Another Tuesdays with Dorie and this week Di from Di’s Kitchen selected French Chocolate Brownies. Chocolate…how can you wrong. My camera is not working so I don’t have a picture. I am hoping to post one tomorrow but in the meantime check out some of the other TWD sites.

I decided to skip the raisins and rum but tried the cinnamon. It gave the brownies a nice underlying flavor. I also just melted the butter and chocolate together which is quick and less likely to overheat the chocolate.

Luckily I have a meeting to go to tomorrow night. The last thing I need a week before a trip to Mexico is a plate of brownies!

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You might notice for those with Internet Explorer that the big black ugly bar is gone. Thanks Leslie for helping me out!

So today’s post is a Tuesdays With Dorie from two weeks back, when the big black bar appeared. The challenge was Madeleines and this time I was determined to get this right. A few months ago I bought one of those soft, silicone pans. It did not go well. The madeleines did not come out easy and left their skin behind.

So off to Sur La Table to purchase a metal pan. It was sort of funny because the clerk kept saying these are really hard to make. They are so easy to make. I hope you will all give them a try. I am anxious to try a few other flavors and play around a bit.

The group Tuesdays with Dorie was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. You can check it out here.

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Another Tuesday and another Dorie recipe. This week Caitlin of Engineer Baker chose Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake.

The great thing about these challenges is that I am trying new recipes. In the original recipe it calls for figs. Well, if you know how picky of an eater I am, you know those went out of the recipe. I made a simple polenta and ricotta cake.

It is very easy to pull together and came out very tasty. I think next time I would add a bit more lemon and throw in a bit of chopped fresh rosemary. I added a few raspberries, but I would top with a dollop of whipping cream too!

Check out the Tuesday With Dorie entries here.

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So I am back from my business trip and it is another Tuesday with Dorie.  This week   Amanda  from slow like honey selected Bill’s Big Carrot Cake.  I have never understood carrot cake - I like my desserts veggie free but I was up for the challenge.

The recipe was super easy to put together and was soon in the oven.  I  cut the recipe in half and used two small pans.  Because I cut it in half I had to keep checking it at ten minute intervals to keep from overcooking.

Tasting it after cutting the cakes, I was very surprised at how delicious it was.

I did not use coconut in either the cake or the frosting.  I toasted some walnuts and put around the outside, mostly to cover my inadequate frosting skills.

It was Ashley’s birthday so I brought it to work in celebration of her big day.  My co-workers loved it and hopefully you will too.

Go over to Tuesdays with Dorie and check out all the other variations.  I am always amazed at the creativity of my fellow bakers.

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It is another Tuesday so you know what that means - another new challenge.  For this week’s Tuesday with Dorie challenge Mary, from Starting from Scratch, gave you the choice of The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tarte or the Fresh Orange Cream Tart.  I think we have established I like lemon, but I love orange equally!  My favorite yogurt is Yoplait’s Orange Creme and I love 50/50 bars. I had to choose the Orange Cream Tart.

I fell in love with this recipe after the first bite.  My office fell is love with this tart.  Even my mom loved this tart.

I left most of the zest in and even tried adding a layer of chocolate to the tart because chocolate and orange….such the perfect marriage.  I had an issue with the dough not forming together so I added 1/4 cup of cream.

Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and check out everyone’s tarts.

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For this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie challenge, Leigh at  Lemon Tartlet picked Gooey Chocolate Cake.  

After participating in several more complicated events, I breathed a sigh of relief at this one.  I have served many molten cakes to my guests. So this weekend I put the ingredients together and gave it a try.

I ran out of bittersweet chocolate so I placed mini semi sweet chips on the top. I cooked for exactly the 13 minutes and took them out to cool.

To finish the cake off I placed a handful of raspberries on top and drizzled a White Chocolate Espresso sauce on top of it. 

It was goey and chocolatey but I have to say it did not beat my favorite which is from Roy’s Restaurant in Hawaii.  I agree with Dorie that this one did feel like you needed to have something with it.  My Roy recipe  is great all on its own, other than a bit of whipped cream.  But it a good cake to have in my arsenal. I might try with another type of chocolate next time.

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I confess I have had a fear of yeast breads. Reading the ingredients of this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie baking event my breath quickened, I was overwhelmed at the three pages of instructions. I was longing for someone to choose one of the shorter, quicker recipe. But then would it be a challenge? Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody hosted this weeks event.

I woke up early one morning last week and decided to dive in.

The recipe starts with making one recipe of Brioche dough. As I started through the steps of mixing the dough and then adding in the butter I started thinking this isn’t so bad. I put it in a bowl and waited for it to rise. An hour later sitting in my chilly apartment I realized that would be the true challenge.

I ended up turning on my electric (the only time I have been thankful for electric) oven to 200, opened the door and set the bowl on it. After about 20 minutes things started moving. I left it on the counter for another hour until it had doubled in size.

Then, I moved it to the refrigerator and only once, “slapped it” down because it wasn’t really rising all that much. I had survived step one.

The next morning I was eager for step two and the finished product.

I made the pastry cream, wishing I had done that the day before to allow more time for cooling and setting. I went on to the raisins, which required dousing with rum and igniting. Well, I have a few fire issues. I lived next to two houses growing up, that burned to the ground. Being pulled from the front door of your house at age 6, along with your pregnant mother, leaves you with a healthy respect for fire. Our house survived but not we had watched part of our neighbors burn down. Sorry - back to the snails.

So, I did not ignite the rum but twirled over a hot stove. It seemed to work.

I rolled out the dough which I must say looked like a beautiful thing as I layered the cream, raisin and cinnamon sugar over it. I wound it as tightly as I could, cut my little snails and lined them up ready to bake. Glancing at the recipe again I noticed the words, let rise another hour and a half. That ’s what happens when you skim read! So another round of fighting the morning chill to get the dough to rise.

Finally, I baked them until the tops were golden brown. I drizzled the glaze over the warm rolls and was finally rewarded with the delicious, creamy, crisp brioche snails.

They were worth every minute! My nephews seem to agree as fighting ensued over the small portion I had left. I am baking another batch to deliver this morning. I have conquered my fear of yeast breads!

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So this is my first post with Tuesdays with Dorie. They are a group cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Kitchen to Yours cookbook. I had only recently heard about Dorie and was intrigued so I picked up the book and gave it a try.

These are like homemade Snickers bars. I wished you could see the cute picture in the cookbook because mine were not that thick or pretty. But they tasted great. If you are considering trying this recipe I would add a layer of dulce de leche over the peanuts. That would also make it easier to have that nice smooth chocolate layer. I would also double the chocolate to make a thick layer. But that is just me…

The best part - I made the dulce de leche, which is amazing if you have never tried it. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe and it turned out great. A few years ago I made it in the can over the stove, but I’ve grown more cautious and didn’t feel like having the can explode on me! So here is the recipe.

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