TWD: Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Hands down, this is one of my favorite recipes from the book. I've made these numerous times. The first time I followed the recipe as written, then I veered off course and I never looked back.

I lent my cookbook to a friend before I joined the TWD book. She had it for about two weeks. She wrote her notes on Post-its and left them on the pages of the recipes she had baked. On the page with this recipe, the note says, "Perfect. Imade these twice."

This version was without coconut. I truly don't feel that it adds all that much. Plus, I don't like it. This is a simple bar cookie. It comes together very easily. The only trick is the baking time. This batch baked for 25 extra minutes, and the bars were just the way I like them, moist and very chewy. I used cappuccino chips, chocolate chips, and toasted almonds for this batch. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here's a bit of a close up. The top crust did separate from the rest of the bars a bit. It was a nice contrast to the chewy of the interior.

Here's the whole batch ready to go to a friend's house. They did not last long.

Thank you, Nicole, of Cookies on Friday for letting me re-live this deliciousness.

TWD: Lots of Ways Banana Cake, but I didn't make it

I have a great recipe for banana bread. One that I love. It's just sweet enough to work as cake if needed, but also just the right texture for a lovely quick bread. And I have a great banana chocolate chip cake recipe. So I skipped this week.

Here's a link to my BCCC. It's my absolute go-to when I need a cake for almost any reason.

My absolute favorite banana bread is from King Arthur. I buy these things called Flav-R-Bites. They look slightly like rabbit pellets. They are a great addition to many baked goods. One of my favorites is their banana bread. Hmmm. I think I'll have to make it this week and post about it.

Anyway, so that's why I didn't bake Dorie's recipe. I'm sorry Kimberly (of Only Creative Opportunities) for not baking along. I know I'm baking along next week because I've already done so.

TWD: Brrrrr-ownies

I've often stated my thoughts on brownies. (Every time we bake them, actually) I was going to skip this one, but the girl loves chocolate and mint, so I baked.

This is essentially a lovely chocolate brownie with lots of peppermint patties thrown in for good measure. It was easy to put together. I melted the chocolates and butter in the microwave and then stirred everything else intothe bowl. It was pretty darn easy. I mixed in a bunch of the chopped up patties, and I saved some to throw on top. I didn't realized until after I greased the pan that it was 9 x 9 and not 8 x 8. Ah well. I cut down on the baking time. Don't think I cut down enough.

The taste was really good. I liked the bittersweet chocolate with the sweetness of the mint candies. The edges had a dry texture, though. The middle pieces were much better. If requested, I would make these again.

Here's the whole pan just out of the oven. I kinda like the way the candy looks.

Thanks, Karen of Our Crazy Blessed Life for this week's pick.

TWD: Tarte Noire

Whew! Just got in under the Tuesday deadline. This one was rich, creamy, and totally simple.

Here's what made it simple: I had two 4" tart crusts already baked and hanging out in my freezer. They were chocolate, so that added to the super richness of this dish.

I picked out some of my favorite Lindt Intense Orange chocolate. Yum! I made 1/4 of the recipe for the two tart shells. Here's how I know this is a very versatile recipe. I had no heavy cream for the ganache. I used what I had. I'm almost embarrassed to say it. I used fat free half and half. There. I said it. You heat the cream. Pour it over the chocolate. Add the butter. And then put the whole thing in the fridge. Dead easy.

It certainly didn't set up as well as it would have if I had used heavy cream. It was much creamier - more like a pudding. Still, the flavor was excellent.

Pardon the lousy photos. We were out of natural light. No real sheen on the tart. Ah well.

The slight lumps are the almond slivers in the chocolate.

I would absolutely make this again.

Thanks Dharmagirl for choosing this one!

TWD: Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes

There was no way I was missing this one. I love a good vanilla cake (which the cake essentially is), and to drench it with rum? Delicious! I'm not a rum drinker, but I love the taste in baked goods.

The original recipe makes two cakes. I only made one. Fewer cakes = less Jules. It's simple math. I love that this cake calls for real vanilla beans. There is no substitute for the deliciousness that is a fresh vanilla bean. This was very easy to put together. No mixer required! The girl actually did a lot of the measuring, pouring, and mixing. I put the loaf pan right on the oven rack. I'm still not sure why Dorie always wants me to use two baking sheets for all of my cakes. Anyway, the cake baked up golden brown and lovely in exactly 60 minutes.

Love that golden color.

While the cake is baking, I made a simple rum syrup. Once the cake was cooled, I poked it on top with a long skewer. Lots. Then I brushed the syrup over the top, also lots, until the syrup was gone. I wouldn't let anyone eat it until it had been sitting, well wrapped, of course, for at least a day.

Just waiting for a fork!

The verdict? The girl liked it a lot. The boy didn't like the rum. The husband thought it was very good. I mostly liked it. There were some real textural differences in the top of the cake where the syrup penetrated, and the bottom of the loaf where it did not. I think, were I to make this again, I would make a glaze rather than a syrup. I might also add some more vanilla to the glaze. Hmmm, that's sounding good. The rum flavor was very concentrated on the top as well. I liked it enough to want to play around some more, so that's saying something.

If you look closely, you can see how far the syrup penetrated.

I served it plain, but I could see a little rum whipped cream or some fresh fruit on top. Hmmm. That's sounding good, too. Good thing I have more cake.

Thanks, Wendy, for choosing this. Go see her blog, Pink Stripes, and you can read the recipe.

TWD: Dressy Chocolate Loafcake

This recipe came around at the perfect time. My mother's husband loves chocolate. Father's Day was Sunday. Nice match!

Following my "cakes need to ripen" theory, I made this the night before I was planning on serving it. This was a simple simple cake to make. The only substitution I made was to use some yogurt in place of the sour cream because it's what I had. I made sure I was using the correct size pan - I read about some issues that people were having. I didn't put the loaf pan on top of a sheet pan as Dorie recommends. I never do, and things still seem to bake just fine. After 45 minutes I covered the pan so that it wouldn't over brown. At 60 minutes, it was done. I let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turned it out to cool completely.

The cake sliced into thirds pretty easily. Not evenly, but that was cutter error. I planned on filling the cake with jam, but I decided against the frosting. It was a good decision. Instead of turning the cake over to make a smoother surface for frosting, I just kept it right side up. The only part of the recipe that didn't work well for me was boiling the jam. I didn't end up seeing the need. The warm jam ended up running off the cake onto the plate. Ah well. I used my home-made mixed berry jam to fill the cake. 1/3 of jam didn't seem like enough for the whole thing. I ended up using 1 cup total to fill the cake. Again, good choice. Better, I think, if I hadn't boiled it.

Very drippy jam.

Once it was assembled, I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar. This cake was not a show stopper. But what it lacked in pretty, it made up for in taste. This is an excellent cake. It was rich and moist with an excellent chocolate flavor. We thought about other ways to serve the cake, and all sounded delicious. It is definitely on our keeper list.

Cleaned up plate and powdered sugar hide a multitude of sins.

Thank you Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes for this great choice.

TWD: Raisin Swirl Bread

There are only two things in which I will eat cooked raisins. One of them is oatmeal raisin cookies. The other is cinnamon raisin bread. Woo hoo for this week's recipe!

I was reading the P & Q section, and I was surprised by how many people are intimidated by baking with yeast. Maybe it's because I've been baking for so many years, but yeast doesn't phase me at all. I use this yeast, and it's never failed me. It doesn't require proofing, which is one of the steps that may mess with people.

This was an easy recipe to put together. Thank you Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I used mostly skim milk instead of whole. I used nutmeg and vanilla. I also used this - Sweet Dough Flavor. I love the stuff. It smells like bakery and adds just the right "something" to sweet doughs. I did my first rise on Sunday night and refrigerated the dough overnight.

I was a bit concerned this morning because it had begun to rise again in the fridge. I was worried that the yeast was running out of steam for what would be essentially a third rise. The cold dough was so easy to roll out. I spread the butter and sprinkled on the cinnamon mix as well as the raisins. A quick roll up and into the pan for a rise. It did take longer than 45 minutes to crown over the top of the pan, but crown it did. It also took longer to bake than the recipe states. I baked for an extra 16 minutes. My handy Thermapen told me that it was only 155 degrees after the initial 45 minutes. That would have given me a gooey center. At 61 minutes, it was 195 degrees. Perfect.

Mmmmm. Golden brown and delicious!

The kids were clambering for me to cut into the loaf, but it needed to cool. Finally, we were able to slice. What a wonderful loaf! I love the swirls. There was a little air room at the top of the loaf, but it didn't matter. The flavor was slightly sweet and the pockets of raisins were perfect. I like the touch that the cocoa added. It wasn't overtly chocolate, it just added an extra taste. I'm pretty sure I'll be making this one again.

Just look at that swirl!

The boy really enjoyed this one!

Thanks, Susan of Food.Baby for picking this one!

TWD: Tender Shortcakes

I love a good summer dessert. While I fully subscribe to the theory that fruit isn't dessert, very often good desserts are made with fruit. This is one of them. Shortcakes are a quintessential summer dessert. They grace many magazine and cookbook covers because of the contrast in colors and the reminder of good things. I don't have a go-to recipe for shortcake because I rarely ever think to make it. When I do make it, I enjoy the heck out of it. I need to remember this one more often.

Mmmmmm. Shortcake and berries and whipped cream. Mmmmm.

I decided to quarter the recipe. I figured we were better off with four shortcakes and no leftovers. This was easy to put together. It did give me a nervous moment or two, however. I tried very hard to follow Dorie's rules and not over mix the dough. But when it all had been tossed together, I had a bowl full of crumbs. I scooped out a half cup and carefully dumped it on the Silpat. Instead of the gentle patting that the recipe suggests, I did some gentle smooshing, and made four mounds of dough. I was crossing my fingers that they would hold together. Into the oven for 15 minutes and - woo hoo! Shortcakes.

These are the mounds of dough crumbles.

Here's a close up. I wasn't sure this was going to work!

But it did. Here's a baked shortcake.

The fruit was easy. I used strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries with a touch of sugar. The whipped cream came from a can. There's no shame in spray can whipped cream. These cut fairly easily for me with a serrated knife.

Here's a side view. You can see all the delicious layers. Mmmmm.

The verdict was positive all around. The girl ate all hers and wanted more. I couldn't blame her. The crisp of the shortcake mixed with the juicy sweet berries and creamy whipped cream is an excellent combination. I can't see using this recipe to make more than four shortcakes, but I'd use it again for that. Or maybe smaller mounds and bite sized shortcakes.

Thank you Cathy of the Tortefeasor for this excellent taste of summer.

TWD: White Chocolate Brownies

I almost forgot it was Tuesday! So much going on. Anyway, white chocolate is an oxymoron. I'm not a fan, but everyone else in my house is, so I made brownies.

These are medium/low on my fuss factor scale. I didn't pay attention to the p & q section where someone mentioned this, or else I wouldn't have used white chocolate chips. They were tricky to melt with the butter. Eventually, however, I did get them to melt. The batter came together pretty easily. I did line my pan with parchment, and the sling made them easy to lift out and cut. I saw that a lot of people had trouble with these brownies being underdone. Without the meringue, mine took exactly 35 minutes and were perfectly done in the middle - moist and cakey but not dense.

I skipped the meringue topping. First of all, it was WET here yesterday, and weepy meringue is gross. Plus, I'm lazy.

Here's a big plate of finished brownies. They were darker than I was expecting, but I'm sure it was due to the almonds.

Here's a little close-up of one brownie. I love the way the raspberries sunk in just a bit.

The verdict on these was very positive. They received many thumbs at our Memorial Day BBQ. I even liked them! The raspberry added a lovely fruity tang. I would make these again and experiement with different fruits.

Go see Marthe's blog, Culinary Delights, for the recipe and really good photos.

Not a TWD: Instead, I appreciated the teachers

This week was Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie. My dislike of coconut is well documented. I couldn't bring myself to make this one. It wasn't hard, and I like all the other components, but none for me.

Instead, I want to share the simplest, most wonderful banana concoction. It's been requested for our teacher appreciation week luncheon since I made it when the girl was in kindergarten. She's finishing third grade now. I will fully cop to stealing this from a local catering company. I saw it at a party and had to recreate it for myself.

It's not necessarily much to look at, but the flavor, oh my.

First, you take a bag of toffee pieces, and spread them out on a foil or parchment covered sheet pan. I use Heath.

Then you put some chocolate in a double boiler and melt away. I'm a semi-sweet girl.

Then you slice up a banana or two, and the fun begins. (A little side note - Don't cut up all your bananas at once. Slice as you need them.)

You take a banana slice and coat it in the melted chocolate - shake off any excess - and then lay it on the pan of toffee bits. Once you have a finished pan, put it someplace cool to harden.

That's it. The toffee hardens into the chocolate as it cools. Each bite has creamy banana and chocolate with a toffee crunch. Love them.

Some other side notes - These need to be made pretty close to the time you want to serve them. I usually make them the night before. Also, after you've dipped a bunch of bananas, (see what I did there? Bunch. Bananas) the chocolate can seize. I either add more chocolate or a bit of vegetable oil to smooth things out.

When you are done with bananas, mix the left over toffee and chocolate together. Then just plop out some blobs and waxed paper for an extra treat.

To see the recipe that I was supposed to make, go visit Spike of SpikeBakes. It's an excellent blog.

TWD: Apple Apple Bread Pudding

I love bread pudding. I make it fairly often because we tend to have leftover challah after Shabbat. I know there was some wishy washy talking going on among the TWD bakers about making bread pudding. There was no wishy or washy in my kitchen. Except that I only sort of made Dorie's recipe. I used her idea to include apple... Does that count?

Here was my problem. Bread pudding is, at its core, a simple, homey, no-fuss dessert. When I read Dorie's recipe, I was bothered by all the fuss. I just thought there were far too many steps for this dessert. So I doctored my all-time-favorite-go-to recipe to include apples, apple sauce, and a little dulce de leche for a finishing touch. (I'll post that recipe complete with variations another time)

Instead of caramelizing the apples, I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and let them sit a bit. I didn't spread my challah with apple butter. Instead I tore it up and tossed it with the apples. In the custard, I used homemade cinnamon vanilla applesauce in place of most of the sugar. Mine is uncooked, which saved more time and dishes.

Here it is just out of the oven. It was golden and delicious looking. And it made the kitchen smell great.

The end result was really good. I used a bit of my dulce de leche to drizzle over the top, and it added just the right caramel flavor. Perhaps not the most photogenic dessert...

The Girl's friend REALLY liked this one.

I'm sure Dorie's recipe as written was delicious. But so was this one, and it was much much easier. I'd absolutely make it again. Our friends were over for dinner and they had some good suggestions. Next time I'll include some rum and a bit more cinnamon.

Go see Elizabeth's blog, Cake or Death, for the real recipe. Or go buy the book already!

Not a TWD: Quick Classic Berry Tart

This week is my skip week. Last week I appreciated the teachers with lots of baked goods (more details coming), and I appreciated my mom with a cake on Sunday. I was a little baked out.

Go look at Cristine's blog (Cooking with Cristine) for a gorgeous shot of the aforementioned tart and the recipe. I'll be back next week!

TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Oh my goodness. This is certainly a keeper recipe.

I wish I had process photos, there were some interesting stages to this ice cream. This was actually only my second or third try at caramel. It's very intimidating to me. In this case, I undercooked the caramel a bit. I was just afraid of it really burning. When I added the milk and cream to the sugar, it all stuck to the whisk. But because I had been stirring the whole time, it looked like a galaxy wrapped around the whisk. See, process pictures. It smoothed out, and I had a glorious custard. I made one small change in the recipe. I used vanilla beans instead of extract.

I always refrigerate my custard overnight when I am making ice cream. That way it gets a chance to ripen a bit. It's impressive that any of the custard made it into the ice cream maker. I kept sneaking tastes.

This is delicious ice cream. It could be that I didn't cook the caramel enough or that I used extra vanilla, but the husband and I both decided that it tastes a bit like cotton candy. The girl loved it as well. It was not a favorite for the boy. Ah well. I'm definitely going to try this one again and cook the sugar longer.

This is a much lighter caramel color. A little longer cooking time for sure when I make it again.

Mmmmmm, vanilla bean.

Thank you Becky of Project Domestication for this fabulous recipe pick.

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

As the name would lead you to believe, these cookies are chockablock full of stuff - nuts, dried fruit, coconut, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. This is a complex cookie.

Dorie has one or two similar recipes to this one. The Chockablocks, however, had an ingredient that the others don't have; and it was a highly discussed ingredient. Molasses. Some bakers substituted honey, corn syrup, or Lyle's Golden Syrup. I stuck with molasses. I wanted to try this one as written. The other highly contested ingredient was shortening. I used butter flavored Crisco sticks. Honey roasted peanuts were my nuts of choice. And I stuck with raisins for the dried fruit. They were in the front of the cabinet. They won.

It was an easy cookie to put together. It's a simple drop cookie. In hindsight, I think it could have used some refrigeration. My cookies spread quite a bit. I made my cookies much smaller than the recipe suggests. Dorie's yield is 30 cookies. I got 64.

It was a mixed verdict. The smell of the cookie reminds me of Mary Jane peanut butter candies. The taste was a bit less Mary Jane like. I think there were just too many competing flavors in this one. The molasses also added a little more moisture than I would like. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy a chewy cookie. But this one had no crunch to it, and I missed it. The boy and girl enjoyed it, but even they aren't rushing to the jar for more.***

Not the prettiest cookie out there. It does beg for milk.

I don't think this one won a spot in our cookie rotation. Ah well. Thank you Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for choosing this one. Go check out her blog for the recipe.

***Speaking of cookie jars - check this one out! My girlfriend painted it for me. Isn't it fabulous! (pardon the lousy photo) It was an experiment that succeeded with flying colors. Go check out her website to see her other hand painted glass art.

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

Or not. Sorry, Melissa of Love at First Bite. These didn't fit into my baking (or eating) plan this week. It's kid birthday season around here, so I'm baking lots of cakes. (Yellow cake with cream cheese frosting, strawberries and chocolate writing for the girl's party cake. Cardamom coconut tea cake for the birthday breakfast) A DQ cake next weekend, and then cakes for the boy.

Whew!

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

Welcome to the fabulous cake with the slightly odd name. This one is a definite keeper.

It is perfect for when you have a cake emergency. You know, all of a sudden the book group is at your house tonight. Or it's your morning to bring the treat for the meeting. Or you just need something delicious and easy. This is the cake.

It came together in a snap. Butter is melted, so there's no pesky softening time needed. It all came together for me in about three minutes. The recipe calls for a 9" cast iron skillet. I have an 8" and a 10 1/2" skillet. I know I could have looked around for the conversions, but I skipped authenticity and went with a cake pan. The only substitution I made was to use orange zest instead of lemon. I really like orange and almond together. Also, I didn't have a lemon. I did add the optional vanilla and almond extract.

Here it is just waiting to be taken out of the pan. Sadly, no skillet.

It baked up in about 30 minutes. It smelled divine, and the rustic look is very charming. This tasted wonderful. I think it could even almost be a little less sweet and still be very good. The texture was so moist on the inside. The crunch of the almonds was a terrific counterpoint. I think that this cake could be adapted very easily to other flavors. This one will absolutely be in rotation from here on out.

The edges had a wonderful chewy texture that worked so well with the moist inside. Now that I think about it, this sort of reminds me of an almond macaroon. This cake got a big thumb's up from everyone in the house. The girl thinks I should make a coconut version.

Thank you Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for picking this recipe. I am sure to revisit this one. A lot.

TWD: Mocha Almond Marbled Bundt Cake

Whew! Got this one in under the wire. Passover ended last night, so this cake was first thing on my agenda this morning.

Pretty low on the fuss factor. It requires one batter, half of which is combined with a coffee/chocolate mixture. The original recipe calls for walnuts. I happened to have almond meal, so I made that substitution. I'm not so fabulous on the swirling, but I trusted in Dorie.

Not bad!

While I was baking, I thought about another post for Tricks for Treats. I was spraying my pan with Baker's Joy and started formulating what I would say. I love the stuff. It always works.

See! Isn't that gorgeous. Nice and golden and so smooth.

Fooled ya! Here's the other side. Oops! I think that's the side we'll just eat first. And perhaps I need to do a more thorough job with my Baker's Joy.

I'm saving this one for after dinner, but I did have a little taste. There were some pieces readily available.... YUM! I loved the slight almond taste blended with the mocha. This one is a keeper.

Go check out Erin's blog -- When in Doubt....Leave it at 350 for a much prettier cake and the recipe.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

This one will be short and sweet. We just had a seder for 11 people, I've been cooking for the past two days, and I'm a bit tired. (Chicken soup with matzo balls, charoset, hard boiled eggs, grilled asparagus, grilled salmon, matzo farfel kugel, peanut butter cookies, matzo toffee, and strawberry coconut bars) Yeah, pity me. I made the cake a couple of weeks ago because Passover started Monday evening, and there will be no leavened foods in my house for a bit.

This was very easy to put together. I halved the recipe and used a loaf pan. I found coconut milk with no problem. I made the cardamom variation. The girl loved it. Loved it. The husband thought that you couldn't taste the coconut, but he really enjoyed the cardamom aspect. The boy thought it was ok. I didn't taste it. You know me and coconut... I still stand by my "ripening idea" and didn't serve this until a day after it was made. I think it helps.

This was a very moist golden cake.

Thank you Carmen of Carmen Cooks for giving the girl a new favorite.

The girl and her soup (with help from the boy)

The other day the girl made a list of ingredients for me that she thought would make a good soup. The boy chipped in with his ideas.

Here's the list:

tomato

spinach

lobster

seasoning (salt, pepper, ginger)

cream

peas

carrots

potato

On Wednesday we made her soup. I had to do a few minor substitutions (onions for tomatoes, shrimp for lobster, fat free half and half for cream, and we didn't have peas so I skipped those.) You know what? Her soup was fabulous! It was creamy and fresh tasting, and the ginger gave it just a little bite. I'm going to let her create more soup recipes!

Awesome, Delicious, Supreme Spinach Soup

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 c. chicken broth

1 1/2 - 2 pounds spinach, washed

1/2 c. fat free half and half

4 carrots, chopped and par-cooked (I used the microwave)

1 pound potatoes, chopped and par-cooked

1/2 t. powdered ginger

1/4 t. powdered garlic

salt and pepper to taste

cooked shrimp

In a large dutch oven, brown the onions in the olive oil until they are a golden color. This may take a bit. Add the broth to the onions and bring to a simmer. Add the spinach and cook until tender 6-8 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it is creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until everything is warmed through. Serve with shrimp (I served it on the side and let everyone add as they saw fit)

I would have pictures, but I didn't think of it until later, and it's gone. Next time!

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos

Mmmm. I was very happy about this week's recipe. It's a cookie made with dulce de leche and has the stuff sandwiched in the middle as well. YUM.

Dulce de leche is cooked, sweetened milk. In my case it's cooked sweetened condensed milk. I can buy it in the grocery store, but I prefer to make mine. It's beyond simple. (take the label off a can. Put it in a slow cooker. Cover with water - 2" over the top of the can. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Done) It's amazing on just about anything.

This was a simple cookie to make and bake. I love a one pan drop cookie. I really like that these are slightly off in terms of shape and size. It makes them look more homey. I tried the cookie on its own and with the dulce in the middle. As much as I love the stuff, my preference was the plain cookie. I liked the chewy sweetness without the extra sweet of the dulce. I was the only one at my house, however. The Girl can't get enough of these cookies. The Boy and the Husband like them a lot as well.

Here's a close up. Golden brown cookie with golden brown dulce de leche peeking out.

I would certainly make these again. They make an excellent foil for ice cream. Hmmm, perhaps a dulce de leche cookie with dulce de leche ice cream in the middle....

Just picture a stack of these filled with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or frosting. I could go on and on.

Go check out Jodie's blog if you'd like to see the recipe. Or go buy the book and bake along! That is if you don't already. ;-)