TWD: White Chocolate-Raspberry Brownies

Wishes do eventually come true.


For months, one of our TWD members has been hoping that someone would choose Dorie's White Chocolate Brownies. At last, thanks to Marthe, of Culinary Delights, that day has come.




Baking these brownies has not been without controversy, however. Most everyone, it seems, experienced difficulties while baking this dessert. The center would end up being undercooked. Some bakers tried more than once to get it right.




Unlike the others, I didn't have any baking troubles. My philosophy is that I control the cooking/baking, not the other way around. I consider suggested baking times as guidelines. Sometimes baked goods are finished early; sometimes they need to remain in the oven longer.


As 30 minutes rolled around, I studied the baking brownies. The center was still depressed, so I knew at once that it was still liquid. I kept re-setting the timer for 8 minutes, for a total of 24 more minutes beyond the suggested time. At that point, I could see that the center was puffed nicely, the meringue was light brown, and my cake tester was coming out clean.




When the brownies had cooled completely, I carefully removed them from the pan using the foil liner for leverage. It is a very delicate dessert, but it was cooked all the way through (see top photo).


Even though the recipe says brownies, this dessert is really more like a cake. It's pleasant enough, and I would think other berries could be substituted for the raspberries. For those rare people who don't like chocolate, this would be a nice offering.




Stop by the other Tuesdays with Dorie blogs to read about their baking adventures.

BB: Grilled Herb Shrimp

The second Barefoot Blogger recipe for May was Grilled Herb Shrimp, a most delicious treat for the upcoming grill season.



I had planned to cook the shrimp on my new grill, but since I was the only one home for this meal, I didn't think it was worth while to fire up the grill for 3 minutes of cooking time. My daughter did taste one as she flew out the door, pronounced it delicious, and asked me to make this recipe again. High praise, indeed.




This is truly a simple recipe to prepare and cook. The shrimp have lots of flavor after marinating in the herbs and garlic, and can be paired with any kind of side dish. Even canned green beans, my emergency vegetable when the fridge is bare.


Thanks to Penny from Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen for a lovely choice.

Daring Bakers: Pièce Montée

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a pièce montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

The challenge this time around was to make pâte à choux, crème patissiere, and a glaze, either chocolate or caramel. I chose to make my little puffs chocolate, the filling a coffee-flavored pastry cream, and the glaze chocolate with a hint of coffee.




The small choux puffed up very nicely.



The fun part was dipping the little puffs into the chocolate glaze, then stacking them one on top of the other and hoping they didn't go sliding off. Time in the fridge helped cement them together.

The verdict was a thumbs up, so these little cream puffs will definitely be made again.




This is not a particularly difficult dessert to make, but the results can be spectacular. Thanks to Cat for a playful challenge. The recipes can be found on her blog.

Be sure to stop by the Daring Kitchen -- there are some pretty amazing sculptures to be seen!

TWD: Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

I guess I trained my daughters well.

The rules for new foods were these:

1. Always try a bite before passing judgment.

2. Always respond politely. No eye-rolling, funny faces, gagging, eewwws, or rudeness.

I know my younger daughter doesn't like coconut, so I didn't really expect her to try any of this pie. But she surprised me by eating a whole piece. She's always willing to try a bite. The pie, however, was not a hit, which was what I expected.

I, on the other hand, enjoyed it quite a bit, and it appears the whole pie will be mine. (I knew I should have made tarts!)


So, along with coconut and butter, the crust had crushed bits of these cookies.




Instead of chocolate ice cream, I chose a local favorite, Island Coconut. McConnell's Ice Cream is based in Santa Barbara.



The pie is very easy to build.

First, the shell.



Then, a layer of bananas.



Followed by a mixture of mashed bananas, rum, and the ice cream.



After four hours in the freezer, it is ready to serve.



I chose to add the topping bananas only to the individual pieces, since the pie will live in the freezer for awhile. Good thing, too, because the banana slices are prone to falling off.




The final verdict: I like the pie. I love the crust. I could just eat the crust topped with the plain ice cream, or vice versa.


Thanks to Spike of Spike Bakes for a lovely warm-weather dessert. Stop by Spike's blog if you want the recipe, and check out the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see what the other bakers did.

BBD30: Breads with a Twist

Bread Baking Day is a monthly celebration of bread baking all over the world, created by Zorra of Kochtopf . (Read more about Bread Baking Day and access the previous roundups on her blog.)

This month, Bread Baking Day #30 is being hosted by the lovely Natashya of Living in the Kitchen wit Puppies. Natashya chose twisted breads as the theme.



In looking through my bread cookbooks, I found the perfect recipe for this challenge, a bread I've been wanting to try. I ended up combining two recipes for this, and we all agreed the bread was a hit.


I introduce Pizza Twists.


Here's the dough, ready to rise.



Here are the cooling rolls.



I was concentrating so hard on forming the rolls, that I forgot to document the process. It's pretty simple, actually, and the taste is divine.



Head on over to Natashya's place around June 5 for the roundup.



Pizza Twists

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced dry onion

1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pepperoni

½ cup (2 ounces) grated cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

¾ cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg


Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Heat the milk and butter until warm (115 degrees F), then add to dry ingredients, followed by the egg. Mix with paddle blade until combined, then switch to a dough hook and mix for about 5-10 minutes. Remove dough from mixing bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double, about 1 hour. (Slightly longer if the room is cool.)

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, cut into 24 pieces, and roll each piece into a rope about 10" long. Fold the rope in half, twist two or three times, and seal the ends with a little water. Place on greased baking sheets.

Combine an additional egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush over the rolls. Cover, and let rise until nearly double, 30-45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove rolls from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Makes 24 rolls.

Places I've visited

Thought this was pretty darn cool.


visited 38 states (76%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

visited 26 states (11.5%)
Create your own visited map of The World

BBQ Nerds

Last week my neighbor and I went out to lunch, then took a field trip to Lowes. I treated myself to a new kettle-type barbecue. I haven't been able to grill for years now, and with all the great recipes out in the food world, I decided I had deprived myself long enough.

Yesterday, my daughter called on her way home from work, saying that she was hungry for barbecue and a beer. She was offering to stop at the grocery and buy what was needed. Only problem, I said, was that the new grill wasn't yet assembled. Apparently, that was no problem. She also offered to put it together.

While waiting for her, I moved the box out back and began assembly. When Sophie got home, she took over -- under proper supervision, of course.




For our first effort, we grilled some thin strip steaks, portobello mushrooms, eggplant, and green bell peppers. The mushrooms and eggplant were placed on toasted buns and slathered with mashed avocado and havarti cheese.




Today we went in search of accessories: grill cover, wire brush, and grill pan for veggies and seafood. It appears that I have a grilled shrimp recipe on tap this week, so now I will be able to properly cook it instead of using the broiler or stove top.



Looks like it's going to be a great summer.