the olden days...

I feel like it was just yesterday that I wrote about my fun bday gifts...
but here we are again! (Holy crap, that means I've been doing this blog thing for over a year now?!?)

Here's to the birthday Fun-Fun!


Ila did an excellent coverage on the festivities too!

Now, back to baking!
More brownies! (Cupcakes using my new cupcake making kit soon! promise.)

Dark Chocolate Chip Brownies from Evil Shenanigans
Interesting recipe... with honey! So I gave it a try, even though I'm not a honey person.
And wow. I may have overdone it with the honey... you can really smell it baking up, and also just taking a bite. It's also chewy! These came out nice and moist! It wasn't as dark as hers... and I skipped out on the chips. Also didn't have cake flour, so I "subbed" with less AP Flour + Cornstarch. Also didn't have instant espresso. Maybe I'll give this another go when I have all the right ingredients.


Deep Dish Brownies from Hershey's
I used dark cocoa for this. It wasn't sweet at first bite... so I wasn't all that impressed. But its still good! Moist and thick. More often than not my brownies tend to "crater" in the center... as this recipe did. but the previous didn't. At all. Weird.


Upon eating a bite of the "honey brownie" then sneaking a piece of the "Hershey's brownie"... the sweetness came out from the latter. Pretty delish!

Anyways... good practice in baking! Didn't overbake, didn't underbake. Win-win.

'til next time!
Hopefully I'll get around to doing those cute pie pops that have been going around lately!!!

Baking Mondays

My day off always flies by... but I get lots of baking done!

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies from Martha Stewart Living

My photos are in no way as good at the featured picture... but:

These cookies are super soft... taste good, but not much of a cookie as a mini cake. Maybe I used too much cream. I'm not sure if this is something I'd add to my repertoire. Great recipe though!

Also, made another batch of brownies, Earl Grey Brownies (minus the earl grey part)...
I didn't want to make the ganache if the brownies were going to be poop. Aaaaand... they didn't turn out right. Yet another batch with a tough crust - overbaked, of course.
But the preparation of this batch stood out from the past few... mainly REALLY beating the eggs and folding them in...

More brownies!

Gianduia Brownies - take 2 - I've made another version of these before from Giada.

I was VERY cautious with the timing and toothpick testing on this one...
and it was a success!!

I opted out on the hazelnuts.
And... seriously?... Nutella in brownies?



These are amazing.
Moist and delish. But didn't taste much of the Nutella.

Next time though, rather than buttering and flouring the pan, I'll just do the parchment paper thing.

A practice in tarts

From a $1.00 dachshund cookie cutter I found at Sur La Table... came this full-blown crazy surprise for my friend:

Maggie and Piper (her pup pups) playing in a Berry Field!

Berry Creme Fraiche Tart
Tart Dough:
8oz. Sugar
16oz Butter, room temp
3 egg yolks
1 egg
1lb 8oz flour
1/2t salt

Cream sugar and butter on low speed. Just to mix, not to make fluffy.
Add egg and yolks - one at a time - until all combined.
Sift together dry ingredients.
Add half - mix on low speed until just combined.
Then add remaining half until just combined.
Chill!! At least 1 hour. More is better.
Roll out as needed for tart pan. Let shells rest in freezer until ready to be baked.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 min - until golden.

(and of course I would have issues rolling out the dough)


Filling:
4oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4C Creme Fraiche
1-1/2T Honey
Beat cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Then add creme fraiche and honey. Beat until combined well.


Assembly:
Spread filling evenly in shell, then top with berries.
Optional - Heat some honey in a small saucepan over low heat until liquefied. Drizzle over berries.
Berries! Lots of berries!

I thought I would have more of a pattern... but I guess this was good too!

For the doggie cut outs:
Chocolate Tart Dough from Martha Stewart
Tart dough. Not cookie dough.
Its good... not overly sweet. Somewhere between shortbread and biscuit maybe?
Anyways, the shape held well which is what I was going for.
For the "dappled" look, I smushed some of the regular tart dough and rolled over it.

Time to play in the berry fields!

As if I needed more...

I haven't explored this fully yet... but I am already in awe.

Compile your very own cook book? From front to back? Way cool!

Tons of recipes to browse? Awesome!

Not like I need more bookmarks of great recipe sites... I have issues enough as it is deciding what to bake next. But this was definitely a great find! Hope its useful to someone too!

Brownie Bonanza

Now that I've fully outfitted my kitchen with all the goodies I've been wanting for a while (short the food processor), I am baking up a storm! My new kitchen scale has allowed me to figure out baking brownies. 8oz of chocolate is definitely not equal to 1 scoop cup. I figured as much... but now I know!

So, let the brownie baking begin! These are for a mini-side project of mine... and I'm super excited! But first, I have to practice, practice and practice to make sure I know how to bake brownies from scratch with no fails.

From Ripe For Dessert:
The Absolute Best Brownie Recipe...
I tried this recipe three times... first time was a while ago, and a true fail. Just recently I tried these twice. This time, my "first" attempt was a bit too moist, the 2nd I over baked in an attempt to figure out the timing. So, I've resolved that I'm not a fan of the recipe.
I really wish it worked out though... it was a one pot mixing recipe! Such an easy clean up! But alas, it was not meant to be.


From the King Arthur Flour website:
Brownie Bites
One word: AMAZING!
I had some reservations as to the success of this one given the past attempts at brownie baking, but even after I still hesitated at the "not quite passing" toothpick test... they came out great, and are SO GOOD.
I used dark cocoa powder with semisweet chocolate chips. Such an amazing color... with a real depth in the cocoa flavor accented by the espresso.
The batter was particularly thick... but then again, what do I know about baking brownies from scratch?


The differences between the two:


From Real Simple:
Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Now, the previous try on this recipe was a MAJOR fail. I now know I had the amount of chocolate wrong, and 400 degrees was too high. I may have attempted this twice before - so third time's the charm?

The little bit I had tasted ok... I definitely got a chunk of the PB cup, but I still didn't get the bake time right. I went a little over, since I got a bit of a crust on the bottom. Hmmmmm. But at least the entire thing wasn't as hard as a rock and/or liquid in the center.


My main issue is still time and temp. I've had to add on time over what the recipe calls for... 10 more min here... then 10 more min there... then another 5 more... blah blah. It takes FOREVER. And I do the toothpick test A LOT. It makes me wonder if I also need to get an oven thermometer. Damn it all. And so, the research goes on...

the OC Super Fair!

(sorry for the late post - heat makes me super lazy)
Most of the time I shun going out into the hot hot sun time, even more so when I would have to be walking amongst crowds of random people... but who can skip out on the county fair?
Games, animals, and food!

So this year, my trip to the fair was in the evening which worked out nicely given the latest heat wave. We beelined towards the animals first...
then wandered the big garden thing...

then it was time to consume!
Margaritas at the fair! YES PLEASE!
Accompanied by chicken and waffles. MMMMMmmmm!

Then after more animals and walking around, I decided to try a deep fried snickers...

then when settling down to watch a neat-o magic show...
we had mexican funnel cake - which I think I like more than just the "regular" funnel cake - since its two yummy foods in one: funnel cake meets churro!

And let's not forget...