Brownies

This brownies recipe came from my grandma and my mom has been making them for as long as I can remember.  They are simple to prepare and can be completed within 45 minutes (including baking time).  We’ve always eaten them fresh out of the oven with ice cream, but they also taste great the next day with a glass of milk.  

This recipe can be slightly modified depending on whether you like fudgy or cake-like brownies.  If you like fudgier brownies, use butter, but if you like brownies with more of a cake-like texture, use vegetable shortening. 

Mother's Day 2012

This year for Mother’s Day, I had to do something special.  Since we were hosting a small party of about 20 people, I wanted to create some light or miniature desserts so that everyone could try more than one item.  

Pictured above are Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.  I dipped the strawberries in chocolate and once the chocolate hardened, I drizzled white chocolate on top.  They are incredibly quick and easy to do (it only takes about half an hour to an hour to cover 30+ strawberries), but one of the most important steps is to make sure the strawberries are washed and dried completely.  If the strawberries are wet, the moisture will cause the chocolate to freeze up and you’ll end up wasting your whole bowl of melted chocolate.   

I also wanted to create something with fresh fruit and custard for a light, refreshing dessert.  One of my favorite things about baking is how creative you can be.  Once you master the basics, you can always create new combinations.  For the dessert pictured above, I used mini silicone baking cups and brushed them with melted chocolate to make bittersweet chocolate cups.  Then I filled the cups with rich, vanilla bean custard and topped them with fresh blueberries and strawberries and a couple dollops of fresh whipped cream. 

Another dessert that I made was a Strawberry Cream Roll, which is a vanilla sponge cake rolled with fresh strawberries and vanilla bean whipped cream.  This dessert is perfect since the cake, strawberries, and whipped cream are all incredibly light.  

Besides the items pictured, I also made Lemon Bars and some Mini Fleur de Sel Cupcakes (Dark Chocolate Cake, filled with Fleur de Sel Caramel, and topped with Fleur de Sel Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream). 

Bouchon Bakery's Macarons

If you haven’t been to Bouchon Bakery before, you must stop by next time you’re nearby.  They have 5 locations in the United States: two in California (Yountville and Beverly Hills), two in New York City, and one in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Although Bouchon Bakery is known for their breads, pastries, and confections they also have a full espresso bar as well as a café menu with sandwiches, salads, and quiche to make lunch on-the-go easy. 

One of my favorite confections from Bouchon Bakery is their macarons.  Macarons are soft, chewy meringue cookies made with ground almonds and sandwiched together with rich, velvety Swiss meringue buttercream.  The last time I visited, I bought one of each of their espresso, raspberry, and vanilla macarons as well as their seasonal flavor, which at the time was a malted chocolate macaron. 

I also tried their version of the San Francisco born classic: the ho-ho.  This Bouchon version of the ho-ho was composed of a chocolate cake rolled with Chantilly cream and covered in a rich chocolate shell.  Their ho-ho was delicious, but it’s a dessert that you definitely want with some milk. 

Dessert at Hawks Restaurant: The Hawks Bar

If you’re ever in Northern California, try Hawks Restaurant in Granite Bay.  Hawks is an upscale restaurant that has menus that vary with the season.  I recommend that you make a reservation though, as they can get booked completely.  When I ate there for lunch over the winter, I had their rich, creamy puree of wild mushroom soup with sherry gastrique and fried shallots.  For the main course, I shared their buttermilk fried chicken, which was nice and crispy without being greasy, along with house-made macaroni and cheese.  Both courses were delicious! 

At Hawks Restaurant, their dessert menu changes seasonally as well.  However, one constant dessert is this Hawks Bar.    The Hawks bar starts with a rich chocolate brownie base.  Next is a chewy caramel layer and above that is a crisp caramelized rice crispy layer.  Pastry cream is piped on top and resting gently on the pastry cream is a thin layer of dark chocolate.  Served alongside the Hawks bar is house-made Valrhona cocoa nib gelato.  This was probably one of the best desserts I’ve ever had!  And don’t forget to accompany this with their café au lait!

Dessert at Bardessono: S'mores

If you’re ever in the Napa Valley, try Lucy Restaurant & Bar at Bardessono, a luxury hotel and spa in Yountville, California.  While I was there, I tried their dessert, which was a twist on the classic S'mores.  The S’mores plate presentation is simple, yet elegant.  Rich chocolate sauce is drizzled across the plate.  The base of the S’mores is a rich chocolate torte (tasting almost like a flourless chocolate cake) topped with marshmallow gelato that was gently torched before serving.  Resting against the toasted marshmallow gelato is a house-made graham cracker (and probably one of the best graham crackers I’ve ever had).  To the left is Lucy Restaurant’s peanut butter powder.  The peanut butter powder melted in your mouth, leaving the soft taste of peanuts.  This dessert was perfect paired with their café latte. 

Boston Cream Cupcakes

In my twist of the classic Boston Cream Pie, I filled light Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcakes with creamy Vanilla Bean Custard and piped Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream on top. 

Ingredients:

• 24 Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcakes, cooled
• 1 recipe Vanilla Bean Custard, refrigerated until set
• 1 recipe Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Take a small paring knife and core the each cupcake, leaving ¼ inch of cake on the bottom and about ½ an inch of cake on the sides. 

Fill the center of each cupcake with vanilla custard.  I found that using a small spoon and simply spooning in the custard works perfectly. 

Using a spatula, add the chocolate swiss meringue buttercream to a piping bag set with a large star tip.  Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes, starting at the edge and moving in a smooth, circular motion as you bring the tip above the center of each cupcake. 

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream is the perfect topping for almost any cake or cupcake.  It has the distinct flavor of chocolate without giving up the light, creamy texture of a Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream. 

Chocolate Pudding Pie

A classic favorite – Chocolate Pudding Pie

Fresh whipped cream speckled with vanilla bean seeds contrasts nicely with the velvety, rich chocolate pudding in this chocolate pudding pie.  For this pie, you can vary the crust, using anything from a cookie crust (made with chocolate or vanilla wafers) to a normal pie crust.  For my version of this classic pie, I used a Pâte Sucrée, which is like a vanilla sugar cookie crust.