TWD: Cocoa Salt and Pepper Shortbread

This week's Tuesday with Dorie selection was made by Tia of Buttercream Barbie. I was intrigued by the thought of salt & pepper in a sweet cookie so I quickly baked up a batch, but...



...I wasn't impressed. The salt & pepper that I sprinkled on top added a surprising kick when you took a bite, but the cookie itself was kinda dull. I ate a couple and thought, "These just aren't worth the calories."

Maybe they needed more sugar (they weren't sweet at all). Or maybe they needed more cocoa. Hard to pin-point the problem, but they were definitely not a "keeper".

Sorry Dorie. This is the first recipe from the book that I didn't care for...

TWD: Clasic Brownies

I tend to prefer cakelike brownies over fudgy brownies, but these fudgy little gems were pretty darn good. Dorie Greenspan in "Baking from My Home to Yours" describe them as "Fudgy but not gooey, intensely chocolaty, dry on top and melty in the middle." That about describes them perfectly.

Many thanks, Anne, of Anne Strawberry for making this week's TWD selection. Go to Anne's web page for the recipe and check out TWD - Tuesdays with Dorie for links to the other "Classic Brownies" renditions.

Amanda's iPhone Cake

My 10 year old niece wanted an iPhone for her birthday. Her dad said “NO, absolutely positively NO”, so I made her an iPhone cake instead. She got a kick out of it, and her friends did too.



I can't believe it, but this is the first decorated cake that I’ve made in over a year and a half. It has been a rough, rough 18 months. To emotional and upsetting to think about decorating cakes, but I’m hoping and praying that things will get better.

Anyway the cake is half red velvet and half chocolate fudge. I made the app icons out of polymer clay and the rest of the decorations are made from Wilton’s fondant. Yuck!! I think that stuff tastes like flavorless wax, but a kid at the party actually loved the stuff. Weird kid.



Here are the app icons coming together. The assembly wasn't hard, but it was very time consuming. I think I spent about 8 hours making all the 17 app icons. My favorite is the "Map". It has little tiny roads, an interstate sign, and a red push pin. Too cute.

TWD: Golden Brioche Loaves

Dorie Greenspan's Golden Brioche Loaves have long been on my baking "to do" list, but it took Margie of Tea and Scones to push it to the top of my baking agenda. Margie selected the recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie's weekly baking assignment. Check out Margie's blog for the recipe and TWD for other version of this French classic.

So how did my first attempt at Brioche go??
Well not too bad, it baked up slightly darker than "golden", but it still had a great taste and light, pillowy texture.

So here it the life cycle of my Brioche (in pictures of course)...

Step 1: Yeast, water, milk, flour, and salt after a few quick pulses.


Step 2: Add the eggs.


Step 3: Add the butter, a little bit at a time. This step took FOREVER. Who would have thought it would take so long to incorporate the butter into the dough.


Step 4: All the butter incorporated into the dough. Beat for about 10 minutes till the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.


Step 5: Transfer to a bowl, and let the "rising" begin.


Step 6: A few hours later, let the "rising" end.


Step 7: Cut the dough into two (or four) equal pieces. (I didn't have two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans so I used four mini pans. ) Cut each piece of dough into 4 equal pieces and roll into logs.


Step 8: Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Sticky, sticky dough.


Step 9: Leave the dough at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans. Oops, my loaves rose a little too much.

Step 10: Bake the loaves until golden brown. I cooked mine for about 25 minutes and they came out a bit too brown and a little dry. So next time I would stop at about 20 minutes.



So like I said, a little dry and a little too brown, but not half bad for my first loaf of Golden Brioche!!!

TWD: Cream Scones

Light, moist and delicately crumbly. This simple scone has lovely taste and wonderful texture. I had one and then another, and when no one was looking, I had a third.

And apparently I wasn't the only one to think these scones were amazing, cause all 12 of these little beauties disappeared in just a few minutes.



Thanks Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu for an excellent Tuesdays with Dorie selection. It is now one of my favorites. Check out Lynn's site for the recipe or find in on page 17 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours.

PS: I did make a few minor modifications to the recipe. I used 7 tablespoons of butter instead of 5, I used 4 tablespoons of sugar instead of 2 (plus I sprinkled some additional sugar on top), and I added a teaspoon of almond extract. I baked them for 19 minutes (my oven runs hot) on a baking stone.

I hope yours turn out as amazing as mine :)

TWD: Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I've been a bad blogger lately :(

I've been baking goodies once, twice and even thrice a week, but not blogging about any of them (bad, bad, blogger). What can I say: work, life, parties, holidays, watering my drought parched lawn, lots of things have gotten in the way.

But today on this sweltering July 4th afternoon, I made some mid-year resolutions...

1) I will blog on everything I bake,
2) I will stop using my treadmill as laundry line and start exercising again, and
3) I will try to see the good in people and situations. Note to self: stop being so negative.

So here is my first blog in a while, TWD's Chocolate Chunk Muffins. So good, so chocolaty, so moist and delicious. Thanks, Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles, for a great selection.



Next week Cream Scones (yummm, my favorite).

TWD: Maple-Cornmeal Drop Biscuits

Not much to look at, but mighty tasty nonetheless.



Many thanks Lindsey from A Little Something... Sweet! for selecting this week's TWD recipe: Maple-Cornmeal Drop Biscuits.

Think cornbread, think scone, then think of them merged together. Yes, that's it! That is what these little gems taste like. Crumbly and soft with just a hint of sweetness. Very good. Too good to eat just one.

Thanks, Lindsey, for a great selection.

TWD: Pecan Shortbread - Fiasco

I was in a mood for shortbread, so I decided to try out Dorie Greenspan's Pecan Shortbread.

Should I describe my attempt as a failure? A fiasco? An unmitigated flop?



I don't know what I did wrong, but whatever it was, my "wrongness" was major.

Too much butter?

Not enough flour?

I thought I measured everything correctly, but apparently NOT.

Instead of nice, sharp edged squares, everything spread into one thin sheet of butter, sugar, pecans, and flour. It tasted good (like pecan taffy), but it was definitely unappealing.


Oh well, file this one under "misadventures".

TWD: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection of Brown Sugar Bundt Cake was made by Peggy from Pantry Revisited. The recipe actually calls for pears and prunes (neither of which I'm found of), but the "Playing Around" options said to omit the pears and prunes and stir in chopped nuts. Yes. I loooove nuts. So here is my Brown Sugar-Nut Bundt Cake.



Very soft and tender texture, and extremely moist to boot.



Thanks, Peggy, for a great pick.

TDW: Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

My Pick!!!! My Turn !!!

After 1-1/2 years, it is finally my week to host TWD. I selected Marbled Load Cake because it just begs to be fiddled with. Dorie offered several "playing around" suggestions, and I went with the white and dark chocolate variation. Other suggestions included orange, peppermint, cardamon, coffee. I can't wait to see what amazing flavor combination the creative bakers at TDW come up with.

My Marbled Load Cake saga started out well. I didn't panic when my batter curdled, cause, Dorie, the baking goddess told me it might happen.



Marbling the batter was fun. (Although I ended up eating a lot batter before it made it to the pan. Hey I had to catch all the batter that dripped from the spoon.)


And the final swirls made it look so pretty.



But alas my oven is having serious problems, and is causing be no end of grief. I really think it is inhabited by demons or other such mischievous beings. The temperature goes up and down on its own, and sometimes even shuts itself off on occasion. I really believe the thing is toying with me. It is trying to destroying what little baking confidence I have/had.

Case in point: I only baked my marbled loaf for 55 minutes (and not the suggested 80-90 minutes), and still I ended up crispy edges.




But I didn't let a cruel oven and burnt edges stop ME! I just did a lot of edge trimming, slathered each slice with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream, and ate Chocolate Marbled Load Cake until every last crumb was gone.

Everything is better with chocolate, even extra crispy cake.

---

Here is the recipe from page 230 of Dorie Greenspan's BAKING from My Home to Yours:



Basic Marbled Load Cake

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk )
Choice of flavorings

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two stacked regular baking sheets.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Working with a stand mixer, preferable fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl,beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Don't be concerned if the batter curdles and stays curdle--it will be find.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, just until each addition is incorporated.

5. Divide the batter equally into two bowls. Add the flavorings of your choice to each bowl of batter.

6. Dollop spoonfuls of each batter randomly into the prepared pan. Plunge a table knife deep into the batter and zigzag the knife through the batter a few times. Be careful not to over mix the batter as you'll lose the marbled effect and end up with a muddy-looking loaf.

7. Bake the cake for an hour and then check on it. If it looks like it's getting too brown but needs more baking, cover the bread loosely with a tent of foil. The cake may need up to 30 minutes more to bake, depending on your oven, how dark your baking pan is and what additions you've made. The cake is done when a thin knife or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8. Transfer the cake pan to a rack to cool for 15 minutes and then remove it from the pan and continue to cool it (right side up) on the rack until it's room temperature.