chocolate.

October 11th, 2009

goodbye gourmet double chocolate coconut cookies

goodbye gourmet double chocolate coconut cookies goodbye gourmet double chocolate coconut cookies

yum

Okay, so I’ve never actually had a subscription to Gourmet, but I’ve always wanted one. As the Times said this week, Gourmet was kinda like the New Yorker of food magazines: erudite, fancy, well-researched and well-edited. I always pick up a copy when I’m traveling, and I leaf through issues at bookstores, looking wistfully at all the fancy things I have yet to bake, and all the fancy places I’ll probably never go. Oh, well. I believe they have a great number of Gourmet’s recipes up on Epicurious, so I suppose there will still be at least one way in which to revel in the glory of things past.

Get your chocolate fix and say farewell, this-a-way.

September 30th, 2009

4-layer flourless chocolate cake.

4-layer flourless chocolate cake. 4-layer flourless chocolate cake.

eggs! so many eggs!

It’s been a time for serious baking, friends and neighbors. One of my (now former) work colleagues, Sarah, was leaving the law firm to move to the Bahamas and get married and stuff, and there was to be a party so we could all say our goodbyes. Dessert’s kinda become my thing around the office (what else would I do with all the leftovers?), so I asked Sarah if she would like me to make anything sweet to bring to the festivities. At first she mentioned black forest cake, which I’d never heard of and sounded exciting, but then she remembered that one of her good friends who would be in attendance that night has celiac disease. So instead, she requested some sort of flourless something. I’d made Tartine’s chocolate souffle cake on Memorial day, and it was fantastic, but I felt it would be fun to try something new and exciting.

caking, shuffling, and fancy parties, around the bend.

September 20th, 2009

variations on a theme of messy cookie cake.

variations on a theme of messy cookie cake. variations on a theme of messy cookie cake.

it is very messy

You’re in for a treat, folks, because this week, you will know the glory that is messy cookie cake.

What is it, you ask? I’ll tell you, but you have to realize that the end result is so much more amazing that you can imagine just by seeing the description: it’s basically a cake made out of chocolate chip cookie dough and a sweet cream cheese sauce. And it’s so much more than either cookie or cake could ever be. As a child, it was one of my favorite things in my mom’s arsenal of sweet treats, and as an adult, it’s the dessert I request every time I go home to visit. When warm, and eaten with a glass of ice-cold milk, this cake like sugary-chocolatey nirvana. It is a part of my childhood. Also, it’s freakin’ delicious. Are you ready?

Are you ready?

September 2nd, 2009

it takes two (batches of oatmeal chocolate chip coconut cookies).

it takes two (batches of oatmeal chocolate chip coconut cookies). it takes two (batches of oatmeal chocolate chip coconut cookies).

It’s been quite a couple of weeks, friends: I went on vacation; I’ve been studying for the LSATs like mad; I’ve ridden on trains; I’ve caught up with old friends; and I’ve started to get to know some new ones. And this past weekend, Kenan (who just moved into some schmancy new digs) and I visited our friend Alli at her apartment in Boerum Hill to say our goodbyes before she flitted off to South Africa for a few months. As I’d just received a request for advice** on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I thought I’d prepare a batch to take with me to the shindig.

more batches of oatmeal cookies than you’ll know what to do with, in the oven

May 28th, 2009

memorial day, flourless chocolate cake, and handstands on the beach.

memorial day, flourless chocolate cake, and handstands on the beach.

Our friends Coach and Boots were kind enough to take Kenan and me with them up to Boots’ parents’ place in New Hampshire for the long weekend. I was excited to do some baking for a discerning audience; Boots comes from a family of epicureans, and besides, what better excuse is there for fancy kitchen tricks than a holiday, and a big ol’ fancy suburban kitchen? As Boots’ mom recently discovered that she has coeliac disease, and also because I felt the need to impress said mom (I’d been told many tales of her prodigious cooking skills), I decided to go all-out and do a flourless chocolate cake.

the gluten-free festivities continue across the lake.