Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

 I love nutella (even though it pulled out a temporary crown on me recently) and love brownies. This was 3 ingredients - what's not to like? Well there was a little bit. Was it horrible? NO! Was it great - MEH. Epicurious has this recipe for 3-Ingredient Brownies .  I had some free time on my hands and the big 3 ingredients - so why not try it. At first they looked like they were going to be a little too cakey - they were not. (See here for my opinion on cakey brownies). They were actually moister than they looked. They just did not have a super Nutella flavor. I get that they were trying to use a few ingredients, but I'm not sure this was the best recipe. I think I would make these in an emergency but prefer brownies with additional ingredients.

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY! Remember way back to last week when I had that disaster flag cake and I had two extra layers of red cake that I stowed away in the freezer - well here's what I did with it: When the world gives you lemons, make... Not too shabby huh? Here the cake recipe (adapted from Art & Soul of Baking ) 1 1/2 sticks of butter 3/4 c sugar 3 eggs 1 T vanilla 2 c sifted cake flour 3/4 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1/3 c buttermilk 30 drops red food coloring (optional) Grease and line 2 9" round baking pans with parchment paper rounds (or use silpat). Cream butter and sugar together. Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk together cake flour, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs to creamed butter one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Add 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of flour, remainder of buttermilk and then remainder of flour.  Mixing well after each addition.  Add 30 drops of red food coloring. Pour batter into p...

Fate was calling me to make cinnamon buns. I was listening to a podcast of America's Test Kitchen and they were doing a recipe for cinnamon buns. Then I was hopping around on TV last night and Alton Brown was doing cinnamon buns on Good Eats. My favorite cinnamon bun recipe is from Joy the Baker .  But I didn't have any cream cheese so I decided to adapt it a bit and use Nutella instead. How could you go wrong with Nutella? Nutella Cherry Buns 1 package of yeast (2 1/4 t) 1/4 c warm water (not over 110 degrees - aaahhh not OOOWW!) 2T brown sugar 2 eggs 1 t vanilla 1/2 c milk, room temperature 1 t salt 1/4 c sugar 2 3/4 - 3 c flour 1 stick butter (8T) Filling: 1/2 c Nutella 1/2 c dried cherries, chopped Icing 1 c confectioner's sugar 2 T milk Mix yeast water and brown sugar together and set aside. Meanwhile in mixing bowl, with the dough hook attached, add the eggs, vanilla, sugar,  milk, salt, and 2 c of the flour.  When yeast mixture has starte...

Yeast is an amazing thing.  You take this dried stuff, add some liquid and other "food," and it puffs up unbelievably! I have a star pan from King Arthur Flour that I bought a few years ago. I don't think they carry it anymore but it is a great pan for brioche or just any sort of sweet yeast. A variation of this recipe came with the pan. When I say variation, it's basically the same recipe but they give different fillings and toppings ideas. I decided to make it with an almond filling and that it didn't really need a topping. I opted for the lemon zest, also opted for the vanilla, and used regular yeast instead of "instant" (more on than in a sec). I opted out of the dried fruit and nuts.  I thought since I was using a filling the added bits would be a little too much.  Before:  After: You might have noticed that I put the dough to rise on my radiator. Supposedly this is a big no-no in the bread making world but I always put a towe...