Berry good dessert

After all the craziness of the past several weeks, it was really nice to go out for dinner on Saturday.  The daycare periodically does Parents Night Out, and we try to take advantage of it when we can.  (We also spent part of our evening grocery shopping at Central Market once we were done, but it was nice to do it by ourselves.)  We had a lovely meal, but as is usually the case after having an appetizer and entree, neither of us had room for dessert.  Since we enjoyed the food so much, I'd love to see what the restaurant does with dessert sometime--of course J would point out that I say that all the time, but we never do it. =)  

The whole thing got me thinking, though.  One reason that I'd like to go out for dessert is to be inspired and get new ideas.  On the other hand, my standards are pretty high these days--more often than not, I could probably make something at home that would be better.  And why spend calories on something that isn't really worth it?  I was reminded this weekend of how far my skills have improved over the past few years, when I made the French Strawberry Cake that was last week's pick for Tuesdays with Dorie.  Once upon a time, I would have been rather intimidated by a cake like this one, but instead I just thought it would be fun.

First off, my apologies to Sophia and Allison, our hosts for this week, for being so tardy with my post.  (Being out of town unexpectedly will do that to you.)  But I'm glad I finally found the time to make this lovely seasonal cake.  I admit to being a little crazy, though--I actually made the batter for the genoise totally by hand.  Why?  Just to see if I could.  Besides, I figured I could burn off at least a few calories that way. =) 

I played around just a little with the recipe.  For the cake flour, I used KAF's unbleached cake flour blend.  I used extra large eggs, since that was what I had on hand.  Since my eggs were right out of the fridge, I placed them in a bowl of hot water to warm up while I got everything else together.  For whisking both the egg mixture and later the whipped cream, I used my really big balloon whisk (rather than a spatula) and one of my biggest bowls.  I find that when whipping things by hand, using both of those makes the process go faster.  I also used the balloon whisk to fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, a trick I learned from making Rose Levy Beranbaum's chocolate angel food cake.  I baked the cake in an 8"x2" round cake pan lined with parchment paper, for about 26 minutes.

I must have done something right, because my cake rose right to the top of the pan.  I had no trouble slicing it into three layers.  I assembled the cake on a cardboard round, layering the cake with the macerated strawberries and some of the whipped cream mixture.  Then I coated the cake with a crumb coat of the whipped cream.  I made extra cream (roughly double the original amount, I think) because I wanted to do a bit more decorating with it than the original recipe called for.  I decided to use my 1M tip to pipe large stars all over the surface of the cake.

The verdict?  I'm quite happy with how this cake turned out.  It was a big hit with all of us.  Brianna was quite disappointed this evening when she found out that we'd already eaten it all.  Next time, though, I will probably use more strawberries.  (I kind of guestimated the amount, since my container was measured in pounds, rather than dry pints.)  I'm also curious how it would be with other fruit, so I'll have to make it again to try some variations.

If you'd like to try this lovely cake for yourself, you can find the recipe on Sophia's blog or Allison's blog.  And be sure to check out the Links to see how the rest of the TWD bakers fared with their French Strawberry Cakes.  

Until we meet again (soon!)

I posted at the end of last week that I've been blogging for four years now.  I wasn't entirely sure how to begin.  I started by just posting some of our favorites, and assorted things that I decided to make.  So not that much different from what I do now. =)  That got me through the first month or so.  Then I decided to be brave.  After reading this post from Peabody, I decided to join a fairly new baking group called Tuesdays with Dorie.  At the time I thought I was crazy, but it's one of the best things I ever did. I've learned to bake lots of amazing things, and made some fantastic friends.  

In the beginning, I participated almost every week.  Over time, other things (work & family being two of the biggest) claimed more of my time than they used to, though I still tried to keep up.  For the past couple months, I've still been baking a lot of the time, but haven't always had the time or felt the inspiration to write.  And now, after four years, we've come to the end of the book.  Don't worry, you'll continue to see Dorie recipes here on my blog, since there are some that I haven't posted that I want to.  Not to mention the fact that Dorie has written other books.  But more about that in a bit.  

  

I was looking through some of my earliest blog posts and was amazed to see how much my girls have grown.  When I started all this, Brianna was about the age that Gillian is now.  Wow.  After getting a new baking book for Christmas, Brianna made us breakfast (mini corn muffins) on Monday pretty much all by herself.  I have to say, it's quite a change to be just a coach when you're used to being the baker.  I promised Gillian that she could help me with the TWD recipe, fittingly the Kids' Thumbprints.  She helped me measure things on the scale and add them to the mixing bowl.  When the dough was done, she helped me shape it into balls and did most of the thumbprints.  Her only complaint was that she doesn't really like peanut butter. =)

We mostly followed the recipe as written.  I did chill the dough for a bit after it was made, since it seemed kind of soft.  To make sure the dough balls were all the same size, I used my #70 disher to portion the dough, which we then rolled between our hands to form smooth balls.  We filled most of the cookies with a couple big chocolate chips, but left a few empty to be filled with raspberry jam after baking.  A handful of cookies ended up with both when I discovered that I had a little jam left over.  The size of cookies we made took 14 minutes to bake.  We did skip the chopped nuts on the outside of the cookies; I knew there was no way the girls would even consider eating them that way.

The verdict?  Well like I said, G doesn't like peanut butter, so she isn't a huge fan of the cookies.  B thought that they were okay, but nothing great.  Fortunately, Jamie liked them a lot.  And I'm sure I'll be able to find a home for any extra cookies.  I was surprised to find that I preferred the jam ones.  I think it's because the chips didn't melt to fill the thumbprints (which makes sense, in retrospect).  If I make these again, I'll used chopped chocolate instead of chips, or just fill the holes with ganache after baking.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it in Baking From My Home to Yours, of course.  For this final week of this incarnation of TWD, Dorie herself is our host and will have the recipe up as well.  If you're not currently a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, membership in the group will be opening up again very soon.  The next book will be Baking with Julia.  I've had a copy of the book for a long time, but haven't really baked from it.  I'm hoping that this will be the push I need to pull it off the shelf.  

I'm sure there will be lots of participants this week, so be sure to check out all the Links!

What's in a name?

When I was pregnant with both of my children, we didn't find out the gender until they were born.  So we were prepared with names for both possibilities.  It drove some of my friends crazy that we wouldn't tell the names ahead of time, either.  But I really didn't want to hear anyone's opinions in advance.  The names we chose for both girls followed the same sort of pattern as the names that my sisters and I all have.  Our middle names are all family names, but the first names are just names that my parents liked, as far as I know.  That's the case for Brianna and Gillian--I picked the names because I liked them, and J liked them too.  Their middle names are both family names from J's side--Gillian's middle name of Rose comes from J's grandmother, and B's middle name comes from his great-grandmother.  Her name was Maddalena (she was Italian), but we went with a more American version, Madeline.  But we pronounce it the same as Madeleine, with a short i sound, not a long one.  

So B was understandably intrigued by the name for these shell-shaped cookies.  Or are they cakes?  Whatever you call them, they're yummy.  And they just happen to be my pick for Tuesdays with Dorie this week.  I wasn't really expecting to get another chance to host, but I'm glad I got to pick these Mini Madeleines.  I bought my madeleine pans (both big and small) for the first madeleine recipe that we made back in May 2008.  It was actually just a couple weeks before my first pick.  The sad thing is that I've been so busy baking other things that I haven't used the pans much since then.  I need to change that...

As usual, I didn't quite manage to make this recipe exactly as Dorie wrote it.  My changes were small, though.  I increased the salt to 1/4 teaspoon, since I think it helps bring out the other flavors.  I went without one of those flavors, though, omitting the lemon zest.  I'm sure they're great with it, but I wanted to focus on the brown sugar flavor.  To that end, I also made a change with one of the sweeteners, using Lyle's Golden Syrup in place of the honey.  

For the actual baking, I also deviated from the recipe a bit, but with good reason.  I remembered that over the summer, I'd read a post about madeleines on Dorie's blog.  She experimented with putting her madeleine pan on a preheated baking sheet to get a nice bump on the cookies.  I decided to try putting mine on my baking stone (which lives on the bottom rack in my oven) to get a similar effect.  It worked great!  A couple of my baking buddies mentioned that their madeleines got dark really fast, so I made sure to watch mine carefully, and ended up pulling them out at 7 1/2 minutes.  

The verdict?  Well, I'm lucky these lasted long enough for pictures. =)  Brianna and Gillian immediately asked me when I was going to make more.  (J liked them, too.)  Since I only baked one pan, I still have batter in the fridge so I can do that tomorrow.  I may try baking some regular size madeleines with the remaining batter.  I think using my baking stone worked really well for baking these, so I'll definitely use that technique again.

My apologies to Valerie for not even thinking of attempting her pick--Depths of Fall Butternut Squash Pie--this week.  I have enough trouble getting one recipe done right now, let alone two, and didn't want to drop the ball on my hosting duties this week.  To see what everyone thought of the pie, check out the Links for that recipe.  And head over to Valerie's blog for the recipe if you'd like to try the pie.

If you'd like to make the madeleines, I have the recipe below.  You can see how everyone else fared with them in the Links here.  

Mini Madeleines 

(from Baking From my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

2/3 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon)

2 large eggs, room temperature

6 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon (13 grams) packed light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

grated zest of 1/2 lemon (I omitted)

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon honey (I substituted golden syrup)

confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until smooth.  Whisk in the dry ingredients, followed by the vanilla and lemon zest.  Gently whisk in the melted butter, and finally, the honey.  You'll have a thick, smooth, shiny batter.  Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.  (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and chill, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans.)

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Generously butter up to three mini madeleine pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess.  (I coated my pan with baking spray, e.g Pam for Baking.)  Or, if you have nonstick pans, just spray the interiors with vegetable cooking spray.  If you've got silicone pans, they can be used just as they are.  Put the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

Fill each little madeleine mold with about a teaspoon of batter; the molds should be about three-quarters full.  Don't worry about leveling the batter--it will do it by itself in the oven.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown around the edges.  Remove the sheet from the oven and give the madeleine pan(s) a hearty rap against the counter.  Gently pry out any cakes that don't want to leave their nests with your fingers or a butter knife.  You can serve the madeleines immediately or put them on a rack to cool.  

Repeat with any remaining batter, making certain to cool and rebutter and flour or respray the pan(s).  

Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioner's sugar.  Makes about 36 cookies.

Nuts about scones

Well, I made it.  The past week and a half at work have been draining; I've pretty much felt like I might as well live there with the number of hours I've worked.  But the worst is over--the rest of the week is pretty normal, and then I'm off this weekend.  I only had one day off this past weekend, and didn't manage to fit in much baking.  I ended up making these scones Monday morning so I could take some of them to work with me.  (I'm not the only one who's been working hard, so I thought some breakfast would be appreciated.)  I had enough energy Sunday night to do most of the mise en place, which really helps when I want to pull off some early morning baking.  

I'm tired enough that I just realized that I haven't yet mentioned that I was making the scones because they're one of this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipes.  Yes, plural--we're almost done with the book, and are doubling up on recipes so we'll be finished by the end of the year.  I've really enjoyed the scones recipes in Baking, and was looking forward to trying this one, Honey Nut Scones.  Well, except for the fact that I'm not that fond of honey.  But then I had an idea--I could substitute maple syrup (grade B) for the honey.  I'm sure that walnuts would have been great with maple, but I had pecans in my freezer (thanks, Margaret!), so that's what I used.  The only other change I made was due to laziness and being a bit short on time--I used my 1/4 cup scoop to make drop scones, rather than patting the dough out and cutting it into triangles.  To bring out more maple flavor, I also drizzled my baked scones with a maple glaze (powdered sugar, maple syrup, a bit of milk and a pinch of salt).  

The verdict?  I love scones, and these were no exception.  They aren't very sweet, so I liked the addition of glaze.  The girls won't eat them because they don't like the pecans, but the ones I took to work disappeared pretty quickly.  I'll definitely make these again, even if it's just for me.

Jeannette has the scone recipe on her blog, and you can find everyone else's Links here.  I didn't get to the Far Breton, but be sure to check out those Links, too, and head over to Nicole's blog for that recipe. And be sure to come back here next week, when I get to be a host!

I can't resist leaving you with a picture of my trick-or-treaters from last night:

An apple cake for fall

I didn't want the whole month to pass by without at least one Tuesdays with Dorie post.  I don't have the fig cake that was on the agenda for this week.  (Head over to Cookie Rookie for this week's recipe.)  I also passed on last week's Ginger-Jazzed Brownies.  You may have seen why I had some trouble with the biscuits the week before that.  (I made them, but they weren't great, and I didn't take any pictures.  I'm still hoping to make them again.)  The cake I have for you today is actually the first recipe for October, the Apple Nut Muffin Cake picked by Katrina of Baking and Boys.  

In the hopes that my girls would eat the cake, I skipped the nuts and raisins.  Afraid that the cake would be a little plain after that, I added a crumb topping.  This was also a good chance to break out my bottle of King Arthur boiled cider, since I didn't have any regular cider on hand.  I used about 3 tablespoons of the boiled cider, then added milk to make a full 8 ounces of liquid.  I thought about using some white whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose, but didn't this time.  I fully intend to make this cake again, so I'll see how that works out next time.

The verdict?  The cake was well-received both at home and at work.  I really liked it with the crumb topping, but that's not really a surprise. =)  I know Dorie originally made the cake because she was too rushed for muffins, but I want to try the muffin version next time, keeping the crumbs.  

If you'd like to play around with the recipe yourself, you can find the original on Katrina's blog.  For more about the muffin cake, check out the Links for that week.  For the fig cake, check here.  I promise to do better with posting next month, especially since I get to host again! =)

I fought the caramel, and the caramel won

No, that's not this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, is it?  Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort picked Basic Biscuits for us to make this week.  I'm working on them, but it's slow going. My hand hurts.  I burned it attempting some Easiest Caramel Sauce--apparently my microwave is more powerful than I realized.  The sugar got way too dark, but I tried to salvage it and splashed caramel on my hand in the process.  I shouldn't have bothered--I tasted it and it was definitely burnt. =(

So the biscuits will be delayed a bit.  In the meantime, be sure to check out how everyone else did with them this week over on the Links page.  

No respect, I tell ya

Salt and pepper often don't get the respect that they deserve.  How many times have you run across a so-called "5-ingredient recipe" only to discover that it's really more than that, because they don't count salt and pepper and water as ingredients?  Water is actually the one that bugs me most.  Sure, I understand not counting the water that you use to cook pasta, for instance.  But it drives me crazy to read the ingredient list for a recipe, then get down in the directions and discover that you need to add a specific amount of water.  If you need a specific amount, list it as an ingredient!  I've run into the same thing with salt--the ingredients may list a type of salt, but not a specific amount.  Yes, I know you're supposed to read through the whole recipe before you start, but even with doing that, sometimes I get distracted partway through...

Okay, done ranting. =)  Now on to a baked good that does give salt and pepper a starring role, even in the recipe title.  For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, Tia of Buttercream Barbie picked the Salt and Pepper Cocoa Shortbreads for us to make.  The nice thing about these cookies is that the dough is easy to mix up.  I do recommend that you assemble all your ingredients ahead of time (mise en place) so you don't forget any... like the egg yolk.  I realized as I was putting my logs of cookie dough in the fridge to chill that I had totally forgotten the egg yolk.  (That's a bit ironic, since I started making the dough because I was looking for a way to use up egg yolks.)  However, I've made plenty of shortbread recipes that don't have any egg in them, so I decided to just go with it. 

After chilling the dough for a few hours, I cut it into thick slices with my serrated knife.  I baked the cookies for about 15 minutes, I think.  It's hard to say for sure, since I continued with my forgetfulness and didn't set a timer at first.  Fortunately, I've baked enough cookies to be able to go by how they looked and smelled to figure out when they were done.  

The verdict?  These turned out to be quite good, despite the forgotten egg yolk.  Like a lot of shortbread, I found that these were actually better the second day than the first.  I probably should have used a little more pepper, since I couldn't really taste it.  The fleur de sel definitely came through, though.  I really enjoy the little bursts of saltiness with the chocolate.  Everyone else seemed to enjoy these as well.

If you'd like to give this recipe a try for yourself, head over to Tia's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of the shortbread, check out this week's Links.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

I love vacation time--especially the kind where I get to stay home.  Sure, it's fun to go places and visit people, but traveling can also be stressful.  I'm ready for a break from stress.  It's nice to be able to hang out and relax, and maybe catch up on a few things.  Jamie's vacation time can roll over, but mine is the use-it-or-lose-it variety.  So you can bet I'm going to use it, even if it means staying home by myself.  To be honest, being on my own isn't bad. =)  Brianna is in school, and Jamie is at work.  Gillian stayed home with me yesterday and will probably do that again later in the week, but that's okay.  One child at home with me is peaceful--both would be another story.

Knowing that I had a whole week ahead of me with plenty of time to spend in the kitchen, I was completely lazy this past weekend.  I cooked dinner on Sunday, but that was about it.  But that was okay, since I'd actually made this week's TWD recipe over a week ahead of time.  Anne of Anne Strawberry picked Classic Brownies as this week's selection.  That was perfect, since I needed something to pack in lunches last week.  Only one problem--we managed to polish off the brownies without me taking any pictures of them.  Oops.

So yesterday morning, I set out to make them again.  I actually started off my day by turning a whole bunch of raspberries (I love Costco) into raspberry sauce.  Then I made the brownies.  It's an easy recipe--one bowl, and whisk and a spoon are all you need.  I skipped the nuts and put in chocolate chips instead, since I don't care for nuts in my brownies (and B's school has requested no peanuts or tree nuts if possible, due to a student with a severe allergy).  I baked the brownies for 30 minutes, and was quite happy with the fudgy texture.  Next up was ice cream, since there wasn't any at all in the freezer.  I made vanilla bean (with a splash of rum), figuring it would go nicely with another TWD recipe that I plan to make this week.  Once I was done with that, I realized that I had all the makings of a fabulous brownie sundae.  I also figured a sundae would be a way to make the brownies more photogenic.  And my children now think I'm the best mom ever. =)

The verdict?  We really enjoyed these brownies, both plain and dressed up.  While they don't quite displace my all-time favorite, they are very high on my list.  It certainly wasn't a hardship to make them twice, and I'm sure we'll be making them again.  I'd like to try the recipe with other mix-ins, like peanut butter chips (just for eating at home).  

If you'd like to try these for yourself, head over to Anne's blog for the recipe.  To see how everyone else played around with these brownies, check out this week's Links.  

The great debate

Welcome to Wednesday with Dorie! (Oops.)  The first couple days of the school year have been a bit hectic and tiring for everyone, so some things are running a little behind.  No homework yet for B, but other things have been worrying her.  She is -so- my child.  What 3rd grader worries about flunking on the second day of school?  That would be my 3rd grader.  She worries so much, and takes everything so seriously.  Gee, I wonder where she got that?  But is it nature or nurture?  I've always been the same way, so is it in the genes?  Or am I causing her to be this way, mainly because my parents influenced me the same way?  Either way, I've been there, so I'm trying to do what I can to relieve some of her anxiety.  Which is tricky, since I'm also trying not to let my own anxiety show, about whether I'm being a good parent--since I have a 3rd grader who worries about flunking on the second day of school... *sigh*  No one ever said this parenting thing was going to be easy.

Fortunately, some things are easier than they look.  Like this brioche.  Though it is another one of those things you can question--is it bread, or is it pastry?  Margaret of Tea and Scones picked this recipe for us to make for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie.  You hear the word brioche, and immediately think, "French! Complicated!" (or is that just me?)  I know I felt rather intimidated by it the first time I made it, back in March of 2008 (wow, has it been that long?), when we made the Brioche Raisin Snails.  But even if you're kind of scared of yeast, it really doesn't take a lot of skill--just patience, and hopefully a stand mixer (or food processor, if you're like my friend Nancy).  Some of the bread I make is dense enough that I forego the mixer--it's not getting any younger, and I don't want to overtax it.  But brioche is a soft, sticky dough, so it doesn't cause any problems.  Despite what Dorie says, mine never really pulled away from the sides of the bowl.  In fact, you may wonder how this buttery blob could ever turn into bread.  The answer?  Time.  And some serious chilling before shaping.  

I mostly followed the recipe as written.  I used instant yeast, rather than active dry, so I reduced the amount.  I actually used some of my SAF gold yeast, which is designed to work better in a sweeter, rich dough.  (I ended up using 10 grams, or about 3 teaspoons.)  I wanted to use my "Nancy pan," so I changed the shaping a bit.  I took half the dough, which was about 600 grams.  (I froze the other half.)  I divided it into 4 portions of about 150 grams each, and formed each piece into a ball, rather than a log.  I put them in the pan, and covered it with plastic wrap.  I let it rise until the dough was almost to the top of the pan.  I skipped the egg wash, but about 15 minutes in the top of the loaf was getting rather brown, so I tented it with foil.  I ended up baking the loaf for 30 minutes, at which point the internal temperature was about 190ºF.

The verdict?  I love pastries, and brioche really isn't far off.  My favorite part is the crunchy, buttery crust.  I'm happy with how the pan worked for this loaf--the small slices provide nice portion control. =) So far, I've just been snacking on the brioche, making little jam sandwiches.  Yum.

If you'd like to try this one for yourself, you can head over to Margaret's blog for the recipe.  And be sure to check out the Links to see how everyone else did this week.  I leave you with pictures from the first day of school.  G doesn't start kindergarten til next year, but of course we had to take her picture, too. 

Hidden treasure

Is it just me, or do these papers remind you of candy corn?

I mentioned in my last post that I'm happy to be a DBCB (designated birthday cake baker).  Of course, I bake lots of things besides cake, so I bring other things to work as well.  I do want to be respectful of people's nutritional goals, so I try not to bring really decadent stuff too often--not that I get many complaints. =)  So I'll bake things with fruit, or whole wheat flour snuck in, as a way to offset some of the recipes made with lots of chocolate and butter.  Breakfast items are always popular--they get eaten at any time of day.  So I figured these Tuesdays with Dorie Carrot Spice Muffins would be well-received.  This pick was actually supposed to be for last week.  I'm hoping my friend Nancy will forgive me for being late to the party. =)  (And my apologies to Gaye for not making this week's Tropical Crumble.)

On the healthy side of the equation we have carrots, and the fact that these muffins are made with oil rather than butter.  I didn't mess with the flour this time, but I'd like to try these with half white whole wheat flour.  I don't think anyone would even notice, with all the flavor from the cinnamon (I used Vietnamese) and ginger.  The original recipe also called for nuts and dried fruit, both healthy in moderation.  (No chance that these would be made with coconut in this house.)  I left those out--since I knew Brianna and Gillian would complain--but I'd be fine with some raisins or pecans, so I'll have to try that at some point.  

Since I was omitting the fun mix-ins, I figured I needed to come up with something to replace them.  I went browsing on the King Arthur Flour site, and found this recipe for Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins.  I'll have to make the muffins at some point, but for now, I just borrowed the filling.  I actually reduced it a bit--I mixed together 150 grams of neufchatel (2/3 of an 8-ounce package), 35 grams of sugar (about 3 tablespoons) and a couple drops of Fiori di Sicilia (I'd just use a bit of vanilla extract if you don't have that).  I put some batter in the bottom of each muffin cup, added a small scoop of filling, and topped it with more batter, so the cups were almost full.  I baked my muffins for 20 minutes at 375ºF.

The verdict?  Sometimes it's hard for me to predict what the reaction is going to be at work.  Interestingly enough, it's often the non-chocolate goodies that get the best reception, and that was certainly the case with these muffins.  They were a huge hit!  I think we're all ready for fall flavors, and the cinnamon and ginger in these definitely made me think of autumn.  It might be time to find some pumpkin recipes, too. =)   

For the original muffin recipe, head over to Nancy's blog.  To see what everyone else made this week and last, check out the Links for the muffins and crumble.  

We all scream for...sorbet?

Hopefully you aren't tired of ice cream posts yet. =)  This one is actually courtesy of Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon.  She's our hostess for Tuesdays with Dorie this week, and she picked Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet for us to make.  It could be debated whether this recipe is actually for sorbet, since it contains milk, and sorbet generally doesn't.  In fact, Dorie adapted this recipe from one by Pierre Hermé, which was made with just water, no milk.  The substitution of milk for part of the liquid is what makes this sorbet creamy.  The sorbet is pretty easy to make--you combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil it for 5 minutes.  Then you thoroughly chill the mixture and churn it in an ice cream maker.  The result is a bit more "soft-serve" than usually, so it really benefits from several hours in the freezer (I left mine overnight) so it can firm up.  The only changes I made were to add a bit of salt, and to increase the recipe by a third.  I used a mix of chocolates, ending up with an average cacao percentage of about 62%, I think.

The verdict?  It's hard to believe that such a simple recipe can make something so delicious!  Chocolate ice cream is wonderful, but almost too rich sometimes.  This sorbet is extremely chocolatey, but refreshing at the same time.  I'm sure we'll be making it again very soon, since it's rapidly disappearing.  

Here's my ingredient list, since I scaled the recipe up by a third (easier to do after converting to metric) to make about a quart:

300 grams lowfat (1%) milk

300 grams water

200 grams granulated sugar

265 grams bittersweet chocolate

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the original recipe, head over to Steph's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of the sorbet, check out this week's Links.  

Tickled pink

I run into people all the time who tell me that they hate grocery shopping.  That's such a strange idea to me.  I don't like clothes shopping (don't even get me started on shoe shopping), but I love grocery shopping.  Even the online shopping I do is mostly for food and related stuff (cookbooks, bakeware).  I'm lucky to have such great local places to shop.  Occasionally, though, I'll need to order something that I just can't get here.  (Like the chestnut flour for next week's recipe--no sign of it anywhere around here.  And not enough time to order it.)  My go-to place for baking ingredients is definitely King Arthur Flour.  

I don't order from them all that often--I try to wait until they're offering free shipping or a discount on purchases over a certain amount.  I'll usually restock on some hard to find flours (like Durum) and buy some things in bulk (like yeast).  I usually get side-tracked by something pretty (like cupcake papers).  And sometimes things just jump into my little electronic shopping cart...like when I saw these raspberry jammy bits and bought them several months ago.

Then, as sometimes happens, the jammy bits disappeared into my pantry and kind of got lost in there.  If you saw my pantry (even after I organized it) you would understand. =)  I'm still not exactly sure what reminded me they were in there.  I was trying to think of something other than currants to add to this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, and they popped into my head.  Lynne of Café Lynnylu picked Cream Scones for us to make this week.  My girls--especially Gillian--love scones for breakfast.  But Brianna complains any time I put dried fruit in them.  So I decided that I'd split the dough and put the jammy bits in one half and chocolate chips in the other half, just in case.   

Another change I made was to use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat pastry flour.  (That was a case of something jumping into my grocery cart when I was in the bulk department at Central Market last week.)  And of course, we had to have glaze.  For the chocolate chip scones, I just drizzled them with a simple glaze made with powdered sugar and milk.  I got a bit more fancy with my raspberry scones, though.  I whisked some raspberry sauce into the basic glaze, which made it a lovely pink.  I made the raspberry scones a bit smaller than the recipe indicated, and dunked them in the glaze to completely coat them.  

The verdict?  Well, I thought these were quite yummy.  Gillian ate one and said she liked it, while Brianna was content to eat only the chocolate chips ones.  (G had one of those, too.)  I'll probably stick with drizzling the glaze most of the time, but the raspberry scones were good with the full coating, since the scones themselves weren't all that sweet.  

If you'd like the basic recipe for the Cream Scones, head over to Lynne's blog.  And to see what everyone else did with this week's recipe, check out the Links!

Chocolate for breakfast

I'm taking a short break from my Ice Cream Week (and a half) to bring you these yummy muffins.  This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles.  She picked Chocolate Chunk Muffins. When I first read the pick for this week, my first thought was that I was sure I'd made this recipe before.  After all, how could I go three and a half years baking from this book and skip over something with so much chocolate?  Especially since my girls love anything with chocolate chips/chunks.  I looked through my archives, but there was no evidence that I've made these before. 

Like most muffins, these were easy to mix up.  You mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another (in this case, two others), pour the wet on top of the dry, and gently mix until just barely incorporated.  I used regular Hershey's cocoa powder and 58% El Rey chocolate in the muffins.  For the chunks, I actually used chocolate chips, 63% dark chocolate chips from Guittard.  I loved the texture of the muffin batter--not at all runny.  That was good, because it always seems like when I have a runny batter, I end up with flat tops (on muffins or cupcakes) that bake into each other.  No such problems here!  I ended up baking my muffins for 20 minutes.

The verdict?  Gillian will always love scones more, but these muffins were deemed an acceptable way to start off our Independence Day.  =)  Anything with chocolate chips tends to go over well in this house.  The girls ate theirs plain, but I topped mine with some raspberry fruit butter, which was a very good combination.  I love raspberry and chocolate together.

For this week's recipe, head over to Bridget's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of these, check out the Links.   Stay tuned for another great chocolate/raspberry combination tomorrow!