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: Chocolate chip COOKIES

RER 6.9.15

Chocolate chip cookies belong at BBQs. They are portable, snack-sized, and delicious, plus easy to make in large quantity. Their only—and I mean only—downfall is that those tasty chocolate chips can melt in hot sun and high temperatures. But sometimes, sticky fingers are allowed at a food-filled cookout.

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

The Alumni-Faculty BBQ last week was the perfect time to satisfy my baking itch (again) by whipping up a sweet ending for our gathering. I wanted something easy and universal, scrumptious and satiating—chocolate chip cookies.

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

This recipe from Host the Toast was perfect. I made a double batch and threw in leftover sprinkles (the top was lost during a furious baking mini course) to make them a little more festive. Let me tell you, I wanted to bathe in that cookie dough. It was sweet and buttery with caramel notes and chocolate bites, while the rainbow sprinkles added  colorful whimsy.

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

RER 6.9.15

My cookies flew at the BBQ, but I kept an eye on the giant container hoping some would be left over. The chewy and soft texture of the cookies was addictive; just one cookie was not enough. There was just enough chocolate and maybe too many sprinkles (if that’s a thing) but the result was very very very tasty. Good thing some came home with me.

So, who’s inviting me to their next BBQ? I’ll bring cookies…

RER

6.15.15

RER 6.9.15

  

MangiaMore: APPLESAUCE cake

RER 10.6.14

And it happened again. Sometimes I can't help it. I find myself scrolling endlessly through pretty baking blogs and the Martha Stewart website drooling after the delicious baked goods and beautiful layer cakes. A variety of flavors and shapes, sizes and textures, levels of difficulty and technique. There are fluffy cakes with egg whites folded in, or dense bread like cakes studded with nuts. That's nothing. There's buttercreams in a rainbow of colors; cooked frostings, boiling on the stovetop; and glazes, sweet and dripping.

RER 10.5.14

RER 10.5.14

RER 10.6.14

RER 10.5.14

And then it happens. I haaaave to make something. This time I desperately needed to make a layer cake. Despite searching the World Wide Web, I found the cake recipe in our tattered Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook (1996). The Applesauce Cake was easy enough to be fun and it wasn't laden with butter like some of my favorite bookmarked cakes (I will come to those more buttery, more difficult cakes later...Cupcake Wars). But as usual, we had to adjust, just a tad, subbing pumpkin pie spice for our own measured mix of spices.

This cake is practically a one-bowl wonder. It gets texture from applesauce and its fall feeling from the warm mix of spices. In our book, Betty recommends either a cream cheese frosting or a maple buttercream. Embracing the cooler weather and the crisper air we opted for the delicious maple frosting.

RER 10.6.14

RER 10.5.14

Applesauce Cake

adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

2 ½ C all purpose flour

1 ½ C unsweetened applesauce

1 ¼ C sugar

½ C water

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom and sides of pan.

Beat all ingredients in a large bowl with mixture on low scraping constantly. Then beat on high for three minutes and scrape occasionally.

Bake in rectangle pan for 45-50 minutes or two 8 inch round pans for 40-45 minutes.

Cool and frost with Maple Buttercream or your favorite frosting!

Maple Buttercream

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup of butter

½ cup maple syrup

Mix powdered sugar and butter in a medium bowl.

Stir in maple syrup.

Beat until smooth and to preferred consistency. Add more syrup or powdered sugar if necessary to achieve spreadable texture.

RER 10.6.14

AJR 10.5.14

RER 10.5.14

The cake was spicy sweet dense and redolent of fall evenings and cozy moments. Each note of subtle heat brought comfort and struck a strong chord with the sweet earthiness of the maple in the buttercream. It was moist and spongy, and kinda great. Can’t wait for my next slice.

RER

10.5.14

RER 10.6.14