Chocolate-Caramel Slice

Or Millionaire's Shortbread, according to my hubby.  Either way, this stuff is dangerous to have around.  In keeping with my chocolate-caramel-sea salt theme from yesterday, I have another equally addictive recipe.  My mom sent me this one earlier in the summer and it was love at first click.  Rich, buttery shortbread topped with a thick layer of sweet caramel and finished with a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate, these bars pretty much represent all that I love about baking and sweets.  

 

Some reviews complained that these were too sweet but I think cut into small bites with a flourish of sea salt on top, they are the perfect treat.  I am quickly stockpiling ideas for Christmas and this one will probably make the list too!  I found it very helpful to cut these while they are still cold in order to get nice clean lines.  I may also try lining the pan with foil next time so I can lift them out before cutting. 

 

Chocolate-Caramel Slice

from Epicurious

makes 20-24 pieces (I would aim for 24-28)

Crust

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon ice water
1 large egg yolk

Toppings
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons golden syrup (such as Lyle's Golden Syrup) or dark corn syrup (I used dark corn syrup but apparently Lyle's can be found at World Market)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons whipping cream
Flaked sea salt

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 11x7x2-inch metal baking pan. Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter. Using on/off turns, blend until coarse meal forms. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and egg yolk. Blend until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom of pan; pierce all over with fork. Bake until golden, piercing if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. 

 

For toppings:
Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, butter melts, and mixture comes to boil. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan. Boil gently until caramel is thick and temperature registers 225°F, whisking constantly, about 6 minutes (took me longer, just keep an eye on the thermometer). Pour caramel evenly over crust; cool 15 minutes to set.

 

Meanwhile, melt chocolate with cream in microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring occasionally. Spread chocolate over warm caramel; sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.  (I also froze these and they thawed perfectly).

Cut dessert lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 5 or 6 (or 7) slices. Transfer to platter and serve.

The only complaint I had about this recipe is that my chocolate didn't turn out very smooth.  In the past I have added a teaspoon or so of shortening and this helps make the chocolate shiny and smooth so I might try that next time.  
 

Enjoy!

When all else fails...

bake brownies.

and follow the recipe to a t.

(what does that mean anyway?).

Now that I'm blogging more often, I have been trying lots of new recipes.  I've also been trying to put a spin on recipes to make them my own.  Sometimes I get wonderful results and I'm happy I tried something new.  Other times, not so much.  Here are some examples of recent baking fails:

  

I did get a few good pavlovas out of this batch, but others just stuck to the tray and the tops popped off!

         

 This one, don't even ask.  Ok, ask.  No, they are not my attempt at making Mr. Hankey cookies.  I was actually trying to make chocolate churros.  Doesn't that sound good? Eh, not so much...

So when I woke up yesterday, I was determined to make something I knew I would love and that would be nearly impossible to screw up.  

Brownies!

Now normally I would go straight for the box mix (it's good stuff!) but there is also something magical about a delicious homemade brownie.  I remembered back to early in the year when Bon Appetit featured Browned Butter Walnut Brownies as the cover recipe and knew I wanted to try it.  Although these brownies got mixed reviews (people seemed to love 'em or hate 'em), it was love at first bite for me! 

Many of the reviews stated that the browned butter gave the brownies a distinctive "nutty" flavor.  I'm not sure if this was actually due to the browned butter or the fact that they do have a cup of walnuts in them.  That said, I will make it exactly the same in the future because I loved them.  However, they are packed with nuts so you can always cut back if you wish. 

Ok, all this talking is making me hungry.  Let's get to the recipe!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

from Bon Appetit 

 

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. 

 

Tip: I find that it is easier to see the butter changing colors if you use a pan with a light colored bottom.

Maybe I should have stopped here but I let it go a little bit longer...

...and ended up with this.  The brownies still tasted amazing but just be careful because once it goes, it goes fast!

Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. (Mine seemed quite gooey after 25 minutes but I stuck with the recipe and they turned out fudgy and delicious) Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.  They are rich so you could also cut each brownie in half diagonally and have twice the brownies!

Delicious!  I ate four in a row and made Greg bring the rest to work to save me from myself!

Oh wait!  I forgot I saved one for you (hope you don't mind I already took a bite out of it!)

Questions:
If you could only pick one food magazine to subscribe to, what would it be?

If you are recipe developer, how do you do it, especially when it comes to baking?  I do ok when I'm throwing ingredients together to make a soup or a dinner, but I've had a ton of baking disasters when I try to do my own thing!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Spring Berry Tart

Another holiday weekend has come and gone, but we had a great time.  My parents were able to come to town, we explored the city, rode out a horrible tornado, planted flowers and herbs (parsley, rosemary and cilantro, yay!) between storms, and most of all, ate...a lot.  

 

 Over the next few days I will be sharing our Easter dinner and dessert, plus a restaurant review from our fabulous dinner at Five Bistro.  My favorite thing to do is visit with my family while I work in the kitchen.  There's nothing like it!  I spent a lot of time on Easter Sunday prepping in the kitchen and while our schedule planned for dinner at 6:30, I think it was closer to 8:00 by the time we ate.  Luckily, everyone forgave me after they took the first bite of their meal.  Although we saved dessert for last, I'm starting this series with the star of the show, Spring Berry Tart!

This tart starts with a sweet shortbread crust that melts in your mouth.  It is filled with smooth vanilla pastry cream and topped with a crown of fresh berries.  What's not to like?  Once again, this recipe comes from my current favorite cookbook from Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours.  It is seriously one of my all-time favorite desserts, try it today!

 

Spring Berry Tart

from Baking: From My Home to Yours


About 1 1/2 cups Pastry Cream, cooled or chilled (Recipe Below)
1 9" tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough (Recipes Below)
Fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or strawberries, or an assortment of berries
1/3 cup red currant jelly mixed with 1 tsp of water, for glazing (I used strawberry and it tasted great)

Smooth the pastry cream by giving it a couple of strong turns with a whisk. Spoon enough pastry cream into the tart crust to come almost to the rim, then even the surface with a rubber spatula. Carefully lay the berries on the cream, arranging them in any pattern that you like.  I used blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries.

Bring the jelly and the water to a boil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop. Working with a pastry brush or a pastry feather, dab each berry with a spot of jelly. Or, if you like, you can glaze the entire surface of the tart, including the bit of pastry cream that peeks through the berries.

 

Sweet Tart Dough

 
Makes 1 9" Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 TBSP (9 TBSP) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

 Don't worry if the dough seems crumbly.  Once it is pressed into the pan it will be fine.

Butter a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. (If you don't have a tart pan a pie pan would probably work too)  Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Don't be too heavy-handed - press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.   

Pastry Cream

Makes about 2 cups
Storing: The pastry cream can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. (It helps if you have an extra set of hands for this part since you need to whisk and pour at the same time)  Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get into the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold, or, if you want to cool it quickly - as I always do- put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.
  

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  What was the best thing you ate over the holiday?