Cute As A...

I absolutely love when there are photos in cookbooks. For some reason I find it assuring to see what the final result is supposed to look like. From the moment I got this cookbook I was excited to make this week's TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie) recipe. These Brownie Buttons looked too cute for words!

They were really simple to assemble. The only trouble I had was putting the white chocolate glaze on. Dorie suggested dipping the top of the brownie into the glaze to make a smooth top. Unfortunately my glaze didn't want to adhere that way. So instead I used a spatula to put on the glaze.

I didn't try any of the buttons since I'm Weight Watchers. But Nate was nice enough to be my official taste tester. He commented that these two-bite brownies would be a perfect addition to a cup of coffee.

Brownie Buttons

from: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Grated zest of 1/2 orange (optional)

1 tsp sugar (optional)

1/4 cup plus 2 T flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 T) butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 2 miniature muffin pans, each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet.

If you're using orange zest, combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl, rubbing them between your fingertips to blend; set aside. Whisk together the flour and salt.

Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.

Stir the vanilla, egg and the zest (if you're using it) into the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is well blended, add the flour and stir only until it is incorporated. You should have a smooth, glossy batter.

Spoon the batter into 16 of the muffin cups, using about a teaspoon of batter to fill each cup 3/4 full. Put 1 tsp of water in each empty cup.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the tops of the buttons spring back when touched. Transfer the pans to racks and cool for 3 minutes before carefully releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature on the racks.

To Make the Optional Glaze:

Melt 2 oz of white chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate for even a minute - white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from heat.

One by one, dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl at the center. Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

Classic Banana Bundt Cake

Last week's TWD recipe was Classic Banana Bundt Cake. I was curious to see how this turned out - the banana bread recipe I use is fantastic, so I wanted to see how this measured up. Dorie didn't disappoint! The cake, which came out of the bundt pan easily, was very moist. It really reminded me of good banana bread. If I were to make this again I would add pecans for some texture, and maybe top it with a maple glaze.

Classic Banana Bundt Cake

from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

3 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature

2 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)

1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 to 10 inch (12 cup) bundt pan.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at a medium speed until pale and frothy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the bananas. Finally, mix in about 1/2 the dry ingredients, all the sour cream, and then the rest of the flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, rap the pan on the counter to de-bubble and smooth the top.

Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after 30 minutes - if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a rack and cool to room temperature.

White Chocolate Brownies

I swear I wasn't going to bake from "Baking, From My Home to Yours" this week. I promise! The TWD recipe was vanilla ice cream. And since we have a lactose-free house (for the most part) I thought I'd take a week off...

But then my mom brought over some fresh raspberries. I simply love fresh raspberries. When I first got this cookbook I saw this recipe and swore that when raspberries were in season I'd make it.

Well I improvised a little...I didn't have ground almonds, orange zest, or enough eggs to make a meringue. And I put it in a 9" square pan (so it had to bake longer). It was still delicious - or so I hear (talk about will power!!). I didn't try any, but I did treat myself is some of the leftover berries:)

Here's a picture of what mine looked like, and the full complete recipe. Enjoy!

White Chocolate Brownies

from: Baking, From My Home to Yours

For the Brownie:

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup finely ground almonds

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick (8T) unsalted butter

4 oz white chocolate

1 cup sugar

2 tsp grated orange zest

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup fresh raspberries

For the meringue:

3 egg whites, at room temperature

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13 pan. Put pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, ground almonds and salt.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of only-just-simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chocolate and stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted - you don't want them to get so hot that the butter or the white chocolate separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the eggs and beat on medium high for about three minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and blend in the melted butter and chocolate. Still working on low, mix in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they disappear into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the raspberries over the batter. Set aside as you make the meringue.

In a cleaned mixer bowl with a clean whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt on medium speed until they are just foamy and just turn opaque. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the sugar in a slow steady stream. Whip the whites until they form firm but still glossy peaks.

Gently spread the meringue over the brownie batter.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the meringue is browned and crackly and the brownies pull away from the pan. Cool and cut into 32 bars.

mmmm...Brownies!

There are two kinds of brownies - cakey or fudgy. And people can be quite fickle about what kind is the best. Personally I LOVE fudgy brownies, whereas my hubby 'doesn't like either' or so he says... So I was really excited to make this weeks' TWD recipe, Tribute-To-Katherine Hepburn Brownies. This recipe contained all of my favorite parts of a brownie - a fudgy texture and a deep chocolaty taste which is accented by coffee and cinnamon. Delicious! Plus, it didn't take very long to mix them up and get them in the oven. Enjoy!

Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies

by Dorie Greenspan

1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick (8T) butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp finely ground instant coffee

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c chopped walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Butter an 8" square pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess.

Whisk the flour, cinnamon and salt.

Put the butter in a saucepan over low heat. When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa powder over it and add the instant coffee. Continue to cook, stirring until the butter is melted and the cocoa and coffee powder are blended in. Remove from heat and cool for about three minutes.

Using a whisk or rubber spatula, beat the eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don't beat anything too vigorously - you don't want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes. Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the paper and invert onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 pieces.

Perfect Party Cake

This week's TWD recipe was the Perfect Party Cake. And quite frankly it IS the perfect party cake! I decided to make mine into cupcakes which was so easy!

The cake is a basic white cake with lemon zest and lemon extract - so the lemon flavor is quite subtle. Raspberry jam is used as the filling and then a lemony buttercream is used to top it off. The recipe for Perfect Party Cake can be found at Dinner and Dessert. It's rather long, so I'm not going to type it all out. Don't be afraid when you look at the recipe, it really comes together quite easily.

I'm having some technical difficulties with downloading a photo for this. So I'll do that later this week... Enjoy! Updated- Here's a photo of the cupcake. Pardon the poor photo - it tasted way better than it looks!

Dacquoise?? huh?

This weeks TWD recipe was Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise. Prior to reading the recipe I had no idea what a Dacquoise was...in fact I had Nate wikipedia it for me. Basically it's layers of meringues.

Holy Cow! This recipe was out of this world!! It's rich but still light. Plus the coconut and pineapple flavors are perfect for a hot summer day. The recipe looks like a lot of work, but it's broken down in steps. And in no time it was put together. For the recipe and photos visit Andrea in the Kitchen.

If I Can Do It...You Can Too!

This week's TWD recipe was Honey-Peach Ice Cream. But because we're lactose-intolerant and we don't have an ice cream maker I decided to substitute it with Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart. If you'd like to see reviews and photos of the ice cream click here.
This was my first time making caramel. And to be quite honest I was a little worried about it. Growing up, caramel was something that only REALLY good cooks like my Aunt Carol could make. Luckily Dorie gave a tip in the recipe to have all of the ingredients ready because once the sugar starts melting it goes really fast. How true it is! So, my first experience with caramel was a success!!
The tart was impressive looking and people at work raved at how good it was. I wasn't overly impressed with it. Don't get me wrong it was good - but I only had one bite and thought that it was enough. But there is definitely a WOW factor with it. The crust and the peanuty crunch of the caramel go very well with the smooth dark chocolate ganache. The photo I took was absolutely horrible so I'm not going to even post it, but trust me it looks good!
For a look at a photo of this dessert and the recipe visit Annie's Eats.

Parisian Apple Tartlet

This week's TWD recipe was the Parisian Apple Tartlet. I thought that it looked too good (and easy) to be true. Not only does it look like something you'd find in a bakery case, it's delicious. One of the best parts of the recipe was how easy it was to put together. To make it even easier I made mine into squares/rectangles instead of the preferred circles. I'd recommend this to anyone that would like a yummy dessert but is a little short on time.

Parisian Apple Tartlet

(makes one 4-inch tartlet)

1 1/8-inch-think 4-inch circle cold puff pastry

1/2 firm sweet apple (such as Golden Delicious), peeled and cored

Light brown sugar

1 tsp butter, cut into three pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put pastry circle on the sheet.

Cut the apple half into four chunks and center the chunks on the pastry circle. Sprinkle the apple with 1-2 tsp brown sugar - depending on how much sweetness you want - and dot with bits of butter.

Bake tartlet for 25 minutes, until the pastry is deeply browned and puffed up around the apple and the apple can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife.

Cinnamon Squares

I wasn't too excited about this week's TWD recipe. Maybe it's because I wasn't sure about the cinnamon and chocolate combination. I'm glad I did make the recipe. Nate and I shared one - to taste test of course - and Nate's verdict was, "yum, very sophisticated". The flavor was good and would be fantastic with a cup of coffee. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Squares
"Baking From My Home to Yours"

For the cake:
1 1/4 cup plus 2 T sugar
1 T plus 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 stick plus 2 T butter (melted and cooled)
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped or use 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square pan. Place on a baking sheet
To make the cake:
Stir 2 T of sugar, 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon and the espresso together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. Gently whisk in the 1 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, 1 T cinnamon. Mix in the butter until it is absorbed. You'll have a smooth, shiny batter.
Scrape half the batter into the pan and smooth top. Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and dust with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with the rest of the batter and smooth the top again.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it is done. Cool to room temperature.
To make the frosting:
Put the chocolate and butter in a saucepan. Cook, stirring often until they melt. The chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable. Spread the frosting in generous sweeps over the cake. Allow the frosting to set at room temperature.

The perfect combination?

For a few weeks now I've been unofficially part of the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group. It's a group of avid bakers who are baking their way through "Baking From My Home To Yours" by Dorie Greenspan. The photos are gorgeous and the recipes look amazing. This week's pick was Chipster-Topped Brownies. First of all, what's better than chocolate chip cookies or brownies? How about chocolate chip cookie topped brownies! The recipe itself looked like it was going to take some time, but it was very easy to put together. The results - amazing! Nate and I shared one and I sent the rest to work and got rave reviews! I forgot to take a photo - but trust me, they look good and taste even better!

Chipster-Topped Brownies
For the brownie layer:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts (I omitted this)

For the cookie layer:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter (at room temp)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips (or use chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 pan. Place it on a baking sheet.

To make the brownies:
Put both chocolates and butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture gets too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolate. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about two minutes. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Add in the flour and walnuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.
To make cookie dough:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugars goether for about three minutes. One at a time, add the egg and egg yolk, beating for one minute between additions. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix in the chopped chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula, spread it evenly over the brownie batter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cookie dough is deep golden brown and firm. And a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Cool to room temperature. When completely cool cut into 24 (or more) bars.