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Category Archives: Dessert


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Deep Chocolate Brownies

I stumbled across this recipe for these decadent looking brownies. Making these was added on to my long to-do list. When I finally got a chance to bake, the only grocery store I have within walking distance was out of bittersweet chocolate. However, I discovered about 2 weeks later that Trader Joe’s has bittersweet chocolate for pretty dang cheap.

A few minor additions and a couple hours later, out of the oven came the best brownies I have ever had.

deep chocolate brownies

Deep Chocolate Brownies
adapted from epicurious.com

2 sticks unsalted butter
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup chopped nuts – I used pecans

  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Butter and dust a 13 x 9 in baking pan with cocoa powder.
  3. Melt butter and chocolate in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan over low heat, whisking, until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs one at a time until the mixture is glossy and smooth.
  4. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt and then whisk into chocolate mixture until combined. Fold the chopped chocolate and nuts in.
  5. Spread into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with gooey crumbs, about 30 minutes.
  6. Cool completely and store for 24 hours before slicing.

I know that the last step is hard because these brownies look (and smell) amazing. But, trust me – the longer they sit, the better they taste!


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Crumb-Topped Rhubarb

The massive amount of rhubarb I get when I go home during the occasional weekend is overwhelming. There is only so much pie a girl can make (and eat)… and force others to eat. I decided to whip up something new! This was so incredibly easy to make and it tasted amazing, too!

crumb topped rhubarb

Crumb-Topped Rhubarb

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
For the topping-
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats
6 tablespoons butter, softened

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Spoon into a greased 9×9 in baking dish and set aside.
  3. Combine the flour, brown sugar and oats in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the rhubarb mixture.
  4. Bake for 40 minutes or until light brown and bubbly.


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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

With summer comes a plethora of rhubarb. Mike’s family, my family and the farmers’ market are my sources. This was my first attempt at making a pie from scratch, crust and all. The results are not visually pleasing, but trust me – it tasted wonderful.

Strawberry rhubarb pie filling

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
adapted from epicurious.com

For crust

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling

3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

  1. Make the crust: combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
  2. Make filling: preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.
  3. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips.
  4. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.
  5. Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet.
  6. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.


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Coconut Cupcakes

My roommate, Isabel, and I were going to make a coconut cake using fresh coconut but our coconut was… fermented. So then we decided to make coconut cake using store-bought sweetened coconut; but, then we forgot to put the coconut milk in to the cake so we just made normal vanilla cupcakes instead and topped them off with some toasted coconut.

The cake recipe is Paula Deen’s 1-2-3-4 cake recipe and the frosting is her 7 minute frosting.

coconut cupcakes

1-2-3-4 Cupcakes
yields 24 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
  3. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
  4. Cool completely and then frost with 7 Minute Frosting (recipe below).

7 Minute Frosting

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  1. Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed for 1 minute.
  2. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy).
  3. Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Toasted Coconut

Heat the oven to 350°F. Spread the coconut out in a thin layer. Toast for 2 minutes and then in 1 minute intervals until lightly browned.

Assembly

Frost cooled cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.



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Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, but everyone else in the world seems to be. So, here’s my gift to the rest of the world.

chocolate chunk cookie dough

Chocolate Chunk Cookies
makes 30 cookies

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks (I used Baker’s)
1/2 cup walnuts, optional

chocolate chunk cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Melt the 8 ounces of roughly chopped chocolate with the 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Be careful not to burn it. I did about 5 intervals of 20 seconds.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix on high for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick and glossy.
  4. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just blended. Stir in the 12 ounces of chocolate chunks and walnuts. Let the mixture sit for about ten minutes.
  5. Use a cookie scoop (about 1.5″ in diameter) to scoop the dough onto buttered baking sheets about 3 inches apart. I put 9 cookies onto each sheet just to be safe.
  6. Bake for 13 minutes. Do not overbake!! You don’t want the middle of the cookie to harden.
  7. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes and then place onto a cooling rack.


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Mint Ice Cream Cake

Girl Scout Thin Mints, mint ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate wafers layered into a cake – what could be better? I had several boxes of Thin Mints laying around and as much as I love them, I haven’t been able to finish them all yet. So I figured I would put them to good use. Mint ice cream is also one of my favorite flavors, so I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with this!

mint ice cream cake

Mint Ice Cream Cake

1 box of chocolate wafers (I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/2 box of Thin Mints (1 roll), crushed
1/2 gallon of mint ice cream, softened enough to spread
1/2 jar of hot fudge sauce

  1. In a food processor, crush the wafers (I used about 2/3 a box for the crust). Add the butter and mix until combined. Press the wafers into the bottom of a 9″ springform pan.
  2. Carefully spread half the ice cream on top of the crust.
  3. Sprinkle the crushed Thin Mints (a food processor works fine) on top of the ice cream and drizzle the fudge on top of the Thin Mints.
  4. Spread the remaining ice cream on top of the Thin Mint layer.
  5. Freeze the cake for at least 30 minutes – you want the ice cream to harden back up.
  6. Before cutting, run a knife dipped in hot water around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cut the cake with a warm knife as well.
  7. Serve the cake with the remaining hot fudge sauce!


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Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Whenever I shop, I find myself over-buying groceries. So, what do I do with all my extra carrots? Make carrot cupcakes, of course!

Carrot cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin cups with cupcake liners – you will need about 24.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, brown sugar, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared muffin pan.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let cool in pans completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
frosts 24 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  2. Spoon the frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and frost the cooled cupcakes. Alternatively, if you don’t have decorating tools, use a metal spatula or spoon to smooth the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Enjoy!