TWD: Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia

This week’s recipe was chosen by Tanya of chocolatechic so make sure you visit her website for the recipe!

This was my 2nd attempt at making these brownies. I made them back in November for a dinner party and had some massive struggles with the cooking time. Understanding that the brownies were supposed to still be gooey after baking, I had a really hard time figuring out if they were just gooey or if they were underdone. So I kept throwing them back in the oven but I was never satisfied with the outcome. This time around, I baked them for 35 minutes and didn’t touch the pan for almost 2 hours wanting them to sit untouched as long as possible. They still were pretty gooey- almost like a brownie pudding! The chocolate flavor was incredible though! I just felt like these would be better served with a spoon! Love, love the taste of these brownies but all the uncertainty with the baking time will probably keep them from being in my regular brownie rotation.

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Bread

Recipes that include over-ripened bananas are among my favorites! I buy a bunch when I do my weekly grocery shopping and then by the end of the week it seems there are always a few hanging around (and by then they are very brown!). I love these recipes because it makes me feel better about not eating the bananas earlier, almost as if I left them alone on purpose, waiting for a recipe!!

Steph of Obsessed with Baking chose this delicious Cocoa-Nana Bread- a fabulous combination of bananas and chocolate. I made this for a Sunday morning treat earlier in January when we had a snow-day which lead to a 3-day weekend (I got A LOT of baking done that weekend- it was fabulous!. Looking forward to making this recipe again!

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

This week’s selection was chosen by Lillian of Confectiona’s Realm and you can find the recipe on her site!

I enjoyed these bars but boy did they pack a punch! I definitely many of them too big, so I could only eat half of the bar! I also ended up freezing half of the recipe which works out we are looking for a treat (or I may bring them out for Super Bowl Sunday).

Thanks for the pick!

TWD: Tarte Tatin (Happy 2nd Anniversary!)

In honor of TWD’s 2nd Anniversary I opted to bake the Tarte Tatin over the cocoa-buttermilk cake (believe me, I’m dying for that cake but I just couldn’t go for all that butter after all the cookies I made/ate for Christmas!).

My tatin used a mixture of apples: braeburn, fuji & honeycrisp. The biggest issue that I found- I didn’t have enough sugar for the recipe! Of course I realized that once all the apples were peeled & cut. Thankfully, I had a stash of sugar packets so I used those as well but I probably ended up with a little over 1/2 cup of sugar. That also affected my caramelizing I think! DELICIOUS though!!!!!!!!

TWD: November & December Craziness!

Ok, I really have no idea where all this time has gone! Thanksgiving came quickly enough and now Christmas and 2010 are just days away and I have fallen far behind with posting! This is my big post wrapping up all the baking that I’ve done for the past 2 months. Delicious recipes were certainly chosen!!!! It seems though that this busy season is also affecting technology. After all the baking I’ve done these past two months, for some reason only the pictures of the sables and the holiday bundt bread have shown up in my photo library. The pecan pie and cran-apple crisps have disappeared!

Apologies for the inactivity and the length of this post- off to pack to leave for Christmas! Merry Christmas!!!

S

TWD: Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte

This week’s selection was chosen by April of Short + Rose and it was spectacular!!!

I really enjoyed baking this- especially the flambeing part, I had some pretty nice flames on that kirschwasser! Also exciting was the fact that the dried cherries were on sale at Publix and the sale price didn’t ring up so I got them for free (score!)

Seriously though, this dessert was tremendous. I was really pleased with how all of it came out and I absolutely loved the mousse. Such a decadent, restaurant-quality dessert! I may have to make it for myself for my birthday from now on!

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

This week’s recipe was chosen by Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table and they were delicious!

I made them for a Sunday morning breakfast, and even though I was a little short on brown sugar- they were still very yummy! They reminded me of my favorite Drake’s coffee cakes (which I can’t get here in Atlanta!).

Thanks for a great choice this week!

TWD: Split Level Pudding

This delicious pudding was chosen by Garrett of The Flavor of Vanilla. What a treat!!!

I especially enjoyed the fact that this week’s recipe was full of dairy products since my dairy-free trial just came to an end (yay milk!!!!). I had no problems with the recipe other than trying not to eat all of the pudding by myself

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Just like everything else that has chocolate, these were delicious! (or so I heard!)

For my attempt at the black bottom cupcakes I omitted goat cheese in favor of cream cheese (hey, I already had it in the fridge) I wasn’t sure how the cream cheese topping would be after spending some time in the oven (I was afraid that it was just going to be a gooey mess) so I also made a few cupcakes plain. The verdict? My husband favored the cream cheese cupcakes hands down- loved the flavor!

I’m looking forward to making these cupcakes again so that I can really enjoy them! This time I ended up squeezing them in during my dairy-vacation before my doctor visit this week. Doh!

Thanks for the pick!!

TWD: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

This recipe was originally chosen back in June by Andrea of Andrea in the Kitchen and you can find the link to the recipe on her blog. I’m glad I finally got to make it!!

I made it this past weekend as a gift for my friend for the release of his second CD! Congrats Lucas!

Seriously, the roasted pineapple was such a treat! I would go through all the fun of cutting up a pineapple again just to roast it. Great flavors all around!