Oooey Goooey Brownies

These brownies came out so much better then i thought they would. Taste great with ice cream. I made them with bittersweet chocolate baking chips which was my first time using chocolate baking chips. I have heard horrid stories about them, about how they dont melt right and stuff but these were at this cake decorating store I found a while ago and I thought if Ina Garten (i think thats how you spell her name, whatever the barefoot contessa) uses them I should do. I wish the store was closer so i can buy more. They melted great and the brownies turned out so moist and not too rich like the chocolate cookies I made. I cut down the chocolate the recipe asked for. I also added walnuts cause they always go great in brownies.



I dont know if I already mentioned this, but if anyone is in the market for a new baking book I totally recommend William Sonoma Baking book and Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I recently bought them and they are fantastic. They have helped me out so much.

Double Chocolate Cookies (Chocolate Crinkle)

I felt like making something simple today, so I thought I would make cookies. I was wrong, these cookies take a lot of work. You have to chop 4 oz of chocolate and anyone that knows me knows that I make a huge mess when it comes to baking with chocolate. I made a mess, however in the end it is always worth it.

In the recipe I adapted from they are called "Chocolate Crinkle Cookies" but to be they are double chocolate cookies. Not only is the whole cookie made of unsweetened chocolate I mixed in some chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

Fudge!!!

Topped with confectioner sugar:

Hot, Fresh out of the oven:


Thanks to Steel Train for giving me the inspiration to get up and bake something after a lousy couple of days.

I made a baguette sponge that is now sitting and rising for tomorrow morning. See you tomorrow with baguettes.

Vanilla mini cakes with chocolate surprise

So this was a successful and somewhat unsuccessful baking experience.
My attempt to try a vanilla cake. It is a basic vanilla cake recipe but as always I add my own ideas to it.
My mom said they smell just like the bakeries back in Iran, which is a complement to me cause a lot of the recipes they make there are secretive I guess.
Anyways, they have a chocolate filling in the middle and are sprinkled with powder sugar.
I was going to try to use the left over strawberry buttercream I have but make it a thicker consistency but I couldn't figure it out and ended up destroying the buttercream. Not everything turns out the way I want.




It taste just like a vanilla cake should. Like vanilla heaven.

Chocolate Chip with Vanilla Strawberry Buttercream frosting

I decided that from this day (well last week) that I was no longer going to let myself make cakes the easy way, the cheap way. I am taking out box mixes and will figure out how to make my cakes the real way, through measuring out flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and so forth. I have worked at 2 bakeries which both use box mixes, I don't think you can find fun in just pouring in a bag of ingredients that are so important and just add liquids to it and get the same feeling as measuring it all out by yourself. I think that any form of baking whether it be cupcakes, cakes, muffins, or scones that there are only a certain amount of ingredients that work and those ingredients should be handled with care and be the best quality possible.

I am still learning but here goes my first attempt to make something from scratch, and it turned out successful. I only say successful cause watching people eat the cupcakes they didnt get a look on their face of disgust which is a good sign for this being my first time.




I also made healthy pear scones but I didn't take any pictures of them cause I was too busy eating them!