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Kahlua Espresso Brownies

Irvin — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:51:00 +0000

These easy to make Kahlua espresso brownies are a rich mocha brownie that uses Kahlua, a coffee-flavored rum for a deep coffee flavor.

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I’ve been making a version of these Kahlua mocha brownies ever since they appeared in an old issue of the classic food magazine Gourmet. They’re deeply fudgy and rich, similar to my easy fudge brownies and my miso caramel soy sauce brownies. The addition of a generous amount of instant coffee or espresso powder and Kahlua, a coffee-flavored rum, gives them a deep mocha flavor.

Every time I make them, my friends clamor for them, and recently I made a double batch for a different project of mine, which resulted in a surplus of them. I gave away as many as I could (because I did NOT need that many brownies in the house), but then I got a text message from a friend who was on the receiving end of a couple brownies. He proclaimed that he was obsessed. So, I ended up making yet another whole batch just for him!

How to make these brownies

These brownies are easy to make and use both melted chocolate and cocoa powder to give it a rich fudge texture. First melt the chocolate and butter together. Then beat together eggs, sugar, vanilla, instant coffee, Kahlua, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the melted chocolate butter mixture. Then fold in flour and cocoa.

Once the batter is mixed, just scrape it into a prepared pan and bake! Almost as easy as a brownie from a box.

Notes on special ingredients

Kahlua: Kahlua is a coffee-flavored rum liqueur that is easy to find at most grocery stores or liqueur shops. Kahlua adds a rich coffee dimension to the brownies, but if you don’t have it on hand, you can substitute the same amount of a different coffee liqueur like Irish cream, a regular dark rum liqueur, or just strong coffee if you are avoiding alcohol.
Dutch-processed cocoa: Cocoa power comes in two variants, natural cocoa or Dutch-processed. I prefer Dutch-processed cocoa in this brownie, which is an alkalized treated cocoa powder, which lends a mellow rich chocolate flavor, as well as a super dark midnight brown color. But if you only have natural cocoa powder, you can swap out the same amount of natural cocoa powder for the Dutch-process. Just swap the baking powder for 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to accommodate for the acidic natural cocoa powder.
Dark chocolate: You can use any dark chocolate you happened to have. I’ve even used semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the chopped chocolate when I’m feeling a little lazy about chopping the chocolate. Keep in mind the darker the chocolate, the more chocolate intense the brownies will be. So, if you are chocolate fiend, feel free to reach for that super dark 85% chocolate for these! But for the average chocolate lover, a typical semi-sweet chocolate is just fine.

How to store these brownies

These brownies keep well. Store them under a cake dome or in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days at room temperature. Or store them in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 to 6 days. You can eat them cold or let them come to room temperature by placing them on your counter for an hour.

You can also freeze these brownies. Place them on a baking sheet in your freezer for about 2 hours, or until they are frozen solid. Then move them to a heavy duty Ziplock freezer bag to store for up to 2 months. Thaw by placing them on your counter for a couple of hours.

If you like these Espresso Kahlua Brownies, check out these other brownie recipes:

And check out these other chocolate recipes that I have:

Kahlua Espresso Brownies

These mocha brownies have a double shot of coffee flavor from both the instant espresso and Kahlua, a coffee liqueur. You can substitute Irish Cream for the Kahlua. Try not to overnake the brownies though, as you want a mocha-infused fudgy center!

Course coffee time, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword bars, brownies, chocolate

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Servings

Calories 239kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks or 170 g
4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped 130 grams
3 large eggs
2 cups white sugar 400 g
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup instant coffee powder or instant espresso 27 g
3 tablespoons Kahlua liqueur or other coffee liqueur, like Irish Cream
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour 140 g
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa 32 g

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking oil, then line with parchment paper.
Place the butter and dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, then melt the ingredients together in the microwave, using 30 second bursts of time, stirring between. You can also melt the ingredients together on the stovetop in a medium pan under low heat.
Place the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, instant coffee, Kahlua, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat the ingredients together, until they are well blended.
Mix in the melted chocolate butter mixture, making sure to incorporate it together completely.
Fold in the flour and cocoa. If the cocoa is clumpy, sift it first, as that will help it incorporate into the batter.
Scrape the batter (it will be a bit stiff, the consistency of frosting) into the prepared pan and bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies comes out with a few crumbs on it but isn’t wet.
If you have an instant read thermometer, the center should read 185°F. Try not to overbake it, as this brownie is best slightly underdone to give it that fudgy quality.
Let cool on a wire rack until room temperature, then use the parchment paper sides to pull up and move the entire brownie to a cutting board to cut into pieces.

Notes

Recipe adapted from an old Gourmet magazine.

Nutrition

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Apple Coffee Cake with Double Crumb Topping [Sponsored Post]

Irvin — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:37:00 +0000

This apple coffee cake is rich and buttery, with a layer of tender apples and a double layer of cinnamon crumb topping!

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This post was sponsored by Real California Milk. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions below are my own. To find more recipe inspiration visit the Real California Milk website.

I’m not going tell you the ideal wintery flavor because I refuse to pick between pumpkin, gingerbread, peppermint, seasonal fruit like pomegranates, apples, and pears. But I do have a fondness for apples that knows no bounds. This is clearly evident with my various apple recipes, including apple cider donuts, apple fritters, apple bread, apple Brown Betty, apple fig cobbler with eggnog biscuits, apple and berry cobbler with strawberry cinnnamon swirl biscuits, spice apple berry cobbler, and the numerous apple pie recipes like fried apple hand pies, apples slab pie with prunes, tarte tatin, apple and cranberry pie with almond butter, and my open-faced brown butter spiced apple pie. When it comes to apples, I’m a fan!

But despite having a number of coffee cakes on here (cinnamon streusel coffee cake, blueberry cream cheese coffee cake, pumpkin coffee cake, Mexican Chocolate Corn Coffee Cake, Swedish blueberry cake, Earl Grey blueberry coffee cake) I’ve never shared my apple coffee cake. It has a plush and buttery coffee cake layer, a soft (not crunchy) apple filling, and a double layer of crumb topping that makes ideal for a fall and winter snack. Though honest, I make it anytime, because apples are easily available all year round. One bite and you’ll understand why!

How Do you Make this Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is basically three recipes combined into one. And though it looks complicated, with a lot of steps and ingredients, it comes together fairly fast.

The first think you need to do is peel and then slice apples. Place them in a microwave safe bowl, toss them with a little bit of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, then cover with a plate. Cook for a few minutes in the microwave until they start to look a little transparent and have softened a bit, and liquid has started to be release. The apples don’t have to be fully cooked, but this ensures they aren’t crunchy and hard in the cake. Set aside to cool.

Then make the crumb topping by tossing together brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour in a bowl. Drizzle melted butter over it, tossing until crumbs and chunks form. Place in the fridge while you make the cake batter.

Make the cake batter by creaming butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in the bowl of stand mixer. Add in three eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides between additions. Pour in the liquid at the bottom of the apples (reserving the apples for later, then add the sour cream, half the flour, then milk, then the rest of the flour, again scraping down between additions.

Pour most of the cake batter and spread it out in a buttered 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan, reserving about 1 cup of the batter. Layer the apples over the batter, then spread the remaining batter over the apples.

Sprinkle the top with the crumb topping, breaking up and super large chunks (but leaving some of it chunky because that’s what makes it good!). There’ll be a LOT of crumb topping, but it’s totally what makes this cake!

Bake and then let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before serving.

Sour Cream and Butter is the Answer to a Tender Crumb

This recipe uses Real California Milk sour cream and butter, along with milk in the batter. All of them play a role in making this the best coffee cake you’ve had.

Sour cream is a thickened dairy product that is made by fermenting regular cream with a lactic acid bacteria culture. Sour cream acts as a tenderize because of the high fat content. And because sour cream is slightly acidic, it reacts with the baking soda in the recipe, creating lift and a better texture. If you don’t have sour cream, you can substitute whole milk Greek-style yogurt in its place but the cake won’t be quite as rich in flavor.

The butter in the cake not only give richness and flavor the cake but it also helps keep the cake tender by inhibiting gluten forming. Creaming the butter with the sugar aerates the batter, as well as evenly distributed the baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Finally, vanilla has a lot of fat-soluble flavor molecules. Adding it into the step in the beginning with the butter means you get a boost of vanilla flavor.

I always look for the Real California Milk seal when I buy my dairy products. It ensures that I’m getting quality ingredients, made with milk from family-run dairy farms in California. And it’s not just milk, butter and sour cream that carries the seal. You can find it on everything dairy, from yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and more.

A Note About the Apples

You’ll notice in this recipe that I pre-cook the apples in the microwave slightly. This is to give them a jump start in cooking, so they aren’t crunchy in the final coffee cake. But I also drain them a bit, as the apples have a lot of juice, and cooking them with the batter raw might lead to a slightly soggy cake underneath the apples.

If you don’t have a microwave or are feeling lazy and want to skip this step, it’s fine to just layer the apples raw on top of the cake batter. Just keep in mind that the cake will be slightly more moist underneath the apples.

As for the type of apple to use, I always recommend picking a variety of apples as I like the complexity that tart apples like Granny Smith and sweet apples like HoneyCrisp add to any baked good. But my biggest advice is to just eat one of the thin slices of apple before using it in any baked good. If the apple tastes mealy or doesn’t have any flavor, it’s not going to improve in cooking. Use a different apple to use in your cake or pie!

Storing This Cake

This cake stores at room temperature anywhere from 5 to 7 days. Store it at room temperatures, making sure the cake is covered by plastic wrap or aluminum foil. I don’t recommend storing it in the refrigerator though, as that will dry it out.

You can, however, freeze the cake for longer storage. Slice the cake into individual pieces, then place it on a baking sheet in the freezer. Once the cake slices are frozen solid (about 2 hours), move them to a resealable Ziploc freezer bag or a plastic storage container, placing pieces of parchment or wax paper between each piece to prevent them from freezing together. To thaw, just leave it out on the counter for a day or two. Frozen coffee cake can last up to 3 months in the freezer.

More Fall and Winter Cake Recipes

If you like this apple coffee cake, check out these other fall and winter cake recipes.

Apple Coffee Cake with Double Crumb Topping

This plush and buttery coffee cake has a layer of soft and tender apples along with a double layer of crumb topping. The apples are pre-cooked slightly in the microwave, but you can skip this step if you are feeling lazy. Just know that the layer under the apples might be more moist if you do. Don’t be scared of the amount of crumb topping, as it makes the cake!

Course Breakfast, brunch, coffee time, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword apple, cake, coffee cake

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1 5

Servings

Calories 1867kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Apple layer

3 to 4 medium-sized apples any variety (about 600 g)
2 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Crumb topping

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 315 g
1 cup packed dark brown sugar 220 g
1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup Real California Milk unsalted butter 225 g or 2 sticks

Cake batter

3/4 cup Real California Milk unsalted butter at room temperature 170 g or 1 1/2 stick
1 1/2 cups white sugar 300 g
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 65 g
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Real California Milk sour cream 200 g
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour divided, 490 g
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Real California Whole Milk 270 g

For pan

1 tablespoon Real California Milk unsalted butter

Instructions

Prep the apples by peeling, coring and then slicing them into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place in a large microwave-safe bowl. Toss with the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to coat. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, or until the apples start to look slightly translucent, are flexible, and have started to exude liquid. They don’t need to be cooked completely. Set aside to cool.
Melt the butter in a medium dish or glass measuring cup in the microwave. Make the crumb topping by placing the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt in a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine and break up the brown sugar. Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork, until all the butter has been absorbed and clumps form. Place in the refrigerator (no need to cover it) while you make the cake batter.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Make the cake batter by placing the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the ingredients together until a fluffy paste forms and clings to the side of the bowl.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom between additions. Add in the sour cream and any residual liquid at the bottom of the apples (it should be about 2 tablespoons), making sure to reserve the solid apple slices for later. Mix, again scraping down the sides afterwards.
Add in about half the flour, then the milk, then the rest of the flour, making sure to scrape down if you see the batter sticking on the sides or bottom. I like to scrape it down right at the end, to make sure there’s not any thicker batter paste on the sides or the bottom, then mix for another 10 to 15 seconds to make sure everything is combined evenly.
Melt the butter in a small dish in the microwave. Brush the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan with the melted butter. Pour most of the cake batter into the pan, leaving about 1 cup or so in the bowl, spreading the cake batter evenly in the pan.
Sprinkle and place the apples slices over the cake batter evenly. Drizzle the remaining cake batter over the apple slices and spread it evenly over the apples. Don’t worry about if there are some apples still peeking through. You just want enough cake batter to help anchor the apples into the cake.
Take the crumb topping out of the fridge and sprinkle it over the top of the cake, breaking up any super big chunks with your fingers. But leave some of the crumb topping chunky, as that’s what makes it awesome! It will seem like an extreme amount of crumb topping but don’t stress, that’s also what takes this cake to the next level.
Bake in the oven for 65 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center and the crumb topping is golden brown. If you have an instant read thermometer, the middle inside of the cake should read 200°F to 205°F.
Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

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Chocolate Chess Pie

Irvin — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 19:01:52 +0000

This easy chocolate chess pie is an intensely chocolate variation of the southern chess pie, which has a touch of cornmeal to give it texture.

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Right out of college I worked at a small art museum with tight knit group of employees. We were a nonprofit, working for very little money, but dedicated to the cause of bring contemporary art to the mid-sized Midwest city I grew up in. My co-work Deb was a self-proclaimed “foodie” (a relatively new term back in the mid-90s) and for our company picnic assigned all of us different dishes to bring.

My dish, a chess pie, was something I wasn’t familiar with, but I took to the recipe she provided with aplomb, making the classic chess pie, along with a lemon chess pie, and a chocolate one. All three of them disappeared nearly immediately at the picnic, but the chocolate chess pie with its rich intensely chocolatey flavor, with a filling almost like a fudge brownie, was one that subsequently made it into my rotating repertoire. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to share it.

What is a Chess Pie?

If you’re from the deep south you may already know what a chess pie is but otherwise, when it comes up in conversation (especially here in San Francisco where I live) most folks look at me confused. Chess pie is part of a group of pies often called “pantry pies” or “desperation pies” because they can be made using basic pantry ingredients like butter, flour, sugar and eggs. Other pantry/desperation pies include vinegar pie, water pie, mock apple pie, sugar cream pie, buttermilk pie, and shoofly pie.

Chess pie’s specific signature (and what sets it apart from other pantry/desperation pies) is the addition of cornmeal in the filling. The cornmeal not only helps thicken the pie a bit but gives it a bit of texture, making it stand out amongst all the other sibling pies. I’ve made other chess pies here on the blog, including my pumpkin chess pie and my award winning blackberry lemon chess pie, which was one of my very first recipes I shared on my blog (excuse the rambling post and old photos on the post).

Though there’s no definitive answer to why it’s called chess pie, there are many theories on how the name came about. One suggests chess is a bastardization of cheese, which the traditional chess pie looks a bit like. Another is because southern kitchens often had cabinets that you could put your pie into to cool, called “pie chests” and chess pie came about because it was so common a pie to make and store in the pie chests, with the word chest turning into chess. But my favorite theory is that kids and spouses would often ask what sort of pie was being made, and the response was always “It’s just pie” which, with a southern drawl, morphed into “it’s chess pie.”

How Do You Make This Chocolate Chess Pie?

Like all pantry and desperation pies, this chocolate chess pie is made with fairly common ingredients and is easy to make. The only specialty ingredient I’ve included in my recipe is instant espresso powder/coffee which is used to boost the chocolate flavor. But this can be left out if you don’t have it or don’t want to add it in.

First make the pie crust by placing flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut up butter into cubes and toss them in the flour to coat. Then smash and break up the butter with your fingers. Drizzle ice cold water over the ingredients, tossing with a fork until a dough forms. Pat and form a round disk, about 1-inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.

Once the dough has chilled, roll it out and place it in a pie pan. Trim and crimp the edges, then line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Blind bake the pie crust for 15 minutes, remove the weights, and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove and cool while you make the filling.

Melt dark chocolate and butter in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, instant espresso, and cornmeal to the chocolate to form a paste. Then stir in eggs, heavy cream and vanilla until smooth. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake in the oven until the center of the pie doesn’t jiggle any more. Cool and serve.

What is Blind Baking?

Blind baking a pie crust is just baking the crust by itself, without a filling. This is a great way to bake or par-bake the crust, preventing it from becoming soggy. It’s a technique that is often used with single crust pies where the pie filling is liquid or custard based, like most pantry/desperation pies or other common pies like lemon meringue, pecan pie or pumpkin pie.

To do this, place the crust in a pie pan, then “dock” the crust by using a fork and pricking holes all over the bottom of the crust. This helps prevents the crust from rising too much. Line the bottom and sides of the crust with parchment paper (making sure there’s some paper overhanging the pie pan) and fill it with pie weights, dry beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the paper with the weights. Return the pie to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool. This par-bakes the pie crust slightly. If you want to bake the crust more fully, extend the bake time to 20 minutes with the weights, and an additional 10 to 15 minutes without the weights.

I move the whole parchment paper to a heatproof bowl, where I can let the weights cool down. If you opt to use white sugar, be sure to save the sugar. You can either use the sugar the next time you bake, or you can reuse it as a weight for the blind baking. Once the sugar has turned a tan color (typically three or four blind bakes) you will have toasted sugar, which has a more complex and slightly caramelized flavor, which is excellent and can be used in any recipe that regular white sugar is used.

What Sort of Cocoa Powder Should You Use In This Recipe?

Because this recipe uses cocoa powder as part of the flavoring and there is no leavening (like baking soda or baking powder) needed, you can use whatever cocoa powder you have on hand. Natural cocoa powder is sharper and more acidic in flavor, while Dutch-processed cocoa is more mellow and darker in color. Both will work in the recipe, though each will lend a slightly different flavor and color to the pie.

How Do You Store This Chess Pie?

The great things about this chess pie is that it stores fairly well! I make it for Thanksgiving often (along with my pumpkin cheesecake) and I always make it a day or two ahead of time. You can store the chocolate chess pie at room temperature, on the countertop, under a cake dome or gently wrapped on top with foil or plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

If You Like This Chocolate Chess Pie, Here Are Some Other Chocolate Recipes You Might Like:

Chocolate Chess Pie

This variant on the classic southern chess pie has a rich chocolatey filling with an interior texture almost like a fudge brownie and a crackly top. Instant espresso or coffee has a bitterness that brings out the chocolate flavor even more, but if you don’t have it on hand, feel free to skip it. The addition of cornmeal, a signature part of chess pie, lends a little bit of texture to the pie filling. Feel free to “cheat” and use a store-bought pie crust if you don’t feel like making your own.

Course coffee time, Dessert

Cuisine American, southern

Keyword chocolate, cottage pie

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 50

Chill Time in Refrigerator 1

Servings

Calories 757kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Crust

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 245 g
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 1 1/4 sticks or 145 g
6 to 8 tablespoons cold water plus more if necessary

Filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick or 57 g
3 ounces chopped dark chocolate
3/4 cup white sugar 150 g
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 55 g
1/4 cup cocoa powder natural or Dutch-process
2 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or coffee optional but recommended
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream 70 g
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the pie crust by placing the flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and sprinkle them over the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, first toss the butter cubes in the dry ingredients to coat them, then smash each of them flat and breaking them into smaller bits, roughly the size of a pea. If the butter starts to stick to your fingers, dip your hand and the butter cubes into the flour and continue. The flour should prevent too much sticking.
Once the butter is smashed flat, Drizzle 6 tablespoons of water over the ingredients. Toss until the water has been absorbed and a shaggy dough has formed. If there is still flour at the bottom of the bowl, add more water, tossing until everything is incorporated. Massage the dough until it is cohesive, gather it together and press it into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour, or overnight.
Once the dough is chilled, preheat an oven to 375°F. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out to a 12-inch round. Move it to pie dish and trim the edges of the dough. Decoratively crimp the edges and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork all over.
Line the pie dough with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights, dry beans, uncooked rice, or white sugar (see note above). Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes. Then carefully remove the parchment paper with the weights to a heatproof bowl and return the pie crust to the oven, baking an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, reduce the temperature to 325°F and let the pie crust cool on a wire rack as you make the filling.
Make the filling by placing the butter and chocolate in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat the two ingredients together in 30 second bursts, stirring between each cook time, until all of the chocolate has melted. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, cornmeal, cocoa powder, espresso powder (if using), and kosher salt. Stir to form a paste.
Add eggs, heavy cream, and vanilla, stirring until a smooth filling forms.
Pour the pie filling into the pie crust and return it to the oven (making sure it’s been reduced down to 325°F). Bake pie for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the middle of the pie no longer jiggles. Let the pie cool to room temperature (about 2 hours) before serving.

Nutrition

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Marbled Pound Cake

Irvin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:46:13 +0000

This beautiful marbled pound cake use cream cheese to give it a classic pound cake crumb that everyone loves.

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I adore my classic cream cheese pound cake for the velvety tight crumb that it has. But when I want something that’s even more impressive, I make this marbled version. After all, I did write the cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered! How could I resist making a chocolate and vanilla pound cake, aka the marbled version of my favorite pound cake? With swirls of chocolate batter in it, each slice of the pound cake looks beautiful when you slice into it. The recipe isn’t much different than my cream cheese pound cake but you do need to do the extra step of turning half the batter into a chocolate batter to mix in. Don’t worry though, it’s a pretty easy step!

How to make this pound cake

Like my cream cheese pound cake, you start by creaming together butter and cream cheese until well blended. Then add in salt and baking powder. Once everything is well blended, pour in the white sugar as you mix, continue to beating it until the mixture is light and fluffy. This process mechanically incorporates as much air as possible into the batter. But the addition of a touch of baking powder also is an added insurance that the pound cake isn’t too dense.

Beat together room temperature eggs with the vanilla and then drizzle the mixture into the batter, trying to add just a little bit at a time to keep the mixture emulsified and smooth. But don’t stress too much if that doesn’t happen! Adding the flour next will help bring the whole batter back together.

Once the flour is added, scoop out half of the batter and add in cocoa, instant espresso powder or coffee, and vanilla to it. Mix until uniform.

Now spoon the vanilla and chocolate batter into a loaf pan, alternating batters in the pan. Then use a chopstick or butter knife and swirl the batters together. Don’t swirl too much! Bake and cool slightly in the pan, then invert and let cool on a wire rack until room temperature and ready to serve.

What sort of cocoa to use

For a lot of recipes, the type of cocoa you use makes a difference, as it affects the way the baked good rises. But because pound cake primarily uses a mechanical leavening, where you add air into the batter by just mixing it until it’s fluffy, it doesn’t matter what cocoa powder you use in this cake!

I choose Dutch-processed cocoa because it’s darker color and creates a more contrasting swirling pattern. It also has a more mellow chocolate flavor. But if you only have natural cocoa powder or prefer the more acidic sharper chocolate flavor, then you can use the same amount of natural cocoa in place.

How to store this pound cake

This pound cake can be stored at room temperature, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, under a cake dome, for up to 3 day. You can also freeze this pound cake! Let the pound cake cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped pound cake in a large freezer Ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.

If you like this marbled pound cake, check out these other marbled and swirled recipes:

Marble Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This beautiful marbled pound cake has a velvety crumb and is practically fool proof. It has the addition of a little bit of baking powder (something that traditionally not included in pound cake) to help ensure it’s not too dense and is just the right consistency and texture. Be sure to just swirl the batter only once or twice. If you over mix the batter, you run the risk of blending them together too much.

Course coffee time, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake, chocolate, marbled, swirl, vanilla

Servings

Calories 1811kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Cake batter

14 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 1/4 sticks or 200 g
3 ounces cream cheese 85 g
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300 g
5 large eggs at room temperature (see note below)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 210 g

Chocolate mix-in

3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa sifted if clumped together
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso optional but recommended
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking oil spray.
Cut the butter and cream cheese into 1/2-inch cubes. If you're using a stand mixer, the ingredients can be directly from the refrigerator cold. But if you're using a hand mixer, it’s better to use room temperature ingredients.
Place the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until they start to combine, which should take 1 to 2 minutes. Then, increase the speed to medium and continue mixing until the ingredients have a creamy appearance, are well blended, and cling to the sides of the bowl, which should take another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the salt and baking powder and mix for an additional 30 seconds until they are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl using a silicone spatula.
With the mixer still on low speed, gradually add the sugar, pouring it into the bowl in a steady stream to incorporate it slowly into the butter. Continue adding all the sugar until it is well combined and appears fluffy. Once again, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula.
In a separate glass measuring cup with a spout, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Slowly drizzle this egg mixture into the bowl with the mixer on low speed, occasionally pausing to make sure egg is fully absorbed before adding more. The goal is to maintain a smooth batter, but don't worry if it appears slightly broken and grainy in the end – this is normal.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again and, with the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour, mixing until the flour is fully incorporated, and the batter becomes smooth.
Do a couple more scrapes of the bottom and side with a spatula and another mix to make sure everything is well blended. Then take half the batter, about 550 grams if you have a scale, and move it to a separate bowl. Add the cocoa, instant coffee (if using), and vanilla to the remaining batter in the mixer bowl and mix until incorporated.
Spoon alternating batches of the plain and chocolate batter into the prepared pan. Then, using a chopstick or butter knife, gently swirl the batters together, using large “figure eight” motions. Don’t over swirl, but mix it enough to create a pretty pattern.
Bake for 85 to 90 minutes, or until the top has cracked open, the center looks dry (not wet) and a skewer inserted comes out clean. If you have an instant read thermometer, the internal center temperature should be somewhere between 200° and 205°F.
Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack and flip right side up. Let the pound cake cool completely before serving.

Notes

If you forgot the step of bringing your eggs to room temperature, don’t worry. You can quickly warm them up by placing them in a bowl of hot water straight from the tap. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for approximately 10 minutes, which should be about the same time it takes to reach the step where you need to add them to the batter. This will bring the eggs to room temperature.

Nutrition

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Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie with Pistachio Crumb Topping [Sponsored Post]

Irvin — Thu, 15 May 2025 15:00:00 +0000

This Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie has a crunchy pistachio topping made with olive oil which adds a peppery fruity dimension to the topping.

Jump to Recipe

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting San Luis Obispo, otherwise known as SLO, with my friends at California Grown. I’ve collaborated with California Grown for years, going on farm tours and visiting local producers across the golden state of California. Last year was one of my favorite tours ever, as we had a chance to visit a rhubarb farm and I’m OBSESSED with rhubarb, as evident by my strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb cobbler, strawberry rhubarb buckle cake, strawberry rhubarb galette, strawberry rhubarb syrup, blueberry rhubarb pie, cherry rhubarb crisp, and so many more recipes.

This year’s trip did not involve rhubarb, but it did involve a group of us staying at the iconic Madonna Inn, visiting Pasolivo Olive Oil to do some olive oil tasting (pro tip, slurp it up and expect the peppery burn cough from super fresh olive oil), wine tasting at Hope Family Wines, and visiting FARMstead ED/City Farm SLO, where we learned about their educational program on sustainable practices, multiple ways to compost, and outreach to the community.

_{Left photo by Irvin Lin. Right photo courtesy of CA GROWN/BCMA.}

_{Left photo by Irvin Lin. Right photo courtesy of CA Grown/BCMA}

But it was the event at Hope On Park that made this one of the best trip yet (even if it didn’t involved rhubarb). There, my friend Becky of Baking the Goods demonstrated how to make an edible centerpiece using California produce using plates and cups that I made for the entire group. I don’t talk about it much, but I have a not-so-secret double life where I do pottery and ceramics. Becky and the folks at California Grown found out and asked if I would be willing to make cake stands for all the participants in this tour. Months of work later, I got the pleasure of seeing all my talented friends use my ceramics to make the most beautiful centerpieces!

_{Left photo courtesy of CA GROWN/BCMA. Right photo by Irvin Lin.}

_{Left photo by Irvin Lin. Right photo courtesy of CA GROWN/BCMA.}

Back at home, I was inspired by both this trip and my previous trip to come up with this strawberry rhubarb slab pie with pistachio olive oil crumb topping. The peppery fruity olive oil really works well with the pistachio topping playing off of each other and highlighting the flavor of each. And the texture of the crumb topping is an ideal foil for the sweet tart strawberry rhubarb filling making this a great dessert for a picnic, friends gathering or just a Spring and early Summer dessert anytime.

How to make this slab pie

Slab pies are similar to regular pies, but made in a rectangular baking sheet, which makes them easier to slice into smaller servings (perfect for large parties and gatherings) as well as a higher crust (and crumb) ratio to the filling.

Start with making a single pie crust by combining flour, sugar, and salt in bowl. Cut up cold butter into small cubes, then flatten and smash them with your fingers.

Drizzle ice cold water into the bowl, tossing until a shaggy dough forms.

Dump the mixture onto a clean surface, flatten with the palms of your hand, and then fold the dough over. Repeat this a couple of times to help create flaky layers, and then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

When the dough has firmed up, make the crumb topping by crushing or chopping the pistachios and adding them to a bowl with flour, rolled oats, which sugar, brown sugar, Turbinado sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Drizzle olive oil over the entire mixture, tossing until clumps form. Chill the bowl of crumbs while you make the filling.

Make the filling by combing chopped rhubarb, strawberries, chopped kiwis, the zest of a Meyer lemon, the juice of a Meyer lemon, tapioca starch or cornstarch, olive oil, vanilla, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and fit it into a 9 x 13 x 1 in pan (also known as a quart sheet pan). Add the filling and bake for 30 minutes. Then sprinkle the pistachio crumbs over the filling and return to the oven to bake until the filling is bubbly, then cool to room temp and serve!

Explaining the special ingredients

This recipe has a few uncommon ingredients that you typically won’t find in other recipes. Here’s why I’ve included them, as well as more common substitutions.

Turbinado Sugar: Sometimes called by its brand name “Sugar in the Raw” this coarse sugar is refined using a turbine, which is where its name comes from. I use it because the blonde sugar lends both a slightly molasses flavor as well as a sweet crunch. You can substitute regular coarse white sugar if you like, or substitute more brown sugar or white sugar instead (though you won’t get the nice crunch that the Turbinado or coarse white sugar will give).
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: I use extra virgin olive oil in the crumb topping and in the filling to give it richness and dimension. I always recommend using California EVOO when possible. Look for olive oil with the California Olive Oil Council seal, which means the olive oil has been tested and met the one of the highest standards in the world. The olive oil itself gives a lovely rich peppery and fruity note to the crumb topping, working especially well with the pistachios. But if you don’t want to use olive oil, you can substitute the same amount of melted butter in place.
Kiwis: Kiwis appear in the filling because of the high pectin content that they have. The sweet tart fruit plays well with strawberries (and rhubarb as well) and the high pectin means the filling naturally thickens with the need to use lots of starch, which can sometimes dull the bright fruit flavors. If you don’t have a kiwi, you can also grate an apple to add pectin and add a more neutral flavor. Or omit both of the kiwi/apple and increase the tapioca starch or cornstarch to 6 tablespoons.
Tapioca Starch: My preferred thickener for fruit filling is tapioca starch, which is fairly easy to find at well stocked grocery stores. It works better than cornstarch in acidic environments and won’t muddy the flavor of the fruit. But cornstarch is a good substitute as well and has been tested to work in this recipe.
Meyer Lemon: Meyer lemons are a hybrid between regular lemons and oranges. They have a tender fragrant zest and lower acidity than their regular lemon counterpart. If you don’t have a Meyer lemon you can easily substitute the juice and zest of a lemon or orange in its place. Or use 2 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar for richer filling.

How to Store this Pie

This pie is best eaten the day it’s baked (and cooled). But you can store leftovers at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. You can also freeze the pie (whole or in slices) for up to 3 months. Just freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then move to a resealable freezer Ziploc bag, placing parchment paper or wax paper between layers.

If you like this slab pie, here are a few other slab pie recipes that you might enjoy:

Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie with Pistachio Crumb Topping

This Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie has a crunchy pistachio topping made with olive oil which adds a peppery fruity dimension to the topping. The filling also includes a couple of chopped kiwis which help naturally thicken the filling because of the pectin in the fruit. The result is a cross between a fruit bar and a full fledge fruit pie, suitable for large gatherings and casual picnics. You can also easily double this recipe for a full half-sheet pan, to serve an even larger crowd if you want.

Course coffee time, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword fruit, pie, rhubarb, slab pie, strawberry

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1

Chill time 2

Servings

Calories 734kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 175 g
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter 1 stick or 115 g
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Crumb Topping

2 cups shelled pistachios 250 g
3/4 cup all-purpose flour 105 g
1/2 cup rolled oats 55 g
1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
1/4 cup dark brown sugar 55 g
2 tablespoon Turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 95 g

Filling

4 cups 1-inch chunks rhubarb 1 pound or 455 g
2 cups chopped strawberries 1 pound or 455 g
2 medium kiwis peeled and chopped, 200 g
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
3/4 cup white sugar 150 g
1/4 cup tapioca starch or cornstarch 40 g
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Make the pie crust dough by placing the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, toss the cubes in the flour then smash them into flat pieces, continue to dip your hands in the flour to prevent the butter from sticking. You want to break the butter down into pieces roughly the size of a pea.
Once all the butter is flat and broken up, drizzle 4 tablespoons water over the dough and toss with a fork until a dough starts to form. Using your hands, massage the dry ingredients into the wet parts. If the dough looks too dry, add more water, half a tablespoon at a time, until a cohesive shaggy dough forms.
Gather the dough and flatten it into a 1-inch thick piece. Wrap with plastic wrap and then refrigerate for a minimum of an hour or overnight (or up to 2 days in the fridge).
While the dough is chilling, make the crumb topping by chopping or crushing the pistachios (in a freezer Ziploc bag). Add them to a bowl with the flour, oats, white sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Drizzle the olive oil over all the ingredients and toss with a fork until it starts to clump up and is absorbed by all the dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the pie.
When the dough has fully chilled, preheat the oven to 375°F. If you’re using a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan (the kind that you make brownies in), lightly spray it with cooking oil, then line it with parchment paper. If you are using a 9 x 13 x 1-inch rimmed baking quarter sheet, skip this step. Flour a clean surface and then roll out a disk of dough into an 11 x 15-inch rectangle.
Move the dough to the baking pan, tucking it into the sides, and then gently curl or crimp the edges of the dough. Place the dough in the fridge to chill (no need to cover it) while you make the filling.
Make the filling by combining the rhubarb, strawberries, chopped kiwis, lemon zest, lemon juice, cornstarch, olive oil, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Toss with a spatula until all the ingredients are evenly coated and the cornstarch is absorbed.
Take the chilled rolled out dough from the fridge and pour the filling into it, making sure to scrape out any liquid that accumulated at the bottom of the bowl. Spread the filling out evenly over the crust. Place the pan on a large baking sheet (to catch any drips) then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Once the 30 minutes is up, pull the pie out of the oven and sprinkle the cold crumb topping over the top of the fruit, making sure to evenly distribute the topping all over. Break up any large chunks with your fingers but keep some of the smaller chunks together.
Return the pie to the oven and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling through the crumb topping and the crumb topping is golden brown. If the topping is browning too fast but the filling isn’t bubbling yet, cover the pie with aluminum foil and continue to bake until the filling is done.
Let cool completely before serving. You can server the pie by itself or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition

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Olive Oil Brownies with Sea Salt

Irvin — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:00:00 +0000

These olive oil brownies have a generous sprinkling of sea salt on top. The olive oil gives the brownies a fudgy, truffle-like texture.

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Olive oil is one of those of those under-appreciated baking ingredients. Though it’s one of my favorite things to reach for with cooking, it lends a lovely dimension and texture to baked goods as well, like the extra virgin olive oil chocolate chip cookies or these peach and basil olive oil cake. These olive oil brownies get a fantastic flavor from the peppery and fruity extra virgin olive that I use, as well as a rich fudgy, almost truffle-like texture that you can’t quite get with butter. Though I adore my easy fudge brownies and have a nostalgic soft spot for my one bowl cakey brownies, these salted olive oil brownies are quickly becoming a favorite in our household as well!

How to make these brownies

These brownies are easy to make. Just melt chopped chocolate in a microwave. Then whisk in fresh brewed coffee and cocoa powder. Beat in salt, baking powder and vanilla, then two eggs.

Mix in brown sugar and white sugar, then fold in flour and chocolate chips. Pour into a pan and sprinkle with some flaky Maldon sea salt on top. Bake and then let cool before cutting and serving.

What type of cocoa to use

These brownies use Dutch-processed cocoa, which is an alkalinized cocoa that is darker in color and slightly nore mellow in flavor. I find the milder Dutch-processed cocoa goes really well with the extra virgin olive oil. But if you want to use regular cocoa powder, you can just substitute the same amount of cocoa in the recipe. Just omit the baking powder and use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda instead.

What type of chocolate to use

These brownies use chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips in the recipe. I recommend using a darker chocolate for the chopped chocolate, something closer to a 72% chocolate, as there is plenty of sugar in the batter. But if all you have is a sweeter dark chocolate, like a 54% or so, that will still work. You can use any sort of chocolate chip in the brownie but I opt for a semi-sweet chip as that’s the most common one you can find at grocery store.

What type of salt to use

The top of these brownies have Maldon sea salt on them. You can buy Maldon sea salt at upscale grocery stores or online, but a coarse sea salt will work. I would avoid regular iodized table salt, as it is too fine and tends to have a slightly metallic taste.

What type of olive oil to use

Extra virgin olive oil is the best choice for these brownies, one that is freshly pressed, with a peppery finish. The chocolate and sugar in the batter will dull the olive oil flavor a lot, so don’t worry if it the olive oil you are using is on the assertive flavor!

Why is there coffee in these brownies and how to substitute

Coffee boosts the favor of chocolate in the brownies. And hot brewed coffee has the added bonus of helping to dissolve the cocoa powder. This process, called “blooming” the cocoa, helps disperse and melt the cocoa butter fat in the powder, also heightening the chocolate flavor. Keep in mind the coffee flavor isn’t super pronounced in the final brownie. But if you avoiding caffeine, or coffee completely, you can use decaffeinated coffee or just plain hot water in place of the coffee.

How to store these brownies

These brownies store well. Just store them in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days on the counter. Or place them on a baking sheet in the freezer, until they are frozen solid, then store then in a Ziploc resealable freezer bag for up to 2 months.

If you like these olive oil brownies, check out these other brownies and brownie-like recipes:

Olive Oil Brownies with Sea Salt

These brownies use both chopped chocolate and cocoa powder to give a super rich and intense chocolate flavor. The use of the olive oil gives the brownie a denser fudgy texture, almost like truffles. Be sure to use a freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil with a peppery finish to give the brownies a subtle depth and dimension.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword brownie, chocolate, olive oil

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Servings

Calories 287kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (preferrable 72% cacao or above) 170 g
1/2 cup fresh brewed coffee 115 g (see note above)
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder 50 g (see note above)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 150 g
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar 220 g
1 cup white sugar 200 g
2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
1 cup chocolate chips 175 g
1 teaspoon Maldon flaky salt see note above

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray or coat a 9 x 13 x 2-inch metal baking pan with cooking oil then line with parchment paper, making sure 1-inch of parchment paper is hanging over the edge of the pan.
Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave, using 30 second cooking time intervals. Stir between each interval until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside to cool.
Place the coffee and cocoa powder in a large bowl and stir with a whisk until the cocoa is dissolved.
Add the olive oil and melted chocolate. Stir with the whisk until incorporated.
Mix in the salt, baking powder, and vanilla with the whisk.
Beat in the eggs. Add the brown sugar and white sugar, mixing into the batter.
Using a large rubber or silicon spatula fold and mix in the flour. Repeat with the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading out evenly. Sprinkle the top with the Maldon flaky salt and the bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center.
Let cool in the pan on a wire rack, then remove the entire brownie by using the parchment paper edges. Move to a cutting board and cut into 24 pieces.

Nutrition

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Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Irvin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 16:00:00 +0000

This updated version of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake is take on the classic nostalgic vintage cake that popularized the bundt pan. It features a creamy dark chocolate filling with nuts and cacao nibs!

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Lately I’ve been obsessed over nostalgic American vintage recipes like my version of the black bottom cupcakes and secret ingredient peanut butter blossoms. Next on my list was the classic Tunnel of Fudge cake that won Ella Helfrich second place in the 1966 Pillsbury Bake Off. What’s remarkable is that it not only came in second place (the first-place winner, Mari Petrelli’s Golden Gate Snack Bread is largely a footnote in the Bake Off history) but that it popularized Nordic Ware’s bundt pan (<- affiliate link).

Nordic Ware started out in 1950 making bundt pans, but sales were slow until the Tunnel of Fudge cake recipe exploded in popularity. Soon, Nordic Ware had to run their factory 24/7 to keep up with demands of their pan, cranking out 30,000 pans per day during the peak period. And once Pillsbury discontinued the key ingredient, Double Dutch Frosting Mix, bakers around the US complained so much that Pillsbury, brought back the mix temporarily, then eventually permanently discontinued it, finally posting a recipe for the cake that could be made without the frosting mix. Variations of the recipe have popped up here and there but the version that I ended up adapting was developed by Shirley Corriher, author of Bakewise (<-affiliate link), an excellent book that dives into the science of baking.

What is the Tunnel of Fudge Cake?

The Tunnel of Fudge cake is a cake that was initial created by Ella Helfrich for the 1966 Pillsbury Bake Off contest. It won 2^nd place and created a huge demand for the Bundt pan. The initial recipe used a powdered frosting mix which was discontinued in the mid-80s. The cake itself is a bundt cake that has a fudgy center, where the batter is slightly underbaked. Like a bundt pan version of the individual molten lava cake, the bundt cake is intensely chocolatey, and rich, with added nuts to give it texture and flavor.

How this recipe is adapted

The original recipe used a powdered frosting mix that was discontinued. Though you can find similar powdered frosting mixes to replicate the original recipe, Pillsbury published a version of the cake that you can make without this mix.

Food scientist and recipe developer Shirley Corriher built her version of the Tunnel of Fudge recipe from the ground up, creating a more reliable version of the cake. My version is adapted from Corriher’s version, from her book Bakewise. I did minor tweaks to the recipe, swapping out some of the nuts for roasted cacao nibs to amplify the chocolate flavor. I also added a little bit of espresso powder, again to amplify this chocolate flavor. Finally, I shifted the bake temperature so the oven is preheated to 400°F when you place the pan in, lowering the temperature to the more traditional 350°F after you place the cake in the oven. This initially hotter oven temperature helps sets the cake on the outside, ensuring that the outer part of the cake bakes and sets, while the inside stays moist and fudgy.

Is it safe to eat the undercooked center cake batter?

The more fudgy center of the cake is due to the cooked outer rim of the cake and the underdone center of the cake. The biggest concern some folks have is eating undercooked cake batter. The more concerning pathogen in undercooked cake batter is raw egg and flour. Both can harbor salmonella or E coli bacteria or other food borne pathogens. E. coli is killed at 160°F, salmonella is killed at 165°F. As long as the internal temperature of the cake reaches 165°F, there’s no chance of getting sick from the cake. The internal temperature of the Tunnel of Fudge cake typically reaches about 180°F, which is high enough to kill common food borne pathogens, so it’s perfectly safe to eat!

How do you make this cake?

Making the tunnel of fudge cake is a little more labor intensive than just a typical bundt cake but don’t worry, it’s not THAT much more difficult. The first step is to toast the nuts and cacao nibs by cooking them slightly on a dry skillet. Toast them on medium heat, shaking and stirring, until they darken slightly and smell fragrant. Then add a couple tablespoons of butter and some salt to the toasted nuts. You can skip the toasting step, but it really punches up the flavor to the nuts.

Then make the cake batter by placing the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mixing all the ingredients together until it’s light and fluffy. This step is important because there’s no chemical leavening (baking soda or baking powder) in the recipe. This would alter the interior fudge layer. So you really need to mechanically add air into the batter by creaming the sugar and butter together.

Once you have a fluffy and cream mixture, drizzle cooking oil into the batter, and then beat a little espresso powder into egg yolks. Add then add in the espresso egg yolks mixture and beat until incorporated.

Add sifted powdered sugar (sifting makes sure the powdered sugar doesn’t clump) along with sifted cocoa powder. Add eggs slowly, then the flour. Fold in the toasted buttered nuts and cacao nibs.

Generously grease your bundt pan and then coat it with cacao powder. Spoon the batter into the pan and then place it in an oven that has been pre-heated to 400°F. Immediately lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for 40 minutes. No longer, no less.

Once baked, let the cake cool on a wire rack. About 20 minutes after taking it in the oven, while the cake is still warm, press down on the cake, all the way around, to reduce the air gap that might form inside the “tunnel of fudge” part of the cake. Then let the cake cool completely in the pan, about 2 to 3 hours total from when you took it out of the oven.

Once cool, invert the cake pan over onto a cake stand or cake plate and sharply rap it on the countertop or table, to release it. Dust with powdered sugar or an optional chocolate glaze and serve.

Tips and substitutions for this cake

Make sure you have the right oven temperature: This cake is dependent on having an accurate oven temperature, as you cannot test it in a traditional way with just a toothpick. The interior of the cake will stay fluid and will give you a false reading. Instead use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven is the proper temperature for the cake. If your cakes tend to take longer to bake than most recipes, then your oven typically runs a little cool and you might want to increase the temperature of the oven to 375°F. If cakes bake fast, then decrease the oven temperature to 325°F. Do not overbake this cake, or you will not get the tunnel of fudge in the middle, which is the cake’s namesake.

If you have an instant read thermometer, you can use this to test the cake. The interior of the cake should read 180°F to 185°F, which is lower than the temperature of a done cake (which is usually 205°). Do not overbake this cake.

Swap out cacao nibs: Cacao nibs are roasted cocoa beans, which is what chocolate is made out of. You can get cacao nibs at a well-stocked grocery store, an upscale grocery store, or online. If you don’t have cacao nibs, or prefer to make this without cacao nibs, just substitute out more nuts for the cacao nibs.

Swap out nuts: If you aren’t a fan of nuts or are allergic, feel free to swap out all cacao nibs for the nuts. Or play around and use different nuts. Chopped pistachios, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and even macadamia nuts are all great options for this cake. I don’t recommend leaving out the nuts as it really makes this cake. But if you hate the texture of nuts in a cake, feel free to just leave them out

Use the right bundt pan: This recipe works best with a heavy-duty sturdy metal pan. My favorite is Nordic Ware’s pans, which are cast aluminum and have a nonstick inside, which helps with the cake release. Thinner pans create hot spots and are not recommended. And even though I own numerous bundt pan shapes, I prefer to use the classic bundt pan shape, which has a large inside area that will allow the “tunnel of fudge” to form.

Avoid silicone pans entirely. They seem like a great idea, as the flexible material means you cake can pop out easily. But the silicone material isn’t very sturdy and doesn’t retain heat, meaning the outer cake won’t brown and set as fast or as well as a metal pan.

Properly grease your pan: I use a generous amount of butter and cacao powder to make sure the can releases. You can use a baker’s cake spray, which has flour and cooking oil in, but I prefer to brush on melted butter or shortening onto the pan, making sure to get all the crevices. You can also use “cake goop” which is a mix of 1:1:1 ratio of melted shortening, cooking oil, and flour (think 1 tablespoon of each, or 1/4 cup of each ingredient). If you make a large batch of the cake goop, you can store in your pantry for up to a year. Brush the cake goop into any pan you want to release a cake.

How do you store the cake

This cake stores great at room temperature, under a cake dome, for up to 3 days or in the fridge tightly wrapped for up to 5 days. You can serve the cake at room temperature or cold. If you choose to serve the cake cold, the fudgy center will be more solid and truffle-like in texture.

If you like this Tunnel of Fudge Cake, check out these other chocolate recipes:

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This vintage cake features a slightly undercooked center that is fudgy and intensely chocolate in flavor. Make sure to follow the recipe exactly, no substitutions (other than the ones I listed above in my section on tips and substitutions). This cake relies on the oven temperature to be accurate as you cannot use the traditional toothpick test, as the undercooked “tunnel” will give you a false reading. If you undercook the cake, there won’t be a solid “baked” layer of cake on the outside to support the cake, and if you overbake cake, you’ll end up with a nice chocolate nutty cake, but no fudgy center.

If you are unsure about your oven temperature, use an oven thermometer, or use an instant read thermometer to test the doneness (it should be finished at 180°F to 185°F). And if you don’t own either of those, just go with your own experiences with your oven. If cakes you bake in the past tend to bake faster than the recommended time in recipes, your oven is running a bit hot, so drop the temperature down 25°. If previous cakes take longer to bake, then increase the oven temperature by 25°.

Course coffee time, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword bundt cake, chocolate, vintage

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 40

Rest Time 2

Servings

Calories 566kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Inclusions

1 cup chopped pecans 120 g (can substitute another chopped nut, see note above)
1 cup cacao nibs 115 g (see note above, can be substituted with more nuts)
2 tablespoons butter melted
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Batter

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter at room temperature, 285 g or 2 1/2 sticks
1 cup white sugar 200 g
3/4 cup brown sugar 165 g
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil 65 g
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon espresso powder optional but recommended
2 cups confectioner’s sugar powdered sugar, sifted, 230 g
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder sifted 70 g
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
For pan
2 tablespoons melted butter shortening or cake goop (see section above)

To finish

Powdered sugar or optional chocolate glaze (see note below for chocolate glaze recipe)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place the chopped pecans and cacao nibs in a dry skillet. Cook on medium heat, stirring and shaking the pan frequently, until the nuts and cacao nibs start smelling fragrant. Immediately remove from heat and drizzle the melted butter over it and sprinkle with salt. Toss to coat and set aside to cool.
Make the cake batter by placing the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed, increasing to medium speed, mixing the ingredient together until the entire mixture is fluffy and light in texture and color, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally, to make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
Beat the oil, egg yolks and espresso powder together. Reduce the speed to low, and then drizzle the mixture into the bowl, making sure to incorporate it fully. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder to bowl, and slow mix to incorporate. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing and scraping down thoroughly between each addition.
Add the flour and the buttered nuts (the butter should have cooled around the nuts). Gently fold these ingredients in, either on low speed, or by hand with a large flexible spatula.
Brush a metal bundt pan with melted butter, shortening, or with cake goop (see section above). Dust with cocoa powder. Gently spoon the batter into the pan, smoothing it out to make sure the cake batter is evenly distributed in the pan.
Place the pan in the oven, then immediately reduce the heat of the oven to 350°F. Bake for 40 minutes. Do not test the cake with a toothpick, instead you have to rely on the accuracy of the oven. See my note above in regard to this.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit on a wire cooling rack for 20 to 30 minutes. Then press down on the cake all the way around, to reduce any air pockets that might have formed around the “tunnel of fudge” inside the cake. Then let the cake completely cool, a total of 2 to 3 hours.
Once cooled, gently loosen the cake with a thin knife around the edges of the pan. Then invert the pan onto a cake platter or cake stand. Sharply tap it onto the counter or tabletop to release the cake.
Dust the cake with powdered sugar or glaze it with a simple chocolate glaze (see note below for the chocolate glaze). Slice carefully, as the inside of the cake will have a fudgy interior filling.

Notes

Optional chocolate glaze: This cake is plenty chocolate fudgy on its own, especially with the addition of the cacao nibs, so I usually just dust it with a little bit of powdered sugar and serve it as is. But if you want to take it over the top, you can make a chocolate glaze and drizzle it on it before serving.

To make a chocolate glaze, melt 2 ounces (57 g) of chopped dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons (1 ounce or 28 g) of butter in a microwave safe bowl, cooking in bursts of 30 seconds and stirring between each cycle. You can also melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or directly in a pot on low heat. Once melted sift in 1 cup (115 g) of powdered sugar, stirring to dissolve.

Mix in 2 tablespoons of warm milk or cream and stir until the glaze is fluid. You can add more milk or cream as necessary. Pour or drizzle the glaze over the cake once it is cool to room temperature. Keep in mind the glaze will solidify as it cools so if you make ahead of time, you might want to warm it up in the microwave a bit to make it more fluid.

Nutrition

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Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Irvin — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:59:15 +0000

These mocha chocolate chip cookies have powdered milk to give them an extra creamy flavor, like a mocha latte from your favorite coffee shop!

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I joke that my husband, AJ, is my “baking muse” but I fully admit that these cookies were designed and developed with him in mind. He’s a fanatic when it comes to coffee and chocolate, and the combination of the two makes him swoon. I don’t make a lot of mocha-forward recipes but the ones I do make, including my mocha pots de crème, peppermint mocha cheesecake brownies, and gluten free mocha cookies with pistachios are all winners in my household. But these jumbo mocha chocolate chip cookies are next level compared to those, and AJ ate way too many of them when they appeared!

How do you make these cookies?

These cookies are easy to make! The first step is to whisk together instant coffee or espresso powder into 2 eggs. Do not use actual coffee grounds. You need instant coffee or instant espresso powder that will dissolve in liquid. Whisk the instant coffee into the eggs and set aside to let the powder slowly dissolve.

Place the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until a creamy paste forms and clings to the side of the bowl. Beat in half the egg mixture, scrape down the bowl and repeat with the remaining egg mixture.

Add flour, cocoa powder, and milk powder to the bowl. Slowly stir it in, turning the mixer on and off in the beginning to help prevent the dry powder from flying up and out of the bowl. Increase the speed once the ingredients start to be absorbed. Once mixed in, add the chocolate chips.

Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then let the dough chill for 2 to 3 days, then form dough disk from the cold dough. Place extra chips on top of the dough and sprinkle some flaky salt on top, the bake. Cool on the pan briefly, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

The role of milk powder in this recipe

You’ll notice an odd addition to this recipe, which is powdered milk. Powdered milk is exactly what it sounds like, milk that has the water stripped out of it. You can reconstitute and make milk out of powdered milk but I don’t usually recommend that, as the subsequent “milk” doesn’t taste all that great.

But powdered milk is awesome in baked goods! It’s a tip I learned from Christina Tosi from her first cookbook The Milk Bar cookbook (<- affiliate link), who equated it to the baking equivalent of adding umami to savory cooking. Powdered milk adds an underlying creaminess and richness to the baked good, which is why I added it to this cookie. In the same way I wanted to mimic mint chocolate chip ice cream when I developed my mint chocolate chip cookies, I wanted to mimic the richness that you get from drinking a mocha from a coffee shop. The addition of the powdered milk helps with this, as well as gives the cookie a chewy quality and slightly crispness to the edges and top surface of the cookie that I just adore.

You can find powdered milk in almost all grocery stores, typically in the baking area, where you might find canned evaporated and condensed milk. If you can’t find powdered milk, you can substitute the same amount of malted milk powder to the recipe but know that the resulting cookie will be slightly sweeter and have an underlying malt flavor to the cookie (which isn’t a bad thing, just different!). And if all else fails, and you don’t have or want to buy powdered milk, just omit it. The cookies will still be fantastic. They just won’t have the same richness and creamy consistency that they would with the addition of the powdered milk.

What sort of cocoa powder to use in this recipe

Cocoa powder comes in two different types: natural or Dutch-processed cocoa and both will work in this recipe.

Natural cocoa is made from roasting and grinding cocoa beans. It has a sharper and more acidic flavor and a lighter color. If the package on your cocoa powdered doesn’t specify what sort of cocoa powder it is, it’s most likely is natural cocoa powder. My cakey brownie recipe uses natural cocoa powder. You can see in the photo that the resulting brownie is lighter in color.

Dutch-process cocoa has been alkalinized which means the natural acidity of the cocoa beans have been removed. Dutch-processed cocoa is darker in color and tastes more mellow but often richer chocolate flavor, due to a lot of Dutch-processed cocoa having a higher percentage of cocoa butter. Nowadays you can also buy high end natural cocoa powder that has a higher percentage cocoa butter, so the difference between the two is whether you want a sharper acidity or a more mellow flavor profile. My Texas sheet cake (as well as the store-bought Oreos that I use in my cookies and cream cookies and my Oreo brownies) use a Dutch-process cocoa which results in a darker baked good.

This particular recipe is designed to use either type of cocoa powder as there’s enough acidity in the brown sugar to still give it the proper leavening. The cookies in the photo use natural cocoa powder and they still come out fairly dark due to the amount of dark brown sugar and instant coffee in it. So, the only difference in using either cocoa powder is the flavor.

Why do you chill the dough?

Like my bakery-style chocolate chip cookie recipe that this recipe is based on, this recipe suggests that you let the dough chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 days (48 to 72 hours). This is a technique that was shared by my friend David Leite in his popular article he wrote for the New York Times about chocolate chip cookies, and why I let my dough rest in the fridge for my own bakery-style chocolate chip cookies.

Letting the cookie dough rest in the fridge gives it time for the liquid in the eggs to properly hydrate the dough. The resulting cookie has a firmer and chewier texture with more pronounced caramel and butterscotch notes. The cookie also doesn’t spread quite as much if you chill the dough for that period of time, as the dough will have dried out a bit.

If you are impatient though, I always recommend folks bake one batch (4 to 6 cookies) on the day that they make the cookie dough to satisfy your craving. The cookies will spread more and be thinner so be sure to place them at least 2 to 3 inches apart. But they’ll still be tasty! Just not quite as complex in flavor.

Be sure to chill the rest of the dough in the fridge for the 2 to 3 days and then bake the remaining amount. You’ll be surprised as to how much the flavor and texture can change! And once you’ve tasted the chilled dough, you might be willing to wait that extra time for any subsequent time you make this cookie.

Can you freeze this dough?

Almost any hardcore baker will tell you that the secret to entertaining is always storing and keeping cookie dough in the freezer! This cookie dough freezes really well. Let the dough first chill in the fridge for the full 48 to 72 hours. Then portion out and form the cookie dough disks. But instead of baking the cookies, stack the disks with a small piece of parchment paper between each of them, and then wrap the stack of them tightly in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped dough in a freezer Ziploc bag for up to 3 months in the freezer.

You can bake the cookies directly from the freezer, without thawing! Just increase the bake time by 2 minutes (16 to 18 minutes) to accommodate for the cold dough to thaw.

How do you store these cookies?

These cookies can be stored in an air tight container or under a cake dome at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the baked cookies in a freezer Ziploc bag for up to 1 month.

If you like these mocha chocolate chip cookies, check out these other chocolate chip cookie recipes:

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

This rich and intensely coffee and chocolate flavored chocolate chip cookies is an amazing recipe if you love to order mocha lattes at your local coffee shop. I use powdered milk in the dough to mimic the richness of drinking a mocha from a coffee shop. I have a section above about powdered milk that helps explain this! I also let the cookie dough rest in the fridge for 48 to 72 hours before baking. But you can bake a batch of the cookies immediately if you need instant gratification. I have a note above explaining why I rest the dough immediately and what to expect with the cookies if they are baked right away.

Course coffee time, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, coffee, cookies, mocha

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Resting Time 2

Servings

Calories 285kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

2 large eggs
4 tablespoons instant coffee or instant espresso powder see note below
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter 285 g or 2 1/2 sticks
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 275 g
1 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar 225 g
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour 420 g
1/2 cup cocoa powder 50 g
3 tablespoons powdered milk see note above
2 cups chocolate chips or chopped chocolate 300 g

To Finish

Extra chocolate chips
Flaky sea salt

Instructions

Make the cookie dough by first mixing together the two eggs and the instant coffee or espresso in a small bowl or glass measuring. Set aside to give the instant coffee powder time to dissolve a bit.
Place the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients together until they form a paste, are uniform in color, and cling to the side of the bowl.
Scrape down the sides and add half the coffee infused eggs to the mixture. Mix together until the liquid is absorbed, scrape down the side again, and repeat with the remaining egg mixture. Don’t be concerned if the instant coffee isn’t completely dissolved.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, and milk powder to the mixture and slowly mix, toggling the on and off button if you need to, so the dry ingredients don’t go flying out of the bowl. Once the dry ingredients start to get incorporated, you can increase the speed to medium to mix it all in.
Remove from the stand and then hand mix in the chocolate chip. Now scoop out the dough and place it on a large piece of plastic wrap, flat it out until it’s about 1-inch thick. The tightly wrap it in the plastic wrap (you might need two pieces to totally cover it). Place in the fridge and let it chill for 48 to 72 hours.
Once the dough has rested and chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap it. Break off enough dough to form a 1-inch thick disk that is roughly 1 1/2 inches wide. If you have a scale, this is about 75 grams of dough.
Repeat to create 5 more dough disks and place them 2-inches apart from each other on a baking sheet fitted with a piece of parchment paper.
Add a couple of chocolate chips to the top of each dough disk, then sprinkle each cookie dough disk with flaky sea salt (if using). Bake in the oven for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie look dry.
Let them sit on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes, to firm up, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Notes

Notes:
1. This recipe is designed to use instant coffee or instant espresso powder. Do not use regular coffee grounds or espresso grounds for this recipe. Regular coffee grounds or espresso grounds won’t dissolve and will lead to a gritty cookie. You can find instant coffee at any grocery store or at specialty grocery stores like Trader Joe’s.

2. If you’re curious about the chocolate chips I used in this recipe, they are from Guittard. They are called “Super Cookie Chips” and can be found at upscale grocery stores, well stocked general grocery stores, and online. They are a 48% semi-sweet chocolate and are larger than a typical chocolate chip cookie, giving the cookie a distinct bakery-style look, without having to actually do any chocolate chopping.

3. One of the hardest parts of this recipe is making the cookie dough and then letting it rest in the fridge for 48 hours! Most folks want cookies right away. What I typically suggest is baking one pan of the cookies right away (4 to 6 cookies) so you can immediate gratification. Be sure place the cookie dough disks farther apart from each other (2 to 3 inches) because the dough will spread more when you bake it right away.

Let the remaining dough rest in the fridge for 48 hours and bake the rest afterwards. Once you’ve tasted the difference, you might be willing to let it rest for that time period because it really does change the cookie flavor and texture! The next best thing is to portion out and freeze the cookie dough, so you can have fresh baked cookies anytime you want. I have a section above on how to do just that.

Nutrition

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Chocolate Peppermint Kisses Cookies

Irvin — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:58:59 +0000

This chocolate peppermint kisses cookies have a holiday flair with the peppermint kiss and sprinkles and they’re super easy to make!

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Though my secret ingredient Peanut Butter Blossoms are a classic holiday cookie in our household, they’re also a year-round treat for us. The classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate make them something that we can enjoy all the time. But peppermint kisses are a seasonal item, only popping up at the store during the holiday season. And when I see them, I can’t help but grab a bag! And that means I make these chocolate peppermint kisses cookies!

Like the peanut butter blossoms, these cookies have a chocolate kiss in the center of them, but with a festive red and white striped peppermint white kiss instead of the original chocolate! And since the kisses are peppermint flavored and the combination of mint and chocolate is a classic one (which I adore as evident by my peppermint striped cookie, mint chocolate chip cookie, white chocolate peppermint cookies with sea salt, and peppermint Texas sheet cake) I added a touch of peppermint extract in the chocolate cookie dough, as well as a roll in red and green sprinkles before you bake them, make these holiday cookies even more joyful to make and serve.

How to make these cookies

Though they look like they might be complicated to make, these holiday cookies are actually easy to make. Make a basic peppermint chocolate cookie dough by creaming together butter, sugar, white sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and a touch of instant espresso (which helps boost the chocolate flavor). Cream until the sugary butter mixture clings to the side of the bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, then the flour and cocoa. Shape into balls of dough, then roll in holiday sprinkles.

Bake and once done, immediately press a peppermint kiss in the middle of the still warm cookie. The heat from the cookie will melt the bottom of the kiss slightly, adhering it to the cookie. Let cool completely before storing or serving.

What sort of cocoa to use

This cookie dough uses Dutch-processed cocoa, which is an alkalized cocoa with a darker color and more mellow chocolate flavor. Hershey’s special dark cocoa is a very commonly available Dutch-processed cocoa but there are others available at well stocked grocery stores like Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge (in the red canister) or Ghirardelli’s Dutch-process cocoa (the purple bag).

I used Dutch-process cocoa not only for the more mellow flavor, which works well with the peppermint, but also for the dark rich color. But if all you have is natural cocoa, you can swap the same amount of cocoa for the Dutch-process. However, you should also omit the baking powder and use 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda instead. Natural cocoa is acidic and will react with the baking soda to leaven the cookie. Expect the resulting cookie to look slightly lighter in color and taste different than those made with Dutch-process cocoa. But it will still be fun and tasty!

How to store

These cookies store well, though the kisses on top do make it a little more challenging to store in layers. I recommend storing them in a single layer, in an air tight container for 3 to 4 days at room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months, but again, I would recommend freezing them in a single layer in a container, otherwise the fragile tips of the peppermint kisses might snap off. They’ll still taste great, but won’t look quite as nice.

Other holiday cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Kisses Cookies

These joyful and festive peppermint chocolate cookies have a red and white striped peppermint white chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. I roll the dough in a green and red sprinkles to give them an even more festive holiday look but you can skip this step if you wish. Unwrap the peppermint kisses while the cookies are baking, maximizing your time and ensuring they are ready the cookies come out of the oven. The kisses need to be added to the still warm cookies otherwise they won’t adhere to them.

Course coffee time, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword christmas, cookies, holiday, peppermint, white chocolate

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Servings

Calories 131kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 115 g
1 cup white sugar 200 g
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 110 g
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee optional but recommended
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 350 g
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa 60 g (see note above)
Holiday sprinkles optional

To finish

36 peppermint kisses unwrapped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Place the butter, white sugar, dark brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and instant espresso/coffee (if using) in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the ingredients together until all the ingredients are well blended and uniform, with the mixture clinging to the side of the bowl. Stop the mixing once or twice in the process to scrape down the sides and bottom to make sure all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.
Add the flour and cocoa to the bowl and slowly mix together, until the dry ingredients are absorbed.
Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough and roll them into 1-inch balls. If you have a scale, it should be about 30 grams per cookie dough ball. Roll the dough in the holiday sprinkles if using.
Place on the prepare baking sheet and gently press down with the palm of your hand or with the bottom of a flat glass on all the balls so they flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to look dry. Do not overbake.
Remove from the oven, and immediately press a peppermint kiss in the middle of each cookie. The heat from the cookie will melt the bottom a bit, adhering the kiss to the cookie. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack.
Repeat with the process with the remaining dough.

Nutrition

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One-Bowl Maple Pumpkin Bread

Irvin — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:23:34 +0000

This one-bowl easy-to-make maple pumpkin bread uses both maple syrup and maple extract to give an amazing autumnal flavor.

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It’s true that I have a number of pumpkin bread recipes here on the blog, including my sugar-encrusted pumpkin bread, my not-so-basic pumpkin spice latte bread, my banana pumpkin bread, and my marbled chocolate pumpkin bread. But there’s always room for one more pumpkin bread recipe right? And there’s nothing more autumnal than the smell of pumpkin something baking in the kitchen. Unless that something is the combination of maple and pumpkin! This maple pumpkin bread might just be my new Fall go-to pumpkin recipe.

How to make this bread

This recipe, like my classic sugar encrusted pumpkin bread recipe is super easy to make. It involves one bowl and no mixer. Whisk together pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix), maple syrup (not pancake syrup), olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, maple extract, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Then fold in whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.

Spread the batter in a large 9 x 5 loaf pan lined with parchment paper (or generously greased), sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top and bake! Once done, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then release from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Do I have to use whole wheat?

Whole wheat in this bread serves two purposes. It adds flavor (and some additional nutrients). But more importantly, it absorbs liquid more. Both pumpkin puree and maple syrup have a lot of water in it. To keep the loaf from being too dense or soggy, I opted to use whole wheat in the recipe. This whole wheat helps absorb the water from both ingredients, helping balance the texture of the bread.

If you don’t have whole wheat flour, or don’t feel like buying a whole bag for this recipe, you can swap out all-purpose flour, but I recommend adding an additional 1/4 cup when you do. In total, you should use 3 cups of all-purpose flour in the recipe.

What’s the purpose of the maple extract?

I tested this recipe with just maple syrup, with maple syrup and brown sugar, and with maple sugar, brown sugar and maple extract. The loaf with brown sugar and maple extract had the most flavor and right amount of sweetness. If you want a less sweet pumpkin bread, you can leave the brown sugar out, but I found the brown sugar added just the right amount of sweetness, moisture, and added flavor dimension. The molasses in the brown sugar works with the maple sugar to create a deeper flavor.

The version without the maple extract had only a hint of maple flavor in it. Adding more maple syrup would mean adding more liquid to the batter. Using maple sugar, which is a granulated sugar made from maple sap, is a great solution, but maple sugar is both challenging to find for a lot of folks (unless you are Canadian or live in the Northeastern part of the U.S.) and expensive. If you have access to maple sugar, you can easily swap out the brown sugar for the maple sugar and reduce or omit the maple extract. But the easiest and best way to get a rich maple flavor was to add in the maple extract, which is found in most well stocked grocery stores.

What pumpkin puree should I use?

Despite the name, not all canned pumpkin is the same. I tested and developed this recipe using Libby’s pumpkin puree, which is the dominant grocery store brand and the easiest to find. Libby uses Dickinson pumpkin, a squash similar to butternut squash, in their canned pumpkin. Other canned pumpkin use different squash, gourds or pumpkins in their cans.

You can see the difference in liquid between the Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin puree and the Libby’s. The Libby brand is a darker and more vibrant orange and has less liquid in it than the Trader Joe’s.

If you use a different brand of pumpkin puree, I recommend cooking the pumpkin puree in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly, until some of the liquid has cooked out and the pumpkin puree has darkened in color and thickened. I typically reduce a can of pumpkin puree from 1 3/4 cups of puree down to 1 1/2 cups of puree when I do this and then bake as directed. This ensures the final product isn’t soggy or heavy. With maple syrup used as the sweetener, this is important, as the maple syrup already contributes a lot of water to the recipe.

What is Pumpkin Pie Spice blend?

Pumpkin pie spice blend is mix various wintery and warm spices used in both pumpkin pie and also in pumpkin baked goods. The dominant flavor in pumpkin pie spice is cinnamon, with secondary spices like ginger, cloves, and nutmeg added in to give dimension and depth. You can buy pumpkin pie spice blend at most grocery stores. Or you can make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice blend.

If you don’t feel like mixing a batch of pumpkin pie spice for this recipe, and don’t want to buy a container of it, just substitute 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg in place of the 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend in the recipe.

How long does this bread keep?

Store this pumpkin bread at room temperature under a cake dome, in an airtight container, or wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 or 4 days. You can also freeze the pumpkin bread. Tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it in a heavy-duty Ziploc resealable bag for up to 2 months.

If you like this pumpkin bread, here are some other pumpkin recipes:

Maple Pumpkin Bread

This maple pumpkin bread tastes like autumn in every single slice. Be sure to use real maple syrup and not maple flavored pancake syrup in the recipe and don’t omit the maple extract unless you only want a hint of maple flavor. I developed this recipe using Libby canned pumpkin puree. I have a note above about why I used this particular brand as well as what to do if you use a different brand of pumpkin puree. It’s also vital you use a larger 9 x 5 loaf pan. Smaller pans will overflow, as this is a larger loaf of pumpkin bread! If you use a smaller loaf pan, fill the pan up to about 2/3 full and bake off any remaining batter in muffin tins (about 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F) for maple pumpkin muffins.

Course bread, Breakfast, brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword autumn, banana bread, fall, maple, pumpkin, quick bread

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 25

Servings

Calories 389kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Bread Batter

1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) 425 g or 15 oz, preferably Libby’s brand (see section above)
1 cup maple syrup (not pancake syrup) 310 g
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil, 75 g
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 55 g
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice store-bought or homemade (see section above)
2 teaspoons maple extract see section above
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 235 g
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 175 g

Topping

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, maple extract, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add the whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour to the bowl. Gently fold in, until the flour is mostly incorporated. Don’t over mix as that will lead to a tough bread. It’s ok if there are one or two small pockets of dry flour here or there.
Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking oil. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out on top. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top.
Bake for 85 to 90 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean from the center, or an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle reads 200°F to 205°F.
Place the pan on a wire cooling rack and let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then grab the parchment paper and lift the loaf up and move the bread to a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely before cutting into it.

Nutrition

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Cranberry Orange Muffins

Irvin — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:00:00 +0000

These cranberry orange muffins are bursting with tart sweet fresh cranberries and zippy citrus orange flavor.

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It typically takes a little bit of time for the weather to cool down here in San Francisco. While the rest of the country is enjoying the fall weather, we tend to get bright sunny days and warmth. It’s a nice shift from the cool fogginess of the summertime. But the indicator of autumn for me isn’t sweater weather. It’s the arrival of the fall produce, like apples, pears, figs and grapes.

And though I already to miss the sweet berries and stone fruit from the summertime, I can’t wait for the cranberries that start to pop up. From cranberry spiral bread, apple and cranberry pie, and homemade cranberry sauce I’m always excited to find the tart, bright-red berries at the store. My current favorite thing to do with them? Make these cranberry orange muffins! They’re super easy to make and are always an awesome treat for the morning or coffee time.

How do you make these muffins?

This cranberry orange muffin uses the “muffin method” in mixing the ingredients together. This involves whisking together the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Then combining the liquid ingredients of yogurt, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, eggs, orange zest, and orange juice, together in a different bowl.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and fold it together until partially mixed.

Add the cranberries at this point and continue folding until they are evenly distributed in the batter.

Divide the batter into two different muffin pans, alternating and leaving empty muffin cups between filled ones. Sprinkle the top with some coarse sugar and bake!

How do you get the large rise muffin top?

One of my favorite things about muffins is the large, oversized muffin tops that I sprinkle with coarse sugar. They’re often referred to as “bakery-style” muffins and they can be challenging to get in a home oven. Here are a few tips I have to make sure you get the highest rise and biggest bakery-style muffin top.

Fill the muffin cup to the top: A lot of muffin recipes have you fill the muffin tin cup just 3/4 of the way. If you want high-rising muffin tops, you need to fill the muffins all the way to the top of the cup! The only caveat is you need a muffin pan that is nonstick, or you need to make sure to grease the top of the muffin pan thoroughly. Otherwise, any overflowing muffin top will stick to the surface of the pan.
Use a little more leavening: You’ll notice my recipe has a lot of leavening in it for a muffin, with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda. The extra leavening is helpful to give the muffin top rise. But you have to be careful, as you don’t want too much leavening in recipes. If you use too much, the baked good will rise to quickly, then collapse because it doesn’t set fast enough. It will also taste a bit too much like the chemical leavening. The little bit extra amount of leavening in this recipe is a good balance for this quick bake muffins.
Use a higher heat to bake: A higher heat in the oven gives the chemical leavening a jump start leading to something called “oven spring”. This leads to a higher and taller muffin top. If your oven runs too hot or you’re using a dark pan, you might want to lower the oven temperature to 400°F (more on this in the section below about using the right muffin pan).
Use two muffin pans: I use two different muffin pans, alternating the cups leaving an empty one in-between each filled cup. This is a trick I learned from professional bakeries like Levain in New Yorkwhich alternate their muffins in their large pans. Alternating the muffin batter allows the heat from the oven to circulate more efficiently around each muffin. This leads to a taller and more symmetrical muffin. If you only own one pan, see my section below on how to bake with one pan.

How to bake this recipe with only one pan

My recipe instructions have you baking these muffins in two pans so you can get optimum rise and a bakery-style muffin top. But if you don’t have two muffin pans or don’t want to have to clean to different ones, you can easily bake them in one pan! Just fill the muffin cups with all the muffin batter evenly distributed (they should come up mostly to the top of each cup). Then bake as directed. Keep in mind that the muffins might not rise as high and they could be lopsided and less symmetrical. This is because the heat can’t circulate as well around each muffin cup. But the resulting muffins will still be delicious.

If you do want to achieve the bakery-style muffin top but still only have one muffin pan, you can bake the muffin batches! Just bake half the batter in the muffin pan as directed. Then let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Let the muffin pan itself cool until you can comfortably handle it (usually another 10 to 15 minutes). Then wipe out the muffin cups with a paper towel and re-grease it with melted butter (or line with paper cups). No need to wash the pan. Bake the remaining muffin batter and enjoy!

What type of muffin pan should be used?

I discovered that not all muffin pans are the same when I was testing them for Serious Eats. Some have larger cup sizes and some have smaller. And they are often different colors, which can affect the baking.

After testing, my favorite muffin pan is light colored and has a nonstick coating. The USA muffin pan (affiliate link) is super sturdy and durable, with a nonstick silicone coating that I love. I also really liked the OXO muffin pan (affiliate link) and the William Sonoma pan, both of which have great nonstick coating (though the WS pan is a little pricey).

All that said, if you own a muffin pan that is darker colored, I suggest lowering the oven heat down to 400°F and checking on the muffins slightly on the earlier side (15 minutes). Darker colors absorb more heat and that will lead to faster baking.

How do you store these muffins?

Store these muffins at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight container, resealable Ziploc bag, or under a cake dome. You can also freeze these muffins for later. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer for 2 hours or until they are frozen solid. Then store them in a resealable freezer bag or airtight container for up to 2 months.

If you like these cranberry orange muffins, check out these other muffin recipes:

Cranberry Orange Muffins

These cranberry orange muffins are packed with sweet tart bright-red cranberries. They’re easy to make and a great breakfast, brunch or coffee/tea snack. I have a few tricks to give them a bakery-style feel in my section above, including baking them in two muffin pans. But if you only own one muffin pan or don’t feel like washing two different ones, I have a note at the bottom of the recipe on how to do that.

Servings

Calories 210kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Muffin batter

2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plain yogurt 250 g
3/4 cup white sugar 150 g
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted, 115 g
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Zest of 1 medium orange
1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice roughly from 1 medium orange
2 cups fresh cranberries 210 g

Topping

1/4 cup Turbinado sugar sparkling sugar, or white sugar

To prepare pan

3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a balloon whisk and vigorously stir the dry ingredients together until well blended.
Place the yogurt, sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, eggs, orange zest, and orange juice in different bowl and beat together thoroughly with a whisk.
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and then gently fold and stir the ingredients together with a large silicone spatula or wooden spoon until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated but you still see some flour.
Add the cranberries. Fold and mix into the batter.
Brush every other alternating muffin pan with melted butter and repeat with a second pan. If you have a darker colored muffin pan, see my note below or only own one pan, see my note below. Alternately, line every other cup with a cupcake paper liner.
Fill each greased cup (or paper lined cup) with muffin batter for each pan. The batter should fill the cup almost to the top. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1 teaspoon of Turbinado sugar, sparkling sugar or white sugar.
Bake the pans for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes (or bake each pan individually in turn). The muffins are done with a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling on a wire rack.

Notes

1. Dark colored muffin pans bake faster because dark colors absorb heat faster. If you own a dark colored muffin pan, reduce the heat to 400°F and check the muffins at 15 minutes, adjusting the time if necessary. See my section above for more information.

2. If you only own one muffin pan, you can either opt to bake all the muffins at once in one single pan. The bake time should be the same. Just be aware that the resulting muffins won’t rise as high or maybe slightly lopsided, as the oven heat won’t circulate as well around all the muffin cups.

Or you can bake the muffins in batches. Just bake half the muffins as directed. After waiting 5 minutes for the muffins to cool, release the muffins and move them to a cooling rack. Let the pan cool down (another 5 to 10 minutes) until you can comfortably handle it and wipe out the pan with a paper towel (no need to wash it). Then brush it again with melted butter or line alternate cups with paper liners and bake the rest of the muffin batter.

Nutrition

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