TWD Chipster Brownies

Beth of Supplicious decided on Chipster-Topped Brownies as this weeks TWD recipe. What exactly are chipster-topped brownies you ask? Only a brownie with a chocolate chip cookie layer on top! If it sounds like a dream come true, you should go over to Beth's blog for the recipe.

I was fortunate to have people to serve these extremely rich brownies to. My parents threw a memorial day party at the log cabin they are building in North Hero, VT. Joe and I loaded the dog, all the my baking ingredients and a ton of other stuff into the car on Sunday after work and drove to VT. We were so lucky because the weather was perfect, and most of my mom's side of the family was able to make it. It was fun to see all my relatives, and nice to bake something so appealing for all of them.

Both batters were easy to make and the bar was fast to assemble. First you make the brownie layer and then the chocolate chip cookie topping.






I baked it for about 50 minutes.



The brownie part was a little underdone, but that was intentional. Everyone loved these bars, even my dog, Mason wanted some:


I thought they were okay, but way too sweet for me. I loved the brownie layer, but the cookie topping was lackluster. If someone asked for them, I would make them again; but I think I prefer my cookies and brownies separate.

TWD Tartest Lemon Tart

Today's TWD recipe Tartest Lemon Tart was chosen by Babette of Babette Feasts. For the recipe please visit her website here.

In the Buswell household my husband and I have an undeclared (but very active) war over lemon (specifically zest). I love lemons in everything, but he doesn't like them at all. To him, lemons taste like soap, especially lemon zest. So, I spend lots of time thinking of ways to sneak lemons in desserts without him noticing. Sometimes this works, but I can't count the number of times I've heard "Is there lemon in this?" or "I would love this if you hadn't put lemon zest in it." Oh well, if at first you don't succeed… make the tartest lemon tart ever.

I was unsure if Joe would like this, so I made a half batch of this recipe. I've made the sweet tart dough with almond meal more than a few times, so it was fast to assemble. The filling was fast as well. The only change I made was I blanched the lemon peel 3 times to get rid of some of the peel's bitterness.



Once the peels cooled, I blended them with the lemon, sugar, eggs, cornstarch, cream and melted butter. One thing I loved about this recipe is the ease of making it. The filling really took no time at all to make, and the ingredients are all items that I usually have on hand (except maybe the heavy cream).

Since I knew I would be making a half batch, I decided it was time to get some new tartlet pans. I had heard there was a cute kitchen store in Concord, MA; so I headed over to The Concord Shop before I made the tarts. This store has everything a baker/cook could want and more. They also have a nice selection of newly released cookbooks. While I was there, I picked up two 4" tartlet pans and a small offset spatula.



The only downside of the Concord shop was the service. I was the only person there and I had to wait 5 minutes to be rung up because a woman I think was the owner was giving the counter girl a hard time about losing an invoice. I was thinking "isn't this something that could wait" as I stood there. Also, I think greeting a customer with a smile is important; and it was frown city in Concord. Lastly when I got home, I realized they had charge me an extra 50 cents for each tart. Regardless of all that, I'm going to hope it was just a bad day there. I really want to like this shop because it has a lot of great kitchen equipment; and few store in the Boston area do. I'll give it one more try before I decide to spend my money somewhere else.

Back to the tarts; they baked at 325 for 20 minutes and then at 350 for 20 more. Total baking time was 40 minutes. I put the extra custard in ramekins and they took another 10 minutes at 350. The tarts looked just as described set with a light sugary crust.





They smelled and looked amazing when I took them out of the oven. The tarts were amazing. So amazing, that Joe even liked them. I bruleed one tart, and kept the other plain. Aesthetically, I liked the look of the unbruleed tart better. I'm also glad that I blanched the peel before making the filling. Other TWDers found the filling to be too bitter, but mine wasn't at all. I will definitely make this tart again.

Book Review: The Bread Bible

I have found a lot of inspiration from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible lately, so I thought I would give a quick review of it.

Pros:

-There are 300 recipes in this book from coffe cakes, to pizza, to whole grain loaves, to biscuits to bread machine. It truely covers a lot of dough.
-Though I've only tried 1% of the recipes, so far so good.
-Lots of unusual recipes. Next up on my list to make is Lemon whole-wheat egg bread with nasturtium butter. Any cookbook that finds a use for edible flowers has a special place in my bookshelf (and heart).

Cons:

-No pictures, except for the cover.
-I wish it had a section on each recipe where it says total time it takes to make the dough. Also, I love how King Arthurs Flour has a symbol on their recipes where a dough needs to rest overnight. I think all cookbooks should do that.
-You have to read the beginning of the book if you've never made bread before. I know this sounds strange, but she gives all her helpful tips on kneeding, proofing, etc in the beginning. I could see that confusing people who are used to reading a recipe and immediately making it.

Overall: If you're even remotely interested in bread baking, buy this book. The recipes are well laid out and simple. So far I've made her gingerbread, oatmeal bulgur bread and sour cream braid; and they were great. This is a book I plan to bake from again and again.

Sour Cream Braid

Ahh, the sour cream braid; so pretty, so delicious and so...easy. Easy? Surprisingly so. Beth Hensperger's Sour Cream Braid recipe is shockingly simple. By means of a food processor you can have your dough made in well under 15 minutes (including time to proof your yeast). Then all you have to do is proof the dough for an hour, braid it, proof again, egg wash and sprinkle with cardamom sugar and then bake. Seriously, it is as easy as it sounds. Anyone who's fearful of bread should put their fear aside and make this. You'll feel like a pro.

I followed the recipe nearly to the T. It calls for sour cream, but I used low fat sour cream because that's what I had on hand. Once the dough had proofed I divided the dough into 6 ropes and made two separate braids (I froze one). Lastly, I used demerara sugar instead of granulated in the sugar crust.

Overall this is excellent bread. It has a tight crumb, but is moist with a slight sweetness (due to the sugar crust). The demerara and cardamom made it interesting, but not unapproachable to a person who doesn't like that sort of fanciness. I will make this bread again.

Sour Cream Braid from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible

Dough
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
2 tbsps plus 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup cold milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) room temp unsalted butter cut into pieces

1. In a 1-cup-measure pour in the warm water. Sprinkle with yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar. Stir to dissolve



and let stand till foamy about 10 minutes.



In a small bowl whisk ingredients milk through almond extract together. Add the yeast mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring to combine.
2. In a food processor bowl with a blade combine flour, 2 tbsps sugar and salt. Dot the top with butter pieces. Process 10 seconds. With the motor running, pour the yeast-milk mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream. After the dough forms a soft, elastic ball and clears the sides of the bowl, process 45 seconds more to knead.



3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and give it a few kneads. Place the dough in a lightly greased container, cover with wrap. Let rise till doubled in bulk about 1 hour.

4. Divide dough into 3 portions (I did 6). Shape each into a 12" rope tapered at each end. Form into a braid.



Let proof till doubled in bulk about 45 minutes on your baking sheet lined with parchment paper.



Sugar Crust:
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water
1 heaping tbsp sugar (use demerara, you won't regret it)
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
5. Twenty minutes before baking preheat oven to 375. Combine sugar and cardamom in a small bowl. Gently brush the surface of the dough with the egg glaze. Sprinkle sugar mixture all over dough.



Bake in the center of the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Chocolate Cream Tart (TWD)

There are some desserts that need little to no explanation. Introducing today's TWD chocolate cream tart. Slightly bitter tart shell with silky chocolate pastry cream and sinful whipped cream.

For this recipe please visit Kim of Scrumptious Photography. Her photography truly is scrumptious.

Enjoy.