Chocolate Pistachio Cake

I've been debating whether to post this recipe or not for a couple of days...
You see this recipe is originally a brownie recipe but, these are no brownies to me.
They don't have the texture of a brownie at all, not chewy or gooey.
They don't have that glossy crackly top layer that personally drives me crazy!
The thing is, I decided to post this recipe after all because though I think this is not
the best brownie recipe, it is definitely a very delicious cake recipe!
Light and fluffy, great  dark chocolate flavor, studded with white chocolate and
yummy pistachios (my favorite nut).

Do to that, I decided to change the name to chocolate pistachio cake and
share the recipe with you. You can dust the cake with powdered sugar but I suggest
frosting it with your favorite chocolate frosting! I didn't do either because I was busy
working on my boyfriend's sisters' cake and was running late but next time I bake this
I will frost it with a thick layer of chocolate frosting. Yuuummy!

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
recipe originally named: chocolate chip brownies
from the book: frame> by> frame baking

serves: 12

Ingredients:

- 1 c. butter, softened + extra for greasing
- 5 1/2 oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- 1 1/2 c. self rising flour
- 2/3 c. superfine sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 c. chopped pistachio nuts
- 3 1/2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
- confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a 9-inch square pan.

2. Place the dark chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl set over a
saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted  OR place both in a
microwave safe bowl (like I did) and heat for 15 seconds then stir,
repeat process until chocolate is completely melted.

3. Sift the flour in separate bowl and stir in superfine sugar. Stir the eggs
into the chocolate mixture, then pour into the flour and sugar; beat well.
Stir in the nuts and white chocolate.

4. Pour the mixture into prepared pan, use spatula to spread evenly.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until firm around the edges.
Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack, cool completely.

6. Dust with confectioners' sugar (which I didn't do because I ran out) OR
slather a great chocolate frosting on top ;) Cut into 12 squares and serve.

bestest with milk <3

Chocolate Sable Cookies

So, I officially have a favorite cookie now. If someone were to ask me me what my favorite cookie is,
"chocolate sable cookies" would be my answer. These cookies are a classic french cookie,
sable in french means "sandy". Chocolate sandy cookies. They are a chocolate shortbread,
too good to be true.

I love to bake and share my baked goods with friends and family as I mentioned before on my blog,
it's so satisfying. The most I usually will have, when it comes to cookies is three. I found myself
eating these like popcorn! I'm a little ashamed of that but it's true! I ended up taking the rest over
to a friend's house that night, (these are just too dangerous to have around).
I always have my sisters rate my food from 1-10. These were a 20. No doubt about it.

note: I almost regretted making these cookies, when I was sitting there grating the chocolate.
The chocolate kept on breaking and melting on me. I used my brain, put the chocolate in the
freezer and continued on grating. The frozen chocolate was waaay easier to grate and though
my hand still hurt from finely grating the chocolate, it was soooo worth it!

Moral of the story: freeze your chocolate before grating it.

Chocolate Sable Cookies
recipe from: Miette, the book

*makes about 40

Ingredients:
- 1 c. a.p. flour
- 1/3 c. cocoa powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
- 2/3 c. sugar + more for sprinkling
- 1/4 t. sea salt
- 3/4 t. vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 oz. 70 % cacao (good quality) chocolate, grated

1. Sift flour, cocoa & baking soda into bowl, set aside.
2. Beat together butter, sugar, salt & vanilla until lightened,
about 4 minutes. Add dry ingredients & grated chocolate,
mix just to combine.
3. If dough is too soft, refrigerate 30 minutes. Otherwise,
roll out dough 1/2-inch thick on a lightly floured surface
into a 6 by 7-inch rectangle. Square edges as much as
possible, cut the dough into 1-inch squares. Place 2-inches
apart on parchment (wax works too) lined baking sheets.
Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

4. Bake cookies in a 350 degree, preheated oven until
firm, about 12 minutes. Store in airtight container for
up to 2 weeks. (Though they won't last that long!)

notes: 1. My dough turned out fine but when I have time,
I like refrigerating dough that I'm going to roll out, it makes
thing less sticky.

2.This dough will keep one week in the refrigerator and
up to three months in the freezer.

3. This cookie pairs perfectly with a glass of milk, sandwiched
with a scoop of ice cream, and makes a perfect gift.

enjoy <3

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

one cookie stacked on top of another cookie

First of all I'll start off by saying, my strawberry shortcake cookies don't have the texture

that they were supposed to have, that of a scone or biscuit because 

(mine actually look just like a cookie would) , well, because 

I had friends over, we had plans, and they were impatiently waiting for me at my kitchen table

while I was whipping these up! ( I couldn't wait to bake these as soon as I saw the recipe).

So... three little things that I did that you shouldn't do;

1. Run out of heavy cream and substitute about 1/2 c. of 2% milk.

(I know that has nothing to do with my friends waiting but well that happened. Shame on me,

I could have sworn I had more heavy cream.) That made my dough a tad bit more runny.

2. Over-stir the dough because you were too busy having conversation with friends...

I can't seem to multitask even if my life depended on it! I think had a whole lot to do with

the texture of my cookies.

3. Double the cookie size. It said to use tablespoon and a half of dough while I decided

to just use my little ice cream scoop that holds about 3 tablespoons of dough because

I didn't have time to bake two batches.

There. Now, that being said. I want to tell you how delicious these cookies are.

They are melt in your mouth delicious. They are strawberry shortcake on the go.

My friends devoured them as soon as they were out of the oven. Seriously.

They thought since I made them wait so long, they had the right to eat them. All.

My mom and sisters tried them too. Other than that there were four left.

And if you follow the steps like you should they will probably be even better than mine (:

I absolutely love the color of these cookies. Now I know Valentine's day is

not right around the corner but how perfect would these be for a Valentine's picnic or

gathering of some sort? Don't mind me, I always think ahead.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

recipe from Martha Stewart

makes 3 dozen

- 12 oz. strawberries, hulled & diced into 1/4-inch (2 c.)

- 1 t. lemon juice

- 1/2 c. + 2 T. sugar

- 2 c. a.p. flour

- 2 t. baking powder

- 1/2 t. coarse salt

- 3 oz. (6 T.) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* sanding sugar for sprinkling, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Combine strawberries, lemon juice and 2 T. sugar. Set aside.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar
in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with fingers until mixture resembles
coarse crumbs, as if you were making pie crust. Stir in cream until
dough starts to come together, then gently stir in strawberry mixture
(this is were I went crazy stirring the dough).

3. Using tablespoon, drop about tablespoon and a half onto
baking sheets lined with wax or parchment, whatever you have,
spacing apart evenly about an inch and a half. Sprinkle with sanding
sugar, if using. Bake until golden brown. 25 minutes.
Transfer to a rack, let cool.

Best way to enjoy these is with family and friends <3

note: these cookies are best served immediately or the day of,
they don't keep well, as any other cookie using fresh fruit.

also, 1/4-1/2 t. of lemon zest would be great in these, definitely
adding zest next time I bake these, which will be before the summer
is over, I'm going strawberry picking soon!

Honey & Almond Cake

 

Today I have for you this lovely, sweet & best of all easy to bake up cake!

It's flavors are so  simple and clean; honey, almonds and a hint of lemon.
Just imagine the aroma of that, it's glorious!

Perfect for tea time, family gatherings and pot lucks.

It really is a piece of cake to make this cake. You don't even need an electric mixer

or better yet, you won't even need a whisk! And you're only 7 ingredients away

from this deliciousness. Best of all you probably have these ingredients waiting

for you in your pantry already! So what are you waiting for? Get your oven mitts on!

honey & almond cake

serves 12-16

Ingedients:

- scant 3/4 c. unsalted butter + extra for pan

- 1/2 c. light brown sugar

- 1/2 c. honey

- 1 T. lemon juice

- 2 eggs, beaten

- scant 1 1/2 c. self- rising flour

- 3 T. sliced almonds

* warm honey to glaze

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and line an 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan. Set aside.

2. Place the butter, sugar, honey and lemon juice in a sauce pan

and stir over a medium heat, without boiling, until melted and smooth.

3. Remove pan from heat and quickly beat in the eggs with a wooden spoon. 

Sift in the flour and stir lightly. Pour into prepared pan and scatter the almonds over the top.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until risen, firm and

golden brown. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto your

plate, platter or cake stand to cool completely. 

Brush with about 2-4 T. warmed honey. 

I warmed the honey in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Cut into slices and Enjoy with tea <3

Carrot Cookies, probably one of the best cookies you've had

that don't include chocolate chips anyway...

I said I would post this recipe a day or two ago.
I know, I'm sorry. I always get caught up with something else
as responsible as I try to be with this blog!
But Seriously this recipe is worth the wait.

I don't know what's up with me and baking with veggies but
I looove it! My future kids are definitely not going to be afraid of
veggies.

This cookie is the kind of cookie that disappears as soon as it
comes out of the oven, yesterday my mom ate about 6 as soon
as I took them out of the oven. No lie. And my mom is the type
of person who says cookies or cake shouldn't be eaten warm.
(Now that's a lie.)

Anyway make these. They are light & soft in the inside with a
crispy outside. (I am eating one while I type this.)
Delicious and simple. Best of all so easy to make.
Plus you won't feel so bad about eating about five of them because
they are healthy... right? Carrot cookies? and they are snack size.
I highly recommend these, especially if you have kids.

Carrot Cookies

What you need:

- 2 c. peeled, cubed carrot ( I used about 4 medium size carrots)

- 3/4 c. butter, room temp.

- 1/2 c. sugar

- 1/2 c. packed brown sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 t. vanilla

- 2 c. flour

- 2 t. baking powder

 - 1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Boil the peeled, cubed carrot in a small amount of water
with salt, about two pinches of salt and enough water to cover carrots.
Drain and mash into a puree. Set aside and let cool.

2. Cream the butter and sugars together.
Add egg and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the carrot.

3. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until all is well incorporated.
Scoop onto cookie sheets with a teaspoon, with an inch of space in between
each cookie. Bake 15-16 minutes until golden brown.
Repeat with the rest of the dough.

( My favorite way of testing cookies after I see that they are the
shade of golden I want them to be is by lightly pressing on them and if they
spring right back up, that's when I take them out of the oven.)

Best way to enjoy these cookies is with a glass of cold milk!

<3

FAIL recipes...

Last week I baked up a Cherry Clafouti, (which is a cherry baked custard
inspired by the Limousin region of France) for you guys but unfortunately
this recipe that I was really looking forward to try from my June 2011 bon appetit
issue was not all that and a bag of chips. It tasted too much like egg, and the cherry
flavor wasn't overpowering at all. I only like to share with you guys the recipes
that I absolutely love and will keep in my archive and that the people I share my
food with absolutely love as well, I hope this inspires you reading this
to try one of my recipes <3

Most of the times I enjoy trying new, different recipes more than anything else
and that sometimes has it's bad side but I think most of the time (I would say
95% of the time), my judgment is good.

What are your FAIL recipes, kitchen fiascoes?

P.S. tomorrow I will be sharing a cookie recipe that I've been dying to share
with you guys for a while!

meanwhile, I'll leave you guys a picture of my baby;

and food that inspires me.
                                                             

 

 

pictures found on tumblr.

BEET cake!

 

Have any of you ever heard of beet cake?

I hadn't. I hadn't even tried beets except for

those times when my mom would try to sneak it

into my juice and I completely hated it! 

Until I ran across an amazing video

(that I will share with you) by a talented wife

and husband duo. It made me look at beets in a whole

new way. I am so thankful I saw this video

and I am totally happy that I tried the recipe!

Beet Cake

 

- 1 c. butter, softened, divided

- 1 1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar

- 3 eggs

- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate

- 2 c. pureed cooked beets

- 1 t. vanilla extract

- 2 c. a.p. flour

- 2 t. baking soda

- 1/4 t. salt

- confectioners sugar for dusting

Cream 3/4 c. butter and dark brown sugar.

Add eggs, mix well.

Melt chocolate with remaining butter;

stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla

into creamed mixture.

Sift together flour, soda and salt.

Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Pour into a buttered and floured 9-inch cake pan.

Bake @ 375 degrees for about 40 minutes

or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan before removing to wire rack,

cool completely. Before serving; dust with

confectioners sugar.

Enjoy! 

<3

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Feel free to ask any question about this cake (: