Outrageous chocolate cookies!

I love chocolate. I love cookies. I love chocolate cookies. These cookies are truly, truly, truly outrageous.


First I melted a whole bunch of chocolate. Oooh yea, chocolate. I didn't really want to use chocolate chips but it was all I had.


Then I sifted some flour and baking powder and a tiny bit of salt.


In another bowl I whisked up some oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.


Then I added the melted chocolate to the egg mixture. You have to add it slowly so as not to cook the eggs.


Next I mixed in the flour mixture.


And then the chocolate chips.


Delicious cookie dough.


I dropped the dough by 1/8 cup on a cookie sheet, and then pressed them down.


I baked them for a bit and oh man delicioussss.


Seriously... look at that. Make these and eat them.

These cookies are soft and chocolatey and delicious and I love them. This is one of the most incomprehensible description of anything I've baked. But it involves chocolate. And I love chocolate.

Recipe

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe.

12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus an extra 1/3 cup
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a mixing bowl, beat oil, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Mix in melted chocolate and then the flour mixture until just combined. If the batter is too wet, add the extra flour little by little. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop 1/8 cup portions of dough 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Press down (the cookies do not spread much). Bake until cookies are crackly and edges are set, but centres are still gooey, 7-10 minutes. Cool on sheets for 10 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely. Makes about two dozen cookies.

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Balsamic Bruschetta

Okay, I love bruschetta. When I'm at a restaurant that has very few vegetarian choices, or if I just can't decide what I want, I get bruschetta. I've had so many different kinds. Some with cheddar, or mozzarella, or feta. Some with fresh basil, or no basil, or maybe oregano. Some with white onions, or red onions, or just too many onions. Some served hot, or served cold. It's always different and while I like it pretty much every way, I've never had an order of bruschetta in a restaurant that I would consider perfect. So I decided to try making my own.


I started by chopping up some tomatoes.


And some red onions. I like the flavour or red onions better than white onions, plus they don't seem to aggravate my heartburn as much.


Next I sautéed some garlic in olive oil.


And then added the onions.


I added some balsamic vinegar and let that cook until the onions softened slightly and balsamic mostly evaporated.


While that was happening, I cut some slices from this lovely Italian stretch loaf. I didn't take any photos of this, but I also brushed the slices lightly with olive oil and toasted them in the broiler just until they were a little golden.


Next I added the tomato (and salt and pepper) to the pan with the onions and garlic, and let it cook, ONLY to heat the tomatoes. I didn't want the tomatoes to cook and loose their bite and shape.


Finally I put a few spoonfuls of the bruschetta mix on each slice of bread and popped them back into the oven to heat through and toast slightly.

It took a few tries to get it to turn out how I wanted it to, and there are still some changes I would make, especially if I was just making it for myself, not myself and Anders. For example, I might try to put some fresh basil chiffonade in. I might also melt some mozzarella or parmesan or both on top. But generally, I like that it's simple and light. The balsamic adds a nice flavour and the red onion is nice and sweet. I can't wait to make this in the summer during the height of tomato season!

Recipe

Balsamic Bruschetta
1 cup tomato, chopped
3/4 cup red onion, chopped
olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

×××

Briefly sauté the garlic in the olive oil then add the onions and balsamic vinegar. Allow this to simmer until the onions have softened and the vinegar is mostly evaporated. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and continue to simmer, only until the tomatoes are heated through. Serve warm on your favourite (toasted) French or Italian bread. Left overs keep well in the fridge for a few days and can be reheated in the microwave before serving on bread.

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Chocolate Orange Marble Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Ganache

It was my birthday well over a month ago now. On that day, I had one class at 8.30AM. I decided to treat those who actually showed up by bringing in cupcakes. Also, I just like making cupcakes. I modified my vanilla and chocolate marble cake to come up with these lovely cupcakes, so I didn't take step-by-step photos. The recipe is posted below!


Fresh from the oven. I made a recipe and a half and filled the cups quite high, so the domes came out beautifully, I think.


I made a simple chocolate ganache with some orange juice concentrate in it to top them, and decorated them with a few orange star-shaped sprinkles.

Recipes

Chocolate Orange Marble Cupcakes

×××

1 ½ cups + ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 to ¼ cup thawed orange juice concentrate

×××

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with papers. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat oil and sugar until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until smooth, occasionally scraping bowl. Transfer half of batter to medium bowl. Add cocoa to batter in one bowl and orange juice concentrate to the other and beat until blended. If the orange batter is runnier than the chocolate, add the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Alternately spoon orange and chocolate batters into cups. With a knife, cut and swirl through batters to create marbled effect. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Cool cupcakes in tin on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove from pan to cool completely on rack.

For the ganache, all I did was melt some chocolate, add some cream and then add some of the left over orange juice concentrate. I didn't add very much liquid, as I wanted the ganache to form a thick layer over the dome of the cupcakes. When the cupcakes have cooled completely, dip the domes of the cupcakes into the ganache.

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Spiral Cookies

This is a very short post. I made these cookies back in February, because I was doing a presentation on the non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and I wanted to give my classmates cookies so as not to totally depress them. Not that cookies really makes up for the massive loss of life that was the Holocaust.
That said, I didn't have time to photograph all the steps I took with these, I just have the finished product. And oh man, were they good. They're very moist and soft, and the chocolate flavour is perfect. I loved these cookies and have been craving them since I made them almost two months ago.



Recipe

Spiral Cookies

for the vanilla dough:
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Splash of milk, if necessary

for the chocolate dough:
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup cocoa powder
Splash of milk, if necessary

Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl until soft and creamy. Add the vanilla, egg, and flour into the creamed mixture and stir until it forms a soft dough. In a separate bowl, make the chocolate dough in the same way. If either dough seems too dry, add a milk slowly until it comes together.
Knead each dough separately until smooth, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out both pieces of dough to 10 x 7 inch rectangles. Brush a little milk on the vanilla dough and lay the chocolate dough on top. Press down gently. Roll up from the short side to make a spiral log. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the roll into about ¾ inch slices, arrange 1½ inches apart on parchment-lined cookies sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should spring back when touched lightly with a finger.

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