photo op: reliving baking memories

RER 3.14.17

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting

There was a time

Then it all went wrong…

No, I know. I’m being dramatic. And a Les Miz fan. Nothing has gone wrong. But…

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

 There was a time when I used to bake

And the kitchen smelled like cookies

And there was butter and sugar all over the place

There was a time

Then came adulting…

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

A lot has happened over the last few months: Life has just intensified in the most amazing ways from my job, to a status change, to looking forward to and toward the future. There has been little time for baking, but still plenty of time for eating well (pics or it didn’t happen).

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

The last time I baked, it was chocolates chip cookies and a foggy memory. Coconut, too. Something about a snow day— a rare occurrence when I was in school, the very same school where I am starting my third year as a teacher (!!).  When I was young, the school would stay open and the less-than-attractive floors would be slippery and squeak with the melted snow from boots and shoes. Classes would be diminished, but we would learn things that you can’t find in books. The snow would be like a silencer for the outside world, but inside school there would be palpable excitement and an ineffable feeling of security and comfort.

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17

RER 3.14.17 

RER 3.14.17

Making those cookies back in March made me feel that sense of coziness, and thinking about the last time I truly baked, makes me feel the same on this humid August day. And maybe, I also feel a little inspired…..

RER

8.18.17

RER 3.14.17

MangiaMore: brown butter BLONDIES with salted speculoos frosting

RER 8.22.16

Summer just about slipped through my fingertips. The last weeks of steaming August melted, collecting and creating a pool at the feet of muggy September. There is a summer haze hovering over those last few weeks as so much happened in so little time; heat and excitement have clouded my memory…

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

But, in the midst of it all, was a sweet baking adventure with a great friend. It was just a little less hot, but just as sticky because brown sugar, brown butter, white chocolate chips, cookie butter, and a little too much frosting were involved.

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

After speculation, we decided to make brown butter blondies with salted speculoos frosting found on Butter and Brioche. We knew these were going to not only be sweet, but also a mature play on the oh-so-delicious blondie.

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

Anything with browned butter is instantly kicked up a notch, and the sexiness goes through the roof. Browned butter brings maturity—burned notes that are round and intriguing. The walnuts in these blondies connected nicely with the rich flavor of the brown butter, while the white chocolate chips vanished, but traces of their sweetness remained, bringing a softer side of the browned butter out to play.

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

If that wasn’t enough, a thick layer of decadent cookie butter frosting, weeping with the late August heat, was smeared across the just-cool-enough blondies. The frosting was warmed with just a touch of cinnamon, but the cookie butter mimicked the brown sugar and butter patterns of the cookie-like blondie below.

RER 8.22.16

RER 8.22.16

The confection was fudgy and dense, an overdose of sugar that mellowed with refrigeration. Each bite tickled so many senses: the scent of browned butter and cinnamon emanated from each morsel; the sticky frosting that clung to fingers and lips and crunchy toasted walnuts, both with textures forcing feel and touch; the taste of caramel brown sugar spiked with fat chunks of sea salt heightened sweetness and added sophistication and refinement; the visual undulation of salt and sugar, monotone yet alluring.   

These blondies had it all— brown sugar, brown butter, white chocolate chips, cookie butter, and a little too much frosting.

RER

9.10.16

RER 8.22.16

MangiaMore: BLUEBERRY summer dessert

RER 6.29.15

Crumble, cobbler, brown betty, crisp, grunt, slump, buckle… whatever it’s called… we made a blueberry summer dessert. This hybrid treat has elements of each of these semi-distinctive (but maddeningly similar) summer favorites like the doughy biscuit parts of a cobbler and the crunchy sweet topping of a crisp.

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

In many ways our blueberry concoction is most like a brown betty. A brown betty has the saucy warm fruit in between layers of yummy crumbs. Whatever we made has sweetened cooked blueberries squeezed between a soft cobber-like airy dough on the bottom and a crisp candy like streusel topping. Our whatchyamacallit had the best of both worlds (and is the perfect base for large amounts of ice cream) using two separate recipes for the bottom and for the topping.

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

AJR 6.28.15

RER 6.29.15

The tart tang and tiny pop of the blueberries complemented the layers surrounding the fruit filling. The streusel topping studding the sea of blueberries softened with sugar and time mirrored the bursting quality of the dark skin of the berries. It crunched with the texture of crystallized and browned sugar, similar in effect to the feeling of changing berries on the tongue. While the cloud-like cake resting at the bottom of the dessert recalled the inside meat of the fresh blueberries, it was lush, fluffy, smooth and light.

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.28.15

RER 6.29.15

These three disparate layers came together to make a textural playground, the rise and fall of feelings and varied profiles. And the combination happens to be perfect for Independence Day (which is just around the corner) or your next backyard barbecue. A blueberry whatchyamacallit screams summer!

RER

6.28.15

RER 6.28.15