Bravely Baking

Dark Chocolate Torte (GF)

2025-11-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

This is a twist on a recipe from an Indigenous cookbook called "Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky" our friend group cooked out of for Cookbook club once. ALL of the recipes we tried out of it were great. As we all know, I am not great at following recipes, so I am going to put in my adjustments here. Since cooking this the first time, I have had it requested for multiple parties. This torte always takes the cake (pun intended).

For the crust:

1 1/2 c pecan pieces

1/2 c of almond flour

1/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c melted butter (half a stick) *can sub for an oil if you need it to be dairy-free as well

1. Preheat oven to 350F and get out a tart (or pie) pan.

2. In a food processor, pulse the pecans, almond flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt together.

3. Add the melted butter and pulse again.

4. Transfer the mixture to your pan and press it down evenly into the bottom and up the sides of your pan.

5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden. Remove from oven and let it cool while you make the filling.

For the filling:

13 1/2 oz full fat coconut milk (shake well before opening)

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/4 c melted butter *same here- can sub for an oil if needed

1 tsp vanilla extract (measure with your heart)

Pinch of salt (this is really to taste, so feel free to taste and adjust)

10 oz dark chocolate

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the coconut milk, brown sugar, and butter to a boil.

2. Put the chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt into a bowl, and once mixture is boiling, pour it over the chocolate and let sit for about 5 minutes.

3. Whisk until fully combined and let cool to room temp.

4. Pour mixture over the crust and refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours, but I pretty much always do overnight.

5. Cut and enjoy this decadent dessert!

Gluten Free Brownies

2024-05-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

This recipe is riffing off of a flourless chocolate cake recipe I have used in the past. So, like duh, it's already, gluten free, but I also can't do egg whites, so here we are, adjusting the recipe to my persnickety body. This recipe is chocolatey, gooey, and has a crackly top, so in my book, that makes for a delicious brownie! It makes an 8x8 pan of brownies.

For the Brownies:

12 oz dark chocolate chips

7 tbsp unsalted butter

5 egg yolks

1 c granulated sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c pumpkin puree OR unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c cocoa powder

1 tsp Xantham gum (this and the pumpkin/applesauce are what act as binders in place of the egg whites)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prep pan with parchment paper (overhang a bit so you can easily lift out of the pan) and non-stick cooking spray.

2. Put 10 oz of the chocolate, brown sugar, and cocoa powder in a heat-safe bowl and set aside while you brown the butter.

3. In a small pan, melt the butter and continue to stir until it starts to smell nutty and there are little bits of brown in the butter. Once browned, pour over the chocolate and sugar mixture, stirring until fully melted, and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, combine egg yolks and sugar and mix until light in color.

4. Add in the pumpkin puree (or applesauce), vanilla, and salt. Mix to combine.

5. Add in the chocolate/butter mixture until combined.

6. Add in Xantham Gum and mix to combine.

7. Mix in the remaining 2 oz of chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan.

8. Bake for about 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out mostly clean. *This is a gooey brownie, so a little on the toothpick is to be expected.* Also when it first comes out it doesn't look super crackly (see picture below), but once you cut into it, the top crackles delightfully.

9. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Serve with your fav ice cream!

Lemon Coconut Shortbread Cookies Gluten and Dairy Free

2024-05-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for quite a while, and part of that is because I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (an auto-immune disease), and have been on a very restricted diet for the past year. As I have reintroduced foods and found out what works and doesn't work for me, I have been struggling with my baking journey. I definitely can't do gluten anymore. Dairy is a bit iffy as well... and egg whites are a negativo. Not to mention that common substitutes for some of these things (like rice flour and aquafaba) also don't sit well with me. All of this to say that shit's fucked, and I am trying to play around with some of my old recipes (and make some new ones) that I CAN eat. It's been a challenge, as I don't know the ingredients and what how they interact together like I did my regular ingredients. Anyway, in true Bravely Baking fashion, I thought, well let's start documenting recipes that DO work for me- and maybe they will work for you too. This is a riff on my dairy free lemon coconut shortbreads- so now they are also GF. This recipe makes about 24 cookies (more or less depending on your cookie cutter size).

For the Cookies:

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 c coconut oil

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c coconut flour

1/3 c arrowroot starch

2 tbsp gelatin (so these are NOT vegan; just GF- could sub a vegan gelatin sub like Agar Agar probably just fine)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c sweetened coconut flakes, toasted

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F and toast your coconut flakes in a pan on the stove top- you can do it in the oven, but let me tell you how many times I've burned it this way. Allow coconut flakes to cool while you continue on.

2. Put sugar and coconut oil into a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and mix to combine.

3. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest, and juice. Mix to combine.

4. Combine dry ingredients (not the coconut flakes yet) into the wet batter and mix. You're looking for wet sand consistency. You want it to be a little crumbly, but hold together when you squeeze it in your hand.

5. Add in coconut flakes.

6. Dust a clean surface with some additional coconut flour and turn the dough out onto the surface. Work the dough until it just comes together into a ball.

7. Flour a rolling pin as well and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick or so. Cut using the cookie cutter of your choice.

8. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. These baked off much faster than my gluten cookies, so keep an eye. Also cautionary tale- I wouldn't use parchment paper on your baking sheet. I tried one batch like that, and they didn't crisp up as much.

9. While cooling, work on the glaze.

For the Glaze:

Juice of 3 lemons

1 1/2 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted

1. Put lemon juice into a bowl.

2. Whisk in the sifted powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. I'd say you want it a little thick so that you can dunk the cookies into the glaze and it doesn't just slide off. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar; too thick, add more juice (or even water is fine).

3. These require a double dip for sure. I dipped them once (like I would the regular cookies), and these little babies just soaked up all of that glaze straight up. I was worried about them being soggy, but they totally weren't- so do the double dip. Just allow to set up a bit between dippings.

4. These are good the first day, but honestly, SO much better the second day once the cookie and the glaze have really had a chance to be friends.

Let me know if you have any tips for me as I am on this new journey!

Peppermint Chocolate Macarons

2022-12-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

These little babies will steal the show at any holiday party! And I know what you're gonna say, but Jenna, macarons are a bitch to make, and I'll never be able to do it! I will agree, that sometimes she's a little persnickety, but if you treat her right, she'll treat you right. So let's get into how to make that happen!

This recipe makes 24-30 small macarons.

For the Macaron Shells: *This is by weight, and yes, you HAVE to weigh it
1 part egg whites - 64 grams (2 egg whites for me)
1.5 part almond flour - 96 grams (64 from egg whites x 1.5)
0.8 part granulated sugar - 51 grams
1.5 part powdered sugar - 96 grams
Green food coloring
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 or 2 drops of peppermint extract (this shit is STRONG, and you will add more into the buttercream, so caution here)

**White chocolate optional for decorations.

1. Prepare two cookie sheets with a silicon mat or parchment paper with circles (or in this case Christmas trees) marked out in pencil (if you do this, obviously flip the parchment over so that you aren't piping into pencil marks). Also prepare a piping bag with large round tip (or just put a whole in the tip of the bag).

2. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, start mixing egg whites. Don't mix them on too high of a speed (no higher than 6 on a kitchenaid). While this starts out, move to the next step.

3. Sift together almond flour, powdered sugar in a bowl. *I just put my bowl on my food scale and poured through my sifter until the right weight because I'm lazy.* Put aside until the egg whites are finished.

4. After the egg whites have started to foam up, add cream of tartar. *this is just to help stabilize the merengue, so you can leave it out if you want.

5. Start adding in the granulated sugar to the foamy egg whites a bit at a time. Let mixer keep whipping until you get to stiff peaks, like you see in the picture.

6. Take the bowl off of the stand mixer- we are going by hand for the rest of this. Pour in about half of your dry ingredients into the egg whites, the drops of peppermint extract, and the green food coloring. You'd think you have to be gentle here because it's egg whites and you don't want to lose all that air. Nah. You can mix the shit of out of this; it's okay.

7. Pour the second half of dry ingredients in and keep mixing. Here you can be a bit more gentle. You want to keep mixing until it looks glossy and it ribbons back on itself. You're looking for the batter to incorporate back into itself within about 15-20 seconds. When I think I'm done, I always do a few more stirs to make sure.

8. Once ready, pour batter into the piping bag and pipe out circle macarons or you can try your hand at the tree. As you can see below, I just did little circles close together 1-2-3-1 down the line.

9. Make sure to bang the tray on the counter several times to get the air bubbles out and allow to cure for about 30 minutes or so (this time can vary wildly- you're looking for the surface to be matte instead of shiny, and when you touch it, it doesn't stick to your finger.

10. Once you pipe, this is a great time to preheat the oven to 350F. BEFORE you put them in the oven, drop to 325F. I would only bake one sheet at a time. I tried double once. It doesn't work out well. Anyway, bake for 10-12 minutes. If you can lightly touch it and the macaron doesn't move on it's base, it should be done.

11. Once cool to the touch, melt white chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at 15 second intervals until smooth. Place in a piping bag and cut a SMALL hole at the tip. Pipe any designs you want on the trees (you can decorate just one or both sides) and allow to cool completely before filling with the buttercream.

For the buttercream:

5 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/8 c cocoa powder
A few drops of peppermint extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt (to taste)

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, put in butter. Slowly add powdered sugar and cocoa powder into the butter.

2. Add peppermint extract, vanilla, and salt into the mix. Check for taste and consistency- if it feels too thick, add a splash of milk or heavy cream.

Assembly:

1. Put the buttercream in a piping bag and cut the tip off.

2. Try to match up the macaron sizes beforehand so that you know which trees will fit as closely together as possible.

3. Pipe buttercream onto one macaron shell and sandwich them together.

4. Store in an air-tight container (on the counter or in the fridge is fine- they'll last longer in the fridge though).

Cranberry White Chocolate Mousse Parfait

2022-12-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

I've been in a little rut with baking lately, and really this isn't even baking (just some cooking), but it felt good to get into the kitchen and make something that feels festive and easy! These individual desserts start with a graham cracker crumb, cranberry compote infused with rosemary, and a decadent white chocolate mousse to top it off.

This recipe makes 6-7 ramekins (or whatever glassware you choose to make it in). In fact, I think the more different glasses or tea cups you use, the better! This is also a pretty easy recipe that has a few different parts, AKA it's perfect to do with some helping hands (even if those helping hands aren't very kitchen savvy).

For the cranberry compote:

12 oz fresh cranberries (reserve a few for the garnish later)

1 orange, juice and zest

1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 c granulated sugar

1. Ready 6-7 glasses, jars, ramekins, tea cups, whatever you like. I just put them on a baking sheet so they're easier to transfer to the fridge later for chilling.

2. Now let's start with the cranberry compote because it will need to cool a bit before assembly. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

3. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes until the cranberries have burst and the compote thickens.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool before assembly (I popped it in the fridge to speed up this process).

For the graham cracker crust:

1 sleeve (8 crackers) of graham crackers, crushed

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1. Combine all ingredients into a large bowl until it resembles wet sand.

2. Gently press into the ramekins/jars to create a crust. I used the back of a measuring cup to push it down. Set aside for later.

For the white chocolate mousse:

2 c heavy whipping cream

1 c white chocolate chips (or chopped)

Pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a small heat-proof bowl, combine white chocolate, salt, and 1/2 c of the heavy whipping cream.

2. Melt in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring after each 15 seconds until white chocolate is fully melted (you don't want to over-heat this, so you know, gentle touches).

3. It will look like it's not going to come together, but it will. Whisk until fully combined, and add the vanilla extract. Set aside until the mixture comes to room temperature.

4. While that's cooling, pop the bowl of your stand mixer into the freezer to chill.

5. Once the chocolate is cooled, set it aside and grab the bowl from the freezer. Add in the remaining 1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream and whip on high until you reach stiff peaks.

6. Slowly stream in the white chocolate mixture until combined.

Assembly:

1. Grab the prepared glasses with graham cracker crust and equally divide the cranberry compote among them. Smooth into a layer (this is where a clear glass is fun because you can see the layers).

2. Top each glass with the white chocolate mousse. Pop into the fridge for several hours to firm up (at least three hours, but you can definitely make this a day beforehand as well and leave it to set up overnight).

Garnish:

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/4 c water

10 (ish) cranberries (reserved from earlier)

Extra granulated sugar for dusting

1. While you patiently wait for the mousse to be ready, you can make the garnish. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water until dissolved.

2. Throw the cranberries in and cook for a minute or two. Pull them out and throw them into a small bowl of granulated sugar just to coat (they're VERY sticky).

3. Allow to cool and harden completely. I'd hold off on topping until you're about to serve so the cranberries don't bleed everywhere.

4. Also add some white chocolate shavings and a small sprig of rosemary if you want. I know, I know, no one is going to eat the rosemary sprig, but come at me. It's cute and festive. I do what I want.

5. Also, also, save that cranberry simple syrup for some delicious cocktails!

Apple Cider Bundt Cake

2022-12-04T11:07:00.004-08:00

You know those apple cider donuts that are coated in crunchy cinnamon sugar? Yeah, same vibe in a bundt cake. I don't really feel like I need to say more about this to get you on board. You're sold. Let's move on!

For the cake batter:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

6 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Granny Smith apples

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 c plain yogurt (Greek or regular, or even sour cream)

1/4 c apple cider

1. Prepare bundt pan with goop and preheat oven to 325F.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together.

3. While those are creaming, in a separate bowl, grate the two apples on a box grater and set aside.

4. In the stand mixer, add in the eggs one at a time, incorporating fully before adding the next one.

5. In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and spices). Pour 1/3 of the dry mix into the butter mixture.

6. Add in the yogurt.

7. Add second third of the dry ingredients.

8. Add the apple cider.

9. Finish with the last of the dry ingredients.

10. Fold in the grated apple.

11. Pour (I use this term loosely- she thick) batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

12. Allow to cool slightly before turning out of the pan.

For the coating:

1/8 c unsalted butter, melted

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.

2. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire cake with butter (I would recommend doing this in sections because that butter will soak into the cake, and we need it for sticking the sugar to).

3. Dust with the cinnamon sugar.

4. Allow to cool completely before eating. Might I suggest with a cup of coffee or some warm apple cider. Yeeees, it's all coming together my friends. Enjoy!

Cosmic Brownies

2022-06-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have been on an old-school snacks kick for a while now, and these are the ultimate in throw back nostalgia. These couldn't be easier, but finding those damn rainbow candy coated chips is a bit of a bitch. I found them on Amazon. The sticker shock is real, but keep in mind that this bag will last you a long time, so if you feel like splurging, follow me down the rabbit hole.

This is my regular brownie batter, but made into a 13x9 pan, covered in chocolate ganache, and sprinkled with rainbow bliss.

For the Brownies:

1 stick unsalted butter

8 oz chocolate chips (you're really going to use the whole 12 oz bag, but 2/3 of it for now)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 oz chocolate chips for mixins (see, I told you)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare pan with some non-stick spray and parchment paper.

2. Put 8 oz chocolate chips and butter in a heat-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until chocolate and butter are just melted. Don't over-heat. If there's still a few lumps, just stir, and the residual heat will melt everything.

3. Add sugars to the melted chocolate mixture and combine. This will help cool the chocolate off a little before you add the eggs.

4. Add eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next. Add vanilla.

5. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine. Don't worry about over-mixing here.

6. Add in the remaining chocolate chips.

7. Bake for 25- 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out kind of clean. Allow to cool at least partially before moving to the ganache.

For the Ganache:

1/2 c heavy cream

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp - I almost ALWAYS don't do room temp because I forget to pull the butter out for this; it's fine; just takes a few more mins to melt

Pinch of salt- this is soooooo necessary, so please make sure that you have enough

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove and heat until just at a simmer. You don't want this to boil.

2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat safe bowl.

3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.

4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.

5. Slather on top of the brownies and sprinkle the rainbow candy coated chocolate chips on top.

6. Allow to cool completely before cutting into pieces.

Brown Butterscotch Cookies

2022-05-31T16:54:00.004-07:00

This is such an easy and delicious recipe. The hardest part is the name haha. These are a very warm and comforting cookie that can really have any add-ins you want. You don't have butterscotch? You got chocolate chips? Great! Toffee bits? Even better! The world is your oyster, baby, so let's play!

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

For the cookies:

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract if you don't have it)

2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

6 oz butterscotch chips

1. In a small saucepan melt the butter and allow it to boil. Stir occasionally until the bubbles get small (and reduce in number), and the butter starts to get brown flecks in it. Put into a heat-safe container and allow to come to room temp before using. *you can throw in the fridge for a bit to speed this step along if you'd like.

2. Preheat oven to 350F.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together brown butter and sugar.

4. Add one egg at a time, mixing to incorporate. Add vanilla.

5. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

6. Fold in butterscotch chips.

7. Scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for about 8 -12 minutes. *I find that a little underdone is better than overdone.

Pina Colada Bundt Cake

2022-05-31T16:51:00.002-07:00

I made this cake for a Memorial Day BBQ this past weekend, and I tell you what, this is gonna be my summer cake. This cake has all the things you love about a Pina Colada, including the rum!

For the Cake:

1 c shredded coconut, sweetened

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

6 large eggs

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice for the glaze)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp coconut extract *if you don't have this, you can use vanilla extract

1 oz white rum *you could use spiced rum if you don't have white rum

1. In a non-stick pan, put coconut on medium heat and lightly toast, stirring frequently. Do NOT walk away! She's fickle, and she'll burn in a heartbeat.

2. Once toasted, allow to cool for a bit. Reserve 1/4 c for the decoration.

3. Prepare bundt pan with goop and preheat oven to 325F.

4. Cream together butter and sugars in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

5. Slowly add in eggs, making sure to incorporate between each egg. Add in rum and coconut extract.

6. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl (flour, salt, baking powder). Add them to butter and sugar slowly until incorporated.

7. Fold in the 3/4 cup of coconut and all the drained pineapple.

8. Bake for 45 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9. Allow to cool most of the way before flipping out onto serving platter.

For the Glaze:

1 1/2 c (ish) powdered sugar

1/8 c (ish) reserved pineapple juice

1 tsp white rum

1 tbsp corn syrup

1. Combine all wet ingredients into a bowl.

2. Sift powdered sugar into wet ingredients and whisk to combine. You're looking for pourable, but still pretty thick so that it cascades down the sides but doesn't just soak right in.

3. If it feels too loose, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add in more pineapple juice.

4. Pour over top of the cake and allow to fall down the sides. Top with reserved shredded coconut.

5. Pair with a drink and some pool floaties.

Gooey Butter Bars

2022-03-25T13:38:00.002-07:00

I live in the Saint Louis area, and Gooey Butter Cake runs through our veins. It's a right of passage, and I tried to make this like oh, ten years ago, and fucked it up, and never went back. Well, obviously that needed to change, so here we are again. She just keeps pulling me back in, but this time, it's just right.

This recipe is a little different than a traditional gooey butter cake because it has a shortbread crust instead of the cake mix layer, but honestly, I may prefer this. It makes a 9x13 of bars.

For the Shortbread:

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or if you don't have this you can use vanilla extract)

3/4 tsp salt

2 c all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 9x13 with parchment paper (with some overhang to make it easier to pull out) and cooking spray.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in vanilla bean paste and salt.

3. Slowly incorporate flour. This mixture will be sandy, but when you squeeze it together in your hand, it will clump.

4. Pour into prepared pan and press down with hands or the back of a flat measuring cup.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, and while it's baking, prepare filling.

For the Gooey Butter:

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Zest of 1 lemon

4 cups powdered sugar

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese and butter.

2. Slowly incorporate the two eggs, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest.

3. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar.

4. Whip together until fluffy.

4. After 15 minutes of baking the crust, pull it out and top with the gooey butter mixture.

5. Return to oven to bake for another 40 minutes or until the edges are browning but the inside still feels a little jiggly. It will be puffy, but once it is out, it will deflate some.

6. Allow to cool completely (for several hours) before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing into bars.

Peanut Butter Whiskey Brownies

2022-03-11T11:08:00.002-08:00

I am doing a dessert pairing with my local liquor and wine store this weekend, and one week out from St. Patty's day, obviously they are doing a whiskey tasting. I should also say that we went back into office this week, and my boss gave us all tiny bottles of Screwball Whiskey, so those two things have led to the creation of peanut butter whiskey brownies. The whiskey is obviously optional, but why would you want it to be?

This recipe makes an 8x8 pan of brownies (12 chunky pieces).

I used my regular brownie recipe and just added on/tweaked a bit:

For the Batter:

1 stick unsalted butter

8 oz chocolate chips (you're really going to use the whole 12 oz bag, but 2/3 of it for now)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 oz peanut butter whiskey (you'll use a whole shot total or a travel size bottle)

4 oz chocolate chips for mixins (see, I told you)

For the Peanut Butter Swirl

1/3 c peanut butter (I used creamy, but I can't imagine chunky would be bad)

1 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 oz peanut butter whiskey

1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream *to thin out- you may need a little more or less

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare pan with some non-stick spray and parchment paper.

2. Combine peanut butter swirl mixture into a small bowl and set aside.

3. Put 8 oz chocolate chips and butter in a heat-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until chocolate and butter are just melted. Don't over-heat. If there's still a few lumps, just stir, and the residual heat will melt everything.

4. Add sugars to the melted chocolate mixture and combine. This will help cool the chocolate off a little before you add the eggs.

5. Add eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next. Add 1 oz whiskey.

6. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine. Don't worry about over-mixing here.

7. Add in the remaining chocolate chips and pour batter into pan.

8. Put dollops of the PB mixture onto the brownies or put in a piping bag and draw lines onto the batter; swirl with a butter knife (this is what I did).

9. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out kind of clean. This is such a personal preference. I err on the side of less done, but you know what you like.

10. Allow to cool before removing from the pan and slicing.

Cinnamon Roll Macarons

2022-03-06T11:50:00.004-08:00

This week on another episode of choose your macaron adventure, we have gone down the rabbit hole and landed on cinnamon rolls. This macaron has the signature shell smattered with cinnamon and, obviously, a cream cheese frosting in the middle. I mean, should I eat these for breakfast? Absolutely.

This recipe makes about 18-24 macarons. Just a reminder that a food scale is essential here. And since you're weighing things out, you can always double or triple this batch.

For the Shells:

2 egg whites *this is your base weight; this time it was 69 g for the two egg whites

103.5 g almond flour (1.5 x egg white weight)

103. 5 g powdered sugar (same as above)

55.2 g brown sugar (0.8 x egg weight)

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

A bit of brown food coloring *optional

1. Prepare two sheet pans with parchment and/or silpats. If you're using parchment, draw circles as a guide for your piping. I use a silpat with the macaron circles and just put a parchment paper over it- the parchment tends to release the shells better, but I can still see the circles for a guide.

2. In a bowl, sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, begin to beat the egg whites. Don't go above a 6 speed on a Kitchenaid. Once they start to get frothy, add in the cream of tartar.

4. While that's whisking, sift your brown sugar. I don't know if this is essential, but you're trying to make meringue, and brown sugar is heavy, so I did it and I'll do it again.

5. Start to gently add the brown sugar to the egg whites while they're whipping up. You want to get to a stiff peak here. It may take a bit longer than you're used to because of the molasses in the brown sugar, but it does whip up quite nicely.

6. Once at stiff peaks, put in half of the dry mixture. Gently fold in.

7. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and beat the shit out of it. You're looking for the batter to be able to fall back into itself and reincorporate within about 10 seconds.

8. If you'd like, at this point, take about 1/3 of the batter into a second bowl and mix a little brown food coloring.

9. Put the batter into two piping bags. Cut a smaller hole into the brown one and a slightly larger hole into the un-colored batter. Put both bags into a larger piping bag with a large hole cut into it. When you pipe, you will get a little brown swirl like a cinnamon roll.

10. Pipe onto prepared sheet pans and then drop or beat the sheet pans on the counter a few times to get the air bubbles out of the shells. These may be dainty, but they like it a little rough.

11. Allow to cure for at least 30 minutes until they become matte and when you touch lightly with a finger, they don't stick. While that's happening, preheat oven to 350F.

12. Right before baking, drop the oven to 325F and bake for 10-13 minutes. To test if they're done, you can gently touch and it shouldn't move too much on its base. *Bake one tray at a time! If you do more, the air doesn't circulate enough, and it can mess up your shells.

13. Allow to cool before filling.

For the filling:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

2 oz cream cheese room temp

1 1/2 c (ish) powdered sugar

Splash of vanilla

Pinch of salt

More cinnamon if you like

1. First of all, you don't really need this much filling, but you try mixing up just 1 tbsp butter and 1 oz cream cheese. It's nigh impossible, so here we are. In a small bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer.

2. Begin to slowly add in cream cheese. Add in vanilla and salt (and cinnamon if you'd like).

3. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a splash of milk or heavy cream.

4. Beat until fluffy and put into a piping bag. Cut off tip and gently squeeze some filling onto a shell. Top with a second shell to make the sandwich cookies. You don't need as much filling as you'd think you do, so make one or two before filling the rest to be sure you have a good ratio.

5. Keep in an air-tight container in the fridge. They really are better the next day.

Brown Butter Blondies

2022-03-06T11:46:00.002-08:00

I have, what I believe to be, the perfect brownie recipe, but blondies have eluded me for a while. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.. until I did find it. I did. This recipe is decadent. I mean nutty-butter forward chewy blondies. They're not the prettiest, but they sure know how to party. This recipe makes fatty blondies in an 8x8 or if you want to make them thinner, you could do a larger pan for less time.

For the Blondies:

3/4 c butter, unsalted

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 c flour

1 tbsp malted milk powder *optional, but maybe it shouldn't be

4 oz Heath toffee bits *honestly though, anything could be good in this- butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, caramel bits. Pick your poison

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare a pan with cooking spray and parchment paper. I like a little overhang of parchment so it's easier to lift them out of the pan later.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and continue cooking, stirring intermittently until butter starts to brown. You'll notice that the bubbles will start to dissipate a bit and the butter will start to smell a bit nutty. You'll see the brown flecks start to form.

3. Pour butter into bowl with the sugars. Mix until combined and butter mixture is slightly cooled.

4. Incorporate the eggs one at a time until combined.

5. Add vanilla and salt.

6. Incorporate flour and malted milk powder.

7. Add in toffee bits.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 - 55 minutes.

9. Allow to cool before removing from pan and slicing.

Smore's Cake

2022-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

This one is a doozy. Do people even say that anymore? Well it's true. She's got a few steps to her, but she's so worth it. The good ones always are. This is a graham cracker sponge, homemade marshmallow fluff filling, smothered in a chocolate buttercream, and doused with chocolate ganache.

This makes a three layer 9-inch round cake or you could do about 2.5 dozen cupcakes.

For the cake:

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp

1 c brown sugar

1 c honey

4 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c sour cream

1/2 c buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prep three 9-inch cake pans with goop.

2. In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon) and set aside.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, honey, and brown sugar.

4. Add in egg whites and vanilla and beat for a minute or so to incorporate.

5. Add in 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat to combine.

6. Add in the sour cream, beat to combine.

7. Repeat with 1/3 dry ingredients.

8. Add buttermilk.

9. End on last 1/3 dry ingredients.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the marshmallow fluff: *This is my normal marshmallow recipe, just tweaked to make it looser. You don't need all of this, but I mean, who's gonna be mad about some extra fluff? But, feel free to 1/2 this recipe if you don't want extra happiness.

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 ½ tbsp unflavored gelatin

½ c cold water

1 ½ c granulated sugar

1 c corn syrup

¼ tsp salt

½ c water *yeah, separate from the other ½ c water.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over ½ c cold water to soften; set aside.

2. In a saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and ½ c water *you see, the second water* over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook without stirring until it reaches 240F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of mixture dropped into a cup of ice water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable. Remove from heat. *I always do both the thermometer AND the water test. I don't trust my thermometer fully, but it's a good guide to know when to start trying the softball water test.

3. Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin while beating on low speed *I used the whisk attachment*. Increase speed to high; beat 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Add in salt and vanilla and mix to incorporate.

4. Put in a piping bag until assembly.

For the buttercream:

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature *yes, this is pretty butter-heavy; trust me, it's delicious
1 c cocoa powder
4 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

2. Sift cocoa powder and powdered sugar together.

3. Pour sugar mixture into butter a little at a time until incorporated. Add salt and vanilla to taste.

4. Continue to beat for a few minutes until fluffy. If it feels too tight, add a splash of milk or cream.

5. Place about 1/3 of the frosting in a piping bag and set aside.

For the ganache:

2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat safe bowl.

3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.

4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.

5. You will want this to sit for a while so that it is pourable but will not fall off the cake. We want drips.

Assembly:

1. Place a dollop of frosting onto board or cake stand and put down first layer of cake (feel free to level off the tops of cakes if they're domed).

2. Take the piping bag of buttercream and pipe a thick rim around the top of the cake to make a dam for the marshmallow fluff.

3. Fill in the layer with the marshmallow fluff. Repeat with the second layer.

4. Cover the whole cake in the buttercream.

5. Slowly spoon the ganache on top and guide it down the side of the cake in drips- some people use a squeeze bottle for this. I just give it a little nudge occasionally with my spoon to force it to gently fall down the side of the cake.

6. Decorate with teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate pieces.

7. Sit next to a fire and mock it because you got your s'mores dream without any of its help.

Red Velvet Macarons

2022-02-10T08:59:00.001-08:00

On my continued journey of macaron-ing beloved flavors, here are the red velvets. Slightly chocolately, chewy shells with tangy cream cheese frosting in the middle. And they're just so cute, that it makes me want to sing she's a lady, woah woah woah, she's a lady. They're fancy and down to party.

Just a reminder that you will need a food scale for this- you really do want to make sure that your measurements are based on the egg weight. This recipe makes about 2 dozen small macarons.

For the shells:

2 egg whites (for this one, it was 71g - this is my base weight)

106.5 g powdered sugar (1.5 x egg white)

106.5 g almond flour (1.5 x egg white)

12 g cocoa powder (.18 x egg white)

56.8 g granulated sugar (0.8 x egg white)

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

red food coloring *I am not putting a measurement here; I used liquid; I think if you used gel, you may be able to add more and have a more vibrant red, but just be careful if you're using liquid to not use too much- it can mess with the consistency of the batter

1/3 c white chocolate chips for drizzling (optional)

1. Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip and set aside. Line two baking sheets with silpat mat and/or parchment. *You will want to draw a circle template to pipe your macarons on to if you're just using parchment. Even if you have the silpats, I also use the parchment over top because it tends to stick less, but the circles on the silpat are perfect guides for piping.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, start mixing egg whites. Don't mix them on too high of a speed (no higher than 6 on a kitchenaid). While this starts out, move to the next step.

3. Sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder in a bowl. *I just put my bowl on my food scale and poured through my sifter until the right weight because I'm lazy.* Put aside until the egg whites are finished.

4. After the egg whites have started to foam up, add cream of tartar. *this is just to help stabilize the merengue, so you can leave it out if you want, but macarons can be finicky bitches, so I use it.

5. Start adding in the granulated sugar to the foamy egg whites a bit at a time. Let mixer keep whipping until you get to stiff peaks, like you see in the picture.

6. Pour in about half of your dry ingredients and the red food coloring into the egg whites. You'd think you have to be gentle here because it's egg whites and you don't want to lose all that air. Nah. You can mix the shit of out of this; it's okay.

7. Pour the second half of dry ingredients in and keep mixing. Here I was a bit more gentle. You want to keep mixing until it looks glossy and it ribbons back on itself.

8. Pour into piping bag and pipe into small circles. Bang on the counter several times to get the air bubbles out. Again, they are delicate, but they also like it a bit rough.

9. Allow to cure until they are matte (not shiny) and are not sticky when you gently touch your finger to it- this can be 30 - 60 minutes depending on the humidity.

10. Preheat oven to 350; before putting in the macarons, turn down to 325F. **You want to bake each tray by itself. If you put in both at the same time, the air doesn't circulate properly.

11. Bake for 10-12 minutes. When lightly tapped, it shouldn't move on its base.

12. Allow to cool completely. Once cool, melt white chocolate in microwave in 15 second intervals. Once melted, put in a piping bag and pipe lines on half of the shells (this feels ambiguous- pipe half of the shells halfway with lines, so half of them will not have chocolate). Allow to solidify before assembly.

For the filling:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

2 tbsp cream cheese, room temp

1 1/2 c powdered sugar (ish)

Dash of salt

Splash of vanilla

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese.

2. Slowly add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla.

3. If it feels too thick, you can add a splash of milk or heavy cream as well.

4. Put the filling in a piping bag and cut the corner off. Pipe a small amount of the buttercream onto the center of half of the shells- you will be putting together one non-white chocolated side with one white chocolated side. You will need less filling in each of them than you think. I would suggest fully assembling a few first to see what your ratio should be before filling the rest.

5. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Cranberry and Rosemary Shortbread Bars

2021-11-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

I do a fair amount of markets at one of our local breweries, and I try to incorporate one of their beers into my bakes for the markets. The seasonal delight this time is Old Bakery Beer's Tannenbaum IPA with rosemary, so I decided to make a new shortbread to highlight the season. Get in bitches; we're going sleighing. This recipe makes an 8x8 pan of shortbread (12 bars).

For the Shortbread:

6 oz Tannenbaum IPA from Old Bakery Beer reduced (optional)- *you will not use all of that here; also just a note that you're cooking the alcohol off.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 c all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have it)

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1. In a small pan, bring beer to a boil and reduce to about half. Chill before using (I recommend you do this step the day before just for chilling time).

2. Preheat oven to 350F and line 8x8 pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.

4. Add salt, vanilla, and rosemary and combine.

5. Slowly incorporate the flour until you get to a sandy texture that holds together when you squeeze it in your hands.

6. Pour out into your prepared pan and press down into a solid layer.

5. Par-bake for about 20-25 minutes. While that's baking, move on to the filling.

For the Cranberry Filling:

12 oz fresh (or frozen) cranberries

1/2 c granulated sugar

Zest and juice of one orange

A sprig of rosemary (whole)

1. Cut cranberries in half and place into a saucepan with sugar, orange juice and zest, and rosemary.

2. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook and thicken - mine took about 15 minutes.

3. Remove rosemary sprig and discard; set aside cranberry filling until assembly.

For the Crumb Topping:

1/2 c unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c rolled oats

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped

1 tbsp reduced beer

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and combine. Either use your hands or a pastry cutter to get the butter chunks to about pea size.

Assembly:

1. Once shortbread is par-baked, pull out of oven and top with the cranberry filling and the crumb topping.

2. Bake again for about 40 - 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown and set.

3. Option to drizzle with melted white chocolate; I took this option, and I'm not mad about it. If you want to do that, just microwave about 4 oz of white chocolate in the microwave in 15 second intervals.

4. Pour into a ziploc bag and cut off a small piece of the corner for a makeshift piping bag and drizzle til your heart's content.

Honey Caramel Shortbread with Pepitas

2021-11-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

So, I have chickens- the Spice Girls (Cinnamon, Cardamom aka Cardi B, Cumin, Ginger, and Nutmeg), and I have created a barter system with someone: eggs for honey. That's where this recipe came about; I got a lot of honey. Like a lot. I also recognize that this recipe isn't really a looker, but she's got a great personality.

This recipe makes an 8x8 square pan (12 bars). I used pepitas on this, but you could do any kind of seed or nut you want really. You do you, boo.

For the shortbread:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c brown sugar

2 c all-purpose flour *If it feels too wet and not very sandy, you can add a bit more. It should just hold together when you squish it in your hand.*

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have it)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line pan with parchment (with a bit of overhang so you can pull it out of the pan for cutting and serving), and spray with cooking spray. I did double parchment going on both sides so all four sides are covered in parchment. We are working with caramel, folks. You don't want tears? PARCHMENT.

2. Put butter and sugar in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream together for a few minutes.

3. Add vanilla, cardamom, and salt. Slowly add in flour until you get the desired texture (that 2ish cups we discussed).

4. Pour out into prepared pan and press down into a solid layer.

5. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes until golden brown on top.

6. Allow to cool while you make the honey caramel.

For the Caramel:

I used this recipe as a base (but halved it)

1/2 c honey

1/3 c heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 c salted pepitas (ish) - I'm not gonna lie; I didn't really measure this...

1. Place the honey and heavy cream in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is around 240 - 245 degrees. You want it to be loose enough that it won't harden and break teeth. If you aren't sure about the caramel, you can do the water test. Take a cup and fill with ice water. Drop a small amount of the caramel in to the water and see if it forms a soft ball.

2. Once you get to the consistency you're looking for, take off the heat and add vanilla extract and butter, stirring until all combined.

3. Add in the pepitas and pour over the shortbread crust.

4. Allow to cool forever. This part is the bitch of this whole recipe. It'll take like 2 hours or so to cool.

5. Turn out and cut into 12 squares.

Coconut Pound Cake

2021-08-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

People sometimes are like, how do you decide what you want to try making? Well, here's how it usually goes: I was watching Virgin River, and the main character is like I just want a bath and a coconut cupcake for my birthday, and I was like damn, that sounds good. We always do our low country boil at the end of August, and for some reason, I always want a bundt cake for that occasion. I don't know why my brain has associated these two things, but you know what, every time I hear the song "Like a Prayer" by Madonna, I associate it with the movie Home Alone. I don't fucking know why. Who knows why our brains do what they do. What I DO know is that low country boil equates to a bundt cake, and this year, I needed coconut.

This recipe makes one bundt cake (serves 18ish)

For the Bundt

1 1/4 c shredded coconut, sweetened

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

6 large eggs

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c full-fat coconut milk (more needed for glaze as well)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract *you can use coconut extract here; I just don't really like it.

1. In a non-stick pan, put coconut on medium heat and lightly toast, stirring frequently. Do NOT walk away! She's fickle, and she'll burn in a heartbeat.

2. Once toasted, allow to cool for a bit.

3. Take one cup and finely chop in a food processor or with a sharp knife. Reverse the rest for the topping.

4. Prepare bundt pan with goop and preheat oven to 325F.

5. Cream together butter and sugars in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

6. Slowly add in eggs, making sure to incorporate between each egg.

7. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl (flour, salt, baking powder). Add them to butter and sugar slowly until incorporated.

8. Add vanilla and coconut milk to the batter and combine.

9. Fold in the one cup of coconut.

6. Bake for 45 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Glaze

You either already hate me because you know what I'm going to say here, or you have grown confident with your glaze making skills and therefore no longer need me. We measure with our hearts, so I will try to give you an estimate, but really, it's all about the feel.

About 2 c powdered sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

Splash of vanilla

1/4-1/2 c coconut milk

1. Sift sugar into a large bowl. Add salt.

2. Add vanilla and start to add a little coconut milk and whisk to combine.

3. You are looking for something thick, but that will still run. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar; if it's too thick, add more coconut milk. Here's my consistency:

Assembly

1. Once the bundt has cooled, turn out onto serving platter. If it sticks to the pan a bit, as mine did, that's okay! Peel it out and slap it back together - you're covering with glaze and coconut anyway.

2. Drizzle with glaze- as you can see in my picture, I went a little overboard with the glaze, and I have no regrets.

3. Top with the remaining 1/4 c of toasted coconut.

4. Serve with a rum-based drink. You'll thank me.

Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

2021-08-05T09:47:00.003-07:00

I am going to preface this recipe by saying it's really not a lot of a recipe. These are rice crispy treats, y'all. I mean, pretty fucking basic. I WILL say that this is a bit of a glow up for the rice crispies you had as a child. The brown butter makes it a little nutty, and the flakey sea salt give you the balance you didn't know you craved. This recipe makes a 13x9 pan.

For the Rice Crispies:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

12 oz (ish) marshmallows

6 c rice crispy cereal

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have it)

1 tsp flakey sea salt

1. Prepare a 13x9 with nonstick cooking spray. Keep the spray out as well- you can use this later.

2. In a large pot, begin to melt butter. You will bring it to a boil and stir constantly. At first it will get foamy, and then it will begin to clear a bit, and you will start to see little brown bits. It will also darken in color some as well.

2. Add in 10 oz of marshmallows and vanilla bean paste; stir constantly until all melted and incorporated with the butter.

3. Take off the heat and then add in the rice crispy cereal and the last 2 oz of marshmallow so you get some marshmallow chunks.

4. Pour the rice crispies into the prepared baking dish. Spray hands and pack down into the pan.

5. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt.

Samoa Bars

2021-07-15T10:09:00.001-07:00

I want to go on record by stating that Girl Scout Samoas are a thing of beauty and I would never say these are better than the original, but I will say that they are pretty damn good. You have a flaky shortbread crust, mountains of toasted coconut smothered in caramel, all drizzled with a little semisweet chocolate. This makes a 9x13 pan, so it's plenty to share (or not share; I won't tell you how to live your life).

For the Shortbread:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have it)

3/4 tsp salt

2 c all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare 9x13 pan with parchment paper and non-stick spray.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in vanilla bean paste and salt.

3. Slowly incorporate flour. The mixture will be sandy, but you should be able to push it together in your hand and have it clump. Press dough firmly into prepared pan.

4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

5. Allow to partially cool before adding the coconut layer.

For the Coconut Layer:

2 c sweetened shredded coconut

11 oz bag of caramel bits

3 tbsp heavy cream

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips.

1. While the shortbread is baking, put 2 c sweetened shredded coconut into a pan to toast. Make sure to stir frequently. When it gets slightly toasted and fragrant, remove to a bowl for later.

2. Once the shortbread has come out of the oven, you can combine caramel bits, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla into a heat-safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals. It will look like it's not going to come together, but it totally will.

3. Toss in the shredded coconut and mix to coat.

4. Spread out evenly onto the shortbread crust.

5. In a small heat-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips in 15 second intervals until smooth. Put into a piping bag (or a ziploc bag with the corner cut off), and pipe lines onto the top of the bars.

6. Allow to cool completely before cutting. *If you wanted to, you could dip the bottoms of the bars into chocolate as well once they're cut- this will be more reminiscent of the real deal, but it will also be a hot mess, so you do you, boo.

Angel Food Cake

2021-07-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

My husband bought an angel food cake pan about a year ago because he wanted to try making some.... Fast forward to a year later, and I have finally broken the seal on our angel food dreams. I went down the rabbit hole for angel food because people were scaring me about fucking it up. It's MUCH easier than I had thought it would be and way more delicious than store-bought. So what I'm saying is, don't be afraid! Come into the light, Carol Anne. I will say that there are some key tips to help you be successful, so it's not about the ingredients as much as it is the technique. You WILL want a food scale for this. I think that's really the only way to go. The ratios for an angel food cake are 3:3:1 by weight- 3 parts egg whites, 3 parts sugar, and 1 part cake flour (and you do want to go cake flour on this one because it is much lighter). Without a way to measure these weights, it's a difficult cake to do correctly.

For the Cake:

407 g egg whites (this was 11 eggs for me- that's what I had; for a full sized angel food cake, you're looking at 10-12 egg whites)

407 g granulated sugar

136 g cake flour, sifted *You know I wouldn't say sift if I didn't mean it

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have it)

zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Do NOT grease your angel food pan. It needs the sides to be able to climb up and get height. It can't do that if you slick down the walls.

2. Put egg whites into a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Start to whip up egg whites. *I only put it at max a 6 on a Kitchenaid because that's what I do for macarons and it always works. Does it matter here? No idea. If you're brave, you can crank it up faster if you want and see if it works. Report back please.

3. Once egg whites start to get foamy, add in the cream of tartar. Then slowly stream in the granulated sugar.

4. Continue to beat until at about a medium peak. You don't want it to be a stiff peak, but it needs to have some body. Like it can stand up on itself in the bowl for a bit, but it's not super excited about it.

5. Add in the salt, vanilla bean paste, zest, and lemon juice. Incorporate.

6. Turn off the mixer and gently fold in the cake flour until just incorporated.

7. Fill up the angel food pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes. The internet told me not to put in a tooth pick because it can be deceptive for angel food, so I did the finger press- if you touch it gently with a finger and it starts to spring back, it should be done. It will also be golden in color.

8. When it is out, immediately flip it over so that it cools upside down, preventing it from collapsing. I flipped it over onto a small bowl.

9. When it is cooled, turn out onto cake stand. Serve with berries and whipped cream if you like. Or do like I did, and just rip off chunks of it throughout the day like a heathen.

Honeymoon Cake

2021-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

So y'all know I have the honeymoon cookies (with Blue Moon, honey, and orange), so I wanted to do that same flavor profile in cake form. This is a 3-layer cake soaked in Blue Moon beer, sandwiched with orange curd, slathered in orange buttercream, and topped with stellar macarons! I will say, to make your life easier, do the curd and reduce the beer the night before.

This recipe makes three 9-inch round cakes or about 36 cupcakes and about 24 macarons.

For the Orange Curd:

*I did the usual curd recipe I do from Ina, but subbed out all the lemon for oranges. I think next time I will do at least some lemon as well- the orange curd by itself had no tang. Just all sweet. I think the lemon will boost the flavor some.

3 oranges (again, when I make this next time, I will probably do 2 oranges and 1 lemon)

1 ½ c granulated sugar

¼ pound unsalted butter, room temp (that’s 1 stick)

4 extra-large eggs

½ c orange (and maybe lemon) juice

1/8 tsp salt

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 3 oranges, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse until zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

2. Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and orange mixture.

3. Add one egg at a time, and then add the orange juice and salt. Mix until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The curd will thicken at about 170F, or just below a simmer. For this recipe, I kept cooking it for about 10 more minutes because I wanted it to be thicker so that it would not squish out of the cake layers.

5. Remove from heat and run through a strainer to get any lumps or bigger pieces of zest out of it. Cool or refrigerate. I put it in mason jar and let it cool slightly before putting the lid on and putting it in the fridge.

For the Macaron Shells:

1 part egg whites - 64 grams (2 egg whites for me)

1.5 part almond flour - 96 grams (64 from egg whites x 1.5)

0.8 part granulated sugar - 51 grams

1.5 part powdered sugar - 96 grams

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp cardamom * this is a little citrusy and a little warming and it's super nice

Zest of 1 large orange

Blue food coloring

Gold and/or silver luster dust

Star sprinkles

1. In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, start mixing egg whites. Don't mix them on too high of a speed (no higher than 6 on a kitchenaid). While this starts out, move to the second step.

2. Sift together almond flour, powdered sugar, and cardamom in a bowl. *I just put my bowl on my food scale and poured through my sifter until the right weight because I'm lazy.* Put aside until the egg whites are finished.

3. After the egg whites have started to foam up, add cream of tartar. *this is just to help stabilize the merengue, so you can leave it out if you want.

4. Start adding in the granulated sugar to the foamy egg whites a bit at a time. Let mixer keep whipping until you get to stiff peaks, like you see in the picture.

5. Once you have stiff peaks, gently fold in the orange zest.

6. Pour in about half of your dry ingredients into the egg whites. You'd think you have to be gentle here because it's egg whites and you don't want to lose all that air. Nah. You can mix the shit of out of this; it's okay.

7. Pour the second half of dry ingredients in and keep mixing. Here I was a bit more gentle. Add the blue food coloring at this point too and incorporate. You want to keep mixing until it looks glossy and it ribbons back on itself.

8. Line baking sheet with silicon mat or parchment paper and pipe the macarons into small circles.

9. Whack the cookie sheet on the counter at least 3 times to get all the air bubbles out. *Again, you can whack them on the counter pretty hard.

10. Decorate with luster dust and star sprinkles.

11. Allow to sit at room temperature until they look matte and when you try to gently touch them with your finger, they don't stick. They form a skin on top. This can take between 20 minutes to an hour. In more humid months, this will take longer, but it's one of the most important steps!

12. While you're waiting, preheat oven to 350F.

13. BEFORE you put them in the oven, drop to 325F. I would only bake one sheet at a time. I tried double once. It doesn't work out well. Anyway, bake for 12 - 14 minutes, but check at 10 minutes. If you can lightly touch it and the macaron doesn't move on it's base, it should be done.

14. Allow to cool completely before taking off parchment and filling.

For the Cake:

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick), room temp

2 c granulated sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c Blue Moon reduction *you will reduce 12 oz and use part of it here, and part of it to soak the cake.

Zest of an orange

1. Put Blue Moon into a small saucepan and allow to simmer and reduce to about half. Allow to cool before using (again this is why I would suggest reducing this the night before).

2. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare cake pans with goop.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, and sugar. Add in the yolks of the three eggs- keep the whites separate. Add in vanilla extract.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites until at stiff peaks. Set aside.

5. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

6. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.

7. Pour the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.

8. Pour another 1/3 of dry.

9. Pour the half cup of Blue Moon reduction.

10. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.

11. Slowly fold in the egg whites that were whipped up earlier and the zest. *This ensures that the batter will be light and fluffy.

For the Buttercream:

*You will use this to decorate the cake and to fill the macarons.

5 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

6(ish) c powdered sugar

2 tbsp honey

Pinch of salt

Zest and juice of 1 orange

Splash of vanilla extract

1. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter.

2. Slowly add powdered sugar one cup at a time, and mix to combine.

3. Add salt, vanilla, orange juice and zest.

4. Mix to incorporate and allow to continue mixing for a minute or two to fluff.

5. Take about 1/3 of the buttercream into a separate bowl and dye with blue food coloring.

Assembly:

1. Take a dollop of buttercream and put on serving board or plate.

2. Put the first cake layer down. With a pastry brush, soak the cake with some of the remaining Blue Moon reduction (you will do this with each layer).

3. Put blue buttercream and white buttercream into two pastry bags and cut the end off of each. Take the white buttercream and create a dam on the top of the cake layer.

4. Spoon in about half of the orange curd to cover the layer.

5. Repeat with second layer, more soak, dam, and curd.

6. Top with final layer and soak.

7. With pastry bag, start at the bottom with blue buttercream and run it up about half of the cake.

8. Do the same with the white buttercream up to the top (and covering the top) of the cake.

9. Take a bench scraper or an offset spatula and smooth out the buttercream- allowing the colors to mix gently in the middle.

10. Fill macarons with buttercream as well and decorate the cake with macarons. I didn't fill some of them and just used the shells as well. I also did another smattering of luster dust on the cake.

Strawberry Lemonade Shortbread Bars

2021-04-25T08:10:00.001-07:00

Yes, this is the second strawberry lemon dessert I've made this weekend, and you know what, you're welcome. This shit is delicious. Flaky shortbread crust and lemon buttercream topped with fresh strawberries. I worried it may be too sweet, but the shortbread is a little salty and the buttercream a little zippy, and overall, I'm not mad at this one bit. It's also like really easy. Really. You're gonna want to make these.

This recipe makes two 8x8 inch squares or you could do a big one in a 13x9 pan.

For the shortbread:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 c all-purpose flour (ish* see below)

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cardamom

Zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line pan(s) with parchment (with a bit of overhang so you can pull it out of the pan for cutting and serving), and spray with cooking spray.

2. Put butter and sugar in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream together for a few minutes.

3. Add salt, cardamom, and lemon zest. Slowly add in flour until you get the desired texture (that 2ish cups we discussed) *You want the texture to be sandy, but when you squeeze some in your hand, it should stick together. If it feels too wet and not very sandy, you can add a bit more flour. If you add too much flour, you're fucked, so err on the side of caution. I mean you're not really fucked; it'll still be delicious, but the texture won't be quite the same. Sorry for the scare tactic.*

4. Pour out into prepared pan(s) and press down into a solid layer. *If you're doing the two smaller pans like I did, just divide the dough evenly.

5. Bake at 350F for about 40-45 mins or until lightly golden brown.

6. Allow to cool completely before assembly.

For the buttercream:

2 stick unsalted butter, room temp

3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter, salt, and lemon zest.

2. Slowly start to incorporate powdered sugar one cup at a time.

3. In between sugar cups, squeeze in half a lemon.

4. Finish with a splash of vanilla extract.

5. Reminder that buttercream is a feel thing, so if it feels too loose, add more sugar. If it feels too stiff, add more lemon juice or heavy cream.

6. Whip it for a minute or two at the end to aerate it and make it fluffier.

Assembly:

You will also need:

1 pint of fresh strawberries, thinly sliced

A little apricot jam *optional

1. Take cooled shortbread and top with a layer of lemon buttercream.

2. Arrange strawberry slices on top. I just did rows so that it was easier to cut in between them when serving.

3. Mix a little apricot jam with a splash of water. Brush onto the strawberries for a shiny finish.

4. Cut into 12 slices (if you're in the 8x8 pans like me- so 24 pieces total).

5. Store in the fridge, but take out a bit before serving so it can warm up a bit before eating.

Chocolate Orange Cake

2021-04-23T13:37:00.001-07:00

A friend had her baby shower recently, and she requested a chocolate orange cake. I realized that I hadn't made this combo before, BUT I had made all the components, so this is a bit of Frankenstein cake, complete with chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache, orange marmalade, and candied oranges! It weighs about 20 pounds, and now all of us that ate it feel about 20 pounds heavier. Worth it. I highly suggest that you make this a TWO day cake process. Start with the candied oranges the day before so they have time to dry out. This recipe makes a three layer 9-inch round cake.

For the candied oranges:

I used this recipe for the candied oranges with slight modifications.

1 1/2 navel oranges sliced into about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 tbsp orange juice (from the other half of the second orange)

1. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil.
2. Make an ice bath in a large bowl and set by the boiling water.
3. Place orange slices in the boiling water for about one minute and then transfer them to the ice bath to cool. *The recipe said to drain them before the next step.... I didn't. I just kept them in the ice bath until my syrup was ready.
4. Bring the 2 cups water, granulated sugar, and orange juice to a boil on the stove. Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce to medium-low heat. Add orange slices in a single layer. *mine was not a single layer... It was still okay.
5. Simmer the orange slices for about 45 - 60 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes, until the rinds are slightly translucent.

6. Place orange slices on a cooling rack (preferably with something underneath to catch the drip) and allow to cool completely. *the recipe says at least an hour up to overnight. I did two hours, and it's fine, but I think next time I will do it overnight. For this cake application, two hours is fine. For like candy, overnight probably makes for a better chew. *Also, once they set up, I cut them in half to be able to place on the cake. Definitely wait until they have hardened!

7. Dust with additional granulated sugar to help with the stickiness.

8. RESERVE the syrup! That's your soak for the cake!

For the batter:

2 c granulated sugar
2 1/2 c flour
1 c cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c boiling water
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease three 8-inch round pans using goop.
2. Combine sugar and vegetable oil in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla extract as well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
5. Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, incorporating each into the batter before adding more. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
6. Add the hot water *make sure your speed is on the lowest!* to the batter a little at a time. Once all incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then turn to medium-high speed and whip for one minute. This batter will look really loose, but that's how it should be.

7. Pour batter evenly into cake pans.
8. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Let cool on cooling rack. Turn out cakes when still a bit warm. Allow to cool completely before icing.

For the buttercream frosting:
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature *yes, this is pretty butter-heavy; trust me, it's delicious
1 c cocoa powder
4 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
2. Sift cocoa powder and powdered sugar together. *I don't sift unless I need to. You know this, but with a frosting, it's best to sift.
3. Pour sugar mixture into butter a little at a time until incorporated. Add salt and vanilla.

For the Ganache:

1 c heavy cream
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temp - I almost ALWAYS don't do room temp because I forget to pull the butter out for this; it's fine; just takes a few more mins to melt
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove and heat until just at a simmer. You don't want this to boil.
2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat safe bowl.
3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.
4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.

5. You will want this to sit for a while so that it is pourable but will not fall off the cake. We want drips.

Assembly:

You will also need:

18 oz orange marmalade

1. Put a dollop of buttercream on cake stand to prevent slippage. Add first cake layer.

2. With a pastry brush, soak the cake with some of the orange simple syrup reserved from making the candied oranges.

3. Put about 1/4 of the buttercream into a piping bag. Pipe a ring around the top of the first layer- this is a dam to hold in the marmalade.

4. Spread marmalade on the cake.

5. Top with second layer- repeat.

6. Top with final layer. Cover the cake with buttercream.

7. Slowly pour the chocolate ganache on the cake. Start to push some of it off the sides at intervals to create organic drips. *I put my ganache in the fridge to firm up a bit because I was impatient... then it was a little too firm. If that happens, put the ganache over a double-boiler to loosen a bit.

8. Decorate with additional buttercream and orange slices.

Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars

2021-03-07T14:00:00.004-08:00

This week in the 52 weeks of baking challenges is a timed challenge. What would you make if you were given 1 hour start to finish? This was hard for me to think of because I really just kept thinking of things that I would NOT be able to make in an hour. So I decided that I would finally try my hand at a recipe that my work wife, Jill, always makes. So, this is my rendition of her salted caramel butter bars. This recipe makes an 8x8 pan. Final time: 57 minutes and 29 seconds. It's damn good, so maybe make it when no one else is gonna be home so that you don't have to share.

For the Shortbread

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or if you don't have this you can use vanilla extract)

3/4 tsp salt

2 c all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare 8x8 inch pan with parchment and non-stick spray.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in vanilla bean paste and salt.

3. Slowly incorporate flour. This mixture will be sandy, but when you squeeze it together in your hand, it will clump. See below.

4. Take about half of the dough and press into the bottom of pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Reserve the other half of the dough for the topping.

For the Caramel

1 bag (11 oz) caramel bits - if you can't find these, you can use the same weight of the regular caramels; they just take longer to melt; OR you can make your own caramel. This was a timed challenge. I was not making my own caramel, but you know what, follow your heart.

3 tbsp heavy cream (or milk is fine)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp flakey sea salt

1. About 10 minutes into the baking of the bottom layer, combine caramel bits, heavy cream, and vanilla extract into a heat-safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals until smooth and melted.

2. Remove the pan from the oven after the 15 minutes and spread the caramel out onto the dough.

3. Sprinkle 1 tsp of the flakey salt on top of the caramel.

4. Take the remaining dough and top the caramel. I made big clumps of the dough with my hands and just plopped them on. It was easiest, and it also allows some of the caramel to stick out. Curb appeal, baby.

5. Return to the oven for about 30 - 35 minutes or until just starting to get golden.

6. Sprinkle the remaining sea salt on top of the bars and allow to cool completely before slicing. This bake takes less than hour, but the cooling time will feel like a million years while you wait for this deliciousness.