TWD: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

Hmmm... well this was an adventure to say the least. First of all, cherries are quite expensive around Arizona. Second, Glenn makes a big deal about how good Rainier cherries are every time we see them, and those are even more expensive than normal red cherries. Third, rhubarb is near impossible to find here. First we checked Target, because we always shop there, then we went to Fry's since we were right by one at the time, then off to AJ's where they had one lone stalk, then to Trader Joe's where we wanted to get all American Psycho style on all the self-righteous hippies, and FINALLY to another AJ's where we found about a pound of rhubarb at last.

I have to say, this was all a bit ridiculous. Everything was easy to prepare and the dough for the topping came together wonderfully and tasted delicious pre-bake. Before I baked it all, I sprinkled a generous amount of raw sugar over the top, which worked out beautifully. However, there are a few changes I would make to the recipe (out of respect of Dorie Greenspan and the copyright laws I won't post the actual recipe). In my opinion, there is too much rhubarb in the cobbler and the next time I would do about 3-4 ounces less and do an equal amount more in the cherries. I would also cut the rhubarb into 1/4 inch pieces as opposed to the 1 inch pieces the recipe calls for. I like my rhubarb more mushy than crisp. Oh yeah, and I halved the amount of ginger in the fruit mixture and added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Muy bueno. This really was a fun pick because it was SOOOO easy and it made me think twice about what otherwise seemed like a boring biscuit like top.

As for the end result, Glenn and I both enjoyed it. However, it doesn't photograph well (at least not for me). We agree that the rhubarb should be cut much smaller. I also underbaked the cobbler by about 4-5 minutes. Overall, this was a challenge to get everything together, but it was super easy to make and yummy in the end. Before I forget too, I must credit Amanda from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake for choosing such a great and easy recipe. This week's TWD in one word: simple.

Mmmm Mmmm Good

I love PB&C so much that I could never possibly put into words the extent to which that love radiates. Dramatic, yes. Over-exaggerating, no. Anyway, as I was browsing Amy's blog, South In Your Mouth (I will never look at that blog name and not giggle) and I found a work of art. Amy calls it a rut, but I call it delicious.

This lovely dessert consists of a cookie crust bottom, a cream cheese peanut butter layer, followed by some yummy Reese's Cups, topped with a fluffy chocolate pudding, and finally adorned with more crushed cookies. Well I decided to change things up a bit for a couple reasons. My first was that Glenn and I hate Oreo's and even more so when they are in crust form. I asked him to pick some cookies when we were in the cookie aisle at Target, and since the Sausalitos were too pricey, he settled on Market Pantry chocolate chip cookies (the crunchy kind). Good choice love. The second alteration was due to a mistake on my part. I forgot that Cool Whip comes in two sizes and silly me, I bought the small one. Thus, my dessert was a little less fluffy in parts, but in my opinion, that made it better. Here is my version of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert:

24 chocolate chip cookies (the crunchy kind)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
20 miniature Reese's Cups
1 cup cold milk
1 3.9 oz package instant fudge pudding

Crush 18 of the cookies into fine crumbs and combine with melted butter until it holds shape when pressed together. Press into an ungreased 8 x 8 pan.

Beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar in a bowl until very smooth. Gently fold in 1/3 of the Cool Whip. Spread evenly over the crust.

Chop 15 of the Reese's Cups and sprinkle over the peanut butter layer.

Beat the milk, pudding mix, and powdered sugar in a bowl until smooth. Fold in the remaining 2/3 of the Cool Whip. Spread over the peanut butter layer and candy layer.

Top the dessert with the remaining cookies and candy all chopped up or left whole, however you please.

Enjoy! I know we did.

Call Me Crazy...

I have fallen in love with these online blogging communities of bakers from all around the world. It truly is an amazing thing to see so many people come together over a recipe. Whether it be the Daring Bakers or the Tuesdays with Dorie group, bakers everywhere can come together and learn from each other and share each other's experiences.

Maybe I am crazy, or selfish, or just attention hungry, but I really want to start my own community like those. It may not make headlines or be anything great, but I would love to have a group to call my own and start with a few faithful fellow bloggers. Anyone else share my sentiments? I have no idea where to start, but maybe with some like minded baking bloggers we can produce brilliance.

Call me crazy, but I think it could be fun. What do you think?

Possibilities: I was thinking, well my sweet tooth was thinking, that the group could be all baked goods sweet (forget the savory crap), maybe all things chocolate, or even better, all things peanut butter AND chocolate. I like sweets and if I am going to make a group it's going to be something I like right? I am desperate for ideas, and desperate for anyone that would like to join me.

TWD: Chocolate Pudding

Hooray! My very first TWD post (Tuesdays with Dorie)! Alas, the Daring Bakers have not been quenching my thirst for challenges that I might not otherwise conquer without a little pushing. That led me to convince Glenn to run out to Borders and buy me the Dorie Greenspan book, Baking: From My Home to Yours for only $8! What a sweet deal, I couldn't pass it up. As soon as I got it I immediately requested to be added to the TWD group. This leads me to my first challenge. Chocolate Pudding!

I've been reading lots of other people's posts about this and it seems like no one likes pudding! That is absolutely ludicrous if you ask me, but thankfully, this delightful recipe has been changing many minds. It is super rich, wonderfully smooth and creamy, and most of all it has the perfect amount of chocolate. I must say thank you to Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen for picking this yummy recipe.

As for the experience, it was so easy. I didn't feel like making the whole recipe so I easily halved it (with the exception of halving an egg: awkward) and it really didn't take very long. I only got nervous because I have a super mini food processor (3 cup capacity) that doesn't have one of those feed spouts. I was worried the hot milk would sit on the egg for too long without blending, but everything turned out fine. I am considering getting a bigger food processor seeing how much the lovely Ms. Greenspan seems to love hers. This weeks TWD in one word: smooth.

Worst. Recipe. Name. Ever.

I bought a container of buttermilk so I could make the Blueberry Crumb Cake the other day, and I am now left with entirely too much buttermilk. Unfortunately, the diversity of recipes including buttermilk is pretty much pancakes, waffles, and biscuits. Then lo and behold, I found this recipe for Molten Buttermilk Brownie Goo (seriously disgusting sounding, but quite descriptive) and decided to make it.

I found it on grouprecipes which is a really cool site and I recommend checking it out if you haven't already. It was really easy to make because instead of following the recipe, I just dumped everything together and stirred it. I've never made a dessert quite like this before, so I thought it was really weird pouring something the consistency of water over the thicker batter. I also found it easier to just double the recipe and put it in an 8 x 8 pan since I have no idea what a quart sized pan looks like.

Yummy Biscuits

For some reason, I always have a craving for biscuits. I'm not sure if it is the sweet honey goodness of Popeye's biscuits or the rich buttery taste of KFC. Either way, I always want biscuits, but every recipe I can find online seems to contain at least one ingredient that I don't have on hand.

I wake up this morning and I am STARVING. I decide that since I just got my wonderful Baking book by Dorie Greenspan, I would try the biscuit recipe that I actually have all the ingredients for. It was super easy, very quick, and in about 20 minutes I was eating insanely good flaky biscuits. It is certainly a no fail recipe that I will probably find myself making again and again.

As a special bonus to myself, and because I always want something sweet for breakfast, I decided to try and mimic Popeye's and I made a 1:1 ratio of butter and honey into a pre bake glaze for the biscuits. It gave them a beautiful golden color with a slight crunch and a delicate sweet flavor. Yummy!

What They Say Is True

After seeing a few too many TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie) posts and only getting to participate in one challenge a month from DB, I decided that I too needed to belong to the TWD group. Anyway, when Glenn and I were at Borders a week or so ago buying an EReader to occupy us on the trip to Boston, I saw the Baking From My Home to Yours cookbook by Dorie Greenspan on sale for only $8! Wow! It's normally $40 so it was quite a steal. After some convincing, I got Glenn to go and get it for me since I am stuck at work and Glenn is on summer break.

I haven't started TWD yet, but I have practically read the entire 500 or so page book with great enthusiasm. I have mentally devoured each and every recipe in the book, but I found one that interested me in particular. It's a little out of my normal repetoire, but it is now a wonderful new addition. The blueberry crumb cake looked absolutely fabulous to me, so I decided to try it. We had recently made a trip to Target, where the berries were on sale for $2.99 a pint, so I bought some raspberries. A couple days passed, and before I was able to make this, my raspberries had molded. Boo! Off to Target we went again and this time raspberries were no longer on sale, so I stuck with what the recipe called for and I hauled out of there with a pint of blueberries. Aside from the fact that I turned off the oven timer for some reason and had to guess the amount of time left on the crumb cake, this turned out FANTASTIC! It was perfectly moist, just sweet enough, and the crumb topping was ridiculously good. I seriously suggest buying this book, it has too much good stuff to pass up.