TWD: Honey-Wheat Cookies

Tuesdays with Dorie this week is hosted by Michelle at Flourchild. She chose the Honey-Wheat Cookies and I couldn't have been happier. These little gems have long been overlooked. They are sweet and lemony and tender with just a little bit of nutty flavor and texture from the wheat. They are all around surprisingly delicious. In fact, my boys snarf these down faster than chocolate chip cookies. Seriously.

As you probably already guessed, I made these a few weeks ago, before Miss K. arrived on the scene. I hope to get back in the kitchen at some point soon, but in the mean time I'm glad I tried to do my baking ahead of time!

Be sure to check out what the other TWD Bakers thought of these delicious little cookies!

The Cake Slice: Mississippi Mud Cake

Last week, just before I went into labor, I decided I should try to make something easy with my boys and let them have some fun in the kitchen. I've mostly been to tired to try much lately and Aidan has been asking me, so when I read through this month's Cake Slice Bakers recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott for Mississippi Mud Cake I thought it sounded perfect.

Other than the brief stovetop step this recipe was perfect for a six year old and his two year old bossy sous chef to put together. Add to that the fact that the cake, once baked is gooey, chocolatey and covered with warm and melty marshmallows and it was about the most fun we could have possibly had.

It was actually later that day that I did go into labor, so I'm glad that the boys and I had some time together before all the craziness started. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and while we still aren't sure when Kayla will get to come home, we are glad that she is here and doing as well as she is. She has some difficulties, and I promise to share more on that soon, but she is in wonderful hands with our amazing nurses here at the hospital and being well cared for. I'm still staying at the hospital in a room where they let mom's stay over to be close to their baby, but I'm trying to split my time between here and home, so please bear with me as I work through our latest escapades.

Mississippi Mud Cake

Makes one 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

Mississippi Mud Cake

(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

For the Cake

1 cup (2sticks) butter, cut into big chunks

½ cup cocoa powder

4 eggs, beaten well

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1½ cups all purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the Mississippi Mud Frosting

One 16 ounce box (3¼ cups) confectioners sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

½ cup milk or evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups large marshmallows quartered

Method – Cake

Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.

Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method – Mud Frosting

In a medium bowl combine the confectioners sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve

Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.

Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

The Sweetest Thing

Kayla

February 14, 2010

5 lbs 12 oz & 19 inches long

While I've made an awful lot of sweet things in the past, I'd have to say that to date little miss Kayla Eve here is the sweetest by far. Of course, I'm biased, but I think this little Native Princess is just as darling and sweet as can be. I was really hoping that my daughter would get her daddy's coloring since both boys are so much lighter.

Kayla was born Sunday morning - yes, Valentine's Day, very early in the morning. She came a week before my scheduled c-section, but not too early since we made it all the way to 38 weeks. She is just sweet as could be and her darling daddy really came through and sent us the most ridiculously gorgeous roses for her birthday.

Please excuse the pasty, exhausted washed out version of me in the picture and focus on what's important - the ridiculous cuteness of Kayla's brothers. Cole is on the left making funny faces and Aidan is all bundled on the right. They came to see me for lunch while I was in the hospital. They just can't wait till their sister comes home. Of course, Cole still doesn't really understand how his world is going to be rocked. Aidan knows and can't wait. He is super excited for her to come home.

I am feeling like one lucky, lucky mama these days. I even have several posts I'll be keeping up with since I got some baking done before we headed to the hospital. And speaking of heading to the hospital I decided I wanted to bring some kind of treat for the nurses and staff. I baked up a batch of Dorie's World Peace Cookies (my absolute favorite) to share - which I felt was extra appropriate since it was Valentine's Day. They nurses were so grateful and really loved the cookies. The staff at the hospital have all been truly wonderful and so nice. I don't think I've ever had such a pleasant hospital stay and felt so well taken care of.

And just because I wanted to share the sweetest picture of all, here is my sweet husband holding his baby daughter. Now you can see why I called her my Native Princess. I can't remember if I ever mentioned that my hubs is a full blooded member of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. Isn't he just the sweetest thing too. I love my boys dearly and can't wait to watch them all get wrapped around Kayla's tiny little fingers. Yep. I am one lucky, lucky Mama.

Thank you a million-jabillion times for always coming here and hanging out with me and keeping me company and especially for supporting me through all the craziness past months of this pregnancy. While Kayla is still in a special care unit at the hospital for numerous reasons that she is working through, she should be able to come home in a few days with hopefully not too many complications. I couldn't be more grateful for all the support you've all given me and for all the well wishes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

All my love and XOXOX,

Holly and Family

TWD: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesdays with Dorie this week is all about my (and probably most everyone else's favorite cookie - in this case the cookies are known as My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies chosen by Kait at Kait's Plate.

Now, I have used many, many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years and haven't ever really met a cookie I didn't like. That said, I have made this recipe two times, and both times, for some reason the results were less than stellar. In fact, the first time the cookies practically melted on the pan.

The second time I tried chilling the dough and following some of the high altitude changes suggested by King Arthur Flour since that has usually been the problem in the past when cookie recipes have somewhat failed for me. The cookies pictured here are the high altitude version, but since the results were still not what I was hoping for, they still don't beat out the NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies for me (recipe here). I still give Dorie partial credit for that recipe as well since she is one of the sources consulted for the article, so it is still a TWD in my book! I don't know what it is about that recipe, but those cookies behave so nicely here at my Utah altitude (about 4,300 ft) that I'm still not switching.

I know the problem isn't just Dorie's recipe though because I've run into the same issue with several different recipes - it is just an altitude thing and I'm not knowledgeable enough to fix it on my own, so there you go. I hope that others fared better than I did. While you might think that altitude may not make too much of a difference, to give you an idea of the difference between where I live vs Dorie's elevation in NYC - well, the difference is drastic. While I'm at about 4,300 ft, NYC is pretty much at sea level.

For more cookies visit the TWD Blogroll!

Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! My kids love making sugar cookies for the holidays - every holiday really - and this is our favorite go to recipe for a slightly crisp sugar cookie that is still somewhat soft, delicious and retains shapes well. The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan, so you know it is going to be good. You may remember these cookies from last Independence Day when we made tie-dyed stars. This Valentine's Day we also actually made Dorie's recipe for Chocolate Roll Out Cookies (links below for both recipes) as well and tie-dyed them with red and white royal frosting. The kids loved them and the cookies were really delicious! In fact, they were gone and passed out before I had the chance to take a picture of any of them.

Have a great day!!

Vanilla Roll-Out Cookie Recipe with sparkling sugars in red and pink

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Happy Valentine's weekend! In case you still need a gift to give to your sweetie you can always just make your own Chocolate Covered Strawberries. They really couldn't be any easier to make and the results are so rewarding!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and kept warm

1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

2 oz pink candy melts

12 large strawberries, washed and dried

In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the bittersweet chocolate and shortening, stirring till smooth and mixed together well. Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth remove the pan from the heat and set aside to keep warm.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Have your prepared strawberries ready. Poke a toothpick straight into the stem area of each berry, far enough to leave a little handle and be stable. Dip one strawberry at a time in the chocolate, covering the strawberry almost completely - do not cover the stems. Allow excess chocolate to drip off back into the bowl, then place the strawberry on its side on the prepared parchment. Repeat with remaining strawberries. Allow chocolate to set on the berries until hardened.

Once the bittersweet chocolate has set, melt the candy melts in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Once melted, using a fork and drizzle a few streaks of candy melt over each berry. Set baking sheet aside until strawberries set completely - you can do this more quickly in the refrigerator.

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

Tuesdays with Dorie this week is all about Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia chosen by Tanya at Chocolatechic. The story behind these brownies is in the book, but as you can guess from the title, these are the brownies that Rick Katz used to make for Julia Child while they were working on one of her books.

The brownie recipe is unique in the way they batter comes together. While there was some confusion among the group about exactly how they were supposed to come together, I have found with many of Dorie's recipes that if I read her introductions as well as reading the recipe through at least once before I get started, I have much better luck with understanding what I need to do.

As I was thinking about that, I realized that may be a handy tip - that seems obvious, but may not really be, for anyone who is starting out learning how to bake or cook. I always read the ingredient list, any notes, introductions, etc. and the recipe instructions through all the way - at least one time - before I start making the recipe. I didn't used to do this and without exception, the times when I just jumped in without that preparation, were the times that I failed. So, while it isn't really very sage advice, if you are just starting out, it may be some of the best advice for baking success that I can think of.

These brownies were really wonderful. I made mine a little thinner than the original recipe intended by baking them in a larger pan. I know I'm not a fun of brownies that are super fudgey in texture. What was an unexpected bonus for me was that by switching the pan, I ended up with a brownie that was thin and a little chewy - especially on the edges - which I really liked. They ended up having just the right ratio of chewy to fudgey texture for me in this case - with a nice crusty top layer.

The different steps to putting these brownies together, which included whisking the eggs, then adding half to the chocolate mixture, while whipping and then folding in the remaining portion to the chocolate mixture later, then folding the dry ingredients in, etc. - was a bit fussy for me, it wasn't hard and the results were worth it.

Be sure to check out all the other brownie goodness by heading over to the TWD Bakers Blogroll!

TWD: Milk Chocolate Cupcakes

Although this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is technically for Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes (as chosen by Kristin at I'm Right About Everything) I didn't have the right pan and really can't purchase another pan right now (I'm pretty sure my husband would consider some sort of mayhem at this point if I try to bring anything else into our kitchen).

I instead just tried to make the batter into cupcakes, which worked fine with just a little bit of sinking in the middle of the cakes. I also chose to just dust them with a little powdered sugar and keep things simple for serving.

The only other change I made to the original recipe was to follow Dorie's directions in the Playing Around section for using buttermilk in the batter. The flavor of these cakes was really quite light and delicate without too much of an overwhelmingly chocolatey flavor at all. In fact, I was reminded most of the flavor of most red velvet cakes I've had which don't have too much of a pronounced flavor either - somewhere in between chocolate and vanilla. They were tender and we enjoyed them, but they weren't really a favorite of ours. I imagine with the addition of the nut swirl and the chocolate glaze they have more flavor too them.

Be sure to check in with the rest of the TWD Bakers to see what this recipe looks like without all the fiddling!