laursbakery-blog

[laursbakery-blog]

Molten Madness!

You know what they say, another week, another bake. This time, chocolate was front and center. And I mean it. 

I got my hands on Martha Stewart’s Molten Chocolate Cake recipe from a recipe book years ago, and I am so glad I stumbled upon it! 

The recipe was actually quite simple -- you should have most of the ingredients already in your pantry. I only needed to pick up some top notch bittersweet chocolate (I think it was this one), and I was good to go!

Per the recipe, I turned my oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t have a stand mixer, so I used an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Because I don’t have a paddle attachment, this took me quite a while, but we got there eventually! 

From there, I added in the eggs one at a time. Then, the flour and salt. It looked pretty gross, but eventually got to a smooth consistency. 

Meanwhile, I melted my finely chopped chocolate (chopping this definitely took the longest of all the tasks!) in a bowl over simmering water. I never know the right temperature the chocolate should be at, but I just eyeballed it and made sure not to over heat it. Turned out okay by my standards!

Once the chocolate smoothed out, I added it to my egg-flour mixture. That’s when things turned delicious mmmmm. 

The chocolate scooped up all of the mixture so delightfully, I nearly ate it right then and there. Once it was prepared though, I managed to restrain from my urges and poured it evenly (somewhat) into my buttered muffin tin. 

After dropping said filled muffin tin and managing to salvage just enough batter, I popped them into the oven. (Can you believe I dropped it?!?)

I let them bake for about 10 or 12 minutes, which I think put them a little over the edge. They were absolutely delicious, and definitely mushy in the middle while still firm on the edges/top, but I didn’t get the runny look of a typical molten chocolate cake.  

Straight out of the oven. Bit messy, if only I had a bit more coordination!

Popped some powdered sugar on top, and served!!

While they were cooling, I made some whipped cream to go along with it, and boy am I glad that I did. I am a chocolate lover, but these bad boys are rich, even for me. The whipped cream definitely evened out the chocolately taste, plus, who doesn’t love a good dollop (or four) of homemade whip!

All in all, this was a great and easy recipe. I want to make it for a holiday party I have coming up, but because this only made 6, I may double it. 

Do you have any alternative molten chocolate cake recipes? If so, please share!

xo

Laur

[laursbakery-blog]

Creating Cream Puffs

It’s been a while since I’ve baked, but over the long holiday (Happy belated Thanksgiving!) I was determined to get back into the kitchen. This time, I wanted to take on cream puffs.

And boy. Was. It. Hard!!! 

I followed the recipe in Joann Chang’s book Flour, and while it was helpful, I definitely took notes because there were a few things that went awry along the way. 

Luckily, my 11-year-old niece was there to help me. I swear, she’s a naturally-born baker! What 11-year-old knows how to make ganache?! She certainly surprised me, but helped even more. 

Anyways, down to business. We started by making the dough first. All I have to say is that was mistake number 1. After reading through the recipe a few times, I thought, “Hmm, perhaps we should start with the custard since it needs to be refrigerated for 4 hours,” but I wanted to do it by the book so I dismissed this thought. 

Wrong. No harm in starting the custard early, since everything else takes a bit of time anyways. 

So on with the dough. We boiled the butter, salt, and sugar together until they boiled and added the flour. 

From there we took to the stand mixer to help cool down the dough, then added the eggs. My recipe said to whisk all four eggs in a bowl, then add them slowly to the bowl of the mixer. Again, wrong. 

My dough was way too runny, and if I had added the eggs in without mixing them first, one at a time, I could’ve saved myself an egg, and gotten thicker dough! 

As you can see, the dough was sliding off the paddle. While it is supposed to be somewhat slippery, it didn’t have enough hold to form the ball shape needed to create an actual cream puff. Also noted that instead of using a piping bag, I’ll probably just spoon them out next time to save the mess (the piping bag didn’t even help). 

That being said, the cream puffs came out in varying sizes. My biggest regret was how flat they were (likely due to the pool-sized dough shapes I had, because the dough was too runny), but the inside was cream-puff like. It was filled with air pockets that would then get filled with the yummy filling.

Next on the agenda was the custard. This definitely was the hardest part for me. In Chang’s recipe, she calls for St Tropez cream. The best similar recipe I could find to it is here (with photos! Which would’ve been helpful for me ha!). The only difference is that Chang’s recipe called for 3 tablespoons of cake flour instead of the 1 Tb of APF listed here. I may try this one next time, because my “custard” was getting way too thick - it wouldn’t even strain through my sieve! 

That being said, it all was okay after it had chilled and I mixed with the whipped cream. It was a truly delightful filling. 

I had to whisk my dad’s hands off of it - he couldn’t stop eating it by the spoonful!

Once this was done, I made the ganache. I used chocolate chips, which were tasty, but I think it resulted in a bit of grainy ganache. It wasn’t too grainy, but I’ll try the blocks next time. 

Next I had to fill the puffs. This was a bit difficult since my puffs were pretty flat, but I managed to fill quite a few. I also was struggling because my bag was smaller than expected, so I’ll be sure to get the right size next time!

All in all, I think they were a success. My family loved them, and I surely did too. I hope to make them for my Dad for Christmas (they’re his favorite!), so maybe we’ll get a more rounded, puffy shape then :)

[laursbakery-blog]

Oh My (Gluten-Free) Goodness!

It has been a while, hasn’t it? Since starting this digital repository of delightful goodies, I’ve found that baking and taking photos is not a task for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, I managed to snag a few quick clips while baking some delicious brownies for my dear friend, Anne, for her birthday. 

A bit of a backstory on why I’ve baked these brownies: I’ve known my friend Anne for eight years (time really does fly!), and we’ve lived together/on the same floor for four of those. That being said, I know what Anne likes and dislikes. 

Anne likes dessert. She loves chocolate, and she loves gluten. We spent countless nights rushing to the dining hall to grab the last of the infamous ‘hot cookie bar’ --a tray of just-came-out-of-the-oven-slightly-underbaked cookies the size of a kitchen table, essentially--or pairing our strong coffees with a decadent scone while studying. Needless to say, Anne and I shared a strong passion (and appetite) for sweets. 

Hot Cookie Bar @ Northwestern University 

Since graduating and going our separate ways, Anne moved back home to New York City, and I stayed local, close to my family, in Chicago. While the distance feels enormous some days, we manage to stay in touch with visits, vacations, and long, friendly phone calls. 

In our latest catchup over the phone, however, Anne told me equally satisfying, and saddening news. She has been going through a string of health-related issues, but never quite knew what was the real source of the problem. Upon undergoing a number of examinations and tests, Anne found out that she has Celiac’s disease. I still can’t quite believe it, as Anne is one of the most carb-loving Upper West Side girls you could ever meet. Alas, she has been eating gluten-free for some time now and has never felt better. *yay*!

Soooo without further ado, enter--Martha Stewart’s Gluten Free Fudgy Brownies!

These babies didn’t require much work at all, and you didn’t need a mixer! It could not have been easier, AND they are so delicious!

I won’t lay the recipe out for you (which you can find, here), but it essentially requires you to mix your dry ingredients--of which you will use corn starch to give the brownies structure, instead of flour--and then mix your wet in a separate bowl, and combine!

The mixing takes a bit of arm work, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The result is a very chocolatey, shiny mixture. I set my oven to 345 degrees, as my oven tends to overheat, and let it bake for 35 minutes. 

After taking it out, however, it needed some extra time. I put them back in for another 5, and then another 5 minutes. When I took them out again, I cut them up only to realize that they were still slightly under-baked. Ugh! Knowing that these babies were a birthday treat (and being sent via post office), I didn’t want to risk it. I plopped the now-cut brownies back into their tray and let them bake for another 10 minutes.

Chocolate can be tricky like that. I’m still trying to master it, but I think my scrappy, put-them-back-in-the-oven-even-though-they’re-cut thinking worked. 

After tasting 1 (or 2...), I decided they were good to go. I let them cool down for an hour before I wrapped them (1x1) in plastic wrap, put them in an aluminum 8x8 tray, and wrapped them again with foil. I then put that into a box and stuffed it with plastic bags to prevent the brownies from moving around and getting crushed. 

This is my very first time sending baked goods through the mail, so I hope it works! I just hope she likes it. It may not be a hot cookie bar, but it was pretty dang good (would even feed to non-gluten free friends!!). 

On a separate note, I’ll definitely be looking for tips on baking chocolate, or sending baked goods, in the future! So if you have an recommendations, please send my way :) 

Until then!

Lauren

[laursbakery-blog]

Hi world!

Hello fellow tumblr-er’s! 

I did not mean to make a tumblr, really. Instead, I was hoping to have a space to collect my many baking adventures, so I can keep tabs on what recipes I liked, what worked, what didn’t work, what methods made me cry from frustration, and which ones made me lick the spoon twice (or even three times). You know, the usual stuff that comes with baking.

As cheesy as it sounds, I was inspired to start baking after binge-watching the British Bake Off. I still have a very special place in my heart for Ian--his soft, little, ”Why would you take ice cream out of the freezer?” makes me melt every time. 

After watching every second Netflix could offer me, I decided to take it to the books. The bookstore, that is. I picked up “Flour” by Joanne Chang (of the appropriately named, Flour, a bakery in Boston), and immediately fell in love with her style. I’ve started baking from it, and want to get all the way through it if I can. I’ve been baking from Sally’s Baking Blog, as well, whose recipes are a bit less demanding, but still delicious. 

Anyways, maybe I’ll garner a little following, or maybe I’ll be talking into thin air. Either way, I know at least my office mates will be enjoying my treats :) 

Stay tuned for more!

Laur