Mocha Brownie Cake

This sounded like my kind of cake… a brownie cake.  As previously mentioned in this blog (with every cake recipe), I am not a cake fan.  I am a huge brownie fan however.  So, if there is a cake out there I might like, a brownie cake just might be it.  (I am slightly exaggerating as there are a few cakes out there I have enjoyed and would even eat again (Rhubarb Upside Down cake is one of them).  This cake, however, was more cake and less brownie.  A great one for cake lovers.  A tolerable one for brownie lovers.

It has some redeemable qualities worth mentioning:

- the ganache frosting/ filling is delicious and super easy to work with (I will dog-ear the recipe for this alone.)

- the recipe comes together easily

- the ganache has coffee in it

- the recipe outlines a simple and effective way to assemble a layer cake which was new to me, utilizing the spring form pan used to bake it

- there is never a bite without the ganache

I must confess that this may have been a bit more brownie-like had I baked the cake for less than the stated time.  As it was, the first time I checked it, the cake was already done and possibly a bit dry, but this was hard to tell given all that delicious ganache which lent moisture to every bite.  I will be curious to see how my fellow bakers baked this one up.  Check theirs out at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Rhiannon- a cake eater

Buttermilk Scones

Scones are one of those things I had a love affair with about a decade ago.  I could not go into a coffee shop and not get a scone.  Well, I actually could, but it was very difficult to do so.   At one point in this addiction, I realized I was spending way too much money on these pastry nubbins and decided to make them on my own dime.  It took fiddling with a few recipes here and there, before I settled on one that satisfied my coffee shop cravings.  Simple enough, one of the key components for me in a scone is the crackly top sprinkled with turbinado sugar.  Another is the crumb- dense but flaky at the same time (is that even possible?).  This one from Baking with Julia comes pretty close.  The buttermilk lends a tenderness to the scones I appreciate, yet does not weight it down.   The butter flavor comes through and the added lemon zest brightens everything without being "lemony".   It may just rekindle my old flame. 

Perfect with peach jam.

Rhiannon approves of this one.

Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

Oops.  There will be no picture of the finished product this time, only a few steps in the making.  But, I absolutely had to take a picture of some of the ingredients required for this recipe.  I have never been a cheesecake aficionado (much like regular old cakes),so I have never actually made one.  I was simply astounded at the ingredient list: sour cream, mascarpone, cream cheese, chocolate.  All for one cake.   For some reason this was more shocking to me than the butter baby we used for croissants. Nonetheless, I forged ahead knowing that it was bound to be rich and in all likelihood, great.

The great part of this recipe wound up being the making of it.  It went so easily, so smoothly.  Much easier than a regular, traditional cake. 

The product, on the other hand, was just ok.  Now, to be fair, I am not sure if it was because I don't love cheesecakes or if it was indeed the recipe.   You'll have to check out my fellow bloggers' posts to see what they all thought.   

And Rhiannon's picture is also amiss until next time…

Onion Bialys

Okay, so they look more like onion rolls, than bialys.  No matter, they still tasted absolutely delicious.  Similar to a bagel in texture but a bit more chewy and dense.  Basically, the dough was my perfect idea of comfort white-bread-food.   If there was more nutrition in these, I would eat them everyday.  I made these early in the day on Super Bowl Sunday and they made solid bases for our layered sandwiches.

They came together quite easily.  The dough was sticky as it was kneaded in my mixer but firmed up with a chill in the fridge (its second rise).  Shaping them was fun but obviously I did not prick the centers enough with a fork.  I also halved the recipe which made everything a bit easier to deal with.  Although right now, I wish I had 6 more stored up in my freezer…

With a smear.

Rhiannon in a rare Portland snow.

Vanilla Chiffon Roll

I was a bit perplexed heading into this recipe.  The picture in the Baking with Julia cookbook shows a chocolate filled cake roll somewhat similar to the above picture, yet the title said "Vanilla" not "Chocolate".  Hmmm.  Somehow I could not get my head wrapped around the idea of a chocolate chiffon cake that was really vanilla?  And I must say, since I am not much of a cake person nor a mousse person, the idea of a mousse filled cake did not sound all that appealing to me.

Regardless I forged ahead. And I am glad as this recipe did not disappoint even for a non-cake person.  And it was super fun to roll up a full sheet cake, kind of like playing with play-dough but way better tasting. 

I made the mousse filling a day ahead of the cake.  As a result, the recipe did not feel overwhelming.  Had I done it all in one day, I think the dishes alone would have been overwhelming.  (And how many times can one recipe call for a stand mixer?) I put the whole thing together and cooled it overnight in the fridge.  In the morning, all I had to do was dust it  with cocoa and we were off to brunch, with goodies in hand.

the chilled cake roll

And Rhiannon liked this one too.

To see the other bakers' blogs in the Tuesday with Dorie baking group, click the link.

Country Bread

This basic bread recipe required an entirety of a day (+) to finish. 

Here's a quick recap:

Sunday night: Return from sledding on the mountain.   

Mix up sponge (no rye flour, substitute with more wheat flour). Put in fridge to let rise/ ferment over night.

Monday morning:  Forget to take out sponge. Run.  Take out sponge. 

Go to doctor appointment for the first born while sponge warms up.

Shots!

Return. Mix sponge into dough with more yeast, flour, salt and water. 

Let rise.  Go to tumbling for the second born, Rhiannon.

Go home. Fold bread and shape for the third rise.

Rhiannon naps.  We play with legos.

Slash and bake. (I couldn't envision an added decorative braid this time.)

Monday night: Dinner.

It was actually a simple loaf, despite its time requirements.  The crust was chewy and rustic, contrasting nicely with the soft center portion. It turned out a bit flatter than I expected, not so round and gorgeous as I was dreaming all day.   I believe my loaf lacked the extra flavor the small amount of rye flour could add and I would not miss it next time.  It did keep well, as it had nice texture and moisture the second day out from baking without any special storage.    

Rhiannon in the snow; still not a fan this year.

Gingersnaps

These little cookies required making a very simple dough, a very sticky simple dough.  Even after time in the fridge it was still a bit sticky to handle.  I followed the advice of fellow Tuesday with Dorie bakers and switched the process a bit.  Instead of rolling and cutting out shapes, I simply rolled it into a log and sliced the cookies from that.  It made a rather few small round gingersnaps.

They made odd gingersnaps as they were not too gingery and they lacked any snap.  They were more molasses-y  and chewy.  They were ok but not my first or even third pick in any given holiday cookie line up.

Addendum: I made a second batch of these with the leftover frozen dough.  We cut them out into gingerbread men and frosted and decorated a few.  They were much better this way.  I think it removed them from the "gingersnap" category and put them into the "gingerbread cookie" category in my head, which just made a lot more sense.

Rhiannon!