Gone, but not forgetting.

I have been so busy, once again, with life's many challenges. But I have been baking as well and I mean to post recipes once I get my act together.

Highlights include:

• My first attempt at a proper buttercream - eggs and all! (I know, sad)
• A horrible fat free chocolate cookie recipe I invented. (never again!)
• A beautiful yellow cake.
• A wonderful blueberry cobbler.

And some other bits and bobs of sugary goodness here and there.

To be continued.

Boozy Brownies

Gojee.com - this site has me forgetting about anything diet-resolution like and wishing I had a bigger pantry. The coolest thing about this site is that they have a function where you can plug in items you have in your pantry and then the site curates recipes that include the ingredients you have - it's not an exact science, but it's pretty impressive all the same.

Thanks to the fact that I always have chocolate and booze on hand (because all bakers need to have chocolate and booze in their pantry), I plugged in the "ingredients" into the Gojee recipe finder thingamajig and came across a boozy brownie recipe.

Of course, I decided to alter it a little to make it more chocolatey and I substituted brandy for whiskey, as that's what I had on hand at the moment.

Boozy Brownies (modified recipe)

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
4 oz of 60% Callebaut chocolate, chopped up
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of stout (I used Murphy's here - but any stout beer will do)
3 tablespoons of brandy
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degs F. If you're using a regular brownie pan, butter it and dust it with cocoa powder. I used a non-stick pan here and just buttered it for good measure. I also used a standard brownie pan, 9x12 inches.

Melt the butter over low heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until completely melted and incorporated with the butter. Remove from heat and add the sugar - granulated and dark brown - mixing well. Set aside to cool a bit until it reaches lukewarm or room temperature.

In a larger mixing bowl, beat together egg yolks, eggs, vanilla stout and brandy until smooth. Sift into the mixture flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine - try not to over mix it.

Add the chocolate + sugar mixture to the flour/egg/booze mixture, folding to combine until all is incorporated. Add the chocolate chips, fold into the final mixture.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool, cut and enjoy! I like it with cold milk.

Caramel Apple...Tarte Tatin

I've always wanted to make a Tarte Tatin - it's a simple enough recipe, essentially an upside-down apple pie, but somehow it's also more. The beauty of the caramelized apples, arranged in a soft amber patter, the rich pie crust and the fact that it's baked in a skillet (yes, this latter point always fascinated me) makes it an especially special dessert.

I googled my way to a recipe, one that Epicurious was happy to provide - a Tarte Tatin with Brandied Caramel Sauce. First a medley of apples - I used a mix of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and the last of my Jonagolds - arranging them into a circular pattern.

Next, the brandy caramel sauce - this is what gives the apples that lovely amber color, rich and sweet, yet the tartness of the apples do match up well with it.

Finally, the pie crust goes over the sauced apples, like a blanket, and into the 400 deg F oven it goes for about 55 minutes. (see recipe for more detail)

The tricky part is the flip - I used a large pie plate as my base for the flip so in case anything decided to crumble apart, it was safely ensconced in the pie plate.

This was what I made for Thanksgiving last year  - let's just say I might not be going back to traditional apple pie anytime soon.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Remember a month ago I posted about my upcoming 15-minutes of fame? Well, the day has arrived, my friends, for when the world gets to see my shenanigans in a kitchen.

So, what exactly happened? Well, the commercial for Breville Toaster Ovens was filmed at Brooklyn Kitchen and it was done in the style of Chopped!, where my fellow contestants and me were given a basket with the following secret ingredients: quick cook tapioca, organic canned pumpkin, organic apple cider and organic quick cook oatmeal. Believe it or not, I was pretty nonplussed by the quick cook tapioca – mainly because I am not a fan of the substance and have never really cooked with it.

But we had 90 mins, which gave me more than enough time to burn one batch of tapioca (oh yes, I think I burned the most things out of anyone there – I was so unlike myself; this is what live action does
to me) and still make another batch that turned into a filling for a layered-concoction.

The end result of 90 minutes of me hyperventilating was:

Sage Pumpkin Apple Cider Shortbread layered with Pumpkin Tapioca Custard, topped with an Oatmeal Brown Sugar Crisp and then served with a side of Apple Cider Whipped Cream.

I have to admit, I was pretty proud of my Apple Cider Whipped Cream because it tasted fresh like apple cider, but it was still smooth and creamy like a good whipped cream. But according to the commercial, which aired last night - the judges were more impressed with my Oatmeal Brown Sugar Crisp - who knew!

So...that's the story of my 15 minutes of fame. Just keep your eye out when watching Chopped! and you just might see me looking all "professional" in the kitchen!

More about the Bake-Off

While I do know I have a bake-off page here, I did want to share the winning items here individually. And they are:

Apricot Pine Nut Squares, made by Sandy Cheung - winner for Sweet

Puff Pastry filled with Duck, Apples and Pumpkin, made by Isabelle Nguyen - winner for Savory!

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding made by Anna Miller-Bailer, winner for Crowd Favorite!

















The event was a complete and utter success and everyone had such a good time! No diabetes reports at all, so I'm happy. I can't wait for next year! And if you want to check out the fun - see the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakingbrunette/

Things I need to do

1) Post recipe for Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese whoopie pies
2) Post recipe for Dark Chocolate and Yuzu Curd whoopie pies
3) Bake something for Diwali.

Chopped! Or, how I got on TV

So, thanks to all the running around  I've been doing for the Bake-Off I found myself submitting my name and my passion for food via email to a television producer, filming an amateur version of Chopped! for Breville Toaster Ovens.


I was chosen as a contestant. And now I am the proud owner of this fancy toaster oven, which I am supposed to get used to because the premise of the clip I'll be in (yes, I am going to be on TV) demands for the use of this toaster oven. This weekend, I plan to bake my way into a reasonable sense of calm so when I am faced with 90 minutes, 4 mystery ingredients and no recipe cards to be seen, it'll be all good.

So, the first thing I decide to make, of course, is my chocolate chip cookies. Simple, classic and you know when you mess up the recipe.

From scratch, from memory - rattling off the ingredients, almost forgetting the baking powder. But in the end, they did come out pretty normal looking and they tasted like chocolate chip cookies should taste warm out of the oven - caramel-y, chocolate-y and perfect with a glass of milk.

Next on the agenda - Focaccia.

Gimme a little sugar...brown sugar brownies that is.

A good friend of mine makes these amazing muscovado sugar brownies that are rich, fudgey and droolworthingly delicious.

They are wonderful and now I am thinking I need to get him to make me some soon. I did not have muscovado sugar in my pantry, but I did have some lovely regular brown sugar so I decided to make a version of his brownies.



I also wanted to reassure myself that my baking prowess did not desert me - my last two baking attempts were less than satisfactory. I've since confirmed that the organic flour I used was the culprit. Thank god for regular all-purpose! Not to mention, for this particular recipe, I was able to use my wonderful new food scale. Yes, I did not have a food scale until recently. I love it.


Brown Sugar Brownie (adapted from All Recipes UK)

Ingredients
25g unsweetened chocolate
60g semi-sweet chocolate pieces
100g unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
100g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk, beaten
100g all-purpose flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 x 8 baking pan. In a double boiler (or a bowl over a pot of simmering water), melt the chocolate and the butter together. Once melted, set aside to cool. Add the white and dark brown sugar to the cooled chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in vanilla and then add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated. Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder, and fold into the chocolate egg mixture. Do not over mix. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the brownie.

 Let cool slightly and then cut into your serving size. I got 16 pieces out of this recipe - they only lasted a day. These are fudge-y chocolate-y goodness.

Tarting up Tomatoes

I bought a bunch of fancy tomato plants this year from Cross Country Nurseries out in New Jersey. Plants with names like Isis Candy and Black Seaman...yes, I did buy the latter plant because of the name.

As a result, a bunch of beautiful tomatoes have been slowly covering a fence in my backyard and I've been itching to bake with them. A bunch of yellow and bright red heirlooms were sitting in my fruit basket when inspiration struck - a tart. A tomato tart with an herb crust.Tomatoes are lovely when fresh and in salads, but this is a great way to use them even when they're not in season - removing some of the moisture before baking just concentrates the flavor and makes it lovely and rich.




So what I did first was slice the tomatoes about a 1/4 inch thick, laid them out on a layer of paper towel, salted them lightly in order to bring out some of the moisture. I covered them with another layer of paper towel and let them hang out for a while.




While they were sweating away, I made my herb pie crust.

Herb Pie Crust
Ingredients1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of chilled, cubed unsalted butter
a few tablespoons of ice water
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh herbs (here I used tarragon, thyme and sage from the garden)



Directions

Mix together the flour and salt, then add the chilled butter. With a pastry mixer or two knives or a fork, work the butter into the flour until fully incorporated and the mixture is the size of large crumbs. Add the herbs and mix in some more until they are also incorporated. Add the ice water little by little, mixing until a firm dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.

For the tart itself, it was more about assembly than anything. You needed your tomatoes, pie crust, any good grated cheese and some additional herbs and seasonings.

Tomato Tart
Ingredients

1 recipe herb pie crust (see above)
4 large heirloom tomatoes, salted and drained
2/3 cup of good grated cheese (here I used smoked mozzarella)
10 sage leaves
3 sprigs of thyme, all leave removed
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the pie crust in a tart pan for 15 mins. Remove from oven and cool.

Once the shell is cool, layer on the shredded cheese, then arrange the tomatoes on top. Sprinkle the thyme on top and layer in the sage leaves and sprinkle the pepper on top.

Bake the tart in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for another 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked through. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving. This makes about 8 servings. Enjoy!

I am not lame.

I just have been busy with stuff and nonsense.

That being said, I have baked over these past couple of weeks. There was lime and coconut (and mix it all up). Baklava. Impromptu lactose-tolerant cupcakes. My awesome trail mix cookies - which are essentially my Orange Oatmeal Cookies with more stuff added to it. Like nuts, seeds, granola, etc. What you would find in good trail mix, you can add to this recipe and voila - a trail mix cookie.

More recipes to come! And also an update on the Bake-off!