baking from my home to yours

a few of my favorite things

by Patricia on December 19, 2009 · 72 comments

Peppermint Bark Cupcake

Peppermint bark cupcake (Devil's food cake with chocolate and white chocolate ganache plus candy cane pieces. Yum.)

Can’t you just hear Maria singing?: Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens… My version would be more like a cross between the Sound of Music and Willy Wonka: Chocolate on cupcakes and powder white snowflakes…

Anyway… I’ve decided to share a few of my favorite things with you.  Hint: that means I’m giving more stuff away. Why? Because I want to. The last two giveaways were a lot of fun. And anyhow, what’s one more between friends?
[Continue reading...]

Tagged as: , , , ,

{ 72 comments }

Almost brownies (chocolate biscotti)

by Patricia on March 4, 2009 · 8 comments

Sometimes I am inspired to bake: I walk into the kitchen and without any real thought, I have something coming out of the oven, be it cupcakes, brownies or bread. Other times though, I need to bake but have no direction. I don’t mean that I need a sweet treat to eat. I mean, I need to bake something… work with flour, butter, sugar to create something. Do you have days like that?
IMG_7185.JPG
On days when I feel that need but have no inspiration, I turn to experts like Dorie Greenspan. Baking: From My Home to Yours is such a thick and wonderful book filled, but there are so many recipes, it’s often difficult to find where to begin. I decided chocolate is always a good place to start. But I looked at brownies and thought “meh” (meh to brownies?! — I know, right?). I just wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to try something different. So I looked through the cookies and saw biscotti. But I don’t like biscotti. Of course, I have only had the rock hard biscotti you get at coffee shops which always leave me disappointed… unfulfilled even.

But instead of passing on the biscotti, I trusted Dorie and set aside my biscotti bias. I am so glad that I did. The results were like a brownie-cookie lovechild. I did have some difficulty with one of my biscotti logs falling apart. Well, it didn’t fall apart exactly so much as crumble profusely anytime I touched it. I think I took them out a little too early. I will bake them for the full 25 minutes next time (I can’t believe I’m actually a biscotti fan now).
IMG_7184.JPG
A little bit chewy, not too sweet. D. loved them (he even liked them without coffee which is saying a lot).

Chocolate Biscotti
(adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds, blanched or unblanched
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
sugar, for dusting

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together all dry ingredients.
3. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla and beat another 2 minutes.
4. Reduce the mixer to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Mix in the chocolate and nuts.
5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that tried to escape.
6. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch long log. Flatten both logs with the palm of your hand so that they are 1/2 to 1 inch high, about 2 inches across and sort of rectangular.
7. Carefully put both logs onto a baking sheet (preferably lined with parchment but seemed to be okay without). Sprinkle each log with a little sugar.
8. Bake the logs for about 25 minutes (Don’t take them out too early or you’ll get a crumbly mess like me). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes.
9. Using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. Put the slices back on the baking sheet and bake again… about 10 minutes this time.
10. Cool biscotti on a rack. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy…

Tagged as: , , ,

{ 8 comments }

Cocoa-nana breakfast of champions

by Patricia on February 22, 2009 · 1 comment

cocoa-nana bread for breakfast

Last night I decided to start baking around 11:45pm. I had been reading Baking: From My Home to Yours which was one of my birthday presents last week. Do you read cookbooks? I don’t read them cover-to-cover (usually) but I do enjoy meandering my way through a good cookbook (One of my favorite reads: The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper– it is well written and has some really wonderful recipes).

So… at quarter to midnight I decided to start baking Cocoa-nana bread from page 46. I did not, however, read the entire recipe before I started. If I had, I might have waited until today because the bread needed about 75 minutes to bake so I did not get to bed until almost 2am. But when I had a nice thick slice for breakfast this morning, it was completely worth it.

I had my slice with a little Greek-style yogurt and a cup of coffee (Isn’t that a cute mug? I found it at Target yesterday and tried to resist… ). But the real treat came this afternoon when I had a slice with raspberry jam. This bread is definitely chocolatey but not too sweet, and you get just a hint of the bananas. And with raspberry jam… perfection.

(Note: I didn’t have enough unsweetened cocoa so I substituted a good hot cocoa mix and reduced the sugar, being after midnight and all I didn’t feel like running out for more cocoa…)

Cocoa-Nana Bread
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan, Baking from My Home to Yours

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used about 1/3 cup unsweetened + 2/3 cup sweetened cocoa)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar (I reduced this to about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup good chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chips)

1. Place an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and place on an insulated baking sheet. This will keep the bottom of the loaf from overcooking.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
3. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until softened (about 1 minute). Add in the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition. The batter may look curdled, but that’s ok.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas.
5. Now add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and barely mix until they are just mixed in. While on low speed, add in the buttermilk and mix until incorporated.
6. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, then cover the bread loosely with foil tented over it.

(This is where, had I read it completely before starting, I would have chosen to bake this today instead of late last night…but by the time I read this far, I was committed…)

8. Now… bake for an additional 40-45 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to remove from the pan, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Enjoy this bread, but my recommendation is to start it a little earlier than midnight :)

Tagged as: , , , , ,

{ 1 comment }