Chocolate Victory Bars

Last weekend I made these these chocolate victory bars which I had high hopes for. They were described as homemade Luna Nutz over Chocolate bars (yum). I followed the recipe exactly and used brown rice syrup as directed...but I think this ruined the recipe. This is the second time I tried brown rice syrup in a granola bar dessert and each time, the result was almost inedible. That syrup is like a cement that hardens anything that it is used in. I could only eat these bars if I dunked them for a minute or two in coffee first. Oh well!

Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies

No photo :( but these cookies were super soft and nutty. The apple butter really added an unexpected depth of flavor. No white sugar. Felt very "healthy."

Dutch Baby Pancake

Since the start of this "blog" I have made this dutch baby pancake from Smitten Kitchen so many times, that my cookbook almost automatically opens to that recipe page. This is the perfect winter Sunday morning breakfast to me, and I make it almost every weekend. The recipe makes one single pancake, and it is delicious sprinkled with snow-white confectioner's sugar, or drizzled with maple syrup. They are barely-sweet, faintly eggy-tasting, soo easy to throw together and absolutely delish. Happily - for me - my kids and my husband are completely indifferent to these, so I usually get the entire pancake for myself :)

Bubbly butter!

Martha Stewart's marble cupcakes

I had never made a marbled baked good in my history as an amateur baker, and I needed a New Year's treat to satisfy kids and adults alike. These fit the bill. They are from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" book. The cake part had a pretty sophisticated flavor, where you could discern the vanilla from the dark chocolate. They were springy and moist. Could serve them without the icing for an equally delicious snack. I cheated here and used a jar of frosting I had on hand (this was to appeal to the kids; who can pass up multi-colored star sprinkles?), which made them a bit more indulgent.

Alsace-style cheesecake

A delicious and airy-light cheesecake (made with no cheese at all, actually. Greek yogurt instead) that I made for mom's birthday. It has booze-soaked dried cherries in it. Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi cookbook.

CHRISTMAS EDITION: Chocolate Crunch Cake, Fresh Orange Cake, Cranberry Crackle Tart

For holidays, and when I know I'll have guests over, I love to make three desserts. I know I'll always have plenty if there are three options, and I like to find recipes that all harmonize well. I was really happy with the sweets I made for Christmas; all three came from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi" book. I didn't get any pics, unfortunately. 

Chocolate Crunch Cake: the "crunch" of this cake comes from poppy seeds. It was mousse-like, very rich, and super easy to make. I love poppy seeds so was delighted to find this recipe where they are featured prominently.

Fresh Orange Cake:  I made the slight fancy variation of this cake, which involved boiling orange slices in a sugar-water, draining the oranges, and then topping the cake with the slices. This cake was hands-down my favorite of the bunch, it was so buttery and orange-y, but not overly sweet, so in my book it was perfect. I will definitely make this again but I will likely leave off the orange slices.

Cranberry Crackle Tart  I love fresh cranberries and buy them regularly in the fall and winter when they are available in supermarkets. This cranberry meringue was a really neat combination, with the succulent cranberries suspended in the airy meringue. I also made the Sweet Tart Dough that Dorie recommends for this.