Life outside of bloggy land is getting the focus of my attention. Sorry. Another recipe that I’ll have to write up later.
Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins
These muffins are from one of four batches that I made for the teacher breakfast at my son’s school. What I didn’t realize was that these were going to need to be baked the same night as I made a dessert for our support staff at my school. I was just a teeny bit swamped.
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Need I say more. These were tasty without being super sweet. For me they were just the right amount of chocolate. Yum! Enjoy!
Chcocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Source: Brown Eyed Baker
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Center rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin pan or use liners.
Melt the butter and half of the chopped chocolate (2 ounces) together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients. Gently, but quickly stir to blend. Do not overmix the batter. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate. Divide batter evenly among the cups.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
Makes 12-18 muffins (depending on the size of the muffin cups)
Zebra Cake
A zebra cake or . . . ? Post coming soon.
Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
Wow, I can’t believe another already posted before I got this one finished. I guess I should reset my scheduled posts so that I can get a few lines written up. Recipe (and post) coming soon!
Crockpot Applesauce
Not the most appealing picture, but definitely tasty! This smelled heavenly when waking up the next morning after having it sit in the crockpot all night. Our son was very pleasantly surprised with the smells wafting out of the kitchen when he came out of his bedroom. In fact, it makes me want to make some right now so that I can surprise him tomorrow morning. Hmmmm, just a few ingredients, will I have enough? Enjoy!
Crockpot Applesauce
Source: Skinnytaste
8 medium apples (use a variety)
1 strip of lemon peel
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 inch cinnamon stick
5 teaspoons light brown sugar or agave (to taste – might not need all)
Peel, core, and slice apples. Place them in the slow cooker. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel, and brown sugar.
Cook on low about 6 hours or overnight. Stir apples occasionally. Remove cinnamon stick. If you want chunky applesauce, stir and serve. If you want smooth applesauce, blend until smooth.
Makes about 3 cups
Daring Bakers – Savarin
Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!
There are not very many times when I have to admit that a Daring Bakers attempt (or any baking attempt) was a fail, but this is one of those times. It probably didn’t help that I started the recipe after working a long day when my patience was low and my time was short. I think the fail was 99% my fault and 1% the recipe’s fault, so I’ll take the majority of the blame since many other people were able to use the same recipe and have success.
Let’s just list out the failures so we can get those out of the way.
1. I knew there was trouble right from the start. My sponge did not look like it was supposed to after mixing and waiting for it to rise. It was too dry. It did rise a bit, but not much.
Right after mixing.
After one hour of sitting (not much change but a little).
2. When mixing the other part of the dough together I’m pretty sure I mixed it too much because when I was supposed to add in the egg after the dough “rested” it took A LOT of mixing to get it incorporated.
You can see that the egg at first just wanted to slime the outside of the dough instead of mixing in.
Ahhh, it eventually worked it’s way in and looks somewhat like it should for the first time of the evening.
It didn’t really triple in volume in the three hours, but I was happy that it rose at all!
From this point on it seemed like the savarin was going to work. It baked beautifully in the oven, nice and golden brown with puffy tops.
Fresh out of the oven!
At this point it was late at night (and I mean late at night especially for someone who goes to bed early so they can get up at 5am to go for a run). I decided to call it a night and work on the syrup and glaze and pastry cream another day.
Unfortunately, life got in the way the next day and while I really wanted to get the syrup on the savarin it just wasn’t a possibility. The day after that though I was finally able to finish the savarin. I whipped up a batch of made a lemon simple syrup. I wasn’t sure how much simple syrup to make or what the consistency was supposed to be and mine seemed a bit thick. In fact, it only made enough to pour syrup on two of the four cakes. I sliced off the puffy tops and got to work.
You can see the syrup just pooled on the top but not really oozing down into the cake.
3. Another feeling of failure as the syrup did not seem to be absorbed into the cake. It just sat on the top and very little went down into the cake. I thought maybe it took a bit of time to make it through to the bottom so I would give it overnight. Meanwhile, I cooked up some lemon pastry cream.
4. Enter failure number four. While frantically whipping the eggs into the custard and making sure they didn’t cook the end of my whisk went flying off and where should it end up? You guessed it. Right in the saucepan of pastry cream. Well, you can imagine I had a bit of a dilemma. Do I continue hastily whipping the custard to make sure the eggs don’t curdle? Do I stop for a a second or two to grab a spoon out of the drawer so I can scoop up the whisk end? Very weighty decisions to make in a short span of time. I opted for stopping whisking to grab a spoon. I scooped out the metal end of the whisk, dropped it on the counter, and resumed my whisking. It seemed as though everything was all right. I transferred the pastry cream to a bowl to cool, put it in the fridge where it would sit until the next day when I put it all together.
Mind you, this is now day 4 that the savarin has been sitting in various stages on my counter and in my fridge. I finally had time after work and bedtime routine to plate the savarin, daub on the pastry cream, and . . . where are the 4 pounds of strawberries I bought for the intention of using them on my final version of my savarin?
5. Failure number five, my two other family members (who shall remain nameless) managed to consume the last of those 4 pounds of strawberries that afternoon. Hang head in utter defeat. Grab a few frozen raspberries out of the freezer. Wash off the ice crystals. Place them in the center of the dessert. Snap a few obligatory pictures. Challenge done. The only thing left to do was to get out a fork and try a tiny bit before bedtime.
Unfortunately, all of the above mentioned factors came together to create an inedible product. By this time the cake was hard and dry, the pastry cream had a metal taste (either that or the lemon made it bitter, but both my husband and I thought it tasted like metal). One sliver of a bite. A yuck, no way. All for naught as it went in the garbage.
Again, nothing to do with the recipe or the creator of the challenge. Well, maybe 1% of the blame could go on the recipe. There were a few things that I had a hard time understanding. I am such a recipe follower that it was hard for me to not have specific times to mix and such. The wording was more like “when it reaches this look or this point”. I really like to know about how long I’m waiting for this to happen since some of the process is unfamiliar. You can go to Daring Bakers to see the others that had success with this challenge!
Pecan Pie
I believe this is my very first pecan pie. I know, amazing isn’t it. Who has never made a pecan pie before? It isn’t even a holiday season or anything either.
This was another one of those recipes from Pie. There were many to choose from but Pecan Pie won out over Green Tomato Pie, Peanut Butter Raspberry Cream Pie, and Sour Cherry Pie just to name a few.
Isn’t this raw pie pretty? I almost think it is prettier than the baked version since you can see the variety of coloring between the nuts and filling.
The pie was easy enough to throw together. Where the difficulty started was after about an hour in the oven. I guess I didn’t realize that pecan pies are notorious for not getting done in the center. I left it in for another 5 minutes and checked it. Still not done. I left it in for another 5 and checked the internet for some details. Checked it and still not done. If I recall correctly I think I finally took it out after about an extra 15 minutes hoping that it would thicken up as it cooled.
The finished product!
You can see that it did harden up, just not in the center. As you sliced the pie and served it on a plate the filling oozed a bit but it tasted delicious. I will definitely make one again, I’ll just try to read up on the tips for baking it so the center comes out more solid. Enjoy!
Pecan Pie
Source: Pie by Sarah Weeks
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans, pluse 6-8 pecan halves for the top
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cream butter and sugar; add syrup and well-beaten eggs, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the pecans. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Line the top with pecan halves.
Bake for 1 hour.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Oh my goodness! These are so yummy! When you think of muffins that are tasty and would be great to share with others these definitely fit the bill.
I love how the cream cheese center melts in your mouth. The pecan streusel topping gives it a great crunch. The pumpkin flavor is a perfect match for all of the previously mentioned attributes. Definitely worth the effort. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel
Source: Brown Eyed Baker
Cream Cheese Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
5 ounces (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cream cheese filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log on a piece plastic wrap; wrap it and freeze it for at least two hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners or grease; set aside.
For the pecan streusel: In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine the flour, sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and butter. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently combine the batter, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Remove the cream cheese from the freezer and divide it into equal portions for the muffins.
Scoop a small amount of batter into the muffin cups. Place 1 slice of cream cheese log right in the center of each cup, then fill with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the pecan streusel on top of each muffin. Press the streusel lightly to make sure it adheres to the batter.
Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then remove muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let them come to room temperature before serving.
Makes about 12-16 muffins (depending on the size)
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Just looking at this picture makes me hungry for some Corned Beef and Cabbage. Salty and delicious! Our second attempt went much better than the first. Remember that? Last St. Patrick’s Day timeframe when we tried Alton Brown’s recipe. This go around was so much better. The right combination of flavors and textures. I would definitely recommend this recipe. Enjoy!
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Source: Skinnytaste
2 pounds lean corned beef brisket
1 cup frozen pearl onions
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 small head of cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
In a 5-6 quart crockpot, place brisket, onions, carrots, parsnips, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 3 cups of water. Cover and cook on high 4 hours.
Add cabbage; cook on high 1 hour and 20 minutes more. Remove meat, slice and serve.
Dulce de Leche Brownies
Where in the world did my write up go on this sweet chocolate treat? I went on and on about how I made this for a Mexican themed party for our running group. How I normally like my brownies with a “cake” like texture and these turned out “fudgy”. But it seems to have disappeared.
I really did think that these were going to be heavenly. They were pretty easy to put together, I whisked them out of the oven and into the car so we could get to our party on time. We ended up going to the wrong house but soon got to our desired destination with brownies that were still very warm. I set them on the table with the other desserts so they could cool while we were all eating the main course.
After what should have been a decent amount of cooling time I took the pan into the kitchen, got out a large butcher knife, popped the brownies out of the pan and cut about a quarter of them off the rest. They were so sticky I couldn’t believe it! The marshmallow fluff was stuck all over the knife. I rinsed it off and made another cut, same thing. I realized that if I did this with every single brownie (and every single side of the brownie) I’d be spending most of the time washing the knife in between cuts.
I ended up putting a spoon in the pan and setting it back on the table so people could just scoop it out. For those who like “fudge” type brownies these would be great. For those who like “cake” type brownies these won’t be quite as satisfying. Either way, give them a try. Enjoy!
Dulce de Leche Brownies
Source: Better Homes and Gardens
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (13.4 oz) can dulce de leche
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
