TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

Pardon the blurry picture, I was in a bit of a rush. My son got to have one of these for breakfast (hence the green froggy bowl in the picture). Im not fussy about what he eats as long as he eats something. My doctor told me that kids are smart that way - they know what they need and one week they might eat ONLY bread but then another week they might eat only meat and it ends up working out in the end. Our only responsibility as parents is to offer a variety of each food group at every meal and set good examples by eating a balanced diet ourselves. So there, I justified giving my kid a brownie for breakfast :)

They are great even without nuts! I think nuts would detract from their deliciousness. They are fudgy and moist, not cakey. I baked mine in a larger tray so they are thinner than a lot of the other TWD bakers' brownies this week. Mainly so they would bake faster and therefore I could eat them faster. Tsk tsk shame on me :)



I wish the picture could show you how dense and moist these are. Fudgy, dense, intensely chocolaty. For the recipe check out the host of this week's TWD: Tanya of Chocolatechic.

***TIP*** Use a plastic knife to cut brownies. The slippery surface of the plastic helps you get cleaner cuts. Some plastic knives can be quite sharp, depending on the serrations. Choose a sharp plastic knife if possible.

Orange Sour Cream Cake

Here we have another winner from the Canadian Living Baking Book - A refreshing cake for sunny days ahead. I find it amusing how this winter Vancouver is hosting the 2010 olympics and yet this year is one of the warmest winters compared to the past few years. They have to transport snow from one part of BC to another for the games! One of our mountains even had to be closed due to lack of snow. Sooo... I guess this sunny cake is quite fitting for the weather!

This cake is wonderfully orangey and so moist. I used fat free sour cream because I bought the wrong tub by accident (Argh!) and it still turned out excellent. I usually go for fat free products when I'm not baking, but for baked goodies I rarely skimp on the full fat (and full flavor) stuff. Oh yea, I am one of those inconsistent people who orders fries with a diet coke. Actually, the truth is that I like the aftertaste of aspartame and without that aftertaste it seems like something is missing.

On a side note, I wish I were as talented as Elizabeth Baird, Executive Food Editor of Canadian Living Magazine and was the magazine’s food editor for more than 20 years. She is Canada’s expert on Canadian cooking and I am so envious of her job.



Orange Sour Cream Cake
1 Bundt | Adapted from Canadian Living

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened (250 mL)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (300 mL)
4 eggs, separated
1 tbsp orange zest (15 mL)
1 tsp vanilla (5 mL)
2 cups all-purpose flour (500 mL)
1 1/2 tsp each baking powder (7 mL) and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (2 mL)
1 1/2 cups sour cream (375 mL)

Syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar (125 mL)
1/4 cup orange juice (125 mL)

1. Grease a Bundt or tube pan; dust with flour. Set aside. In large bowl, beat butter with 1 cup (250 mL) of the sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat in orange rind and vanilla.

2. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with sour cream, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of sour cream. In separate bowl and with clean beaters, beat egg whites until frothy; beat in remaining sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third into batter; fold in remainder. Scrape into prepared pan; smooth top.

3. Bake in centre of 325°F oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack.

4. Syrup: Meanwhile, in small saucepan, bring sugar, orange juice to boil over medium heat; reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced about 7 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Brush over warm cake. Let cool. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap; store at room temperature for up to 1 day or overwrap in heavy-duty-foil and freeze for up to 1 month.)

Pie Dough Apple Strudel

This is almost exactly like an apple pie, just in strudel form/shape. I think the dried fruit in this recipe really makes it pop, providing a nice contrast between tender apples, flaky pastry and chewy craisins. It also travels really well and can be eaten without a fork, unlike traditional apple pie. It's not as pretty, but I can live with that.

I used my favorite apples: granny smith. A lot of people find them too tart to be eaten out of hand but I love their bite and sharp, juicy crispness. Perfect for pie too!



Pie Dough Apple Strudel
12 servings | Marcy Goldman of betterbaking.com

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening, cold
1/2 cup butter, cold
4-6 tbsp ice water

Filling:
6 cups sliced apples
1/2 cup dried cranberries and/or dried chopped apricots
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine dry pastry ingredients. Pulse in shortening and butter until resembles coarse crumbs. Pulse in ice water, just enough to form a dough that holds together. Refrigerate covered at least 1 hr or up to overnight.

Toss all filling ingredients together in a large bowl.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll out each one out as thin as you can, about 9 x 12 inches. Transfer to rimmed cookie sheet. Spread 1/2 filling down the long end of each. Roll up, flattening slightly. It's ok if some fillig peeks through. Cut slits down the length of each to vent apples. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375F for 25 minutes, rotate pan then bake another 20 minutes at 350F or until golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Cake Crumb Cookies

Over the weekend I found a great way to use up leftover cake from leveling cake layers or cake that is starting to dry up. Make them into cookies!!! I have successfully also made this recipe using day-old muffins. Just add more sugar depending on how sweet your cake/muffin crumbs are to start. These cookies are soft, spicy and open to variation. Add more milk if your dough seems dry.

The best part about these cookies is that you can't even tell they are "recycled". It's kinda like the sweet version of using up leftovers in a casserole. The original recipe is from ICES - the International Cake Exploration Société.

Cake Crumb Cookies
Makes 48

2 eggs
1 cup milk
5-7 cups cake crumbs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice or oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crush cake into crumbs in a food processor.
2. Beat eggs and milk then add cake crumbs and let stand 15 minutes.
3. Blend in sugar, margarine and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and spices and add to sugar mixture. Fold in remaining ingredients.
5. Drop by the tablespoonful on greased cookie sheets. Flatten to about 1/3" thick. These cookies do not spread so you can space them close to each other.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes until edges and bottoms are golden. They won't brown much overall. Store airtight.

TWD: Milk Chocolate Bundt Cake

This week Kristin of the blog "I’m Right About Everything" picked Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes, pages 188 and 189. Check out her blog for the recipe.

I don't have mini Bundt cake pans and despite how cute mini pans are, I don't have any more cupboard space for cake pans. If I did - WHOA that would be a whole new story - I would own every pan under the sun including the Wilton giant cupcake pan, the Williams-Sonoma sandcastle, mini-Bundts, etc. You know how in Sex and the City, the women want really big closets, well, I would love a really big kitchen instead! With a double-oven and a separate wok-kitchen.



For this week's recipe, I doubled the recipe and added chunks of chopped up caramel covered chocolates to the walnut chocolate streusel in the middle of the cake. I also used a simple ganache to ice the cake. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the cross-section of the cake since my mom brought the whole thing to work for a department meeting. I didn't get a chance to taste it so I'll just have to trust that it was delicious and read about it on other TWD Blogs. I did notice that the texture was nicely tight-crumbed and I had no Bundt pan sticking issues. I wonder if anyone did a white chocolate version. Hm... something more to add to my "to bake" list.

Sundried Tomato Cheese Rolls

These buns freeze great and are wonderful to adapt by adding bacon, veggies, changing the dressing/cheese/spices, whatever you can dream up. They cna easily be portable meals and are also a great way to use up last night's leftover mashed potatoes.

Lately it seems that I've been really into experimenting with different additions to dough, for example: No-yeast Cottage Cheese Dough for tangy and quick Orange Rolls or Rice "Foccacia" Bread made with leftover rice.

Today I'm adding potatoes! According to King Arthur Flour, potato in the dough gives bread a soft, moist, creamy texture; the starch in the potato attracts and holds liquid, meaning breads baked with potato will not only be soft and moist initially, but will stay that way longer. So tender and fluffy when baked and a dream to roll out and shape. The recipe was very heavily adapted from Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen



Sundried Tomato Cheese Rolls
20 rolls (or 2-9" pizzas) | dough adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Deep-Dish Potato Dough
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
8 to 10 oz. russet potato, peeled, cooked and grated (about 2 cups, or use 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, approximately
1 3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for coating pan (or use oil from sundried tomato can)

Filling for Spirals
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tbsp mixed garlic powder/onion powder/basil/oregano or whatever spices you like
1 cup drained sundried tomatoed, diced
1/2 cup ranch dressing (or jalapeno ranch)
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced (optional)

1. In mixer bowl combine yeast, sugar and water and let stand 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir in 6 tbsp olive oil. Using dough hook, add in 2 cups flour, all the potato, and salt. Gradually add in more flour as needed until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky. Transfer to a lightly oiled medium bowl, turn to coat with oil. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.

2. Now you can either use the dough to make spirals like I did or for pizza.

Spirals: Oil the bottom of an 11 x 16 inch pan with 2 tbsp oil. It seems like a lot of oil, but the oil is what browns the crust. Reserve 1/2 cup cheese. Toss remaining grated cheese with spices and jalapeno if using. Deflate and roll dough to about 1/4" thick. Spread ranch evenly over dough and sprinkle with cheese mixture. Roll up jelly roll style and cut into 20 even pieces using a sharp serrated knife. Place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise overnight in fridge or at room temperature for about 45 minutes or until almost doubled. Sprinkle tops with reserved cheese before baking. Bake at 425 degrees F on middle rack for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and dough is cooked through. I like using a glass baking dish so I can see the bottom of the buns. Cool slightly before serving.

Pizza: Oil the bottom of two 9" deep-dish pizza pans with remaining 1 tbsp each of oil. Gently punch down dough, pat each half into a 10-inch round and transfer to the pan. Pull it into the edges and up the sides of the pan to form a 1" lip. If dough resists, let it sit for 10 minutes, covered, to relax. Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for about 30 minutes, until about doubled.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Uncover and pierce dough surface generously with a fork. Bake until the crust is dry and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add desired toppings and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes. Move the pizza to the top rack and bake until the cheese is golden brown in spots, about 5 minutes longer.

Chocolate Chunk Toffee Coffee Cookies

My son wanted me to feed his toy dinosaur, hence, the cookie-eating dinosaur pic :)

This cookie has everything I love all rolled into one. It's like grown-up twist on classic chocolate chip. It starts with cookie dough spiked with coffee flavor and laced with a hint of chocolate. Combining 2 kinds of chocolate chunks, hazelnuts and crispy toffee bits, every bite is like sensory overload on your tastebuds.

A thin, bendy, chewy cookie, these are a little less sturdy than regular chocolate chip cookies but would still make an awesome take-along treat for (adult) lunchboxes. For thicker cookies refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking.



Chocolate Chunk Toffee Coffee Cookies
2 1/2 dozen | Adapted from Marcy Goldman

1 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1-2 tbsp instant coffee powder (depending on how much you like coffee)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups and 2 tbsp flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup toffee bits (crushed heath/skor bar)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Dissolve instant coffee powder in melted butter. With a wooden spoon, stir in melted chocolate and sugars followed by egg and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl combine all remaining ingredients. Add this mixture to the coffee mixture and stir to combine. It will be a softer-type cookie dough. Scoop onto an ungreased cookie sheet by the tablespoonfuls, leaving 2" between cookies as they will spread. Bake for 8-10 minutes, watching closely so as not to overcook them. They are done when edges are light golden brown. Allow to cool 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack as they will still be very soft but will firm up a bit as they cool while still retaining their chewy texture.