Espresso Fudge Brownie Bites

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Geek Baker| 2 Comments

I had most of Saturday to myself and spent a good chunk of that time in the kitchen.  I tested out another one of Moskowitz & Romero’s vegan recipes and found the results to be quite lovely.  The espresso and dark chocolate flavor was rich and fit my bite-sized portions perfectly.  Though I will say that they were a bit more cake-like than I like my brownies to be.  I think I’m going to start experimenting with different oils in my vegan brownies to get that dense, chewy texture that I love….

Espresso Fudge Brownie Bites

adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Ingredients –

  • 3 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
  • 5 tbsp nonhydrogenated margarine (such as Earth Balance)
  • 2/3 c sugar
  • 1/3 c nondairy milk (I have been using almond milk lately)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot)
  • 3 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 c plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder
  • A pinch of salt

Directions –

1. Spray an 8 x 8 square pan or a mini-muffin pan (as I did) with nonstick spray.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the chocolate and margarine in a large glass mixing bowl.  Microwave at 50 percent power for 2 minutes until the chocolate is soft.  Stir until completely smooth.

3. Add sugar and stir until thoroughly combined.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, cornstarch, espresso powder, and vanilla until frothy.  Stir this into the chocoalte mixture until completely combined.  Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt and fold into the chocolately mixutre until moistened.  (Do not over mix.)

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake 22-24 minutes for the 8 x 8 pan and just 10-12 minutes for the mini-muffin tin.  Brownies are down when a toothpick comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs on it.  Move pan to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

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Posted in Bars

Chai Latte Cupcakes

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Geek Baker| 1 Comment

I’m finding myself a bit stressed these days.  I will be out of the office all next week and have a very long list of things to get done at work before leaving tomorrow evening.  When I’m stressed, I bake.  There’s just something calming about pulling out my big Zak! pink mixing bowl, digging into some flour, and letting my creative kitchen juices flow.

I have made several of the vegan cupcake recipes from the amazing ladies of ppk and decided to try out their Chai Latte Cupcakes.  It was a choice made on two simple factors.  1: I love all things chai.  2: I had everything on hand.

I made mine with my new Pampered Chef mini muffin pan and the result was perfect bite-sized cakes of deliciousness.  You may not think a cupcake is really a cupcake without proper frosting, but the powdered sugar and spice mix to top these is just perfect.  Anything heavier would overwhelm the delicate chai flavors in the cake.

(Btw….I really loved the muffin pan.  Its heavy duty and baked everything very evenly.  Its also a darker color which will look nicer longer.  I’ve never had Pampered Chef baking trays before but I plan on purchasing them again.)

Chai Latte Cupcakes

from the Post Punk Kitchen

Ingredients -

For cake:

  • 1 cup soy or rice milk (or regular milk if you are not vegan)
  • 4 black teabags or 2 tablespoons loose black tea
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt (regular dairy yogurt will also work)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • pinch of ground white or black pepper

For topping:

  • 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or ground mace

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 and line tin with cupcake liners. In a small saucepan heat soymilk till almost boiling, add tea bags, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes.When ready to use stir teabags and thoroughly squeeze to insure as much tea is dissolved in milk as possible.

2. In a large bowl wisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until all yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper into wet ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear; some small lumps are okay.

3. Fill regular-sized muffin tins full and bake about 20 to 22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  If you are using a mini muffin tin, reduced baking time to 10-12 minutes.  (I did mine for 10 minutes, but a lighter pan will need to stay in a bit longer.)

4. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before adding topping, or the sugar will melt and not look pretty or powdery.  To assemble, sift confectioners sugar over cooled cupcakes first, then mix cocoa, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and sift onto each cupcake.

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Posted in Cakes

Peace on Earth

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Geek Baker| Leave a comment

I’m fairly certain our world would morph into a peaceful utopia if only everyone could enjoy the amazingness of Berry Chill frozen yogurt.

That is all.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Berry Galette

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Geek Baker| Leave a comment

I finally got an excuse to make a galette for the first time.  My cousins invited me over for dinner and requested that I provide dessert.  I’m still trying to eat on the healthier side so I decided to try my hand at a fresh fruit galette instead of something chocolate and heavy.  It turned out really quite lovely and I’m looking forward to trying out many different savory and sweet versions of these rustic french tarts.

Berry Galette

adapted from Julia Child

Ingredients –

For the crust:

  • 3 tbsp greek yogurt (vegan = soy yogurt)
  • 1/3 cup ice water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces (vegan = soy substitute.  I used Earth Balance.)

For the strawberry filling:

  • 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 10 cherries
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot

For the eggwash:

  • 1 egg (vegan =  use just soymilk for the wash)
  • 1 Tablespoon milk (vegan = soymilk)
  • Demarara sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions –

For the crust -

1. Stir the yogurt and ice water together.  Set aside and place four, cornmeal, sugar and salt into a food processor.  Pulse until well combined.

2. Add butter pieces to the flour mixture and pulse 8-10 times.  Add the yogurt/water mixture and run until the dough begins to form.

3. Remove the dough and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours.  You can leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours or in the freezer for up to one month.

For the filling –

1. Preheat the oven to 375f / 190c

2. To make the filling simply put the sliced strawberries, blueberries, cherries, lemon juice, and sugar together in a bowl. Add corn starch and stir the berries gently.

To assemble –

3. Next, take your dough out of the fridge.  Place ball of dough inbetween 2 sheets of parchment paper.  The dough is quite sticky and will be extremely difficult to roll out without the parchment paper on both sides.  Roll out dough in a rough circle of about 15 inches.

4. Take top layer of parchment off and lift the dough circle by the underneath parchment and place on the tray you will be baking it on as they are hard to move once all the filling is in them.

5. Place your berry filling in the middle of the galette, leaving about 3-4 inches around the outside for folding.  Fold the sides up over the filling, brush with the egg/milk wash and sprinkle with demarera sugar.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

(note: I baked mine on a flat baking sheet.  I merely transferred them to a large skillet as it was the right size for easy transportation)

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Posted in Pies

Broccoli Soup

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Geek Baker| Leave a comment

Well, I still haven’t tried my hand at anything blog-worthy.  A weekend full of sunshine, lakes, and cookouts will do that for you.  But my brother did recently send me a link to that drool-inducing broccoli soup I had while visiting him out in April.

This soup was wonderful.  The texture was perfect: thick and creamy.  And the flavor was just really fresh to me even with all the cheese.  Its maybe not for the hottest of summer nights but keep this one on your radar for those fall evenings which will be here before you know it.

Enjoy!


Creamy Broccoli Soup

Adapted from Claire Robinson’s 5 Ingredient Fix

Ingredients -

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 shallots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli florets, roughly chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • Hot water, if needed
  • 12 ounces mascarpone cheese, divided

Directions -

1. Heat the oil in large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook briefly to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the broccoli, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, then cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool for about 5 minutes.

3. Carefully add the soup to a blender, in small batches, and blend until smooth (or use an immersion blender as my brother & sil did). Pour the puree into a clean large saucepan over low heat. Add hot water to thin, if necessary. Whisk in all but 1/2 cup of the mascarpone. Taste and adjust the seasoning, as necessary.

4. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with a small dollop of mascarpone.

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Posted in Broccoli, Soup