bon appetit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild

Oh my! Where do I begin?  You can probably tell by now that I have a thing for sweets and baking.  This book is a treasure trove and my copy even came with a free magazine subscription to bon appetite.  There are so many great recipes in this book, that I really don't know what to talk about first. So, I will start with the recipes that I made during Christmas 2010.  Apple Cake with Maple Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting, Homemade Marshmallows, and Coconut Checkerboard Brownies.

Here is a list of things I want to bake:  White Chocolate and Lemon Wedding Cake, Warm Lemon Pudding Cakes with Marbled Raspberry Cream, Hot Milk Cakes with Strawberries and Cream, Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake, Upside Down Honey Cheesecakes, and too many more to mention.

  Here is a picture of the Coconut Checkerboard Brownies and the Recipe.

Coconut Batter

1 7ounce package sweetened flaked coconut

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (Coco Lopez)

2 ounces Philadelphia brand cream cheese, cut into 1" cubes, room temp

1 extra large egg

1/8 tsp almond extract

1/8 tsp fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

Chocolate Batter

6 TBS unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

3 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 extra large eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sifted unbleached all purpose flour, (sifted, then measured)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Coconut Batter:  Measure 1/3 cup flaked coconut, cover and set aside.  Place remaining coconut and sugar in processor, finely chop.  Add cream of coconut and cream cheese to processor and blend well, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl.  Add egg, almond extract, lemon juice and salt and blend well.  Transfer to bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until very firm.  about 3 hours.

Chocolate Batter:  Butter a 9x9x2 metal baking pan.  Melt butter with chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.  Pour into medium bowl.  Cool to lukewarm.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Whisk sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl; sift over chocolate mixture.  Mix until blended and smooth.  Spread 1 1/4 cups chocolate batter in prepared pan(cover and refrigerate remaining batter).  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.  Refrigerate batter until very firm.  about 3 hours.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees.  Alternate 1 TBS remaining chocolate batter and 1 TBS coconut batter over chocolate layer, filling pan completely.  Sprinkle reserved 1/3 cup flaked coconut over coconut mounds, press gently to adhere.  Cover pan tightly with foil.

Bake 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until tester inserted in center of 1 chocolate mound comes out almost clean, about 40 minutes.  Cool brownies completely in pan.

These can be made 1 day ahead, cover tightly and store at room temp.

Happy Baking!

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

I loved this cake from start to finish.  I loved using my wrought iron corn bread skillet, I loved how easy it was to make, I loved how fast  it was whipped up and I loved the taste! What else can I say? You should try it!

Devil's Food Layer Cake fromWilliam Sonoma's "Comfort Food"

This is the second recipe I have made from this book and the secon recipe that I will share.  Although, I will probable just show photo's from future recipes that I make from it.  Again, I have to say that I think this book is a Winner! I used Special Dark Cocoa from Hershey, and if I make it again, I will just use regular cocoa.  This was just about too much chocolate. Oh wait, I can't believe that I wrote that. Can there ever really be too much chocolate? Oh,I dont think that is a possibility. I will say that this was wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ic cream.
Boiling water, 1 cup
Unsweetened natural cocoa powder, 3/4 cup(use regular unsweetened cocoa instead of the special dark)
All purpose flour, 1 3/4 cups
Baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp
Fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp
Sugar, 2 cups
Unsalted butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs@room temp
Large eggs, 3(at room temp)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp
Buttermilk, 1 1/4 cups

Chocolate Frosting
Confectioners sugar, 3 3/4 cups
Unwseetened natural cocoa powder, 1 cup
Unsalted butter, 1/2 cup @room temp
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp
Heavy cream, about 1 cup

Makes 10 servings
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 2-9" pans.  Dust the pans with flour.

In a samll heatproof bowl, whisk the cocoa and boiling water until sit aside and let cool completely.  In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt.Using a hand held mixer, on medium speed, beat togetherlight in color.  Beat in thee eggs, one at a time.  Then add the vanilla and the cooled cocoa mixture.  Reduce the mixer speed to loww and add the flour and alternate with the buttermilk in 3 additions.  Dvide the mixture evenly into the prepared pans and bake approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from the pans and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
To make the frosting, sift togetther the confectioners sugar and cocoa.  Using the mixer on low speed, mix in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.  Mix in the vanilla and gradually add the cream until it reaches a good consistency for spreading..  Put at least 1/2 cup frosting between the layers.  Then frost the top before the sides.