Sweet Jeopardy

Danger has a new name and it is Chocolate Chunkers. You know you're in trouble when 75% of the recipe is some form of chocolate. In an effort to decrease the amount of time between these babies coming out the oven and me packing them up to pawn off on my co-workers I waited until the last minute on Sunday to this week's TWD. I had a half a cookie you know, for quality control purposes, and was immediately struck with the urge to eat the entire batch!


They are the sinfully delicious love child of brownie and cookie and they will reduce your willpower to rubble! I used a combination of 62% chocolate chunks and some adorable white/semi-sweet swirl chips and opted out of the nuts and dried fruit. I mean why take up valuably cookie real estate with raisins and peanuts when there is so much gooey chocolate to sink your teeth into! Chocoholics Unite!

Torte Reform

Birthdays have never been a very big deal to me. Since mine falls just before Christmas, my birthday parties have always been more like seasonal celebrations. People on winter vacation taking time off work and school to enjoy dinners with family and friends were always happy to tack on my happy birthday to their regularly scheduled holiday party. I never minded blending in with all of the other festivities as long as one tradition remained solidly intact- my Carvel ice cream cake. Layers of chocolate and vanilla ice cream and those awesome crunchies...just for me...non-negotiable. Sadly, since moving to the west coast real Carvel ice cream cakes (not just the random ones laying around in your grocery store's freezer) have been harder to come by. I was beginning to give up hope when TWD's Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte came to my rescue.Could I really make an ice cream cake to rival those of my youth? Without an ice cream maker no less? You bet your Cookiepuss (random Carvel reference) I can!


This torte was easy and so awesome. While millions of flavor combinations danced in my head, I stuck to Dorie's original recipe for my maiden voyage into ice cream cake making. I was not disappointed. I don't have an 8inch springform so I used a pyrex loaf pan lined with aluminum foil. That made unmolding this baby a cinch and slicing it up was a breeze. All that was missing was the cookie crunchies- I toyed with the idea of adding crushed up chocolate wafers but in the end left them out. Sooo, of course I'm going to have to make this again. That's too bad (hee hee).

Peach Melba Sorta

Saturday mornings have always been my favorite part of the week. When I was a kid, I would bound out of bed, fix myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and watch cartoons while planning out the rest of my weekend. Things haven't changed much- I don't so much bound as roll, I prefer coffee to cereal, and The Smurfs have been replaced by the Food Network. My Saturday mornings usually start with a cup of coffee and a little Food Network. With the weekend stretching out in front of me, I love to spend my first few waking hours mulling over which recipes I plan to try over the next 2 days.

One of my staples is Nigella Feasts. Nigella Lawson was my first culinary icon; "Nigella Bites" the first cooking show I'd ever watched. This morning "Nigella Feasts" was an all dessert episode and her peach melba had me drooling into my coffee mug.Poaching the peaches took less than ten minutes.

Impatiently, I removed their skins immediately after taking them out of their sugar/vanilla bath, burning my fingers in the process. So impatient in fact, I decided to forgo the raspberry sauce and leave these beauties naked in the bowl with vanilla ice cream. It was still fantastic! Check out the recipe here.

I Coulda Been A Contender

Bakers are everywhere, popping out where you least expect them. Exhibit A, the Boston Legal 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bake-Off!

The last 3 Mondays have brought all the closet pastry chefs at my work to the forefront as they compete each week for glory, bragging rights, and dibs on leftovers. Not only did I have to compete, I needed to win! On Saturday I made these 2 little beauties- an apricot and a plum mini galette.

They were a lovely end to a Saturday night bbq but for the competition I wanted something more so I set out to recreate the Napoleon Cupcakes I saw on Scrumptious Photography.


When all was said and done, the cupcakes looked great but I started second guessing myself, were they a first place winner? I dug the leftover dough out of the fridge and whipped up another galette with white peaches.


I decided to bring them both in and pick my contestant in the morning. That night I was startled awake by a dream- as I approached the door to work, I dropped the galette and it splattered all over the street (gasp!). Since it survived the trip, I took that as a sign and entered the peach galette into the competition. Do you want the good news or the bad news? Alas, I did not win, or even place for that matter. But I did get a lot of compliments on my rustic little treat and I loved making so much that it has found a place in my regular dessert rotation...and my heart. Thanks TWD...you'll always be a winner to me!

And speaking of winners, congratulations to all the semi finalists- I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next Monday!

Chocolate Elvis

After weeks of pies, tarts and cobblers, TWD (thanks to Melissa's Kitchen) is finally chilling out with chocolate pudding. Now don't get me wrong, I love simple desserts and I never met a pudding I didn't like, but I couldn't stop myself from taking this recipe just a wee bit further. I'm no good at math but...pudding recipe + unused wedding present= Chocolate Banana Trifle!
I made the full recipe and let it chill for 2 hours- I wanted the pudding to be soft set but still easily spreadable in my trifle bowl. Then I layered it up with lady fingers soaked in creme de cacao, bananas, and whipped cream (also flavored with the creme de cacao), and finished it off with shaved chocolate.
Take your pudding to the next level!

Chocolate Banana Trifle

Dorie Greenspan's chocolate pudding
1-2 packages lady fingers
4 bananas thinly sliced
1 cup plus 1 tbsp creme de cacao
2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1-2 pieces of chocolate for garnish


Prepare the pudding and let chill for 2 hours.

Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar and
creme de cacao until almost stiff.

Gently dip each lady finger in the creme de cacao and layer on the bottom on a trifle dish. Slowly pour over 1/3 of the chocolate pudding, then top with a sliced bananas. Next add a layer of whipped cream. In order to create defined layers, make sure you spread each layer to the edge of the trifle dish. Continue layering to the desired height, finishing your last layer with whipped cream and a dusting of grated chocolate.

American As... Blueberry Pie

Fourth of July holiday went by awfully fast- Angels on game on Friday night, Saturday hanging by the pool with family, and Sunday relaxing at home. Now I'm back at work with have my tan lines and one last piece of pie to remind me of the glorious long weekend that was. Double Crusted Blueberry Pie was the perfect choice for this week's TWD. I made it after work on Thursday night and it came together beautifully.





I substituted graham cracker crumbs for the bread crumbs and added a little extra lemon juice to the berries. My only misstep was forgetting to apply the egg wash before baking (note to self, bake first, cocktails second) but overall the pie was deliciously buttery and the berries were the perfect combination of sweet and tart. I can't wait to try this crust with cherries!

Excuses, Excuses Blueberry Scones

It was bound to happen sooner or later. When I started this blog I was on hiatus from my show and had all the time in the world to bake my heart out. What a luxury to spend hours shopping for pastry tips, and buying all my ingredients from the farmers market. But alas, my woman of leisure days had to end (sigh, the bills aren't going to pay themselves) and while I love my job its really cutting into my prep time! With a very small grocery shopping window, a nagging cold, and nary a dried apple in sight, blueberry scones won out. Forgive me TWDers!

I used Dorie's recipe as a guideline, incorporating buttermilk and cornmeal, omitting the apple cider, cheddar and elusive dried apples, and adding dried blueberries and lemon zest. I also used my tried and true method of pressing the sticky dough into a glass 9inch pie pan and then using a knife to score slices into the batter before baking.



They were lovely warm from the oven with a little butter for our Sunday morning breakfast. I'm feeling much better now, and with a 4 day work week (yippee!) I am looking forward to restocking my pantry in anticipation of our next challenge- no excuses!

Berry Good

This weekend brought record high temperatures here in Southern California and the last thing I wanted to do was hang out in front of a hot oven! Thankfully this weeks TWD was a Mixed Berry Cobbler- maximum enjoyment for minimum effort.
I'm already a big cobbler fan (check out my "Peaches Two Ways" post), plus how can you not love a dessert that is such a perfect vehicle for ice cream?


I used fresh blueberries, blackberries and a few strawberries from Trader Joes, substituted 2 out of 3 tablespoons of white sugar for dark brown sugar, and added a tablespoon of cinnamon.


Since I used a shallow 9inch pie pan, I had enough fruit and dough left over to make a whole cobbler as well as these to mini ones in ramekins. Aren't they cute?

Peaches Two Ways

Nothing says summer quite like the scent of ripe peaches wafting through the air at the farmers market. Sweet, fuzzy, yummy, how could you go wrong? Well, I must admit I've had trouble in the past in the form of a disastrous peach pie- an utter failure. So this year in an effort to redeem myself, I've been researching all sorts of peach related recipes and so far I'm happy to report some success stories.


Peach Basil Sangria
All Recipes
1 bottle pinot grigio
3 cups peach nectar
1 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Combine 1 1/2 cups of peach nectar, basil, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar dissolves, crushing the basil with the back of a spoon to release the flavor. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain into an ice filled pitcher and add wine and remaining peach nectar. For an extra kick, add peach schnapps to taste.


Peach Cobbler
Gourmet- Sept '99

6 large peaches, cut into thin wedges
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

For biscuit topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

note: I prefer light brown sugar and use it sparingly in the peach mixture. I also add cinnamon to the biscuit topping

Cook peaches:
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes.

Make topping while peaches bake:
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)