Death by Chocolate

Sour Cream Brownies

Adapted from Piece of Cake Blog

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons premium cocoa powder (I love Valrhona)
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into pieces (chocolate chips work fine, I like Ghiradelli)
1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup dry cranberries

Set an oven rack to the center position and preheat the to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil, and spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Allow it to bubble for about 10 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute or two, and then whisk until smooth. Let cool for a minute while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream, salt and vanilla until well-blended. Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the flour and cocoa mixture just until it dissappears into the batter. Add dry cherries and mix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the until the brownies just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 30 minutes.

Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a rack before cutting into squares.

Macarons: First Experience - Advise Needed!!!

It was challenging! I always wanted to try them, but was pretty scared. So decided to make only few. Took one egg, separated white part and kept it at room temperature from morning to evening. As advised by most of the articles - eggs should be aged minimum 4 days. Mine were in the fridge for 5 days after purchase and the last day at room temperature. Another essential rule - all ingredients should be precisely weighted. One more, helpful (but nor essential) is that any coloring should be only powdered substance - i used Green Tea "Matcha".

Ingredients:

38 g. egg white (from one large)

42 g. powdered almonds

76 g. powdered sugar

19 g. granulated sugar

some Matcha for color

Method:

1. Combine ground almonds and powdered sugar in food processor and sift through a fine sieve.

Some articles advices to put this mixture on the baking sheet and dry in the oven for 5 minutes. I did not do this. Added Matcha to the mixture.

2. Beat egg whites in clean dry bowl, until they hold soft peak.

3. Slowly add granulated sugar and beat until mixture is glossy and holds stiff peaks.

To check: turn bowl upside down - they should not move.

4. Add one third of almond mixture and fold gently with spatula to combine.

5. Add remaining almonds and sugar to meringue in two steps. Do not overfold, but fully incorporate all ingredients.

6. Spoon the mixture into the pastry bag with plain half-inch tip.

Alternatively you can use a plastic bag.

7. Pipe one-inch mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with baking paper.

Once piped, bang the sheet down on a counter top to flatten any mounds and bring up air bubbles.

8. Leave unbaked macarons out to dry for 1 hour.

We have a high humidity level in Dubai, so i opened an oven door and placed macarons on the rack on the door.It took half an hour. To check if macarons are dry enough - touch their top with a finger tip - if it is no longer sticky - then they are dry enough.

9. Bake macarons for 20-22 minutes in preheated to 140C oven.

Here I faced a challenge - my oven is not maintaining static temperature and i had to run around for a while to adjust the temperature every once in a while. I guess it effected final result :-(

10. Cool on rack before removing from the baking paper, 15 minutes or so.

To remove easier - sprinkle some cold water under baking paper. Do not keep them for a long on the baking sheet - in other wise they will become soggy.

11. Let cool completely and keep in air tied container in the fridge or fill with any cream.

Hence i made only few as a tester party - i did not trouble myself with making a filling - just put some ready bought lemon curd.

Resolution: Even though macarons did not crack and they had a beautiful shape and even developed their famous "belt", they were not quite alright - the batter inside the macaron was pretty wet (kind of unbaked), so if there is anyone out there knows why, please do let me know :-(

I do not give up and next experience to follow.

Pumpkin Bread

Winter started in Dubai finally. Raining a lot. This pumpkin bread is perfect winter dessert bread, the recipe is very easy and you can add anything to it! I made 2 loafs: one with dried cranberry and another with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

(makes 2 loafs)

3 cups all-purpose flour (can be substituted to whole wheat flour)

2 cups sugar (i substituted one of them to brown sugar)

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs A grade

2/3 canola oil

1 can of Libby Pumpkin Puree (without spices)

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 cup of dried cranberries

Method:

1. Mix together all ingredients, add pumpkin puree, eggs and oil.

2. Separate dough in two equal parts. Add cranberry to one and chips to another. Mix well.

3. Bake in preheated to 350 F (180C) oven for 45 min to 1 hour. Do not over bake! It has very delicate slightly moisture texture.

Happy Halloween to All!!!!!!

Happy Halloween to All! Community is full of tutorials and recipes fro decorated sugar cookies. I went for the simple one - spider net! In original recipe was used cocoa powder to color frosting. I used some gel food coloring, and made it green. I took this cookies to work and our company's official colors are black, green and white. So ended up being a "Branded" Halloween Cookies! Original recipe and tutorial on Zoom Yummy

Ingredients for sugar Cookies (2 dozens):

3 1/2 cups (460 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 larger eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the royal icing you need:

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer.

4. Beat until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes).

5. Add the eggs and vanilla extract…

6. … and beat until combined.

7. Add the flour and salt and beat until you have smooth dough.

8. Place the dough on a floured surface and form a ball.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

9. While you are waiting for the dough to chill, you can prepare the royal icing.

Beat the egg whites with lemon juice.

Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until combined and smooth (soft peaks should form).

And while we need two colors for the cobweb design (brown and white) we need to divide the mixture now.

So divide the mixture into 2 parts – 3/4 (add the cocoa powder little by little into this part until you achieve the wished color) and 1/4 (remains white).

Keep the brown and the white mixture in airtight containers as royal icing hardens when exposed to air.

10. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge.

On a lightly floured surface roll out to the thickness of 1/4 inch (0,6 cm).

Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure it does not stick to the counter.

Using a lightly floured round cookie cutter cut out the shapes and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

11. Remove from the oven and let cool.

12. Decorate as desired with prepared icing.

Apple Pie

Sometimes regular short crust dough getting very boring in the pies. We have one nice french bakery in Dubai and i just love their pie crust. It is incredibly light and has a soft crunch to it.

This crust is just exactly what i was looking for! It is easy to make, has very little butter and gets this amazing crunch when baked. By the way one more detail - the crust doe not need to be pre-baked! And pie comes out just fine. If the pie is still not done in the middle, but slightly overly baked on the sides - just cover sides with foil and continue baking till the middle part is firm.

This recipe is adopted from Bon Vivant and will become my favorite crust recipe. I just added some almond flakes on top, all the rest is exactly like in the original recipe.

Apple Tart
Makes enough for one 10-inch tart or about four 4-inch tartlets (i made in 9 inch form)

Pâte Brisée
5 ounces/ 140 grams all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
2 ounces/ 55 grams margarine or butter, cut into cubes
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
pinch of salt
¼ cup water, very cold

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast and salt. Add the margarine cubes then, using your fingers, quickly rub them into the flour until each cube is completely covered with flour.

Make a well in the flour, then drizzle the water and use a fork to mix the liquid with the dry ingredients. Using your hands, work the dough to fully absorb the liquid until you get a texture that’s firm but pliable and not sticky. Add more water (if the dough is too crumbly) or more flour (if the dough is too wet) to achieve this consistency.

Shape the dough into a ball, then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap for at least 45 minutes before assembling the tart. At this stage, the dough can be kept tightly covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To assemble:

3 medium apples, halved, cored and thinly sliced (2, if you’re making tartlets and I recommend slicing them with a mandolin at its thinnest setting)
½ ounce/ 15 grams vanilla sugar or ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
3½ ounces/ 100 grams granulated sugar plus a pinch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon corn starch
3 large eggs
3/4 cup/ 200ml heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 400F/ 200C and grease the pan to be used.

Combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch and vanilla sugar or vanilla extract in a bowl, then whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the whipping cream and whisk until the mixture is a pale yellow. Set aside.

After 45 minutes, remove the dough from the refrigerator and flatten it on a floured surface with both hands. With a well-floured rolling pin, roll out the dough, flipping it after 2 to 3 strokes of the rolling pin while keeping it well-floured.

When the dough’s just about a millimeter thick, transfer it to the buttered tart pan by draping it over the rolling pin, then unfolding it on the tart pan. Use your fingers to gently press the dough into the pan’s corners. If you’re making tartlets, use a 6-inch cutter to cut out the crusts then gently press it into the tartlet molds. Remove any excess dough by either rolling the pin over the tart pan or snipping it off with a scissors.

You’re likely to have leftover dough at this point – we like to roll it up into a ball and bake it alongside the tart in the oven for a crisp, tasty dough to savor. It’s also a helpful indicator to tell when the crust is done.

Arrange the apple slices in a circle starting at the edge of the pan and work your way in until all the apples are assembled and the pan is full. If you’re making tartlets, layer the apple slices in a fashion that suits your fancy until it reaches the top of the mold. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar and the cinnamon over the apples, then pour the egg/whipping cream mixture into the pan.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. The tart is ready when its surface has caramelized and turns a golden brown. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. The tart is best eaten on the day it’s made.

Once again Million Thanks to Bon Vivant for such great recipe and step-bys-step recipe!