these mint brownies were for sean and are nod to his fave candy. we’ve been together for nearly four years now and he is my favorite guy. these weren’t for our anniversary or anything (that would be valentines day…lame, but i love it!), but for a big, bad exam. the first of a few to come.

he studied like a maniac for weeks and took the FE (a fundamentals exam for burgeoning engineers) this weekend and returned home…after 8 hours of testing…to dinner and these brownies. nothing pleases that boy more than food and if that food can be eaten out of hand, even better. he works and studies hard…just a sweet little something for my sweet little someone.

mint double chocolate brownies
adapted from an issue of martha stewart holiday cookies that i’ve had for a few years…it has proven to be an indispensable little guide to holiday treats. all i did was swap the vanilla for some mint extract. i know, i am wild.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp mint extract

preheat oven to 350 degrees. line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. butter pan and parchement.

so…i made pies identical to these last weekend and i made some spiced ice cream to go with them. what happened you ask? i brought one pie to my bff and the other one was eaten while i was away. by the jezebel. i walked into the kitchen and there sat the plate…empty and pie-less. i was pretty mad and she knew it, sulking away in the corner. there are many reasons why i believe it was the dog. she can be sneaky at times and she has been known to eat baked goods off the counter (ahem, pan-o-fudge a few years ago, which incidentally left her hallucinating in the corner for an entire day…) i guess i can’t blame her too much for not being able to resist the temptation.

the culprit

i decided to remake the pies since i was robbed of the apple-y goodness that i had been craving. no ice cream though. dang. i haven’t really ever been a fan of apples in their cooked form, but this year has been different. i have gained a new found appreciation for them–baked, sauteed, enveloped in buttery, flaky crust. mmmmm. i have many plans for these dear, autumn fruits.

all butter pie crust
this recipe is from martha. i have been using it forever and it is my fave because…well, i love butter and i’m not really trying to mess around with anything else. i use a food processor to do the work, but of course you could use a pastry blender or a fork or knife. that is what i did until i aquired my food processor. whatever works.

i only used one disk of dough for the pies…so extra could be used for something else yummy later on.

1 cup very cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4-8 tbsp ice water

put flour, salt and sugar in food processor and add butter while machine is on to cut in. pulse until the butter looks about the size of small peas. while machine is on gradually add ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough forms.

turn out dough and shape into two equal disks. wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

apple filling
i used honey crisp apples because they were on sale at raley’s. they worked nicely and kept their shape well. the sugar can be adjusted, i like my apple pie on the tart side…more room for sweet accompaniments like ice cream and caramel sauce. if you don’t want to make two small pies, make one large one.

2-3 baking apples
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter, divided

preheat oven to 350 F.

peel, core and slice apples and place in a medium bowl. add lemon juice, sugar, honey, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. stir until apples are well coated.

cut dough disk in half and roll out into a circle-ish shape. place half of filling in the center of rolled out dough and repeat with the second one. break up one tablespoon of butter with fingers for each pie and sprinkle over the top of each. fold in sides of dough, wrapping the filling up like a loose package, leaving the apples in the center exposed. bake for 30-40 minutes.

okay, so let me begin by saying there are no apples in this cake. i, being the crazy person that i am, forgot that and shot the photos with apples in them. then i added a little side of sauteed apples to sort of make sense of it all. in my defense, i think i made the mix-up because as i was setting up my photo area, i was baking some apple pie. a girls head can get cloudy with so much autumnal spice in the air.

i have been thinking about crumb cake for well over a week now and each time my mind wandered there i thought about the big crumb coffee cake i saw on smitten kitchen a while back. since i didn’t really want a fruity cake, i decided to adapt another recipe. the cake turned out moist with a sugary crunch around the edges and the big crumbs…perfection. i am still not one-hundred percent on the cake base, not that this isn’t so good that i keep sneaking back into the kitchen to sneak a nibble. but, i wanted something more tender and light…so there may be another appearance from those big sugary, buttered crumbs in the near future.

crumbs
borrowed and adapted from deb over at smitten kitchen

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups flour

mix together all ingredients, except flour until smooth. fold in flour, mixture will look like a solid dough. set aside.

cake
adapted from dorie greenspan’s baking from my home to yours. i tweaked the recipe from the cinnamon squares and came up with this. i used cake flour since i seem to have an abundance of it right now.

1 /14 cups sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick of butter melted
2 tbsp light oil
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

preheat oven to 350 F.

whisk together eggs, sour cream and milk, set aside.

add oil to melted butter and set aside.

in a large bowl combine sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. whisk in egg mixture until just combined. with a rubber spatula fold in butter and oil until until just combined, batter will be smooth and silky.

pour batter into a prepared pan. break up crumb dough with fingertips, trying to maintain large chunks throughout. sprinkle crumbs over batter and bake for about 35-40 minutes.

it’s been a very busy couple weekends and this past weekend was the busiest. i intended to take some photos of the three cakes i made the past two weekends, but due to poor lighting and my finicky camera, none were taken. dang.

sean and i traveled across the nevada desert to the small, mining town of eureka where most of my family lives to celebrate my grandfather’s birthday. my aunt organized it all and it was lovely. we decorated and cooked, dined and danced, laughed and cried in eureka’s historic opera house. my aunt made a movie of pictures of my grandparents, their children and grandchildren. longtime friends of my grandparents (i’m talking 40 + years of friendship here) made the journey. there were speeches and toasts and…i was called out by the dj for making the cakes…my special gift to my grandfather. so embarrasing since my face was all red and puffy from crying through the movie. while everyone danced i tried to remember each special moment, to sear it into my memory, especially my grandparents gliding across the dance floor to their song. it was an emotional evening, but one that is dear.

i did find some time during the insanity to make a dish i have been wanting to try for a while now. panna cotta with raspberries and pretzel topping. there is this layered dessert my grandmother used to make that was made of crushed pretzels layered with cream cheese and raspberry jello. i have been wanting to make my own version of this for some time and panna cotta seemed to fit. the flavors almost hit the mark, but missed just a little. i think next time i will add some cream cheese, just to mimic the flavors more exactly.

the vanilla panna cotta recipe was found here and pretty much followed exactly. i used a vanilla bean instead of extract.

raspberry sauce
spoon the sauce into whatever dishes you choose and top with panna cotta…pour the panna cotta slowly or the two will mix.

12 oz. raspberries
2 tbsp. key lime juice
1 cup sugar

place all ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. turn down heat and simmer until sauce reduces and thickens. 10-15 mins over med-low heat.

is anyone there?

this weekend and the next are going to be pretty busy, so my posting will be sparse for the next week or two. i have a baby shower to go to tomorrow…and i am providing the cake. and, next weekend is my grandfather’s birthday bash extravaganza…which i am making the cake for as well.

so these are going to be my two biggest productions ever…and hopefully they won’t be big, sorry flops. i hope to post a few things throughout, so wish me luck! and as always, thanks for stopping by.