Once a baking test
Now a Pesach tradition
Try the steps below

Fifteen-Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte
Page 276-277, Baking: From My Home to Yours

Makes 8 Servings
6 large double Amaretti di Saronno or 18 mini amarettini cookies (2.75 oz) (other brands can be used as well)
3/4 cup almonds (blanched or not; whole, sliced or slivered)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
For the Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
For the Almond Whipped Cream …

It’s been far too long since my last Tuesdays with Dorie post. Truth be told, I think I was extremely disheartened after the disaster that was my attempt at the Coconut-Pineapple Dacquoise. Not that it tasted bad, but I put so much time, energy and money into it, that any disappointment was really too much for me with my stress levels at the level they were at. Now, I’ve cooled off, had a chance to restabilize and ready to put the flour back on my hands!
These Espresso Cheescake brownies combine …

Did ya think I’d forgotten ya? Hardly! However from now until the end of June I’m focused on some work-related activities that are extremely time and energy consuming, so my apologies from now that updates will be rather sparse. However if all goes as planned I will be able to resume a much more prolific schedule again
This time around I’m back with today’s Tuesdays With Dorie challenge, Chipster Brownies. After the success of the Tiramisu Cake (I even got offers to make it for $$$! …

Here it is, down to the wire. Still über busy but I wasn’t gonna let the posting date for this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge pass me by!
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
I have made cheesecakes in the past but it’s been a long while and I was very excited to try this challenge because the recipe provided was more of a template than a blueprint. Not only did the hosts provide variations for us …

It’s with bittersweet reluctance that I bid February goodbye. Never has one month seen me cook and consume SO MUCH CHOCOLATE! Although my tastebuds do not approve of the inevitable shift that leaving the ‘month of love’ will bring, I can only think that my own waistline is relieved by the new page on the calendar!
Still, if ever there was a recipe to end a chocolate high on this is the one! Titled Chocolate Armagnac Cake it is this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie pick. Found on pages 279-281 of …

Chocolat (2000): Nominated for 5 Academy Awards(R) including Best Picture, Best Actress (Juliette Binoche — THE ENGLISH PATIENT), and Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench — SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), CHOCOLAT is the beautiful and captivating comedy from the acclaimed director of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES! Nobody could have imagined the impact that the striking Vianne (Binoche) would make when she arrived in a tranquil, old-fashioned French town. In her very unusual chocolate shop, Vianne begins to create mouth-watering confections that almost magically inspire the straitlaced villagers to abandon themselves to temptation …

Look at that cake! So perfect for this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge! Chocolatey, gooey, with a thin, crackly brownie-like crust… so light but rich, it melts on your tongue… and.. not a drop of flour in sight! *record scratch* …
Yup, you heard me! A chocolate cake, luscious, decadent and gluten free! I loved dropping this piece of information on people, especially my mother as I offered her up a slice! Flourless cakes are not something new to me. I am used to making them at Passover …

This recipe (well one of its variants) was my first introduction to raw ‘cuisine’. In my rather shallow, self-indulgent mind, if I could enjoy desserts as these, without fuss or guilt, I owed it to myself to learn more! Since then you’ll be happy to know that most of my raw consumption has expanded to include vegetables and proper meals, but raw brownies remain a guilt-free pleasure.
There seem to be a million and one recipes for raw brownies but they share similar building blocks. A succulent dried fruit (usually …

I’ll say it up front. I’m not a toffee fan. I don’t like its overt sweetness, or its sticky tendency to adhere to my teeth. So, when I saw that the recipe that had been assigned for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie contained toffee I was a little worried.
These Caramel Crunch Bars appear deceptively complicated but their assembly is actually pretty simple. First a coffee-chocolate shortbread base is prepared and baked. Then it is topped with a layer of chocolate which is allowed to melt for a few moments …

“Decadence with a smile”, those were Jason’s first words when he first tasted this Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread. Following his example I also dug in and had to nod (or moan) my agreement. “It’s like something I’d actually buy!” I said, and coming from me that’s high praise indeed. Rich, coffee laced chocolate icing forms the perfect counterfoil to the sweeter chocolate gingerbread base. Studded with slivers of fresh (as well as crystallized) ginger and chocolate chips this gingerbread has no problem staying light, moist and vibrantly flavoured. It’s …