Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger

The cookies were the first thing I packed into the camping basket.  Peanut butter, bread, bags of our favourite chips all made it, but after these cookies.  We ate them while hiking, while on the ferry and pretty much any other time they popped into view.  I know for sure they would make great food swap/potluck cookies, they'd be some of the first to go.

They were amazing!  The texture in them was pure bliss, fudgy and chewy, the super chocolate cookie of your dreams.  While the ginger was fine, none of the folks in my house (myself included) love candied ginger.  The first day was enjoyable, but a few days later the ginger was even more pronounced, too much for these cookie lovers.  I'll be making these cookies all the time now, they've earned a spot on this list, but minus the ginger.

Baking notes:
-Using a high-quality white chocolate, like lindt makes all the difference to those of us who claim not to like white chocolate.  The 3 1/2oz called for is exactly what a bar weighs.
-I used semi-sweet chocolate in the recipe rather than bittersweet, I personally found this to be perfect.

You can find the Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger recipe on the epicurious website.

14/569

Caramel-Walnut Upside-Down Banana Cake

What a mouth full! The titles of the recipes in this book are certainly descriptive.  I made this cake for another father's day celebration that happened this past weekend.  I took a risk, since my Dad might not be the most open-minded guy - food wise.  Happily the cake went over with resounding success, everyone liked it, my dad especially. 

A few days prior I intentionally squirreled a few bananas away top of my refrigerator until they were so dark they nearly met their fate in the garbage.  Then I peeled off their black skins, mashed them with a fork and swirled my pureed bananas into a sweet vanilla rum batter.  The banana batter sat atop a nearly sickly sweet caramel and the two mingled in the oven until they were one.  In the end the cake was delicious, but very, almost overly sweet.  Please note.

Baking notes:
-In reading the reviews on this recipe I noticed how hard the caramel became when the cake cooled.  To counteract this I added a 1/4 cup of thick cream as soon as the caramel was cooked, but before the walnuts were added.  While the caramel still hardened to a tooth-some chew, it was not crunchy and tooth-breakable.
-I used a 9-inch spring-form pan to cook this cake.  Unfortunately, all-though I suspected it might, the caramel did leak out the bottom.  Next time, and I would advise you too, I'll use a regular cake pan.  The 8-inch pan called for would never be big enough.
-Next time I would add about a 1/3 cup more walnuts to the caramel, I found this a little lacking.

You can find the Caramel-Walnut Upside-Down Banana Cake recipe on the epicurious website.

13/569

Vanilla Cheesecake Tartlets with Vanilla-Vodka Berries

This tart recipe was pulled from the pages of Desserts for a father's day treat.  The execution was very simple, my father-in-law's favourite graham cracker shell with a nice vodka and vanilla cheesecake base.  The results were very rich and decadent, the gelatin setting to a thick, creamy, not too sweet base.  Almost too much so, I found myself struggling to finish it.  The berries were delicious, the vodka a grownup note in an otherwise simple tart.  There is enough vodka in the tart I thought it would be harsh, but on the contrary, unless you were looking for it, the notes blended into a beautiful harmonious plate.  Crunchy, buttery, luscious with a pop of fresh berry flavour.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of the recipe but had too much graham cracker base and cheesecake mixture leftover.  Enough for a fifth tart.
-I added an extra Tbsp of melted butter to the graham cracker crust to achieve a proper consistency.
-Be sure to let the berries and vodka sit for no more than 15 minutes, the results might be too strong otherwise.

You can find the Vanilla Cheesecake Tartlets with Vanilla-Vodka Berries recipe on the epicurious website.

12/569

Old Fashioned Brownies

"Which one should I choose, Tash?  My perfect brownies or the old fashioned brownies from the book?"
"The perfect ones obviously, why would you make another brownie recipe after you have the perfect one?"
"So I can check it off the list.  You're right though, I'll make the brownies I know are good."

A conversation between my sister and I deciding on dessert for seven.  After I returned home for the store I realized I had forgotten all the ingredients to my perfect brownies and had on hand the exact amount of chocolate for these brownies.  So that settled that.  Unfortunately these brownies were far from perfect, in fact they were not very good at all.  Dry, lackluster and disappointing.  Stick to my perfect recipe for a straight-up-chocolate-brownie.

Baking notes:
- I made half of this recipe in an 8x8 inch pan, which was the perfect size for seven people.
- I baked it for 16 minutes, but that was too long.
- I found it took a while to make this brownie recipe, mostly because of the time needed to cool the chocolate.

You can find the Old-Fashioned Brownie recipe on the Bon Appetit website.

11/569

Warm Jasmine Rice Puddings with Passion Fruit

Hello,
3 months later.

I'm not a great blogger I know, I haven't cooked out of the book in two months!  I have looked in it plenty of times though, if that counts for anything.  Often times I'll crave something from the book, like rice pudding, for example, but the recipe won't be to my tastes, so I find sources elsewhere to accommodate me.  With this rice pudding however, I changed the recipe slightly, so that I'd finally be able to report back to you on another dessert.

Rice Pudding: delicious.  Though this wasn't the best rice pudding I've ever had, it certainly far from the worst.  It was creamy, intoxicating and sweet.  Coconut kisses, vanilla wafts and cinnamon sighs, harmoniously mingling like a couples party in a thick, cozy wood-smoked room.  Maybe not the best for the first of June, but since the weather was grey and passive, pudding and showers prevailed.

Baking notes:
-Firstly, I made a half batch, which always affects cooking times, consistency etc.
-In place of coconut rum I used a spiced rum and didn't drain it from the raisins as the recipe states, instead adding the liquid to the pudding.
-My vanilla beans are old and not as flavourful as they used to be, I added about 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Ditto on the cinnamon.
-I added a few extra Tbsp of coconut milk because my rice wasn't cooked enough by the time the liquid cooked out.
-As you can tell I didn't use passionfruit, or the lime for that matter.  (See the comment about accommodating my tastes)
-I did try to get a caramelized crust on top of the pudding, but obviously my broiler wasn't up to the task.  What little solid sugar did form was very, very good.  (Just when will I make the blow torch purchase?)

You can find the Warm Jasmine Rice Puddings with Passion Fruit recipe on the Bon Appetit website.