THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: MASCARPONE BROWNIES

The last Monday of the month is here again, and with it comes the much anticipated reveal day for the members of Group D in The Secret Recipe Club. For those who don’t know, each month we are assigned (in secret) a blog to cook from. We “stalk” the blog, pick a recipe, cook it, write a blog about it, and set it to go live at exactly the same time on reveal day. This month my blog was Sweetly Serendipity, hosted by the beautiful Taryn, a baking goddess who lives in Boston and dreams of opening her own bakery some day. Yeap, that’s how serious she is. Once I started browsing her site and noticing the profusion of cakes, some extremely involved, I felt a bit uneasy. For instance, I was smitten by this cake, but it will have to wait for a less chaotic time in my life. I kept on browsing her recipes, until I got to “mascarpone brownies”. Simply scrumptious. This is what she had to say about them:

It’s kind of like eating a dense chocolate souffle — their texture is light and airy, but the flavors are deep and delicious. They satisfy every feeling, and shower your mouth with a tantalizing array of sensations. They are smooth and creamy and absolutely perfect.

I had to bake a batch! 😉

MASCARPONE BROWNIES
(from Sweetly Serendipity)

for the brownies
1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (sifted)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
3 large eggs, at room-temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the ganache
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 325F and cover a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.

In glass mixing bowl melt butter in microwave on full power. Stir in chocolate and mix until combined. If the chocolate doesn’t fully melt, place it in the microwave again for a few seconds at a time.

Add sugar to the chocolate/butter mixture and mix until combined. Heat for an additional 30 seconds on high, remove and stir until it looks shiny. Don’t worry if it still seems a bit grainy. Add marscarpone cheese, vanilla, eggs and mix until smooth.

Sift flour, salt and cocoa into the chocolate mixture and stir just until combined, making sure to scrape all sides of the bowl. The batter will be rather light in texture, instead of dense and heavy like many brownie batters.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth top to ensure even baking. Bake for 40-50 minutes until tester comes out clean. If the surface seems uneven, use the flat end of a potato masher to lightly tamp down the surface of the brownies while they are still warm. This will help the ganache coat evenly. Leave in pan and set on wire rack to cool.

While brownies are cooling, make the ganache to pour over the top, a step you should do before the brownies are cold. Heat butter and cream on medium power (taking care not to boil) in the microwave and add chocolate. Stir until all lumps disappear. Immediately pour over brownies. Let cool completely. It is a good idea to place the pan in the fridge to allow the ganache to set. Once chilled a knife will cut through the brownies quite cleanly. Make sure to clean your blade for each cut for a more polished look.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

These brownies were simply spectacular! I never had a brownie with ganache on top, but it’s never too late to find new forms of decadence in life. One piece of brownie will satisfy your chocolate craving for a while, so be the best person you can be and share! 😉
Taryn’s description for these brownies was perfect, I’ve got nothing to add! They will be a hit at any party you take them to, and they are very easy to make, ganache included. I actually made them in our almost completely bare kitchen in Oklahoma, using a couple of bowls, a baking dish, and a cheap whisk (bought for the occasion, as mine was 312 miles away, in Manhattan).

Taryn, thanks for a great recipe!

Please visit my virtual buddies from Group D following the links provided by the blue frog at the end of the post, and have fun!

ONE YEAR AGO: Salmon Tacos

TWO YEARS AGO: Cinnamon Turban Bread

THREE YEARS AGO: Summertime Gratin

7Jul2012

JACQUES TORRES CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Disclaimer: I am not a food snob. A person who is not ashamed of confessing her love for Velveeta, and a weakness for R amen instant noodles, cannot possibly qualify as a food snob. However, I must say that unless you get a bag of Jacques’ chocolate disks (or, for added charm call them “fèves” like the French do), don’t bother making these cookies. Regular chocolate chips, or even the best possible quality chocolate cut in pieces simply won’t do the job. Food snob? Who, moi? 😉

JACQUES TORRES CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(by Jacques Torres, published at The New York Times)

Heads up:
Dough must be prepared 24 to 72 hours before baking the cookies!

1 + 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 + 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 + 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 + 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups (minus 2 Tablespoons) cake flour
1 + 2/3 cup bread flour
1 pound bittersweet chocolate discs ( fèves)

Cream the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, and salt across the mixture, distributing them as evenly as possible, and them into the dough. Add the flours and mix gently until just combined. Carefully stir in the chocolate disks, avoid breaking them into pieces, they must stay as intact as possible. Scrape down the dough neatly down into the mixing bowl and press a plastic wrap directly onto it. Refrigerate the dough for 24 to 72 hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop the dough into balls just between the size of golf and tennis balls, adjusting any protruding chocolate discs so that they are horizontal in orientation. Bake them until they are pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. You can also make smaller balls of dough and bake them for a shorter time.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

I had so much fun making these cookies! First, they gave me the perfect opportunity to put to use a special gift from one of our graduate students (as I mentioned here). Second, the fact that the dough must be prepared in advance makes it a lot easier to bake them and bring them still warm to the lab, which was my main intention. I made them smaller than the recipe calls for, so they baked a little faster.
I also saved two cookie balls in the freezer, and surprised Phil on a Sunday morning with freshly baked cookies to go along with his cappuccino. I got some brownie points that weekend. Or, maybe they were cookie points? 😉
These are now my favorite choc chip cookies! They are deliciously messy to eat, as each disk melts in your mouth, giving off an intense chocolate flavor, absolutely decadent! I would not add nuts to these cookies, by the way. No distractions from the path to bliss. Only chocolate.

If you are in New York, visit Jacques Torres store and grab a bag or two of these disks. If you are not in the Big Apple, order them online by clicking here. They are perfect for baking, but also great for that late night chocolate craving. A couple of “feves”, and you are all set!

ONE YEAR AGO: Ina Garten’s Banana Bran Muffins

TWO YEARS AGO: Beer Bread with Roasted Barley

THREE YEARS AGO: Tomato Confit with Arugula and Zucchini

1Jun2012

BAKED COCONUT & “THE BRAZILIAN KITCHEN”

Posted in Cookbook Reviews, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Or, you can call it as Brazilians do: Cocada de Forno

I am very excited to share this recipe, because it’s a very traditional Brazilian delicacy, one that brought me fond memories. Full disclosure: as a child, I wasn’t too wild about coconut, the texture and the way the shredded pieces got into my teeth distracted from its flavor. Thankfully I grew out of that phase, and now embrace the fruit’s unique flavor and texture with the appreciation it deserves. Cocada is a popular street food, sold in markets and coffee joints as small pieces wrapped in a paper napkin. You can take a look at them here. This version, from the book “The Brazilian Kitchen“, will produce a softer version, to be spooned out of a baking dish, or – if baked a little longer, as I did – a sort of blondie with intense coconut flavor. Absolutely perfect for a spring or summer day, it might very well bring a blast of sunshine to your deepest winter.

COCADA DE FORNO (BAKED COCONUT)
(published with permission from Chef Leticia Schwartz)

8 Tbs butter (1/2 cup), at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup sweetened, condensed milk
1 Tbs rum (optional)
1 + 1/2 cups grated coconut (unsweetened)
2 Tbs all-purpose flour, sifted

Heat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 24-oz baking dish with butter or cooking spray.

Place the butter and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat them together at medium speed until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Add the coconut milk, the condensed milk, and the rum (if using), and continue to mix until well blended (about one more minute). Add the coconut and mix until incorporated. Fold the flour with a rubber spatula, and spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. You can make the batter ahead of time, keeping it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Bake in the 350 F oven until the top looks golden brown, the edges are set, but the center is slightly jiggly, about 20 minutes (or if you prefer a firmer consistency, bake until set, 30 to 35 minutes). Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve with a scoop of lemon sorbet for a magical experience…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

About “The Brazilian Kitchen“: As you may remember, I’ve been on a self-induced cookbook-starvation-diet lately. I bought this book as a gift for a dear friend, and had it at my bedside table for a few days. I knew I had to say goodbye to it, but Leticia’s writing and her recipes were so enticing that I decided to photocopy some (many) pages. Well, I didn’t have to: Phil ordered one for me! So, that explains how a person fully resolved not to buy cookbooks still manages to increase her collection… 😉

I could not be happier with my gift! Leticia covers many of my favorite Brazilian recipes, some of which I’ve featured in the blog: moqueca, chicken soup, black beans, pao de queijo, and brigadeiros. Speaking of brigadeiros, she includes three recipes for them: the traditional chocolate, and two tasty departures from the classic, coconut and pistachio brigadeiros. Dreamy delight…

You will also find recipes for many other Brazilian classics: acaraje‘ (bean fritters), xim xim de galinha (chicken, shrimp, peanut and cashew stew), vatapa‘ (fish puree with coconut milk), quindim (coconut custard cake).

But, what I like the most about “The Brazilian Kitchen” is that Leticia goes beyond the classics, and brings very creative dishes to the table, like “caipirinha risotto”, a playful take on the great Italian dish, using the ingredients of Brazil’s signature drink: pinga and lime juice.

Want some more teasers? Red pepper and Brazil nut pesto, sole with coconut ginger sauce, tilapia with acai’ sauce, dulce de leche molten cake, Passion fruit cannoli… many wonderful temptations to cook and enjoy!

If you are curious about Brazilian cooking, this book is a must-have, so help the economy with a click... And, if you want to see Chef Leticia in action (she is also a great teacher!) jump here for a demonstration on making cod fritters.

Leticia, thank you for allowing me to publish your recipe, and I look forward to your next cookbook!

ONE YEAR AGO: Two-Stage Risotto

TWO YEARS AGO: Life is a matter of taste (and I still miss you, David Rosengarten!)

30Apr2012

THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Posted in Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

The last Monday of the month is the much awaited Reveal Day for Group D of The Secret Recipe Club! For those who don’t know about it, The Secret Recipe is an event in which food bloggers from the same group are paired (in secret), and have about 3 weeks to choose a recipe from their assigned blog, cook it, and compose a blog. Everyone publishes their post on reveal day at the exact same time. How cool is that? If you want to become a member (beware, there is a waiting list), visit the site and get in touch with Amanda, the founder of this fun group.

For my sixth participation at the SRC I was paired with “The More than Occasional Baker”, a virtual spot hosted by a very accomplished baker from London. She defines herself as a “baking addict”, and as I browsed through her blog, it was clear she was not kidding! What is a poor cake-o-phobe blogger to do when faced with such a Herculean task? Knowing my limitations, I searched for something that wouldn’t involve creaming butter with sugar, preparing an Italian meringue, or handling icing bags. Suddenly, three beautiful words comforted my soul: triple chocolate brownies. Anything with triple chocolate makes me go weak in the knees, and I am quite fond of brownies because for the most part they are fuss-free. Plus, once I read her post about the recipe, I wanted to stop everything and go buy the three kinds of chocolate (and a little extra of the white, just because… 😉 )

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
(from The More than Occasional Baker)

200g bittersweet chocolate (1 cup)
50g milk chocolate (1/4 cup)
225g butter (1 cup or 2 sticks)
4 eggs
325g unrefined golden caster sugar (I used light brown sugar) (1 + 1/2 cups)
0.5 tbsp vanilla essence
200g white chocolate (1 cup)
150g plain flour, sifted (1 + 1/2 cup)
pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 360 F (180 C). Line a baking dish (11in x 7in x 2.5 in) with parchment paper. Break the bittersweet and milk chocolate into pieces, and melt in the microwave with the butter. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Chop the white chocolate not too finely. Reserve.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk this mixture in the cooled chocolate/butter, then fold the flour, the salt, and finally the chunks of white chocolate.

Pour the mixture in the prepared baking dish, place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is dry and cracked, and the center still moist when tested with a toothpick.

Remove from the oven, cool over a rack, and when the brownie is at room temperature, remove from the pan and cut in squares.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you are not too fond of white chocolate, MAKE THESE BROWNIES ANYWAY. They are amazing! We took them to the lab to celebrate one of our students passing his qualifying exam, and they disappeared in a few minutes! The crumbs left on the serving plate were fought over with considerable enthusiasm by two members of our group, normally quite well-mannered.

They are fudgy, dense, moist, sweet, decadent, with a nice crunchy surface that provides a perfect contrast with the creamy center. The white chocolate, kept in chunks, is a superb touch, don’t skip it. I didn’t add nuts (macadamia would be the number 1 choice), because one of our students is allergic to them.

I couldn’t be happier with this month’s adventure! Stop by “The More than Occasional Baker” to see all the goodies she makes on a regular basis. Maybe I should become a more regular baker myself 😉

Check out all other posts from bloggers in my group, by clicking on the blue frog at the very end of this post…

ONE YEAR AGO: Springtime Salad

TWO YEARS AGO: Indonesian Delight

24Mar2012

GOT STOUT?

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Make a chocolate stout cake!

This wasn’t just any stout beer …it was a stout made by Chuck, a graduate student in our lab, who is soon to become Dr. Chuck. In my husband’s opinion he already deserves a PhD in beer making. We like to think that growing bacteria in our lab on a regular basis helped him master the brewer’s yeast, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. What matters is that Chuck has been producing amazing beer, and he often shares his favorites with us. I love to cook with beer, so when he gave us a couple of bottles of his oatmeal stout I immediately reserved one to make this cake. As an added bonus, it gave me a chance to use this very cool baking pan, that was sitting ignored in our kitchen for way too long, from my cake-phobia.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE
(from Bon Appetit, September 2002)

1 cup stout beer
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 + 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
Heat the oven to 350°F. If using a bundt type pan (or the flower pan I did), make sure to coat all the ridges with melted butter, using a brush. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is fully smooth. Allow it to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In another bowl, beat eggs and sour cream until blended, preferably using an electric mixer. Add the beer-chocolate mixture to the egg- sour cream and beat just until combined. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using a spatula, fold the batter to make sure everything is well mixed, with no clumps of flour remaining.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 35to 40 minutes for a single cake, or 25 to 30 minutes for a 6-single cake pan. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack. Serve with a dust of powdered sugar on top, if so desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

To my taste, this cake is close to perfect! The bitterness of the beer cuts any excessive sweetness, making this chocolate cake a “grown-up” dessert. The original recipe called for a ganache coating, but I opted for a light dusting of powdered sugar instead.

The flower pan makes for a nice presentation, but one cake might be a bit too big for a single person. I was happy with half, saving the other half for later. About 5 minutes later, that is… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: The Odd Couple

ONE YEAR AGO: Cottage Loaf and Yeasty Dogs