Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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.

7 comments:

TeaLady said...

Oh!! Beautiful nursery. Lucky baby. Hang in there - any day now. Be glad it wasn't 6 weeks early like my 2nd one. Bah!! Not fun.

Beautiful brownies too.

Hindy said...

So close and you're still baking brownies. What a trooper! Best wishes to you!

Anonymous said...

Love your nursery! Your brownies look great.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

OK, that was the sweetest post ever! I know your mom is smiling at your nursery choices and especially at your desire to honor her. You baby will certainly be proud of his/her heritage. And the brownies? They were nice and fudgey, I agree. For a brownie purist, here's a little tip: try Essence of Chocolate brownies (a scharffen burger recipe; find it on Google, or I can DM or Tweet you a link) I promise you will not be disappointed!! We're talking straight up chocolate, deliciously delivered.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Figured I should come back here with the link to the Essence of Chocolate brownies! You can find the recipe on this blogger's post: http://browniepower.com/2008/09/fudgy-brownies/
Let me know what you think - they were in our taste test and did very well...

Flourchild said...

Lovely nursery, I love the green!

Cathy said...

How did I miss this last week? No matter, it's fun to leave a comment on the baby's birthday! I can't WAIT to hear the news! In fact - this is funny. My phone just rang - I thought it was baby news. I dumped my purse on the floor to try to find the phone quickly (it's usually buried in my huge, disorganized purse). Nope, it was my mother, telling me the chicken salad at Spill the Beans is delicious. Needless to say, we are all waiting anxiously by the phone for the good news! Love your nursery, love those brownies!