TWD Revisited: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

So TWD is over, we baked it all. Well I was pretty lax about participating the two months (but for good reason). But the good news is we're still going to be baking TWD will start baking our way through Baking with Julia beginning February 7th. In the meantime I'm still baking, although I've had some issues that normally I would not have but for some reason my baking attention span has been lessened causing some kitchen misshaps. First was when I made the Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake (page 243 of the Dorie book). I made an ENTIRE CHEESECAKE and left out the sugar. Oh the humanity. Next I made the Peanuttiest Blondies (page 119 ) and managed to underbake them so the outside was perfect looking but the inside was gooey and not totally baked. Sigh. 

Finally, I did manage to bake the Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake (page 286) without screwing it up. For some reason I thought I missed baking it when it was originally made during TWD, but then I looked in my archives and I did bake it in June 2010. Anyway, it was still very good. This time I used an actual loaf pan and raspberry jam instead of cherry.

I look forward to baking through the new book, I think it's going to be a little challenging, there are a lot more recipes with more techniques I'm not familiar with, but it should be a fun learning opportunity.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey Nut Scones & Arborio Rice Pudding

Oh hey I have a blog! Sorry about that, other bits of life have gotten in the way. Anyway, here's a TWD two-fer. These are Honey Nut Scones from the week of November 1, chosen by Jeannette of  The Whimsical Cupcake. I made these smaller than called for and froze most of them for when I'm craving a scone but feeling lazy.

The second thing is this week's Rewind recipe, any previous recipe we wanted. I picked Arborio Rice Pudding. I've made this recipe a lot. It's so good and easily adapted to be vanilla or chocolate or another flavor. This time I made mine chocolate. It's difficult to get a nice shot of rice pudding, especially on a rainy, overcast day but trust me, it tasted very good.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Ginger Jazzed Brownies

This week's selection was chosen by Hindy of Bubie's Little Baker. I'll admit this was one of those recipes I was somewhat skeptical about but I've learned Dorie is usually spot-on. I did make a smallish change to the recipe, I hate messing with fresh ginger, it's so stringy and I can never grate it well enough so I omitted it but increased the ground ginger and added crystallized ginger. These particular brownies were super fudge-y and the ginger added a nice little kick. 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Classic Biscuits

It's been weeks since I've made a TWD recipe! But I did participate this week, making biscuits, chosen by Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort. I've made Dorie's Sweet Cream Biscuit recipe half-a-dozen times and the classic recipe is pretty much the same, except with whole milk instead of heavy cream. I baked four biscuits for our Sunday morning breakfast and froze the ones that remained for later use. Doug had his with strawberry jam but I used pumpkin butter for mine. Very good and miles better than those canned biscuits!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Classic Brownies

This week's recipe was chosen by Anne of Anne Strawberry.

I'm not entirely sure I love these brownies. They taste great but they aren't my favorite kind of brownie. They're more cakey that I'd like them to be. I like a brownies with a dry, flakey top and an intense fudgy inside. These brownies, while delicious, are not exactly what I like. Also I think it would have been better if I had toasted the walnuts before they went in batter. But who cares, they're still brownies, they're still good and they're still a must have with a glass of milk.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Cornmeal & Fruit Loaf

The TWD book is so close to being done and I am somewhat ashamed I haven't been participating as much, but I'm hoping to redeem myself. This week's selection was Cornmeal & Fruit Loaf, chosen by Caitlin of Engineer Baker. 

I got up early Sunday morning to get this in oven in time for our ritual of coffee and CBS Sunday Morning. I used a fresh pear and dried apple slices. I really like how this wasn't super sweet and the cornmeal added a nice texture to the bread. I am especially interested on trying it with diced bacon as Dorie suggests on the sidebar.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Carrot Spice Muffins

Sorry for the extended baking hiatus! There was travel, illness and general baking malaise to deal with. But I have my baking mojo back and was very happy to make this week's selection, Carrot Spice Muffins, chosen by Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. (I'm really jealous she got to meet Jeni of Jeni's Ice Cream!) I love making muffins because they're so easy and usually involve just tossing the ingredients together in a big bowl. The muffins were perfect for breakfast and snacking, I used pecans and golden raisins but I'm sure they'd be just as delicious with any of the other mix-ins Dorie suggested.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Chunk Muffins

This week's selection was chosen by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I always like muffin recipes, they're so easy, usually the mixer is not required and they're pretty versatile.

Chocolate Chunk muffins were good, moist and very chocolately but in retrospect I think I would have liked to add dried cherries to the mix. Chocolate + cherries are so good.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Cookies

Even though it felt too hot to turn on the oven, I cranked up the AC and baked on. I fiddled with the recipe slightly, I omitted the cinnamon and nutmeg and used dried cherries instead of currants or raisins. I made mine a little bigger and somewhat lumpy too (less batches). I liked these, very cake-y. I think if I had made them a little smaller/flatter they might be a good ice-cream sandwich base. (which is what this week's recipe selector did!)

Thanks to Spike of spikebakes for the week's selection!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake

Winner!

I used dark brown sugar instead of light, added a few more blueberries and baked it in a smaller pan. The blueberries sank to the bottom, creating a layer of juicy, sweet berries, topped with a moist, faintly cinnamon-y cake. When I first saw this recipe I wrinkled my nose a little, but then I made it and it was fantastic. Thanks to Cindy of Everyday Insanity for this week's pick.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp & Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

Playing major catch-up here....

Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp - Excellent, would have probably been better with fresh rhubarb but not really available around these parts. Delicious though! Thanks to Sarah of Teapots & Cakestands (also a knitter!) for this selection. I'm planning on making it again soon with farm fresh strawberries now that the season is on.

Basic Marbled Loaf Cake - For this I did the chocolate/orange variation. It was easy to mix and the orange smelled sooo good. The cake was really good right out of the oven but by the next day I felt like it had really dried out. Maybe a glaze on top would have helped? Thanks to Carol of The Bake More for that selection!

 

And yesterday's recipe - Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, chosen by Patricia of Life with a Whisk. Super simple to mix up and serve for brunch/breakfast or anytime. I made 1/2 of the batch and froze the other half for future use. Especially good with homemade strawberry jam! 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins & Honey Nut Brownies

Last week's recipe was chosen by Lauryn of Bella Baker. I really liked these muffins but they didn't keep as well I think they should have. I made them Sunday morning and by Monday morning they were pretty tough and dry. I did not use currants because the only place around here that sells dried currants is Whole Foods and I didn't want to fight the crowds. Instead I used dried cranberries, which I think worked really well.

This week's recipe was chosen by Suzy of Suzy Homemaker. I used Orange Blossom honey in these brownies and almonds for the nuts. It could be my oven but these brownies took about 25 minutes longer to bake then the recipe called for.After 45 minutes the knife came out with wet batter on it. The top was already browned so I covered it with foil tent and baked it for 25 minutes more. After they were done I let them cool before cutting into them. The honey flavor is very strong so I would make sure to use good honey while making them. I liked these, they are not your typical brownie but they're still very good and reminiscent of a cake. They're also not very photogenic...

Tuesdays with Dorie: Toasted Almond Scones & Chocolate Pots de Creme

Last week and this week's since I'm behind in posting.

I loved the scones, I'm a big almond fan and these were delicious, albeit crumbly. I think these would be even better with the addition of dried cherries. Thanks to Mike of Living Out West who chose the scones. Go visit his blog, you won't regret it!

This week's recipe was Chocolate Pots de Creme, chosen by Christine of Black Cat Cooking. Pots de Creme are kind of like a souffley pudding. I halved the recipe but I didn't think the two of us should have eight desserts on hand. The recipe was pretty simple and turned out delicious. Don't forget to chill it, it's much better chilled. 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Bourbon Bread Pudding

It's Thursday, not Tuesday. I know. I meant to make this on Sunday but didn't get around to it. Yesterday we got snow so my night classes were canceled, SO I finally got the chance to make bread pudding. I didn't have any bourbon so I used a splash of Jack Daniels. I also didn't use the water bath to bake it in, I'm far too lazy for that.

I love bread pudding, it's my favorite dessert, and this one did not disappoint. Thanks to Sharon of Simply Southern for this week's selection.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Great Grains Muffins

These muffins seem so unsuspecting but gosh they're good, I think they might be my new favorite muffin recipe. I followed the recipe just as Dorie states, but left out nuts and used Red Flame Raisins for the fruit.

I loved the way they tasted, the cornmeal was crunchy and the maple syrup and raisins added the right amount of sweetness. I will be adding these to my weekend breakfast rotation.

Thanks to Christine of Happy Tummy for these week's selection!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Nutty Chocolately Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This is the part where I show you a lovely picture of my bundt cake. Which I would love to do except my bundt cake got stuck in the bundt pan. So instead of that lovely picture I have this to show you. 

I'm pretty sure this is my fault. I kind of took liberty with the amount of filling, which I believe caused the problem because I buttered and floured the pan really well. 

Luckily, the cake still eats. It's really, really good too. I kind of love the orange/pecan/chocolate/cinnamon flavors. However, next time I'll stick to the recipe amounts for the filling.

Thanks to Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort for this week's selection!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins (and Midnight Crackles)

Sooo behind in posting. 

First off, TWD from January 3rd was Midnight Crackles. I liked this but the dough turned to a rock after chilling. I had to leave it out for hours before I could attempt to form it for baking.

They tasted good but my hands/wrists/forearms were killing me after making them. Recipe is here on the TWD blog.

Secondly, this week's TWD chosen by Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness. I had made these before but previously left off the glaze but this time I went for it. I also used Meyer lemons instead of plain ones.

I really liked this little muffins, but they tasted (to me at least) better on Day 1 than Day 2. Thanks for this week's selection Betsy!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Rewind - Swedish Visiting Cake

Okay despite the fact I have sweets coming out of my ears, I still made this cake. I made it back in April when it was first chosen but I took it somewhere else for others to eat and didn't get to taste it myself. Since I had almost everything I needed to make it in my pantry/fridge I choose it to rewind. My only alterations were to use orange zest instead of lemon and to up the almond extract from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon. This cake is one of my favorite TWD recipes. It's so simple to make, takes almost no time and has such a good flavor. Perfect!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Apple-Coconut Family Cake

I've been on a TWD break for two weeks, between my trip and school finals it was hard to find baking time. Thankfully finals are over (for me at least) so I found the time to make this week's TWD selection, chosen by Amber of Cobbler du Monde.

The recipe was apple-coconut family cake, it's very moist and not too sweet. I liked this cake but I think the coconut threw off the taste a little. If I make it again I'll omit the coconut just to see what difference it makes.