Amy Ruth

In real life?  I think that it means it really happened in this case it was caused to happen.  What about that?  Imagine what we cause to happen each day with each tiny little unintentional choice we make.  Whether its the way we respond with a certain tone or the way our eyes cut to look.  Maybe its the warm smile or perhaps a forced reaction to another’s behest.  Either way you look there is another view from the opposing direction.

Well, that could go on and on but lets just examine these blondies.  These are brownies but the chocolate is intentionally not included.  It is left out.  Sad don’t you think?  I suppose if you are conditioned as I am to expect that unctious melted chocolate, to bathe the inside of your mouth as you take your first bite.  Well, you will be surprised because while they have chocolate chips or chunks,  of your choosing,  your  best or your next favorite, this is intentionally a different kind of brownie, kids.  This is a blondie.  The chewy factor is supplied by the abundance of brown sugar, mixed with a lot of butta baby.  Well it does have coconut and chopped walnuts.  The magic?  The magic is that you can switch, add or take away any of those items, intentionally.   I just love the magic I’ve learned while baking with Tuesdays With Dorie.  Even with the science of baking, many variations as Dorie refers can be enjoyed.  You can actually change things around and “magically” have a successful baked good.  Chocolate or no.

They are gooey and delicious even without the majority of it being chocolate.  However, I adore chocolate.  Need I say more?

Thanks Nicole of Cookies on Friday for choosing this wonderful cookie (bar). I know you love cookies and this one is really more amazing than I expected without its intentional chocolate.  Of course thanks goes to Dorie as well for creating the book that has inspired untold numbers of people to get in the kitchen and be intentional about their ingredients. Thanks!  You must not forget to visit and drool at the other TWD bakers.

Do you see that “one” pan in there?  The one with the New Cake Pan wrapper?

Well, you know I missed the Brrr-brownies.  I was fluffing off (code for shopping) with my daughter.  That folks, is why there were no brownies.  I’m really sorry Karen.    Even though the York Peppermint Patties have been starring at me from the kitchen counter for over a week.  Ugh.  Anyway, Libby and I went to STL to get a few things for her trip.   She looked at clothes, shoes, purses and makeup .  We bought the necessary items for her trip.  Did I shop for shoes, purses, makeup, perfume, clothes?  Uh No….I shopped for kitchen toys.  What is wrong with me?  Anybody?  Ferris?

I do have a question.  How do you tame those wild animals in your cabinets masquerading as cakes pans, tart pans,  bundt pans?  Oh yea, the springform collection too.   You know every species in the baking kingdom.  They come in all sizes and various shapes.    ”Noah, what were you thinking?”

Well, I do the best I can and then sometimes I just give up and let them be.  I think they get in there together and conspire against me anyway.    Back to this new pan.  I don’t know what came over me while in WS (kitchen toys r us store) but I typically talk myself out of impulse buys and tell myself  ” Oh Amy, you can certainly live without that.”  You know you have told yourself a variation of this statement before.  Anyway, it came home in my shopping  bag.  Can you believe that?  So, this is my first excuse to use it.  I hope it releases well.  We will see.   I just thought I would share this first experience with you.  Be it success or failure.  There is a chance for both.  You see it makes 6 little cakes.  Okay, now I gotta get busy.  See ya in a while.

The cakes are baking in the oven.  I had more batter than pan so I pulled out another little pan, a molten cake pan, with push out bottoms.  I thought it would be my fail safe pan.  Again, waiting.

Dorie’s recipe for the Lots of Ways Banana Cake  allows for  wet and dry variations.  I used brown and granulated sugars, spice rum and sour cream ( just because I had some I needed to use) and toasted coconut.  I didn’t want to use too much texture because of the pan.  I would love to make this next time with some dried fruits and coconut milk suggested in the recipe.

An observation:  I’ve never used a mini-bundt  before.  Must learn to use proper amount of batter in order to avoid cakes rising over the top.  :”)  Hmmm

Well, you be the judge….  Perhaps I need a little practice with these “cute” little cake pans.

This is a really moist delicious recipe, that would be code for yep, I ate one of the cakes from the molten cake pan and it was warm.  Really so good!  Better than a muffin, not sure why.

Here is my attempt (remember its the first time I’ve used the pan)  at using a mini bundt.   I have a lot to look forward to in the future.  I chose the pan and Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities chose this recipe for our baking group this week.  I always have bananas.  They are just something I always keep and so its wonderful that Dorie gave us such a “this way” or “that way” kind of recipe for those occasional unattractive bananas.  Thanks to Kimberly for her wise choice.  You should really go to her blog and get the recipe for your files.  After you get the recipe you really should see what all the other fabulous  baker people have done with their bananas.  Not kidding!  Its the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.   Speaking of files if you use google you can copy and paste all your net recipes to the documents and put them in files of your making.  Make your very own cookbook, folks.  Thanks for your visit.  I love making friends.

This is my story of Tarte Noire. If you have been baking along with The Tuesdays With Dorie baking group for any length of time,  you most probably have made your share of tarts. “Practice makes perfect,” my mother always says.  Pies were the closest I got to tarts growing up, usually during holidays.

Dorie has tucked in a wide variety of tarts for our amusement in Baking From My Home to Yours. Generally any other dessert cookbook includes at least one or two. I have to admit I have become even more partial to tarts.  They are elegant, simple like this one or complex  and I think they are pretty.  Yes, I love eating them.    They are special, made with love…..prepared the day of service is the best of all.  The best kept secret?  They really are simple to make especially if you have the luxury of more than one tart pan and you can pop that second tart shell, unbaked into the freezer for future use.  Even if you don’t, the dough freezes nicely in a circular disk.  (Do you think anyone who doesn’t bake even reads this?  Probably not, right?)

In the purest sense, the word noire , translated by google is black.  Literally dark chocolate in this case.  No messing around with the simple black dress here, no sir.    Nothing dressed up with diamond studs or pearls, nope.    Just simple dark chocolate in a sweet tart dough pastry shell.  Preferably, the best bittersweet you can put your hands on.  I used Callebaut 60% cocoa.    That is the interpretation here at AmyRuthBakes. (Me thinks there are plenty of other tarts out there with fancy twists or as Dorie  states “playing around,” additions and variations.)

This little black tart in intentionally simple.  That’s just the way it is.  No fuss.

You know you will want to add this one to your “go to” dessert list for those days when you’re  in need of chocolate. Dharma of Bliss Towards a Delicious Life, speaks of her journey  and how life brought her to Paris, or did she make it happen?    Its only appropriate that she would pick the perfect little Tarte Noire to complete her well written Parisian journal entry.  The recipe, as well as a lovely post is right here at Dharma’s blog.  Make sure you visit.

Thank you again for your visit too.  I wonder how many bakers from this group have visited Paris?  That would be an interesting little “fact.”

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Discovering an unfamiliar word sends me right to the kitchen where I keep at least a couple of paperback copies of Webster’s Dictionary.  If I can’t find a pair of readers, I go to the computer and google it.  Anyway, I love looking for definitions.   Just one of my (many) quirks.   I’ve been thinking about this recipe and about the sort of frou frou name “Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake.”  Perception can entice or repel.  Words and definitions both fascinate and entertain.  So why would the name Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake attract little old me?

1.  Chocolate – the other food group, the food of the Gods, a cure for PMS, an aphrodisiac, some say.  Of course, chocolate is almost always my first choice.

2.  Then there is the other descriptive word,  ”dressy.”  It reminds me of way, way back to childhood.  I grew up in Oklahoma.  Is that the south?  Well, either way.   Somehow every Easter, Mom and Dad managed to provide my brother and me new clothes,  complete with shoes and hat (for me, no hat for him, hehe)  for church Easter Sunday.  It was special and the shopping was much anticipated.  I remember standing in the backyard while Mom or Dad stood with the Brownie Hawkeye camera to take photographs.  Yep, in black and white.  All of this is a comforting and happy memory.

This just had to be a happy recipe, right?  Hope you think so too.

Back to the Dressy Cake

Now here is the fun.

For the Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

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1/3 cup best-quality red raspberry or cherry jam-for filling

1 teaspoon water

For the Frosting

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 1/2 x 5 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess.  Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on the top of one another.

To Make the Cake: Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one goes in.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream.  Still working on a low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix only until they disappear into the batter,  Give the batter a last stir with a sturdy rubber spatula and scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.  If, after about 45 minutes, the cake looks as if its browning too quickly, cover it losely with a foil tent.  Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for about 5 minutes before turning it out on the to rack.  Cool to room temperature upside down.

To Fill The Cake: Bring the jam and water to a boil over low heat or in a microwave oven.  Stir to smooth it, and keep at hand.

The top of the cake will become the bottom layer, so if it is uneven and your cake rocks a bit on the counter, turn it right side up and use a long serrated knife to level it.  Using the serrated knife, cut the cake into 3 even layers.  Put the first layer (originally the top of the cake) cut side up on a long serving plate and spread half of the jam over it.  Cover with the middle layer and spread that layer with the remaining jam.  Lift the top layer into place, cut side down.  Use a small pastry brush to chase away any crumbs on the top or sides of the cake.

To Make The Frosting: Fit a heatproof bowl into a pan of gently simmering water, add the chocolate and warm, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted.  Still working over the hot water, stir in the sour cream.  Don’t be concerned if the cream tightens-just keep stirring gently and the frosting will become smooth and glossy.

Remove from the heat and cover the sides and top of the cake with the still warm frosting.

Dorie says its ready to serve as soon as it is frosted, but likes to wait about an hour, until the frosting develops the slightest little crust; the frosting underneath the crust will still be soft and velvety.  Serve with a bit of whipped cream and if you’d like a pitcher of the Smooth & Tangy Chocolate Sauce.

Playing Around If you want to serve the cake with a sauce that is perfectly matched to it, double the frosting recipe and use half for the frosting and the other half to make a sauce.

for the sauce: bring about 1 cup whole milk (amount is your preference of consistency) almost to a boil.  Put the bowl of extra frosting back over the pan of hot water and gently whisk in the hot milk a little at a time, adding as much as you want to get the desired consistency.  The sauce is ready to use when it is as thick or thin as you’d like and perfectly smooth.  You can make the sauce in advance and keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; just warm it gently before serving.

This “Dressy” recipe is brought to you by the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group’s beloved inspiration, Dorie Greenspan. It is from her wonderful book entitled Baking From My Home to Yours. Thank you Dorie for giving all the joy of your kitchen to all of us.  Your book has really enriched many lives.  Just think of all the sharing that goes around.  What Fun!

Be sure and check out all the Tuesday With Dorie bakers and see the phenomenal display of Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cakes.  I assure you there will be some decked out cakes!  hehe

Corbin and I enjoyed taking a lot of photographs for this special occasion of Tuesdays with Dorie. It was my turn among the over 300 bakers to choose the recipe.  I know you’ll love checking them out.  Here they are.  Thank you for visiting and baking with me.

Just a note: Please don’t tell my “gym-rat” friends, this chocolate cake is totally worth the calories, meaning I am willing to work out a little extra just to eat this.  Its that good.  Yum!

Going out to dinner at some restaurants is usually the perfunctory means to an end, to no longer be hungry for a time.

However, there are a couple of restaurants  in Columbia who make their own desserts and I always happily enjoy my meal all the while looking forward to dessert.  I know, how shallow.  Yes, of course I enjoy the rest of the meal.  As you would, because in these establishments, they really cook.  You know what I am talking about don’t you?

Here’s the deal, I just sliced into a warm loaf of heaven.  Bread is not something I often bake.  Usually desserts are the types of selections I make.  Lately, I have baked bread from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The heavenly loaf I baked today is more dessert like.  Wow, it is soft and tender and mildly sweet with a hint of orange citrus and  cinnamon held up with a bit of cocoa.

As mentioned previously, I don’t bake bread that often and I can say that this is an easy bread recipe.  I think you  should ignore the “yeast” word, pick up your apron strings, and get busy with this one.  The instructions are direct and not scary at all.    I am a little nervous about having this lovely bread around.  Anyone want some?

Ah Gee, what was I thinking?  Susan, I am so excited that you chose this recipe, because secretly I almost pointed and clicked on this lovely bread recipe.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your Food Baby Blog, where ladies and gentle bread eaters you may obtain the recipe for yourselves.  So …. hop to it!  Yes, of course the recipe is also in Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Do yo have it yet?

Thanks for stopping by and have some warm bread, yum, for me.

Guess what, one more thing.  Next week it is my turn to host with this fabulous and fun variety of wonderful bakers.  I can’t wait, please come and see.  XOXO