Racines Cake for Christmas Eve

Mmmm...chocolate...

Welcome to my last post of 2011, a year that shall go down in (my) history as one of my least favorites. It was filled with anxiety, depression, heartache, disappointment, loneliness, and frustration. True, there were a few upsides (trip to Paris, anyone?), but in all, it was a year I wouldn't mind forgetting.

So instead of reflecting on the year that was, I would like to look forward to the year that will be. Granted, I started of 2011 with a great deal of optimism for what was sure to be a great year to come, but I am certain that 2012 has better things in store for me than 2011. I am hoping that my falling apart in 2011 only created an opportunity for me to put myself back together in a more fabulous shape in 2012.

So, in parting with 2011, I leave you with a recipe for a most delicious and simple chocolate cake. I wish I had thought to pair it with a peppermint whipped cream, since I served it on Christmas Eve, but it was just as delicious with the orange flower-scented whipped cream that I made. For me, this cake was simply perfect: light, chocolatey, and decadent. Fancy enough for a celebration, but simple enough to pull together in a pinch.

So fancy!

Racines Cake
from Ready for Dessert

10 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used 70%), chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp freshly brewed espresso
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 lrg eggs, at room temp
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp cocoa nibs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by buttering it and dusting it with cocoa powder.

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate, butter, and espresso and melt over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth, then remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

In a smaller bowl, combine the egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar and beat on medium-high speed with a hand mixer until the mixture is light and creamy, about 1 minute.

In a clean, dry medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed until they begin to hold shape. Add the 2 tbsp sugar and beat on high speed until the whites hold soft peaks.

Fold the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, then fold in half of the egg whites. Carefully fold in the remaining whites until there are no streaks of white- don't overfold!

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the cocoa nibs evenly over the top. Bake until the cake is barely set in the center, abut 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies 2011

Hazelnut Yumminess!

Yes, I'm a little late with my Christmas cookie post. Fashionably late, perhaps? No, probably not. I'm sure everyone is tired of Christmas cookies by now. But I'm here now to share my Christmas cookie creations of 2011.

Oooooh...

The first cookie is inspired by the Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies that I made last year. I'm not a huge fan of pecans, but what I do love are hazelnuts. I thought if I swapped out the pecans for hazelnuts, that I would have a delicious Nutella-flavored cookie. And I was right. With the first bite into this creation, I was in love. We all know about my Nutella addiction, so it's pretty clear why these cookies were a hit with me. They also seemed to be a bit of a hit at work. And because they remind me of Ferrero Rochers,I am naming these little guys Rocher Cookies.

The other cookies is a hazelnut thumbprint cookie, using some of my mom's homemade Blackberry Port Jam (which, on its own, is amazing). I found a recipe online and it worked perfectly. The result was a crispy, buttery, hazelnutty, jammy cookie. It would be perfect with tea. I think my mom's jam paired rather nicely with the hazelnuts in this cookie. For the recipe, see this blog; note: I followed the recipe using hazelnuts and did not use almond extract. Almond extract is the devil.

They taste better than they look...

Rocher Cookies
adapted from The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup ground roasted hazelnuts

1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and CocoaPinch of salt

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa

To make the cookies, in a large bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, hazelnuts, ground chocolate, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until well blended.

Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 to 2 hours, until firm.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (I used a 1-inch scoop). Place the balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the cookies are firm to the touch. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack.

To make coating, sift powdered sugar and ground chocolate into a shallow bowl. While the cookies are still warm, roll them in the coating.

Enjoy!

Orange Nutmeg Buttermilk Cookies

Magical!

So, it's been awhile. A long while. I've had writer's block. I've also had a lot of things on my mind that have nothing to do with my baking, or at least nothing writeable. But I'm back now, and I suppose that's what matters.

Without delving too much into things, I will say that I have been dealing with depression for the past year, and went on medication for it in the past few months. One of the most annoying side effects of the medication was fatigue, to the point that I was sleeping until anywhere between noon and 2pm on weekends. I had lost all energy to do much of anything. My apartment turned into quite a pigsty, which was rather representative of how I felt on the inside.

Something that I have found when I tell someone that I have depression, is that the person's response is "what are you depressed about?" I am sure that the person is trying to get to the problem so that they can offer a solution, but sometimes when I am depressed, it isn't about anything really. Or maybe it's about everything. Some days I simply wake up feeling a sense of dread, like my body is filled with a black ooze that takes over my mind and tells me that I'm a nobody who will never do anything significant. Maybe the answer I should give to those who ask is that the future is scary as shit.

One thing that helps me keep going, however, is my baking. I love thinking about what I want to bake, concocting magical treats in my mind. Sometimes, I will make those ideas a reality. One such delicious treat is these orange nutmeg buttermilk cookies that I made a couple of weeks ago with my sister. I love the combination of orange and nutmeg, and these cookies are a wonderful way to enjoy that taste combination. The cookies are light and kind of cakey (sort of like a whoopie pie cake), with a little sweetness added by the orange glaze on top. We decorated the cookies with festive sprinkles in order to help get us into the holiday spirit. I highly recommend these to anyone- they're fairly easy to make, delicious, and a little unexpected.

Merry Christmas!

Orange Nutmeg Buttermilk Cookies

For Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp grated orange zest (more if you wish)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For Glaze (this is half the original recipe, which I find is more than enough to frost the cookies)
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tbsp well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 tbsp fresh orange juice

Make cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with one rack in the upper-middle position and the other rack in the lower-middle position. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth.

Drop tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, 2 sheets at a time, until cookies are puffed and edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes per batch, making sure to rotate the baking sheets halfway through the bake time. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks.

Glaze cookies:
Whisk together all glaze ingredients and brush onto tops of warm cookies. Add a flourish of sprinkled if you are so inclined.

Let stand until cookies are completely cooled and glaze is set.

More Brownie Pimping

Yes, I am trying to seduce you.

Oops, so it's been a few weeks since I've posted. I did make another batch of pimped brownies, but I got a little too excited about eating them...so I didn't get any pictures.

I also happened to have had a birthday in the meantime, so I didn't really do any baking that weekend. I did make ice cream (can't help myself), but it also disappeared before pictures were taken...

So yeah, I'm 29 now. In a year, I'll be 30. My metabolism is going to slow down. I will no longer be young and hip (okay, I was never hip). I would have thought I'd have my life a little more together by now, but I don't. I don't have a career to speak of (yay, economy!), I don't have a house, and I am perpetually single. But I do have a car! I also have a family that makes me laugh, a sister who is like a soul mate, a few good friends who love me despite my quirks, a dog that makes my heart tickle when I look at her, a cat who provides me with endless entertainment, and a passion for baking and dancing. So really, when I think of all that, I'm pretty rich, right?

To be honest, 28 was a rough year, and I was glad to see it go. Living alone has taught me a lot about myself. I've learned that I'm a pack animal, that I feel most at home with a small group. I've learned that the state of my apartment is a direct reflection of the state of my mind. I've also learned to reach out when I need help, a tough lesson for an independent girl like me to learn. 28 wasn't all bad, but I am certainly glad to have it behind me.

Now, for some brownies. No matter my age, I am still a brownie freak. A friend of mine suggested that the road to hell is paved with brownies, and I fear that that may be the gospel truth. Not much good comes of me baking and eating brownies, in the moral sense. We all know how it goes- you eat one piece, then go back for another little sliver, and another sliver, and before you know it, half the pan is gone and you wind up in a chocolate-induced stupor.

But I digress. I am still on a brownie-pimping kick and this time I think I've created something wonderful. I used the same base from my Milky Way Brownies, and this time doctored things up by adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder in exchange for one of the tablespoons of flour, and a half teaspoon of espresso powder. I also added a half cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter and sprinkled a mixture of milk chocolate, semisweet, bittersweet, and white chocolate chips on top of the batter before putting it in the oven. The result is divine (or downright evil, depending on your take). Maybe I should name these Quadruple Chocolate Seduction Brownies...

Eat me!

Quadruple Chocolate Seduction Brownies


4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 lrg eggs
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with tin foil, then spray with a non-stick cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan until foamy. Stir in the semisweet chocolate until smooth. Add the espresso powder and set aside to cool.

Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and stir until well-combined.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine the remaining chocolate chips, then sprinkle evenly on top of the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely (or for as long as you can bear).

Operation Pimp My Brownie: The Beginning

Gooey...

I have a new mission in life, and it is called Operation Pimp My Brownie. In short, it involves taking simple brownie recipes and pimping them out to include things that I think pair brilliantly with chocolate. I don't want to reveal any secrets, but I already have several ideas brewing in my mind.

My first experiment was Milky Way Brownies. I did not have a recipe to go off of, so I took a recipe for classic brownies, and found a recipe for Milky Way Swirl cake, and doctored it to make it work. The end result was quite wonderful if you ask me. These brownies were sweet and chewy, a perfect little snack. I will certainly be making these again.

Tasty...

Milky Way Brownies


4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 lrg eggs
a generous 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 fun-size Milky Way bars, chopped
2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with tin foil, then spray with a non-stick cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl set over simmering water. Once smooth, allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Melt the Milky Ways in a small saucepan with the milk and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and stir until well-combined.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Reserve 3/4 cup of the brownie mixture and pour the rest into the prepared pan. Combine the reserved brownie batter with the Milky Way mixture and stir until combined. Pour this mixture on top of the brownie batter in the pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Milky Way Glaze


6 fun-size Milky Way bars, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp water

Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until melted and smooth. Pour the warm glaze on top of the cooled brownies and allow to set.

Enjoy!

The Hunt for the Perfect Oatmeal Cookie

Oh the yumminess...

Okay, so I have already blogged two recipes for oatmeal cookies: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have already declared my love for oatmeal cookies twice on this blog, and I fear I will have to do so again in this post. You see, I am on a quest to find the perfect oatmeal cookie recipe, one that I can use as a base recipe and change up the add-ins as fits my taste and the weather. I don't want to speak to soon, but I may have already found that recipe. Look out, folks, I feel an ode coming on...

Ode to Oatmeal Cookies
by Ray-Ray
oh, oatmeal cookie
with your soft and chewy
yet toothsome
sweetness
you fill my mouth with joy
you make my spirit bounce
and my tummy jiggle
your cinnamon and nutmeg and cardamom
flood my mind with memories
of home
and Fall
and crisp red and orange leaves
that crunch below my feet
like your crunchy edges
when I bite into you
I think about you
oh, oatmeal cookie
and I am reminded that life is good

I know, I know, I'm being silly. But I am very passionate about cookies. I can say definitively, nay, I can shout from the mountaintops and yell in the streets, that I love cookies. Love, love, love them. As in, I would do anything for them (but I won't do that*). And so, when I get my baking business up and running, cookies will be a major feature. I love baking them and I love eating them and I really love experimenting with them. Cookies are fun, folks!

So, back to these special cookies that I made last week. They are oatmeal with dried cherries, hazelnuts, and milk chocolate chips. The cookie itself was moist and chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside. And full of the flavors of Fall. Ideal, in my mind. So good, in fact, that I kept a lot of them to myself...

Cookies!

Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry Hazelnut Cookies
adapted from Baked:New Frontiers in Baking


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 lrg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through cardamom), and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the sugars and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Add the vanilla and beat very briefly.

Add half of the flour and mix until just combined, then add the rest of the flour and beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the oats, beating until just combined. Stir in the cherries, nuts, and chocolate chips using a spatula.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (trust me, this is necessary).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Using a size 20 scoop, drop the dough onto the cookie sheets, about 6 per sheet. Gently use your palm to press down on each cookie, just to flatten the top a little (do not smash!). Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until just golden.

Once removed from the oven, allow the cookies to remain on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely (or until you can no longer stand it and have to taste a warm one...not that that's ever happened to me...).

Enjoy!

*Bonus points if you caught my Meatloaf reference.

The First of the Fall Baking with Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf and Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash and potatoes

Fall is finally here. I would say that Fall is definitely my favorite season, if anything for the baking alone. There are so many wonderful things to bake in the Fall: pumpkin pie, oatmeal cookies, spice cake with cream cheese frosting... Oh yes, Fall is all about the spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger, cardamom...these are the things that really excite me about the Fall. Besides, it sure makes my apartment smell nice.

I have decided that every weekend from now until Thanksgiving, I shall bake something with pumpkin. My first recipe was for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip loaves. Yes, loaves multiple, as in two loaves, because that is what the recipe produced. And I'm glad I made the full recipe. Seriously, these loaves were so delicious, so full of pumpkin and spice, that I really had a hard time not going overboard eating them...

As if baking pumpkin loaves were not enough, I also decided to make some butternut squash soup. Technically, it was intended to be a pumpkin soup, but I could not find any pumpkins for soup-making, so I went with butternut squash. I found the recipe for the soup in a French cookbook of mine, and the recipe said that it was both cheap and easy. This soup was so easy, it was ridiculous. And so tasty, even though it was so simple. A total winner, and likely to be a staple for me from now on.

Yummy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaves
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
4 lrg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 12-oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 9x5-inch loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and oil until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the sugar and then whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Stir in 2/3 cup room temperature water. Stir in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure to rotate the pans half way through the baking time.

Transfer the pans to wire racks to cool for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto the wire racks to cool completely (or as long as you can stand before tasting them).

Warm and tasty!

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Francoise Bernard's Les Recettes Illustrees


1 kg butternut squash
2 small potatoes
1 L whole milk
1 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the butternut squash and potatoes into small cubes and put them in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the tablespoon of butter and a cup of water, cover, and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the squash and potatoes are softened.

In a food processor, puree the squash and potatoes, then add the mixture back to the pot. Add the milk, salt and pepper and bring to a soft boil for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!