Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes
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My sister bought me this mini Bundt pan for my birthday, and I have been wanting to use ever since. The gift also gave me an excuse to try yet another Dorie recipe. Fortunately, this time, I was not disappointed.
Not only does my kitchen smell amazing, these little cakes are moist and delicious. The only negative is the glaze–I couldn’t get it anywhere near the right consistency, and after tasting the cakes with it, I wish I had just dusted them all with powdered sugar. Oh well, next time.
Ingredients
For the Swirl
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp sugar
For the Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
7 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled
For the Glaze
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp light corn syrup
Preparation
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350F. Generously butter a 6-mold mini Bundt pan.
To make the swirl: Toss the nuts, cocoa and sugar together in a small bowl.
To Make the Cake: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitter with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute more, then beat in the vanilla. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled–it will smooth out soon. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated. Add the milk, and when it is blended into the batter, add the remaining flour mixture, again mixing just to incorporate. Finally, add the melted chocolate and mix to blend.
Fill each of the mini Bundt molds with a little batter, then divide the swirl ingredients evenly among the molds and top off the Bundts with the remaining batter.
Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the centers of the cakes come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the cakes to rest for 5 minutes, then invert them onto the rack and let them cool to room temperature.
To make the glaze: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of water. Stir in the corn syrup. Using a small offset metal spatula or a table knife, spread the shiny glaze over the tops of the Bundts, then scatter the nuts, if you’re using them, over the glaze. Let glaze set at room temperature; it will take about 15 minutes.
Makes 6 mini Bundt cakes (1 cup) or 12 really tiny Bundt cakes (1/2 cup).
My notes:
- My mini Bundt pan makes 12 tiny cakes rather than 6 small cakes so I only baked mine for about 17 minutes.
- I skipped the swirl part entirely.
- I omitted the nuts.
Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
Peanut Butter Cookies
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I was in the mood to bake, but wanted to make something easy so I decided to give this recipe a whirl. I followed other reviewers’ advice and added vanilla as well as more peanut butter, but I just don’t get all the rave reviews. To me, these were good, but nothing special. Then again, I’m not a huge peanut butter cookie fan and the real test will be when I bring the cookies into the office tomorrow.
Also, I noticed the tops of most of the cookies look cracked, and the nice criss-cross pattern didn’t show. I’m thinking it may be because I made the cookies smaller (and therefore flatter), but really, I have no clue. Any ideas?
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Preparation
- Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Roll into 1 inch balls, (optional–roll in sugar), and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.
Makes about four dozen cookies.
My notes:
- I didn’t have any crunchy peanut butter at home so I used creamy.
- I rolled some of the cookies in sugar after shaping them into balls.
- I used a small cookie scoop so I got way more than four dozen cookies.
Original recipe from All Recipes.
Hershey’s White Chip Brownies
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Today has been one of those days. I have laryngitis thanks to a stupid cold, and the boy I had two [apparently not so] wonderful dates with appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
So, I made brownies.
I decided to turn to Hershey, as their chocolate cake recipe is my favorite ever, and I figured the brownies would be delicious as well. And delicious they are! Moist, chewy, and rich. I think this may be my new fave.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12-ounce package) HERSHEY’S Premier White Chips
Preparation
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
- Beat eggs in large bowl until foamy; gradually beat in sugar. Blend in butter and vanilla extract.
- Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to egg mixture, blending thoroughly.
- Stir in white chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Makes about 32 brownies.
Recipe from The Baking Bible.
