Tuesday, October 28, 2008

TWD-Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Our host for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie is the lovely Clara of I Heart Food 4 Thought. I have only one thing to say to Clara this week: Thank you, sweetie! Clara even suggested that we decorate our Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes for Halloween and I thought that was a great idea.

After reading the FAQ on the TWD site, I was afraid that the recipe might yield dry cupcakes though. So instead of using a whole egg and a yolk, I used two whole eggs. And baked the cupcakes a little less than what was specified. That seemed to do the trick as these cupcakes were anything but dry!

I made 24 minis and 9 regular sized cupcakes out of the recipe and although they didn't need the extra icing, I went ahead anyways and drizzled them in colorful, Halloween appropriate icing. Nothing more than a little icing sugar, butter and milk and a few drops of food coloring. Easy and fun!

The ganache that tops these little guys is really luscious and although Dorie suggests to serve these to adults as they can better appreciate the dark chocolate, my little ones loved these! Perhaps the yellow, orange and green drizzles had something to do with it?

You still have a little time before Halloween to whip up a batch of these delightful little guys so go on over to Clara's blog for the recipe. And for more creative decorating ideas, check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll, you won't be disappointed!




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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

TWD - Pumpkin Muffins

Is there anything more "fallish" than the smell of a pumpkin roasting? Perhaps the smell of pumpkin muffins baking. Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp chose the perfect Fall recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie.

I just love roasting squash and pumpkins so I bought a great big pumpkin, cut it in half, removed the seeds and put it in a 350F oven for an hour and a half. Once cooked, it was really tender so I just scooped out the flesh, mashed it with a fork and voilà! homemade pumpkin purée.

I used pumpkin seeds in the muffins and also on top to decorate. I just thought as long as we were in pumpkin mood, why not go all the way! I loved the spices in these and the golden raisins added just the right amount of sweetness. I might make my next batch with chocolate chips though as the kids didn't care much for the raisins. I figured as much!

These muffins are perfect on a cool morning with a hot cup of coffee. So if you're in the mood for pumpkin muffins, visit Kelly for the recipe. And if you're curious to see what the other TWD members thought of the muffins, check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll!
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

TWD-Lenox Almond Biscotti

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by the lovely Gretchen of Canela & Comino. I was really happy about her choice because I love biscotti. I hadn't made any in a while so I was really looking forward to dunking a few of them in a good cup of coffee.

These were a bit different from the biscotti I've made before. The dough is really sticky and spreads while baking, whereas my favorite biscotti recipe yields a very thick and crumbly dough to begin with that keeps its shape in the oven. I had to double the first baking time because the logs were still raw in the middle after the specified amount of time. I also had to let them bake a while longer for the second round in the oven, that's why they're a bit more "golden" than they should be.

They are very good, though I'm not sure the cornmeal added much to this recipe. Perhaps I should have used medium cornmeal instead of fine? Who knows. Will I make these again? I'm not sure. I might try tweaking the recipe and using something else, perhaps ground almonds, instead of the cornmeal.

I'm sure the other members of this fabulous group came up with a myriad of variations on the biscotti theme so why don't you give them a visit? And if it's the recipe you'd like, well then, visit Gretchen's blog!

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fall Favorites

I love to watch TV. There. I said it. I watch more TV than I probably should. Just tonight, I watched CSI. What an episode! And tomorrow, Life! I hate to miss something good on TV. I always have. That's why from the age of 10 to about 18 years old, I had a subscription to TV Guide. Remember the good old days when TV Guide was actually a printed magazine? I kept those old magazines for such a long time. Then I actually decided it was time to move on so I clipped a few interesting things from them. Back then I wasn't necessarily interested in the same things I am today but I actually kept the recipes.

Yes, there were recipes in TV Guide! And many good ones for that matter. I didn't make any of them for a long time, I just cut and pasted the recipes in a kind of scrapbook because I liked the photos. Imagine that. The only problem is that I didn't keep the date or the celebrity's name who had provided the recipe. I really wish I knew who gave this recipe to TV Guide because I would like to say thank you! I've made these muffins so many times, mostly in the Fall. We bought so many apples at the farmer's market, any recipe I can find using apples, I make it! If you find yourself with an abundance of apples, I recommend you make these muffins ASAP!


Cranberry Apple Muffins
adapted from a late 1980's TV Guide

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup apple sauce)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium apples, peeled and grated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup fresh whole cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tins and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and grated apples. In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add pecans, raisins and cranberries. Stir to combine. Divide batter into muffin tins and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tuesdays With Dorie - Caramel-Cashew-Topped Brownie Cake

Being the sucker that I am for anything caramel, I couldn't pass up the chance to make a brownie cake topped with homemade caramel and nuts. The nuts in question were supposed to be peanuts but, my apologies to all of you peanut lovers out there, I was not going to make this cake with salted peanuts.


I thought about pecans, which would have been lovely, I'm sure, but I got a flash when I saw a tin of cashews at the grocery store. "Aha! Yes, cashews, that's it!" I love it when that happens. Anyways, I decided to halve the recipe because, again, knowing how much I love caramel, making the whole cake would have been dangerous. I even bought a few mini-springform pans for the occasion. Ah, how nice it is to have an excuse to shop for kitchen stuff!

Once my cutie cakes were baked and out of the oven, I noticed a little something was amiss. They both had huge craters in the middle! Hmmm, Dorie warns about the cake forming a small crater upon cooling but this was not a small crater! OK, moving on to the caramel, I must give you one word of advice: don't let yourself be distracted while the sugar is caramelizing! It will turn from a beautiful amber color to an awful burnt brown in a matter of seconds. If that happens, don't even bother with the cream and butter, just start over with a new batch of sugar.

My second batch of sugar, water and corn syrup was watched much more closely and became the gorgeous caramel called for in the recipe. The crater-cakes were then filled with spoonfuls of cashews and caramel and left alone to rest. The caramel wasn't runny at all once it had a chance to set, but it wasn't hard either, just the perfect texture. All my taste testers were in awe of the cake and so was I.

Another great Tuesdays with Dorie! Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy chose this knock out cake this week so you must visit her for the recipe!

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