TWD: Espresso Profiteroles

I was not convinced about doing this recipe, as I really do not like Profiteroles or anything alike. There are some other german names for sweets made of the same batter: Windbeutel, Brandteigkrapfen or Liebesknochen (the latter have a different form but the same batter and filling) - and I like none of them. But one of my colleagues occassionally mentioned the she loves profiteroles, even the more when they are plain, unfilled and already one day old.

Well, I might not like profiteroles but I like experiments, so I made the recipe.

Doing it was a mess. I had the feeling the batter was way too liquid. I was not able to place it on the baking sheet as I thought I should. The batter made small "lakes" on the sheet. Unfortunately, I put the first sheet in the oven and decided to make some modification before waiting how this first sheet turned out. And while there was already almost one cup more flour included in the batter, the "lakes" started to firm and puff...

Anyhow, the second and third sheet were much easier to handel. I was able to make small "mountains" that did hold. But in the end, the profiteroles tunred out more in the shape of cookies and did not really puff or fall down again when I took them out the oven. I guess the excessive flour made the dough too heavy.

However, I brought them to work and my profiteroles-loving colleague enjoyed them. As most of them did not puff (in the pictures you see the only three or four that turned out fine) I did not cut and fill them but put some chocolate and vanilla pudding besides.

If you like profiteroles in general then for sure these Espresso Profiteroles are an excellent option. And - in the end they are easy and fast in the making, once you find out how it works and as long as you trust the recipe :-]
Therefore, have a look at p. 411 in Dorie Greenspan's book and/or see how the recipe turned out for the other bakers of the TWD-group!

TWD - Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Gosh, how did that happen, it is Tuesday again!
The last days just ran through my fingers like sand... it is already afternoon and I didn't realize until now, that I haven't made my blog entry for this weeks TWD...

This week it was Donna's turn to pick a recipe, and she opted for these fabulous sablés, the Espresse Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. Shortbread, or Sablés, are really one my favourites. And I am pretty satisfied with the result.
You can have a look at the recipe at Donna's blog Lifes is too short not to eat dessert first" (cool name, isn't it), or in Dorie's book at p. 125.

When I read "coffee" in a recipe I always think "Oh no, I don't like coffee flavour". But funnily, whenever I eat sweets with coffee flavour, especially when it is only a bit of it, and combined with chocolate, I like it quite a lot. Don't ask me why. I just have this image of coffee as not very tasty in my mind, but reality always proofs me wrong.

This time it was the same. I was very tempted to try the "Playing around" version with oats, but decided to stick with the original in the very last minute.

And I am really, really happy with it. And my colleagues were, too.

[If I could only find a way to picture cookies in a better way,  I would be completely satisfied]

Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

It's not often that I bake&blog beside the weekly Tuesdays-with-Dorie recipe, and it has become even more rarely since I changed to a new and very, very demanding (but also very, very exciting job).
Some weeks ago I bought some Philadelphia because it was an offer (I am so easy to manipulate...). So before it expires I had to make some cheesecake with it.

Doing cheesecake is not that easy where I life, because we do not have creamcheese round here. There are numerous webpages offering hints how to mix different dairy products so they come as close as possible to creamcheese. I mostly use about 3/4 Philadelphia and 1/4 curd cheese and for me that works.

I had a "TWD-free" weeke-end last week because I pre-made the scheduled recipe (the Banana Coconut Icecream Pie) already some weeks before. I love american desserts even more than french ones, and I particularily adore cheesecakes. And brownies. So this combination screamed "bake me" for aeons.
And I really loved it. The brownie-layer turned out comparatively dense, but in combination with the cheesecake-layer that was just about right. Marbeling didn't work, because I used a too big pan so I had not enough batter left, but I used a white-chocolate glazé and decorated it with some dark chocolate glazé.
I served it with a rhubarb-strawberry hotchpotch - and look at the colour combination!!

Definitely a "do me again"-recipe.

(the only downer is that many bowls and  pots are involved due to the different layers)

P.S.: The recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From my home to yours", or on Melissa's page Life in a peanut shell, who opted for this recipe back in September 2009)

TWD: Cafe Volcano Cookies

As I was travelling the whole last week I had to skip the Sablés for  TWD. But I am definitely going to catch-up soon, because I love, love, love Sablés! So, even if I didn't make them (yet) thanks in advance to Bungalow Barbara who had the nice idea to choose them! It's not only that I like the taste of Sablés, but it is so easy to play around and try some variations. I have not decided yet, but I somehow often go for the classics, so maybe I will choose the basic type. But as December is not necessarily green and red for me, I will definitely not use coloured sugar!

So - so much for last week. I just finished to unpack my rucksack, it's 0:01 AM, , therefore it is Tuesday - so why not blog straight away...

This week, Cafe Volcano Cookies, chosen by MacDuff of The lonely Sidecar, where pending on the queue!

Preparations

I am pretty sure that what I got out of the oven is not what it should be. Anyways, they tasted wonderful. Very sweet, even though I took a bit less sugar, but still wonderful.

And I can't wait to see all the other's pictures and find out, what they really should turn out! : o]
(What a pitty my time zones forces me to post earlier than most of the others...)

As I bake now with TWD for some weeks I really have to say that all the recipes I tried so far turned out more than fine. And I guess, the same is true for the other recipes. When I arrive to bake wonderfully looking tartes and cookies, tasting incredibly good, a great deal of the credits go to Dorie and her book.
It's no miracle to make good sweets when you can rely on a good recipe!