all the other Carrot Cake posts over at Tuesdays with Dorie

Bill's Big Carrot Cake
Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Yields 10 servings

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.
If you'd like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:
Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft.
Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:
This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it's good plain, it's even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

Storing:
The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. It can also be frozen. Freeze it uncovered, then when it's firm, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.