Easy Chocolate Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce

Easy Chocolate Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce

Icebox Key Lime Pie

Icebox Key Lime Pie

The graham cracker crust clearly needs work and I need to get myself a 9 inch pie pan. Used agar agar instead of gelatin. The next time I make this, will omit the vile instant vanilla pudding mix and rely entirely on agar agar to firm up the filling. The pie is too diary intense for me. And I have 16 more ounces of cream cheese to work through. Sigh!

Strawberry Lemonade

Summer in a drink - Strawberry Lemonade.

Used strawberries we picked from Swanton Berry Farm. Picking berries at their Swanton Ranch with the Pacific in the background is dramatic.

Thin and Crispy Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies

Thin and Crispy Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies

(you will need to register)

The addition of coconut is definitely a winner. I followed the same substitutions and omissions as here. Ignoring the egg also means there's little liquid in the dough to bring all ingredients together. In this recipe moisture from the sweetened, flaked coconut is a welcome addition; it was easier to roll the dough portions into balls. There are two more variations listed: orange-almond and salty. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. But coconut's here to stay.

Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

(you will need to register)

As I post a picture this Sunday evening, there's not single one o'em left. Had baked this pile and more last Thursday. Of course, I omitted the lone egg called for and yes, weighed the ingredients. A baking recipe written just the way I like it.

Substitutions
- turbinado sugar for light brown sugar
- kosher salt for table salt

I think I already know what I'll bake next, same cookie with coconut added. Yours truly is a goan mallu after all.

Candied Ginger

Candied Ginger

Though not posted here, Ginger Snaps promptly followed. What struck me about the recipe was how gripped I felt looking at sugar syrup recrystallizing. The hurrah moment, when you know, you were doing it right all along and i secretly laughed at all the recipes that ask for ginger to be coated in sugar as the coup de grace.

Brownie

Brownie with the crackling crust.

As I don't bake with eggs, I looked for substitutions for the 4 large eggs (squirm!) called for in the recipe. Most often, I just ignore the eggs entirely, [sure the texture is different (read, dense) without the protein (which envelopes the little pockets of air and makes the cake light)] but here they were the only liquid used. I resorted to a combination of yogurt, sour cream, oil and baking powder. Perhaps it was the fat from 3 of the 4 substitutions, the brownie was greasy. Next time it will be water or coffee. The recipe calls for cake flour which I used. Now, cake flour is low on protein and without the eggs, made this a brownie with a very tender crumb. The cracks on the crust made up for the dense texture and excessive sweetness. Will make this again with chocolate bars (this time I used chips) and will go easy on the sugar. I served it with white chocolate ganache. Very nice!

(as I finished off writing, this was playing in my head: MochaChocaLatta ya ya and I see someone else was thinking along the same lines...)

and oh yeah, did I mention I love my new 13" by 9" baking pan?...first the baklava and then the brownie...quite a record there already...