A bit of flour

I’ve tweaked the cookie recipe again. And I’m extremely pleased with it now.

As I was working with it, I thought the melted chocolate was too much trouble and that I should just omit it. But I discovered that warming the chocolate in the microwave worked just as well as warming it on the stove and it only took a few moments. Of course the chocolate had to be watched very closely, but again it only took about 30 seconds, with me stirring every 5-10 seconds.

Chocolate cookies

½ cup butter flavored crisco

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 oz melted chocolate

1½ cups flour

 ½ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

First I beat the crisco and sugar, at the medium setting, for about a minute. Then I added the rest of the ingredients and beat until everything was incorporated.

When the cookie dough was done, I put it into an oiled ziplock bag. Then I removed as much air as possible, and proceeded to roll the dough into a log. Once logged, the dough went into the freezer, while I cleaned up.

After I was done, the dough came out. It was stiffer and easier to cut. I placed the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baked them for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. They cooled for 5 minutes.

How did they taste?

Terrific!

They were soft but not too soft. They were rich and delicious and they sort of melted in my mouth. They were extremely chocolaty, having both melted chocolate and cocoa powder. I did choose to leave out the chocolate chunks called for in the original recipe, but they certainly could have been left in to deliver a triple chocolate whammy. Come to think of it, nuts would’ve been great too.

 Suffice it to say, they were very very good.

ps Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday

Posted on October 25th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

I was just about to make the chocolate chocolate chip cookies when I decided to give Martha Stewart’s milk chocolate cookies another chance.

That picture looked so good.

But I didn’t want to make three dozen cookies. I only wanted to make a few in case the problem really was recipe related.

        I used a conversion calculator to scale things down. This time I only made enough batter for about 6 cookies. Even then though, I had decided not to put all of my hope in one cookie basket.

        I resolved to make another scaled down batch. This one for tweaking. Not much, just one or two changes. Like melting the chocolate by itself and using butter flavored Crisco instead of butter and adding a little water because the batter looked a bit dry.

Small changes.

They both baked at 325 degrees for 10 minutes and cooled for 5.

The first set, the original recipe, were not like the cookies I’d made a few days ago. They were good. Not at all crunchy.

        The second batch was also good. Very soft, very fudgey.

Which was better?

I have to be honest and confess that my palette is not yet sophisticated enough to be able to tell the difference. I know which version I’ll be making in the future but other than that, I think they are both good.

I have to say I sure am glad I gave the recipe another chance.

Posted on October 24th, 2008 under Desserts. Comments: None

I’m going slowly as I continue my hunt for the perfect yellow cake.

For now, I’m turning from cakes to cookies. Chocolate cookies to be exact. I’ve tried the world peace cookies and I love them, but only when they are very thin and soft.

What I would like, is a chocolate cookie that can stand beside a chocolate chip cookie and hold its own.

I recently tried a contender from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.

As I was getting the ingredients mis en place, I kept rechecking the recipe and thinking “1 ½  cups? That’s an awful lot of sugar. Am I reading that right?”  

The recipe also had me working with melted butter. A technique, you may recall, that I am not yet comfortable with.

After mixing it all up, I baked two batches and froze the third. First batch was baked for 15 minutes. Second batch, for 11.

The first batch came out a bit more crackled on top than I like, and it was too crunchy. That’s why the second batch had a shorter baking time.

The second batch were smoother on top, but they still had a bit of crunch on the outside. The inside was softer but …

You see, when I began this recipe, I was hoping for a soft chewy cookie, throughout and all around.

So at this point I have a couple of choices.

One, I can tweak the original and see if that helps. Maybe add more sugar, (uh, no) more vanilla, or more butter. Or maybe use butter flavored shortening instead of butter. That would probably be my best bet, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing to the shortening what I did to the butter. I’d prefer to cream it. For me, this option would mean an entire recipe rewrite and I’m not sure its worth it.

Or two, I can take the parts of this recipe that I like and use them to transform my chocolate chip cookies into chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

Not really sure what I’ll do, but I’m leaning toward the latter.

Posted on October 21st, 2008 under Desserts. Comments: None

I had a bit more success with the Martha Stewart recipe. However, I must admit to tweaking it a bit.

I added half a package of vanilla pudding mix. A little more sugar. More milk. And a tad bit of brown sugar, but that didn’t seem to make a difference.

I taste tested with each addition and found that there was only so much I could do. It got to the point where, though I was adding more sugar, I was not noticing a difference. So after getting it as good as I could, I cupcaked it, then baked it, then cooled it.

As it sat on my table, the most noticeable difference was the work of the baking powder. Oh how I love baking powder. Then as it found its way into my mouth, the most noticeable thing was the buttery taste.

        I enjoyed this recipe and I’m glad I made the changes I made but its just not what I’m looking for.

So, regrettfully my search is not yet over. I really didn’t expect it to be after only trying two new recipes, even if they are recipes from Julia Child and Martha Stewart. I pretty much figured it would take me longer than a few days.

All that said, I’m still looking for a cake with

1)    a nice loose crumb and

2)    lots of moisture and

3)    and… well, I’m not really sure how to describe the taste I’m after

 I’ll need to get a box of Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines and make some notes.

Posted on October 20th, 2008 under Desserts. Comments: None

Well I’ve made cupcakes from the yellow cake recipe in Julia Child’s book. It only had a few ingredients, but the manner in which she said to mix things was new to me.

First, I was to drizzle warm browned butter into the egg and sugar mixture and then to ‘fold’ until everything had been incorporated.

I’ve never drizzled butter before. Creamed, yes. Drizzled, no.

Also, I’m not much for folding. I’m more of a mixer kind of gal. That said,  I did my best. However, I must admit, there is room for improvement.

Second, the recipe had neither baking powder nor baking soda. The whipped eggs were to act as the leavener.

I was a little concerned, because while I did resist the urge to use the mixer to incorporate everything, I knew that with every turn of the spatula, I was doing more harm than good.

Other than that, it all went off without a hitch.

Then into the oven, baked for 30 minutes, out of the oven, cooled for 20 minutes.

Conclusion:

The tops were nice and crisp and they had a lovely butter fragrance. But the cupcakes were very dense. I don’t believe they rose at all. (I really will have to work on the ‘folding in’ technique.) I won’t make any further remarks on the recipe until I have. But I will try others. Martha Stewart has one that looks promising

Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday.

Posted on October 18th, 2008 under Desserts. Comments: None

        I think I’ll make two, one for me and one for the freezer. I’m so excited, though a tad bit apprehensive. You remember me telling you about the temperament of my pies. Here’s hoping the first pie won’t ask me to bake the other one, not today anyway.

Anywho, I start out by making the crust. I use a simple but wonderful recipe that I got from allrecipes.com. Be forewarned, the recipe has been tweaked.

French Pastry Pie Crust

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons white sugar

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 egg

some water

I mix it in the food processor. Putting everything in but the water, no particular order. Um, as for the water, I only add as much as I need, so it varies. I add just enough for the dough to come together.

When it does, it will start to bump around in the food processor. Then I remove it, gather it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until needed.

Next step is the filling. Another little “tweaked” something from allrecipes.com.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

½  cup water

I melt the butter, add the flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stirring, stirring, stirring. Next, I add the sugars. And that’s it for the filling.

As for the apples, I usually buy three bags of apples at a time. Then when I get home, I peel, slice and freeze them single layer on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a big Ziploc bag and put them back in the freezer. So, they’re all ready. I use about 3 to 4 cups.

A little note: I freeze the apples single layer because once I froze them all together and had a giant ball of apple slices. It took me a long time to chip away bits of apples to use in a pie. And so, after that pleasant little experience, I decided to freeze the apples single layer. It’s a lot easier to get the amount I need now.

Once everything is ready, its time to build the pies.

I’ll just tell you how I do one.

I divide the dough in half. Roll out one half, spray the pan with pam and fit the dough into the pie pan. Then I add the apples and pour the filling on top, remembering to reserve about 1/4 cup for later.

I roll out the other bit of dough and lay it on top. I crimp the edges together to seal the pie, and add the vents. Then I use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with the reserved filling.

Here’s where the two pies parted ways. One got wrapped and went in the freezer, the other went into my oven, which had been preheated to 350 degrees.

Then I baked the pie until bubbly, which took about 30-40 minutes, and allowed it to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Ahhh, yes! Fantastic!

It really is a terrific pie.

Absolutely delicious!

 I hope you like it too.

ps Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday

Posted on October 11th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

Over the years, I’ve discarded pounds and pounds of what should have been cake. Try as I might, none of the zillions of cake recipes out there ever worked for me. Ok I didn’t try zillions, but I did give it ‘the old college try.’ One day I decided it was time for a break; it was just too disappointing.

        Then I found Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I read about her chocolate cake memories and felt so inspired. I started at once, very excited about the possibilities. But little by little doubt crept in and right before it was time to remove the cakes from the oven, only a trace amount of hope remained. I readied myself for yet another disappointment as I tested the cakes for doneness with a toothpick. The toothpick came out clean. That’s odd, I thought. Then I removed the cakes from the oven and allowed them to cool a bit before removing them from the pans. They looked like, well like cakes are supposed to look. It was beautiful. After removing them from the pans, and allowing them to cool completely, I frosted them with store bought frosting because I can not make homemade frosting, not yet anyways.

        So there it was, a delicious two layer chocolate cake, minus one slice, adorned my table.

It really was a beautiful thing.

Chocolate Cake

1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾  teaspoon baking soda
¾  teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ½  cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups warm water

My journey began with me trying to make a simple yellow cake and midway through I find that I’ve learned to create an elegant and super moist chocolate cake.

I’m pretty happy.

p.s. Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday.

Posted on September 13th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None