Coriander and Chocolate Chips

In Bulgaria I dreamed of tart pans. And electric mixers. Cream of Tartar. Maple extract. Meanwhile, I learned to cook. Sometimes I didn't know exactly what I was making, like when I mixed up those caramel rolls with a jar of clear sticky liquid that looked like corn syrup.

They turned out.

Who would have guessed that a place where I couldn't read the labels on most foods would turn out to be the perfect place to get comfortable in the kitchen? It still seems a bit miraculous that I sounded out the Cyrilic world "kor-ee-aahn-der" and realized coriander was the same as cilantro. A Bulgarian vocabulary sheet on spices, a google image of a cilantro leaf, and an online spice dictionary all helped me in my pursuit of making pico de gallo.

All of which is to say that lacking a tart pan didn't hold me back much. But it's fun having one. So far I've made one lemon tart and one chocolate-chip pecan tart (see below). Why so few? Well, it's not my only new kitchen toy. I've also been busy with my new angel food cake pan, cherry pitter, zester, rice cooker and blender.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Tart

Lightly adapted from Mom's Book of Baking

Simplest Pie Crust

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat to 325 F.

2. Gently lay the rolled out dough into the tart pan. Press firmly into the corners so the dough doesn't stretch as it bakes. Run a rolling pin across the top of the pan to cut off the excess. Prick the bottom of the crust a few times with a fork. Place the tart pan in the freezer while you mix the filling. (Or don't if you don't have room in your freezer, like me!).

3. Combine the sugar and flour in a mixing bowl. Stir in the butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.

4. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

5. Take the tart shell out of the freezer. Place it on a baking sheet and pour the filling into the crust.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the filling is just set. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving. Store at room temperature.

Delicious

When I brought these "magic" bars to my advisees this week, they polished them off in mere seconds and then picked the crumbs off the bottom of the tupperware. They were an equally big hit at our poker game last night. So unlike my last experiment, the disastrous spreading mocha cookies, this trial paid off. See for yourself. They only take about 10 minutes to make.

Cranberry Butterscotch Magic Bars

Adapted from Baking Bites

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup walnuts

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 can condensed milk

Dark Chocolate Chips or a dark chocolate candy bar, in pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 176 C. Grease an 8 X 8" pan or line it with parchment.

2. Stir together the oats, butter, and graham cracker crust. Press it into the baking dish with your fingers or a small flat spatula.

3. Drizzle the condensed milk over the crust (or wait and pour it over the layers, I think this is what I'll do next time).

4. Spread the walnuts, cranberries, and butterscotch chips across the top in even layers.

5. Sprinkle on the dark chocolate last.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cool completely in the pan before slicing into triangles, diamonds, or squares.

The Big Cookie

What is it that fascinates us about the giant cookie? Eating a giant cookie is just so much better than eating 2 or 3 smaller ones. There is more gooey center between those crisp edges, more mass to hold the milk you dunk it in, more crevices in which chocolate can hide. Lately I've seen a lot of recipes for huge cookies across the blogging world, but probably none as famous as the New York Times chocolate chip cookie from two years ago. This recipe, the result of an extensive research binge by one reporter, supposedly contains all the best characteristics he discovered on his cookie journey. What's not to like about that? Try it for yourself and see.

The New York TImes Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 cups minus 2 TBSP cake flour (or all-purpose if you don't have cake flour, like me)

1 2/3 cups bread flour (or all-purpose if you don't have bread flour, like me)

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 cup plus 2 TBSP granulated sugar

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsps vanilla

1 1/4 pounds chocolate disks or broken up chocolate bars (at least 60% cacao)

Sea Salt

1. Whisk flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt in one bowl.

2. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugars until very light and fluffy (5-6 minutes). Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

3. Add the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated, but don't stir any more than that.

4. Carefully fold in the chocolate, trying not to break up the pieces.

Cover the dough in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours (no more than 72).

5. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 176 C and line a baking tray with parchment.

6. Spoon five golf ball size chunks of dough onto the sheet, two on one end, one in the middle, and two on the other end. These are going to expand a lot! Sprinkle the dough balls with a small pinch of sea salt.

Bake 18-20 minutes until golden but not crisp, rotating sheet halfway. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes before removing to racks or paper towels.

Enjoy!

Love the big cookie idea?

Find out how to make giant M and M cookies in muffin top pans at Picky Palate.

Try the 4 oz super chocolate cookie from My Baking Addiction.

Baby Shower Cheesecakes

I was presented with an interesting challenge this week when I found out my friend Petia, whose baby shower I would be attending, doesn't really like sweets. What was a dessert-baking girl to do? But! She likes cheesecake. So I wanted to make cheesecake, but for some reason, I thought mini-cheesecakes would be more baby showerish.

So I searched online and found the perfect recipe. Not only was it for mini-cheesecakes made simply in a muffin pan (who has one of those pans made JUST for mini-cheesecakes anyway?), it involved Oreo cookies, which just arrived in Bulgarian stores this month, and which I seem to have developed an unexpected addiction to.

Really? A girl who likes to make her own cranberry sauce and squeeze her own orange juice is fond of Oreo cookies? Yes, I admit it. I like packaged cookies.

These mini-cheesecakes got some of the happiest reviews I've heard all year, so I highly recommend trying them yourself. They are stunningly simple too.

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes (recipe can easily be doubled)

Barely adapted from Bake or Break

12 whole oreos

8 oreos, crushed or chopped into small pieces

1 pound (2 8 oz packages) cream cheese (room temperature!)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, beaten lightly in a small bowl with a fork

1/2 cup sour cream

1 shake of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 275 F (135 C).

2. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers, then place a whole oreo at the bottom of each cup.

3. Stir the cream cheese in a big mixing bowl. It should be soft if you've let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. Stir in the sugar and then the vanilla.

4. Drizzle in the eggs, stirring constantly. Add the sour cream and salt. Mix thoroughly until everything is blended.

5. Add the crushed cookies and stir.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups.

7. Bake for about 22 minutes or until the centers are set.

Cool completely at room temperature and then put in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Right before serving, remove from muffin tin and peel off papers.

Constructing a Cake

Two of my friends had birthdays this week. So I made a two layer cake. And doubled the recipe. And ended up with one HUGE cake. Which cake? David Lebovitz's Devil's Food Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache.

I used to find layer cakes intimidating, but they really aren't much more work than a single cake. You just have to butter two pans and frost a marginally greater surface area. Try it! It makes for such a cute layered slice. David does a great job of explaining the process with his recipe here. While you're there, if you haven't already, explore the blog. He's a great baker.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Sunday night I needed a dessert fast for our Sunday night potluck. One thing I knew for sure, I had just the frosting to put on top of whatever it was I made. I love this buttercream. It's great on cookie cake, but it also shines on cupcakes. Or directly from the bag. Whatever. It's tasty.

I only have one cupcake pan, which turned this recipe for 16 cupcakes into 12 high domed wonders. I recommend the 12 little mountain tops, if you like that kind of thing...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

12-16 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

For the frosting:

1/4 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 TBSP milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Line 12-16 muffin cups.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the hot water and cocoa until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

4. In your main bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.

5. Stir in the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then add the cooled cocoa/water mixture and stir until smooth.

6. Fill cups 2/3 (or more) full. Bake 16-20 minutes. The cupcakes are done when you can insert a toothpick (which I never have, so a fork works too) and it comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes before frosting.

Make the frosting:

1. Cream the (room temperature) butter and powdered sugar.

2. Stir in the milk and vanilla.

Frost!

A Cook's Confidence and Mocha Cookies

When I first learned to cook I had no confidence in the kitchen at all. Marinate was a cloudy concept, my first stock smelled like onions had exploded in my nose, and if I didn't have one of the ingredients in a recipe, forget it. Why even try? I made exact measurements, kept track of timing to the minute, and never, ever, added random ingredients just to see if they would make a recipe better.

Tonight I eyeballed a cup of sugar in my apple pie, substituted 1 tablespoon of butter for 2 because it would conveniently finish a pack, tore random basil leaves into my pizza sauce until it felt like enough, and changed the oven temperature for the pie because it just seemed too hot. I prebaked the pizza crusts since they were a bit soggy last time and experimented with boiling down my sauce since it's sometimes too watery. In short, I used the recipes as guides but I was the cook.

Clearly, times have changed. Confidence in the kitchen is probably my biggest cooking asset now. I answer questions from helpers authoritatively, even when I have never tackled the particular problem they are dealing with. More of that? Yes. Stir it like this? No quite, more like this. It's like I have a cooking compass, and it mainly points towards good food.

But then sometimes it doesn't. Like when I made these mocha cookies from my favorite bakery in California - Some Crust. I took my cook's confidence just one step too far - substituting random chocolate for 99% cocoa, random chocolate for bittersweet, regular flour for pastry flour, and my own quick arm for an electric mixer. I couldn't get that other stuff, so I thought why not try? Ho hum. I suppose they do make recipes the way they are for a reason!

Still, even my mocha cookie giant pancake flops were pretty good. Only imagine how good they would be if you had all the ingredients and tools AND confidence. Check out Some Crust's recipe here at Bake Space.

Stars in my Pie

Happy Pi Day (yesterday)! This is probably my favorite thing I've made this year, so go make it yourself and ENJOY.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Crust

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 tsp flour

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

scant 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pudding Layer (from Smitten Kitchen)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups whole milk (or use 1/2 cup cream and 2 1/2 cups skim like me)

4 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 tsp vanilla

Whipped Cream Layer

1 cup heavy cream

2 TBSP sugar

First, the crust.

1. Melt the butter while you combine the rest. Stir in the butter. Press firmly into a pie dish and bake at 325 F for 10 minutes.

Then, the pudding.

1. Whisk together the cornstarch, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it starts to boil. This will take a while. Keep on whiskin'! Whisk as it boils for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Whisk in the chocolate pieces and vanilla. Pour into the pre-baked crust.

Just before serving.

1. Chill a metal bowl.

2. Pour in the cream and sprinkle the sugar on top. Beat until the whipped cream holds peaks. Use a rubber spatula to shape the cream attractively on top of the pudding layer.

And if you want...

Shave curls of chocolate on the whipped cream. You might enjoy melting chocolate on a double boiler (or a metal bowl over simmering water) and squeezing it through a hole in a plastic bag onto parchment to make shapes. Chill in the fridge for 1/2 an hour and you too can have stars in your pie! Or spell out Happy Pi Day. Or whatever.

What I DIDN'T buy in the U.S. this week: Oreos

We got back late last night after a week of job interviews, visits with friends, and trips to the almost equally enticing beaches and grocery stores of California. I brought back almost as many American food items as I did clothes, but one thing that didn't tempt me were Oreos (or Newman-Os). Why not? Because I made my own right before we left.

Let me say up front that this is one of the finickiest cookie doughs I've ever dealt with. In order to get that dry crunchy chocolate cookie to sandwich the rich creamy frosting, you must be prepared for seriously crumbly batter. But if you persevere, good things will happen.

Homemade Oreos

1 1/4 all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 sticks room-temperature butter

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

Frosting (I used the same buttercream I use to frost cookie cakes)

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg and yolk.

3. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix these dry ingredients into the wet ones.

4. Use your hands to mold balls of dough and drop evenly onto the cookie sheets, leaving a few inches in between. Bake 9 minutes (don't overdo it or they'll be impossible to chew!).

5. Sandwich the cookies with PLENTY of frosting.

Eat. Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Heath Blossoms

In California there seem to be frozen yoghurt and ice cream shops on almost every block. You walk in, sample half a dozen flavors, and then choose from a dizzying array of toppings to be "cut" into your dessert.

My favorite is cake batter ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough and rainbow sprinkles. It sounds disgusting, I know. But a close second is some kind of peanut butter frozen yoghurt with Heath bar or Butterfinger, and I set out to replicate those flavors last night in a cookie, since my favorite frozen yoghurt shop "21 Choices", is now thousands of miles away.

The final cookie was golden, crunchy, peanut buttery, with a hint of Heath that would have been better defined if I had more than 1/4 cup of Heath crumbs left in my U.S. baking supplies hoard. Ah well, it was still pretty great, and you can add more Heath if you're residing in the Western world.

Peanut Butter Heath Blossoms

(adapted from the Heath Bar Cookies at Simply Recipes)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar (though I might try 1 cup white / 1/2 cup brown next time)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Heath chips (or more, depending on how Heathy you want it)

1 cup chocolate chunks (I just cut up 1 1/2 chocolate bars, but chocolate chips would work)

One Chocolate bar broken into squares or 36 chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

1. Cream together the peanut butter and butter. Cream in the sugar.

2. Stir in eggs one a time, then vanilla.

3. Chop up chocolate bar and combine with Heath chips in a small bowl.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

5. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the chocolate, then 1/3 the flour mixture, then 1/2 the chocolate, then the rest of the flour mixture. Combine well.

6. Refrigerate the dough for an hour, or freeze it in balls until you want to bake it.

7. Lay the dough in rounded tablespoonfuls on the cookie sheet, leaving several inches between cookies.

8. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden, rotating the sheet halfway for even baking.

9. Immediately push chocolate squares or kisses into the center of each cookie. If you use chocolate squares, give them two minutes to soften and then swirl them into a puddle of chocolate with a knife.

10. Let cool. It will take several hours for the chocolate to reset unless you refrigerate them. Enjoy!

Baking Minty

Every time I return to the U.S., I fly back to Bulgaria with at least twenty York peppermint patties. I consider mint chocolate the ideal dessert. Britain does it well, with Fry's Peppermint Cream bars and Mint Aero, and Germany proffers green and white Ritter Sport packages filled with a neat grid of chocolate-on-mint, but Bulgaria hasn't yet embraced the craze. I can feel it coming though. Last week I made Andes Mint Chip Cookies for my weekly "Dessert Office Hours" and my 10th grade girls exclaimed that they LOVED mint chocolate.

I've experimented with it a fair amount, making thickly iced green and brown bars, mint chip cookies, and peppermint patty brownies, among other things. The iced bars were TERRIBLE, the cookies are good but not too sweet, and the brownies are one of my all time favorite desserts. For those of you who share my minty sweet tooth, here are the recipes for the cookies and brownies.

Andes Mint Chip Cookies

(adapted from the Tootsie Roll Website)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 package Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips

2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (I might lessen this slightly next time)

Cream together the butter and sugars, then stir in vanilla and eggs.

Stir in baking soda and baking powder, then add the mint chips.

Finally, mix in the flour in three parts.

Refrigerate the dough for one hour in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Place rounded tablespoonfuls of dough several inches apart on the tray.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden.

If you want, make balls with some of the dough by rolling it in your palms and stick them in a Ziploc in the freezer for future warm fresh cookies. Just bake frozen dough balls directly from the freezer in the same way, though it may take an extra minute or two.

Find many many more recipes for all things Andes at Tootsie Roll's recipe site (believe it or not).

Peppermint Pattie Brownies

from the York website

24 small York peppermint patties (unwrapped!) or After Eights

1 1/2 cups melted butter

3 cups granulated sugar

1 TBSP vanilla

5 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350 F (325 if you plan to use a glass baking dish).

Grease a 13 X 9 X 2 inch pan.

Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well blended.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture and blend well.

Reserve two cups batter. Spread the remaining batter in the greased pan. Arrange mints about 1/2 inch apart in a single layer, then spread the reserved 2 cups batter over them.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool completely in the pan (on a wire rack if you can) and then cut into squares.

ENJOY!

And for those of you who really want to bake minty...

I enjoyed the Thin Mints from Baking Bites, though they were a lot of work, and sometime soon I plan to make Joy the Baker's Peppermint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes at Simply Recipes and Mint Chocolate Fudge at eCurry also look great.