brownies

these were the first brownies i made in my life...i baked two batches - one for us, one to take to work on the day of my birthday. after a short research, i decided to follow this recipe (brownies). 

185 g butter (unsalted)
185 g dark chocolate
85 g all purpose flour
40 g cocoa powder
50 g milk chocolate
50 g white chocolate
3 eggs
275 g golden sugar

cut the butter into small cubes and break the chocolate. now take a saucepan and fill it to the half with water and boil it. turn the heat down, take another saucepan (or a bowl) and place it on the first one. put in the chocolate and butter and stir until melted. leave it to cool down to the room temperature.

meanwhile in another bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder. cut the white and milk chocolate. grease and flour the baking pan.

break the eggs in the large bowl, put in the sugar and whisk together until the mixture looks thick and creamy (the sugar should be totally melted). pour in the cooled chocolate and fold in with the spatula. you should do it really slowly and gently...it is very important. this way the air will get to the dough. at one point it will start looking almost like a chocolate mousse. when the dough becomes dark brown all over, fold in the dry ingredients. as the original recipe says, first it will look very dry but it will get better...just do not loose patience :). the last thing to mix in is the white and milk chocolate.

pour the brownie mixture to the greased and floured baking pan. place in the preheated oven and bake for about 25 minutes (180 °C). brownie should not be wobbly in the middle, the top must be shiny and look a little like paper. when you take it from the oven, leave it in the baking pan until it is cooled down. last step: cut brownies and enjoy :D

trenzón de ajonjoli

this week i downloaded quite a few old mexican magazines about baking :) i was so excited about it...if possible, i will try most of the recipes that are there...the first one i tried is a sesame bread that looks like a braid...it looked beautiful...

500 g all purpose flour                                                            
40 g sugar
2 teaspoons salt                                            
7,5 g dry active yeast
2 eggs
150 ml milk
3/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
3 spoons sesame oil (optional)

to decorate:
1 egg
sesame seeds

in a bowl, make a hole in the flour. inside the hole, put the eggs and sugar, around the hole, the yeast and salt. start mixing the ingredients in the middle, gradually taking more flour and pouring in the milk.

the dough should be soft and elastic. mix in the toasted sesame seeds and leave it resting for about 20 minutes.

cut the dough in 16 parts and roll to 40 cm long sticks.

this is how you create the braid...divide the sticks in four groups of four. take the group on the right side and pass it above the group next to it. do not let it go and pass it below the next group and above the last group. again, take the sticks that are on the right side and do the same thing...above, below, above :)

when you are done, leave the bread on a warm place to double its size. after that, brush it with egg and sprinkle with more sesame seeds. bake it for 25 minutes at a temperature of 210 °C.

jamie oliver's sexy swedish buns or how i made a mess :)

when i saw jamie oliver preparing these buns i wanted to try to make them immediately. it took me a while to really decide to prepare them. i followed the recipe he shared in his show (the one on his page is slightly different in the amounts he uses). they turned out just perfect :)

for the dough i used:

370 ml lukewarm milk
7 g active dry yeast
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of cardamom
200 g white sugar
50 g melted unsalted butter
750 g all purpose flour

for the filling i used:

375 g blueberries
75 g white sugar
1 orange

20 g unsalted butter and brown sugar  for dusting the cookie sheet




as a first step, i mixed the dry yeast with the lukewarm milk and left it on a warm place.

i took two eggs and whisked them with a pinch of salt (i was using a regular fork like jamie when preparing the buns).






when the eggs got well mixed, i added 200 g of sugar and cardamom.

then i took the melted butter...







and poured it in the mixture.

i whisked it and finally it was the time to mix in the milk with the yeast.






now it was the time for the flour - not all together though...first i stirred in 500 g...






then the remaining 250 g (at this point, to mix the dough well i stopped using the fork and used my hand instead).





i left the dough to double its size in a warm place for an hour.






meanwhile i mixed the blueberries with 75 g of sugar, orange zest and juice from a half of an orange.






and prepared the baking sheet (i put on a baking paper, pieces of butter and sprinkled it with dark sugar).






after an hour, the dough was ready.








i created a rectangle...






...spooned on the blueberries...








and folded them in.

now it started to get really messy. i parted the dough in two...






and using the knife i cut each part in four.








i took a piece and stretched it like this...









...rolled it...

and placed on the baking sheet. i left the buns to rest for another 30 minutes and just before putting in the oven i sprinkled them with some orange zest and sugar.






they were done in 20 to 25 minutes at a temperature of 190 °C.

cookies with cranberries and white chocolate...palacio de hierro style :P

there is a department store in mexico called "palacio de hierro". they have a grocery store section with bakery where they make delicious cookies...they sell different flavors...classic chocolate chips, mocha, nuts and my favorite white chocolate and cranberries...this saturday i baked cookies that tasted almost as good as the ones from the palacio de hierro bakery :)

3 cups flour
1 cup butter (soft and not salty)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup chopped white chocolate (or white chocolate chips)
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon salt






in a large bowl, i creamed both sugars and the butter.

i added the first egg and mixed it well.







then i added the second egg and mixed a little more :)







then i stirred in the vanilla.







i dissolved the baking powder in warm water and added it to the batter. i also mixed in the salt.

after that i stirred in the flour...cup by cup...






i divided the dough in two because i was making two types of cookies (ones with cranberries, ones without).

i chopped the chocolate and cut the cranberries and mixed them in the batter.






i spooned the mixture on the cookie sheet...







...and baked for about 10 minutes (in the preheated oven at 175 °C).







i took them out and let them cool on a rack...and then we ate them :)




and my little cousin who was visiting us tells me: "stop taking pictures of the cookies, you already took many of them...take some pictures if me instead!"

hope you will try and enjoy the cookies as we did :)