15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte (TWD)

I think the title of this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe says it all..."15 Minute Magic"! Seriously, with only 15 minutes of active prep time and 30 minutes in the oven, you will be rewarded with a wonderfully decadent chocolate & almond treat. What makes this recipe so unique is the use of crushed amaretti cookies in lieu of any type of flour.

As if this couldn't get any better, this recipe doesn't require alot of bowls and utensils, thus minimal dishwashing --- Woo Hoo!!!!

Using the full recipe, I made four baby chocolate amaretti tortes with 4-inch springform pans, and reduced the baking time to 20 minutes. While the cakes were in the oven, the smell of the chocolate and almond was intoxicating.

Once the cakes come out of the oven and are cooled, they are bathed in a lovely chocolate glaze. Going with the almond theme, I spiked the glaze with a little Amaretto.

This texture of this cake can be best described as a cross between a flourless chocolate cake and a brownie. With the amaretti cookies, ground almonds, and Amaretto, the almond flavor definitely comes through, and it marries well with the flavor of the bittersweet chocolate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this torte simply as is. Next time, I will definitely accompany these tortes with a little flavored whipped cream or ice cream.

Thanks Holly of PheMOMenon for selecting a fantastic dessert that requires minimal fuss and delivers maximum flavor. For the recipe, please visit Holly's blog. To see more delicious tortes, check out the talented TWD blogroll.

Banana Cream Pie (TWD)

What do I know about this week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, Banana Cream Pie?

I know this pie well...
- Between my hubby and me, this pie can be inhaled in a weekend or less.
- On occasion, this pie and I have shared a 2am rendezvous, with me standing in front of the fridge.
- Ingorance is bliss - I know NOT to ask about the calorie count in this dessert

As you can see, I am very familiar with this delicious pie. Knowing our tendencies, I exerted some self control and halved the recipe to make a 4 inch baby pie. Besides, with summer just around the corner, we don't need the extra fat and calories.

Even with the reduced portions, I still had some pastry cream and whipped cream leftover ... with some crushed nilla wafers... banana parfait anyone?

This is not your run-of-the-mill banana cream pie. The base of this pie is Dorie Greenspan's fantastic crust. The sweetness is definitely dialed down in this recipe (which I do prefer) and has a dimension of spice (cinnamon and nutmeg) added to the pastry cream. Finally, there is an added tang with just a touch of sour cream added to the whipped topping.

If I plan to assemble and to serve the pie immediately, I will take an additional step and brulee the bananas before adding the pastry cream and whipped cream topping (besides, I'll use any excuse to bring out my kitchen torch). If you serve the pie immediately, you get a little crunchy surprise with the torched sugar. If you let the pie sit for any length of time, the crunchy texture will disappear but you a get a little additional sweetness from the sugar. As this pie isn't too sweet to begin with, I don't mind this touch of added sugar.
I enjoyed making the smaller pie, and it was perfect for the two of us to share. I think my husband thought otherwise, proclaiming that this baby pie was a single serving (nice try).

If you favor a more traditional banana cream pie with the sweeter vanilla flavored pastry cream, this may not be your cup o' tea. Still, I would recommend that you take this recipe for a test drive... you may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Amy of Sing For Your Supper rocked it with this terrific selection this week! I know you want to make this pie, so head on over to Amy's terrific blog for the recipe.

Supernatural Brownies

Back in February, I began a quest for the ultimate brownie. At that time, I was totally motivated, so I gathered up a bunch of recipes to test, bought a truckload of chocolate and butter, and resolved to bake and post weekly. So, how are things progressing, you ask? Well, I haven't gotten very far (I know...I'm totally lame). Posting weekly isn't going to be realistic for me, but I promise going forward that you will NOT have to wait another 7 weeks for my next brownie writeup.

As I was searching the web for inspiration for my next brownie, this 2007 NY Times article about Brownies popped up in my google search. The author of the article is definitely a purist when it comes to defining the ideal brownie:

"The ideal modern brownie is simple and unadorned, but rigorously designed (like a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress). Whether the brownie sits on the fudgy or the cakey side of the aisle, its character should come from the underlying structure of flour, sugar, butter, eggs and chocolate, not from shoveling in more fillings, or from deliberate underbaking. (Many recipes recommend this for a fudgy texture, but fudgy and wet are not the same thing.)"
- NYT, April 11th 2007

I'll admit that I nodded in agreement with her comments (including the DVF comment --- gotta love her dresses). Still, for those of you who like to load up your brownies with nuts, candy, dried fruit, etc, more power to ya!

Accompanying the article were three brownie recipes, including Dorie Greenspan's French Chocolate Brownies (which I previously posted on here) and Alice Medrich's New Classic Brownies (mental note: must put on "the list").

The third recipe was Nick Malgieri's Supernatural Brownies. I can't resist a brownie with super powers, so had to try this recipe out.


Apparently, this brownie is an accidental creation, with Mr. Malgieri forgetting to double the flour when baking his own fudge brownie recipe. This brownie recipe has the usual shortlist of ingredients (butter, chocolate, sugar, eggs, flour) but also has a twist adding a healthy amount of dark brown sugar.

When I made these brownies, I also made a pan of The Baked Brownie to compare (besides, my hubby kept asking when I'd make "those" (i.e. Baked) brownies again).

Supernatural versus Baked:

Ingredients - similar short list, but Supernatural uses: one less egg, less chocolate (8oz vs 11oz), equal ratio of brown and white sugars, and excludes cocoa & instant espresso powders.

Preparation - I'm no expert to analyze this, but preparation for the two were pretty similar. Both recipes require melting chocolate and butter on a double boiler, and the minimal folding/mixing of the dry ingredients. The method of adding the eggs and sugars were slightly different (read both recipes and you'll know what I mean). The baking time for Supernatural is slightly longer than Baked (40 min vs 30 min).

Appearance/Texture - Supernatural bakes slightly thinner (one less egg could be the reason) and has a lighter cocoa- colored hue. Supernatural has really nice delicate, crackly crust, and the texture of the cake is really moist and tender (it definitely leans slightly more cakey). Baked is dense and fudgy, with an intensely dark hue from all of the chocolate and cocoa power.

Flavor - Don't be fooled by the lighter hue...Supernatural delivers on flavor. You can taste a slight hint of caramel (probably from the dark brown sugar), which is such a wondeful complement to the chocolate, which is assertive but doesn't overwhelm. Baked's chocolate flavor is much more "in your face", and you can tell that there is a "ton" of chocolate in each square.

In terms of overall preference, I think my hubby put it best:

" I loved both and I can't decide. If I want a small square to satisfy, Baked is definitely the way to go. If I'm in the mood to inhale a pan, I would definitely pick Supernatural."

Enough said.