DB: Tiramisu

My husband and I had a bit of a disagreement as I was making the tiramisu. Convinced that the rum flavor should be front and center, he turned to wikipedia. And he introduced to me to a type of tiramisu previously unknown.

That's right, Tyra Misoux, porn star.

I'm sure if you google her, there are fancier photos.

Let's just say that this led to LOTS of laughter.

Don't know that my version, yummy as it was, stacked up in quite the same way.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was mighty gutsy of Dorie to put these on the line. I mean, everyone, everyone has a "best" chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I must tell you I loved these. They spread thin, rather than puffed up cake-like and the streaks and occasional bites of chocolate hit the spot!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here it was, my lone attempt to celebrate a Hallmark holiday. I made Sunday morning pancakes in the shape of hearts. While I really love light, buttery pancakes, made with egg whites whipped tall, I've been making these recently. They take only one bowl and there's something about that cottage cheese that makes me feel a bit less guilty for passing over the bowl of low fat, high fiber cardboard pieces. The recipe came from my cousin Jen, who served them with delicious Oregon blackberry jam, instead of Michigan maple syrup.

2 c cottage cheese
4 eggs
4 tbsp melted butter, cooled
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
Whip cottage cheese in mixer to break up curds, add eggs and butter, and mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Cook on griddle heated to medium high.

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

I like a fudgy brownie, and I worried that these would be cake like. I worried that Dorie forgot to tell me to butter the pan. I worried that these would be a let-down. When the timer went off, I worried because the center was quite wet. I worried when it took at least 10 minutes more in baking time.

But I worried needlessly. Fudgy interior, but not too dense. Flaky, crusty top. They might have been even better had I not forgotten the semisweet chocolate altogether.

College Pasta

I started cooking while A and I were students at Hopkins. The campus food was no great shakes, and it didn't take too much time in the apartment kitchen to learn that I could make better food for far less money. There were some interesting concoctions along the way. During my dorm years, when cooking was limited to a single burner, small toaster oven and the microwave, we had "special sauce". Take one meal card and coat with big pockets into the cafeteria. Walk out with a few cooked hamburgers, and lots of veggies from the salad bar. Mixed with a jar of Prego and served over spaghetti, it wasn't bad.
By the time I was a senior, I had a few standards under my belt. Pasta with orange and mushroom sauce was one of them. It came from a long-discarded book, that to my memory, yielded no other memorable recipes. Here's the version that I served for dinner last night:

Boil water for pasta, and cook 1 lb of spaghetti until al dente.

In large skillet, heat 1 tbsp and some olive oil, add 1 lb sliced white mushrooms and 1/2 lb slice shiitakes. (Vary this based on what you've got). Saute with some salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes until the mushrooms are tender. Reduce heat to low, and add some heavy cream, or some cream and some 1/2 & 1/2, about 3/4 of a cup. Add the grated zest of one orange. When it is heated through, add 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Add the pasta and toss to combine. Top with slivered fresh basil and more Parmesan.

TWD: Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes

According to Dorie, these should be milk chocolate, mini bundt cakes. But honestly, milk chocolate is fine, unless dark chocolate is available. So I made these with 70% dark chocolate, in a bite size bundt pan (thanks, lastbite!). Half of my batch had a cinnamon walnut swirl, the other half an orange ginger one. Neither one was a swirl, so much as a flavoring. Like many other TWD bakers, I struggled with the consistency of the glaze, and ended up adding a tbsp of butter and almost 1/2 cup heated skim milk to the chocolate and corn syrup. This ganache-like glaze worked looked best when I dipped the cake directly into the pan.

While you're at it, add some Whole Foods ginger gelato to each bite.

TWD: Coco-nana Bread

Full disclosure: This is not bread. Not even close.

• Hungry helpers meant that we weren't going to hang out for 75 minutes of baking. Muffin time!


• At some point in my childhood, I associated bread with the grain group. Now the food pyramid has been turned on its head, but coco-nana bread isn't in the grain group.


• Quick breads are good for breakfast. This one is so rich, it's more like a dessert.

So go ahead, eat it for dessert. It's a bit like dense chocolate cake, with closing banana flavor. Best with milk.