#FAIL

Yep, that’s what it’s been like at my house. I’ve attempted two desserts—one for Christmas Eve and one for New Year’s Day—and both have been failures in one way or another.

Desserts are my forte and I usually attack them with gusto and typically produce great results. But recipe errors, missteps, and my inability to make a presentable layer cake all contributed to these epic fails. Well, maybe not epic. Both desserts were tasty, but not without some wasted time, ingredients and consternation.

Let’s start with the Christmas Eve dessert. I actually found this dessert back on November 28^th and excitedly sent the recipe to my brother, who we would be spending the holidays with. We love to collaborate in the kitchen, so I wanted his approval for the Four-Layer Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart. He wholeheartedly agreed, so I made sure I packed all the requisite ingredients before making the trek down to SoCal.

Now, I had read the recipe, but had failed to notice that it required a 13 ¾ x 4 ¼-inch tart pan. This is not a standard item in any kitchen I know of and on Christmas Eve it was going to be hard to find. Actually, make that impossible. We made a beeline to Jane’s Cakes in La Canada, who have everything under the sun for baking, but no tart pan in that size. (Note: subsequent searches have found that a 13 ¾ x 4 1/4 pan doesn’t seem to exist. 14 x 4 or 14 x 4.5 is available however.) So we had to make do with an 8-inch round tart pan, which is roughly the same size, just different in shape.

This recipe takes hours to make, as each layer has to be made and then chilled or baked and cooled. My brother and I should have made the tart shell dough the night before, but were having too good a time with friends, and wine was involved, and well…you know. So we began on Christmas Eve morning. We made the dough with no problem. Then chilled it for 2 hours. Then we kneaded and rolled and got it into the pan and chilled the dough again for 30 minutes. Finally, after 3 hours of the clock ticking by, we were able to bake the first layer. Gonna be a long day…

We let the crust cool, and moved on to the fudge cookie layer. I thought that the ingredient list felt like it was missing something. The only liquid was egg and there was no baking soda or powder. But we persevered, made the dough, and popped it into the crust and then the oven. We waited 25 minutes and no crack in the layer, as the recipe indicated. Another 5 and still no crack. We finally had to take it out of the oven before the requisite crack appeared as it was pulling away from the sides and looked to be overdone.

Again, we let the two layers cool to room temp and then set about to make the caramel layer. Four hours off the clock….

NOTE: Now you might think that making this tart was all we had to do for dinner, given the amount of time we have thus far spent on it, but that was not the case. We also had to grate 2 pounds of fresh horseradish for our beef tenderloin, prepare 6 pounds of potatoes, clean and trim brussels sprouts and broccoli, set the table, prep hors d’oeuvres. Arghh…I was definitely second guessing my decision to make this dessert!

Not Your Grandmother’s Brownies

Sunday dinner required something a bit different this week.  I was making some nice carnitas for tacos and wanted something to complement the flavors of the Mexican food I was making. I remembered a recipe I had saved earlier this year from Better Homes & Gardens for Sweet & Spicy Brownie Bites. I remembered chocolate and chilis—a good pairing in my estimation. (And a bit of vanilla ice cream would be a welcome addition in the heat we are having here today.) These are definitely something my grandmother never would have thought of, and probably wouldn’t have even tried. Sweet and spicy combined was not her cup of tea.

Digging the recipe out of my file of “Desserts To Try” I found I didn’t have all the ingredients and it was for a 13x9  pan, which is definitely too large for us this Sunday, as there will be only four of us. So I got creative and modified the recipe based on what I had on hand and used a standard 8x8 pan. I ‘ve provided a link to the original recipe above, in case you want to compare. And should you want to make a large batch in a 13x9 pan, you can double all the ingredients below, with the exception of the eggs (of which you should only use 5).

Rather than tell the family what I had made, I asked them to try the brownies and describe them in 4 words:

Mr. B: sweet, spicy, chocolately, and not overly dense

Brilliant Daughter: chocolate, ginger, cake, brownie

Butcher Son: moist, rich, decadent, brownie

Obviously Mr. B came the closest to the original name, even if chocolately is not a word, and “not overly dense” is a phrase and not a singular word. Brilliant Daughter was the only one who got the ginger, but she loves ginger and the flavor was more pronounced than in the original recipe due to the addition of ginger chips. Surprisingly, no one got the chili flavor. They all thought the spicy component was the ginger. I found that after chewing a bite and swallowing that the chili sat in the back of my throat and gave a slight burn. Not in a bad way, just different.

Overall these were a hit. Not something they would want me to make on a regular basis, only because espresso brownies, chocolate chip brownies, and salted caramel brownies are much higher on their wish list.

Susan’s Sweet & Spicy Brownie Bites

5/8 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup ginger chips

4.5 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped

ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped

1 2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

5/8 cup granulates sugar

¼ cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of an 8x8 baking pan.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, chile powders, cinnamon, salt, and ginger chips; set aside.

Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler or a large heat-proof bowl. Set over a pan of barely simmering water (the bottom of the pan should not touch the water). Heat and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Remove from heat, keeping pan or bowl over water. Add both sugars; whisk until completely combined. Remove from water. Let mixture come to room temperature.

Add two eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining egg and whisk until combined. Do not overbeat the batter or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold until there is just a trace amount of flour mixture visible.

Pour the mixture into the prepared dish or pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool completely on wire rack.

When cool, cut into 16 squares and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

Makes 16 squares

Bridal Shower Cupcakes

This is more a show-and-tell than a full post, but I was very pleased with how my recent foray into baking turned out. Butcher Son’s girlfriend was throwing a bridal shower for one of her oldest friends. I offered to help with some baking and was given free rein to come up with a cupcake for the occasion. Forgetting to ask what the color scheme was, I decided to go simple: white and gold.

I baked a basic white cupcake in pretty white fluted wrappers. Then I made a rich dark chocolate ganache, which I then cooled and whipped to fluffy goodness. I used this as a filling. Now I am sure there are 100 ways to fill cupcakes. I personally use two methods. One is the put the filling in a pastry bag and just inject it into the center of the cupcake with a medium-sized round tip. This causes the cupcake to grow or expand a bit, raising the top of the cupcake. Only a small annoyance and the quickest way to do it. The second method, which I used this time, involves cutting off a small top and scooping out a bit of the cake. I simply use the back end of a large frosting tip. I just screw it into the cake and pull it out, releasing the piece of cake. Then I use a baby spoon to scoop out a bit of the cake, fill it almost to the top and then replace the cake top, pushing down slightly. This is what the steps looks like:

Once this process is complete and the cake is frosted, you cannot even see the cutout. I then made a simple vanilla bean buttercream (see the flakes of vanilla bean?) and piped it on decoratively. I topped these off with edible gold flake hearts. So cute, and tasty too.

As a final touch, I made 24 bridal shower picks to stick into the cupcakes. This was a very simple process. I happened to have some round labels (Avery 22807) and just downloaded a template from the Avery site. There are 145 decorative templates for this particular label. Lots to choose from for any occasion. Then, using my round punch, I cut out 24 rounds from sturdy white paper and sandwiched a toothpick between one label and one paper round. Voila! I do not have a picture of the final product with the pick, as the lid of the bakery box would not fit on the cupcakes with the picks on. But this is what the picks looked like – 4 sayings, 6 of each. 

Chocolate Fondue: A New Year’s Tradition

For the last 20 years we have rung in the new year in the quiet of our own home, preferring to stay clear of the drunken hordes (although we often drink a bit too much bubbly ourselves). We start off with cracked crab, sourdough and a salad, move to a selection of movies (often a trilogy of some sort), and then top it off with chocolate fondue and champagne. Not a very heart healthy way to celebrate, but this kind of spread only happens once a year, so we indulge and pay for it later.

This year we were invited to a New Year’s Eve game night at the Resort at 292, neighbors of Brilliant Daughter. We thought we would break tradition, as they are a fun-loving bunch, we can walk home from their house, and we love games! Because they had already decided on having a taco bar, the cracked crab got nixed, but I was adamant about the chocolate fondue. Gotta preserve at least one thing from this annual celebration.

This year I decided to try using the crockpot to melt and serve the fondue, since a crowd was expected. I have two Pound Plus Dark Chocolate Bars from Trader Joe’s and 2 cups of whipping cream. After breaking up the chocolate and adding it with cream, I turned the pot on low, covered and checked every 20 minutes with a quick stir. It was ready in a little over an hour, at which time I turned the pot to warm and it sat patiently waiting for another hour or so.

I brought much of the traditional dipping items: fresh pineapple chunks, Cutie mandarin wedges, banana slices, fresh strawberries, Sara Lee pound cake and, new this year, homemade chocolate marshmallows.

I’ve made marshmallows several times this year, usually to pair with homemade graham crackers and dark chocolate for s’mores, but wanted something different. And you can never have too much chocolate. The recipe I pulled was from Saveur, and differs from my vanilla marshmallows in that it had no egg whites. The texture and consistency is definitely different. The egg white version is a bit fluffier, less dense. But both are tasty. I definitely suggest you give them a try. 

Michael Kraus, Saveur.com

I’ve included the recipe for the chocolate marshmallows below. The one trick I can impart to make the process easier: once you have taken the marshmallow out of the pan, use a piece of dental floss to do the cutting. I slide the floss under the brick and then cross the two hands over each other, which cuts a nice slice. Move the cut log away from the brick and dust with the chocolate powder mixture. Repeat until you have 5 or 6 logs. Then you can either use the floss to cut individual marshmallows, or use a knife or kitchen shears to do so.

These are also heavenly floating in a cup of hot chocolate.

Chocolate Marshmallows from Saveur

Canola oil, for greasing

1 ½ cups sugar

¾ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup honey

½ cup water

3 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin, softened in ½ cup cold water

½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted

Dusting Powder

¼ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan. Line bottom and sides with parchment paper, and grease paper. (I use small banana clips to secure the paper to the edge of the pan.) Grease a rubber spatula; set aside.

2. Combine sugar, syrup, honey, and 1/2 cup water in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer; cook, without stirring, until syrup reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; let cool to 220 degrees.

3. Sprinkle gelatin over ½ cup of water and then bring another 1⁄2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Place bowl of gelatin over the boiling water; whisk until gelatin becomes liquid. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk; add 1⁄2 cup sifted cocoa powder and cooled sugar syrup to gelatin; whisk on high speed until mixture holds stiff peaks, 5–6 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan; smooth top with oiled spatula; let cool until set, 5–6 hours.

4. Combine ¼ cup cocoa powder and cornstarch in a bowl and transfer to a strainer; dust work surface with mixture. Slide a knife around edge of pan to release marshmallows; remove from pan. Dust cocoa mixture over top. Using a slicing knife dusted with cocoa mixture, cut marshmallows into squares. Toss marshmallows with remaining cocoa mixture.