A while ago, I shared my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and dropped in a fun link about the chemistry of cookies. I really like the video and think about it each time I put my baked goods in the oven, anticipating the delightful Maillard reaction!
Well, Julissa noticed that little linky, and she thought I’d like this neat infographic she helped make on The Science of Baking. It feels like stuff I remember learning from the geeky chef Alton Brown at some point, but all summed up in one infographic with cute little burping yeasts to boot (see “Leavening” below). I did like it, and since I want to read it again and again, I figured you might enjoy a look-see. If you love baking and appreciate knowing what a teaspoon of baking soda actually does, or why you shouldn’t sub in bread flour when you’re baking a cake, this is the infographic for you!
I’ve also decided that if I ever make Ben another sappy Valentine’s day card, it’s going to feature something cheesy like “You Can Be the Sugar to My Amino Acids” in it somewhere. That, and maybe You can be the 0 to my 1 (does that even make sense? I hope that is even a compliment… #nerdfail).
I hope you like it, and please feel free to comment with more cheesy analogies :].
I first fell for huge, chunky slabs of dark chocolate shortbread when I made a pilgrimage to Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego. If you enjoy sweets and are ever within a 50-mile drive of the place, you MUST GO. There are two locations. Go earlier if you don’t want to be disappointed, because stuff sells out pretty quickly. Karen Krasne, please, please open up a shop in Norcal. Please. I bought your book
One thing the gorgeous cake book does NOT include is a recipe for Karen’s extraordinary chocolate shortbread, though, so I’ve been on a mission to make something as close as possible. Her shortbread is not dry and sandy and crumbly like your typical shortbread (which I also love, but in a different way). It’s huge and mouth-filling and intensely cocoa-y in a way a small shortbread cookie could never do. I’ve tried a number of chocolate shortbread recipes in an attempt to recreate hers, and recently re-tried one that, for some reason, I passed up before: Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies. It got a second look because my friend Diana, over at Chomping Board, made some for us while we were providing her with a meal delivery (talk about hospitable!). I was sold. I went home and got to work on the new recipe that very week.
After making Dorie’s cookies according to her recipe- dainty little teatime circles- I decided to double the recipe and make huge rectangular slabs of it in an attempt to imitate the ones at Extraordinary Dessert. So I tweaked the preparation a bit and… GUYS, IT WORKED! Mine came out with the same parched-desert-looking crinkles across the top, the same melt-in-your-mouth chocolate discs throughout, the same moist-sandy texture I loved. Most importantly, you could really sink your teeth into each intensely cocoa-y bite the same way you could with hers. Yes, they sink in. Like I said, not your typical shortbread. Better, IMHO.
Thank the Lord for Costco pounds of butter and Costco tubs of cocoa powder.
This is my new addiction. Make it yours.
Day 1: A package arrives at the door. It is a lovely congratulatory gift set including lush and sweet Harry and David pears from Ben’s boss!
Ben: OOH you can make your pear tart! Remember last time we had these pears and you made that pear tart? It was so good!
Jo: Yeah! (secretly wonders when she will find time to bake)
Day 2:
Ben: So are you going to make a pear tart?
Jo: Yup. But the pears are not ripe yet.
Day 3:
Ben: Are the pears ripe yet?
Jo: Not yet.
Ben: Mmm. Pear tart…
Day 5:
I have slowly been making our way through the pears, usually as a post-dinner dessert for the family. So lush and juicy– really, they’re something else.
Ben, with concern: Are you going to have enough pears for the pear tart??
Jo: Yup. Just need two.
Day 6:
Ben is short on sleep, and planning to hit the sack early. But then he realizes I am now making the pear tart.
Ben: Oh, I guess I’ll stay up for it, then!
Jo: Hm. After baking it for another 50 minutes, it’s supposed to sit in the fridge for two more hours…
Ben: 🙁
Day 7:
Ben: THE PEAR TART WAS GOOD! Is there any way you can get more pear in there? I really like the pears.
Dad: Did you make this? Just following a recipe? It’s very good!
(Note that this is actually Chinese dad speak for “JO YOU ARE THE MOST AMAZING BAKER IN THE WORLD!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!” 😉)
I think this story speaks for itself. You should need no further convincing. This pear tart is worthy of your time. It is something Ben requests and looks forward to and I can think of few better ways to celebrate a gift box of sweet, creamy, and delicious pears! Plus, this crust recipe is great– didn’t get soggy, and would work well for a fruit tart!
P.S. The original recipe is actually called a “Pear and Almond Flan” but for some reason, that name doesn’t ring with me the same way “Pear Tart” does. Isn’t flan like a wiggly, jiggly eggy thing? I’m convinced this should be called a tart. And this is my blog. So there.
Because it’s 100 degrees.
And because it tastes wonderful.
And because there is no Serendipity 3 near my home.
And who doesn’t want frozen hot chocolate made the way it’s done in an ice cream parlor?!
And did you know you were paying $8.95 for 6 oz. milk + cocoa + sugar + ice?! Cuz that’s all it takes to make this incredibly satisfying, throat-cooling, hit-the-chocolate-spot treat!
The proportions on this recipe are perfect. Enjoy!
I’ve never thought of myself as much of a grape person, but when my friend Hanna told me about this recipe, I knew I had to try it. Because I will pretty much do anything Hanna tells me to do. She has never steered me wrong.
Plus, it seems grape sorbet and I were fated to happen. You see, one Thursday, I was at Costco, and this sample lady kept calling out, “THE SWEETEST GREEN GRAPES YOU WILL EVER TRY IN YOUR LIFE! HAVE SOME GREEN GRAPES! THEY’RE THE SWEETEST GREEN GRAPES YOU WILL EVER TRY…” So of course I had to have some.
Maybe it was the clever packaging–they were called Cotton Candy Grapes–but seriously, when the juice squirted into my mouth, I felt like I was transported to a carnival. It may have just lasted for a second, but I swear the cotton candy taste was there. It made me very suspicious of the grapes, actually… but since they said ORGANIC and I happen to trust Costco very much, I picked up a basket.
Good decision, JoEllen. Because that left me with plenty left over to eat, even after tripling the green grape sorbet recipe.
The sorbet was bright and refreshing and would make an excellent palette cleanser. It was also very easy to make. I thought my grapes might be sweet enough without the extra sugar, but something about freezing foods makes them taste less sweet, so I’m glad I kept the sugar in the end.
These lemon bars are by far the most requested item I make. My friends love the buttery-tart combination and recently, I was asked to make a whole bunch of them for a wedding! Since I had to mass-produce these guys, I decided to go with… bottled lemon juice, something I hadn’t done for nearly a decade. However, in so doing, I discovered that bottled lemon juice is the key to making these lemon bars consistently tart and perfect in consistency!
Last weekend, my friends and I threw a super fun ocean themed baby shower for my friend Kim (and Dan)! Even though I helped to coordinate the event, I actually had to miss it because I came down with the flu :*(. SO SAD. But I am still so proud of how things turned out, and wanted to share some of my favorite ideas from the party!
This is a celebration cake to make for somebody you really love.
For me, that was my friend Lily, though I will say I made it for her pre-baby. Two days pre-baby, to be exact. I was on maternity leave and had just a litttttle more time left on my hands before our little bundle of joy came along (and completely changed the meaning of “free time” (and how I spent it)).
I think it made her happy, so that made me happy. I was also happy to eat it. Yum. It was so good. Several people remarked that it seemed like bakery quality, and even Eric told me he liked it, and he normally doesn’t even like chocolate cake. (But don’t worry. I love chocolate cake and I looooved it, too.)
That night, as our huge group celebrated at the restaurant, who did we run into but my dear brother and sister-in-law! Naturally I wanted to share my chocolate creation with them. They liked it so much that they later requested it for my niece’s 1st birthday party several months later. So I made the cake once more, again for somebody I really loved. And this time, it was with my own baby in tow… so methinks that’s somehow even more love than Lily got. Because spending all day making a cake pre-baby is not the same as spending all day making a cake post-baby. It was a hit, and even though my niece never got to try a bite, I know the guests enjoyed it! She’ll have to wait a little longer before she’s allowed processed sugar, but if she’s anything like her aunt, I think she’ll take to it pretty quickly :).
I got on the Nutella bandwagon in high school, when my German teacher served it to us on slices of sourdough baguette. Is it just me, or does food taste about 100x better when your teacher hands it to you in class? Doesn’t matter if it’s goldfish in third grade or chocolate spread on bread in high school– it’s such a treat! As odd as the combination might have seemed in any other context, it was like magic that chilly morning in third period. Chocolate spread on bread?! That’s allowed?! I thought. That seriously might be the most lasting thing I took from that class (my teacher was great, but honestly, I’ve never used my German since).
Since then, loads of people have fallen in love with the stuff, and for good reason. Here is one of my favorite applications of Nutella: Banana Nutella Croissants. Guys, these are SO GOOD. I want them ALL THE TIME.
I have a confession to make.
I use box mix for brownies. It’s true.
…BUT IT IS SO GOOD!!!!!
Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix
I’ve made a lottttt of batches of brownies from scratch, but once I gave Ghirardelli’s Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix
The brownies are moist and chewy and chocolatey with that thin crackly layer on the top. There are big chunks of chocolate, and the edges are satisfyingly edgy, for you edge-lovers out there. They’re pretty much perfect, and at $10/6-pack from Costco… you can’t really ask for more from boxed goods…
Golden Coin Almond Jello Mix
…Unless if you’re making almond jello, in which case Golden Coin’s almond jello
cake jello.
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