Kara's Parent's 40th Anniversary Cake

Kara called me out of the blue about a month ago to ask me if I would make her parents a cake to help celebrate their 40th anniversary. They were coming to Seattle for a visit and as a surprise Kara and her brother Jay wanted to honor the milestone with a special cake and champagne toast in their hotel room. What an honor it was to be asked to make a cake to celebrate a 40th anniversary! I have to say I was more nervous making this cake than any cake I've ever made. Kara wanted something wedding-cakey but nothing too feminine. Plus she wanted each cake to be true to what it really was; no over-the-top decorating needed.

Since I didn't want any chocolate icing polluting the pristine carrot cake, separating the cakes in some way seemed like the best option. Stacking the cake was interesting and a bit challenging but I eventually figured it out. Initially. I wanted to use Styrofoam in between the cakes but to my shock it would have cost three times more than the price of the plastic columns! I had no idea Styrofoam was so expensive. In the end I think the cake looked a little cliche but at least it was stable.

The bottom layer was a classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting which was Kara's mom's favorite. The cake came out better than any carrot cake I've ever made. I got the recipe from Spectacular Cakes by Mich Turner. It was incredibly moist and was filled with not only carrots, but unsweetened coconut, walnuts, rum-soaked golden raisins, and orange and lemon juices. The frosting was just a basic no-frills cream cheese frosting, however I did use clear vanilla extract to try to keep it as white as possible. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out a good way to steal a piece of it, but the crumbs I sampled were tasty! I think I'll be making this recipe again soon.

For the German Chocolate Cake, which was Kara's father's favorite, I used David Lebovitz's recipe. I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. The cake was very light and had a pleasant, not overwhelming cocoa flavor. The coconut-pecan filling was delectable but slightly more runny than I expected. As such, I didn't feel the need for the simple syrup and omitted it all together. My only complaint about his recipe for for his chocolate icing. Mine never solidified! It was a very runny, non-spreadable chocolate sauce that in no way resembled frosting. I don't know if there was something wrong with my ingredients or if he forgot an ingredient but something was off. Eventually I added about 8 cups of sifted powdered sugar and only then it finally got to the point where it resembled frosting. I had left over batter and made cupcakes with it. Much to the chagrin of my co-workers, my husband won the coin toss and brought them to work to share.

For the cake "40" cake topper I wanted something elegant and actually went to SEVEN different stores looking for something I could use. Can you believe I actually considered using house numbers I got so desperate? At one party supply store I explained to the sales girl that I wanted something tasteful and elegant and she claimed to have and I quote: "just the thing!". I felt like punching her when she brought me over to the birthday candles and showed me a bubbly, waxy, white, two-dollar number "4" and "0". I just starred at her and walked away without saying a word. Apparently being married forty years isn't long enough for anyone to give a flip. Grr! So I ended up just making it myself out of sugar paste. I liked the way it came out but I really wished I would have used red ink to trace out the numbers instead of black (this is what happens when you're making important decisions at 1am). I learned a pretty cool tip about painting sugar paste in a hurry - instead of using vodka or lemon extract to mix with the food coloring gel or powder, use grain alcohol or Everclear instead. Because it is so high in alcohol, it dries almost instantly. Seriously, it was evaporating faster than I could paint with it!

Kara's brother sent me a picture of the cake setup in the hotel room so I could see what it looked like. I think it was taken using a camera phone and the quality is a little grainy but I still think it looked handsome sitting on the table. Since they were married in the 1960s, I gave the photo a little '60 treatment just for fun. It looks so retro!
Although these cakes probably should not have been my test-bed for piping frosting and they weren't as perfect as I hoped, I think they came out pretty good and I think Kara would agree -- check out her text message:

Erin's Mocha-dot Chiller brownies

*The contest is now closed*

Help! I need your naming skills! I made these brownies last night and I'm stumped for a name. The most creative name wins a Wilton Bite Sized Square Silicone Mold prize pack! This is the mold that I used create my cheesecake pops. To enter, please leave a comment below, but try to think of names that are really unique and catchy. The deadline is midnight PST July 17th. The winner will be selected by me and announced on July 18th.
Before you take a stab at naming them, you'll probably want to see another picture and know what's in these bad boys, huh? :-)

Here's the recipe:

Ganache
8 oz whipping cream
8 oz good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (try to avoid chips if you can)

Brownies
1 19.8oz brownie mix
1 stick of melted butter
1 tablespoon dried coffee crystals, ground into a fine powder (I used Folgers and the bottom of a juice glass to grind it down)
1/2 cup of whipping cream
3 large eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 ounce package full fat cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-4 generous tablespoons of ganache (the amount is up to you)
1-2 tablespoons whipped cream
pinch of salt

Ganache
Chop the chocolate as evenly as you can and put it a heat-proof bowl. In a sauce pan, over medium-low heat slowly warm the whipped cream. Just when you start to see little tiny bubbles coming to the surface of the cream, turn off the heat and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then mix the cream and chocolate very slowly and gently. It will take a few minutes until the cream and chocolate combine into one satiny smooth puddle. Set it aside to cool on the counter (don't cover or chill it).

Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly mist the bottom of a 13 by 9inch pan with veggie spray.

Combine the brownie mix, melted butter, cream, and eggs into a big mixing bowl. Stir everything together with a heavy spoon until all the ingredients are well combined. Pour the batter into a prepared pan, smoothing out the surface with a rubber spatula. Scatter the chocolate chips evenly over the surface of the batter and place the pan into the oven. Bake the brownies 20 minutes and cool completely for at least 30 minutes.

Frosting
Using the whisk attachment, whisk the cream cheese for a minute on medium high until light and fluffy. Add 2 tablespoons of the chocolate ganache into cream cheese and mix on medium speed until well blended, being sure to scrape the bowl once or twice. Taste it and if you want a more dramatic chocolate flavor, add another two heaping tablespoons to the mixture and mix again. Add salt. Slowly mix in the confectioners sugar. If the mixture gets too thick, add a tablespoon or two of whipping cream and beat on high until the frosting becomes a more spreadable consistency.

Assembly
Run a knife along the perimeter of the pan and invert the brownies onto a cooling rack. Place a platter or cake board on top of the inverted brownies and flip it over again so the chocolate chips are facing up.

Spread a thick layer of frosting over the top of the brownies. Try to smooth the surface as best you can.

For the big dots in the center of the brownies, I used a pastry bag with a number 10 tip and a number 4 tip for the smaller dots. However, if you don't have a pastry bag or tips, but you could easily use a zipper bag to create the dots by cutting off the corner of the bag. Or, you could just spread a layer of ganache over the chocolate frosting. Seriously, it's chocolate ganache...you can't really make a mistake with it :-)

I highly recommend storing the finished product into the fridge overnight. These tasted good when I first frosted them but after sitting in the fridge for several hours, the chocolate flavor got a lot more pronounced. They went from "pretty good" to "spectacular" overnight.

Yield: 15 good sized brownies, but as always, it's all in how you cut them.
Would I Make This Again: Oh yeah, these appealed to both the super chocolate fanatic and the beginner chocolate lover (like me). The chocolate cream cheese frosting was really wonderful. I would love to use this on something else. 4 out of 5 stars.

Scott's "Forty Is the New Thirty" Brownie Stack

Scott is my next door neighbor and has been for the last five and a half years. I can't recall a time when I have see him without a big smile on his face. He's just a happy go lucky guy! Usually when I do see him, he's outside in the street playing games with his kids, which always warms my heart. You just don't see that very often anymore! Scott's a great neighbor, a loving husband, and super devoted dad; so when I found out it was his 40th birthday, I couldn't wait to make him something as fabulous as he is.

When I asked him what he wanted, he said he liked chocolate, strawberries, and bananas. I had a few recipes to work with but eventually decided to take the best of both and invent something new. This is what I came up with. It's got everything: brownies, cheesecake, chocolate whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, and chocolate!

"Forty Is The New Thirty Brownie" Stack

Brownies
1 package (19.8 ounce) fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 large eggs, at room temperature, whisked together in a bowl
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips but normal sized should work too)

Cheesecake
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Whipped Cream
1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar

Filling and Toppings
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced lengthwise
1 medium firm banana, sliced
1 oz semisweet chocolate curls (optional) I use a vegie peeler and a small block of chocolate


Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a jelly roll pan (I used one that was 16 1/2 by 11 1/2 by 1 inch) with wax or parchment paper. Fold the paper in half (like a book) and make a sharp crease in the paper (this will come in handy later then you need to cut the brownie in half). Lay the paper into the jellyroll pan, butter the paper and lightly dust with flour (or use Pam with Flour -- I love it!). Put the mixer bowl and whisk (or beaters) into the fridge to chill.

In another large bowl, combine the brownie mix, oil, water, eggs, and chocolate chips and stir with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are incorporated, roughly 50 strokes. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out with a rubber spatula. Place it into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until combined. Spread over brownie and bake 10-12 minutes longer or until topping is set and dry looking. Cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Sift the cocoa and powdered sugar together. Remove the whisk/beaters, bowl, and cream from the fridge. Pour the cream into the bowl and whisk on the highest setting for 1 minute (I like to put a kitchen towel over the mixer and bowl to avoid splattering). When the mixture just starts to look like it's getting thick, add the cocoa and sugar and continue whipping for another 1-3 minutes until the whipped cream gets thick and stiff peaks form. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill.

When the brownies are cool, put the strawberry preserves into a microwave save dish and heat on high for 30 seconds. Pour the strawberries over the surface and spread as best you can. If you don't have enough to cover the entire surface of the pan just heat a little more of the preserves and repeat the process.

Now it's time to assemble it!* Remember the crease you made in the parchment paper earlier? Use it as your guide to cut the brownie in half. Be sure to cut all the way down, through the waxed paper. Place half of the brownie on a serving platter, dish, or cake board (be sure to remove the waxed paper). Cover with a layer of strawberries and then cover with thinly sliced banana. Use the entire banana on this layer ( you don't need to save any for the top layer because it will turn brown and look unsightly). Top the strawberries and bananas with 3/4 of the whipped cream. Next, place the second half of the brownie on top. This is where it gets a little tricky.. there is no right or wrong way to put the top layer of brownie on top. I flipped it over so the cheesecake layer was pointing down and the flat bottom was facing up, however, if layering it cheesecake side up is easier for you, go for it. I just found it easier to flip it. Top this layer with the remaining chocolate whipped cream, strawberries, and if you want, chocolate curls.

*If you're not in a hurry you can place the brownies (lightly wrapped in foil) into the freezer to firm up for up to 30 minutes. This will make it easier to assemble if the pieces are slightly frozen. You can also cut the brownie into thirds or even quarters and make the stack even higher. It's totally up to you!

Yield: Depending on large you cut the slices, you could easily serve 16 or more.
Would I Make This Again: Yes! It sounds really complicated but it was easy to whip together. It's also fairly economical to make and feeds a lot of people so I could see making this for a BBQ or potluck (providing you can keep it cold). It will hold up to room temperature for about and hour. If you wanted it to last longer you could use chocolate flavored Cool Whip instead of the whipped cream but you will sacrifice some of the flavor. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Jeff's Behemoth Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I learned it was Jeff's birthday during our weekly Monday morning meeting. Honestly, I hear the word "birthday" and its hard for me to focus after that.

When the meeting was over, the first thing I did was send him an email to find out what special birthday treat he wanted; but he said he wasn't picky and I could surprise him. Yikes!

I talked it over with a few coworkers and although one of the suggestions was to make Raisin Bran Muffins (Jeff often eats the cereal for breakfast and lunch), we knew it had to be something rich, involving chocolate, and extremely caloric. It was then when I remembered a brief conversation I had last Friday when my coworker Peter, who told me I should check out "this amazing giant chocolate chip cookie cake on the Martha Stewart website". I'm so glad I did because it turned out Jeff really wanted chocolate chip cookies!

Don't be fooled by the pictures, this cake was HUGE! It weighted about 5 lbs and was close to 6 inches tall!

Behemoth Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart Online
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling - Plain
4 8oz packages of full fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

-or-

Frosting Variation - Peanut Butter and Nutella - (thanks to Jeff who left a comment)
3 8 oz packages cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups confectioners' sugar
3-5 spoonfulls peanut butter (or more to taste)
3-5 spoonfulls nutella (or more to taste)

If you have a Silpat mat: Trace an 8 inch circle on a piece of parchment paper using a thick pencil. Place it face up on a cookie sheet. Place your Silpat mat face up on top of the parchment. You should be able to see the circle you drew peeking beneath the Silpat. If you don't have a Silpat mat, flip the parchment paper face down on the cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter and brown and granulated sugars into mixer bowl and mix on medium until well combined (it will look very dry and not fluffy at all). Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the cream. Stir in chocolate chips.
For each of the 5 layers, drop 1 level cup batter + plus a little extra onto center of a baking sheet lined with parchment (I used about 1 and 1/4 cup of batter per cookie. I measured out 5 separate cups and then divided the rest of the left over batter evenly). Keep unbaked dough refrigerated while the other dough is baking. Using a small offset spatula, spread into an 8-inch circle, or as close as you can get it.

Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Use offset spatula to reshape circle.(Here's an alternative approach - I used the frame of my 8.5 inch spring form pan. I very carefully coaxed the undercooked cookie inside the buttered pan. I then returned the cookie and the pan to the oven to cook for the remaining 8 minutes. You could just bake this in a spring form pan but if you do that, the edges of the cookie will bake up high and cake like. I prefer the uneven cookie like edge.) Return to oven; bake until edges are golden brown, 7-9 minutes (DO NOT OVER COOK! Remember you're going to have to cut through all 5 cookies. Slightly under-cooked cookies is what you want. Transfer to wire rack; let cool. Can be stored airtight up to 1 day.

Frosting (both Plain and PB & Nutella) - Mix cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar in clean mixer bowl on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Original - Divide into 4 separate equal portions and spread onto 4 cookies. (I reduced this from 5 8oz blocks to only 4, but after I made this and I watched people eat around the massive amounts of frosting, 3 blocks might be better. It looks pretty to have lots of frosting in between the layers, but it's a bit of overkill in my opinion.)

Variation - Divide frosting into 2 bowls. Add 3-5 spoonfuls of peanut butter to one bowl and 3-5 spoonfuls of Nutella to the other and mix until well blended. Spread half of the peanut butter frosting on one cookie, top with another cookie and spread half the Nutella flavored frosting. Repeat with remaining two cookies.

Stack cookies onto a cake board or platter, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set, at least 20 minutes or overnight. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: I was able to get 16 slices out of the cake but they were so big and rich that I ended up splitting them in half (except for Jeff's slice!) which yielded about 30+ servings.
Would I Make This Again? Definitely! I LOVED watching everyone's reaction to the cake. I just left it on my desk and as people walked past me, they'd see the cake, do a double-take, and get this huge little kid like smile on their face. Those smiles, those "oohs!" and "aahs!" is why I bake. I feed off that, so yes, this recipe will be made again, probably many times. 5 out of 5 stars!!

30 Calorie Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

May I present the thirty calorie cookie.

Did I mention that they have milk chocolate chips inside?

Sure you can buy meringue cookies in the grocery store but they don't hold a candle to these babies. These bake up with an unassuming smooth and dry outer shell but inside, oh inside is where the action is! Inside you'll find a flossy, lightly toasted marshmallow like center, with slightly melted chocolate chips just waiting for you...

30 Calorie Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups mini chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (optional)

Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with a Silpat mat. Preheat oven to 300F.

In a medium mixing bowl with whisk attachment bowl, beat egg whites on super high speed until soft peaks form. Add cream of tarter and vanilla and mix again. Scrape bowl. Return on high speed and add sugar 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time (I measure the sugar into a 8oz glass then slowly pour the sugar a little at a time into the meringue. I find the glass easy to grip and less messy).If you want cocoa flavored cookies, add the cocoa now(I recommend it!). Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop mixture by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet (I like to use my cookie scoop). Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until firm and the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let them cool.

Nutrition Facts per cookie: 30 calories, 1 g total fat, 3 mg sodium, 5g carbo, 0g fiber, 0 pro (this is straight from the book. I won't be making this a habit!)I believe this translates to 3 cookies = 2 pts

Yield: One batch makes about 5 1/2 dozen
Would I Make This Again? I've made these before. It was a long time ago at my old job when I was making 4 or 5 desserts a week and I couldn't keep up with posting that much. I have wanted to make them ever since. Someday, if I can ever find a pastry bag big enough, I'd love to make these in a tight "S" shape. 4 out of 5 stars

Triple-Chocolate Penuche Brownies

Originally I intended to make brownies that were covered in gooey caramel, that when cut would ooze with golden threads of sticky goodness. However, when I searched for a good recipe, they all called for store bought caramel which I really dislike, so I decided to make my own. How hard could it be?

I don't know if it was my stove, the barometic pressure, or the phase of the moon, but I made 3 different caramel recipes and none of them came out right. First I tried to make homemade, duche le leche in my oven (boiling a can scared me!) but it just curdled and didn't resemble caramel at all. Then I tried a caramel recipe out of an old cookbook. This recipe actually looked like caramel, but unfortunately tasted bitter and burnt. This led to another cookbook recipe that I should have known from the start wasn't what I wanted, but I tried it anyway. Let's just say it involved flour - yeah, gross.

So finally I just went back to what I know and made the recipe that follows. Now granted the texture of the caramel was not what I originally intended, but the combination of penuche and fudge brownies was just devine.

Triple-Chocolate Penuche Brownies
Adapted recipe from Gourmet Magazine, 1992

6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chips are okay)
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Penuche Frosting
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk

Prepare a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper or tin foil so that the sides and bottom are covered. Spray with Pam or butter the surface of the paper/foil. This will make it super easy to remove the brownies later. If you don't have parchment paper or tin foil, just thoroughly butter and flour the pan, paying extra attention to the corners.

In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the bittersweet chocolate and the unsweetened chocolate with the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

Preheat oven 350F.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk with a fork, scrambled egg style. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl, a little at at time, stirring well after each addition.

Stir in the salt and the flour, stirring until the mixture is just combined. Add the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the pan, smooth out the top, and bake the mixture in the middle of a preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Remove from the oven and wait 5 minutes for it cool slightly. Remove the brownies from the pan using the paper or foil and place on a large cutting board or larger cookie sheet.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When it's fully melted, add the brown sugar and continue to mix constantly. When the mixture is well combined, add the milk and continuing stir. Increase the heat to medium-high, all the while, stirring the caramel. Let the mixture come to boil for 3 minutes.

Hover the saucepan a bit high over the brownies so that you get a long ribbon of caramel flowing from the pan. Slowly pour the mixture over the brownies in a zig-zag fashion, working from one side to the other, being sure not to cover the entire surface of the brownies with the caramel (you want to see some of the chocolate brownies peeking through the surface).

Let the brownies and penuche cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 24 brownies, although it really depends on how big you cut them
Would I Make This Again? Yep and I'm a little surprised by that answer. When I first made them, I was so upset that the carmel didn't come out the way I wanted, that I almost threw them away! But my husband told me I was nuts and to bring them to work anyway. Within a few minutes of delivering them to the masses, people were coming back for seconds, thirds, and fourths! It turned out to be wonderfully happy accident. 4 out of 5 stars

Frito Bark

So say you need to make a dessert in a jiffy but all you have in the house is a bag of chocolate chips, butter, brown sugar, and a bag of Fritos (it could happen!). What do you do? You whip up a great little treat that everyone will love.

I got inspired to make this little ditty after reading Anna's recipe at Cookie Madness a long time ago. Her recipe has pretzels, Fritos, and peanut butter cups in it, which I'm sure if super yummy but I wanted to go even simpler (and avoid anything with nuts). The combination of the salty Fritos and the sweet caramel and chocolate is sublime. Plus its really fun to watch people eat it and try to figure out what's the crunchy part is.

Frito Candy

Half a bag of regular flavored Fritos (9.75 oz)
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips (milk or semi sweet)

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Pour the Fritos into the prepared pan and crush slightly with the bottom of a glass or heavy bowl. Push the chips and chip fragments together so the there aren't any bare spots.

In a pan, over medium high heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon. Bring to a slow boil for 3 minutes, continuing to stir constantly.

Slowly pour the molten caramel over the chips, evenly covering all the chips as best you can.

Put the pan into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. You should see the caramel bubbling up through the chips.

Turn off the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the chip and caramel. Wait a few minutes and spread the chocolate around the surface, being sure to get evenly coat the surface. If the chocolate chips are stubborn and won't melt evenly, put the pan back into the oven for a minute or two to soften the chips.

Put the pan into the fridge (or the freezer if you're really in a hurry) until set. Remove the candy from the parchment paper and put the whole thing onto a cutting board. Cut it with a heavy, sharp knife and serve.

Note that this does get a bit soft at room temperature, so be sure to keep cold.

Yield: Enough to feed about 10-12 people, with lots left over. It really depends on how big you cut the pieces.
Would I Make This Again? Yep! It's a little ghetto but sometimes that's just want is needed. It's a fun, low cost dessert that makes people happy. What's not to love? I bet this would be great sprinkled over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 4 out of 5 stars!

Dorie Greenspan's Cinnamon Bars

One of my husband's all time favorite desserts from his childhood is chocolate cinnamon bars. Not this recipe, but one his mom made, especially around the holidays. My mom-in-law's recipe is very simple and more of a cinnamon blondie with chocolate chips sprinkled across the top (email or comment if you'd like that recipe). I imagine she probably found it on the back of a bag of chocolate chips or something.

About two weeks ago I purchased Dorie Greenspan's glorious book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. On the day I received it, I started reading it like it was a novel. I brought it to bed and read it until my eyes felt heavy with the urge to sleep. However, I perked up when I turned to page 210 and saw this recipe. I knew instantly this was one the hubby would love. It was like chocolate cinnamon bars 2.o!

In my last post, I mentioned how I made a cake for the baseball parents as a "thanks for being here no matter what" gift. Well, that day our team won and one of the moms said it was because of my cake and I need to keep it going. I couldn't let the team down, now could I? After all it's the playoffs! So, I decided making this cake would be both a perfect choice for the spectators and a great way for my hubby to get a slice (or two, or three).

Looks like I'll be making something for the game on Friday... we won again!

Cinnamon Bars
by Dorie Greenspan

Cake:
1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee/espresso powder (if you don't have this, skip it. It will still be yummy without it)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Frosting:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, soft

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl or glass, combine 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and the espresso powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, remaining cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and gently whisk until you have a well combined homogeneous batter. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the melted and cooled butter, just until the butter is absorbed. Your batter should be smooth and shiny.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, being sure its spread evenly (I find that if I hold onto the sides of the pan very firmly, while pushing against the counter, and make small circles with the pan, but batter will smooth out like magic.)

Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and then top with the cinnamon sugar. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly.

Put the baking sheet and the baking pan into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, just until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and remove the parchment. Turn it out again onto another rack so it is right side up.

For the frosting, put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling!) water. Stir until the chocolate and butter have completely melted and it is super shiny and smooth (If it gets too thin, let it stand for about 10 minutes and it will eventually thicken up). Spread on the top of the cake and allow the frosting to set up before serving.

Yield: I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan and was able to get 16 good sized pieces.
Would I Make This Again? Let me first say that everyone at the game really seemed to like it, but it wasn't my cup of tea. If someone told me they loved cinnamon and chocolate together in a dessert, I would make this for them, but there are many more recipes in Dorie's book I'd rather make instead. 3 out of 5 stars.

Sugar Shock Friday: Chocolate Swoon Bars

I usually save the baking isle for last when I go grocery shopping. There's something about that isle that seems special and so I savor it. My gait becomes noticeably slower and what ever muzak might be playing becomes just a bit more singable. And if there are other shoppers in the isle, I feel a little territorial as though the isle is mine and only mine. These are all signs that I probably need an intervention.

Last Friday afternoon my new friend and fellow baker/food-pusher, Emily, made pound cake as a going away gift for a colleague. It was honestly one of the best I had ever had. It had such a classic "Sara Lee" pound-cake flavor, I almost didn't believe she had made it. When I asked her about the recipe she revealed to me how she used something called "vanilla butter nut extract" to make it. What was this? An extract I had never heard of? Could it be? Surely it had to be exotic and difficult to find. I mean, I had never heard of it or ever seen it in my baking isle! I was intrigued.
On the way home I stopped by the store to, you know, pick up something for dinner (wink, wink) and I headed straight for the extracts. To my surprise, in between "vanilla" and "almond" was a bottle of "vanilla butter nut", patiently waiting for me. I picked up the box to inspect it and found a very small recipe, in paragraph format written on the back. I knew immediately upon reading it that I'd be making it or at least a version of it within the few days. The recipe's first step involved a molten caramel which I had never seen before.

I LOVE how this recipe came out! While it was baking, layers formed inside the bar, creating a cookie crust, then a layer of chocolate brownie, and then a second layer of crust. I'm not sure how that happened but it's pretty neat! Plus, the flavor is really something to swoon over. Both my husband and son said "Awesome!" at the same time after they took a bite. I almost considered calling these "Awesome in Stereo" Bars!

Chocolate Swoon Bars

2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla butter nut extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 12 ounce bag milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9"x13" baking pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder together and mix well with a fork. Set aside.

If you have a stand mixer, have the metal bowl and paddle attachment ready to go. If you're using a hand mixture, get your mixer ready to go. Set up a metal or glass head proof bowl and have a towel or over mit close by.

In another small bowl, mix the eggs and extract together as so as to break the yolks. Set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan, over medium heat, combine the brown sugar and butter together, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes very think and starts to bubble. Once it starts to bubble, continue stirring constantly, scrapping the sides and bottom of the pan for an additional three minutes or so. Do not increase the heat. (Note: you're not looking for a caramel here, but you want the mixture to almost be to the point where the sugar is dissolved, but not quite).

Remove the pan from the heat and continue to mix by hand for about a minute. Pour the hot mixture into the metal stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed for three minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix for two minutes, stopping once a minute to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. By now the mixture should still be warm, but not molten.

Return the speed back to medium and slowly add the egg/extract mixture. Add a little at a time to avoid the egg scrambling. The batter should get very shiny and turn a pretty shade of light brown. Continue mixing until all the egg is incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

Add the flour in two batches, mixing until it's just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix for about 30 seconds on low until the chocolate is combined. The chocolate will melt and that's okay.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove it from the oven and scatter a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips on top. You may need to add more chocolate chips to fill in any bald areas.

Let cool completely and cut into bars.

Yield: I'll probably get about 40 bars about of this pan so it will feed a bunch of people, but a normal serving size would probably yield about 20 bars. It's all in how you cut them.
Would I Make This Again?Considering my husband and son's reaction, I don't think I'll have much of a choice. I loved seeing the smile on their faces :-) 4 out of 5 stars.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Yeah..... you know you want one...

.....awww yeah...

...Mmmmmmmmmmmmm....

That's right... there's three layers... graham cracker crust studded with mini milk chocolate chips...topped with a smooth and creamy cheesecake that been studded with buttery chocolate chip cookie dough baked right inside and finished with a ribbon of creamy semisweet milk chocolate drizzled over the top..... pure bliss!

While we waited patiently for a table at dinner last night my husband casually happens to mention that there will be a barbecue following our son's baseball game at the coaches house the next day. I immediately start firing off questions: "Do we have to bring anything. Did you volunteer a specific type of dish? What time is the event?" My husband realizes he made a bit of a misstep, not informing me of the event ahead of time. "I don't recall," he said, "I didn't memorize the email, but I'm sure you could bring a dessert." Well, duh!

Over dinner my husband, son, and I discuss a few options and eventually settled on me making another cake using melted ice cream, but flavored with Cherry Garcia. On the way home I stop at the store to pick up the ingredients but quickly get sidetracked when I walk past a display table filled with various cookbooks. Without hesitation I flip through The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook and land upon these bad-boys. I get so sucked in by this book that I have to take it over to the indoor furniture area to sit down and leaf through it. I was in a trance....


So many times I get suckered into buying cookbooks like this. You know the ones. They have gorgeous, dreamy pictures of each recipe, looking so beautiful, so unbelievably scrupulous, you just have to buy it. Only later you find out the recipes don't turn out right or the book is filled with too many that are unappealing and it just sits on the shelf, year after year. I decide to resist the urge to impulse shop and do a little experiment instead: I would test drive a recipe first! Brillant! I pull out my pad and paper and decide to copy (gasp! steal?) down the recipe. I decided then and there if the recipe came out, I'd buy the book. Guess what? I'm buying the book as soon as I'm done posting this entry! :-)

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
by Elinor Klivans (author) & Kirsten Strecker (photographer)

Crust
1 & 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

Cookie Dough
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Using an electric mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

Filling
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended. Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.

Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.

For chocolate topping, melt 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. (Tip: put the chocolate chips into a zipper bag and heat on 50% power for a few minutes. Cut the corner off the bag and squeeze the bag to make drizzling less messy). Use a teaspoon to drizzle chocolate over top of bars. Cool bars in pan completely, about an hour. (Stick the bars in the freezer for 5 minutes to set quickly if you're in a hurry).

Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars (clean the knife after each cut) and serve.

Yield: I was able to get 20 1"x 1" bars from my 9" pan
Would I Make This Again? These bars were a huge hit! Everyone loved them at the barbecue, adults and kids alike. My hubby and son, who are both connoisseurs of all things cheesecake, gave this recipe 4 out of 5 stars

Scott & Julia's Chocolate Chip Banana & Zucchini Bread

Wow, it's been a week. I don't want to get too deep into the details but let me just say that some tears have been shed. As I walked into work this morning, I had an incredible urge to bake as it always helps to calm and relax me. While other more hard-core people may turn to hard liquor, I get my fix mixing ingredients together in my stand mixer. Go figure.

Once I got settled at my desk, I immediately asked for suggestions to anyone that was within earshot. The first request I heard was banana bread, which was suggested by Scott. About the same time, I heard Julia (yes, there's two of us) ask for zucchini bread. Hmmm... banana bread and zucchini bread. Both have basically the same ingredients right? Maybe they could be put merged together?

After work I headed to the store to get zucchini and bananas -- but whoa there cowgirl! I couldn't use just any bananas, I needed brown, shunned, over ripe bananas and finding them was going to be a challenge. The first store I went to sometimes has older bananas available. Ugly ones with big brown age spots sold for mere pennies on the pound, but no such luck. All they had were pristine, yellow and green bananas with nary a freckle. What kind of grocery store was this?

I left and went to the grocery store that was up the street. The best I found was some very ripe plantains and for a brief moment I wondered if they would work. I regained my focus and went to the customer service counter where I was greeted promptly, "What can I do for you?". "Well," I said, "I would like some black, overripe bananas or yellow ones with a lot of brown spots. I don't see any available but I was wondering if maybe you have some in the back, perhaps in the trash." The employee just starred at me, perplexed. "I need to make banana bread," I quickly added. "Ohhhh!" the young lady said with a big smile, "Let's go check in the back!" She lead me though the big, black swinging doors to several waxed produce boxes filled to the top with rotting fruits and vegetables. On top of the one lay a single bunch of bananas. They were well on their way to being rotten but were still pretty yellow. She put them and another small, brownish bunch into a bag and told me they would only be ten cents a pound. Bonus!

I used a very promising and highly rated Banana Zucchini Bread recipe (courtesy of RecipeZaar) and decided I'd make it sans the nuts, per Scott's request. Instead, I added a cup of mini chocolate chips. To mash the bananas I used my newest kitchen tool, my super deluxe angled potato ricer. (Just as an aside, this old fashioned tool makes the most beautiful and healthful mashed potatoes I've ever made.) It did a great job of mashing the bananas into a big bowl of banana GOOdness.

Overall, I think this was a fair recipe. I'm curious though if I had older, less ripe bananas, if it would have been better. I'm hopeful that it sates both Scott and Julia's cravings.

Oh and I almost forgot! This is my 50th post! Yay!!!

Yield: 2 loaves
Would I Make This Again? I'm not sure yet. I think so. It tasted pretty good but it wasn't earth shattering or anything. It smelled really good while it baked and my husband liked it and he's not even a big banana bread fan. I think I'll wait and see what everyone says when they try it.

Update: Well, all of the bread disappeared and everyone had positive comments. Several people had seconds and even thirds. Scott said it was a 4 star and my boss said that she really loved it. However, I wasn't all that impressed by the recipe. It was fine, but nothing extraordinary. I think it would have been better with less chocolate and more banana flavor. I also would have replaced half the oil with a half a cup of apple sauce as the bread was a bit oily. If anyone out there has a banana bread recipe they love, please send it my way. I'd love to give banana bread another go.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Nitin's "Snow Storm in April" Bars

I seriously think this is the easiest dessert I have ever made that didn't involve a mix. My coworker Nitin wanted something with chocolate and coconut for his birthday. I really wanted to make him my Mandy's Candy bars which are always a hit, but that seemed like a cop-out. Then I stumbled on this recipe and couldn't resist. Could four ingredients really taste that good? You betcha! What a little gem this recipe turned out to be!

You're probably wondering about the name of these little guys. On the day I brought these bars to work (4/18), we were treated to a very strange day for weather. Throughout the day we had hail, ice pellets, little snow flakes, giant snow flakes, freezing rain, sideways rain, about 10 minutes of sunshine, and flurries. By the time I went to bed we had about 8 inches of heavy, wet snow outside (that's my birdbath!) . I'm not saying these bars caused the crazy weather, but it was an interesting coincidence...

Chocolate Coconut "Snow Storm in April" bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips (If you don't like or have any white chocolate chips, just increase the semisweet chocolate chips by 1/4 cup)

Optional Topping
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut or other nut of your choosing

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving extra so it hangs up and over the edges of the pan. Spray the paper with some Pam or butter lightly.

2. Combine milk and graham cracker crumbs and mix together until well combined. I used my stand mixer on medium speed for about a minute, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl once.

3. Add coconut and mix until well combined. Scrape bowl.

4. Add both chocolate chips and mix on low speed just until they are well combined.

5. Pour into prepared pan and spread until even (batter will be very thick). Bake for 30 minutes. Be careful not to over bake them.

6. If you want to add the topping, when bars are done, remove pan from the oven and scatter the chocolate chips over the top, if desired. Let it sit for about a minute, until the chocolate is melted and spread the chocolate around the surface until the top of the bars evenly covered. While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle coconut over the top. Let the bars cool completely and then put in the fridge until you're ready to cut them.

7. To cut them, use the parchment paper to pick them up and out of the pan. (Note: If you don't have any parchment, you can just grease the pan and hope for the best. These can be a little tricky to get out of the pan without the aid of the paper.) Using a very sharp knife, cut bars into the desired length. Store in an air tight container.

Yield: 1 batch made about 20 smallish one-bite bars
Would I Make This Again? Yep. It's a great recipe. Very easy to put together and would be a good recipe for kids to make. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I Heart Bakerella's Cupcake Lollipops

It was a typical February afternoon in Seattle. Cold, windy and rainy. Blah. The day was progressing like any other and it was lunch time. I had just arrived back to my desk, waiting patiently for my piping hot (yet still frozen in the center) Cedarlane vegetable enchiladas to cool off. As I do just about every work day, I fired up the first of several of my favorite blogs while I started to dig into my lunch:NotMartha.org. The daily post consisted of a collection of a bunch of links to interesting stuff of or related to my favorite subject: food. Yay!

I scroll through the links: something about beef (gross), crust less quiche (promising)...and then I see it: "cake lollipops at Bakerella". Bakerella? Cake lollipops? I'm so there!

Oh. My. Goodness. These cake lollipops were the cutest things ever! That was until I clicked on the picture and was directed to Flickr. I immediately started looking at Bakerella's photostream and that's when I saw them....Cupcake Lollipops!!! Only the coolest most adorable thing EVER! I knew right then and there I had to make these -- so I did, two months later :-)

These were challenging (and fun...and messy!) to make but worth the effort. If you'd like to make them you can either go to Bakerella's blog where she *just* posted really wonderful step by step instructions (I would have loved these yesterday!) or to theMarthaStewart.com website(there's a step by step video there). Bakerella, was invited to be on the show to make these! How cool is she?

I have a few tips after making these:

1. I didn't use cheesecake frosting from a can but instead make it from scratch. I just don't care for canned icing. The recipe still worked out fine, although the "dough" (cake + frosting mixed together) was on the soft side. My recipe is really simple: 3 8oz blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature. 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature. 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix the cheese and butter together until really well blended, add the vanilla and mix again. Add powdered sugar and mix on low until the sugar is combined. Then mix on high for about 2 minutes. Done. (Makes about 2 1/2 cups)

2. Don't skimp on the Almond Bark for the bottoms of the little cakes or try to use candy melts or even real chocolate. What's Almond Bark? This is the stuff you usually find on the bottom shelf of the chocolate chip isle that comes in a solid block. It typically comes in two flavors: chocolate and vanilla. Don't worry, it doesn't taste like almond or contain almonds. What I loved about this product was that it stayed viscous for a long time which meant I didn't have to keep tempering it. I also loved the way it looked when it set. It was very smooth and even. Eventually I ran out and had to use candy melts instead and the texture was just different and it didn't look as pretty to me as the bark did. I think the almond bark also adds a nice chocolaty flavor. The candy melts don't really taste like anything so bark is a nice contrast.

3. The directions to use the 1 1/4-by-3/4-inch flower-shaped cookie cutter. I had a hard time finding this at first but eventually found it at Williams & Sonoma as part of a six piece pack for $10. I also found the exact same six piece pack, although packaged differently, at Michael's for $3. Yeah... I'm bringing back the set from Williams & Sonoma (rip off!).


4. While you're at Micheal's, pick yourself up a big hunk of WHITE Styrofoam. Avoid the green kind. Why? Well, the green kind is designed to work more with silk flowers and breaks apart as you touch it. Before you know it you have have this green, sand-like material all over the place, which will attach itself to the pops. Ick.

5. Give yourself lots of time. It took me many hours to make this from start to finish. Be patient and think through each step before you start.

6. Always use the lollipop stick when handling the cupcakes, especially when you're sticking them into the Styrofoam. I made the mistake of pushing on down onto the top of the cupcake to stick it into the Styrofoam and the stick went right through the top of the cupcake, breaking it.

I really enjoyed making these little guys. I already have some other ideas on what I can use the "dough" to make next. It's a great way to show your creativity. I think I got a little carried away