caramelized bananas

carmelized-banana-completeI love these bananas.  I’m not even a fan of a raw banana – but oh…a sprinkling of sugar, a blow torch – and voila – magic banana.  These are great in addition to most any dessert.  Really and truly.  I absolutely love them in an ice cream sundae.  My favorite.  The crisp topping is like a creme brulee – but underneath, a banana.  Yum!  These are a great snack when you’re craving something sweet – especially for the kids (well, me too).  The hard sugary shell entices them (us) and while we are at it – eat a whole healthy potassium filled banana!  (OK, yes, with some added sugar.)  Actually these might be good cut into hot oatmeal for breakfast – just thought of that now.  Hmmm…tomorrow.  These are relatively easy to make if you have a blow torch – but sadly most people don’t?  Blowtorches are easy to find at your local hardware store – you don’t need anything fancy – but if you want a fancy one – especially styled for pastry, then by all means purchase.  And don’t be scared – I know it sounds intimidating.  The blow torch comes in very handy for caramelizing fruits, meringues and creme brulee.  Unfortunately, unlike creme brulee – broiling these in the oven is really not quite as good.  The banana “cooks” a bit and gets very mushy – but I guess  it’s worth a shot if there is no other option.  (OH, just got a note from Robert a friend and neighbor who says he cooks bananas in a nonstick pan over high heat with balsamic vinegar and some sugar.  Yes, a pan friend banana may be the alternative way to go if you’re not daring enough for the blowtorch!)

caramelized bananas:
firm, just ripe, bananas
sugar

blowtorch–
Slice each banana lengthwise.  Place on foil or a foil-lined roasting dish or sheet pan.  For each banana, sprinkle about a teaspoon of  sugar (you can use more or less depending on the size of the banana and your personal taste) onto the cut side of the banana – and go to blowtorch town.  Take your time…hold the blowtorch about 3-5 inches away and slowly move the flame around the banana.  Keep the blowtorch moving all over and over and over again until the sugar caramelizes and turns a lovely shade of nutty brown.  Delish.

broiler–
Follow directions above (but I would try a less ripe banana) – then place in oven – and broil.  This will probably take under a minute so watch it carefully.  I tried at home – but pretty unhappy with my results – but practice and see if maybe you can do better…I will try again – just hard to waste my bananas when my blowtorch is so close by!

Enjoy-

frosted espresso brownies

These are incredible.  They are very very strong in coffee flavor – made with ground espresso beans that give them great chewy/crunchy texture.  Lauren – a 10 year old exclaimed that “they taste like Starbucks.”  I love them – the icing is sweet and delicious and although the brownies are very rich, they are addictive.  I nibbled throughout the day.  And now I’m full of caffeinated energy!  (I’m writing very late for me…after watching the entire Sound Of Music with my daughter…she ate them too!)  I also made an espresso brownie ice cream by chopping the brownies into small bits and adding them to freshly churned vanilla ice cream.  So very good!  I found these brownies  in Saveur Magazine.  The article listed three different and highly regarded brownie recipes.  Since I was familiar with the first two (Nick Malgieri’s and Kate Hepburn’s) and loved both, I decided that I had to try these – developed by Krystal Stone – an assistant at Saveur.  I tweaked the recipe just a little here and there.  There are a few special pantry items that you’ll need: chocolate covered espresso beans as well as instant espresso powder – so purchase before you decide to bake.  But they are well worth a trip to the store or a visit on the Internet.  Reserve a little extra time – they are not difficult but a little more time consuming than a regular brownie.

frosted espresso brownies (adapted from Saveur Magazine):
3/4 cup medium to fine ground chocolate covered espresso beans
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

icing–
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with tin foil.  These brownies are gooey and hard to get out of the pan – so line the pan with foil so that it comes all the way up the sides of the pan.  Once baked and cool, you can simply lift the whole big brownie out of the pan, flatten the foil, and cut as desired.  I might try them in mini muffin pans next time.  Try if you like.

Grind your espresso beans in a food processor.  Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

Bring 1/4 cup water to boil and whisk in instant espresso and dissolve.  Pour into a medium sized bowl.  Add the ground beans, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, oil and vanilla and mix well.  Add the eggs and mix again, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly and bake for about 42-50 minutes.  As usual check often and before.  Let cool for about 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, make the icing.  Bring the butter, milk, sugars, cocoa, vanilla and salt to a boil in a small saucepan.  Continue to stir and whisk as it comes to a boil.

Pour the  icing over the warm brownie (you may not need all of it) and let set and harden.  I found it easier to let sit overnight – but dig in when you like.  This is great in a light vanilla ice cream.  I think I’ll mix it into my next batch.

Enjoy!

danish pancakes

If you read this regularly, you know that Andy, my 10 year old, is a huge fan of chocolate in the morning.  Last year he came home very happy and full after a sleepover with his twin friends Zach and Davis.  He excitedly told me that their father made these Danish pancakes – and that they were delicious.  I immediately called Tracy (my friend, their mom) and got the recipe.  My brother-in-law Patrick who is French does not understand why they are called Danish Pancakes – he seems somewhat irritated by this and claims that they are simply French crepes!  Oh well, either way, they are good and fairly easy to make once you get the hang of it.  Oh, and we fill them with cinnamon sugar and mini chips – but my Nutella loving nephew Daniel fills them with…Nutella.  Be creative, have fun – skip the chocolate if not for you and add fresh fruit or jam, or eat plain with confectioners’ sugar.  Enjoy!

danish pancakes:

This makes about 12 pancakes – I usually double the recipe and freeze what is left over for another chocolate filled day…

4 oz (a little less than one cup – best to weigh this) all purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
8 oz whole milk – divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 oz (1 tablespoon) melted butter

filling ideas–
cinnamon and sugar
mini chips or regular size
fresh fruit
jellies and jams
Nutella
confectioners’ sugar
maple syrup
a little lemon juice and sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and cardamon.  With a fork, beat in half of the milk (4 oz), the eggs and vanilla extract.

Gently stir in the remaining 4 0z of milk and the melted butter.  Try not to over-mix, the batter will be a little lumpy.

Spray or lightly butter a saute pan and place over medium heat.  (I do a few pans at a time and vary the sizes) and pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the batter into the pan.  Swirl the batter around the pan by picking the pan up and rotating it around to spread the batter in a circle.

Cook for about a minute or until lightly browned on the bottom and then flip the pancake over and cook again for another minute or so – or until lightly browned.  (I use a big spatula to flip – but as long as you can lift the edges up you can even do this very carefully with your hands.  You can also flip it like the pros up in the air…but that takes practice!)

Transfer the pancake to a plate by sliding them off of the pan.

Choose your filling of choice and go to town.  I let the kids do the rest by putting the cinnamon/sugar on the table with little spoons and a little bowl of mini chips.  They create and that is half of the fun.  I just have to watch Andy here…so that he doesn’t use up all the chocolate!

To freeze leftover pancakes…wrap as instructed in the whole wheat pancake post.  Re-heat gently in warm toaster oven set to 350 for 10 minutes.  Microwave if rushing but the pancakes might be a little chewy.  The kids don’t seem to mind though!

Enjoy-

(moms) candied bacon

OK, so this isn’t dessert – I know, I do know…but I just had to put it in here because this bacon is scrumptious!  There is sugar in it – a lot of sugar so maybe it qualifies just a little bit for this baking blog.  My friend Melissa asked me to show her how to make it.  We had a bacon making date.  My mom makes a delicious salad with spinach, hard boiled eggs, onions and mushrooms.  The addition of this bacon is seriously to die for (and I don’t even normally use that expression).  She crumbles and adds it to the above ingredients and tops it off with a mayo/olive oil/mustard dressing that completes it.  My family loves this bacon in a turkey club – I surprise the kids and put it in their lunches for a treat once in a while.  It is great next to eggs and toast and can also hold its own alone.  I’ve made an endive, fennel and blue cheese salad with the bacon and oh…equally as good as my moms.  So – enjoy this sweet treat.  Experiment.  This bacon freezes well so make a bunch!

candied bacon:
2 packs bacon – I like to use a thick slice or center cut but anything works
3/4 cup light brown sugar (or more or less depending on your taste)

Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray or grease with a little bit of canola oil.

Place bacon in a large heavy duty skillet.  Layer it all around and fill the pan – overlapping when necessary.  Over medium high heat cook the bacon, stirring occasionally.  After about 3-4 minutes, take the fat out of the pan.  Tilt the pan to the side, and with a very big spoon, scoop out all the liquid fat that has been rendered from the bacon (sounds good, right?)

Keep cooking and rendering the fat for probably about 8 minutes in total.   Cook the bacon about 2/3’s of the way through.

Add the sugar by sprinkling it all around and over the bacon.  Turn the heat to low and continue to cook the bacon and sugar together.  Continue to scoop out the fat when needed…and just keep cooking and stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes.  This is best done over a watchful eye – so that the sugar doesn’t burn.  It’s over if it does.

You can tell the bacon is done and the sugar is “candied” when you see little strings of sugar form around the bacon.  Move the bacon around and touch it (with the fork) – see if you can pull these strings to see them…you should.  (Should have taken a photo here…will add one next time I make it!)  Cook the bacon a little bit more to get it crispier and more or less well done depending on your taste.

Once cooked, transfer bacon onto prepared foil.  Let cool or serve warm.  It will be VERY hot at first so please don’t pop into your mouth right away…even though you will want to!

To freeze, let cool and wrap the bacon in foil (you don’t have to spray it now) and place in freezer.  When ready to eat, place bacon on counter for 10 minutes or in refrigerator overnight – and then reheat for about 5-10 minutes in a warm toaster oven (or oven) at about 350 degrees.   Watch it because the bacon/sugar can still burn if re-heated for too long or at too high a temperature.  I like to freeze the bacon in units of 2-3 pieces – so that I can pull from the fridge the night before I make the kids their turkey clubs.  Ready to roll in the AM.  Enjoy!

chocolate chip meringue bars

These bars were my favorite childhood dessert.  I recently asked my mom for the recipe – but being that she is so neat and tidy (which is great), she often throws things away (not so great).  I suffer the same affliction at times.  Anyway, luckily my very good friend Michelle also loved these as a child (we were family friends so she was treated to my mom’s sweets).  And Michelle held onto the recipe!  It is a weird recipe and I had some doubts as I made them – but they were the same ones from my childhood.  I should tell you that these are very very sweet.  Not for the tame hearted sugar eaters here – but oh…for me – they are decadent and heavenly.  Rich and gooey.  I cut one up and put it in my vanilla ice cream last night and really, I felt so content.  My kids wouldn’t eat them the first night.  I said ok everyone – time for something new…my favorite… and I was met with groans of  “more dessert?”  And “can’t we just have a little candy tonight”  Oh boy.  The second night they tried it – and loved it – especially Sylvie and our neighbor Danika.  Greg said it tasted like cookie dough.  My friend Suzanne said a tiny square with her tea was all she could eat because she felt the sugar on her teeth (although she reported she’s excited to eat another small bite with lunch).  And her husband Jamie said yes, sweet, but good – and ate a hearty slice.  Again, this is not for everyone.

chocolate chip meringue bars:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar,  3/4 cup brown sugar for meringues topping (later)
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
semi chocolate chips – about 1 cup (or bittersweet might work great here! – next time I’ll try…to cut the sweetness)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.  (Line with parchment if you plan to invert on a pan – and cut neatly.  We just ate them out of the pan!)  Alternately line with parchment or foil – with an overhang so you can use as an aid to remove from pan.  Look to baking tips and pan prep for a visual.

Separate the eggs.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream the butter with the sugars (remember just the 1/2 cup brown sugar) for 3-5 minutes – until light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks one at a time until incorporated.  Add the water and vanilla and mix, scrape down, and mix again.  Add the dry ingredients by hand or on lowest speed until just combined.

Place dough in prepped pan and press to fill out evenly.  Spread and press the chocolate chips all around to cover.

With a hand mixer or in your stand mixer – whisk and beat up egg whites and slowly add brown sugar – on medium speed at first and then up to medium high until they get thick and hard peaks form (I needed to go longer here…although they were still good).  This should take several minutes.

Pour the meringue on top of the batter and bake from 45-60 minutes…but again, check often and before.  The top will get nicely browned and the middle will stay slightly gooey.  But I’ll be honest – it is hard to tell when these are done.  After poking around I realized I took the bars out too early – so I popped back into the oven.  If you need to, cut an edge and see what’s happening in there – but I will say even undercooked these are yummy.  Enjoy!

halloween peeps

A plain Peep is not something that I love.  However…a chocolate covered Peep is divine.  Seriously.  I did a short stint at Chocolations (a local chocolate shop) last year and Maria, the owner, was dipping Easter Peeps in chocolate.  Well, that was it.  Done. Count me in.  My early resistance to Peeps was no more.  I lovingly dip, serve and eat them often.  Surprisingly it is not just the kids (and I) who love them.  Rob loves them coated in dark bitter chocolate – to cut the sweetness – and both milk and dark make me happy.  The ghosts are almost fully dipped in chocolate while the pumpkins are placed on a chocolate disk.  While I was at it, I decided to make some chocolate covered Halloween Oreo treats as well.

chocolate covered Halloween Peeps:

Tempering chocolate is vital in chocolate making.  Tempering allows the chocolate to dry and set with  a glossy sheen and snap when you break it.  If you don’t temper you may find that you have off color streaks in the chocolate (a whitish bloom) and sometimes the chocolate wont set unless you refrigerate.  The chocolate may also be grainy.

Tempering chocolate is crazy easy if you have a tempering machine – which if you are dedicated to dipping you may want to invest in.  I have the Rev1 Chocolate Temperer which is in the less expensive range – although they range from about $400-$2000!

It can  be hard to justify the cost of the machine, but if you do purchase, simply follow the instructions on the machine – dip ingredients (in dark, mild or white chocolate) and let set on a parchment lined baking sheet.  You can go crazy here – I’ve dipped so many things- nuts, fruits, cookies, potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn.

If you want to dip by hand, it is a little more labor intensive but still worth the effort.  It would be helpful to have a good chocolate thermometer. And follow instructions below:

Start with at least one pound of chocolate.  It is easier to work with a larger amount.  Chop the chocolate and reserve about 4 oz.  Place the remaining chocolate (12 oz) in a stainless steel bowl over simmering water.  (If you start with more chocolate — let’s say 2 pounds, then reserve about 8 oz.)  When about a half of the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and stir.  Place chocolate back on the simmering water and continue to heat – until the chocolate registers 118-120 (for dark chocolate) and 116-118 degrees (for milk and white chocolate) on the thermometer.  Do not go above 120 degrees.

Remove chocolate from heat and add the reserved chocolate – stir until incorporated and let sit on counter stirring occasionally until the chocolate cools a bit and reaches 80 degrees.  This can take a while – so be patient.

Once the chocolate cools, return to the simmering water (barely simmering) and heat it until it reaches 88-90 degrees (for dark chocolate) and 85-87 degrees (for milk and white chocolate).  This shouldn’t take long…keep a very watchful eye because if it goes over 90 degrees, you will have to start all over again!

Now it is ready.  Take out those ghost Peeps and dip away.  For the pumpkins, drop a teaspoon (or desired amount) of chocolate onto the parchment and using the bottom of the spoon, flatten it – and then place the pumpkin on it.  You can even make Halloween bark.  Now wish I had.  Next time.

Whatever left over chocolate you have (if any, I can always find something to dip) save for next time you temper or in any other chocolate recipe.  Oh, and by the way, there are many many videos on-line for tempering chocolate by hand – which might be helpful if you are a novice or would like a visual.  The chocolate  Peeps last a long time in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

rocky road cookie bark

This stuff is heaven.  I really truly mean it.  Moist, very chocolaty cookies, filled with various chips, nuts and marshmallows all creating a mouthwatering texture and taste that seriously rivals most cookies I’ve eaten.  The free form shape adds to my delight (for reasons I can’t explain).  I made these for the last school fair and they were a serious hit.  I always double the recipe (the recipe below is doubled) and freeze a bunch for my son Greg who is normally not a crazy chocolate lover.  He takes these from the freezer and pops them in the microwave and eats them warm and gooey.  He  groans with pleasure and raves and raves and thanks me for making them.  Gotta love that at 13.  I like them with vanilla ice cream (what else is new).  This recipe is adapted from The Baker’s Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies by Dede Wilson.  She calls them Heavenly Hash Break-up Bars, but Greg (my son) quickly named them Cookie Bark but no matter what you call them they are good.  Seriously good.  So bake them soon and enjoy!!  *Reader – order the black cocoa now – so you will be ready to bake.  And if you live locally, come to my pantry!

rocky road cookie bark (or heavenly hash break-up bars – adapted from The Baker’s Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies by Dede Wilson):

2 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons black cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter (unsalted)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet choc chips, 3/4 cup white choc chips, 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup toasted pecan halves
1 3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Toast nuts in 350 degree oven or toaster oven for 5-9 minutes.  Be careful not to burn!  Set aside to cool.  Pull butter out to soften and egg out to room temperature.

Whisk together the flour, black cocoa, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, place all the various chips and nuts.

In the mixer, beat butter for a few minutes, add the sugar and continue to beat for a few minutes until lighter and fluffy.  Add the brown sugar and continue to mix for another minute or two.  Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs, one at a time until each is incorporated – then the vanilla.  Scrape the bowl again and mix a little bit more.

On the lowest speed, add the flour in 2 batches – mixing until almost incorporated.  Pull bowl from mixer and add all of the chips and the nuts and continue to mix (by hand – and I actually physically use my hand here) until all is just incorporated.

Divide the dough and place half on each cookie sheet.  Flatten the dough with your hands by pushing down with wet(ish) hands and get it basically as thin as the chocolate chips.  (You will use the marshmallows in the next step if your worried I forgot).

Bake for about 17-20 minutes – continually checking to see if they look done (the glossy sheen should be gone and they should feel dry on the top).  Place the sheet pans on the counter and place the marshmallows on top of the cooked batter – placing them evenly around – and squish each one in to the bark.  Be careful as the sheet pan is hot!

Bake for another 4-5 minutes until the marshmallows kind of melt or brown a tiny bit (although not necessary).

Let cool and cut with a knife free form, or break-up with your hands.  I found that I ucookie-bark-parchment-methonderbaked this last batch and they were really really good, although a little bit harder to handle.  Getting them off of the parchment was a little tricky, so I picked the whole piece of parchment (with cookie attached) and flipped it over a piece of tin foil and just peeled back the parchment.  That did the trick.  You can cut before or after.  These are great gifts as well.  I was baking for Gilda’s Club and decided to package them up in a little bag – nice for the holidays or just a little treat for a friend or family.

nutella-swirl pound cake

Daniel, my nephew,  loves Nutella.  His eyes light up when he sees that jar.  So when I saw a write-up for a new cookbook that featured Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake, I knew I had to make it for him!   I decided to double the recipe so I could keep one and also give one  to Gilda’s club – a charity that I often bake for.  My family really enjoyed  the cake.  For me –  a warm toasted slice was heaven.  I should have swirled the batter a bit more – I think the result would have been even better.  Sadly Daniel didn’t even get to try the cake – but for his next visit I’ll be ready — Nutella jar in hand!

This recipe was adapted from Lauren Chattman’s new cookbook – Cake Keeper Cakes.  She suggests serving this with coffee ice cream.  And I think sliced and toasted with vanilla ice cream is also a winner.

nutella swirl pound cake (adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)
1 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs – room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
one 13 oz. jar Nutella

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan or a bundt pan.  Mix the eggs with the vanilla.  In a medium bowl whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.

Beat the butter with the sugar at medium high speed until lighter and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Lower the mixer speed to medium and gradually beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated and can’t see the egg anymore.  Add the flour in 2 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated.

Spread about one- third of the batter in the pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top.  Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella.  Top with remaining batter.  Swirl the Nutella into the batter with a knife.  Do not over-mix.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes but check before that –  and keep checking so as not to over bake.  I rarely use the baking time listed.  I use it only as a guide.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack.  Invert and let cool.  Enjoy.