TWD: Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake

This week's TWD was chosen by Erin of When in Doubt...Leave it at 350. This recipe had me at chocolate. It has ground walnuts, chocolate, coffee, butter....it's perfect. It was easy to put together and the flavor was wonderful.

Even though the recipe calls for ground walnuts, I'm sure you could use whatever nuts you want. I think the oilyness of the walnuts adds to the butter and makes a great cake, even if it sits for a few days.

I made this cake last week and it only lasted a few days. I would love to try it as a layer cake to see how it comes out. What does that mean? It means it is another keeper from Dorie's book.

Check out the TWD Blogroll to see what other TWDers have done and go to Erin's page to find the recipe and see what she's done. You could also just get Baking: From My Home to Yours and bake many more recipes from Dorie.

March is...

March is green, think St. Patty's Day and beginning of spring which brings more green. Green grass, green leaves, money (hey landscapers are getting ready to make lots of it and let's not forget the theme parks and resorts).

Oh, did I forget March starts with the letter M. Mint, creme de Menthe, Mmmm Mmmm good, which brings me to round 2 of Daring Baker's tiramisu. The first time making this I of course went the traditional way Just Heavenly. This time around it was with great admiration for the next best combo, mint and chocolate. The Girl Scouts and Andes mints understand this so well. They get the feeling that goes through you when eating this combination.

For this version I just substituted creme de Menthe for the Marsala and used 1/4 cup of cocoa powder in place of the cake flour. Since the creme de Menthe turned the zabaglione green no food coloring was needed. I chopped Andes mints and put it in and on top of the tiramisu. All I can say is "A mint chocolate lover's dream"!

Enjoy

TWD:Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

This weeks TWD was chosen by Tanya of http://chocolatechic.wordpress.com/ and it was a great choice. The problem with this choice is that I wish that it was a different week. I had planned to make these brownies, but decided against it due to the fact that I was making King Cakes for my girlfriend for Mardi Gras/Superbowl weekend. I was dead set on NOT making these brownies and just doing the last two weeks of the month.

This all changed at 8:34 pm on Monday February 8, 2010. I blame this all on Alton Brown and his DAMN Good Eats show. This night I was waiting for 9pm to see Unexpected Life and decided to see what was on Food Network. Ahhh, it's Good Eats! The beginning segment was showing Cocoa Carl and Alton was going to show us unsuspecting people how to make different things using cocoa powder. The list of items he made were hot cocoa, chocolate syrup (This will definitely be a must try), and none other than brownies.

These brownies looked so good and I fought the fight for 4 minutes after his show went off. The fight ended with me losing the battle and running (and when I say running I mean it litterally) downstairs to make these brownies and get them in the oven before Unexpected Life came on. It's countdown, 26 minutes and counting and I can do this, right? Right!

I have never worked so fast to get something in the oven and baked, that it felt like I was on a Food Network Challenge. What made it so bad, yet so good, is that I was rushing through the recipe that I didn't use a mixer to beat the rest of the eggs to volumize them. Even with missing out on that step these brownies turned out fabulous. Oddly enough I have always been one who only like cake brownies and they usually had to have nuts in them. Well, Dorie Greenspan, Rick Katz, Tanya, you all have changed that for me. These brownies are OFF THE CHAIN!

Check out Tanya's blog for the recipe and make these brownies tonight....TONIGHT I SAID! You will not regret it if you are a chocoholic. You see the "pizza cutter" in the photo below? That's an idea from Alton Brown. See, he is good for something other than forcing you to run downstairs and make something you weren't going to make.

TWD: Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake

This weeks TWD was picked by The Tea Lady of Tea and Scones- Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake, page 243.

Now, I'm not a big cheesecake eating person, but I love to bake them. Luckily, I have neighbors who love to eat them. When I eat it's pretty much a taste test. I can only eat a sliver and then I'm done. This recipe, though, reminds me of chocolate pudding so I could eat more than normal.

Dorie has you do this in the food processor and I tried that. It took more pulses than stated in the recipe so next time I would make it using the mixer. Other than that I believe it is a keeper.

Check out The Tea Lady's page for the recipe.

How To Eat a Cupcake's Spumoni cupcakes

Spumoni ice cream, hmmm, what can we say about it? Let's see, cold, flavorful, frozen, flavorful,cherries, flavorful, chocolate, flavorful, pistachio, oh yea, flavorful. This ice cream is one that I never tasted until my girlfriend, Gwen, told me about it. She looked at me crazy when I said that I had never tasted it. Now, me being a pistachio lover (I do mean a real pistachio lover, you know one of those that eat them like you have to have it to survive? Well, that's me...cake, nuts in and out the shell) and chocolate and cherry TOGETHER...it was definitely a must try!

Last year I met Cassie from How to Eat a Cupcake, because we worked at the same bakery. I would hear her talk about her blog and would always check to see what she was up to baking. This year she did an Iron Cupcake entry in the form of SPUMONI, SPUMONI, SPUMONI, YEA!!! Once again, this was definitely a must try http://www.howtoeatacupcake.net/2009/03/ironcupcake008-spumoni-cupcakes.html .

These cupcakes embodied everything Spumoni, right up to the pistachio buttercream. So, if you're ever in the mood for some Spumoni, but don't want the cold stuff, give this recipe a try. You just might be surprised.