Chewy Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup butter
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside. In a mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes.
3. Blend in chocolate mixture, flour and salt until just mixed.
4. Stir in the nuts. Pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes. (Don’t overbake.)

Written by Ian McKenzie on November 28th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking.

Mayan Chocolate Pepper Cookies

Ingredients:

Topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Cookies:

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2  eggs
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Topping:

1. Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping.

Cookies:

1. Beat shortening, butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Roll in 1” balls, don’t flatten. Roll into cinnamon and sugar topping. Place on prepared cookie sheets, about 2” (5 cm) apart.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes. Co
4. okies should still be soft in centre. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Remove, cool on wire rack.

Written by Ian McKenzie on November 26th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking.

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

This is one excellent cookie recipe and it freezes well.

Ingredients: 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Topping:

Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping.

Cookies:

Beat shortening, butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll in 1” (2.5 cm) balls, don’t flatten. Roll into cinnamon and sugar topping. Place on prepared cookie sheets, about 2” (5 cm) apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies should still be soft in centre. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Remove, cool on wire rack.

Note:

Cookies can be frozen raw and stored in an airtight bag or container. If baking from frozen, add 5 minutes to baking time.

Written by Ian McKenzie on September 13th, 2007 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Baking and Cookies.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1¾ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Topping:

• ¾ cups brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Combine sour cream and soda in bowl.
2. In a separate bowl blend together the butter and sugar, adding sifted dry ingredients alternately with sour cream.
3. Spread one half the mixture into an 8 inch square baking pan.
4. Spread half the topping onto the batter, and then add the remainder of the batter. Sprinkle remaining topping over the entire pan.
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until done (test in the centre with a toothpick).

Serve warm or cold.

Written by Ian McKenzie on July 27th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Cakes.

Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

1/3 cup finely crushed chocolate wafers
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 orange, zested
1 egg
Butter, for greasing

Special equipment: mini muffin tin

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the crushed chocolate wafers and the melted butter. Place a tightly packed teaspoon of the wafer mixture into each mini-muffin cup and press down firmly.

In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the sugar, half of the orange zest, and the egg. Blend until smooth. Lightly grease the sides of the mini muffin tin with butter. Fill the cups with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture. Place the mini muffin tin in a baking dish and pour enough hot water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the mini muffin tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer the mini muffin tin to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use a small knife to gently pop the cheesecakes out of the cups.

Just before serving, combine the remaining orange zest with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Top each individual cheesecake with about 1/4 teaspoon of the orange zest mixture and serve.

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Food Network: Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes.

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 21st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Dessert.

Watch Out Duff Goldman

My wife’s youngest daughter Andrea has taken to cake making and produced this Louis Vuitton purse cake for her sister’s birthday.

Apart from one afternoon class in working with fondant, she’s had no formal training in baking or decorating. She does watch Ace of Cakes faithfully and has picked up a lot of tips from the show.

For example, this week’s episode, Four Weddings and a Rat, Duff gives a tip for mixing the silver with vodka to create “paint”. The alcohol evaporates quickly, leaving it dry. Andrea took the same approach with the gold that she used to decorate the purse.

I’ve posted full-size versions of these two pictures —here and here. You can see some of the other cakes Andrea has made and decorated here.

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 15th, 2007 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Cakes.

Banana Ginger Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg, fork beaten
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

Directions

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Make a well in centre.
2. Mix next 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour into well. Stir until just moistened. Do not over mix.
3. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle with second amount of brown sugar. Bake in 375 F oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and wooden pick inserted in centre of muffin comes out clean.
4. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins.

Written by Ian McKenzie on April 5th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Breakfast.

Food Bites - February 10

Morsels from this week’s food-blog browsing:

• Ganache with Panache – a recipe for ganache and a mocha chocolate chip cookie.
• Savoury Pork Stew – serves 8.
• What Does 200 Calories Look Like? – From 3 pounds of celery to a couple of tablespoons of canola oil.
• Growing Influence of Food Bloggers – Some thoughts from Catherine on a New York Times article about food bloggers.

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 9th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Diet and Cookies and Pork and Stew and Learning.

Rise And Shine Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup  raisins
• 1/4 cup  walnuts
• 1/4 cup shredded  coconut
• 1 apple; diced
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3. Stir in carrots, raisins, walnuts coconut and apple.
4. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce and vanilla.
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry until batter is just combined.
6. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Written by Ian McKenzie on February 7th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Baking and Breakfast.

Schamburger Birthday Cake

We decided to try Bob Blumer’s Schamburger cake  for a birthday dinner today. The “hamburger is made using two white cakes as the bun, a brownie (recipe below) as the meat patty, mango puree as mustard, raspberry puree as ketchup, green and yellow jello as relish and sliced almonds as sesame seeds.

(click for full-sized pictures)

Directions:
1. Mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa powder. Blend in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

3. Blend in dry ingredients and chopped nuts.

4. Pour batter into greased 13X9X2 inch pan. Bake at 350F 30 to 35 minutes.

Written by Ian McKenzie on January 21st, 2007 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Baking and Cakes.

« Older articles

No newer articles