TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers

Quick post as I am taking the Littlest Baker to the doctor today...2 month check up and (gasp!) shots!

recipe: Flaky Apple Turnovers from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours (via baking club Tuesdays With Dorie (aka TWD).

chosen by: twd club member Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen

verdict: delicious!!!!! love these...love the dough-though it was super crumbly maybe I did not do the cutting in of butter too well?? I had to add some H20 to it.

photos: as seen below...I tried to add a cut-out apple shape to the tops of these, but it puffed up..hopefully you see what I was going for...


Ok, off to get the apple of my eye (pun intended) up from his nap...if only he was old enough to have some of these sweet treats as a way to console him after the 4 vaccinations! Someday....

TWD: Chocolate Souffle!!

Well I did it...albeit the post is not appearing until late Tuesday--I actually baked one of our Tuesdays With Dorie weekly recipes!! Feels good to be back...at least for now! once I am back to work i am not sure how well I'll keep up.

This week I give a shout-out to my nearly 8-week old who let mommy run around like a maniac in the kitchen this afternoon whilst he played on his play mat, staring up at his favorite toys hanging from above him. He loves that play mat ALMOST as much as the ceiling fan in his room...Now the fan--there's his favorite thing in the world. They always seem to have a great dialogue together...the Littlest Baker stares up at the fan, 'talks' and laughs...the fan whirring around back at him...they really do get on famously. If only he looked at me the way he does Hunter Douglas....sigh..(What is it with kids and ceiling fans? I am beginning to think there are some sort of hidden subliminal messages, known only to infants transmitted by these fans.) Here is the li'l guy:

I must admit it was this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe totally lured me back in...this week the recipe was chosen by Susan of the blog: She's Becoming Dough-messtic. (Chocolate Souffle, page 406 in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours) What self-respecting baker wouldn't want to try their hand at making a chocolate souffle?! I am happy to report it came out absolutely decadent, fabulous...it was "beyond'..it was 'bananas" (as Rachel Zoe would say Anyone? anyone?)

Dear Husband and I feel it shoots up to the top of the Dorie list of recipes I have done-the French Pear Tart and banana cream pie have a rival for SURE! I was the only one who enjoyed it warm as I had to make it during the window of opportunity I had earlier in the day. But "fallen souffle cake" was enjoyed by us both tonight after our dinner!

It came together easily...my only hiccup was I burned the top of it. I tried to take a photo of it risen right before I took it out but it didn't come out as I did w/ the door closed, so you see more of MY reflection than the darn souffle! But if you look carefully, you see the nice dome I was able to get on it...it started deflating by the time I took the photo that is at the beginning of the post! (FYI the light you see is not my flash--the flash was off..it's the light in the corner of the oven).

FYI, for the foodies out there who are fans of Food TV-I've made some pretty darn good dinners here and there during maternity leave...not many, and Dear Husband has been my hero when it comes to him arriving home after painting all day and still cooking up dinner for us as my day and nights are spent totally tending to our son...My intentions are always there, but I am at the beck and call of our Little Baker--who at 7 weeks seems to have developed some sort of digestive issues...gassy...spitting up..things that we have dodged until now but add more time to the feeding process--and to the 'calming down' process as he is mr fussy these days due to the aforementioned issues.

When I nurse him I seem to always be tuning into Food TV...so here are recipes I have tried over the past 7-8 weeks! ALL of which I recommend!!

Ina's Asian Grilled Salmon

Melissa D'Arabian's (the newest Food TV star) Salmon Cakes and Lemon-Thyme Orzo

Melissa D'Arabian's Chicken A L'orange with Fennel Cabbage Slaw and Crispy Potatoes

Then one day in the mail came my Bon Appetit...and I realized that I had all the fixins for one of their "Fast-Easy-Fresh" recipes--and I gave it a whirl! Can I just say there is nothing more satisfying to me than going through a recipe and realizing that I had all the ingredients?! So Dear Husband was surprised when he came home to Panko-Crusted Chicken with Mustard-Maple Pan Sauce

Speaking of Bon Appetit, FYI Dorie has a "brioche-made-easy" recipe in this months B.A mag! I can't wait to try!)

I hope to return for next week's recipe Flaky Apple Turnovers! Fall is around the corner!! My favorite time of year!! (only this year my least favorite..Oct 12 I return to reality and work...and try not to have a breakdown over leaving the Petit Baker with daycare....)

Bingo!!! THE definitive chocolate cake recipe!

OK, so I have not been doing much blogging in light of the birth of my our little one--five weeks old this past Wednesday! I will say I DID make the banana bundt cake that everyone made a few weeks ago and LOVED it...but did not take photos...so I never made it an official posting!

Long before joining Tuesdays with Dorie baking club--and since joining--I have often lamented that I have not found 'THE' chocolate cake recipe that offers a 'box cake' moistness...

NOTE; this in no way is to offend Dorie Greenspan--my take is I am just not making her recipes for chocolate cake up to her standards! So THIS recipe I have found is super easy, (i.e. "dummy-proof") and gave me the cake texture I've been seeking....so just to be sure I point out that I'm sure if I had the exact technique that Dorie has, I would deem HER chocolate cake recipe the 'one'!)

The search is over (cue Survivor), I found the recipe today and I AM SO EXCITED! Well, actually I did not find it today, I had heard of it for some time..

Fellow TWD blogger, Nancy, of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs, told me in a comment in February to try Martha Stewart's 'One Bowl Chocolate Cake. It's taken me until NOW to do so.

The occasion was Dear Husband's birthday. He LOVES chocolate cake--problem is he does NOT love frosting..therefore, it leaves little room for error when doing scratch cakes. When a cake lacks moistness--I just slather on more frosting and drink more milk. He, on the other hand, has been stuck with many a dry mouthful of chocolate cake, and I'm sure has wished on many an occasion that I just do the 'box cake' and be done with it. And I almost did this year..almost!

Knowing the Birthday Boy does not enjoy frosting on cake-and knowing we were having our friends over for dinner led me to determine that cupcakes would be best--I could frost some, and leave others as they are.

I found Martha's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes, which is basically taking the cake recipe and halving it. It's not only the BEST texture and moistness--it's the simplest recipe! Sift all dry ingredients in the mixer bowl..then add the liquid ingredients, mix until blended and presto! Cake batter! Indeed its simple nature made this a very "baby-friendly" recipe! I stopped and started about 3 times and never worried that I lost my place in the recipe! Plus, if needed I could do some of it with one hand while I held him in the other arm (I actually cracked 2 eggs with one hand with no shrapnel!)

And so now I've got it--THE recipe for a perfect chocolate cake--and in plenty of time for Jason's first birthday!

Next time I think I'll branch out and fill some with whipped cream a la "Hostess" and maybe do some peanut butter frosting/filling a la "Funny Bones." But for now, I'm just thrilled with having a go-to chocolate cake recipe! Thank you, Martha--and thank you Nancy for turning me onto it!

TWD --a bit on hold for now in light of the new arrival!

Here he is...our first born...Jason!
Born July 15
9 lbs 1oz
22"

We're doing GREAT but I am just not sure when I'll get back to the next recipe--but I intend to be back in the Tuesdays with Dorie fold as soon as I can!

In the meantime, in lieu of a food creation, I give you a photo of our blessed creation! So in love with this face..I can't even tell you...!!

:) Lisa

TWD: Tribute to K.Hepburn Brownies

This week in the Tuesdays With Dorie bake-it-and-blog-it club, the recipe was chosen by the winner of the logo design contest! You see her winning design here on the side of my blog--It perfectly represents Dorie--the combo of France, baking, etc! I love it! The winning artiste is Lisa from Surviving Oz and she chose for this week's recipe the one on page 96 of Dorie's Baking: From My Home to Yours "Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies"

Just a reminder for those 'just joining us'--the Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) club is a group who are baking our way through this cookbook. Every week a new (dessert) recipe. I've been out of it the past few weeks...so have not participated lately but was glad to hop back in the saddle with brownies!

I tried a brownie recipe-not one of Dorie's--back in April and it was a huge success according to Dear Husband (who just loves chocolate). Brownies are a fave in this house--so I was excited to try this interesting spin on them, in which Dorie adds both coffee and cinnamon to the batter. It also calls for nuts, which I normally omit in brownies--though I found new compromise by using finely chopped walnuts (vs coursely/rough chopped) and I think it added some welcome texture and flavor to this rich brownie.

They came together rather easily--I love the 'mixing bowl' recipes (vs hauling out the electric mixer). My pan is 9x9, not 8x8, so I kept checking them not knowning how the baking time would be affected--turns out I baked it about 5 min less than what was called for in the book, and they were baked to perfection!

I LOVE the texture of these--fudgy and moist! They really are an ideal brownie when it comes to texture and the chocolate taste/etc. The recipe is supposedly a fave of Kate Hepburn's (whose movies I just adore....and referenced in this post!) But, overall, for me, let's just say the coffee is not my cup of tea. They are basically 'coffee brownies' which is not a bad thing, but I was hoping for more subtle taste.

I can't wait to make these again and will admit I'll do so by removing the coffee/cinnamon combo and doing a classic walnuts/brownies. I think they'll rival the ones I made back in April for sure!

I would make the coffee flavored ones again, perhaps for entertaining or hostess gift for a dinner...they are really good, and its a neat twist, but it's just I'm a purist (read: boring, mainstream) who just likes her brownies chocolate, once in awhile with nuts and nothing else needed but a glass of milk.

Here is the other project I have going! The nursery is coming along!! 8 days until the due date...doctor appointment is tomorrow, I hope for progress, but seeing as I keep hearing "You haven't dropped yet" my guess is I'll be going past the due date..we shall see!



My very fave part of the nursery is the custom-made vinyl lettering/quote I ordered. I asked for the opening line of the best book ever: Goodnight, Moon and I think it came out great! It was hellish to get the thing up straight, but I am glad that I didn't give up (usually projects like this do not work for me..there was a very good chance the lettering would all have not stuck...or a letter be ripped/peeled off...but happily it's all up there-and looks like it'll stay too!!





Once the baby is here we'll know if we need a pink or blue rug/curtains/etc. In the meantime the next phase is framing up images/covers from favorite storybooks I remember loving when I was growing up. Books like Make Way for Ducklings; One Morning in Maine; Frog & Toad are Friends, the Little Engine the Could--I'm still deciding on the 'finalists'. I wanted a nursery that wasn't to 'theme' ridden, so figured just a few well placed framed children's book covers that were family favorites and this quote should do the trick! It's sort of a tip of the hat to my late mother, who was a librarian, loved kids books--and children in general--who had 5 kids of her own (I was 4th) and relished her role as 'Nana'. My baby may not know Nana in person--yet will be read all the stories that nana would surely have shared with them, just as she did with all of us.

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet!

Well this is part 1...as my camera was accidentally put away in the 'on' position (such a Lisa thing to do, I can't even begin..) and so as I bake my apple tartlet now (Monday, 9:20pm) I cannot take any photos....I have enough puff pastry to do 'round 2' Tuesday night, so I shall try to follow up later tonight (Tue) with actual photos of a tartlet!

So as I wait for it to come from the oven I will comment that this recipe--for the Tuesdays with Dorie baking club--was chosen by Jessica from My Baking Heart. Visit her site for the recipe!

This one is super easy--though next time I shall make it more challenging and will try to make my own puff pastry. I found some great recipes here and there, and it just sounds like such a wonderful 'baking' sort of recipe to say that I have done...

But this week it was thanks to store-bought puff pastry that made the recipe so simple. Pastry, apple, brown sugar, pads of butter, oven. Done.

Dorie recommended using 100% butter pastry, and thanks to those in TWD, I came to find out that good ol' Trader Joe's sells it! Dear Husband and I LOVE Joe. The only bad thing is the closest stores to us are at least 30 min away. So we tend to go once a month or so and stock up. I took a special jaunt there Sunday and was thrilled to find the Puff Pastry there. My Plan B was the Whole Foods in that same town (again, the closest one to us). But happily Joe came through. Not only that, but the 'sample' of the day was the Joe Joe's cookies (basically Oreo type cookie). Somehow I passed the sample counter...uh...3 times I think? Each time taking a cookie. I figured the baby belly I've got going on would mean no one would cut me off...and I used 'strategery' and only went back up to the counter for subsequent visits when the employee left her post so that she did not see the pregnant lady chow down on 4 cookies (because I just lied--it wasn't 3 times that I went up to the counter, it was 4! But I more than made up for it-- because I ended up just buying a box)



while I'm at it, here is an image of the pastry I found there:















The dinger just went off--they look so great!! Reminds me of a nest--which makes me think these would be neat for an Easter or Spring timed special dinner! Time note: I set it first for 15 min, so I could check on progress...apples were not done, so I threw another 7.5 min on timer. ONe thing I did notice was the sugar/butter dribbled off the top and onto the sheet on one of them, did not stay on the pastry. I guess I'll take that one, give Dear Husband the 'good' one....They are sitting out now as I know I'll scald my tongue off should I attempt to eat now.

(Dessert Break...)

Verdict: we love these! They are the perfect portion, and would compliment many type of meal! I will try to make again Tues evening so I have actual photos-but I must say this was one of the Dorie recipes where what came out of my oven actually really did look like the photo in the book!


What lovely timing..a Parisian recipe on the heels of the French Open! Congratulations Roger Federer!! (my very very fave!)

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

This week, in the Tuesdays With Dorie baking club (in which we are baking our way through Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours) Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures chose the recipe on page 210-211--CINNAMON SQUARES!

In reading the TWD comments/questions on this particular recipe there seemed to be a lot of folks who do not like the combo of cinnamon and chocolate. It made me wonder if it would be another recipe like last week when, to me, the combo of brownies and chocolate chip cookie dough were two powerful forces that combined to a not-so-perfect dessert. (I liked it, but reported back that I thought the 2 amazing recipes sort of canceled each other out). Would this week's flavor combo--two other favorites of mine namely chocolate and cinnamon fall to the same fate?? The answer is....sort of. I'm on the fence, and think I need a reality check.

Let's back up to a year ago, before I joined Tuesdays with Dorie. I loved to bake, but kept things to a simple repertoire...though I did branch out and try my first 'from scratch' cake just prior to joining TWD. This led me to want to bake more, and perfect timing, it was very soon after that my college roomie Cathy approached me about TWD.

So I think that the past 2 recipes I have been hard on Ms. Greenspan--saying that desserts aren't ones I 'loved'--when really, when I step back and think about it, they really are amazing recipes. I think with desserts like the Pear Tart and the French Yogurt Cake, or Banana Cream Pie, and some of the others we've done--that have sent me off for days saying how amazing they are, that they are the 'best' recipes yet, and other such praise, that when a recipe does not garner THAT over-the-top reaction, I tend to say "eh, it's good, it's ok" as I did last week--and was about to this week! I tasted the cinnamon squares again tonight, with the mindset of me 365 days ago--and know that I really like these--and that I would make them for guests for sure.

I thought that I need to come up with a rating scale...because basically let's face it, when you get an "this is good" in a Dorie recipe, it would translate to anyone else used to the norm brownie and cookies made-from-a-box as "amazing/great/out of this world." I think I'm becoming spoiled by some of the more fanciful desserts Dorie's book has sent my way?!

So although I did not do cartwheels in the kitchen (which probably would have been a bad idea--if not impossible-- at 34 weeks pregnant), I DID in fact really like the cinnamon squares. Are they a French Pear Tart? No--but they're not supposed to be either.

I can see having these squares at the end of meal, when coffee drinks are being poured as the flavors certainly lend themselves to a cup of coffee (no doubt in part because of the espresso powder we added.)

This recipe came together rather easily--I must admit I love the 'just mix in a bowl' (or 2 as this case) as it means I don't have to deal with the big Kitchen Aid. You basically make the cinnamon cake batter, pour half in a square pan, top with chocolate chips and cinnamon-sugar-espresso powder combination and then top with the 2nd half of the cake batter.

It called for an 8" square pan, and I only had 8.5" so I baked it under the time called for.




After cooling out on the cooling rack, I put together the frosting....
"Look, ma, 1 hand!"--a.k.a me stirring while I snap an action shot:


And with a few swoops of the spatula--voila!


Changes to recipe:
I found I had only 2 oz left of 'bittersweet' chocolate--so my recipe for the frosting is mostly 'semi' sweet chocolate w/ just 2 oz of bittersweet (and the layer of chocolate that is in the middle--bittersweet was called for, but its all semi-sweet.) Still tastes fine by me..though I tend to have a sweet tooth.

So, Dorie--if you are out there in blog-land, I apologize for my lackluster report last week--and for almost doing the same this week. These really are fun, tasty gooodies that I would serve again. If anything it's because some of your other recipes I have had the good fortune of baking from your book are THAT amazing that it spoiled me for some of the others that are fine, just as they are. (There I go quoting Bridget Jones's Diary again...oh that Darcy)

AND IN OTHER NEWS....
Had my baby shower this past weekend--was fabulous!! Had lots of family and friends, and my sisters and sisters-in-law threw me a great celebration! The only photo I have right now is one of me and my 2 sisters, back at my house at the end of a long--but fabulous--day! So 6 weeks and counting...after this weekend it's really hitting home: there really is a baby moving into the house!!