tarte fine

09/28/2010 By

My boss and I both teach a course at the local community college, in addition to our day job. It keeps us busy. Yesterday he said that he’s considered taking semesters off from teaching, but then he wonders what he would do with the extra time.

I’m taking next semester off, and I can tell you all sorts of things I’m going to do with that time. I’m going to work out more. I’m going to brew beer. I’m going to pay attention to my husband in the evenings. I’m going to keep in closer touch with my friends. I’m going to make petits fours again. I’m going to go to bed earlier and buy birthday presents on time and keep my house cleaner. (Okay probably none of that last stuff will happen, because I’ll be too busy making petits fours and brewing beer.)

Until then, thank goodness for easy apple tarts that can be made after a Sunday evening faculty meeting; whose flaky crust and softened apples make for a just reward for going to a work meeting on the weekend, while softening the blow of another rushed week ahead.

Leslie chose this tart for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted. In between grading exams and writing blog entries on Sunday, I managed to make my own puff pastry. I’d forgotten how easy it is.

One year ago:  Flaky Apple Turnovers
Two years ago: Crème Brulée

Filed Under: dessert, fall, french, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

coffee break muffins

09/21/2010 By

I wasn’t in the mood for these the day I made them. What I was in the mood for was the Chocolate Chunk Muffins a couple pages later. If you’ve flipped through Dorie’s book, you must have seen the ones I’m talking about – dark, rich muffins studded with big chunks of bittersweet chocolate. They’re not breakfast, but I bet they’re delicious.

They are, however, not this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. This week’s recipe is espresso muffins. But I got to thinking about how coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate and wondered if the reverse were true. Could I add just a bit of chocolate to give these another flavor dimension?

I replaced a quarter of the flour with cocoa powder, and, to just a few of the muffins, stirred in some chopped semisweet chocolate. And I was surprised that these ended up tasting just how I’d imagined the double chocolate muffins I’d been craving in the first place. The espresso flavor was timid, hiding behind the dominant chocolate. More chocolate flavor isn’t going to get any arguments from me, but now I’m curious about how the non-chocolate, pure espresso version would be. Next time I’ll have to try harder to resist my urge to eat chocolate for breakfast.

Rhiani chose these muffins, and she has the recipe posted. I replaced ½ cup of the flour with cocoa and added a few chocolate chips.

One year ago: Flaky Apple Turnovers
Two years ago: Dimply Plum Cake

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, chocolate, quick bread, tuesdays with dorie

peach upside-downer

09/14/2010 By

I’ve struggled with September the last few years. I’m never ready to give up summer, but I can’t deny the signs of impending fall either. Tomatoes are just starting to come into their own in September, and there are still peaches, although the berries are gone and you can’t depend on corn anymore.

Down here in the desert, you actually can deny the signs of fall in September. Our high temperatures are still in the 90s. I won’t be making chili and cornbread for a while yet, and I certainly don’t think I’ll be able to find cranberries. The peaches, however, are ripe and fragrant.

You know what makes good peaches better? Cake. Especially cake with a little bit of cinnamon and whole lot of butter. This was good with late summer peaches, and, I think for once, I’m looking forward to the fall version of something, in this case with cranberries, even more.

Sabrina chose this for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted. You’ll need about two peaches, peeled and pitted, to replace the cranberries. Dorie recommends skipping the nuts for the peach version, but I enjoyed a few sliced almonds. Peaches are sweeter than cranberries; I recommend reducing the sugar in the glaze to 4 tablespoons if you make this substitution.

One year ago: Flaky Apple Turnovers
Two years ago: Chocolate Chunkers

Filed Under: cake, dessert, fruit, summer, tuesdays with dorie

peanut butter crisscrosses

09/07/2010 By

I have a bad habit of losing touch with friends before I get their best recipes from them. I never asked my Spanish/Puerto Rican friend for the basics of his paella, and when I asked him how he makes his rice and beans, he beat around the bush about how I’d never be able to find the right ingredients in the US.

My college roommate made the most amazing peanut butter cookies. I didn’t know I was a fan of peanut butter cookies until hers, and I haven’t been a fan of peanut butter cookies since. But I could never get enough of those.

I’ve been simultaneously keeping an eye out for another perfect peanut butter cookie recipe and afraid to try any because they might not live up to my memory. But I’ve heard nothing but good reviews of Dorie’s recipe.  My friend’s cookies didn’t have mix-ins in them, so I left out the peanuts Dorie suggests, and I underbaked the cookies to get the soft texture I love.

Pretty darn close. Nothing tastes as good as a memory, but soft, sweet peanut butter cookies can come pretty darn close. Jasmine has the recipe posted since she chose these for Tuesdays with Dorie. I left out the salted peanuts and increased the salt to 1 teaspoon.

One year ago: Chocolate Soufflé
Two years ago: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, nuts, tuesdays with dorie

espresso chocolate shortbread

08/31/2010 By

Oh, coffee. I love it. I love how the bitterness offsets anything sweet, especially a scone or the foamed milk of a cappuccino. I love how, because I only drink it on weekends, it’s always a treat. I love that little buzz that makes me feel like life is the most awesome awesomeness of awesome ever.

I do not like when that buzz goes too far, so that my thoughts are too scrambled to go beyond Bzzzzt. I do not like when it irritates my stomach. I do not like lying awake at night regretting the mug I drank ten hours ago.

Coffee and I, we have a complicated relationship. I like it, but I have to be very, very careful with it. Which, come to think of it, is how I feel about dessert too. These crisp-tender distinctively coffee-flavored cookies were no exception, although in this case, I had even more reason to try to resist.  No one wants to be up all night because they ate cookies after dinner!

Donna chose these cookies for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies
Two years ago: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert, tuesdays with dorie

crunchy and custardy peach tart

08/24/2010 By

It’s hot.  Usually at this time of year, I’m glaring at everyone who is eating chili and baking pumpkin treats and looking forward to fall, wondering how anyone could possibly want to move on from the sunny days of summer.  But now it’s too hot, and I just want a few days where the high temperatures are below 90 degrees.  Below 90…that’s all I ask.

On the other hand, I’m not ready to give up summer food!  I haven’t had anywhere near my fill of stone fruits, berries, and tomatoes.  I’m lucky that Rachel’s choice for Tuesdays with Dorie this week gave me a chance to use peaches.  You can’t go wrong with a good summer peach.

In this case, those summer peaches were sliced, spread over tart dough, covered in rich custard, and dotted with streusel.  All of those extra textures and flavors just enhanced the perfection of the peaches.  Unfortunately, it involved an hour and a half of oven time.  Delicious though it was, perhaps I wouldn’t need yet another cooling shower right now if we’d eaten the peaches plain…

Rachel has this recipe posted on her blog.  I think I undercooked mine.  It was still very juicy, and the streusel wasn’t browned.  On the other hand, the tart crust was getting too dark, and the custard seemed curdled.  I don’t know the answer, although perhaps one isn’t necessary, as we certainly weren’t complaining about the tart as it was.

One year ago: Lime Cream Meringue Pie
Two years ago: Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte

Filed Under: custard, dessert, fruit, nuts, pie, summer, tuesdays with dorie

oatmeal breakfast bread

08/17/2010 By

I finally admitted defeat this weekend. For the first time this year, I bought bread. I also bought pre-chopped vegetables, hummus, and pre-washed lettuce. Why do I force myself to do all these things from scratch? Preparing my snacks and lunches for the work week has been seriously cutting into my favorite Sunday activity (sitting outside with a margarita and a book, of course). The only things I’m still making from scratch are hard-boiled eggs and muffins for Dave.

I’m lucky that so far the quick bread chapter in the Tuesdays with Dorie cookbook has been seriously overlooked, so I can double task lunch prep and TWD. (The celebration cake chapter is DONE, which, for me, is cause for celebration.) It also helps that muffins are so easy and bake quickly.

These are a perfect example of why I can’t bring myself to buy muffins. These aren’t perfectly healthy, but they’re certainly better for you than anything storebought – not to mention how sweet and tender and soft they are as well. I’m definitely willing to sacrifice a bit of Sunday margarita time to make muffins like this.

Natalie chose this recipe, and she has it posted on her site. I used raisins for the dried fruit, but these were so perfectly spiced for fall that I wish I’d used dried apples instead.

One year ago: Applesauce Spice Bars
Two years ago: Granola Grabbers

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, fall, fruit, nuts, quick bread, tuesdays with dorie, whole grains

chocolate ganache ice cream

08/10/2010 By

I was doubting Dorie when I mixed up the custard for this ice cream. It’s made like any other custard-based ice cream, so I would have sworn that Dorie threw “ganache” in the title just to make it sound fancier and more decadent, when in fact it was just standard chocolate ice cream.

Oh, how wonderfully wrong I was. After the custard had chilled, I found that it had a texture similar to ganache, not like a looser regular ice cream base. So thick and smooth and rich, I was afraid that there was no improving on this, and that churning it into ice cream would just ruin that delicious texture.

Not only did it not diminish its luscious texture, but  when you churn custard into ice cream, you mix in air, giving you more volume. That means more ganache custard. And that is very, very good thing.

Katrina chose this recipe for the group, and she has it posted. I added some vanilla to the custard right before chilling.

One year ago: Brownie Buttons
Two years ago: Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Filed Under: chocolate, custard, dessert, gluten free, tuesdays with dorie

gingered carrot cookies

08/03/2010 By

I was complaining to my sister about these cookies, all, wwahhh! I don’t like carrot desserts! when she told me that her husband had made carrot-raisins-nut-coconut muffins that day, and her 4-year-old refused to eat them. “I don’t like the carrot muffins”, he claimed.

Great, I have the tastes of a 4-year-old.

On the other hand, cookies than contain vegetables are clearly acceptable for breakfast and thus the perfect detour from my no-dessert-before-beach-trip rule. And judging by how many of these I ate, I do not, in fact, have the tastes of a four-year-old. I’m not sold on carrot cake, but carrot cookies, apparently, I can do.

Natalia chose these for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Banana Bundt Cake
 Two years ago: Black and White Banana Loaf

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fruit, nuts, tuesdays with dorie, vegetables

chewy, chunky blondies

07/27/2010 By

I’m putting myself on a diet. And by diet, I do mean a change in my eating habits that I have no intention of making permanent. Beach Trip is in two weeks, and it’s time to buckle down. My normal eating and exercise habits keep me healthy and slim enough to feel good most of the time. But most of the time, I’m not wearing a bathing suit.

So, for two weeks, I’m eliminating dessert. Sigh. At least Tuesdays with Dorie gives me a bit of an escape clause. I’m required to bake for this group, right? And while I can give the treats away, I am most definitely not going to give away something I haven’t tried myself.

And so I did eat one square of blondie. One little square. One teeny, tiny square. And that one square of thick, chewy, peanut buttery, chocolately cookie will have to hold me over until next week’s TWD recipe. Beach Trip can’t get here soon enough.

Nicole chose this, and she has the recipe posted. For the mix-ins, I used 1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips, 1½ cups (8 ounces) miniature peanut butter cups, and 1 cup (5 ounces) peanuts. I also decreased the brown sugar from 1½ cups to 1 cup and used salted instead of unsalted butter.

One year ago: Dorie’s Vanilla Ice Cream
Two years ago: Summer Fruit Galette

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, dessert, tuesdays with dorie
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