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A quick and easy brownie recipe
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012Who doesn’t love brownies? Just like my mom, I am partial to blonde ones – no, not because I’m a blonde, but because of their delicious butterscotch flavor. This recipe, right from mom’s recipe box, is easy to make and takes just minutes to put together.
Blonde Brownies
(Makes around 48 1-inch square brownies)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 13-by-9-by-2 inch baking dish.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated (do not overmix), then the chocolate chips and walnuts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan (batter will be very thick) and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.
High altitude adjustment: Reduce baking powder by 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoo
A cool dessert on a warm night
Friday, July 8th, 2011Nothing tastes better during these warm summer nights than a cool, frozen dessert. Mom’s Frozen Strawberry Pie brings back fond memories of hot summer days in my childhood. After running around outside in the heat, nothing tasted more refreshing than eating a piece of this delicious pie that explodes with strawberry flavor. And mom loved making it for stress-free dinner parties, as it can be made up to 2 months ahead.
Frozen Strawberry Pie
(Serves 16)
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries (can also use 1 10-ounce package frozen)
1 cup granulated sugar (reduce to 2/3 cup if using frozen strawberries)
pinch salt
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the flour, brown sugar and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and process until well blended and nuts are finely chopped. Stir in the melted butter. Press 3/4 of mixture into the bottom of two 9-inch pie pans (or one 9-by-13 inch pan) and place remaining 1/4 of mixture into a shallow baking dish. Bake crusts and topping until golden brown, around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring the topping often. Set aside to cool.
Combine strawberries, granulated sugar, salt, egg whites and lemon juice and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 20 minutes (yes, 20 minutes – this isn’t a typo!). Whip cream until stiff peaks form and fold into strawberry mixture. Spread on top of crust in pans. Sprinkle top with remaining crumb mixture. Freeze for at least 24 hours. Place in refrigerator to soften a bit when you sit down for dinner.
Make ahead: Pie can be made up to 2 months ahead and kept frozen.
In search of the Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake recipe
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011With all the articles and postings about Prince William’s choice of a Chocolate Biscuit Cake for his wedding reception last week, I became intrigued and wanted to learn more. I had never heard of this cake, and thought the name alone made it sound delicious – chocolate and cookies (the British biscuit is more like what we Americans call a cookie) together in a cake – yum! So, I started googling around, looking for the recipe. As it turns out, similar to another British dish, Sticky Toffee Pudding, there are several different versions of this cake.
According to the Daily Mirror newspaper in England, the official Chocolate Biscuit Cake for the royal wedding was made by the McVitie Cake Company, following a Royal Family recipe. Unfortunately, to date I have not been able to find the “official” recipe, so I set out to develop my own version, based on the information I could find.
Given that the McVitie Company made the cake, the royal version must include McVitie’s butter biscuits as a key ingredient – and not Le Petit Beurre biscuits, as called for in the Bon Appétit magazine recipe for this cake. Searching through other British recipe sources, it became clear to me that this cake also should include raisins, dried cherries, and nuts – and of course, lots of dark chocolate!
So, after a bit of testing and mixing of ingredients, I created my own version of this delicious cake. I added a few other ingredients – like a bit of brandy and orange zest – to take it up a notch. You can include these or not, to your taste. You can also use other nuts, like hazelnuts or pecans. Enjoy!
Chocolate Biscuit Cake
(Serves 12)
4 cups broken McVities digestives (or biscuits) with dark chocolate coating (pieces should be around the size of an almond, or smaller)*
1/4 cup raisins
1/8 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 cup chopped toasted pistachios
1/2 cup butter, sliced
5 bars (3.5 ounces each) dark chocolate (around 50 to 60% cacao), broken into pieces, divided
1 cup cream, divided
1/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup*
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon brandy
*Available in specialty food stores, at Cost Plus and in the specialty food aisle of some grocery stores.
Spray a 9-inch spring form pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the broken biscuits, raisins, cherries, walnuts and pistachios. Set aside.
In the top of a double boiler, melt the butter and 3 bars of the chocolate (around 10 ounces), stirring constantly. Stir in 3/4 cup cream, golden syrup, orange zest and brandy. Pour over biscuit mixture and stir until well blended and all the biscuit pieces are coated with chocolate. Place in prepared pan, pressing down and smoothing out the top as much as possible (it will be lumpy but this will be the bottom of the cake so it’s okay). Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
To make the icing – in the top of a double boiler, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup cream and 2 bars chocolate (around 7 ounces) until melted and well blended. Set aside to cool until slightly thickened to the consistency of cake frosting – around 10 to 15 minutes.
While the icing is cooling, remove the cake from the refrigerator. Release the spring on the side of the pan and slowly remove. You may need to use a knife to separate the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert cake onto a cake platter or other serving dish. Remove the bottom of the pan, then carefully peel off the parchment paper. Using a paper towel, wipe off any liquid remaining from the nonstick cooking spray. Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake to cover. Put in the refrigerator for around 1 hour or until the chocolate icing is hardened.
Make ahead: cake can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated – either iced or not iced.
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