Amy Ruth

A classic example of something my husband always says to me when he discovers what I am doing.  Makes me laugh.  ”You haven’t made this recipe before and your going to serve it to guests, tonight?”  ”Well, yea!?!” is usually my response.  He rolls his eyes and just laughs at me.  Do you do that?  I am that fly by the seat of my pants girl.  How else are you going to find out if  the food is good, right?  

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.

Growing up, as a little girl in a funeral home, ( yep, that’s right) makes you kind of different already. I mean, lets face it. How many funeral homes are there in a town of 3,000 people? You get the picture?  Do you even know someone who grew up in a Funeral Home?   Don’t worry…

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.

Okay, I have to explain myself.  I am prone to (what I think are ) logical assumptions.  Because the beautiful photograph of the Chocolate Chunk Muffins was a few pages away from last weeks featured attraction, I naturally proceeded to the muffins.  Instead of the Chocolate Cupcakes. Oops!  Please tell me someone else almost thought the same thing???  So, as it goes I prepared, mise en place, the ingredients for the Chocolate Chunk Muffins.  In my mode of logical assumptions, I thought, ah well, it might be interesting to compare the two. [SinglePic not found]

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 not found]

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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[SinglePic not found]Tuesdays with Dorie, in my case this week, was also Tuesdays with Steve, my hairdresser.  The day for “the magic wand.”   After my trip to the gym, I quickly mixed together this neat little cake for my 8 inch springform pan (which I use for a wonderful cake in Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet cookbook- my sweet, precious husband bought them both for me), popped it in the oven while I tidied up.

  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!

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!

Actually, I am playing catch up….  I’ve had this post written for sometime, sitting there, waiting.  So here we go, trying to get back in syn with the baking rhythm.  In case anyone is stopping by these days.  Boo Hoo!  I’m so sorry I was distracted with some other tail gate projects, football games, and the sort of timing of my resident photographer.  Good News, back in the swing!

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.