This is short, make no mistake, these mini-cupcakes are definitely sweet. Sweet and tender, caramel filled, sea salt sprinkled, chocolate butter cream topped, bites of sweet chocolate goodness.

We baked from Martha Stewart’s Cupcake Book. As the story goes the recipes are in the book. I’m willing to bet somewhere on the web there will be a recipe floating around. Check out the book at your local library and enjoy all the lovely suggestions from Martha’s fabulous folks.  Of course, then there is  the debate of adding yet one more baking cookbook to the collection.  Go ahead, you know you want it.

Thanks for stopping by, pardon me while I go have a cupcake… Yum

Sugar B. aka Betty of Eat My Cupcake is the  one, responsible for organizing this little sugar stirring, chocolate eating baking group.  Check her out for the other wise people who joined in on the fun.

This baking group I participate with each week, on Tuesdays, is titled “Tuesdays With Dorie.”  To clarify if you’re not familiar, our 350 some bakers bake weekly, post on Tuesdays and fight the calories the rest of the days of the week.  You should hear the stories about how we produce scaled down recipes for photographic and tasting purposes.  Oh sometimes, we make the whole recipe and then sometimes  we cut the recipe down to 1/4 or even less.  One of our members who is famous for trimming those delicious, Dorie Greenspan inspired, and lovingly written recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours, is Nancy at the Dogs Eat the Crumbs.  She is genius with her calculations.   One of the many benefits of making friends in the blog world is the exchange of information.

Each week I ponder how I can actually sample the finished product and offer an appealing presentation of the remaining baked good for sharing.  You see, I figure if I am going to invest time and resources why not share Dorie’s lovely creations “with friends.”  This week’s recipe was perfect.  A “pick me up” excuse.  I used my 9 x 13 baking pan so I could present squares, while still having a morsel for tasting.  Isn’t that smart?  he he  

Tomorrow “my friends” at the gym will get to have a little “pick me up.”  Yea, I know, you think all those fitness buffs don’t eat like this.  Guess what?  Sometimes, they do.  Surprised?  They do it behind closed doors.  he he  Can’t let all their secrets out.  Shhhh.

Typically, I intentionally  follow Dorie’s original recipe.  I can then later adjust as I like in the future.  The only variation was the use of a 9 x 13 pan rather than 9″ rounds.  The second was the choice of liqueurs.  I used Di Saronno Amaretto for the syrup.  Also I used chocolate shavings rather than small chopped chocolate.  It was simply a softer texture to compliment the soft creamy coating of the mascarpone and cream.  

Tiramisu trio of flavors reminds me of one of the fancy schmancy coffee drinks typically in the $4 to $5 price range.    Mascarpone and cream along with the espresso and chocolate.  Oooo La La.  Hope you enjoyed!  I surely did.  

My morning coffee is usually brewed from beans obtained from a locally owned and operated  roaster, Lakota Coffee.    I like a couple of different varieties from there, Tanzania Peaberry and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.    What is your favorite coffee?

Dorie’s Chocolate Cream Tart is the perfect dessert for a Celebration, a Supper Club, a Birthday or a Holiday Gathering.  Since today is my birthday, I’m thinking the birthday angle.  I have a mental picture  of it as a woman dressing for a dinner out.  A pretty little black dress, the perfect  shoes and the all important accessories.  Luscious chocolate cream made from your favorite chocolate,  layered on top of a  chocolate shortbread tart dough, finished with the lightly sweetened whipped cream.  I think I must have my mind on “Birthday Dinner.”  Ya think?  he he  

Thank you Dorie for another “feel good” dessert.  The Chocolate Cream Tart is definitely a winner (so chocolatey) in my collection of favorites from Baking From My Home to Yours. 

I’m off celebrating getting old-er.  I hope all the bakers at TWD enjoyed this weeks Chocolate Cream Tart.  Stayed tuned for next weeks selection Tiramisu.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Isn’t it fun to make new friends?

Proscrastination = photos later.  I will tell you that I am going to enjoy this tart today….hope you do too.  I made the elements last night and assembled this morning hoping for a photo shoot before school….ooops, guess I will have to wait til this afternoon.  Darn!!  So for now please enjoy a cupcake photo.

Some Birthday Cupcakes I made earlier.  

Playa del Carmen was our Spring Break destination of choice.

No, this wasn’t it, we flew.   It would have taken way too long, but it was a nice way to get back and forth to the Paseo or to breakfast at La Cueva del Chango.   Absolutely, without a doubt, our favorite breakfast and lunch spot. Come to think of it, a great place to have dinner as well!  This trip, I got to have some of their fabulous Mole on my scrambled eggs one morning.  Oh My Gosh!!!  

Of course this is most of what we spent our time doing…..and my daughter (the middle child) was joined by three of her closest friends.  Days of these and sunshine, books, salsa, guacamole…

You know that question in the OSI on the Tuesdays with Dorie website?  The Day Off question?    Gloriously, I am having one of those days off.  The hubs is off in St. Louis for a weekend with his Tri-sport friends.  I am totally in the kitchen…. accompanied by, at the present, one of my favorite chick flicks.  A Nancy Meyers film, (a woman whose work I adore) Something’s Gotta Give.  Do you love it?  

 Dorie, you have provided a certain element of therapy for those who connect with the creative, organic practice of baking.  Dorie, do you know how many lives you have saved, or been the object of seriously funny stories posted  on TWD, how many temper tantrums you have thwarted or how many happy baking experiences you have facilitated???  Dorie…..are you reading?  he he  I hope so.   Oh and how about eating the finished product and sharing with those you love?   Okay now, I am not writing a romance novel, the bread pudding is coming.

   “Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding,” this weeks recipe selection by Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle.  It will be fun to see what she does with this simple concoction.  Check with her for the recipe.  She is an accomplished Pastry Chef whose blog I enjoy visiting to see her beautiful photos and her interpretation of Dorie’s  recipe from Baking From My Home to Yours.  Thank you Dorie for the suggestion of a fine little “bread sponge” such as challah or brioche.  A nearby grocer makes challah,  so for  convenience that was what I bought and toasted for the suggested 10ish minutes. Besides its absorption quality, the buttery sweet flavor was unique to any other bread.  I had a little over 3 ounces of 70% cocoa chocolate chopped up already and to that I added the balance of the bittersweet with 60% cocoa chocolate.  For a person who really likes an intense chocolate flavor, by all means add more.    I liked its simplicity and ease of assembly.  That’s bread pudding for you.  A nice comfort food.  

The End!      {It really is delicious chilled!!!  Enjoy}

Then I did a little poking around the internet.  I  remembered reading another blog around Valentine’s  Day about foods that are thought to bring about feelings of love.  You guessed it, prunes is among those foods listed.  You are welcome to read the list if you are curious.  Then I found the Armagnac Primer in the New Yorker Magazine here where I learned  there definitely is an art to sipping Armagnac, among other points.   When searching for the appropriate cognac for this cake I questioned my local wine & spirits shop about its flavor, a determining factor for acquisition.  I have acquired quite a collection over time.   Dawn was hilarious,  after she giggled she told me it tasted like gasoline.  Anyway, I giggled too as she explained to me its high alcohol content was definitely  handy for the flambe we were doing with this cake.  First it was learning about the flavor of this cognac and then the price.   Of course after I picked myself up off the floor I realized I would most definitely be using the brandy I had in my cabinet.  After all,   this cake wants 2 ounces.  Enough for a fun flambe of the prunes.  Yes, it does have them. What a luscious, velvety result complimenting the bittersweet chocolate with depth of flavor, richness and the all important moist texture.  

Yesterday was a baking day, which I loved.  First there was a carrot cake, followed by the much anticipated  and thank you so very much Lyb of And Then I Do the Dishes,  for finally choosing the lovely Armagnac Chocolate Cake.   This cake was selected from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.   My last little project was Dorie’s cheescake we made earlier and I varied it as a Chocolate Marble with Oreo crust.  Don’t worry all the delicious calories are going elsewhere.  I was reminded by the little voice in my head plus the other swim suit wearing, spring break going, college age, female people, oh yea that half-iron man training middle aged male person, that we just can’t afford to have this delicious kind of food around the house each week.    Like they think they can tell me what to do……ha ha ha.  One can usually locate some willing donors.  

After a little shopping outing today in St. Louis, we returned to the home for dessert.  An inquiry was made about whether this weeks selection was going “somewhere else” or could we have some of it.  I remarked “oh, you probably won’t like it.”  Have you tried telling your picky children that the dessert they are about to eat has prunes in the ingredients list?  Yea right!  Regardless, I set about cutting a piece for Corbin to photograph.  I left it sitting about, turned my back and listened momentarily as I heard the silverware drawer open and close.  After a few moments, my daughter said “Mom why did you think I wouldn’t like this?  It’s really good!”  Secretly I giggled never admitting my reasons.  

We really liked it so much and I think it will find a nice place among the list of chocolate tortes “for friends.”  I would love sharing this and will definitely make it again.  Remember, its possess items on the list of foods of love.  I hope you enjoyed yours too.  

This recipe selection comes from Tuesdays With Dorie baking group, selected by the wonderful baker Lyb of And Then I Do the Dishes,  where she has graciously added the recipe to her post.  So…Go Ahead, stop by and get it.  Its is totally worth the calories.

Off to the gym!

Thank you for coming by for a visit.  Don’t forget that this weekend is Daylights Savings Time, right?  So, you will definitely need to squeeze in a little more shut-eye now and then.

I’ve never made this  recipe before so there were some ups and downs.  As of this writing the cake has not been cut and tasted other than the crumbs and the remnants of cake batter in the mixing bowl.  Which by the way were really pretty good.   By all appearances the cake is nice and moist.  That is a relief with a dark chocolate cake.  

You know that recipe I haven’t tried before?  I’m sending it (minus one piece in the frig) to work with my husband so maybe his coworkers can hash out if it is something I should buy 8″ cake pans for future baking and refining.  Tomorrow I will post an update after I have a taste.  Yum!

Thank you to Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for choosing this wonderfully fun recipe this week.  Don’t forget to check out the cake art of the entire Tuesdays With Dorie Blog roll.  It should be so amazing to see all the black and white cakes.  The recipe for this weeks baking art is here and at Stephanie’s site.  All of the TWD bakers are baking from Dorie Greenspans Baking From My Home to Yours.  

Thank you for visiting here and I hope you enjoy your cake this week.  See you next week for Carmel Crunch Bars.

There are things that stick with you even when you grow up that always spring forward from the back of your mind when you least expect it. I remember my Mother reminding me often that it was okay to be different. I didn’t have to “be” like everyone else, dress like them, act like them and do everything they did. There are a few more things she told me too, but I’ll save those for another cookie. he he    Maybe Dorie has a fortune cookie hidden in the table of contents?  ar ar ar

These little precious cookies are  different.  Being different isn’t bad, its just different.  In this case, the World Peace Cookie is Stupendous!  They are just a European cookie, a sable, that has come to America and chosen to be different from all the other chocolate chip cookies  in the CCC universe.  They don’t even compare.  Just consider the lovely sandy nature of the crumb.  You might remember the “crumbly” nature before baking.  It’s just different and that’s okay.   The fact that the base of the cookie is dark with intense chocolate from the cocoa powder, is ah  so wonderful.   From the moment you bite down on this delicate yet soft crispness you know its not like all the other chocolate chip/chunk cookies you’ve had at every other PTA reception. Right?  The snap of the bits of bittersweet chocolate seal the deal as far as I am concerned.   But wait, there’s more (no, not the knife set) its a salty finish on your palate, and that’s that!

Dorie, thank you for including this lovely little Korova/World Peace Cookie in Baking From My Home to Yours.  By far, this is my absolute numero uno perfecto cookie choice!  Make sure you get this one folks.  Click here to find the recipe over at Jessica’s Cookbook Habit where she has those beautiful cookies just sitting there tempting you to copy for your own use, the recipe for these marvelous cookies.  Now if you aren’t already copying and pasting the recipe in about  the next 5 mintues,  you will live to regret not having the pleasure of baking and eating these  fabulous cookies.  So, just do it!  Option number two is to visit you local bookstore, of course, and pick up Dorie’s book, Baking From My Home to Yours.  You don’t want to be sorry that you let this one get away.  :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really appreciate the visit.  Hope you enjoy your cookies too.

The Chocolate Chunk Muffins were pretty darn good, to quantify though, how could you not like them?  They have wonderful chocolate chunks in them.   Shhhh, don’t tell anyone that I made a mistake and made them anyway.  Just a note to self to enjoy them sometime too. Dorie’s muffins are simple and go together quickly.  The warm chocolatey muffins were enjoyed this morning by a couple of friends who dropped by with a Boo Wish.  Its the season, you know!  They liked them and said they would be good as mini’s for a brunch or anytime of day.  Nice to have tasters magically appear, huh?  I like that too.  Even better the next day.

Tuesdays with Dorie’s  site has a forum for comments on recipes in progress.  Members of TWD have the opportunity to share their opinions and questions.  That being said, this particular recipe was quite provoking.  There was much discussion, lots of ideas about how to improve the finished cupcake to suit the individual.  I don’t know about you, call me silly, but I just needed to see for myself.  One needs a basis for comparison and of course there is always a personal preference.  I followed the recipe.  Even though I was informed of varying ingredients thought to change the outcome.    I know,  why you ask?   I don’t know, maybe because I was always the member of the family who actually read the instructions for the toys the children received at Christmas time.  Go figure.  Being a girl, I also learned that asking for directions proved to be a more efficient use of time.

The Chocolate – Chocolate Cupcakes from Dorie Greenspan’s, Baking From My Home to Yours, was selected by Clara from I Heart Food 4 Thought. Thank you so much for selecting a timely and fun chocolate recipe.  Stop by her place and take a peek at her Boo-Cakes.  They are adorable.  You can tell she had a blast being creative.    I love chocolate and  the recipes I have baked so far all allow for the chocolate of your choice.  Neat huh?  I like dark chocolate.  I think these would go very well with icecream or with filling.  For those of us who are accustomed to lots of sugary icing either on our cupcakes or on our layered cakes, these may be a little anti-climatic.  I missed the icing, honestly.   What I learned?  Maybe to bake them just a little between  making sure they are done enough not to sink and not too done so that they are dry.  Where is that you say?  Well….maybe with a few crumbs on that toothpick you poked in the middle.  Then, I think I would follow the lead of the other wonderful bakers at TWD who adorned their cupcakes with real cream cheese or buttercream icing. [SinglePic not found][singlepic id="72" w="320" h="240" mode="" float="center" ]

If you would like to see the recipe for this weeks Chocolate – Chocolate Cupcakes click on here 

Remember just a few days away from the end of your opportunity to join in the fun at TWD.  Sign up now… don’t wait!  Next week we are having more fun baking so come back by for a visit and don’t forget to leave me a comment.  I love to talk to new friends. [SinglePic not found] 

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  While mixing the cake I thought perhaps if I didn’t mix too much air into the ingredients it would help prevent the sinking middle syndrome.  So I stirred gently as directed by Dorie in the recipe.  Low and behold, don’t know if I was lucky, but I had minimal “sinking in the middle”, just a note to self.  I set the timers  (actually two timers) one for a minute or two less and one for 5 minutes less than the prescribed amount.  I tend to like things not dried out from overbaking.  As I recall I was typing something on the ‘puter when the chocolate aroma hit my nose.  You know that lovely warm chocolate “hey, I am almost finished baking smell”  (not the burned smell).  Anyway, after checking the timer with 9 or 10 minutes to go I was standing at attention waiting to make sure it was perfectly baked.  I waited for a few more minutes before performing  the knife test and it was perfectly baked so I removed it from the oven and left it to cool on a rack.  This is when I ran back for a quick shower to prepare for my time at the salon.  Fast Forward 15 minutes to come back and remove the ring for quicker cooling, as instructed by Dorie.  Done!  Back to finish making ready for Salon time.  Upon returning to the kitchen I reviewed instructions for the caramel.  I have made caramel before, but days have passed and I have slept since then so just wanted to make sure I had all ingredients at the ready.  There is an overwhelming urge to just watch the pot boil.  Actually you really have time to take your eyes off and multi-task at the beginning of the boiling process.  Setting timers really keeps me on task and helps me account for time.  The caramel came together beautifully.   I learned that selecting the right pot for the job really makes a difference in the amount of time required.  I have a heavy 2 1/2 quart saucepan with a wide bottom providing good surface area contact with the burner.  Followed the instructions, plus a couple of minutes and the caramel worked nicely, added the peanuts, stirred and enjoyed the aroma.  It surprised me how beautiful it was atop the chocolate brownie cake.  Look!

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I didn’t get to taste the finished product, just the batter of course,  but the reviews from patrons and employees at the salon were great.  Dorie did it again.  Great elements combined into a really pretty dessert.  Simple as well.  Thank you Tammy from Wee Treats for selecting a tasty and simple dessert.  A combination of all American flavors from Dorie Greenspan’s  Baking from My Home to Yours.  All the of members of the blogroll can be found at Tuesdays with Dorie for a different prospective and lots of fun.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

PS  One more thing…. that remaining caramel sauce, excluding the peanuts, went well with the apple pots de caramel the next night  ymmmm.  I used  fresh apples, (from a friend Molly’s tree) spiced with cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, a little butter.  A good healthy drizzle of caramel sauce, pecans, and the whole wheat biscuit  topping from the Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler recipe, page 415.    It was delicious with vanilla bean ice cream.  Maybe a little more caramel sauce on top, too!

Its time for the next Tuesdays with Dorie baking post for the Dimple Plum Cake.  However, here I am a day late (1 week) and a dollar short.  While I am collecting all the different chocolates and other various ingredients, my husband passes by with an inquisitive look and says, “they have all this chocolate in them?”

Thanks to Claudia from a Fool for Food for this awesome, so I hear or read as the case may be, selection.  If you “Go There” her site is in German.  However, a note, a link in oh so tiny print (for these over 50 eyes) if clicked upon will provide the English version.  There you will find the recipe or a trip to your local book store will provide you the opportunity to procure, for your very own self a copy of Dorie’s Baking from My Home to Yours.  Go ahead,  you’re worth it!  So is the book.

Since I have the added benefit of some of these wonderfully talented baker friends to forge a path in the chocolate wilderness ahead of me like Nancy at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs, thank you for your amazing post.  Take a side trip to her site if you like….go ahead.  It too, is worth it.  I know, I know  its easy to get distracted.  You can come back for a visit.  Okay, now that you’re back, didn’t you love all her variations.  I did, so I am going to adopt some of her tips, factoring in  the ingredients I currently have in my pantry to work with and stir up some Chocolate Madness.  Nancy, you are a chocolate wizardress…

Oh MY Goodness,  I just tasted the dough, with a spoon, Mom.  Wow,  delicious!  Dorie references Maida Heatters’ Mulattoes which I have made numerous times for friends.  They are chocolatey, delicious and worthy of repeating.   I’ve learned  much from her experiences in the kitchen.  Maida is an amazing author and as a beginning baker I was both thrilled and reassured to have her in the kitchen with me to guide me step by step as I went along my baking journey.  I am definitely a fan.

Back to the Chunkers.  In my arsenal of chocolate I pulled Scharffenberger Unsweetened Chocolate, Nestle’s semi-sweet, Callebaut bittersweet and Valrhona unsweetened cocoa powder.  Again, using ingredients from my current supply I pulled Macadamia nuts as well.  No white chocolate, raisins, or other fruits were incorporated.  I just couldn’t bring myself to add white chocolate to otherwise totally chocolate cookies.   Since white chocolate really isn’t chocolate at all.   I love raisins and apricots but my raisins  were a little less than optimum.  Those sad little dudes stayed in their container for some other such baking function, or not.   I didn’t find it bothersome that the cookies didn’t spread.  I think that adds to the overall texture, flavor and sort of “brownie-ness” of the cookies.  I didn’t chop my Macadamia nuts small enough and so the next time I think I will chop the designated nut a little smaller so that the flavor of the nut doesn’t distract from my beloved chocolate.  These cookies are sort of a free for all, chocolate extravaganza, expression of Chocolate Love.  

When making these or Maida’s Mullattoes in the future, I plan to use small pieces of chopped apricot  and a nicely chopped nut.  I like the pairing of apricots and chocolate.  A fruit that is not used every day paired with a lovely creamy, melt in your mouth,  favorite chocolate of your choice.  I think a very important lesson taken away from this weeks cookie choice is the emphasis of good quality chocolate.  The idea comes to mind that like fine wine and coffee beans, chocolate can possess its own nuances, owned by the origination of the cocoa bean and the chocolate’s maker.