Brownies

America's Test Kitchen took on Copley Square in Boston with the question of, "Which is better: homemade or boxed brownies?". To their dismay, they found that people preferred the taste of boxed brownies to homemade, largely because the boxed variety were much chewier, more moist, and overall just better. They also determined that the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat really matters, claiming that homemade brownies usually have too much butter and not enough vegetable oil. And as always, they said that the chocolate flavor of boxed brownies is not chocolatey enough for them.

Boxed brownies will usually satisfy me - especially the Ghiradelli brand, whose boxed brownies are AMAZING. But I wanted to try the ATK recipe just for kicks AND I like knowing what is in my brownies, so I do prefer homemade when I have the time. They came out really good, and they aren't too crazily complicated, like some of the ATK recipes can be.

Here is the recipe, slightly modified from the original version.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup cocoa  
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
  
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate , cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13X9 pan with 2 pieces of foil, so that the foil hangs over all four sides of the pan, creating handles by which you can lift the brownies out of the pan with. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. 

2. Whisk cocoa, instant coffee, and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Lemon Cheesecake

No-bake Lemon Cheesecake! Yum!

I made this cheesecake in honor of those C5ers who listed cheesecake as their favorite dessert. We like to have our freshmen students over for dinner every fall, and I like to make their favorite desserts if I can. I don't normally make or even really like cheesecake - it is not one of my favorite desserts - but this cheesecake was GOOD. I liked it, and I decided that I would make it again, so I decided to share it here.

The recipe is adapted from Cook's Country's Lemon Icebox Cheesecake. I had to make it in a pie dish instead of a cheescake pan but it worked out okay. Next time, I would just make sure to spray the pan before putting the crust in because it was a pain to get the crust out of the pan! Seriously, it was very difficult.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Crust

15 lemon sandwich cookies, processed in a food processor

3 T melted butter

1 t. (or so) grated lemon zest.

Curd

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

2 T lemon juice

1 T butter

1 T heavy cream

Filling

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese

3/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

1 1/4 c. heavy cream

Preparation Instructions

Crust Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cookies, butter, and zest either in the food processor or in a bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9 inch pie dish or cheesecake pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Curd Whisk egg, egg yolk, sugar, and salt together in a small saucepan. Add lemon juice and cook over medium to medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and pudding like. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. If it doesn't start thickening after 4 minutes, turn the heat up a bit but keep stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cream. Strain the curd to get out any clumpy parts, and refrigerate until you need it in the next step.

Filling First soften the gelatin by mixing the lemon juice and gelatin in a small bowl and letting it sit for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, microwave about 30 seconds, or until the gelatin has dissolved. Set the gelatin aside. Then, beat cream cheese, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy, for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Then add gelatin mixture and 1/4 c. of the curd. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and airy, about 3 minutes.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth out the top. Put the rest of the curd in a small ziploc baggy and cut a small slit in the corner of the bag. Pipe lines of curd on top of the cake and lightly drag a knive or skewer through the lines to create a marbled appearance.

Refridgerate at least 6 hours. Serve!

Enjoy!

Apple Bake 2011

Burton Conner Apple Bake 2011 is right around the corner!

For those of you who may not know what Apple Bake is, here is how it works: Every year, the residents of Burton Conner (MIT undergraduate dormitory) cook and bake apple recipes and submit them into a bake-off competition. Hundreds of students submit hundreds of entries every year.

Last year, the event was a great success!

We were featured in MIT News:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/apple-bake.html

We also began the tradition of apple bake mugs, and had the fun theme of Peace, Love, and Apple Pie!

This year, we made a website (Click to check it out).

and are really excited about our theme: Keep Calm and Bake Apples!

It will all be happening on November 6, 2011!!!

 

 

Iced Coffee

This summer I became addicted to iced coffee. Having to wake up early every day all summer long was not easy, but this coffee got me through. Just think - ice cold coffee over ice mixed with Splenda and milk - it was a yummy way to start the morning.

My favorite coffee combo is french vanilla coffee - I fill a glass with ice and then about 3/4 full of coffee - mixed with a packet of Splenda and topped off with 1% milk. I started using a combo of half and half and skim milk, though, because Cambridge Cowboy is worried about his saturated fat intake.

Here's how to make the coffee (adapted from PW's iced coffee recipe):

1. Measure out about a cup of ground coffee. My favorite is French Vanilla from New England Coffee, but any coffee you like should work.

2. Pour the coffee into a 1/2 gallon pitcher

3. Fill the pitcher with water and let sit for 8 - 12 hours.

4. Using a strainer and coffee filter, cheese cloth, or paper towels, strain the grounds out of the iced coffee. Funnell the coffee into a container you can keep it in the fridge in.* Refrigerate overnight, and enjoy.

*Any pitcher would work, but I have found that a growler is the perfect size to store this amount of coffee in.