Homemade Cookie Dough and Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream Cake

Homemade Cookie Dough and Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream Cake

Parker’s 11th birthday was a couple days ago.  Happy Birthday, Parker!

This kid of mine doesn’t like chocolate.  Huh?  I know.  But one of the things he LOVES is cherries, all kinds.  He LOVES maraschino cherries.  So I recently made maraschino cherry ice cream, just to make him happy, because we often have ice cream and there aren’t any flavors he likes.  Well, I think what is really happening, is he is turning into the kind of person who would rather have savory/salty things than sweets.  How dare he! ;)

I guess when a kid is this awesome, you take them as they are. ;)

Here’s the recipe for the maraschino cherry ice cream, it’s a super simple recipe and if you like maraschino cherries, this ice cream is perfect.  Parker was pretty happy!

Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup 2% milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

*1/3-1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice (from a 10 oz. jar)

*about 24 maraschino cherries, chopped

In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar with 1 cup cream over medium-low heat.  Remove from heat and add it in a large bowl to the remaining cup of cream, the milk, almond extract, cherry juice and chopped cherries.  Whisk all ingredients together well.  The mixture will be cold enough that you don’t need to chill it.  You can put the bowl over an ice bath for 15 minutes or so, if you want it colder.  I just added it right to the ice cream bowl and began churning it.  Churn according to your ice cream makers manufacturer’s instructions, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove the soft ice cream from the bowl and store it in an airtight container in the freezer.  *I used close to 1/2 cup of juice from the jar of cherries and 24 cherries, which wasn’t the whole jar because a few of them had been eaten before the ice cream was made. ;)

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I made the ice cream a few days before Parker’s birthday.  The boys all enjoyed some the day I made it.  After asking Parker what he wanted for his birthday—no one here likes cake—he just kept hummin’ and hawin’ about it and couldn’t decide on anything.  The day before his birthday, I decided to make him an ice cream cake. 

I started with a crust base, which I made up using animal crackers.  I really like how it turned out!  Sometimes we get tired of the same ol’ graham cracker crust.  After making the crust, I stuck it in the freezer for a while.

Animal Cracker Cookie Crust, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

about 5 1/2 ounces (150 grams) crushed animal crackers

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pulse the cookie/crackers in a food processor (it was about 2 cups of cookies) until they become fine crumbs.  Add the sugar and pulse a few times.  Add in the melted butter and the vanilla and pulse until the crumbs are all moistened.  Spread evenly and press down in a 9 inch square pan.  Can be used for a cheesecake or ice cream cake or any kind of crust you’d like!

Parker doesn’t totally hate all chocolate, he really just doesn’t like too much of it and he really doesn’t like dark chocolate.  I’d recently made some eggless chocolate chip cookie dough, which there was still some of in the fridge.  Normally, I’d make homemade ice cream, but we happened to have half a gallon of plain vanilla ice cream in the freezer, so I decided to soften it up and add some of the cookie dough to it.  Why did I make edible cookie dough?  Because Sam had gone to the dentist and then to the store with me afterwards and decided he wanted chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Can you believe there was none at the store where we went?  I promised Sam I’d make him some cookie dough he could have in some vanilla ice cream. 

I took little balls of the cookie dough and froze them, then stirred them into the vanilla ice cream.

I stirred about one cup of the cookie dough balls/chunks/nuggets into about half a gallon of vanilla ice cream.  (There’s probably another two cups of cookie dough balls in the freezer for use another time!)  The now-chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was spread over the animal cracker crust.

After letting the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream layer freezer for an hour or two, I softened the remaining maraschino cherry ice cream and spread it over the cookie dough ice cream.  It was probably about a quart and a half of cherry ice cream.  Once that had frozen for a couple hours, I spread Cool Whip over the top and let it freeze more.  I know, Cool Whip—it’s a hit here and I wasn’t planning on eating any of the ice cream cake.  Okay, I tasted a little.   Anyway.  The ice cream cake---it tastes great, if you like those cherries.  I don’t hate them.  I just don’t like what has happened to the cherries. ;) 

I am/was so happy that a neighbor recently gave me this great cake pan she didn’t want anymore.  It’s a 9-inch square pan with a removable bottom.  It was perfect for this ice cream cake!

Kevin put the 11 cherries on the top.  (I couldn’t find the candles and I think Parker was much happier with the cherries anyway.)  I told Kevin to just put six cherries in one of the “1’s”, but he didn’t like the idea of having them be uneven, that’s why there’s one in the corner.  I like the way the sliced ice cream cake came out with perfectly visible pieces of the cookie dough and the layers all prominent. 

Here’s the quick, edible/eggless cookie dough recipe.  I would probably halve it next time as this made a lot.  So unless you have a great use for this much edible dough, go with half. 

Edible/Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk (I used skim)

1  1/2 cups (180 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars.  Add the vanilla and milk and combine.   Add the flour and salt and mix just until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.  (I will last a couple weeks.)  After the dough has been refrigerated for a couple hours, you can roll it into little, tiny balls and freeze them for use in ice cream.

Parker wanted a wallet for his birthday.  We surprised him with a $50 bill hiding in it!  Next birthday—Kevin, October 5th and Taylor October 12th.  Whatever will they want? ;)

Peach Upside Down Cake—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking With Julia

Peach Upside Down Cake

For Tuesdays With Dorie--Baking With Julia this go-round, we were to make the Nectarine Upside Down Chiffon Cake.  Check out our hosts’ posts for the recipe. 

Susan at The Little French Bakery and Marlise at The Double Trouble Kitchen are the blogs to visit for the recipe. 

I sort of veered off the written recipe.  I couldn’t help it.  When I looked at the cake, I decided I just couldn’t make a cake that had six eggs.  I need to cut back on so many decadent, fattening treats a bit.  But I did stick with a couple things as they were in the recipe from the book. 

*The original cake is supposed to have nectarines, but I used peaches.  I did a quick water-boiling bath to remove the skins and sliced them into eight slices each.  I used three peaches. 

*When I saw that the butter/brown sugar layer for the peaches to rest on had one cup of brown sugar, I decided it didn’t need that much sugar, so I cut it from one cup to only half a cup.  I think it was just fine.  I should have cut the butter, too.  It would have been just fine with less butter as well.

*I did make the streusel just how the recipe was written, except I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour.  The streusel was one of my favorite things about the cake. 

*And finally, I didn’t make the chiffon cake.  Instead I made this French Yogurt Cake, with just the vanilla extract.  And I again used whole wheat pastry flour.   Making this “lighter” cake, which has oil instead of butter and of course, yogurt (I used fat free, plain Greek yogurt), I felt better about having some of the dessert when it was done.  I also baked the cake in a 9-inch springform pan, though the recipe says to use a 10-inch pan.  I don’t have one.  I think it was just fine in the 9-inch, but I’m sure the French Yogurt Cake didn’t have as much batter as the chiffon cake would have made.  

  I have a little laugh for you.  I prepared the cake, put it in the oven, set the timer for 30 minutes and went about my business.  The timer beeped.  I opened the oven, saw that it looked like it still needed more time, so I set the timer again for 10 more minutes.  When the timer beeped again, I opened the oven and noticed the cake didn’t look any different.  Hmmm?   What could be the problem?  Why, yes, yes I did “bake” the cake with the oven off!  SIGH  It never occurred to me until after that 40 minutes that the oven wasn’t even on!  What a goofball!  I know, I’m not the only one to do such a thing, but silly me! 

I removed the cake from the oven while it preheated.  I think one of the reasons I didn’t realize the oven was off was because it was still warm from baking the streusel.  I like to think I would have noticed a cold oven.

My family prefers Cool Whip to fresh whipped cream.  I only obliged this time because we happened to have a tub of it in the refrigerator.  Sometimes, it is just so much easier to dollop a little Cool Whip on things—you know, there’s nothing quite like a little hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup to top off a great, healthier cake.  sigh

Molten Chocolate Lava Crock Pot Cake—Secret Recipe Club

Molten Chocolate Lava Crock Pot Cake

It’s time for Secret Recipe Club!  This is a date each month that I really look forward to but I have to say I can’t believe how fast the months fly by when it seems like just yesterday it was time for Secret Recipe Club from the last time.  Can anyone else believe it’s September?  I swear it was just Christmastime.  At any rate, here we are and I’ve certainly got another delicious treat to share with you that I picked from the hundreds of recipes I was faced with choosing from at the blog I had this month. 

It’s no surprise that I’m always drawn to the word chocolate.  And when I saw molten lava along with it, this was a must-make recipe.  The blog I got to pick from this month is Katie’s blog, This Chick Cooks.  I feel it somewhat of a disservice to have chosen this cake from Katie’s blog, since she is all about eating whole foods and cutting white flour and white sugar out of her diet.  Then why would this recipe be on her blog?  Because she used to make, eat, and blog things like this, but now doesn’t. 

I seriously started making a list of things from her blog that I wanted to make not long after getting this assignment.  Check some of these out--Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream—I still plan to make this soon, just couldn’t remember to get coconut milk every time I was at a store.  I love oatmeal for breakfast, so I’m drawn to this post for 40 Fun Oatmeal Toppings.  Hot Fudge Brownie Larabars—I would love those.  Healthier Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies—I plan to make these, too.  I love making “treats” that have a healthier twist but are still a treat.  All the things I looked at when I first got the assignment seemed to end up being things that I needed something from the store in order to make them.  Then, before I knew it, our Group A leader, Jane, sent a little reminder last week to make sure we had our recipe and post ready and I freaked out a little when I realized I hadn’t done anything yet—just dreamed of all the goodness on Katie’s blog.  Where or where did August go?

I did another quick search of her Recipe Index—and that’s when I saw the words Molten Chocolate Lava!  After looking at the recipe, I saw that I had everything to make it and decided to get to work in time for the family treat that night. 

The Molten Chocolate Lava Crock Pot Cake (also known as Mud Cake or Pudding Cake) could not have been more simple to make.  Katie found the recipe for it on the Family Fun website.  Guess what—I didn’t change anything from the recipe Katie has on her blog.  I did exactly what it said.  This is rare for me.  I deserve a gold sticker or something. ;)  The recipe said to cook the cake in the Crockpot on high for 1-2 hours.  I cooked mine for 1 hour and 40 minutes. 

Definitely delicious on its own, with a deep, dark chocolate flavor from using Dutch-processed, dark cocoa, the cake was just screaming for some ice cream.  I mean, doesn’t it just look so much happier now?  Still, that seemed a little “plain”.  Katie mentioned how good this would be with some fresh berries on the side.  Wish I would have had some because I totally agree with that.

We ended up with sprinkles on ours here because my boys think everything has to have sprinkles.

Ahhh, definitely looking better now with the little pop of color.  I think second only to sprinkles, the boys all love maraschino cherries, so it only seemed appropriate to put a cherry on top of this cake.  Parker even likes them so much that lately when they get to have ice cream for a snack, Parker begs and pleads to just have a bowl full of the cherries with no ice cream.  I think I’ve only let him have three of them so far.  His birthday is coming this week.  Somebody is probably going to get his own jar of cherries as one of his gifts.  Silly kid.  Last year he got his own bottle of A-1 Steak Sauce, he could drink that stuff.

I’ll definitely be back to Katie’s blog, This Chick Cooks, for more recipe inspiration soon!  Go check it out if you have never been there!

Can’t wait to see what the rest of Group A made this month!

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Do you like cheesecake?  And who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies?  These are the best of both worlds.  A cheesecake layer in the middle of chocolate chip cookie bars.  I saw these recently, on Pinterest? or a blog?, I can’t remember.  I think it’s Pinterest because I think I got the recipe from being led to a blog I didn’t really know.  Hey, I know, I’ll go check.

Okay, I’m not that big of a loser, the recipe is on Nicole’s blog, Heat Oven to 350 and I have heard of it, lots of delicious recipes and great photos, I just couldn’t remember until I got up, walked across the room and got the recipe I printed.  I know, the things I do for my readers! ;)  Nicole has adapted the recipe from King Arthur Flour, but a quick search over on their website and I couldn’t find anything close enough.  So, all the credit for this one goes to Nicole, and her mom’s friend, Jill. 

And you know what?  Wait for it……I didn’t change any of the ingredients in the recipe.  I know, I should have had you sit down before tell you that.  Sorry.  Make these cookie bars and you’ll forgive me.  I wanted to give the recipe a shot exactly how it is written for the first try, but I’m crazy, so I’ll change the recipe the next time I make it.  Why?  Well, I know I can make any chocolate chip cookie recipe and the bars will work, so although the recipe Nicole has provided tastes great, it has shortening and is the chocolate chip cookie recipe with vinegar.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve made that similar recipe before and the cookies are great.  I just try not to use shortening and since I already have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, that’s what I’ll try next time.

I’ll shut up now.  I just urge you to try this bar cookie/cheesecake cookie bar/chocolate chip cookie bar with cream cheese/whatever you want to call it—because they are THAT good. 

I’ve looked it over and thought about it, I didn’t change the recipe enough to even rewrite it.  You’ll see in Nicole’s recipe for these Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars that she mentioned the dough being a little difficult to spread in the pan.  The bottom layer wasn’t too bad.  I just dolloped it around the pan, as she suggested and spread it evenly with a spatula.  After pouring the cream cheese layer over half the cookie dough, it’s a little more difficult to spread the other half of the dough over that.  I feel I was being somewhat genius in what I did.  I spread the rest of the dough on a piece of waxed paper so it was close to the size of the pan (9x13) and stuck it in the freezer.

My idea would have worked great if I had decided to wait long enough for it to freeze, but I was somewhat pressed for time, so I only waited about  10-15 minutes.  Parts of it peeled off in nice, flat pieces, but some of it wasn’t frozen enough yet.  Can’t wait to try that again and do it right next time.  There’s nothing wrong with a little of the cheesecake mixture seeping up through the top layer of cookie dough.

These bars were great and sliced perfectly after they chilled in the fridge for a couple hours.  For removing them from the pan easily, I lined it with nonstick foil that hung over the sides. 

You just need to make these, that’s all I’m saying. 

Fudge Topped Brownies

Fudge Topped Brownies

After I recently posted a picture of these on Facebook (Baking and Boys), I was nearly accosted by some family, friends and cyber friends to hurry up and get the recipe posted.  So here you go---  ;)  (They are THAT good that they need to get posted ASAP.)

I got the idea for these and the fudge part of the recipe from my friend, Anna, at Cookie Madness.  She made them using a boxed brownie mix she had that needed to be used.  Boxed brownies are perfectly acceptable, though I’m on a quest to rid my life of boxed products, I can’t convince my family of that so far—even with brownies like these 100% homemade.  Sometimes Kevin will “whine” “Can’t you just make plain boxed brownies?”  Yes, there are some in the boxed-brownie camp who think homemade don’t taste as good.  While that is certainly not me, I think it’s the texture or the way the brownies turn out that people like so much.  (I hope it’s not the flavor as much, because I think the flavor is rather, well, boxy. ;) 

Moving on—these brownies, just the brownie part, are a new recipe (new, as in, I hadn’t made the recipe before) from Cook’s Illustrated for Chewy Brownies.  The folks in the Cook’s Illustrated kitchen set out to make a brownie like the boxed ones that are so well liked by many and this is the recipe they came up with for Chewy Brownies.  I have adapted it (of course), but you can find it online in many places.  I’m just going to give you the recipe as I made them.

I will for sure make these again as just brownies without the fudge top just to see what they are like on their own.  But they certainly worked well for these Fudge Topped Brownies.   Like I mentioned, the fudge top idea and recipe came from Anna (I’ve linked her recipe post above).  Hey, speaking of Anna—her first cookbook is coming out in November!  I’m so excited and have preordered mine---you should, too.  Here’s a link for the book from Amazon, The Daily Cookie, 365 Tempting Treats For the Sweetest Year of Your Life.

Fudge Topped Brownies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from recipes by Anna at Cookie Madness and Cook’s Illustrated (Chewy Brownies)

Brownies--

1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) boiling water

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) canola oil (or vegetable/corn oil)

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2  1/2 cups (500 grams) granulated sugar

1  3/4 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon table salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda (I used this for high altitude purposes, it may not be necessary)

6 ounces dark/bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, leaving enough to overhang for removing the brownies.  Spray with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Whisk together the cocoa and boiling water in a large bowl and mix until smooth.  Add the unsweetened chocolate and whisk together until chocolate is melted.  Whisk in melted butter and oil.  (The mixture may look curdled, but will come together when the next things are added.)  Add the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth.  Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated.  Add flour and salt (and soda, if using) and combine using a rubber spatula.  Fold in until just combined.  Fold in chocolate, if using.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan and smooth evenly.  Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35-45 minutes.  (Mine took 41 minutes.)  As soon as they come out of the oven, prepare the fudge.

Fudge--

3 tablespoons (1  1/2 ounces) butter, room temperature

1 cup sweetened condensed milk (not quite the whole can, 1 cup is 328 grams)

2 cups dark/bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60%)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

When the brownies come out of the oven, combine the butter, condensed milk and chocolate chips in a medium sized saucepan.  Melt together over low heat (do not overheat the mixture) and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Pour the fudge over the hot brownies.

Let sit until room temperature, then chill the brownies in the refrigerator for an hour or two until set.  Remove brownies from pan using the foil edges to lift them out and peel off the foil.   Cut into desired size brownies, 24 or 32.  These are pretty rich, so smaller is good.  (I cut the edges of the brownies off all four sides and got 30—1  1/2 inch brownies.)

If you like fudge and you like brownies, you will love these Fudge Topped Brownies, there is almost an equal radio of fudge to brownie.  I will be trying just the brownie recipe without the baking soda (not sure it made much difference) in the near future and I think I’ll leave out the six ounces of chocolate that is stirred in at the end.  Pecans or walnuts would be great in the brownies or even on the top of the fudge layer before it sets.  I think those Cook’s Illustrated folks got this brownie just right, but it’s a lot more involved than my favorite brownie recipe, so I’m sure I won’t make it all the time as a go-to brownie, but it is great, fudgy, dense and dark chocolaty!

*These are being added to Lisa’s blog hop, Sweets For a Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies.

TWD—Baking With Julia—Popovers

Today’s Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking With Julia recipe for Popovers just might be the easiest recipe in the book!  I can’t believe I’ve never made popovers.  I think I always thought they were difficult.

Take some milk, a couple eggs, salt, flour and some melted butter and blend them in a blender for a minute.  Pour the batter into some custard cups (or muffin tins) and bake.  It’s fun to turn on the oven light (but DON’T open the oven door) and watch them pop up over the cup.  Even the boys got a kick out of it.  Taylor saw me pour the batter in to each cup and wasn’t thrilled that we were having that for part of our dinner.  But he was excited to see the risen popovers!

I don’t even have much more to say because it was so simple and they tasted great!

I have six 3/4 cup glass custard cups, as the recipe suggested, but it was supposed to be nine.  I was ready to put a little batter in some mini muffins cups, but after filling each custard cup with 1/3 of a cup, I was out of batter when only the six were filled.  I didn’t actually measure the 1/3 cup, just eyeballed it, so I’m sure that was why it was all used up.  No matter, six popovers were perfect for us.  Everybody ate one and followed suit with the suggest dripping butter and honey.

So simple.  If you’d like the recipe, our hosts this week are Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Amy from Bake With Amy.  They’ll have the recipes.  What would my life be like without Tuesdays With Dorie? ;)  Well, I can certainly say I have loved every minute of it and baking new recipes that I often would not have ever tried otherwise.  After finishing Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours, I was torn about sticking with the group and starting on Baking With Julia, but I’m really glad I’ve done so!

Fudgy Gooey Brownies—Secret Recipe Club, Group C—Operation Save-An-Orphan ;)

Get your fresh, hot, fudgy, gooey brownies!

When I hear that a blogger from the Secret Recipe Club is orphaned because the person who was assigned their blog didn’t make and post something from it on time, I am eager to help because I wouldn’t want to be orphaned.  One of the fun things about this monthly club is seeing something made from your blog that someone took the time to make.  It’s pretty simple to follow the instructions, (sign up, agree to make something from your assigned blog, and post it at the right time—and you have a month to do it), so I’m a little baffled why this seems to happen as much as it does.  We all have things happen that can’t be avoided, but I like stepping in, as it gives me more chances to make things from other blogs!  So I made something a couple weeks ago for Group A---Delicious Chocolate Turtle Ice Cream, because I’m actually IN Group A.  Last week it just worked out that I was able to make something for an orphaned blogger in Group B, and now I have another cookie in my arsenal of great cookies to keep making---German Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Wow, does anyone sense a trend here?  I think I like chocolate.  Who knew? ;) 

Today when I heard that the sweet Avanika from Yumsilicous Bakes was an orphan for Group C reveal,  I offered to adopt her.  I mean, really, this is a gal after my own chocolate-lovin’, decadent, baking heart.  Avanika is a great, young blogger from Bombay, India that I’ve “known” for a number of years.  She is currently living in the UK finishing up her studies.  (I thought she actually graduated, but she might be in a Master’s program.)  Help me out here, A. ;)

As soon as I offered to adopt Yumsilicous Bakes, I was accepted in for another round of “having” to make something yummy.  I mean, twist my arm.  I did a quick search of her blog, and since it was a last minute thing, decided to make these great looking Brownies For Fudgy Gooey Camp.  Being a fudgy, gooey brownie kind of gal, I knew these would be great and who can argue that brownies are so simple?!  Check out Avanika’s post from May celebrating her three years of blogging—she also lists some of her favorite recipes and posts from the past.  Look at that Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake that has been on my radar since she first posted it, not to mention her Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Truffle Cookies that she baked after seeing them on a blog---oh yes, that’s right---it was mine!  Ahh, her cookies look so good and I wish I could just whip those up again right now.  Thanks for the blog love over the last few years, Avanika!  The feeling is mutual.

And the brownies---fudgy and gooey as promised!

These brownies are great right out of the oven fresh and hot.  I decided not to let them cool before taking a slice for pictures.  As promised, these fit their name.  I think these would be perfect for a brownie sundae, you know, add to the goo with ice cream and toppings!  Now we’re talking. 

I only adapted the recipe slightly, as it says 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons flour and that it is 135 grams.  Knowing that 1 cup is 120 grams, I assumed that is a typo and should say 1 cup plus 1 tablespoons, so I used all the gram measurements for the recipe and it seems to have worked.  The recipe also calls for the optional extra chocolate chips and some walnuts, but I left those out as my family prefers plain ‘ol brownies.

*Note, after posting Avanika and I decided the flour should be 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon, which would be 67.5 grams, the correct amount is in the recipe.

Fudgy, Gooey Brownies, adapted from Avanika at Yumsilicious Bakes by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

10 ounces semi sweet chocolate

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter

1 cup (240 grams) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (67.5 grams) all purpose flour

1  1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9x13x2 inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray, leaving some to hang over the sides.

Melt the chocolates and butter in a double boiler (or microwave in 20-30 second intervals).  Once melted, allow to cool to room temperature.  In the meantime, combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium sized bowl.  Stir to combine with a wooden spoon.  Do not over mix.

Once the chocolate is cooled, add it to the egg mixture and stir to combine.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl.  Add to the chocolate mixture and stir just until combined.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.  Cool completely in the pan.

Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the foil edges.  Cut into desired sizes on a cutting board. 

Is there a better looking thing than melted chocolate?  I think not---and Avanika said the same thing.  Great minds think and bake alike.  ;) 

I probably would have taken them out a couple minutes sooner, but just set the timer for 35 minutes and took them out as soon as it rang.  They still came out great though!  Glad to help out with SRC Group C again, and bake something yumsilicious from Avanika’s blog.

Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse

Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse (Mousseline au Chocolat)

Today is Julia Child’s 100th birthday!  Love that woman--all that she was and all that she did for the culinary world or just people who love food.  (Who doesn’t love food?)

I decided to make one of her signature dishes and naturally chose a dessert and chocolate!  You can’t just “whip up” the chocolate mousse.   After reading through the recipe, I realized and decided this was the kind of recipe where “mise en place” really was necessary.  With two different pots of simmering water on the stove, a bowl of cold water, the stand mixer ready (and used twice during the making of the mousse), as well as having all the ingredients measured and ready, I was right on track for my first mousse making ever.

Mise en place for chocolate mousse

After beating the egg yolks and sugar in the mixer until a pale yellow color of slowly dissolving ribbons were formed, I added my replacement of Grand Marnier (we don’t drink or use alcohol) using 2 ounces of Torani chocolate flavoring syrup.  I then removed 1/2 teaspoon of that and added 1/2 teaspoon of pure orange extract.  I think it was a perfect non-alcoholic substitution.

The mixture was ready for its stint in a bowl over simmering water.  I whisked it for six minutes, also taking a quick-as-I-could break to quickly wash the mixer bowl and get it ready for egg whites. 

I moved the bowl from the heat to the cold water bath and kept on whisking.  All the while on the other side of the burners I added the chocolate to the double boiler and instead of coffee (we don’t use or drink coffee either) I just used water.  Whisking egg yolks and sugar in one bowl and stirring chocolate until it was melted in another.  Thank goodness for two hands! 

I removed the yolks from the water bath and let them sit for a few minutes while I stirred the butter in to the melted chocolate a little at a time.  That resulted in a wonderfully smooth and rich chocolate mixture!

Ahhh, heavenly!

The chocolate was then poured into the egg yolk mixture and whisked together in to the beginnings of a wonderful mousse. 

Somewhere during all that, I turned on the mixer with the waiting egg whites and a pinch of salt in it.  Thank goodness the mixer got to help out with a few things or my left arm might have fallen off. ;)

s, I

Looks like there’s gold in that thar mousse (bad lighting photo moment)!  The mousse was ready for a little chillin’ in the fridge.

I decided to take part of the mousse and freeze it, because one of the biggest reasons I settled on making the chocolate mousse in honor of the late and beloved Julia Child is having seen Angie at Big Bear's Wife's Frozen Chocolate Mousse, also made in tribute to Julia.

A few hours later, the mousse was ready for its photo session.  I’m not all about how fancy my photos look (yes, I’m sure you noticed), a couple scoops of frozen mousse, which scooped beautifully, were dished up and ready for the camera.

A couple things are for sure, the mousse is delicious and it’s super rich.  A little scoop will do ya.

I do love the way it froze and that it wasn’t too hard to scoop.  This is the kind of treat I love just having a spoonful of and I’m good on a chocolate fix for at least an hour. ;) hehe

Maybe I shoulda coulda fancied it up with some whipped cream, but I just thought it didn’t really need it.  If I was having company over for some mousse, I would have done so and it for sure needs a couple raspberries on the side—but having made it just for the experience of making the recipe, it wasn’t necessary.

Here’s the recipe as I made it--

Chocolate Mousse (non-alcoholic and coffee-free), adapted from Julia Child, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

4 large egg yolks

3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)

1/4 cup (2 ounces) Torani chocolate flavoring syrup, minus 1/2 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon pure orange extract

6 ounces semi sweet or dark chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60%)

4 tablespoons room temperature water

6 ounces (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 large egg whites

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 pot of simmering water

double boiler with about 1 inch of simmering water

1 bowl of cold water

In a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar together.  Mix until it is a pale yellow color and forms slowly dissolving ribbons.  Beat in the chocolate flavoring/orange extract mixture.  Put the egg yolk mixture into a bowl that fits over the simmering water.  Set the bowl over the simmering pot and whisk it vigorously for 5-7 minutes until it is foamy and hot.

Remove the bowl from the hot water and set it into the bowl of cold water.  Whisk it for five minutes until the mixture is cool.  Take a few seconds to quickly wash the mixing bowl and get it ready to whip the egg whites. 

In the double boiler, melt the chocolate with the 4 tablespoons of water.  Once it is all melted and combined, remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter a little at a time until it is smooth and creamy.

Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. 

Turn the mixer on and beat at high speed until soft peaks are formed, also adding the pinch of salt.  Sprinkle in the one tablespoon of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. 

Stir a little bit of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture.  Fold in the rest of the egg whites.  Refrigerate the mousse in a covered container in the fridge for a couple hours or you can also freeze the mousse in an airtight container for 3-4-5 hours.  Serve in small dishes.

I put the mousse into a piping bag with a large tip and piped it into the dishes.  No matter how you serve it, grab and spoon and dig in!  It may seem a little daunting to some to think of all the steps to making this, but it really did help to have everything ready and there really wasn’t anything difficult about each step, a few things just took a little arm muscle, but I can assure you, it’s worth it.

Happy 100th Birthday to Julia Child!

German Chocolate Chip Cookies—Secret Recipe Club, Group B

I was lucky enough to throw my hat into the pool when we were told at the Secret Recipe Club that Group B had a couple orphans (I’m in Group A and posted last week—delicious Chocolate Turtle Ice Cream, I must say).  So I got to choose and bake something from yet another great blog, that is new to me, but I’ll for sure be back--Crumbs and Chaos. 

After looking through the blog all too quickly (I'll be back!), so I could get something made today, I chose to make cookies.  I know, everyone is shocked about that.  ;)  A couple months ago or so I had German Chocolate Cookies on my mind.  Not sure what ever became of the thought, but I hadn’t tried any recipes.  When I saw that the gals at Crumbs and Chaos had a recipe, I decided that was the recipe I had to make.

I had to make a few adaptations.  Their cookies used milk chocolate chips and pecans, but I was out of both, so I used dark chocolate chips and walnuts.  These cookies are great!  I will for sure be making them again.

German Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Crumbs and Chaos

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup all purpose flour (120 grams)

1/4 cup natural cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dark chocolate chips (or milk/semi sweet)

1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (or pecans)

3/4 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together in the bowl of an electric mixer the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Whisk together.  Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture and mix just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips, nuts and coconut. 

Scoop the dough with a 2-tablespoon sized cookie scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets.   Bake for 10 minutes.  Makes 16 cookies.

The gals at Crumbs and Chaos are four sisters who decided that the 11 kids between them weren’t enough, so they also have a blog to add to the crumbs and chaos of their daily lives. ;)  Nah, they thought it would be a fun way to share their recipes with each other and the world.   Thanks for letting me play, Group B!

 

 

Brownie Batter Dip

A couple weeks ago I saw this delicious looking Brownie Batter Dip on Mel’s Kitchen Café and decided I needed to make it.  Love it!  I could eat it by the spoonsful, but it really is great with pretzels, animal crackers or graham crackers.  I didn’t try it, but it’d also be great with fresh fruit.  I also thought it would be a great sandwich cookie filling for whoopie pies or something.  In fact I tried it as a filling in some zucchini cookies I made this week.  I’m even thinking it would be a great topping for cupcakes. 

I made some minor adaptations to the recipe.

Brownie Batter Dip, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Café

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (or butter), softened

2 cups (220 grams) powdered sugar, sifted

5 tablespoons (37.5 grams) all purpose flour

5 tablespoons (25 grams) cocoa powder

2 tablespoons (27.5 grams) brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

**You might need a tablespoon or two of milk for the desired consistency, I didn’t use any

Pretzels, animal crackers, graham crackers, fruit

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the powdered sugar and beat until well combined.  Add the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar and vanilla.  Beat until fluffy and smooth.  Add milk a teaspoon at a time, beating together until desired consistency.   Serve with pretzels, crackers, etc. 

Do you like brownie batter?  This is the perfect solution from eating unbaked brownie batter (not that there is anything wrong with that). :)

**Disclaimer—no content or photos of this blog may be copied without permission from Katrina at Baking and Boys!