Monday, October 10, 2011

Coconut and Caramel Blondies

Coconut and Caramel Blondies - made October 6, 2011 from Chocolatier Magazine, July 1999 issue


It's fall, it was rainy last week and I'm ready for some "comfort baking".  And it seems like so are a lot of people as I see many cute Halloween treats popping up as well as the autumn flavors of pumpkin and apple.  I'll be getting to those too but one of my favorite flavors year round as well as reminding me of fall is actually caramel.  Maybe it's the color or the association with caramel apples which I also associate with Halloween and holidays.  I don't know why because to be honest, I've had maybe one caramel apple in my life.  I love apples and I love caramel but not together.  Except maybe in a caramel apple pie and that's only when the apples are tart enough to offset the sweetness from the caramel.  Otherwise my teeth just ache thinking about it.  In any case, when I made these coconut blondies and topped them with a layer of melted caramel, while it was dark and gloomy outside, that just made me feel like I was really ushering in my favorite season of the year.

It didn't hurt either that these were awesome blondies.  I normally don't like blondies as much as brownies as there are some that are too sweet or they dry out easily.  But I liked these because the coconut really gave them a nice texture and helped to keep the texture both moist and chewy.  The caramel layer on top was decadence itself.  Cut these pieces small as they can be rich.


Blondie batter
1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup cake flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups sweetened flaked coconut
¾ cup chopped walnuts

Caramel topping
16 vanilla-flavored caramels (5.2 ounces total weight)
2 tablespoons light cream
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1.     Make the blondies: Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Coat the inside of an 8” square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  The pan should be thoroughly coated, as the blondie batter tends to stick.  Set aside.
2.     Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon onto a sheet of waxed paper.
3.     Blend together the melted butter and dark brown sugar in a medium bowl.  Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
4.     Stir in the sifted mixture, blending until all the particles of flour are absorbed.  Stir in all the coconut and walnuts.  The batter will be thick and slightly glossy.
5.     Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan.  Spread the batter evenly in the pan.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until set.  Let the blondies stand in the pan on a cooling rack while you prepare the topping.
6.     Make the caramel topping: Place the caramels, cream, and nutmeg in a small heavy saucepan (preferably enameled cast iron).  Set over moderately low heat and cook slowly to dissolve the caramels, stirring from time to time.  When the caramels are completely dissolved (in about 8 minutes) and the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  The caramel mixture will be thick.
7.     Immediately spoon the warm caramel topping over the surface of the uncut blondies in wide, patchy drizzles.  Cool completely.  With a small, sharp knife, cut the entire “cake” into 4 quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 pieces.  Store the blondies in an airtight container.

Also linked to Everday Sisters blog

Button

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Almond Joy Brownies

Dark and Dusky Brownies (original name) - made October 1, 2011 from Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson


I defaulted to the same baking book again for the 4th brownie I made for last weekend's bake sale.  I didn't have much time and couldn't afford a "bad" recipe so I went with the same book I can always rely on for terrific recipes.  This one was meant to be a plain fudge brownie but had I left it as is, I think it still would've been a standout because of the different chocolates it, it really does make a (chocolate) impression.  I did add chopped up bars of Almond Joys to dress it up a little and it was fine but I think this would also meet your needs if you just want a nice, plain, fudgy-chocolate brownie.  Once again, use the good chocolate because you're definitely going to taste it.

1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons bleached cake flour
½ cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder (I used Pernigotti from Williams Sonoma)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
½ pound (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
4 large eggs
2 large eggs yolks
2 cups superfine sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  1. Preheat the oven to 325F.  Film the inside of a 10 x 10 x 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.  In a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 1 teaspoons of the sifted mixture.
  3. In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, melted unsweetened chocolate, and melted bittersweet chocolate until smooth.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks slowly until blended, about 15 seconds.  Add the sugar and whisk until combined, about 30 seconds.  Blend in the vanilla extract and melted butter-chocolate mixture.  Sift the flour mixture over and stir to form a batter, mixing thoroughly until the particles of flour are absorbed, using a whisk or flat wooden paddle.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
  4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
  5. Bake the brownies in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until set.  Let the brownies stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 2 hours.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  With a small, sharp knife, cut the sweet into quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 squares.  Remove the brownies from the baking pan, using a small, offset metal spatula.  Store in an airtight tin.
Bake and serve within 3 days



Button

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Toffee Pound Cake

Toffee Pound Cake - made October 1, 2011 from The Complete Book of Baking from Pillsbury (book #168)



This was the only non-brownie I made for the bake sale and that was for any non-chocolate lovers.  I love toffee and baking with toffee or brickle chips.  For people who like a little crunch in their baked goods but don't like nus (like me), toffee is a good alternative.  This cake was a pretty good pound cake with a nice texture that was also moist.  I didn't think it was particular toffee-tasting though.  It was more like a good vanilla pound cake with just a hint of toffee.  To bring out more of a toffee or butterscotch flavor, next time I'd try substituting dark brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar and adding mini butterscotch chips.  I omitted the glaze from the cake since I was packaging these for sale and didn't want a glaze to get too messy when unwrapping each individual slice.



Cake
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 (6-oz) package almond brickle baking chips

Glaze
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 3 tablespoons water

1.     Heat the oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt or 10-inch tube pan.  In large bowl, combine all cake ingredients except brickle chips at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minute at medium speed.  By hand, stir in brickle chips.  Pour batter into greased and floured pan.
2.     Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool upright in pan 10 minutes; invert onto serving plate.  Cool completely.
3.     In medium saucepan, beat 1/3 cup butter until light golden brown; remove from heat.  Blend in powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Add water until glaze is smooth and of drizzling consistency.  Immediately spoon over top of cooled cake, allowing some to run down sides.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Coconut Cream Cheese Brownies

Cookie-Crumbed Coconut Fudge Squares (original name) - made October 1, 2011 from Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson


If you like brownies and if you like chocolate, this book is a must have.  Run, don't walk, to get it.  Many of the recipes are very similar with only slight variations but they're pretty much all delicious.  Lisa Yockelson is to brownies what Rose Levy Berenbaum is to cakes.  Meaning complete expertise and unparalelled goodness.  Seriously.  Out of all my cookbooks, this is one of perhaps a dozen that I would never give up.  I have yet to make the same thing twice but I also have yet to make a bad recipe from it.

This particular brownie has an Oreo cookie crust and the chocolate brownie is meant to be swirled with a coconut cream cheese batter.  I didn't swirl the two very much because I didn't want to disturb the Oreo cookie layer underneath but also because I wanted the coconut cream cheese parts to stand out against the brownie.  I also put the mini chocolate chips into the cream cheese batter so they would also stand out there rather than blending in with the brownie batter. 

I almost don't have to say this turned out pretty well.  The brownie was fudgy, I liked the Oreo cookie crust, the cream cheese flavor wasn't overwhelming (I don't like cream cheese per se) and the coconut gave it a nice chewiness.  Again, I only had a taste test sliver since most of this was for the bake sale but it was a pretty darn good sliver.  As with all brownies, I lined the baking pan with foil and sprayed it with nonstick cooking spray so I could take the whole thing out intact when it was baked and cooled, I used "the good chocolate" and I baked only until I had moist crumbs in the toothpick test from the center of the brownie.


Chocolate Cookie Layer
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
1 ½ cups plus 3 tablespoons chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (such as crumbs made from Oreo cookies)

Cream Cheese and Coconut Topping
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut

Brownie batter
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.    Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Film the inside of a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2.   Mix, bake and cool the cookie layer: Pour the melted butter into the prepared pan.  Spoon the cookie crumbs evenly on the bottom of the pan and press down lightly with the underside of a small offset metal spatula so that the crumbs absorb the butter.  Bake the cookie layer in the preheated oven for 4 minutes.  Place the baking pan on a rack.  Cool for 10 minutes.
3.   Increase the oven temperature to 350˚F.
4.   Mix the topping: Using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl on moderately low speed until smooth.  Blend in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.  Stir in the coconut.
5.   Mix the batter: Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.  In a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with ½ teaspoon of the sifted mixture.
6.   In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter and melted chocolate until smooth.  In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk until blended, about 15 seconds.  Add the sugar and whisk until combined, about 30 seconds.  Blend in the vanilla extract and melted butter-chocolate mixture.  Sift the flour mixture over and stir to form a batter, mixing thoroughly until the particles of flour are absorbed, using a whisk or flat wooden paddle.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
7.   Spoon the batter in large dollops on the cookie crumb layer.  Carefully spread the batter over the cookie layer, using a flexible palette knife or spatula.
8.   Spoon the cream cheese and coconut topping on the top of the brownie batter.  Gently swirl together the cream cheese topping and brownie batter, using a round-edged table knife.  When swirling the two mixtures, move the knife gingerly so that it doesn’t touch (or dislodge) the cookie layer.
9.   Bake, cool and cut the squares: Bake the sweet in the preheated oven for 30 to 34 minutes, or until set.  Let the sweet stand in the pan on a cooling rack for 3 hours.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  With a small sharp knife, cut the sweet into quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 squares.
10.  Remove the squares from the baking pan, using a small offset metal spatula.
11.   Refrigerate all squares not served on baking day in an airtight container.

Bake and serve within 3 days

Monday, October 3, 2011

Macadamia Caramel Brownies

Mother Lode Brownies (original name) - made October 1, 2011 from Mrs. Fields' I Love Chocolate by Debbi Fields (book #167)


Last Saturday, I was in serious baking mode to make enough to contribute to the bake sale.  I had several people tell me they were planning on buying the Chilled Peanut Butter Brownies I posted earlier and I couldn't help thinking, "eep, should I tell them there's only 9 pieces of that one available?"  I could make more of those but I also can never resist trying out more recipes and making a variety of different types of brownies.

I had a lot to bake though so I cheated a bit with this recipe.  Instead of making the caramel from scratch, I melted some Kraft caramels with a little milk until it was the consistency I wanted (liquid but not too thinly liquid yet not too thick or else it'll be too chewy rather than creamy once you bite into it) and used that instead.  I also didn't wait for the brownie to cool, put the caramel and toppings on top and reheat it back in the oven.  I didn't want to risk the brownies drying out by a second baking, however brief, and I was also trying to maximize my baking time so I baked the brownies until they were (slightly under-)done then I poured the caramel over the hot brownie and sprinkled on the toppings.  You get the same result with less fuss.  I also didn't make the caramel layer from scratch because when I've done the sugar/water thing, the caramel always comes out too sweet, even for me.

I have to say I loved these brownies.  Out of all the things I made for the bake sale, this was probably my favorite and it was just as well I had to give all but a sliver (for the taste test) to the bake sale because I might've eaten more than what was good for me if I hadn't.  These were moist and fudgy without being overwhelming and I loved the caramel, macadamias and chocolate chips on top.  They provided great texture and flavor contrasts and complements to the brownie.

I'm happy to report that the bake sale was a huge success.  They raised over $7000 (that's right, $7K, that's not a typo).  I think it was probably the generosity of family and friends who contributed and got baked goods in return rather than they actually sold $7000 worth of baked goods but either way, those are phenomenal results.  My friend Robbie told me my contributions netted $300 which I also found amazing for 4 batches of brownies and a pound cake but I was glad I could help.  The sobering part is I don't think $7K makes much of a dent in what the family needs to cover the medical expenses but it's $7K more than they had to put towards the bills before and I'm sure other efforts will be ongoing.  Thanks to all those who contributed and made it possible.

The top view

Brownie Layer
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 ½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Caramel Layer
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup heavy cream, scalded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toppings
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
9 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 ½ cups)
6 ounces milk chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.
2. Make the brownie layer: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.
3. In a double boiler, melt the unsweetened chocolate and the semisweet chocolate with the butter. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar and eggs until lightened and pale in color. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the center is set but still moist and a bit fudgy. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
6. Prepare the caramel layer: In a small heavy saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then let boil without stirring until the syrup turns a deep amber. While the syrup is boiling, brush down the sides of the pan from time to time with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Remove the pan from the heat, then stir in the hot cream. Continue stirring, over low heat if necessary, until all of the caramel is dissolved into the cream. Stir in the butter until smooth. Set the caramel aside until it has cooled slightly but is still spreadable.
7. To assemble: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the caramel over the cooled brownie. Sprinkle the toppings – macadamia nuts, semisweet chips and chocolate chips – over the caramel layer and place the brownies in the oven for 5 minutes to set the topping (do not let the chips melt completely).
8. Set on a wire rack to cool, then cut into squares.



Saturday, October 1, 2011

Bake Sale Goodies

I'll blog each recipe separately in the next few days but I wanted to at least put up pictures of what I made for the bake sale tomorrow.  In case any locals in the Bay Area want to stop by, here's a sample of what'll be available for sale.  Remember it's for a good cause, to help a family in need after a horrific accident took the lives of the parents and injured their children.  The bake sale will be held at the Starbucks on Main Street in Los Altos, CA, starting at 9:30 am tomorrow, Sunday, October 2.  In addition to the Chilled Peanut Butter Brownies, I also made:

Macadamia Caramel Brownies

Coconut Cream Cheese Brownies with Oreo crust

Toffee Pound Cake

Almond Joy Brownies

My friend Robbie also gave me this sample of what her daughter Molly, also another baker, is baking for the bake sale - super cute, don't miss out!


They Won!!!! And the giveaway winners are.....

Thanks to everyone who voted for Trey's Field of Dreams - they came in 2nd place and won the $50K grant!!! This is such great news and I know Trey's family is thrilled to get that much closer in their efforts to build a park in his memory where other children can play and be safe.

And the giveaway winners are Cindy B in 1st place and Trina in 2nd place.  Although you're the only two who posted comments to let me know you voted, I did have a couple of other entries from people who emailed me personally and/or who weren't able to comment on my blog for some reason (there are times when blogger doesn't even allow me to comment on my own blog!).  But you ladies won the draw.  (Sorry for the slight delay in posting the results but I had to wait for a friend to come over to do the drawing this morning.)  Please email me your address at pastrychef17@gmail.com along with which books you want - Cindy gets first pick of 2 books and Trina gets her pick of 1 book after Cindy has chosen.  And thanks again for voting and spreading the word - every vote counts and you made a difference.  Thank you!