TWD: Salted Butter Caramel Brownies

It has taken considerably longer to get back into some sort of baking/blogging routine than I had expected. My life will still be in a bit of upheaval for the next several months, so bear with me!

The brownies for this week's TWD were supposed to have peppermint patty chunks in them, but there isn't a truly organic version (and the ones that are close are insanely expensive). I was planning on using chopped mint chocolate, but the town that I am temporarily in is very small, and there was none to be had! So I decided on adding pools of salted butter caramel. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with salted butter caramel.

It was a bit of an experiment, and though they were quite tasty, they weren't terribly attractive... I think I will play around with the way the caramel is incorporated. If I had had more time to make them I would have dropped spoonfuls of the warm caramel onto parchment, frozen them, and pressed them into the brownie batter so that it wouldn't be visible in the final product. I may also try a sturdier brownie recipe. I liked that this one was thin and fudgey, but it was rather flimsy and prone to falling apart. I'll let you know if I try this one again...

The brownie was chocolatey, not too sweet and nice and fudgey. I was pleased that the pools of caramel stayed soft and pliable even after 30 minutes in the oven, and the rich and creamy flavor was a wonderful contrast to the deep chocolate.

I baked these brownies for a family lunch, and they were quite a hit. Taste-wise, there really aren't any changes necessary, my only problems were more aesthetic in nature.

The Brrr-ownies were chosen by Karen of Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life. The recipe for them (including the peppermint patties) is on her blog.

Let me add an apology for the less-than-stellar photos... We can't win them all...

Salted Butter Caramel

(makes more than you'll need for these brownies)

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons salted butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook sugar and salt, stirring frequently, until completely fluid. Add butter, stirring constantly - careful here, it will spit and boil furiously. Just keep stirring. Add cream and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour immediately into heat-proof jar or bowl.

To finish the brownies like I made them, drop about a tablespoon of caramel into pan of brownie batter - portioning it so that there will be a pool in the center of each slice. (I cut mine into 9 pieces, so I had 9 pools). Bake as directed in brownie recipe.

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

This week for TWD, we made brownies! Ah, any excuse to make and eat a brownie is okay by me.

At first taste, I didn't think I was a huge fan of these brownies. I actually wrote an entire post - but didn't publish it - about how I didn't really like them. Then I started looking at other people's blogs to see what everyone else thought, and they were all crazy about them. I decided to give them another shot. Not ten minutes ago, I went into the kitchen and ate a brownie, and I must say I have changed my mind. These are really delicious. The texture is very different from any other brownie I've ever had. They are fudgey, but light at the same time due to the whipped eggs that are folded into the batter. I tend to prefer a denser brownie, so I can't say that I've found my new favorite, but these were definitely a lovely surprise.

This recipe was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic, and can be found on her blog.

Lacy Coconut Topped Cocoa Brownies

Alice Medrich is not called The Queen of Chocolate for nothing. The lady knows her stuff.

My first introduction to Alice was through her most recent book Pure Dessert, which I absolutely adore. Everything I made from it was so delicious, I had to get more of her books. Many of them are out of print, unfortunately, and therefore quite pricey. I did, however add Bittersweet to my collection. I bought it used in like new condition on Amazon for quite cheap, though when it arrived, it was not quite in the condition I expected it to be in. I was about to complain to the seller, when I started leafing through the book, and there on the title page was Alice's signature. Well, it was rather thrilling to be holding a book that she had held, and I felt like anything I decided to make from it was destined to be amazing. I don't think the seller knew it was autographed, because those copies usually go for $50 or so, and mine was around $7...

These brownies are absolutely amazing. The chocolate in them is cocoa powder, not cocoa solids, which Alice says gives the softest center and crunchiest crust. The brownie is topped coconut macaroon clumps. Oh my. You must make these.

The brownie recipe is available here on Epicurious.

For the coconut macaroon topping:

1 large egg white

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in heat proof bowl, preferably stainless steel, and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir the mixture, stirring to prevent burning, until it is very hot to the touch and the egg white have slightly thickened and turned opaque, about 3-4 minutes.

Using your fingers to drop clumps of the coconut topping over the brownie batter, and bake until brownies puff at the edges and the shreds of coconut turn deep golden brown and crusty. About 25 minutes.* Let cool completely in the pan on a rack.

Lift by parchment sling and cut brownies into 25 squares.

* Alice says 25 minutes, though I've made these twice and both times they needed more in the ballpark of 40-45 minutes. In order to avoid over-browning of the coconut, I tented my brownies with foil as soon as they were deep golden.

TWD: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

I'm always up for making a brownie - not to mention eating one - and I love cheesecake, and espresso. This was a treat I was sure I'd love.

I read on the TWD P&Q about a few problems that people had had making these, but for some reason, I chose not to listen to them... And I ended up having the same problems... Namely, that the top of the cheesecake/brownie was supposed to have beautiful swirls of cheesecake and brownie batter.

The brownie batter is made first and set aside while the cheesecake is made. Since there is melted butter and chocolate in it, as it cools down it begins to thicken. By the time I was ready to put dollops of brownie batter on top of the the cheesecake batter and begin swirling, mine was so thick that there was no swirling whatsoever. You can see the brownie globs in the photo below. It was not a pretty sight. I popped it in the oven, and figured I'd drizzle some chocolate on it later to pretty it up.

It took 42 minutes to bake in a 9" round pan.

I made a chocolate glaze that I was intending to drizzle on the top, but it was thick and didn't drizzle, so I just slathered it on. For the glaze, I used the recipe from the Chocolate Amaretti Torte that we made with TWD a few months ago.

Chocolate Glaze (a half recipe)

2 oz bittetsweet chocolate finely chopped

2 oz (1/4 cup) cream

1 1/2 teaspoons water

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Place chopped chocolate in heatproof bowl - pyrex measuring cup works well. Bring cream, sugar and water to a boil. Pour over chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Pour on cheesecake and smooth with spatula.

I didn't think the brownie itself was out of this world, though the cheesecake was amazing. The chocolate glaze was certainly a wonderful addition.

For the cheesecake brownie recipe, please visit Melissa's blog, Life in a Peanut Shell. Thanks to Melissa for hosting this week, and for picking such a fun and yummy recipe!

TWD: Catching Up -Brownie Buttons and Classic Banana Bundt Cake

I'm finally back on track with TWD! It took going on vacation to get there... I've been in Florida for the past few days, and have been taking advantage of the fact that there are more people than usual to bake for.

Up this week: brownie buttons, hosted by Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen.

I was planning on baking before I left home, so I copied the recipes I was going to be using and made a shopping list, assuming I'd be able to find all of the ingredients I'd need in Pensacola. Hmmm... Well... We are very strict about eating all organic food, and a problem arose when trying to find organic white chocolate - something widely available in Asheville - to top the brownie buttons that are a little naked in the above photo. They were supposed to be covered in a white chocolate glaze, but there was none to be had. I considered milk or dark, but ultimately decided against it (though at the moment I'm not sure why).

These were pretty good, but not amazing. The flavor was good, the density was good, what fell short for me was the outer texture. I like a brownie that is dense and fudgy on the inside and a little chewy/crunchy on the outside. These had no contrasting outer texture.

They are also not terribly attractive. I know the white chocolate would have resolved the beauty problem, but naked as they are, they never smoothed out in the oven. The batter was rather greasy, and the pattern that was there when I spooned it into the muffin cups never left. All I had around was some maple pecans, so I topped a few brownies with those. It helped a bit.

So, a good recipe, not a great one. Probably not one I'd try again, though I may use a different brownie recipe and top it with a white chocolate glaze. I love that idea.

You can got the brownie button recipe on Jayma's blog.

Now, on to the banana bundt cake, made by most TWDers last week, and hosted by Mary of The Food Librarian.

I love banana bread so I was looking forward to this one. Especially after reading so many favorable reviews on other people's blogs.

I was not disappointed. I tinkered with the recipe a bit to use agave instead of sugar. I used 1 1/8 cup agave instead of 2 cups of sugar; 1 1/2 sticks of butter versus 2 sticks; I added an additional 1/4 cup of flour. It was perfect- nice and moist, with lots of banana flavor. A definite keeper. My 7 year old nephew helped me bake which was a blast, and he and his brother and my son all loved the cake. I think this one can pass for breakfast as easily as it can dessert, especially with the changes I made - it was the perfect sweetness.

I topped it with a lemon agave caramel sauce. The sauce was delicious, but the cake really soaked it up, so it didn't photograph well. I would have make the lemon glaze that was supposed to go with this cake, but I couldn't get powdered sugar in bulk, and spending over $5 on something that I had multitudes of at home just so I could have 3/4 cup of it seemed ridiculous.

This was also an exciting recipe because it was my first bundt cake! It certainly won't be my last... I used a silicone bundt pan, and was so pleased with how easy it was to unmold. It came out perfectly with no sticking whatsoever.

Thank you to Mary for picking such a great one, please visit her blog for the recipe.

The best part of baking in a beach rental.

My son (center) and his cousins enjoying their banana cake.

Baking Extravaganza!!! (Sadly, no SMS)

My mom and I own a retail store together in downtown Asheville, NC called Nest Organics, and yesterday we celebrated our second anniversary of being in business! We threw a party in our store, complete with entertainment, massage, give-aways and of course food!!! I took it upon myself to cater the event. It was so fun, and so much work, and I was very pleased with all of the results.

I'll warn you ahead of time, this is going to be a loooooong post! I'll try to be as concise as possible, but I made 5 kinds of cookies, and 2 different brownies, and I've decided to put them all in one post. I already have so many things I've baked and photographed, but haven't had a chance to put up yet... Speaking of photographs, these aren't the best ones, but the light in my store wasn't very conducive to food photography, and the day was pretty much a blur, so it's a wonder I got any at all...

So, first up is a lemon ricotta cookie. The recipe is by Giada De Laurentiis, and can be found here. I don't have an individual photo of these, but they are the ones in the bottom right corner in the below photo. The recipe has a glaze to go along with them, but I omitted it just to simplify things. They are rather homely looking cookies, but they really surprised me with their deliciousness! They are a cakey cookie, but the ricotta in them makes them nice and chewy. I liked them baked a little longer than the recipe suggests - I thought they were best when they were lightly browned all over on the top an bottom. This made them slightly crispy, which was a nice contrast to the soft cookie. These were like the top of a cupcake, when it gets a little caramelized - do you know what I mean? - and I really loved them! They were easy to make, and delicious. My cookies spread a lot, so I found that 1 tbsp of dough worked better than 2 as the recipe suggests.

Next, we have 2 different cookies made from the same dough. The recipe is for caramel coated cardamom palmiers from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you don't already have this book, go buy it. Now! 

Medrich uses a cream cheese dough for these palmiers, instead of the traditional puff pastry. I decided to use half of a recipe for the palmiers and half to make some rugelach. 

Both cookies were sensational. The palmiers - which I think would be better named caramelized cardamom palmiers - were delicate, crunchy, not too sweet, and just lightly flavored with cardamom. The only change I might make to these would be to add a little more cardamom, actually. I love the stuff. The rugelach - which I filled with pomegranate raspberry jam, currants and pecans - was the first thing we ran out of, and was so melt-in-your-mouth heavenly, with a wonderful combination of soft and crunchy. I love rugelach. I love making it, I love the way it looks, the way it tastes, and these were no exception. 

Now, the brownies. I made the Martha Stewart double chocolate brownie, which I've posted about before, and the Baked brownie - which I was very excited to make, as it has gotten a lot of attention of late. I wish I had had the time to photograph the Martha Stewart brownies, because the photo in my post about them does not do them justice. They are just gorgeous brownies. They always have the most perfect paper-thin crust on top. The brownie in the foreground of the photo below is one of the Baked brownies. I stated a week or so ago that the Martha brownies were my favorite, and I'm not retracting that statement, but we may have a tie here. I tried to like one better than the other, but they are both so incredible though the Martha brownie is still my husband's favorite. They are both incredibly chocolatey and decadent. They are both fudgey, though the Baked brownie is more dense than the Martha one. Martha's brownies actually have a lightness to them. Everyone at the party flipped out over both brownies. They are so incredibly good, I don't know what more to say! Go make them both, maybe you'll have more insight than I do... 

Also from Baked, I made their peanut butter cookies. I have a love/hate relationship with peanut butter, but I usually like it in cookies. This was no exception. In fact, they were the best peanut butter cookies I've ever had! They are very soft, not dry at all like most that you find, and best of all, they have milk chocolate chunks in them which pair beautifully with the peanut butter. Unfortunately, I didn't even get a photo of these! I'll make them again soon, I promise. 

Last, but most certainly not least is the New York Times chocolate chip cookie adapted from Jacques Torres. I have mentioned on this blog before how picky I am about chocolate chip cookies. I have seen a lot of blogs comparing this recipe to Alton Brown's and the Toll House recipe. I've never had Alton's cookie, but really after eating the NYT version, there is no need. I have found cookie nirvana. The recipe calls for using 2 kinds of flour which I didn't have - cake and bread - so I just used all purpose. If they were this good with AP, I can't even imagine what they would be like as written. The only other change I made was to use chocolate chips instead of bittersweet feves. Since I was giving these out to hundreds of people for free, I just couldn't justify the expense. I will splurge when I'm just making them for family, however, because the only complaint I had about these was the sweetness of the chocolate. These cookies have a beautiful golden crispy edge, and a soft chewy middle - even when room temp. 

There are some very specific instructions in this recipe: it instructs you to make 18  3 1/4 oz cookies, and to refrigerate the dough for at least 36 hours before baking. The size of the cookies wasn't feasible for the party, but I had some extra dough which I did bake as written, and let me tell you: listen to the recipe! They were really good smaller, but they were spectacular bigger. I also wasn't able to give them 36 hours in the fridge - they had about 12 - for the party, but when we baked the bigger cookies they had rested that long. 

These were without a doubt the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, and that is saying something! 

It was an exhausting 12+ hours of baking over 2 days, but it was a blast, and so worth it! Sorry there is no SMS this week, but you can see why... Head on over to Melissa's blog Lulu the Baker to see the recipe for this week: Whole Orange Poppyseed Cake. It looks delicious, and I'm disappointed I didn't have a chance to make it. Yet...

TWD: Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies

Now I can add "brownie lover" to the long list of why I love Katharine Hepburn, and "Katharine Hepburn" to the long list of why I love Dorie Greenspan.

These brownies will not replace Martha Stewart's double chocolate brownies as my very favorite, but they are right up there. 

The simplicity of the method alone is enough for me to make them over and over: you melt butter in a large sauce pan, then add cocoa powder, eggs, instant coffee, cinnamon, 1/4 cup of flour, chopped chocolate and nuts to the pot. Pour into pan and bake. Couldn't be easier.

Though Dorie says to bake them for only 30 minutes, I found that they needed an extra 10.

The brownies bake up into thin, dense, fudgy super chocolaty treats that have light undertones of cinnamon and coffee. 

They were especially delicious when enjoyed with brown sugar vanilla ice cream.

Thanks to Lisa of Surviving Oz for picking this week's recipe. She is not an official member of TWD, but she did win the logo design contest that was recently held by Laurie - the TWD founder - and getting to choose a recipe was her prize!

Chipster Topped Brownies

Like many of the Tuesday's with Dorie bakers, I had no idea what a "chipster" topped brownie was. When I finally did look it up in Baking, From My Home to Yours, I could hardly contain my excitement: a chocolate chip cookie on top of a brownie - what could be better???!!!

Alas, perhaps my expectations were too high, but the chipster topped brownies were not all that I had hoped they'd be...

The two different components were easy enough to put together, they just didn't work so well once in the oven...

I knew from reading the P&Q that baking times were presenting some problems, and that baking the brownie layer for a bit before adding the cookie dough seemed to help. So, I baked my brownies for 10 minutes by themselves, as one baker had done with perfect results. I had immediate reservations when I started plopping my dough on my partially baked brownie batter - the dough started sinking, and the batter was rising up  everywhere. It helped when I flattened each piece of dough before laying it down. So, back in the oven it went. After another 40 minutes, The whole thing had ballooned up - much more than I had expected it to - and was nowhere near done. I actually lost track of how many more times I set my timer for 10 more minutes, but it was at least 3. Finally, it appeared to be done, so I removed it from the oven, and it was looking pretty tasty, I must say. However, once it had been on the counter for a minute or so it caved, and I saw in the enormous crack that ran the length of it that the thing was still runny on the inside. Back  into the oven it went for another 15 minutes. 

Once cooled, we had a slice with some vanilla ice cream. It was pretty good, but not amazing. The brownie part was delicious, but the cookie part was quite a disappointment. Way too crunchy, not very cookie like at all. 

I will try this again, because I think it could be incredible, and because several of the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers (of which I am still not officially a member, by the way - can't get an email response to save my life...) had great results. I think the brownie layer needs more like 20 minutes on its own. 

Thanks to Beth of Supplicious for choosing this recipe. 

Double Chocolate Brownies

This is a fabulous, super-chocolaty brownie recipe, courtesy of marthastewart.com. I made these for my Brooklyn Brownout Cake instead of the brownies in the Sweet Melissa book. I had made them before, and knew that I loved them - they are everything  brownie should be: dense and rich with a lovely flaky top. I waited a little too long to take photos so they dried out a bit - they are actually more fudgy than they appear to be. You can find the recipe here.