HCB-Decadent Raspberry/Chocolate Genoise AND TWD's Corniest Corn Muffins

If pictures say a thousand words then this blog better start talking. I spent 3 days doing this cake in sections so I could fit it in and TAH DAHHHH . . . Here it is! Heavenly Cake Bakers has baked yet another fabulous concoctions, of light and airy chocolate cake, cocoa syrup, raspberry puree, and a chocolate/raspberry ganache. Boy, are there a kitchen sink FULL of dishes.

Further down the post is Tuesdays with Dorie - Corniest Corn Muffins chosen by this week's host (drum roll please) Jill of My Next Life.

Since I am in a hurry, the pictures will have to do the talking.

Below we have eggs whipped into a frenzy, filled full of air.


I was worried when I added the chocolate ganache to the whipped eggs but the process worked; never have I made a cake with all of 4 ingredients and had this fluffy result.



The raspberry/chocolate ganache has both dark and white chocolate grated to fine chunks.

Heavy cream and raspberry puree with the raspberry syrup previously cooked down from 1/2 cup to 2 Tablespoons is heated to a boil.

The syrup is poured onto the chocolate chunks while the processor whizzes along, making this delectable ganache.



The raspberry/chocolate ganache is chilled to thicken and cocoa syrup is coated on to layers that have been previously split into two, creating a 4 layer cake.



The result is a light, airy, moist chocolate/raspberry flavored cake. I did not find the raspberry as dominate a flavor as I was expecting. Still, a delicious and VERY charming cake to present and eat. Next week, we have another chocolate cake to present for the HCB'ers.

Now on to our host Jill and the TWD group. Corniest corn muffins!

I added fresh chopped thyme and sweet basil to the dry ingredients and lots of corn overall. More like 1 1/2 cups instead of the 1 cup called for. The muffins were served with a beef/butternut squash stew. Results: Absolutely Delicious and a Winner!

The only negative? Mine did not bake up as high and pretty as Dories but whose complaining?


Thank you Jill for hosting and check out the other TWD'ers muffins to see all the variations one recipe can present!

TWD ~ Double Apple Bundt Cake and ABC Orange Chiffon Tweed Cake with Milk 'n' Honey Sabayon

Tuesdays with Dorie has arrived and we are enjoying a moist slice of warm double apple bundt cake with a dollop of applesauce.



Lynne from the blog Honey Muffin is hosting this week, which means you can get Dorie's recipe for the double apple bundt cake at Lynne's blogsite OR buy Dorie's Baking from my home to yours cookbook =).

The recipe went together quickly. I used my homemade spicy apple butter, shredded 2 medium apples as stated by Dorie, but omitted the raisins. Apples and spice circulated throughout the house while the bundt cake was baking. I drizzled a cream cheese icing over the top and served a slice of the moist and tender cake with a dollop of store bought applesauce.

Thank you Lynne for choosing this week's TWD delicious recipe. A perfect Fall treat!

The first Tuesday of each month is the ABC Baking Event from one of Flo Braker's wonderful cake recipes out of her Baking For All Occasions. This month's choice kicked my butt!

Most of my photos are even too dark. I halved the recipe for the cake and made miniature pumpkin shapes in a baking pan with removable bottoms. I had leftover batter after filling fifteen pumpkin shapes so poured the rest of the batter in individual tart pans. Lets just say we will "never" use an angel food fluffy type cake in a miniature anything next time.

I have a new kitchen toy and I have no idea how I ever lived without this wonderful creation. A serrated edged peeler. Flo is right, no pith; a perfect peel of zest and glides with ease.


The milk n' honey Sabayon sauce is what completely did me in! I made the sauce twice . . . meaning 12 eggs later I said FINE. I will put this in the refrigerator and fix it tomorrow. By the way, I baked the cake and sauce over a week ago and have been fiddling with it since. The next morning, I added a LOT more heavy cream and whipped the bajeebees out of the sauce.

Lets just say the sauce and I came to an agreement. I had a "thick" cream but not a spoonable, stand-alone cream. I cookie sprinkled, frosted, and finally, as you can see in the first (dark) photo, went with a bowl of cream and the miniature cakes for the umpteenth try at plating.

4 days later I was making tweed cake ice cream sandwiches, using the milk n' honey Sabayon as the ice cream filling.

Halving the recipe took away too much of the orange flavor. The end result had my eye twitching. Reworking the dessert and making a frozen treat with this recipe is the only way I enjoyed it. Although, after messing with this for over a week, we aren't speaking.

Check out everyone else's beautiful works of art with this dessert by going to Hanaa's Kitchen for the blogroll.

TWD - Tarte Fine; Finale for HCB and Paul Newman's Tortellini with Chicken

Leslie of Lethally Delicious decided on the Tarte Fine on page 315 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking, From My Home to Yours for this week. Leslie chose this week's dessert out of the kindness of her heart for what her friends here on Tuesdays with Dorie could easily purchase on a budget, no matter where he or she lives. I always enjoy reading her blog because of the sweet lady she is. Today, you even get to meet her co-author Pearl, so click on over to see Dorie's recipe posted on Leslie's site along with Leslie's own Tarte Fine.

I horde Whole Food's Dufour puff pastry and have been known to pet the frozen pastry without taking it out of the freezer for several months. We never use this pastry on just any recipe . . . especially at $9 + a package. I really enjoy the buttery perfection Dufour creates in this little one sheet of pastry package.

Dorie's section to the right on "Playing Around" was put into effect when creating my apple Tarte Fine. We enjoyed the extra butter and sugar sprinkled throughout, especially since my Golden Delicious apples still had a slightly tart taste to them.

In my Heavenly Cake Baker's group, I learned to use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds in an apple. The ease, precision, and no waste has me hooked on the scoop method and I have never looked back.

I used my mandolin for slicing the apples into thin pieces; of course, I forgot to take a picture to show off the ease and efficiency when using a mandolin. Another piece of kitchen equipment I could not see myself living without.

Would you believe I added aluminum foil for the edges?

Thank you Leslie for picking out a beautiful Fall treat, centered on ease and baked with love.

For my Heavenly Cake Baker's group finale, the cake slicing and tasting. First word to come to mind is "rich", followed by "deep chocolate", then "crumbly". My step-son enjoyed his 18th year birthday cake as breakfast but what an adrenaline rush after one slice plus a cup of coffee. My slice was half of the one you see in the picture above and I could just "feel" my heart speeding along.

I did have a few air pockets in the cake. The chocolate ganache is rich and delicious too. Only half of the cake was eaten; the rest is in the freezer, waiting to be broken down into chunks and added into a freshly made container of vanilla ice cream.



For dinner we made Paul Newman's tortellini with chicken. I received Paul Newman's cookbook as a freebie when I ordered Dom Deluise's original Italian cookbook. I assumed the cookbooks would be full of cliche' recipes. I was wrong, in fact, I have been enjoying not only the recipes but the stories going along with to introduce each section or individual recipe.

The tortellini with chicken was the first recipe we have tried so far, AND I have many marked to be tried soon.

I thought I would share:
Tortellini with Chicken
(Paul Newman's Own Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T. butter
3 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
1 T. dried tarragon or thyme or 2 T. fresh tarragon or thyme
Flour for dredging
2 - 3 cups Newman's Own spaghetti sauce or homemade spaghetti sauce
10 ounces cheese or meat tortellini, prepared according to package directions
Chopped parsley for garnish


Directions:
Saute onion in butter until limp and set aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and tarragon if desired. Dredge in flour and saute in pan used to saute onion for about 5 - 7 minutes. Add onions, spaghetti sauce, and tortellini. Stir together, heating thoroughly for 5 - 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley.

TWD ~ Coffee Break Muffins, a TWD Catch-Up: Mango Bread + Pierre Herme'

Tuesdays with Dorie is here and I was so prepared and yet here I am, typing this up late. I have been looking forward to this post all week, especially since I made BOTH Dorie's Coffee Break Muffins, chosen by Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous (recipe found on her blog), AND a catch-up recipe on page 46: Fresh Mango Bread. I could not find whose choice this recipe was but kudos for a wonderful pick.



I baked the coffee break muffins last week. I halved the recipe and added semi-sweet and white chocolate chips to the batter.


The recipe made 7 muffins. My first time using the silicon muffin/cupcake cups. Loved them; just have to remember to let the muffins fully cool in the cups for easy removal.



Terrible photo above, a little bummed because the presentation was so much fun. You'll never guess what I tried out with the muffins . . . . I can hardly type:

I tried Pierre Hermes (out of the Chocolate Desserts cookbook written with Dorie):

Hot Chocolate with Coffee and a Dollop of Homemade Heavy Cream

and

Served the Coffee Break Muffins Toasted with Vanilla Pear Butter

We are talking some serious caffeine between the two.

I love making the coffee hot chocolate. You take whole milk with a dash of water and bring to a boil. Add 5 T. espresso ground coffee and stir around for a few seconds then strain through a double cheese clothe layer inside a strainer to catch all the grounds.



Return the mixture to the stove top and mix in a quarter cup of sugar with 4 ounces of Valrhona bittersweet chocolate. After the ingredients are combined, I was to use a hand-held immersion blender for 1 minute. I added a dollop of whipped cream on top and wa laa! Delicious, rich hot chocolate. The kind where the chocolaty aroma wafts throughout the house along with coffee and brings everyone into the kitchen, excited, smiling and impatiently waiting for a cup. A new favorite in my home.

I really enjoyed the coffee hot chocolate as a treat. I just wish Pierre had come up with a fancier name =). His accent is wonderful to listen to and I can almost hear him explaining the recipe. (To get the exact recipe, buying the Chocolate Desserts cookbook through Amazon is really worth it!)

Now moving on to my catch-up recipe:



Dorie's Fresh Mango Bread.

I was scared to death baking this recipe because Larry looked at it and asked: "Can't you just say you baked this?". A traumatic moment when the only people to be eating the mango bread would be myself and Larry (to go in his lunches for work).

I omitted the raisins and used lemon zest instead of lime zest because lemon was all I had on hand.

Baking with such a juicy fruit had me worried the loaf would not bake all the way through without burning. I covered the top of the loaf half way through the baking with foil and just as Dorie stated in her recipe, the loaf was done in 1 1/2 hours.


Verdict:
Larry (Hubby for those who do not know): Are you sure this is the bread we were looking at in the cookbook? I mean, this is "really" GOOD and moist. It is not soggy, I like it. (sigh of Relief on my part)
Me: LOVED it! I really enjoyed the spices and mango, the moisture and flavor all combined into a quick bread I can see myself baking again.

The local produce men: Oodles of thanking me for bringing them more goodies, looking suspiciously at the mango bread, trying, and looking relieved they could honestly say how much they liked it. I was laughing to myself all the way back to my car.

Dorie, I am really enjoying baking my way through your cookbook. I feel like we are friends because we are sharing food experiences week after week.

TWD - Cranberry Upside-Downer

Tuesdays with Dorie is here and hosted by Sabrina of Superfluous. The recipe may be called cranberry upside-downer but I did Dorie's alternative suggestion and added peaches and raspberries instead of cranberries. I also made homemade peach ice cream using my friend's Grandma's recipe (which is completely TOOOO soft for scooping yet!).

Rushing pictures is frustrating because no matter how many times I spin the plate, the ice cream is still melting and the shot is not going to improve.




Now the ice cream is hard and squishes down the cake. Maybe I should have quit while I was behind. Can I send a tast-o-gram?



The prettiest part is putting all the ingredients in the 8 - inch baking pan. The flavor for this cake is delicious with fresh peaches, raspberries and a simple syrup at the bottom, accompanied with crushed pecans. The cake was moist and the peach ice cream on top had just enough little chunks of peaches to add a nice touch. Thank you Sabrina for hosting. What a delicious choice! You can find the recipe at Sabrina's blog or buy Dories cookbook; packed full of wonderful goodies.

The peach ice cream is made by processing fresh peaches into small chunks. You do not want complete peach puree nor do you want too big of peach chunks. The chunks will harden into solid blocks of peach ice. Not fun chomping into. I love this ice cream recipe, coming from an official grandma recipe box!

Fresh Peach Ice Cream:

1 heaping pound of peaches

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream

1 1/2 c. light cream (half-n-half)

1 T. lemon juice

dash of salt

Directions:

Peel and pit peaches. Put peach halves and sugar in food processor and pulse until you have little peach chunks and puree both. Pour into bowl and add rest of ingredients, mixing well. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers directions. Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

TWD - Peanut Butter Crisscrosses PLUS Dorie's Buttery Jam Cookies and a Surprise Cookie

Tuesdays with Dorie was hosted this week by Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine and what a yummy choice! LOVE peanut butter cookies! Especially with loads of crushed peanuts. I used sea salt coated peanuts along with chunky peanut butter. So Good! You can get the recipe at Jasmine's blog or BUY Dorie's cookbook, you'll love it!



I turned the page from the peanut butter crisscrosses and wow, perfect cookie partnership: Buttery Jam Cookies. Since I have written catch-up recipe on the top of the page, meaning TWD has already baked these cookies in the past, I went ahead and baked them too. I used apricot jam with large pieces of apricot chunks throughout. Buttery deliciousness!



The last cookie to go with the trio is the Chewy Nutella Crinkles!

You see, I have a large jar of Nutella and the jar was dropped. The lid shattered and I am left with all this Nutella to use up. What I am finding amazing is how many people are using Nutella in recipes on their blogs lately. As filling for crepes, in little muffins, and everything looks amazing!

The little Nutella crinkles are rolled in crushed hazelnuts then in powdered sugar. The flavor is rich and a cookie I plan on adding to the list of goodies I will be sending out over Christmas.

Chewy Nutella Crinkles

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (11 ounce) jar Nutella

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts

2 cups finely chopped hazelnuts, divided

Sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine Nutella and shortening in a large mixing bowl; beat with electric mixer on medium to high speed until combined.

Add sugar; beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and eggs; beat just until combined.

Alternately add flour mixture and milk to creamed mixture, beating on medium speed just until combined.

Use a spoon to stir in 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts.

Cover and chill for several hours or until firm.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Shape the dough into 1- or 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in finely chopped hazelnuts, then roll in confectioners' sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. (The cookies will spread and crinkle as they bake.)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until surface is cracked and cookies are set. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes about 6 dozen.

Thank you Jasmine for hosting and choosing a cookie recipe!

TWD - Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies and Oatmeal Spice Shortbread Cookies and Banana Cake w/Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Tuesdays with Dorie is here! Excitement! Flag waving! Okay, maybe no flags. Donna of Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First is our host this week.

The recipe: Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Dorie also gave us a variation: Oatmeal Spice Shortbreads


I dropped the decorating ball with this batch. My kitchen sizzle was starting to fizzle. I love our baking groups but I also have my own list of "must bake" goodies and rarely do I get to do both. This last week I baked to my hearts content (literally) and learned to cut recipes in half along with freezing extras. Works great!

Dorie's recipe called for bittersweet chocolate. Brainstorm: Use my hidden stash of espresso chocolate along with bittersweet. (I know I am forgetting something.)

All the chocolate was chopped up into little chunks; mixed both shortbread recipes, rolled dough in gallon size Ziploc bags and refrigerated overnight. Took out my handy little kitchen ruler, the basic wood one we had in elementary school, and measured the dough into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Baked ALL the cookies.

There are oodles of cookies! Waited for the espresso shortbread cookies to cool then took a nibble. Immediately remembered what I was forgetting. I do not enjoy the flavor of coffee. I have coffee one morning, Sunday morning, every week and that cup is loaded with Nestle Hazelnut coffee creamer and 1 1/2 t. sugar. I sip 1/2 of the cup and talk a mile-a-minute for the next 2 hours. Weird ritual, I know, but hubby makes coffee on Sunday morning and I feel bad not having a cup. I have tried suggesting he become a tea sipper but he says all my tea cups are just too little for his fingers . . . funny ha but not funny ha-ha.

The shortbread cookies turned out cute but I guess shortbread cookies are not my thing (my first shortbread cookies). I would like to use some of the cookies in a few cheesecake crusts. I have oodles in quart size freezer bags plus Larry loves the espresso ones with his coffee. Personally, after 1 cookie and my 1/2 cup of coffee, I was dropping everything in sight. Making breakfast, I started cracking an egg open, the egg slipped out of my hand and cracked open between the stove and the counter. Interesting.

Donna, thank you for hosting TWD this week. I liked the oatmeal spice shortbread cookies and I know the cookies will be a part of some fun projects in the near future. To get the recipe, go to Donna's site and buy Dorie's cookbook.

I thought I would also share a banana cake recipe. Not to be confused with banana bread. The recipe originally came from Allrecipes.com but I altered it a smidgen. One of the changes was adding 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Makes for a light and fluffy banana cake.

Banana Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter

* 2 eggs

* 4 ripe bananas, mashed

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 cup chopped pecans

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

2. Cream together the butter or margarine and the sugar.

3. Add eggs, bananas, flour, soda, salt, nuts, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.) for 30 minutes. Cool and frost cake.

FROSTING DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream. Frost cake.