TWD: French Chocolate Brownies

This weeks recipe out of Dories book was French Chocolate Brownies. Having never made brownies from scratch I was a little nervous but these were pretty easy to make. The family loved them, my husband said they had a "smoother chocolate flavor than boxed brownies." Now I can't say I won't ever make boxed brownies again I sure won't shy away from the scratch ones. I didn't use the raisins in mine and they still turned out delish.

French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar
Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.
Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.
Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.
Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.
Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!
Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!!!

Happy Birthday Buddy! You are now 3 wow! Heres a quick look back over the last 3 years. I had so much fun looking at all the pictures since you were born. It's probably a good thing I only have a portion of your pictures on this computer or we all would be here all day looking at them:) We love you Matthew have a great "derthday"

Papa's Helper

Matthew loves to help Papa whenever they are together no matter what. On this day Papa was changing a tire for us and true to form Matthew was right by his side the whole time. Papa has such patience and lets Matthew help him do just about anything.

Our Dear Friend

We were very lucky to go see our dear friends Logan and Christine a couple weeks ago. Matthew loved hanging out and playing with his little buddy. He tried to give Logan all his toys and loved being with him. Thanks Christine for having us we love you guys and can't wait to see you more:)

Ready for School

Matthew loves to ride his bike everywhere. He tells us how he his going to ride his bike to school. He showed us he was all ready by bringing his backpack out and riding his bike telling us he was going to school.

TWD: Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

This is my first post for a blog group I joined where we are making our way through the cookbook "Baking from my home to yours" by Dorrie Greenspan. This weeks recipe was Pecan Honey Sticky Buns which were delicious(even without the pecans(not a fan)) Well worth the work. I do need to work on my food photography but I'm excited to work my way through this great book and make some yummy treats:)

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns
Makes 15 buns
For the Glaze:
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces1/4 cup honey1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)
For the Filling:
1/4 cup sugar3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar1 tablespoon ground cinnamon3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Buns:
1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)
Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).
To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissovle the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out asbest you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinle over the pecans.
To make the filling: Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.
To shape the buns: On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glae recipe accordingly).
With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.
Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns ahve doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.
Getting ready to bake: When the buns have almost fully risen , center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven.
The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mate or buttered foil. Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.
What You'll Need for the Golden Brioche Dough (this recipe makes enough for two brioche loaves. If you divide the dough in half, you would use half for the sticky buns, and you can freeze the other half for a later date, or make a brioche loaf out of it!):
2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons)1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons salt3 large eggs, at room temperature1/4 cup sugar3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm
What You'll Need for the Glaze (you would brush this on brioche loaves, but not on the sticky buns):
1 large egg1 tablespoon water
To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can proceed with the recipe to make the brioche loaves, or make the sticky buns instead, or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)
The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.
Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)
Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.

Mower Boy!

Matthew loves to help me when I work on the yard. Here he is anxiously waiting for it to be late enough in the morning to actually start the lawn mower. He doesn't quite understand that just because we might be up earlier most people won't appreciate the lawn mower going at 8:00 on a saturday.

Fun in the Dirt

We have a pile of dirt in our driveway anxiosly awaiting to be spread in our backyard, but in the meantime Matthew is certainly is enjoying himself!!

Sleepy Boy

I started a challenge on the upumpitup website to use photography to find beauty in all the stuff your life is made of. I thought this would be a great thing for me to help appreciate the little things that often times get looked over or forgotten. So hopefully I can remember to take my camera with me and capture something new everyday for a month. I started with a pretty obvious beauty in my life. Nap time sure is great, whether I am napping to or enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet it sure is great to see this cutie pie sound asleep.

Matthew's First Concert

We had the pleasure of attending my moms orchestra concert last night and I was brave enough to bring Matthew along for the ride:) He was so excited to see Grandma play her violin. He was actually fairly well behaved also. There was a lot of sshing from me cause he got so excited when he say Grandma. He also loved watching the conductor and would often times try to imitate him by waving his hands all around. It was great fun for both Mom and Matthew.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

OK I know this is a couple weeks late but I just wanted to post about my amazing Dad. He does so much for our family without ever thinking about himself or his wants. He is an awesome Grandpa to Matthew and We love him so much. Happy Birthday PAPA! We love YOU!

Mt Peak

Uncle Ty and Julia came home for my Dads birthday and they were brave enough to adventure up Mt Peak with Matthew. They all had a blast though. We are truely blessed to have such a great family.

Easter Afternoon

We had a great time on Easter. Uncle Chancey held another little egg hunt for Matthew and he got goodies from the Grandma and Papa Easter Bunny also. We are so very grateful for all of our blessing and having them all so close. Thanks to all of them for all they do for us. We love you!!

Easter Morning

Look at all those goodies anxiously awaiting the monsters awaking!
Matthew absolutely loved his treasures.

Easter Fun

Ok I know it's been a long time since I've been on but I wanted to update you all on whats going on in our lives. We had a fun Easter this year. Matthew went on his first Easter egg hunt at my cousin Shelby's house. He had so much fun, thank you so much Shelby Lou:) We love you!

In process of finding:)
This is what happened after he got the loot home, I don't think he is a big fan of the jelly beans. You can see all the chocolate is mia!