Chocolate-Cherry Brownies

I would not have tried making these Chocolate-Cherry Brownies if it wasn't for the Tuesdays With Dorie group. This recipe was not high on my list of recipes to try because I'm not a big fan of dried cherries. However, I was surprised that I liked the taste of these brownies more than I thought I would. The tartness of the dried cherries were subdued by the decadent chocolate. If anything, these should be called "Super Chocolatey Chocolate-Cherry Brownies." This was definitely a fudgy brownie that chocolate lovers would appreciate.

Strawberry Shortcakes Franco-American Style

When I first got Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking Chez Moi, I went through all of the pages and earmarked the recipes that I wanted to try. The photo for the Strawberry Shortcakes Franco-American Style in BCM looked so good that it was one of the first things on my list of recipes to try. It took half a year, but I finally made it. I'm disappointed that I didn't make these sooner! This "shortcake" is actually very easy to make: it's a basically a circle made of ladyfinger batter that's topped with whipped cream, roasted or fresh strawberries, and another ladyfinger circle. The good news is that the ladyfingers can be made well in advance. The bad news is that you'll want to eat them right away because they smell so good fresh out of the oven.

Fudgy Brownies

This is the kind of recipe that's perfect for people who don't have a lot of ingredients to work with. How do I know? My refrigerator only had some eggs, milk, cheese, butter, and experimental baking things in it. When I see these things listed, it seems like I'm big on dairy!

These brownies are great! I'm usually a fan of box brownies because of their texture and taste, but this recipe surpasses the box mixes, hands down. This recipe makes seriously fudgy brownies with a nice crispy crust, crunchy corners and edges (the best part), and a chewy center.

Toffee and Chocolate Chip Cookies

To be honest, this was supposed to be a Brown Butter, Toffee & Chocolate Chip cookie post, but I failed at making brown butter. I browned my butter, but not enough. How do I know this? After I browned my butter, I Googled what it's supposed to look like, and it looked like I didn't have as much brown "stuff" at the bottom of my pot. I just made "almost brown butter." Nonetheless, this recipe worked out great! I was left with a slightly crispy, slightly chewy, sweet and chocolatey cookie that I'm sure would go extremely well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Viennese Sablés

Viennese Sablés remind me of fancy butter cookies. It's impossible to be satisfied eating only one of these cookies; who can resist a crispy, buttery, mildly sweet cookie? This recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi, where she explains some of the different reasons why these cookies are "W"-shaped. In short, it could be either because they came from a pâtissier named Wittamer, or because of the location this cookie was created: Wien (German for Vienna). 

Crackle-Top Cream Puffs

I know I've been posting quite a bit of choux recipes lately, but I think this will be one of the last ones I do for a while. I was on a mission to figure out how to make pastry cream correctly, and I needed to make something using my successful results. Luckily Dorie Greenspan has a lot of different recipes that include pastry cream-filled goodies in Baking Chez Moi. This recipe looked really good in the cook book, and it turned out pretty well when I made it, too! This is pretty much your standard cream puff, but enhanced by a thin crispy layer of a brown sugar crackle on top. It brings a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of a crunch to the table, both of which I can't resist.

Coconut Tapioca

I have always enjoyed tapioca, but I usually ate it out of a plastic container labeled "Jell-O." Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi includes a recipe for Coconut Tapioca, which I made because it was an assignment for Tuesdays with Dorie.

Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille can be translated as "a thousand leaves" and rightfully so, as you can really feel your teeth sinking into layers and layers of puff pastry in just one bite. Each layer sandwiches a vanilla pastry cream which provides a nice subtle sweetness with a smooth texture to balance out the flaky pastry.

Bubble Éclairs

I originally made these Bubble Éclairs because I wanted to test out Dorie's pasty cream recipe. However, I gave up on the pastry cream after several failed attempts. I ended up making these Éclairs with a cocoa whipped cream filling instead. I also wanted to make these Éclairs because I thought I could knock 2 recipes out in one shot (also making Chouquettes).  All in all, these turned out well and I would make these again.

Chouquettes

Chouquettes are like little cream puff pastries, except without the cream inside. They're topped with pearl sugar (which happen to be my favorite part) and make a perfect bite-sized snack.