Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream (TWD)

When we're talking about chocolate ice cream, my husband is the connoiseur in our house. He's a less is more kinda guy, and believes that "all that unnecessary stuff" (i.e. nuts, chocolate chips, etc) gets in the way of enjoying really great chocolate ice cream. In most instances I do agree with him, but there are times when nothing else satisfies me like a double scoop of Rocky Road in a waffle cone!

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream was of keen interest to my husband. He was particularly interested in comparing Dorie Greenspan's recipe to his all-time favorite - David Lebovitz's Bittersweet Chocolate. Sadly, as timing would have it, the hubs has been out of town, so he'll have to hold off a few more days before he can put his taste buds to the test.

So, which did I enjoy more, Dorie or David? C'mon, it's like asking me to pick a favorite child. Honestly, both ice creams are both DEE-licious! Both ice creams had a wonderfully luscious and creamy consistency, and the chocolate flavors were deep and intense. I think these ice creams are meant to be enjoyed simply and unadorned, and a small scoop is totally satisfying.

Thank you Katrina of Baking and Boys for a perfect summertime pick. Hop over to Katrina's blog for Dorie Greenspan's recipe. If you're interested in doing your own taste comparison check out David Lebovitz's recipe here:

Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
makes approximately 1 quart

2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-proces cocoa powder
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Warm 1 cup of cream with cocoa powder in medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to boil then reduce heat and gently simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in remaining cup of cream. Pour mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as much as possible. Set mesh strainer atop the bowl. Warm milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan. Stir mixture constantly over medium heat making sure the scrape the bottom and corners, until the mixture thickens and reaches nappe consistency. Pour custard through strainer and stir it into the chocolate until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Continue to stir over ice bath until cool. Refrigerate the mixture to cool thoroughly and then freeze it in your ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Brrr-ownies (TWD)

I'm back!!! The hubs and I had an amazing two weeks traveling through Italy. Along with the breathtaking sights, we indulged ourselves with food, wine, and gelato.

Just before we left for vacation, a friend gave me this advice: "Eat, drink and enjoy yourselves silly while in Italy. I promise that you will not gain a pound." Yeah, right! After returning, the hubs and I each hopped on the scale to assess the damage. We were dumbfounded - I didn't gain a single pound, and my hubs actually lost 7 lbs. WTF?!!! My friend was inifinitely wiser that I thought! Forget dieting, we need to travel to Italy more often.

Vacationing was wonderful, but there is something to be said about being back home. I missed baking and cooking, so I couldn't wait to get busy in the kitchen. This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Brrr-ownies was a nice warm up to get back into the swing of things.

The recipe (which you can find at Karen's blog, Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life) is essentially a brownie with chopped peppermint patties folded in (in my case, I used Trader Joe's mint creams). When it comes to brownies I'm a purist - no messin' with nuts or mixins. I kept an open mind to see how this would turn out.

Maybe it was the jetlag that affected my baking mojo, but my brownies turned out a bit dry. Instead of tossing the batch, I made a super quick and easy Philadelphia-style vanilla ice cream, and folded bits of the brownie to make a mint chocolate brownie ice cream.

Mint chip is my all time favorite ice cream flavor, so I was definitely curious to see how this would turn out. The verdict --- not too shabby. The mint flavor is subtle, and I loved the how the formerly dry brownie bits turned chewy when incorporated into the ice cream.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you --- this is a mini ice cream cone. Cute, isn't it?

I found these cute little guys a while back, and if you're interested in these mini-cones, you can check them out here. The interior of these cones are lined with chocolate, and make perfect "shot glasses" for Baileys, White Russians, etc. Needless to say, these innocent looking cones are dangerous at our summer BBQs.

Anyways, I'm glad to be getting my blogging back on. I'm curious to hear how the other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers felt about this recipe - check out the TWD Blogroll to hear what everyone had to say.

Profiteroles

It's finally feeling like summer, and the warm weather always puts me into the mood for ice cream! The hubs and I are not fussy about how we enjoy our ice cream. We'll usually enjoy our frozen treats straight of of the carton or generously scooped on sugar cones.

If I'm feeling particularly fancy and entertaining dinner guests, these delicious profiteroles will make an appearance. Composed of a choux puff that is filled with ice cream and topped with a chocolate sauce, profiteroles are a delicious sweet ending to any meal.

Pate a choux, the basis for these profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs, and gougeres, is a dough that is first cooked on the stove, then piped on baking sheet. Once in the oven, this magical dough tranform into light and airy pastry puffs that are just slightly crisp on the outside and almost hollow in the middle.

The pate a choux is piped onto a baking sheet. As it bakes the dough transforms into these airy golden clouds.

Once cooled, these pastries are ready to be filled and served.

Here is what the puff looks like once you slice them open. They should be slightly moist inside and almost completely hollow.

Once the choux puffs are ready, all you need is vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce and you're ready for business! One scoop of vanilla ice cream is sandwiched in the puff.

Warm chocolate sauce is drizzled on top.

Now it's ready to eat...YUM!

Profiteroles

Pate a Choux

adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

makes approximately 24 medium sized puffs

1 C. bread flour

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C. water

1/2 C. whole milk

6 tbsp butter

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper

Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to a boil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.

Once the liquid mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and add the flour all at once and stir well. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the pan (approx 5 minutes).

Transfer the dough to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle and beat at medium speed until the dough cools to approximately body temperature.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. At this point, the dough should be smooth and shiny.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a plain round tip. Pipe mounds that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1 inch high on the baking sheet two inches apart.

Bake until puffed and light golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Transfer puffs to a wire rack to cool completely.

Assembling The Profiteroles

1 prepared batch of choux puffs

1 quart vanilla ice cream (I made David Lebovitz's fabulous recipe)

1 cup chocolate sauce (I cheated and used a pre-made jar)

Cut each choux puff in half.

Portion a small scoop of ice cream on the bottom half of each puff and put the top half back over the ice cream.

Place 2-3 profiteroles on each plate and drizzle with a generous amount of chocolate sauce.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie (TWD)

After reading through this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie, I wasn't sure that this would be my cup of tea. Something about food processing together bananas and ice cream didn't whet my appetite.


The crust of this pie calls for butter cookies, a generous amount of butter (1 stick!), and a boatload of coconut. Instead of butter cookies, I used these:

I scaled this recipe down considerably, making enough for one 4 inch mini pie. Here are my notes and adjustments:


- This snack package of Golden Oreos, 1/2 Tspn butter and 1/8 cup of coconut was just enough to make the crust of my mini pie.

- My ice cream concoction consisted of a scoop of Haagen Daz Chocolate Chocolate Chip, 1/2 medium banana, and 2 Tbsn dark rum (yes, I wasn't shy about this). After it takes a quick whirl in my mini food processor, the mixture is poured into the prepared crust over a layer of sliced bananas. My filling was really liquidy, so the pie needed to set in the freezer for a bit.

- After the pie set up, I topped it with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

I was so surprised by how yummy this pie tasted! Since I was a little heavy handed with the rum, this pie totally reminded me of one of those boozey ice cream cocktails. The pureed bananas infused the chocolate filling with great banana flavor without affecting the consistency of the ice cream.

Boy, did I regret scaling this recipe down. Next time, I'm making a whole pie!

Thanks to Spike of Spike Bakes for this great pick this week. Visit Spike's blog for the full recipe.

Chocoblock Cookies (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Chocoblock Cookies means serious business with all of these delicious add-ins:
In addition to the above ingredients, this cookie recipe calls for a healthy amount of old-fashioned oats and molasses. As I'm not a big fan of molasses, I substituted an equal amount of Lyle's Golden Syrup, which provides the same consistency as molasses without the strong flavor.

Once all of the ingredients are combined, you end up with a fairly wet sticky dough. To my surprise, the scooped dough didn't spread much as it baked, and it resulted in these hearty, chunky cookies.

I'm usually not a big fan of "everything but the kitchen sink" style cookies, but I really enjoyed noshing on these babies. The cookies had a really nice chew, with the chocolate, coconuts, dried figs, nuts and oats provide a a ton of flavor and textural contrast. I particularly loved the dried figs in combination with the chocolate --- delicious!

Thanks to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for a terrific pick this week. Doesn't Mary's blog name make you yearn for summer? :)

I'm sure the TWD bakers got really creative with the cookie ingredients this week, so make sure to peruse the blogroll to some wonderfully yummy creations.

Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake (TWD)

This week is a Tuesdays With Dorie two-fer! Along with a post for a delicious Coconut Lime Tea Cake, you can read all about a little incident at the Tender Crumb casa which derailed my plans for posting on time last week.

This week's TWD selection is a Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake --- sounds pretty delicious doesn't it?
This bundt cake looks unassuming on the outside, but when you cut a slice you will be surprised with this beautiful marbling: the dark cake is flavored with bittersweet chocolate and coffee; light cake is flavored with vanilla.

Finely ground walnuts replace a portion of the flour as a dry ingredient. I added a little of the flour portioned for the recipe (1/4 cup) along with the walnuts to the food processor to grind them, as the flour will prevent the nuts from turning into a nut-butter.

I thought this cake was delicious, but was left wanting a bit more walnut flavor. You can definitely taste the chocolate, coffee and vanilla, which is a fantastic combination. If I didn't know about the walnuts, I would have had no idea that ground nuts were added to this cake.

Flavor aside, the cake is super moist, and it is definitely one that will keep for several days.

Setting aside my minor gripe about the flavor, this cake is definitely worth repeating, and I may experiment with a different nut next time.

For the complete recipe, please visit Erin's blog, When In Doubt...Leave It At 350.

Coconut Cupcakes

My friend T asked me to make cupcakes for a friend's birthday. Her friend's favorite cake flavors are coconut and chocolate, and I was more than happy to oblige:
Along with a couple dozen cupcakes for the birthday party, I wanted to give the birthday girl her own personal box of goodies - you've gotta indulge youself on your birthday, right? Not to detract from the yummy chocolate cupcakes (made with my favorite chocolate cake recipe), but I wanted to spend a little time fawning over the coconut cupcakes. I am not a huge coconut fan, but there is something about these cupcakes that I cannot resist. I've made these cupcakes countless times over the years, and without fail I am rewarded with pefectly moist and flavorful cupcakes each time.

Coconut Cupcakes
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
makes 12-15 cupcakes

Cupcakes

6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 oz shredded sweetened coconut
toasted shredded coconut to top the cupcakes

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
6 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 lb powdered sugar, sifted


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.

Soft Chocolate & Raspberry Tart (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart was one that I was really looking forward to making after reading Dorie's delectable introduction:

"After this tart hs baked and cooled just a little, the chocolate filling takes on the lovable characteristics of pudding, becoming soft and creamy and seductively slithery, and the flavor of the berries intensifies."


I wasn't thrilled by how the tart looked out of the oven. I used an 8"x11" rectangular tart pan, and the filling didn't quite cover the raspberries, so these raspberry nubs poked through the top. As Dorie described, the filling was soft and and velvety smooth, but the tart held it's shape as it was cut. The crust is Dorie's Sweet Tart Dough w. Nuts, and flaky texture was a fantastic contrast to the soft filling.

Looking at this tart, you would assume this to be sweet, rich and filling right? Actually, the chocolate filling was subtly sweet, and it did not overpower the the flavor of the raspberries.

With a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and additional berries, this tart is a perfect sweet ending that doesn't send you into a food coma.

I loved this tart! I'm looking forward to making this again in a smaller pan and experimenting with a different fruit - I think cherries are calling my name.

For the complete recipe, please visit Rachelle's blog Mommy? I'm Hungry. Also, join me in checking out the TWD blogroll, as I'm curious to see how everyone's tarts turned out....all delicious, I'm sure!

Mississippi Mud Cake (TCS)

After baking along with The Cake Slice group for the past 15 months, I've decided that this will be my last recipe with the group (at least for now). Along with appreciating the beauty of triple layer cakes and the traditions of favorite southern cakes, I've enjoyed baking along with a supportive and enthusiastic group of bakers.

The Cake Slice group voted, and Mississippi Mud Cake came out on top as February's recipe. For me, this resembled less a cake and more a brownie, with its thin, rich and pecan-studded chocolate cake layer. If the cake alone isn't rich enough, it is topped with marshallows and a thick chocolate frosting as the cake comes out of the oven. The warmth of the cake allows the marshallow and frosting to melt into this ooey, gooey goodness.

I haven't sampled this recipe, so couldn't tell you how it tastes. My hubs took the cake to work, and he said that it was devoured in minutes. In fact, people came back looking for more...I would say a crowd pleaser, wouldn't you agree?

Click here for the complete recipe.

Dorie Greenspan's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (TWD)

Week 1 of my "crazy-ass detox plan" (as oh so appropriately described by my homegirl Mary, The Food Librarian) is in the books, with two more weeks to go. Detoxing and food blogging is not a very good combination (I know...DUH!!!). When I peruse all of your beautiful blogs, I get cravings that are more intense than when I'm in the kitchen baking....seriously.

I'm no saint, but so far I haven't not veered off the plan. Still, there is not a day that goes by without my longing for a cup of coffee, a glass of red wine, brownies, ice cream, cheese, sushi...the list goes on and on. Okay, enough of my whining...

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection is what Dorie Greenspan dubs her Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don't know of anyone who doesn't have an opinion on what makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie - thick vs. thin, crispy vs chewy, nuts vs no nuts, milk chocolate vs bittersweet, butter vs. shortening, etc.

I've done my share of research and baked through a long list of recipes, and none have been able to trump Jacque Torres' version as my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've written about this heavenly cookie here.

I haven't tasted Dorie's recipe, so I won't be able to do a comparison until next month (I have some cookie dough sitting in the freezer for this purpose). I sent these cookies to my hub's work, and he reported back with rave reviews from his colleagues...a good sign.

Dorie's states that her recipe is in the thin and crisp category, but I think many of the TWD bakers (myself included) were caught off guard by how much these cookies spread in the oven. The first batch that I made spread into one giant cookie....make sure to space the dough far apart!
For this recipe, I finely chopped pecans, and hand chopped a block of Calleabut bittersweet chocolate. In Dorie's notes, she recommends that bakers forego the packaged chips and hand chop chocolate for their recipes. I wholeheartedly agree with her!
Thin and crispy, these cookies are perfect for ice cream sandwiches:

For the complete cookie recipe, please visit Kait's Plate.

Rick Katz's Brownies For Julia (TWD)

I had mixed feelings about making this week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, Rick Katz's Brownies For Julia. I love brownies. Let me clarify...I really LOVE brownies. Those of you who have followed my blog long enough know how much I {heart} making and eating brownies. When it comes to sweets, brownies are my achilles heel.

So, what's my problem? I just started a 21 day detox following the Clean Program, and I'm pretty sure brownies are not on the allowable foods list. I should have thought ahead and indulged in these brownies before the detox, but of course my planning was less than stellar.

Instead of skipping out of all of my baking commitments for the entire month of February, I decided to bake, but not eat a morsel...not even a taste, folks! We'll see how long this lasts before I give in to temptation. Now I know how Siena feels:

The namesake in the recipe title is THE Julia...Julia Child. If these brownies were good enough for Julia, they have to be pretty damn good, right?

Preparation-wise, this recipe is unique as half of the eggs and sugar call for are beaten until they double in volume and are as light as a sponge. In Dorie's notes, she shares that whipping the eggs creates the surprisingly creamy, soft and fugdey texture.

By the looks of the final results, I would say have to say that Dorie's description is spot on. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how they taste....they look pretty yummy, don't they?

If you're curious to hear feedback about this recipe, make sure to peruse the TWD blogroll to read more. For the detailed recipe, head over to Tanya's blog, Chocolatechic.

Cocoa-Nana Bread (TWD)

I need to quit this habit of JIT (just-in-time) blogging. Hopefully, I'll get this post up before the day is out.

Fortunately for me, this week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection of Cocoa-Nana Bread was mercifully easy, and I was able to bake and photograph the goods before I polished off my last cup of coffee this morning.

This quick bread recipe is intended as a breakfast treat that combines the flavors of chocolate and banana. You've got to love a recipe that slips in a healthy dose of chocolate into breakfast food.

I was a bit underwhelmed with the final results. The look of this dark brown loaf is deceiving, as the chocolate flavor wasn't very intense, and you could barely taste the two bananas that went into the batter. Still, I did appreciate that it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, so it wouldn't assult the taste buds first thing in the morning.

Of course, I had my sous chef Siena hovering in the kitchen looking for some crumbs to fall:

Sorry girl...

Please visit Steph's blog, Obsessed With Baking, for the full recipe.