Here is another archival post from last year. This one was written after I made brownies for the nice dinner I was making for me and my boyfriend. We were partaking in Earth Hour so we had dinner and dessert by candlelight. I’m not sure why I didn’t take any photos of the finished product but I included the link for the recipe if you ever want to try to make them yourself.
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I was reading through the most recent addition of Martha Stewart Living yesterday morning. It was a special issue, “The Best”. One of the articles was on editors Top Chocolate Deserts. As chocolate is one of my utmost favorite things in life I was intrigued. There was recipes for a ridiculously decadent looking chocolate cake with chocolate icing, yummy chocolate chip cookies, and double-chocolate brownies. Just one look at the picture of the brownies and I was instantly inspired to bake them.
Here is the link for the recipe:
I had a plan to go down to St. Lawrence Market to buy ingredients for that evenings dinner. I was in the mood to support local farming and eat really fresh food. Since I was already going down I thought I would get the stuff I needed to bake the brownies. It felt so good to go down to the market. I was getting all caught up in the experience. Shopping like this makes you feel alive and part of something, a community. Groceries stores suck in comparison. When I am in a grocery store I can really sense how corporations and mass production has really ruined food in north America, but I digress.
I bought some really good stuff for a really good meal. My menu for the evening was butter chicken with veggies and fresh naan bread, homemade brownies and ice cream. I thought brownies were going to be difficult to make. An ideal brownie is chewy and fudgy. These textures are not necessarily easy to achieve. As soon as I got home I got to work. I began by melting the chocolate. I have to say that melting chocolate with butter is one of the most satisfying things to do in the kitchen. Putting together all the ingredients was relatively easy and all I had to do was put the batter in the oven and bake them. I left them in for 30 minutes as my oven seems to cook things 5 or so minutes quicker than recipe ask for, the recipe asked for 35-40 minutes.
The aroma of chocolate goodness filled my apartment and made me feel good. Once I took the brownies out of the oven I could not wait to eat them but I had to wait because first came dinner. I devoured my tasty butter chicken next to candle light as my boyfriend and I were participating in Earth Hour. I then heated up a couple of brownies and served them with vanilla ice cream. Let me just say I was in heaven. They were velvety, moist, fudgy, and full of chocolaty flavor. They were better than I could have imagined. I don’t think I could eat a store bought brownie after that. I was surprised at how easy they were to make.
So now that I have tried brownies I am going to move on to chocolate chip cookies. I am no stranger to baking chocolate chip cookies. They are one of my favorite cookies. I think how I am going to approach these cookies is by cooking my tried, tested and true recipe that I have always baked and try out the one in the magazine to see which is better. I have a busy week but I am going to try to make these cookies tomorrow or at the very latest Sunday. I won’t ask for luck as I have been making these cookies since I can remember. What I will ask for from you, my readers, is the strength not to devour them when they are done. I have my first 5k race of the season this weekend and I really need to stay on track!)
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I was so happy today because I brought some of the brownies I made the other day into work. My co-workers loved them. I got some great compliments and I was even told to quit my day job and bake for a living. I wish it was that easy. That comment really made me feel great because along with being a filmmaker and working free-lance in the biz I want to be a pastry chef. What a weird combo, right? In an ideal world I would do both and maybe in the real world I will. That compliment made me think that everything I have been doing so far is worth it. I love baking, I have a passion for it, and I think I have a talent. I rarely screw up a baking project. It is funny how something so small can reassure you of something so big.
I was going to make the chocolate chip cookies tonight but then I found some carrots in my fridge and was inspired to make carrot cake cupcakes. I had a busy evening with cooking dinner, yoga, and doing laundry that I only had time to grate the carrots. I will bake the cupcakes tomorrow. My plan is to make a batch of regular cupcakes and vegan cupcakes because I need to watch what I eat. Not only do I have my race on Saturday but I have food allergies and I really can’t eat eggs. I need to stop. The food violations are getting out of hand and my body is asking me to stop. I will make the cupcakes tomorrow and I will make cream cheese icing to go on top so they won’t be completely vegan but it will be “vegan” for me. I promise, readers, that I will make the chocolate chip cookies. This week will just have to be jammed packed with cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and I almost forgot that it is Easter weekend so I HAVE to make my traditional Easter sugar cookies. I will post about those later.
Good night everyone! May vision of sugar cookies dance in your head!
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If you read this post you should have noted that I promised to make chocolate chip cookies. I never ended up making them and writing about it but now I think I will. I promise dear readers I will give you a chocolate chip cookies post real soon. I also mentioned in the post red velvet and carrot cupcakes. I am not sure if I posted on these. I will have to see but if I haven’t I will bake them again and give you a new post.
I will continue to pull up archive posts in the next couple of day but I promise new stuff is coming. I have so much to bake, eat, and review.
The Girl Bakes 