This week the Sweet Melissa Sundays selection was a nice seasonal recipe, Irish Soda Bread. I didn’t manage to make the bread until after Saint Patrick’s Day and slathered with a little butter, it made an excellent Saturday morning breakfast. While we were eating breakfast, Josh asked if I knew why there was a cross on the soda bread. I did not, and he informed me it was to ward off evil spirits. Josh’s office had a Saint Patrick’s Day party and he was responsible for writing a “pub quiz” with Irish trivia. This tidbit did not make it on the, according to some co-workers, too-difficult quiz, but he found out this fact when he was researching it. And I totally believe that Josh made the quiz difficult (especially if you’d had a Guinness and a slice of the whiskey-soaked chocolate cake I’d made for him to bring to the party).
I thought this bread had a great sweet-savory taste. I know not everyone likes caraway seeds, but this is a delicious use for them. I rated this recipe a 7.5 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3. Many thanks to Julie of A Little Bit of Everything for a fantastic selection. You can find the recipe here on Julie’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see how the other bakers liked this bread.
The Sweet Melissa Sundays group switched to two recipes a month, rather than four, which you would think would make it easier to keep up with, but for some reason it has had the opposite effect on me. Las t month I got confused about the posting dates and managed to miss the first recipe (which I later made and forgot to photograph), then I didn’t really want to make the second recipe. Anyway, I am back on track for March with Chocolate Pudding.
I love pudding of all kinds - and pretty much any dessert you can make in a ramekin. However, I don’t make spoon desserts very often since Josh prefers treats that you can pair with ice cream. I made a third of the recipe, which gave me two ramekins, plus a partially filled one. I used half-and-half rather than heavy cream, and did not feel like the pudding lacked richness at all. I thought the pudding was very tasty, though I would sometimes take a bite and wish there was a bit more chocolate flavor, so if I were to make it again, I might consider upping the chocolate content.This recipe rated a 7 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.8. Many thanks to one of my favorite bloggers Leslie of Lethally Delicious for hosting this week. For this recipe, plus lots more chocolate, stop by Leslie’s site, and to see how the rest of the group liked it, stop by the Sweet Melissa site.
Sweet Melissa Sundays are back with cake! Hazelnut Raspberry Layer Cake, to be precise. I’m surprised this recipe hadn’t been selected yet and it’s a great way for the group to begin 2011. My birthday was Wednesday and Josh is planning on making me a cake and I briefly considered letting this be my birthday cake since I thought it sounded so good, but decided to “save” my special cake for a later date. And don’t worry – we celebrated with cupcakes on my actual birthday! 
There is a raspberry icing recipe in Rose’s Heavenly Cakes that I absolutely love (and so does everyone who tries it), so I thought about using that and then decided I should try the recipe in the Sweet Melissa book. However, the original recipe called for a mixture of whole raspberries and raspberry liqueur to be mixed in and the idea of whole raspberry seeds in the frosting was kind of off-putting to me. I saw Tracey had made a whole raspberry-free frosting and was inspired to stick with my initial instinct and eliminate them as well. I used a scant half cup of seedless raspberry preserves for the raspberry flavor and color, which essentially made it like recipe I usually make. Oh, and Melissa’s recipe does not specify to let the egg/white sugar syrup combination cool down before you add the butter (the syrup is 240 degrees when it goes in), but I recommend chilling it briefly before adding the butter.We rated this recipe an 8.5 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 4.5 for Effort (it may have been slightly higher if I’d had to ice the cake, but Josh was nice enough to do it for me), for an EDR of 1.88. Many thanks to Candy of Candy Girl for a delicious selection. You can find the recipe here on Candy's site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see how the rest of the group liked this cake.
This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection is Ginger Custard Pumpkin Pie. We’ve had a lot of pie recently, and pumpkin treats for that matter, so my initial inclination was to scale this recipe way back and just make a couple crustless ramekins since it sounded too good to miss completely. Josh assured me he was happy to eat more pie, though, so I ended up making a half recipe with a Biscoff cookie crust. I’d never made a pumpkin pie with a cookie crust, but I love crumb crusts, so I figured it didn’t hurt to try.
This recipe uses fresh ginger and cinnamon sticks seeped in cream for the spice flavoring. I’m not sure if I didn’t chop my ginger fine enough to thoroughly infuse the cream or if I just like a strong ginger punch, but I had to add some ground ginger to the custard in order to get the flavor to my liking. There have been a lot of sweets vying for our attention this weekend, so we haven’t really tried enough to rate it yet and tell if it will be a contender for a Thanksgiving dessert. I do know that the cookie crust was definitely a good idea. Many thanks to Debbie of Everyday Blessings of the Fivedees for hosting this week. You can find the recipe here on Debbie’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the other bakers thought of this dessert.
This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection is Peanut Brittle, and is actually the second brittle recipe chosen this month; the first being cashew brittle two weeks ago. The initial reviews of the cashew brittle recipe didn’t exactly inspire me to try the recipe (you don’t really want to hear the words burned and chewy when you’re talking about brittle), but I still wanted to make brittle, so I looked up a couple recipes online and got to work. I didn’t post about it because it wasn’t the recipe from the Sweet Melissa book – or I just felt lazy. Or busy. Unlike many of the sugar-boiling experiences in my kitchen, the cashew brittle I made turned out well and disappeared pretty fast with just the two of us eating it, which is always a good way to determine if a recipe is a success. I decided to give it another go with peanuts.
I think Josh has tried every single flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and one of his current favorites is peanut brittle. I had been on a bit of an ice cream making hiatus, due to Josh actually not liking a flavor I made (for some reason I just kept expecting him to finish it). I decided it was about time he stopped buying endless pints of ice cream, and I made some vanilla ice cream and swirled in some crushed peanut brittle. I also added some chocolate chunks to the ice cream, ‘cos why not?
The brittle recipe gets an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3.2. Many thanks to JoVonn of The Givens Chronicles. You can find the brittle recipe from the Sweet Melissa book on JoVonn's cute site and visit the SMS site to see how the brittle turned out for the rest of the group.
Nut Brittle, adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes and this recipe on About.com
1 cup (7 ounces) white sugar½ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
1 ½ cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the baking soda, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper together in a small bowl and set aside. Also set aside the two tablespoons of butter (these ingredients will all be added at the end and I’ve learned the hard way you want to have everything ready and conveniently accessible when making candy).
Combine the sugar, salt, corn syrup, and water in a medium saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook the candy mixture, stirring frequently, until the thermometer reads 275 degrees, then add the peanuts and stir to combine. Keep cooking, still stirring frequently, until the thermometer reads 300 degrees.
Once the thermometer reaches 300 degrees, remove the pan from heat; immediately stir in butter and the baking soda/spice mixture. Pour the candy onto the prepared sheet and spread with a greased spatula. Cool the brittle completely and then break into pieces, either by hand or with a knife on a cutting board.
This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays Treat was Fluffy Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling. I didn’t exactly make the recipe in the book. The frosting contained two kinds of coconut (cream and flakes) and was made with cream cheese. Josh doesn’t like coconut and I am not big on cream cheese icing. I mean, I’ll have a few bites of carrot cake or red velvet cake with it, but it’s definitely not my first choice. I wasn’t really sure if this would be a recipe that would work for our household until I realized the cake was a regular white cake – no coconut – and we both like a good white cake, so I decided to make the cake, or rather cupcakes, and frost it with something else. Of course I didn’t get this great idea until the last minute.
I decided on a simple dark chocolate frosting, which was excellent with the cake. The cake was fluffy as promised and super-yummy. I would say it’s a great vehicle for almost any frosting. This recipe rated an 8.5 for Deliciousness and a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.42. Many thanks to Karen of Karen’s Cookies, Cakes and More for selecting this cake. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see the other bakers’ cakes. My apologies to the group for not really making anything close to the recipe in the book.Miss Irene Thompson’s Dark Chocolate Frosting from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes3.5 ounces fine-quality unsweetened or 99% cacao chocolate, chopped
3 ounces dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cacao, chopped
1.7 ounces (3 ½ tablespoons) butter, at 65 to 75 degrees
1 cup (8 fluid ounces) corn syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extractIn the top of a double boiler, set over hot, not simmering, water heat the chocolate and butter. (Don’t let the bottom of the container touch the water.) Stir often with a silicone spatula until almost completely melted. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and with the silicone spatula, stir until completely melted. Stir in the syrup until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla. The frosting keeps for three days at room temperature, for three weeks refrigerated, and for six months frozen. Note: the frosting will be very fluid immediately after making it. The recipe in RHC calls for the first layer to be poured over the cake. To frost cupcakes (or for the second layer of frosting on a cake), you should let the frosting cool for about half an hour or until it is a spreadable consistency.
I am delighted to be hosting Sweet Melissa Sundays today; the recipe I selected is Plum Raspberry Preserves. I typically don’t get around to writing my post until about 10 PM on Sunday night (often because I haven’t baked the recipe until that day), but since this is my week to host, I thought I’d try to demonstrate a modicum of organization and have my post in order for others to link the recipe. It also doesn’t hurt that I made the recipe several weeks ago and that I selected preserves last time I hosted, so most of the recipe is already typed up.
I always think it’s fun to read about how people come to a decision when presented with the overwhelming task of selecting a recipe. I was actually a little worried about choosing a recipe with summer fruit when the posting date was at the end of September, but I like making preserves (and most things with fruit). There were still four preserve recipes left and we won’t make it to summer again before we’re done baking through the book, so I figured I’d go with it. The preserve recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is trouble-free – you really just have to chop up some fruit and let it cook. There is no pectin in this preserve recipe, just apples, and I felt like I had to mash the apples a bit (and therefore the rest of the fruit) in order to not have big chunks of apples. I think the consistency of the preserves was fine, though, and they tasted excellent.
I canned six jars of the preserves, plus there was a Tupperware container left over. One of the things I enjoyed about choosing preserves last year was seeing how everyone used them. People definitely thought beyond toast. So far I have given some away and made bar cookies. I used the preserves in my favorite raspberries bars (recipe here) when I first made the preserves, then I made Back-to-School Raspberry Granola Bars from The Craft of Baking a couple days ago, which are the bars pictured in this post. Though they do contain oats and nuts, I really think they show greater resemblance to a cookie than a granola bar, don’t you? Whichever, they are fantastic, very easy to put together, and would be excellent with most any jam or preserves you happen to have on hand. Since I didn’t have to type the preserve recipe, I am also including the one for the bars.
The preserves rated an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort, for an EDR of 4. Thanks to all the Sweet Melissa members who preserved along with me this week. Be sure to stop by the Sweet Melissa site to see how the others used the preserves.Master Preserve Recipe, from page 165 - 166 of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book
Printable Recipe8 cups peel and sliced ripe fresh fruit of your choice (2 dry quarts)2 cups peeled and cubed Granny Smith apples (2 to 3 apples cut into ¼ to ½ inch pieces)2 cups sugar¼ cup fresh lemon and/or orange juice2 tablespoons freshly grated citrus zestIn an 8-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit, apples, sugar, juice, and zest. Cook, until the mixture reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, stirring often to prevent scorching. You may mash the fruit slightly with a potato masher, if necessary. Once the preserves have reached 212 degrees, continue to cook for 30 minutes more, stirring often, until thick. You can check the consistency by placing a dollop on a plate and setting it in the freezer until just cool. If it is runny, continue cooking; if it is thick, you’re good to go.Can the fruit in clean canning jars as directed by the manufacturer, or cool to room temperature, tightly cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 6 months.Plum Raspberry PreservesUse 1 ½ quarts (six cups) unpeeled sliced plums and 2 cups raspberries. Use lemon juice and orange zest.Back-to-School Raspberry Granola Bars, from The Craft of BakingPrintable Recipe12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan1 cup pecans, roughly chopped1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats½ cup granulated sugar1/3 cup dark brown sugar1 teaspoon salt½ teaspoon baking soda1 cup raspberry preserves (or plum raspberry)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.Spread the pecans on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden and fragrant, about five minutes. Cool the sheet completely on a wire rack.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and pecans. Pour in the melted butter, and using a wooden spoon, mix together until well combined. Transfer about two thirds of the dough to the prepared baking pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan, forming a firmly packed layer.Using an offset or rubber spatula, spread the preserves over the dough. Evenly sprinkle the remaining dough over the preserves. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the top is golden brown and fragrant, about forty minutes (mine took more like forty-five minutes). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Then cut into two-inch squares.The bars can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection is Mom’s French Pancakes, which are in fact crepes. Yum! Is anyone else watching “The Great Food Truck Race" on the Food Network? I think it’s kind of a fun show and last week the crepe truck was eliminated. I have to say, as much as I like crepes, when I get food from a truck – which is not too often – I want something a little heartier, like a big messy sandwich or a burrito (the team had been doing well up until last week, though). Anyway, back to this week’s recipe. The crepes were our second breakfast today, actually more like brunch. We are training for marathon number two (well, number two for me, a lot higher number for Josh) and ate energy bars before our fourteen mile run this morning and the crepes were a wonderful treat to look forward to after the run.
Better yet? The batter can be blended ahead of time (and takes approximately one minute to mix) and I made it last night, so all I had to do was cook the crepes this morning. I was worried it would be difficult to swirl and flip the crepes, and suspected I might make a complete mess of the crepes. I almost made a full recipe in anticipation of disaster. I can definitely use more practice, as my crepes definitely were not perfectly round, but I’m glad I stuck with a half recipe, since they’re just light enough to keep eating. We had some with jumbleberry preserves from the Sweet Melissa book and some with Biscoff spread, which has a consistency similar to Nutella, but a spice cookie taste. Since I need more practice with my crepe skills, I will have to make more soon to try other variations.
This recipe rated an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort for an EDR of 4. Many thanks to Jamie of Good Eats and Sweet Treats for an excellent selection. You can find the recipe here on Jamie’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see other variations of these yummy crepes.
Sweet Melissa Sundays has had a nice variety of recipes for the month of August. This week’s selection is an absolutely delectable sounding layer cake, Sweet Almond Cake with Lemon Curd and Mascarpone Frosting. This is one of those recipes that would seem pretty time consuming and leave you with quite a heap of dirty dishes if you made all three components at the same time. I ended up dividing it over the course of the weekend. I started with the cake yesterday morning when I was busy with a couple other non-SMS kitchen projects and was considering buying a jar of lemon curd to save a bit of time (not just making it, but waiting for it to cool). Frugalness won out, though, and I made the lemon curd this morning.
I made a half recipe of the cake in my (favorite!) six-inch cake pans. The whole recipe used 12 egg whites, plus three whole eggs for the lemon curd. I made my half recipe of lemon curd with one whole and most of the two leftover yolks. I used the other four egg yolks to make some fantastic lemon gelato. So, cake? No Problem. Lemon Curd? Surprising simple. Now we get to the frosting, where somehow all went wrong. The recipe advises to mix the frosting until the ingredients are just incorporated and to not over-mix. Well, mine looked incredibly lumpy after that and very watery. I tried to “troubleshoot” and add more sugar, more butter, cream cheese (I was out of mascarpone at that point) – anything that might help get it to come together. The frosting started to look a bit better and I refrigerated it for about half an hour, hoping it would set. Unfortunately, it was still pretty watery and lumpy, but I went ahead and slathered it on.
Despite looking terrible, the frosting was sweet and tangy and a lovely complement to the almond cake, which was a scrumptious as I thought it would be. We rated this cake an 8 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 5 for Effort, for an EDR of 1.6. A big thank you to Katie of Katiecakes for giving us the opportunity to eat cake! You can find the recipe here on Katie’s lovely site visit the Sweet Melissa site to see if the other bakers had better luck with the frosting.
Lemon Gelato from The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto
Printable Recipe
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
¼ cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
graham cracker crust pieces (optional)
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over a medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form. Around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees.
Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185 degrees. Do not bring to a boil. (The recipe specifies to cook over low heat, but I felt the custard was taking a very long time to come to temperature that way, so I turned up the heat a bit.)
Pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl and cool completely, stirring often. To cool the custard quickly, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water and placing the bowl with the custard in it; stir until cooled. Once completely cooled, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least four hours or overnight.
Remove the custard from the refrigerator and gently whisk in the lemon juice and zest. Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add the graham cracker crust crumbles five minutes before the churning is completed, if using. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least two hours before serving.
I remember one time when I was young smelling something absolutely incredible baking and I was positive my mom was making some delicious cookies. It turned out to be granola, and we were so disappointed that my mom actually did make some cookies. Luckily I have grown to like granola and was happy when Cherry Almond Granola was chosen for this week’s Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe. And it’s a good thing I like granola, ‘cos this recipe makes a TON.
Three nearly full eight-cup containers! Fortunately, granola lends well to sharing: I gave one container to Josh’s parents and I made Melissa’s Granola Breakfast Cookies to bring to work tomorrow. The group made the cookies a long time ago, but I used store-bought granola and added peanut butter, so I figured this was a good opportunity to make them properly. The cookies, as well as the granola, are outstanding. I think granola is a fun thing to make; once you have a good basic recipe, you can just go down the bulk food aisle and throw in whatever dried fruits and nuts strike your fancy. I actually like all the ingredients in Melissa’s original recipe, but I subbed dried apricots for golden raisins, since golden raisins + currants just seemed too raisiny for me.
In addition to being tasty, this is also such a simple recipe. You have to stir it every fifteen minutes, so it’s the perfect thing to bake on a lazy afternoon or when you have other kitchen projects. I rated the granola an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3.2. Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for an excellent selection. You can find the recipe here on Wendy’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see how the rest of the group fared this week.
Since we’re on the topic of granola, I must share something I saw in my local market recently: a $28.99 bag (24 ounces) of granola! It’s a local company and made with organic ingredients, but my goodness! It is a bit more reasonably priced on the company’s website.
It’s nice when you’re pleasantly surprised by a recipe (or anything, really) and this week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte, exceeded my expectations. The last chocolate-raspberry dessert I made was not a hit and usually when the word “truffle” is involved, I assume the dessert will be a bit rich for me. I liked this torte, though; the texture is kind of like a baked chocolate mousse and the bites of fresh raspberry hidden in the chocolate are a nice reminder that it is summer (when you live in a windy corner of Marin county, you definitely need to be reminded of the season on occasion).
Since I wasn’t sure we’d like the torte, I only made a quarter of the recipe in a 4-inch springform pan. Josh and I both gave it a thumbs up, though it’s probably not something that will go on my repeat list. Based on the few bites I took, I would give the torte a 7.5 for Deliciousness. It was very easy to throw together, so I’d give it a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3. Thanks to Jennifer of The Rookie Baker for hosting this week. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the rest of the group thought of this treat.
This week the Sweet Melissa group made Toasted Almond Lemon Bars. I didn’t get around to making the bars until today and I had one of those weeks where procrastination really paid off: I benefited from the tips of other bakers and yesterday at my family’s annual ladies lunch, I ended up going home with at least five pounds of Meyer lemons. And pears. I really have my work cut out for me this week. I do love the challenge of using produce before it goes bad, though.
The main issue with the recipe this week seemed to be the dough being incredibly soft, so since I made my bars so late, I knew to freeze my dough a bit before baking, which worked well. The dough was so soft and buttery that I was worried the shortbread would be greasy, but it turned out to have a nice texture and the hint of almonds gave it a splendid depth of flavor. Since Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter than regular lemons, I reduced the sugar in the lemon filling by a couple tablespoons. I forgot to line the edges of the baking pan with the dough, so I was a bit concerned the filling would seep underneath the bars. It did make it over the sides a bit, which made the edges carmelly and chewy, so no complaints!These are fantastic lemon bars; I'd never made lemon bars and I'm happy I now have a good recipe. I’m glad I’m sending them to work with Josh so I won’t be tempted to eat too many. We rated them a 9 for Deliciousness and I gave them a 3.5 for Effort, for and EDR of 2.57. Many thanks to Rebecca of Indecisive Baker (that’s how I feel a lot of the time: so many recipes so little time) for a yummy selection. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the rest of the group thought.
I also did a rewind this weekend and made the North Fork Peach Raspberry Pie, selected by Rebecca of Beurrista (the recipe is posted here). I was out of town the weekend the group made it, but had been looking forward to it and wanted to be sure to make it while peaches were in season. I didn’t get a slice photo, but it was delicious and my family enjoyed it!
This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection is Chocolate Walnut Brownies. Funny, I didn’t even think about the fact that we were making brownies for both SMS and TWD until I started making these yesterday. There have been a few other times when the two groups’ selections collided and making both seemed a bit problematic, but with something as simple and guaranteed to be eaten such as brownies, I didn’t consider skipping either recipe. The proportions of ingredients in this recipe seemed a little different than other brownies recipes (low on chocolate and high on both flour and butter). I was tempted to reduce both the flour and the butter, but decided I’d try the recipe pretty much as written. I did add two ounces of 71% chocolate in addition to the four ounces of unsweetened in order to ensure a chocolaty brownie. I’m not a crazy chocoholic who adds extra to everything; four ounces just didn’t seem like quite enough. I mean, when you bite into a brownie, you want to taste the richness from the chocolate, not the butter. The walnuts were listed as an optional ingredient and I opted not to use them (as Josh put it when he tried them, “why would you interrupt the deliciousness of chocolate with nuts?”). 
The recipe said to bake the brownies for 45-50 minutes, and in my experience, my oven usually bakes things a lot quicker than the times specified in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, so I started checking at 30 minutes and pulled them out of the oven at 35 minutes. I thought they turned out excellent: fudgy and rich, and I loved the sturdy structure and texture of the brownies. I passed some on to Josh’s parents and they liked them a lot, and we’ve been enjoying them here, too. I made David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream to pair with the brownies, because seriously, what is better than homemade brownies and ice cream? I guess in Josh’s case, brownies, ice cream, and a vanilla cupcake.
Josh gave this recipe a 9 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 2 for Effort, for a very good EDR of 4.5. I guess I know which of the two brownie recipes I tried this week may see a repeat performance in this kitchen. Many thanks to Tiffany of A Spoonful of Laughter and a Heap of Fun for a yummy selection. You can find the recipe here on Tiffany’s site and visit the SMS site to see what the other bakers thought of this treat.
This week’s Sweet Melissa treat is Ginger Snaps. Although I have a couple of ginger snap recipes I like (which you can find posted here and here), I was happy to try a new one. I hadn’t made any in a while and, in my opinion, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with ginger snaps. I made just a few minor modifications to the recipe: I halved the recipe but used the full amount of spices, omitted the white pepper, rolled the cookies in coarse sugar before baking, and cut the baking time by several minutes in order to ensure a chewy cookie. Josh is a pretty equal-opportunity cookie eater, but he definitely has a preference for ones that are both sugar-coated and chewy, and I aim to please. White pepper does not seem to come up in ingredient lists, and when it does it is usually a minuscule amount, often enough for me to think I need to purchase a jar of it. 
So how did these cookies stack up to the other snap recipes? Josh ate two straight out of the oven and said they were some of the best ginger snaps I’ve made. He shared some with his mom at a baseball game today and they got a big thumbs up from her as well. I think my vote may be for Alice Medrich’s recipe, which I really thought was the perfect ginger snap. That recipe calls for grated fresh ginger and crystallized ginger, though, and this recipe has no fussy ingredients (except for the pepper, which I decided wasn’t necessary), so if you want a good ginger snap cookie made from pantry staples, this one wins. 
This recipe rated a 9 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort, for an EDR of 4.5. Many thanks to Gloria of The Ginger Snap Girl for selecting this treat. Stop by Gloria’s blog for an excellent ginger snap recipe and also because it’s a great blog; I always enjoy reading her posts and seeing her take on the Sweet Melissa recipes. And click on the bakers’ links on the Sweet Melissa site to see what the rest of the group thought of this treat.
Shortly after Josh and I moved in together, we went on a shopping spree to fill in the gaps for our shared kitchen. Although I did cook (not as much as I do now), I had always lived with roommates and had limited kitchen equipment of my own. And Josh didn’t cook at all, unless you count heating up bags of frozen pasta, so his kitchen was pretty sparse. He didn’t even have a cutting board until I came along – you should see him now though, he has excellent knife skills. Anyway, when we went shopping, one of the items I deemed *essential* was a Madeleine pan. Actually two: both mini and standard. Did I really think I was going to be making the tender little cakes all the time? This was a couple years ago and I can probably count on one hand how many times the pans have been used, so I was happy to see this week’s Sweet Melissa selection was Chestnut Honey Madeleines and I would have an opportunity to use the pans.
I was worried that the recipe would involve chestnuts, which would be impossible to find this time of year, but it actually called for chestnut honey. I just used clover honey, which seemed to work fine. The recipe did call for roasted hazelnuts. I was very happy that last time I needed hazelnuts, I roasted and peeled the skins (tedious!) off extra nuts, which saved a lot of time when I wanted to make these cookies. I made a half recipe, which yielded a dozen minis and 6 standard size Madeleines. The recipe says to place the oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, but it did not specify to rotate in the middle of baking, which I should have known better to do, because the Madeleines on the lower level were quite a bit darker. Luckily they still tasted fine, just not as pretty.
Hazelnuts are so often paired with chocolate (also delicious) that I’m glad they had a chance to be the star of this recipe and I really enjoyed the flavor in these little cakes. The recipe was heavy in sugar and low in honey, so I’m curious how they’d be if the recipe could be tweaked to add a more prominent honey flavor. We rated this recipe a 7.5 (approaching on 8) for Deliciousness and I gave them a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR 3. Thank you to Debbie of Café Chibita for selecting this yummy treat and giving me an opportunity to use my Madeleine pans. The recipe will be posted on Debbie’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the other bakers thought of this selection. I’d also like to wish a happy Father’s Day to my dad (and all other dads out there). Eloise says happy Father’s Day to Josh. Seriously, she loves me (anyone holding bread or willing to pet her, actually), but she’s really a daddy’s girl!
It’s cookie month for Sweet Melissa Sundays (every single recipe selected this month was a cookie recipe – fun) and I have a double post today. First up are Pistachio Linzer Thumbprints, which were last week’s selection. I made them on time, but didn’t get around to posting them last Sunday. I blame the season premiere of “The Next Food Network Star” being two hours long, if it had been its normal length, I would have been able to watch it, post, and get to bed at a decent hour. (Actually, we had a busy weekend in general, including a half-marathon in oppressive humidity and attending the first birthday party of a cute relative, so by Sunday night, flopping on the couch and watching reality television was an appealing activity.) Anyway, it had been reported on the Problems & Questions section that the dough was difficult to work with when cold. I made mine on Saturday and then let it sit out for about half an hour when I made the cookies on Sunday, before shaping the cookies and found it easy to work with.
Though they ended up being a bit more work than a simple mix and scoop cookie (somehow I created quite a mess between rolling them in the pistachio crumbles and filling a pastry bag with jam), I thought they were fun to make and enjoyed the flavor combination. I also thought their rustic-look was quite charming. I was worried Josh wouldn’t like them, since he had told me he’s not big on pistachios, so I was pleasantly surprised when the half-batch I made disappeared in just a few days. He said he was happy he could surprise me with his gluttony. These cookies rated a 7 for Deliciousness and a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2. Tracey kindly helped out a fellow baker and hosted last week; you can find the recipe here on her site.
Moving on to this week’s cookie: Chocolate Orange Macaroons. I made these last Sunday evening, another thing I did when I should have been posting, with intentions to bring them to my book club on Monday. Unfortunately, the macaroons did not turn out so well. As Melissa promised, it was a very simple recipe to put together – one bowl, no mixer! – but I ended up over-baking mine a bit. My oven is kind of temperamental and I need to be careful about monitoring the actual temperature and baking times. I checked these on the low end and the bottoms had totally crisped up. The flavor combination was great and cookies were edible, but I didn’t want to bring them to my friends and be like, “here, have some kind of burned cookies.” 
I’m not sure how to rate these, because mine really didn’t turn out so well and just really aren’t worth the calories to me. I guess they ended up rating about a 5 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.5. Many thanks to Ellen of Blue Tree, Green Heart for hosting this week. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the SMS site to see how the other bakers fared (hopefully better).
