Tag Archives: Dessert

Blog Birthday Brownies

Cupcakes for Breakfast: double chocolate espresso almond salted brownies

Hello friends. Life has been pretty crazy recently, and I absolutely feel like I’m missing something every day when I don’t post. Of course life and work gets in the way, but I really want to try to write and create here more often than I have been. It makes me feel so much better. More alive. Most like me.

This week was this blog’s fourth birthday! Of course first I forgot the day and second I completely forgot what my first post was about. (Warning: if you click on these links you’re going to see some pretty awful and hilarious photos.) I thought my inaugural post was this brownie recipe, but it was actually this post about a blueberry galette. Oh goodness. When things sometimes feel so hard and you’re struggling to get somewhere, it’s refreshing to look at something like that to see how I’ve grown. How this little blog has grown.

Cupcakes for Breakfast: double chocolate espresso almond salted brownies

To celebrate little victories – like knowing how to take a better photo (even if it is with my iphone) or knowing how to develop my own recipes now or not having to eat off plastic plates anymore or living on my own and being an independent, determined, and strong woman – let’s bake some gooey grown up brownies. (And pretend this is actually coming full circle and brownies weren’t my second post.) Use two kinds of chocolate. Toast almonds. Stir in much needed strong coffee for a kick. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. This is a girl who knows what she’s doing now. Although she still and always will love her dessert with a glass of milk!

Cupcakes for Breakfast: double chocolate espresso almond salted brownies

Double Chocolate, Espresso, Salted, Almond Brownies

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
9 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (or use chocolate chips)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 350°. In a double boiler, combine and melt chocolates and butter. Let cool slightly.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar, eggs, coffee, and chocolate. Slowly add flour, salt, and toasted almonds and mix to combine.
Pour brownie mix into an 8×8″ greased pan. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Bake just until set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before digging in – or totally skip this step and cut into them when they’re still warm and top with ice cream, like I did.

Cupcakes for Breakfast: double chocolate espresso almond salted brownies

Orange Poppy Seed Mascarpone Pound Cake

Oh hey happy April! I’m still on a bit of an orange kick last week after I made these orange ricotta dessert pizzas. So to try out a different citrus/cheese combo, I made this orange poppy seed mascarpone pound cake. I think the mascarpone makes it pretty rich, but I still enjoyed having a small slice of it for breakfast, or as a dinner/dessert combo after a long day at work. This would be perfect for a weekend brunch with friends paired with prosecco and a savory bread pudding.

I just love the fresh and bright orange flavor – a perfect way to welcome spring.

Orange Poppy Seed Mascarpone Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest from a medium orange
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, from the same orange
8 oz. container of mascarpone cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Greece a loaf pan and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer add sugar and orange zest. Using your fingers, rub the zest and sugar together so it’s blended and fragrant. Add mascarpone, eggs, vanilla, and vegetable and beat on medium speed until combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet mixture until fully combined.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 45-50 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Poppy Seed Mascarpone Pound Cake

Orange Ricotta Dessert Pizzas

orange ricotta dessert pizzas

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I love Italian desserts and pastries. Cannoli, tri-color cookies, zeppole, a biscotti with my coffee. But one of my absolute favorites is sfogliatelle. The delicate layers and laters of pastry are great, but the best part I think is the ricotta filling with a hint of orange. If you haven’t had one of these, find your local Italian shop and hunt one down. Seriously.

orange ricotta dessert pizzas

So for some reason, I’ve been craving this orange ricotta filling like crazy. And while I’d love to spend an entire day learning how to make sfogliatelle myself, let’s be real…no time for that. But I do have time for a little pizza night. Buying the dough at the grocery store or local pizza shop helps cut some corners and let’s you focus on the creative part.

I also thought pizza dough would be a great vehicle for my orange ricotta fix. I made two little pies, both topped with some slices strawberries, one drizzled in honey and the other drizzled in dark chocolate. I couldn’t tell you which one I liked more. Actually, I was so excited about these dessert pizzas that I ate them before my savory dinner pizza. Oops.

tomato pancetta pizza

(In case you were curious, for my savory pizza, I sautéed some pancetta and tomatoes in olive oil and garlic and spooned that over my dough which was already covered in fresh mozzarella slices. After it cooked, I topped it with some fresh spinach. Yum!)

Ok, but on to the highlight…dessert! Now what can I make next to continue satisfying my orange ricotta craving? Send me your ideas!

orange ricotta dessert pizzas

Orange Ricotta Dessert Pizzas

Pizza Dough (of course store bought is totally fine)
Ricotta cheese
Orange for zesting
Sugar
Strawberries for garnish
Honey
Dark Chocolate, melted

In a small bowl, mix ricotta (about 4 oz for two small pizzas), orange zest (however much flavor you want), and about a tablespoon of sugar. Form small pizza rounds, top with ricotta mixture, and bake on a pizza stone at about 400° for 8 minutes. Top with strawberries, another sprinkle of sugar, and drizzle with either honey or dark chocolate.

(Note: These also would be great on a grill, and maybe that way you’d get the charred marks on the dough that I failed to get in my oven.)

Head Above Water

crisp salted chocolate chip cookies for the first day of spring Happy first day of Spring! I know, it’s spring already? Wait, what? Starting a new job has been a major adjustment for me. Days seem to fly by with not enough time to get it all done. I love what I’m doing, but I’m also trying to keep my head above water. I know I’ll get the hang of it eventually.

So here’s a little recipe to help you get through to the end of the week. (Because I sure need it.) Between running around and working this weekend, I whipped up these cookies in record time. They’re perfect for that. Easy, fool-proof, quick, classic, taste great. I sprinkled a little sea salt on top just to make them a little more special. (Gosh, you could even make box cookies and add sea salt before baking and you’d look really good!)

Sometimes you need to just stop for a moment (surround yourself in happy pinks and teals) and smell the chocolate chip cookies. Ok, taste them too. They’re really good.

crisp salted chocolate chip cookies

Crisp Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 3 dozen. Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk flour and baking soda together in a small bowl.
Beat butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add salt, vanilla, eggs, and water. Mix until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or baking mats. Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each cookie dough ball. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway though, until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Wake up with Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

2013-02-18 10.10.46 Good morning! Wake up! You have your coffee and probably some super healthy bland breakfast in front of you and you’ll looking at these photos and drooling, right? Ok let’s change that.

2013-02-18 10.10.09

You know I support cake for breakfast every so often, and I think I recently discovered the perfect one. I made a simple light vanilla cake (you could even do a box mix), but the best part was the strong coffee flavored frosting that I quickly whipped up and slathered all over it.

This sponge-like cake pairs so well with the sweet creamy cream cheese frosting and delicious coffee flavor. I’d also love this frosting on chocolate cupcakes or a hazelnut pound cake. So someone should try those and get back to me!

Of course it wasn’t beyond me to to pair it with even more coffee and curl up on my couch on a weekend morning with the two in hand. JCrew Saturday pants + a stack of magazines + this cake + big mug of coffee + a cozy throw + West Wing + hilarious group texts about the night before. Sounds perfect.

2013-02-18 10.08.17

Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok, let’s see if I can remember how I made this frosting. Something like this…

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter and 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese. In a separate small bowl, dissolve some instant coffee or espresso in a little bit of water. I would say I used about a tablespoon and a half of water and about two teaspoon of instant French roast. It all depends on how strong you want your coffee flavor. Beat in the coffee mix and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Finally, incorporate about 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar to complete your frosting. Spread on a cooled cake and enjoy with more coffee.