Monthly Roundup: December 2010

Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

For me, chocolate chip cookies are kind of like brownies, I will probably never stop trying new recipes. I can't help myself. No matter how close to perfection one recipe is I will constantly hear or read about a new & improved version. But for now this is my new favorite recipe! It is everything I ever wanted from a cookie - big, round, fat and chewy. But the really nice twist is the brown butter. It gives the cookies a wonderful almost caramel flavor.

Unlike the original recipe, I let the cookie batter rest overnight, and I strongly recommend you do too. I am sure it helps with the cookies puffiness and texture. Enjoy!

Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes

I am really excited because I finally bought a thermometer, this purchase was long over due! I used it the day I purchased it with great results. My experiment was on these wonderful cupcakes. When making the caramel you need to reach a specific temperature before it turns golden. 

Anyway, can you believe this is the first I am trying and making salted caramel? to tell you the truth I was a bit concerned about the "salted". I mean, I don't like my desserts salty! But i decided to go for it, because what kind of baking blog would this be if I didn't try new things? the cupcake itself was extremely moist and delicious (it looked almost wet... in a good way). After assembling the cupcakes with the caramel and topped them with the frosting, I was ready to try one. As I took my first bite my mom and sisters were waiting in anticipation for the verdict. If I needed to describe the cupcakes in one word it would be rich. One cupcake is almost too much. Almost. I do love the combination of the chocolate and caramel - It worked well. I gave friends half of the cupcakes, because there is no way we could have finished them all!

Maple Angel Food Cake

This was my second time making an Angel Food Cake, and I must say I like this recipe a lot more. The cake had a subtle maple taste, which is good because the glaze is full of maple and very sweet. It is really a great cake to serve after a big meal, because it is so light! The only problem I had was that by the end of the day the cake was kind of absorbing the glaze (I might have not made the glaze thick enough). But I noticed it gave the cake a richer flavor and made it very moist and delicious!

THE Baked Brownie

Sometimes there is a recipe that seems to be really popular, and is getting rave reviews, so you just can't resist making it just to see what all the fuss is about. That is exactly what happened with The Baked Brownie. If you aren't familiar with the name, let me fill you in on the details. First of all this is a very famous brownie. It landed a spot on the prestigious "Oprah's Favorite Things List", and  who am I to argue with Oprah? I also read that it was voted best brownie by America’s Test Kitchen. So I think you can understand why I was getting very curious. 

I followed the instruction very carefully, because I really wanted to make it right. No shortcuts. I actually started making the brownies at about 9pm, so I did not taste them until the morning. I don't know how I was able to be so strong and resist. You learn new things about your self everyday! Fast-forward to the morning, and I finally tried a brownie, and then another one.  OH MY GOD they are so good. The flavor is  rich and the texture is very dense. The brownies are kind of in between fudgy and chewy, which is awesome. My sister said they were the best brownies I've ever made! This says a lot, because I've made plenty of brownies. I am still debating which brownie I like more the Tartine or Baked. I probably need to make both at the same time if I want to come to a decision.  All I know is they were both amazing.

Blueberry Muffins & Homemade Butter Recipe

I've been begged by a couple of family members for a while now to make some blueberry muffins. Finally today I made some! They were big, soft and full of blueberries - absolutely delicious! One of the best parts of the muffin for me, was the fact that I used my own homemade butter. I know, crazy right? Who would of thought it would be so easy to make butter? and it really is easy! All you need is some heavy cream and an electric mixer (preferably a stand mixer).  You let it mix for about 15 minutes and Voilà! you have butter!

Hot Vanilla Souffle

Yesterday it snowed. Well, only a little and then rain came and destroyed the snow, but it was a pleasant surprise. We haven't had snow in a couple of years now, so a little is a lot. In honor of the cold weather I decided to whip up a hot dessert. This was the first time I've had a vanilla souffle (and baked one). I am all over the chocolate souffle, which is probably one of my favorite desserts. Unlike the chocolate souffle, where a liquid center is a must, vanilla souffles shouldn't be under baked.  This recipe serves the souffle with a chocolate sauce in the middle, which is amazing. 

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I've had the book Essence Of Chocolate for a while now, but lately I kind of forgot about it. Which is a shame, because it is a wonderful recipe book. So a few days ago I decided I will bake something from there. I went with the Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which looked delicious. Who doesn't like a chocolate chunk cookie? and believe me, these are loaded with chocolate in every bite!

I did let the cookie batter refrigerate for a couple of days all because of the famous NY Times article (if you haven't read it yet, you should. It is quite interesting). Apparently the time in the fridge lets the flour absorb the wet ingredients. I can't tell you if it made a difference, because I didn't experiment with baking one cookie without the resting period, which I probably should have. All I know is the cookie was fabulous!

Strawberry Layer Cake

For my sister's 24th birthday party she requested a strawberry cake, because strawberries are in season right now. This cake looks fancy but is actually not so hard to make. All you need is a great moist simple yellow layer cake recipe and strawberries. I went with a classic vanilla frosting to complete the cake (You could use whipped cream instead of a frosting). I had some frosting left, so I piped little flowers, which really added to the look. 

The cake was a huge success! absolutely gorgeous and delicious. You can't see from the photos, but the cake is loaded with more strawberries in the middle!

Chocolate Thumbprints

Everyday I get an email from Martha Stewart (which is very nice of her!) for a cookie of the day. Lately nothing really has caught my eye. But a few days ago these little cuties came along and I finally got that must-make-them-now feeling. This is the first chocolate cookie I've made since those amazing Chocolate Chubbies. Not much could be better than those cookies, so I decided to make the chocolate thumbprints without expecting too much. I think that helped, because one bite into the thumbprints and I was delighted!

Thank god they are small, because they are quite rich. The ganache was a whole new experience for me. The idea of a vanilla bean to enrich the flavor I loved, but I wasn't too sure about the honey. After tasting the ganache I did feel that the honey was too strong. Fortunately once on the cookie it was perfect.

Sweet Potato Latkes With Sour Cream Dip

Here is another traditional Hanukkah treat! It is almost the end of the holiday, and I couldn't let it end without posting a latke recipe. Potato Latkes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated potato, flour and egg, flavored with onion and seasoning. the recipe I chose today has a nice twist due to the sour cream dip (which is superb). Of course, the latkes are delicious alone as well. Don't worry if while frying they get a little burned -  the crispy parts are the best!

A Classic Apple Pie

Is there a better use for apples than a apple pie? probably not! Insanely delicious hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  

This recipe has some very intresting steps to making the pie. 

1. After mixing the apples, sugar and spices you let them sit for 30m or up to 3h. 

why? "because apples contain water and as the pie bakes the apples shrink and you often end up with a gap between the baked apples and the top crust. To solve this problem, Rose Levy Beranbaum in her 'Pie and Pastry Bible' came up with the idea to first macerate the apples in sugar which causes the apples to release their juices. Then we simply drain the juices, and boil them with a little butter to concentrate their flavor. This concentrated juice is then added back to the sliced apples and the result is a delicious, slightly caramel flavored apple pie. (joyofbaking.com)"

2. Instead of blind baking the crust first, you place the pie on a baking stone so that the bottom crust  is fully baked and crispy.

Blondies

I have been making so many brownies lately, I have totally forgotten about blondies. They are definitely underrated, I think because they are wrongfully compared to brownies. Blondies maybe the same shape as brownies, but similarities end there. Blondies have a wonderful buttery-brown-sugar flavor. Another plus is you can add almost anything to the batter (chocolate chunks, white chocolate, nuts, berries). The blondies I made had a lovely chewy texture. To make them look a little fancier, since they are not the best looking dessert, I piped some melted white chocolate over the top!

Hanukkah Doughnuts (Baked vs. Fried)

Today is the first day of Hanukkah, and in Israel we celebrate with doughnuts or in Hebrew - Sufganiyot. They are similiar to regular doughnuts just without holes. The original doughnut was jelly filled, but now days there are a lot of different ones. There was a great article in the newspaper with lots of recipes, so I decided this year I would make my own. My only great fear was frying the dough. Sadly, my fears were accurate since the first couple of attempts were not successful. I either over fried, which resulted in a crispy doughnut, or under fried, and was raw in the middle. 

oh what to do? So I decided to go for the lower calorie option and bake the left over dough. The problem with baking the dough is you get more of a sweet bread texture. But that didn't stop me from filling and topping the doughnuts. They still looked good enough to eat!