TWD: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Cookies

I had some high hopes for these cookies. Dorie describes them as plain looking but with a taste that brings you back for cookie after cookie. They are more cake than cookie. They are also more sweet tasting than any distinct flavor.

These were a bit of a disappointment to me. I wanted them to be more... something. There wasn't enough chocolate to make them a rich chocolate cookie. There wasn't enough nutmeg or cinnamon to make them a chocolate spice cookie. The sour cream made the cookies tender, but I didn't feel it added to the taste.

They were very easy to make. And if you don't already have a mini ice cream scoop (I used my 1 T. scoop), you should buy one. They were also good as a vehicle for other foods. (Strawberry rhubarb vanilla compote for one) Having said that, I don't think these will be made in my kitchen again. I like my chocolate cookie to have a bit more chocolate oomph. I love that spellcheck likes the word "oomph".

Now all I need is a little ice cream....

Thanks Spike of Spike Bakes for choosing this one. I'm glad to have tried it.

TWD: Date Nut Loaf

I was looking forward to making this one. I really like dates. I especially like dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese, but that's another post. I actually almost always have some pitted dates in my house. You know, just in case an appetizer emergency comes up and someone needs something with bacon. Anyway, I was looking forward to baking with them.

This is a simple loaf cake. It has a few extra touches - cream cheese for a bit of tang and almond extract for a nice flavor twist. Dorie called for walnuts, but I used toasted pecans instead. Best tip ever for cutting up sticky dates - use a food scissors. Goes through 'em in nothing flat. This came together easily. It smelled amazing when it was baking. It bakes for 40 minutes uncovered and then 40 more covered. In my case, I think it was a bit too long. While not exactly dry, this loaf doesn't have the moistness I would expect.

Having said that, it's delicious. I only made it last night, and I expect that it will ripen and improve over the next couple of days. I assume it will last that long. Only the Boy is home right now; the Girl's at her first overnight camp experience, so I suspect that treats might make it an extra day in our house. Dorie suggests that this is a great toasting loaf, so that's an option as well.

Breakfast of champions! Iced coffee and Date Nut Loaf. Mmmmmm.

Thank you Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for choosing this one!

TWD: Chocolate Biscotti

Biscotti is such a great cookie concept. It's great for a treat with coffee. It's an excellent ice cream spoon. It's wonderful dipped in jam or chocolate. And, if you can get them to last, they get better with age.

Biscotti in general is easy to make. It tends to be a one bowl cookie that you bake twice. This one was a two bowl. They came together pretty easily. Dorie's has us make two logs, but I like mine smaller, so I made three. I'm always surprised by how much biscotti spread. I like to skip the middle step of moving the logs to a cutting board, so I carefully cut on my cookie sheet. They bake a second time. It gives it a lovely crunch.

These were a hit with the family and the friends who tried them. I used almonds and chocolate chips in mine, but I could see many many variations. I sprinkled coarse sugar on top, and I liked the crunch and sweetness that it added.

Thanks Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes for picking this one!

TWD: Blueberry Brown Sugar Plain Cake

AHHH! I fell asleep last night before I wrote something. I made it. It was delicious. I'll get more up later.

Totally quick post here - I made the cake last week. It's a good cake, but for my money, it was a bit fussy. The recipe has us separate the eggs, beat the egg whites, and fold them in to the rest of the batter. (On a side note - I discovered that my new mixer is TOO BIG to only whip two egg whites) I have another blueberry cake that I love a bit more that has fewer steps. I also didn't seem to have the sinking problem that other people had. Not sure why.

Still, this one was tasty. Not sure that I'll be making it again, though. Thanks Cindy of Everyday Insanity for choosing such a seasonal cake.

Looks lovely in the pan.

Edited to add: Here's the link for my favorite blueberry cake.

Not a TWD: I revisited some old favorites

This past week/weekend, I made a couple of my favorite recipes, one of which was Dorie's. There was delicious strawberry rhubarb ginger crisp at our Memorial Day BBQ today. Last weekend I made some fabulous Chocolate Dark Cherry Toffee cookies.

What that means is, is that I skipped the caramel pots de creme. Come back next week, and I'll be back in the swing of TWD.

TWD: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones

I've professed my love for a good scone in a previous post. For the most part, they are very easy to make, I generally have the ingredients on hand, and they're pretty tasty. This was no exception.

The only item I didn't have on hand was buttermilk, but it's so easy to clabber milk that I didn't bother to run out and get some. I also decided to sub in some white whole wheat flour for 2/3 c. AP flour. I thought the nutty flavor would compliment the oatmeal. Speaking of nutty, I can't recommend grating your own nutmeg enough. It keeps forever in its "nut" form and absolutely outshines the pre-grated stuff. I also decided to throw in some diced prunes. Good choice.

They came together in a snap. I formed the two circles right on my Silpat. This was a pretty sticky dough, so instead of trying to separate the wedges, I just scored them to start. After they had baked for about 18 minutes, I tookthem out and put enough room between them to ensure crunchy edges.

Post separation.

We tried to let them cool for the whole ten minutes. These were very good. I loved the flavor of the nutmeg with the prunes. The oatmeal and whole wheat flour were a good blend as well. I could see these made with dried apricots or cherries. I could even see me making them.

I love how craggy and rustic these are. Delicious!

Thank you to Patricia from Life with a Whisk for choosing this one.

TWD: Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits

Making these biscuits was an afterthought. We just received the 1/4th of the whole hog that we ordered with some friends. Just in case you were wondering, a 1/4 of a whole hog is about 40 pounds of pork. Yes, it was more than I was expecting. We had some bacon and sausage from the same farmer that I purchased earlier in the spring that was calling out to be eaten. Plus, it lost its home in the freezer. My solution -- breakfast for dinner!

I love maple in just about any form. And cornmeal in baked goods adds a crunch that I really like. This recipe was a match made just for me. These were a total snap to put together. It was four steps. 1) mix the dry ingredients 2) cut in some butter 3) mix in the wet ingredients 4) scoop and drop on a baking sheet. Oh, and put them in the oven. I guess that's five.

They came out of the oven all golden and craggy. We ate them hot with a bit of butter and other additions. Small sandwiches were made with bacon and then strawberries. All were amazing. They were equally good the next morning.

For my taste, I could have used a bit more maple, but that's an easy fix. These are such a winner that I know we'll be making them again soon. I have more bacon and sausage. Lots more.

Thank you Lindsay from A Little Something.... Sweet for this fabulous choice. Go visit her blog to see some better photos.

TWD: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

I love a Bundt cake. Bundt cakes are so simple. With little effort, you get such a pretty cake. This one has the added bonus of being delicious.

First of all, the name called to me. Brown sugar bundt cake? What's not to love. Dorie's original recipe called for pears and prunes. I trust Dorie, but the fruit was not calling out to me. As always, she offered up a variation for this cake. I made a variation of Dorie's variation.

Her variation makes it a brown sugar nut bundt cake. I decided to do that version. And then I changed it a bit more. After realizing that I ran out of almond meal, I went to plan B. Being that I was too lazy to get out the food processor and make my own almond meal, I found a stand-in. I subbed in the peanut flour for the ground almonds. I used some toasted slivered almonds. And then I added in toffee bits. Yeah. It was a good choice.

The cake smelled amazing at it was baking. I was a bit nervous about how long it baked because it smelled good for a long time. It baked for just about an hour, and it was the right amount of time. The crust was a gorgeous brown color.

Mmmmm. Brown sugar, almonds, and toffee bits. Mmmmmm.

I let it ripen overnight. Another good choice. This cake is such a winner. I could see using it as a base for so many delicious add-ins. I left mine unadorned, but a bit of powdered sugar wouldn't have been bad. Neither would a chocolate glaze. Or a cinnamon glaze. Or an almond glaze. You get the idea.

Please don't let my lousy photography deter you from making this. Thank you Peggy from Pantry Revisited for choosing this one. YUM!

A very goofy, very enthusiastic thumbs up from the Boy.

TWD: Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

Or, not so basic. The original recipe is a vanilla/chocolate marble cake. Dorie, however, has to gild the lily just a bit with some other options. There is a peppermint/chocolate version and an orange/chocolate version. Then there was the one that really caught my eye - a cardamom/coffee version. Yum!

This was absolutely a winner cake. It was an easy batter to put together. After the base is mixed, you add flavorings to each half. In my case, I added espresso powder that had been dissolved in water to one half and ground cardamom to the other half. Just a side note here - I used cardamom pods and ground them into powder in my spice grinder (old coffee grinder) The difference between pre-ground and freshly ground cardamom is amazing. The fresh stuff has an amazing taste. I highly recommend this method if you can do it.

Golden brown and delicious!

Instead of a loaf pan, I decided to use my Fiesta Bundt pan. I baked it for exactly one hour, and I think it would have been fine at 50 or so minutes. It seems a tiny bit dry to me. My swirling technique still leaves a bit to be desired, but I did get a good mix of each flavor in each slice.

Not so much a swirl as a clump.

This is a good recipe. I truly enjoyed the mix of flavors. I think if I need a simple cake for some event, this would be one that I would revisit. Thank you Carol of The Bake More for choosing this one!

TWD: Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

I have almost never enjoyed chametz so much. (Chametz is essentially all the stuff you can't eat during Passover, which these cookies absolutely are). It's now over for me, and I jumped right back into baking.

I don't think Dorie has ever steered me wrong with her butter cookie recipes. This one is no exception. These have two wonderful twists that really make them special. First is the cornmeal. It adds a great crunch and a little texture that gives these bite. The second is the fresh lime zest. The recipe called for lemon, but I had a lime, and I love lime and corn together. Her trick of rolling out the cookies in a plastic bag is genius.

I learned that Dorie's butter cookies should be VERY COLD before baking. I cut them into squares and then put them back in the fridge until just before they go in the oven. It's what helps them keep their shape. I didn't bake them until they were very crispy, but I think I enjoyed them with a little chew instead of snap.

Just out of the oven. Mmmmm.

On the plate, where they did not last.

These are definitely going to be made in my house again. Thank you Valerie of Une Gamine dans la Cuisine for choosing this recipe.

Not a TWD: It's Passover

So, nothing leavened here. Dinner for 15 tonight, though, so there was some serious cooking going on. In the past four days I made: chicken soup, matzo balls, almond macaroons, matzo toffee, orange chiffon cake, matzo farfel kugel, roasted asparagus, hard boiled 18 eggs, charoset, and roasted salmon.

The seder was lovely. The friends were even lovelier. Passover ends next Monday night, so I'll try to get the next recipe in before posting time.

Looking forward to more matzo at my house!

Go see Jeanette at The Whimsical Cupcake for this week's recipe.

TWD: Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp

I love rhubarb. Love. It. I buy lots of it when it's in season, and I slice and freeze about half of that so I'll have it all winter. I even started growing my own so I would (hopefully) never run out. That's how much I love rhubarb. Right now is the very very beginning of rhubarb season. My freezer, alas, is empty. My go-to-source for frozen? Sold out until more can be grown and processed. I saw people subbing cranberries for the rhubarb. They're tart, right? But no. I wanted rhubarb. Five (5) stores later, I had my rhubarb. Woo hoo!

This particular rhubarb recipe? Outstanding. It's in my top three of all the recipes in the book. It's in my top five of my favorite fruit desserts ever. It combines some of the best flavors in the world - rhubarb, strawberry, ginger (two forms), almond and oats. I've made it a number of times before, and I was very happy to make it again.

Just look at that delicious crust and the ruby fruit peeking out on the sides.

This is a pretty easy recipe. Essentially, you make a crumble that you press into the pan for the bottom crust and sprinkle over the top for the crisp. In the middle is juicy, succulent fruit. There is powdered ginger mixed in with the berries and crystalized ginger in the crust. The strawberries are cooked with a little sugar, water, and cornstarch to thicken. I cut down a bit on the sugar because my berries were pretty sweet. The recipe calls for walnuts, but I really like almonds with this one.

Lots of Dorie's recipes call for placing the baking vessel on a Silpat or parchment covered sheet pan. 99% of the time I ignore that instruction. The first time I made this, I ignored. And I learned very quickly that dripping sugar and fruit goo creates a nasty burning smell when it hits the heating element in the oven. Learn from my mistakes!

This one is a huge hit at my house. Everyone loves it - especially warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream. I am positive that we'll make this one again and again. I couldn't wait for this to really get cool, so it was a little sloppy in the bowl.

If I have it with yogurt, it's breakfast, right?

Thank you Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands for letting me revisit an old favorite.

TWD Extra!

So excited for my friend Laurie, who is the founder of TWD as well as French Fridays with Dorie (featuring another excellent cookbook - Around My French Table). She is featured in an article in O Magazine that showcases both blogs. She is a total rockstar, and I'm thrilled to be able to work with her. Go Laurie!

Not a TWD: I did some other baking instead

Sorry, Jessica of Domestic Deep Thought of the Day. I did not make a coffee ice cream tart. I made Apple Butter Bread. I made nuts spiced with Chinese five spice and cayenne. I made very messy, custardy lemon bars. But there is no ice cream tart in my house.

Please go see her gorgeous tart, make it yourself, and tell me how goofy I was to pass this one up.

TWD: Pecan Powder Puffs

I'll make this entry short and sweet - just like this cookie!

I've been making a version of this nut cookie for years. Today I used almonds instead of pecans because they are what I had in the cabinet. I made a half batch, and it fit easily in my mini food processor. I chilled the dough for a couple of hours and then rolled and baked the cookies. I skipped the powdered sugar bath at the end. I guess, really, these are almond powder(less) puffs.

These are not at all photogenic.

While this was a yummy cookie, it won't replace my favorite pecan crescent recipe. Thank you Tia of Buttercream Barbie for hosting this week!

TWD: Honey Nut Brownies

I will admit that I almost didn't make these. I'm not a huge fan of honey. Truth be told, I avoid things with honey in them. (baklava is the only exception) And then I was at Michael's today and I saw this adorable 6" square pan. And I had a 40% off coupon. And I realized that I could easily quarter the recipe. And the butter didn't need softening. I think that I had all the signs that I needed that these brownies were in my future.

Cute 6" pan!

I was warned to choose a good honey because it was front and center. I have a jar of wild Maine raspberry honey and I thought it would be a good fit with the chocolate. Chocolate is really a minor player in this recipe. I chose almonds as my nut of choice because I like almonds, but also raspberry/almond/chocolate is a winning combination. Oh, and spilling honey on your cookbook? Losing combination. Sticky pages and loss of good honey is bad.

These were a snap to put together. They made a fairly thin brownie. Mine were cooked at exactly 40 minutes.

I was surprised by how much I liked these. The chocolate was faint but it added a slight bitterness to offset the sweet of the honey. I think the almonds really added to this. I'm shocked to say it, but I can absolutely see making these again.

Yum!

For the recipe and other details, go visit Suzy of Suzy Homemaker. Thanks for letting me stretch my horizons!

TWD: Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins

Hi! This is The Boy that you've heard my mother talking about. I'm taking her place in cooking today.

Over the weekend, we made the muffins. They were easy to make. I got to use two utensils that I've never used before.

The zester:

The lemon reamer:

I liked stirring the batter. It feels good for some reason.

I didn't use currants. I used a mix of dried fruits.

When the batter was done, I got to scoop the muffins onto the tray and put them in the oven.

Then I baked them for 20 minutes. When they were golden brown, Mom took them out to cool. After they cooled, I used a mini spatula to move them to the cooling rack.

Tah dah! Muffins!

Then I bit into one! It was delicious! My sister had one, too.

Thank you to Lauryn of Bella Baker for choosing this recipe. Can't wait to make them again!

*** Little side note - I did the typing, but the words and baking are all from The Boy. He will be eight next month.

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

How corny is corniest? Pretty corny!

These were a snap to put together. I started just about an hour ago, and I have finished photos and everything!

This is a basic, slightly sweet muffin. It's a standard dry mix/wet mix blend. This recipe calls for corn kernels to be added to the batter. It adds a nice little burst of corn flavor. I ate mine plain, but I can only imagine how wonderful these would be with a bit of butter and honey or bacon jam. MMMMMMMMmmmmmm. I may have to go have another...

Thanks, Jill, of My Next Life for this pick.

Not a TWD: I did some other baking instead

Sorry, but there are no Chocolate Pots de Creme to see here. I did enough other baking, that this one fell to the wayside.

Christine of BlackCatCooking has gorgeous photos (I'm sure), so go visit her blog.

TWD: Toasted Almond Scones

I love a good scone. My affair started in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was a student studying in London. A group of us took an overnight bus to Edinburgh. We arrived at about 6:15 am tired but mostly hungry. We walked around for a bit until we saw a cafe. The four of us were standing in the doorway when we realized that it didn't open for about another 15 minutes. The owner saw us, took pity on us, and let us in. She told us that we were welcome to sit for a few minutes until they were ready to open. There was tea, but the scones needed a few more minutes. We were willing to wait. About ten minutes later, she came to our table with a tray piled high with hot scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam. I don't think I had tasted anything better in my life. It still ranks in the top five of favorite food experiences.

I don't tend to make scones that often, which is a shame. These were simple to put together. I happened to have heavy cream and whole milk left over from the bread pudding. Bonus! I had almond meal, so instead of grinding my own almonds, I used it. I decided to keep my slivered almonds whole instead of chopping them. 20 minutes or so in the oven, and scones!

I didn't put sliced almonds on the outside. I prefer a coarse sugar to finish things like this. Mmmmm. Craggy and sugary.

A scone flower!

These were just the right amount of sweet for me, which is to say, not very. Other than the coarse sugar on the outside, there was only 2 T. of sugar. Surprisingly, these were not very almond-y. I was expecting more. I wonder if the almond meal was the culprit. Ground toasted almonds may have had a bit more flavor. Perhaps a bit more extract next time?

I can't find a link for Mike's blog, but when I do, you'll be able to see his fabulous photos and the recipe! Here it is!