Alpha Bakers - Fudgy Pudgy Brownie Tart

I spend my days with toddlers, but I've never been a fan of cute for cutesy's sake, and so it must be registered that I object to the name of this confection. From this time forward, in order to allow me to continue typing, it will be referred to as simply the Brownie Tart.
 
With this one, what you see is pretty much what you get--a gooey brownie (unsweetened chocolate, dark chocolate (I ran out of unsweetened), white chocolate, cocoa, and cacao nibs) in a chocolate pate sucre (cookie) crust. Overkill, in my opinion, but much appreciated at work. I think that one of the nicest things about a brownie is that you get a lot of bang for very little work, and you don't have to make a fancy multi-step crust. If you're going to make tart crust (not that it's hard, but still), why not put something tart-specific, like lemon curd or raspberries and pastry cream, in it? Still, who am I to deny the chocolate fiends their fix?
 

A few notes on the process: As mentioned above, I ran out of unsweetened chocolate so I subbed in a bit of dark chocolate, which I'm sure sweetened the pot but not disastrously. Instead of the suggested walnuts, I used a generous handful of cacao nibs. Like many brownies, I baked it to the gooey side of fully cooked, and was happy with that choice.

 

 

As you can see, the light in my kitchen and the light in my breakroom are worlds apart, but I include the reddish photo in order to brag about my new gigantic stove! Center burner!

Alpha Bakers -- Double Chocolate Oriolos

Lovely chocolate wafers. Like many of the best buttery cookies, these 'Oriolos' are made in the food processor, so although the small size of that appliance limits the size of the batch. I mixed this half batch up with almonds and cacao nibs replacing toasted walnuts (I had imprudently used all my toasted walnuts in some zucchini bread just hours earlier), and let the dough mellow in the refrigerator for 48 hours. I chose to roll them out on a very humid 81 degree day, so the final cookies squashed a bit flatter than I'd intended--next time I'll make sure they have more heft. The results were pleasing, though, if fragile.

Also, I did make, though don't plan on posting about, the BlueRhu pie from a few weeks ago. It was excellent, but more and more I think doing anything with rhubarb beyond roasting it (even pie!) is a waste.

Happy Birthday, JB

Photo by Avi Glickstein.

In Julie & Julia, Julie Powell describes her friend Isabel's wedding cake as 'vertiginously sloppy,' a description I think is very apt to this cake (and most cakes I make). JB's birthday cake (and Rob's before hers) was a pretty straight rendition of this cake. It's stupidly easy to make, especially the addictive peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and usually garners hyperbolic response. I highly recommend it.

Photo by Avi Glickstein.

Photo by Avi Glickstein.

Making My Own Snow

Not to mention it, but it's been warm around here. The daffodils are blooming, and New York was wandering around coatless yesterday. The wind was at proper strength, and the windows were open. It's Purim, the season of dressing as your opposite number, and getting so drunk that you can't tell the difference any which way between you and your worst enemy.

I know a little about topsy-turveydom at my house right now, as the wind sweeps through and blows the dust around. But the task at hand was anything but chaotic, in fact, these marshmallows were the simplest specimens of their kind that I've ever made. As I sifted the potato-starch-and-confectioners-sugar coating over them, I felt the quiet satisfaction of the snow globe, the mastering of my tiny universe.

Quirk Books sent me over a copy of Marshmallow Madness, by Shauna Sever, to review over a month ago (thanks). Last night, in a bit of a haze, I finally tried it out. The book is essentially a series of flavor variations on one or two basic recipes. Unlike some marshmallow recipes, there are no egg whites, and the base recipe relies almost entirely on sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin. For my 'mallows, I adapted Sever's maple-bacon recipe. Lacking bacon, I substituted cacao nibs for a more austere crunch.

The photo above is one of the first from my new iphone (yay), and while it obviously has room for improvement, I'm very excited to have my own photo apparatus again instead of relying on others for my documentation.

I love marshmallows, but even I found myself a little daunted by possession of a whole tin of home made (and thus more perishable) ones. I feel like, on the whole, this is less of a baking project for a casual Thursday night, and more one for when you have to impress someone or amuse a child (or impress an amused child). I will, however, be making cocoa tonight.

Maple Bacon Marshmallows

from Marshmallow Madness

makes about 2 dozen 1 1/2 inch marshmallows

4 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup Grade A dark or Grade B maple syrup

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped candied bacon*

1/2 cup Classic Coating**

(Before anything, check all your equipment, especially your candy thermometer, and make the Candied Bacon and the Classic Coating.  Then you can get started.)

Lightly coat an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together the gelatin and cold water in a bowl and let soften.

Stir together the sugar, ample syrup, corn syrup, water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until it hits 240 degrees F.  (Be prepared to lower the heat as need -- this syrup has a tendency to bubble up.) Microwave the gelatin on high until completely melted, about 30 seconds.  Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Set the mixer to low and keep it running till you're ready to add the syrup.

When the syrup has reached 240 degrees F., slowly pour it into the mixer bowl.  Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes.  Increase to medium high and beat for 3 more minutes.  Add the cinnamon, increase to the highest speed. and beat for 1 minute more.  Quickly fold in the bacon bits.  Pour into the prepared pan.  Sift coating over top.  Let it set in a cool dry place for 6 hours.  

Use a knife to loosed the marshmallow from the edges of the pan.  Invert the slab onto a work surface. Cut into piece and dust again with more coating. Eat 'em up!

*To make candied bacon, lay 6 or 7 slices on a wire rack set over a sheet pan lined with foil.  Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.  Rub over both sides of bacon.  Bake at 350 degrees F until deeply caramelized, 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool before chopping into bits.

**Classic Coating: Sift 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar with 1 cup corn or potato starch.  (Store extra tightly covered.)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Truffle Tart

I resisted this tart from beginning to end. Brownies are good, tarts are great, brownies in a tart shell, eh. I love chocolate but desserts that just taste of chocolate and sweet are not my favorite. Too sweet, too one-note, just too...eh. The chocolate tart crust was great, and I'm thinking of filling a small tart with the remainder and some passion curd. The original recipe resembled a riff on Rocky Road, with white chocolate and cookies and chocolate scattered into the brownie mix. I threw in some white chocolate chunks, grape-nuts (why not, I'm from New England), and cacao nibs, which almost always get mistaken for nuts at my office.

Next up, rugelach, which I can pretty much guarantee that I'll prefer.

Heavenly Cake Bakers: Barcelona Brownie Buttons

My parents are debating a long-planned trip to Europe. They had been strongly considering Barcelona, but a friend recently informed them that it was a 'second tier' European city, and recommended they go to Rome. Not that Rome doesn't sound great, but I don't think Barcelona deserves the slur.

These particular brownies probably can't prove that point, though, as their name is somewhat incidental--they were created for an event there. I'm not a giant brownie person, and when I am, I actually like the inside pieces, the kind you cut. However, these were perfectly nice, with hazelnuts and cacao nibs in them.

They also took about 20 seconds to make. Glad to cross them off the list, probably won't make them again...but I'm possibly no judge, as I think Ghirardelli box brownies are spectacular.

On an unrelated note, Matt is now in Hamburg, and has gotten himself some puffed spelt cakes called Dinkel Poppers. DINKEL POPPERS. Thank you, German language, for being you.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

Cupcakes are all very nice, but this is really the sort of cake that we like best in my house--moist, bundty, and filled with fruit and nuts (and cacao nibs). I used frozen red currants, almonds, walnuts, and a handful of my new cacao nibs, which are going to go into everything until they're gone, I have 2lbs.

I read an article in The New Yorker yesterday about Pixar, and what a fun work environment it is there, how obsessive it all is, and how much they all love their jobs. I expected some kind of bitter pill at the end, but clearly the journalist had given in and happily drunk the Kool-Aid. It reminded me a bit of watching the hours of special features on the extended Lord of the Rings DVDs. Before you ask, I've actually done this more than once, and not just because I'm a giant geek, which I am, but because it just gives me such a thrill to see hundreds of people going on and on about how much they love their work. In a certain mood, similar to the one I'm in now, it's been known to make me weep. I'm holding my breath on the job scene right now, and it's taking a lot out of me, but it's useful to remember how much joy some people get out of working, and remember that I must find a way to get that joy. For now, I just admire my elegant bundts.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Marble Loaf Cake

Tuesdays with Dorie this week was classic bake sale fare--marble loaf cake. I went simple, chocolate and vanilla, with some cacao nibs thrown into the chocolate part to add a bit of fruitiness. Not subtle, not fancy, but sweet.