Double Fudge Mint Brownies

I'm not sure how I neglected to take a final photograph of these brownies, but it seems I did. Oh well. This past weekend I went to my friends (crazy!) in Alon Shvut and I baked dessert. L told me that she likes chocolate and mint while her husband likes fruit and pies. So for her, I made these Double Fudge Mint Brownies and for him, a nectarine pie (more on that later). For the brownies I used the brownies from KAF Whole Grain Baking and added in chopped Mint Thins to give them a mint profile. The mint thins melted nicely into the final brownie so you would never know they were there just by looking. They turned out nice and fudgy and delicious, with no indication that they are whole grain. Be sure to let them set overnight for the bran in the whole wheat to sufficiently soften. Following is a half recipe, as I made it. Double for a full 9x13 inch pan.

Gingerbread Cake with White Chocolate Lemon Mousse Frosting

My dear roommate A turned 23 last week and in honor, I wanted to make her a birthday cake. Not wanting there to be any surprises, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and while she didn't have any definitive requests she was opposed to having a chocolate cake. The entire year A had been begging me to bake spice cookies so in tribute to that love of hers, I decided to bake a gingerbread cake. A quick browse through Sky High Cakes and I had found the cake I was going to bake. A Gingerbread Beer Cake. I went out to buy all the ingredients and set out to making it. I don't know what went wrong, but the cake turned out soft and sticky with no structure and it sunk. Big time. Into the trash it went. Plan B. I opened up my copy of Country Living's Great Cakes and landed on Grandma Stonifer's Spice Cake. Bingo. The recipe is one for a two layer birthday cake but of course as my oven has room for only one pan at a time, one layer baked up perfectly while the other sank. It was going to have to be a one layer birthday cake. I wrapped it up and set it aside for the next day. As I was on my way to catch a bus, an idea for frosting hit me like a ton of bricks. Lemon infused white chocolate ganache frosting! Excitedly, I went out to get the white chocolate and lemon and got to work right when I got back. Now, I'm not going to lie, I prepared the white chocolate ganache in Sherry Yard's book but I don't remember how much cream I added to it to get it to a spreadable consistency when I whipped it. I peeled off strips of zest from the lemon and steeped it in the cream, for a subtle but present flavor. When the frosting became spreadable, I covered the cake with it. I used my leftover gingerbread crumbs to coat the sides and some of the top, which was a big hit, pulling the lemon and ginger flavors together. A LOVED the frosting (she got so mad when she saw I got rid of the unused frosting) but thought the cake could use a bit more moisture, so next time I would add some oil in place of some of the shortening. All in all, this cake was a winner and I was very proud of it.

Carrot Bread

The final Shabbat that we had with the girls was spent in the dorms and as I was baking for it minimally, I decided to bake some rolls for myself. I'd long been wanting to make carrot bread and on one of my trips to the shuk, I remembered to pick up a couple to make the recipe from Secrets of a Jewish Baker, fast becoming one of my favorite bread books. (Yes, there is a bit of competition for that spot. I have more bread books than anything else!!) The bread calls for a sponge and some grated or ground carrots. The carrots lent a lovely orange color to the bread, but I wonder if the ground carrots would have made the color more intense and lent more of a sweetness to the bread itself. I opted to make half a recipe, which resulted in six large, perfect sandwich rolls. They turned out crusty on the outside but nice and soft in the middle. The flavor is much like a water roll and the texture is quite sturdy, so these would be perfect for burgers or sandwiches. I enjoyed mine with lots of eggplant salads on Shabbat. I omitted the milk powder from the recipe to keep them parve, but I imagine the addition of milk would make the texture a bit softer. I also made a note to increase the salt for next time, something I seem to be doing in all of Greenstein's breads. These rolls are being Yeastspotted! Check out Susan's weekly round up on Friday.

Rustic Apricot Galette

It's apricot season here in Israel and every time I walk through the shuk, I stare longingly at the containers of them lining each fruit stand. Sadly, they are still too expensive to justify buying. And so, I continue walking through, apricot-less. To my total surprise and excitement, our terrific cook B ordered PLENTY of apricots for our final Shabbat at SFW! Going through them and washing them to serve, there were of course some fruits that were blemished and too soft to be deemed edible. I happily set those aside to bake with. I headed back to my room, apricots (mishmish, in Hebrew) in tow to begin the research process. After flipping through a number of books (all of my pie books came up empty!) I was hit with inspiration and ran to pick up Regan Daly's In the Sweet Kitchen. There in the section for Pies and Tarts was a recipe for a Rustic Apricot Galette.  Ahhh, perfection. Rustic, simple and beautiful (I can hardly look at the pictures, the fruit is stunningly bright!), just the thing to highlight this perfect fruit. A couple of summers ago I made the plum variation but my pie skills were seriously lacking then and well, it wasn't entirely successful. This was the chance to redeem myself and it was quite nice to see how well my pie making skills have developed. This open faced pie came together so quickly. I chilled it in the fridge the night before and baked it the next morning although I wouldnt repeat that because although the chilling step is IMPERATIVE a lot of liquid somehow seeped out of the galette making a bit of a mess. Lesson learned. Anyway, the heat of the oven did wonders for this and the apricots tasted tart  and sweet and delicious, like the best apricot preserves in a simple filling. If there are apricots to be found near you, make this in celebration of the season's bounty.

Regan Daly's Really REALLY Fudgy Brownies

The very last girl left a couple of hours ago and now the dorms are eerily quiet and empty. It's at once both peaceful and sad but I suppose life must go on and now I'm faced with the intimidation that is packing up an entire room! Instead, I'm blogging :) The girls' last hurrah was this past Sunday evening and I was asked to bake brownies to contribute to the dessert table. Seeing as this would be the last time they would enjoy my baked goods, I happily obliged. It was settled that I'd make three pans of brownies so I thought that I would flavor two of the three pans but in the end I just left them all plain and it was good I did. As for the recipe itself, I decided to give a new recipe a try that being the Really REALLY Fudgy Brownie from Regan Daly's In The Sweet Kitchen. A quick glance through the recipe told me that it was very, very similar to the Baked recipe and so I knew this was a guaranteed success. So I got to work. The pictures below indicate a triple batch and yes, I was actually covered with chocolate by the end but it was all worth it. These brownies turned out perfectly crackly, fudgy and well, heavenly. The perfect way to end a great year.