Classic Brownies

Thanksgiving Week!  On Thursday I'm planning to make Dorie's "Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good" from Around My French Table.  But it's Tuesday today and I need to bake!

Our house has been in a bit of an uproar as we are having a new hardwood floor installed in the living room.  What with the chaos of home improvement, I haven't been able to bake much.  Once I got home from work today, I decided to make the Russian Grandmother Apple Cake from Baking.  I made the dough, and only then noticed that it needed to be chilled for a couple of hours.  It's in the fridge now but after working all day and dealing with home improvement project, I didn't feel like staying up late cutting apples.   So I threw together some Classic Brownies:  quick, easy, delicious.  And a reward for hard work!

I'll be baking quite a bit during the next few days, but the brownies were definitely a good "rewind" choice.

Cranberry Lime Galette

For the second week in a row, we Tuesdays with Dorie bakers have a go at cranberries.  I have come to expect every recipe in Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book Baking from My Home to Yours to be uniquely wonderful and yummy.  The Cranberry Lime Galette, selected by the baking sisters of Celestial Confections, is a combination of flavors that I would not have thought of, but it was wonderfully tart and very tasty.

A galette is a perfect pie crust onto which you spread a secret base of ground nuts (I used hazelnuts) and breadcrumbs so that the juicy filling does not seep through.

A mixture of cranberries, an apple, chopped ginger, lime zest and brown sugar is combined (I used my hands to do this) and placed on top.  The edges are folded in, brushed with water, and sprinkled with sugar.

Forty minutes later you have a beautiful galette!  My tasters thought it was fabulous and so did I! 

I can see how results would be variable, depending on how much ginger you used (1 1/2 inches of chopped is the requirement and I used the thinnish part of the root), the kind of apple you choose, whether or not you chill the dough.   It would also be fun to experiment with the ratio of cranberries to apples.  I'm looking forward to seeing what other Tuesday with Dorie bakers did this week! 

Not-Just-for-Thanksgiving-Cranberry-Shortbread-Cake

One satisfying thing about baking this recipe--and one that is confirmation that I do love to bake--is that this cake needs a 9" spring form pan and I had it!  (My baking pan collection is growing!  I also have one 10" and two 8" spring form pans.)

This cake seemed simple in that you make a jam of cranberries, orange and sugar and then while it is cooling, you make a soft dough which is chilled for 15 minutes or so.  Then half of the dough is rolled into a circle, just big enough to fit into the pan.  The jam is smeared on and then the other half of the dough is placed on top.  A little sprinkle of sugar and into the oven it goes.  The hardest thing was to allow it to cool to room temperature.

My guests and I loved the result!  It was oh so pretty, the cakey-shortbread was terrific and the cranberries worked well--not too tart and not too sweet.

I meant to take pictures all along the way, but only got this one picture of the last piece.
Thanks to Jessica for choosing the recipe this week for the Tuesdays with Dorie crowd.

Peanuttiest Blondies

There is something so satisfying about chopping chocolate and peanuts!

Those are two essential ingredients in this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick, Peanuttiest Blondies.  Another secret ingredient is a little bit of cinnamon.  And then, of course, there is butter, brown sugar, vanilla.  The combination produced a lovely aroma throughout the house last night.  And lovely, chewy blondies to munch on today,

Thanks to Nicole of Bakeologie for choosing this week's recipe.  If you want to make them yourself, they are posted on her blog.