FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE

Posted in Cake, Chocolate Bonbons, Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Today it is all a celebration of chocolate, so appropriate for the season, don’t you think? Let’s start with another winner of a recipe by Helen Fletcher.

MEXICAN BROWNIES

To get the recipe, pay a visit to her site, where you can get step by step pictures to guide you through the process. One of the tips she gives is pouring the smooth icing on the brownie after flipping it so that the bottom side is up. That ensures a super flat surface for glazing. It is all in the details, my friends!

Moving on, a Celebration Cake I made for the chef who is behind the homeless meals, a person I admire so much! Works tirelessly to offer free meals 7 days/week.

CHOCOLATE CELEBRATION CAKE WITH RASPBERRY FILLING
(inspired by many sources)

for the cake:
1 + 3/4 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
3/4 cup (70g) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

for the buttercream:
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 + 1/2 cups ( 420g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup ( 45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 to 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the filling:
Raspberry jam (store-bought or homemade)

for optional decoration:
Brazilian brigadeiros (click here for recipe)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 7-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans, or use baking spray.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before filling and frosting.

Make the frosting:
On a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Adjust consistency with more powdered sugar or with heavy cream. Place in a piping bag fitted with appropriate icing tips for the decorations you desire.

Place the first cake on a circular cardboard, add a circle of buttercream as a dam around the perimeter, fill the center with jam. Place second cake on top, repeat the process. Place the last cake on top, cover with a thin crumb cake layer of buttercream and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Finish the buttercream icing, add brigadeiros if so desired, or any other decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I donated this cake whole, so we have not tried it, but I have used this recipe before and it is really a delicious, very moist, intensely chocolate-y cake. The raspberry jam goes very well with it, although it is also outstanding with some salted caramel as the filling.

CHOCOLATE COVERED OREOS, DA VINCI STYLE

These turned out so cool, I was super happy with them. My sister Norma pointed out they reminded her of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions, so that’s the reason for the name. I used a silicone mold I’ve had for many years to make the decorations with dark compound chocolate, later brushed with luster powder copper. I used a very light green to tint the chocolate for the molds.

Finally, I close this post with a series of chocolate cookies decorated according to a tutorial from Tunde Dugantsi. Simple white Royal icing, good practice for fine line piping. It would also work well on gingerbread cookies, keep that in mind. I used my default chocolate cookie recipe for those (find it here).

ONE YEAR AGO: Three Little Cookies for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Two Festive Cakes, Part One

THREE YEARS AGO: Broccoli Slaw Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

FOUR YEARS AGO: Vegan Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

FIVE YEARS AGO: Green Tea Rice with Edamame and Butternut Squash

SIX YEARS AGO: Santa Hat Mini-Mousse Cakes

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Fun with Sourdough

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Pasteis de Nata

NINE YEARS AGO: New Mexico Pork Chile, Crockpot Version

TEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate on Chocolate

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Story of my first Creme Brulle’

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Mini-rolls

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Mediterranean Skewers

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO Fettuccine with Shrimp, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

9Dec2025

108 ASIAN COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I am totally in love with this cookbook! I have a soft spot for baking that is not overly sweet, which might sound strange, as I bake so many sugar cookies, macarons, and cupcakes. But a recipe that calls for adding miso to a cookie gets me dreaming. Salted caramel? Same thing. This is actually my second cookbook from Kat Lieu, and I think both would be a great Christmas gift for bakers (wink, wink).

To order 108 Asian Cookies, click here

To order Modern Asian Baking, click here

Without further ado, here is a wonderfully delicious recipe for Masala Macaroons…

MASALA MACAROONS
(published with permission from 108 Asian Cookies)

One 14-ounce (396 g) can sweetened condensed milk
1 ripe small banana, mashed
1 teaspoon red miso
One 14-ounce (396 g) bag unsweetened shredded coconut
2 teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
About ⅓ cup (60 g) semisweet chocolate chips, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon neutral oil
Sea salt flakes, for garnish
Sprinkles, for garnish (optional)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, mix the condensed milk, mashed banana, and miso until combined. Add the shredded coconut, garam masala, cardamom, and ginger and mix until well combined and the dough can hold itself together.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter for each macaroon and place on the prepared baking sheet. Keep their rounded mound shapes and give each about 1 inch of space. Bake all the macaroons until the edges are crispy and golden brown and the tops are lightly toasted, 16 to 18 minutes.

Let the macaroons set on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the macaroons are cooling, combine the chocolate chips and oil in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring after each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the bottoms of the cooled macaroons into the melted chocolate. Place them back on the parchment-lined baking sheets to set. Drizzle additional melted chocolate on top of each macaroon. Before the chocolate sets completely, sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt and sprinkles on top of each macaroon.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These were superb, I confess to stealing one from the donation box and being happy that I did… If you don’t like coconut, of course these are not for you, but if you love them, be ready for a treat! Easy to make, rich and luscious, one will satisfy your sweet tooth, but the spices and miso tone it down substantially. Truly special… You need them in your life.

As a teaser, these are chocolate chip cookies described by Kat as Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever. They take Ovaltine, molasses and miso. To die for, honestly. You need these cookies and this cookbook in your life.

Big thank you to Kat for allowing me to share this recipe today!

ONE YEAR AGO: Three Little Cookies for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Two Festive Cakes, Part One

THREE YEARS AGO: Broccoli Slaw Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

FOUR YEARS AGO: Vegan Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

FIVE YEARS AGO: Green Tea Rice with Edamame and Butternut Squash

SIX YEARS AGO: Santa Hat Mini-Mousse Cakes

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Fun with Sourdough

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Pasteis de Nata

NINE YEARS AGO: New Mexico Pork Chile, Crockpot Version

TEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate on Chocolate

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Story of my first Creme Brulle’

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Mini-rolls

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Mediterranean Skewers

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO Fettuccine with Shrimp, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

30Nov2025

PINECONE ALMOND COOKIES AND A COOKBOOK TO LOVE

Posted in Cookbook Reviews, Cookies by sallybr

I follow wonderful bakers on Instagram, they are a great source of inspiration, from cookies to cakes, from tarts to bread baking, and patisserie in general. A few months ago I learned that Winnie Lee (IG ohcakeswinnie) was going to publish her first cookbook. I placed an order and anxiously waited. If you like to order Bake with Winnie for you or to gift to someone, click here. Her style of baking is whimsical, clever, creative. Reminds me of one of my favorite bakers from The Great British Bake-Off, Kim-Joy. Bake with Winnie is a book full of gorgeous bakes, colorful, playful, impossible to look at them and not smile. And dream. Today I share with you the second recipe I tried: Pinecone Almond Cookies Tartlets, absolutely adorable!

PINECONE ALMOND COOKIES
(published with permission from Bake with Winnie)

350g (3 ½ cups) ground almonds
125g (1 cup) icing sugar
3 eggs (medium)
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla paste
sliced almonds (for decoration)
50g (⅓ cup) dark chocolate (for dipping)
Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 175°C and line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds and sifted icing sugar. Whisk the eggs, vanilla and almond extract in a separate bowl and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix with a whisk or spatula until you get a thick, slightly sticky paste. You can add a bit more ground almonds (25g / ¼cup) so it’s easier to work with.

Using a small ice cream scoop or your hands slightly damp, portion out the dough. Roll into long oval shapes and slightly flatten them. Arrange on the baking tray. Press sliced almonds into the top of each cookie in overlapping rows to mimic the look of pinecones, leaving about 1/3 of the cookie bare for
dipping in chocolate later.

Bake for about 12–15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar the almond section of the cookie. Melt the dark chocolate and dip the bare end of each cookie into the chocolate. Let the dipped cookies set on parchment paper before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Just loved making this batch of cookies, which could easily also be flipped into hedgehogs, don’t you think? Add the chocolate to the other side, a couple of white drops of chocolate or Royal icing, or even sprinkles for the eyes, and there you go! New shape….. They have a nice texture and that delicious taste of almonds made more intense by the roasted pieces all over. The only time-consuming step is finding nicely shaped almond slices in the bag, they are often a bit too broken or damaged. But it is totally worth it.

Moving on, a teaser recipe from the book, Chocolate Tartlets, in which she makes the dough in a pretty efficient way, shaping them in the bottom side of muffin tins.

That should give you an idea of Winnie’s style of baking. I am totally smitten by her cookbook. So let me take you through a little stroll through her publication… The book is divided in five sections.

PRETTY FOR SPRING. In this section she shares so many bakes with a floral and overall cute component. She opens the chapter with one incredibly beautiful crostata, perfect lattice and colorful flowers all around the edge, all made with pastry. Truly a masterpiece! Imagine Madeleines decorated with pressed flowers, a Roll cake perfect for Valentine’s with hearts imprinted all over. A complete dream of a chapter.

SUMMER LOVIN’. Again the chapter opens with a showstopper, her Happiness Cake Roll, at some point I simply must make it and take for my donations on Fridays. It is one of the happiest bakes I’ve seen, just gives you a smile. A patterned roll cake topped with all kinds of colorful concoctions made of meringue. Another favorite of mine is her Strawberry Cake, decorated with a white buttercream lattice. Must bake! Adorable Linzer-style cookies are part of this chapter too.

SWEET AND SPOOKY. If you are a Halloween-lover like myself, you will flip for this part of her book, but there is a lot more. It starts with cupcakes decorated as little foxes. It is in this chapter that you will find chocolate tartlets I used as a teaser recipe, although hers are different, the filling is ganache and they are all topped with a fresh raspberry. A Spider Web Cake Roll must be part of my Halloween next year. It is a promise! But my very very favorite? A Woodland Cake Roll which is rolled vertically. I’ve been fascinated with this type of cake for a long time.

MAGICAL CHRISTMAS. I almost made her opening recipe, Gingerbread Man Cake Roll. Yes, she is huge on cake rolls, a kind of bake I love and do not make often enough. That must change… Snowflake Pastries made with puff pastry are on my list also. They look absolutely amazing. Perhaps my favorite of this chapter: Holly Mini Tarts. Incredibly cute!

FROSTINGS AND FILLINGS. In this final chapter she shares some of the basic recipe used throughout the book, so it is very useful, plus you can use those for your own versions of cakes and bakes.

I thank Winnie for allowing me to publish a recipe from her cookbook, she is a very sweet person, quite helpful and interactive in her IG page (click here), so pay her a visit and order a copy of her book for yourself or someone you love…

ONE YEAR AGO: Fall Leaves Panch Puran Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Farro with Chickpeas and Spinach

THREE YEARS AGO: Bison a la Mode de Bourgogne

FOUR YEARS AGO: Masala Mashed Potatoes

FIVE YEARS AGO: Lessons from Tanya: Sugar Cookie Silhouettes

SIX YEARS AGO: Cherry-Chipotle Chicken Thighs

SEVEN YEARS AGO: White Chocolate Mini-Mousse with Sugared Cranberries

EIGHT YEARS AGO: You Say Ebelskiver, I say Falafel

NINE YEARS AGO: Happy Thanksgiving!

TEN YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree & The Global Pastry Review

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Tartine Bread: Basic Country Loaf

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

26Nov2025

BAKING WITH THE HEART

Posted in Breads, Cookies by sallybr

This is the time to focus on everything we are grateful for.
Cook with love, bake with love. Share. Repeat.

DRAGON FLOWER SOURDOUGH LOVE
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

STENCIL from Sourdough Fever, available HERE

480g bread flour
20g spelt flour
16g dragon flower powder
10g salt
350g water
75g sourdough starter (70-100% hydration)

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, the Dragon flower powder and the salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. If the dough is too sticky, add a maximum of 1/4 cup flour, you want the dough to start clearing the sides of the bowl, but still be sticky at the bottom.

Remove from the machine. Get a small piece of dough and place in a little glass container to follow fermentation (optional, but highly recommended). Transfer the dough to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 2 hours, folding every 30 minutes or so. After the fourth folding cycle, let the dough sit at room temperature until doubled in size, following the progress in the small amount of dough removed.

Shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours or even longer, if you prefer.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, carefully place the stencil on top, and dust with flour. Make sure to rub the flour well into the design, a small brush is helpful. Lift the stencil and place the dough in a Dutch oven.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This is actually my second loaf with the Dragon flower powder, the first one was beautifully pink inside, but this turned out marbled and light. Cannot quite figure it out, it was the same exact formula and method. Oh, well. Still absolutely delicious, no change in flavor, maybe the crumb has slightly more moisture, the bread is a bit more tender than a sourdough without the powder.
.

Moving on, I share a series of cookies that center on a message of love….

Royal icing lavender base; details in piping consistency white. Fondant rose detail.

Scalloped edge heart cookie. Iced in two tones of Dusty Rose. Details in piping consistency gray.

Dusty Rose for the base icing. Details in dark Dusty Rose, piping consistency, same for bead border.

Inspired by a little reel I saw on Facebook. Shape cut by hand. Iced in two stages, wet on wet details, and piping consistency dark Dusty Rose. Fondant for the detail at the bottom.