Birthday Brownies!

My birthday was September 19th and Jason made some very special brownies for me in lieu of cake.

He used the brownie recipe I blogged about previously and topped them with a chocolate ganache and coconut shreds.



The brownie was very moist and fudgey, the ganache felt like silk against the roof of my mouth and the coconut gave it that extra pop of flavor.

The brownie piece in the photo was the very last one. Hmm what can I do to get him to make more?!

Pinterest and Brownies

I am a Pinterest junkie, but I am sure I'm not alone in this.

I spotted a brownie photo there and after reading the blogger's article I decided that I needed to try them someday so I bookmarked the blog article.

The moment finally struck me as I was watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy where Izzy was trying to make brownies just like her mom. She later discovered that the secret ingredient was coconut extract.

When I saw that episode I kind of had a eureka moment - what a brilliant idea! And I knew it was time to put that bookmarked recipe to the test! We pretty much followed the recipe except that we exchanged the vanilla extract for coconut and chose pecans for the nuts instead of a mixture.

I must say, these are the best brownies I have ever eaten.
Yes I did say the best, better than mom's and better than grandma's.
They're perfect in every way and I want to make more already and my batch is not even gone yet. They're amazing and definitely my go to brownie recipe from now on.

Here's the recipe!
(from David Lebovitz, Ready for Dessert)

6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 g) unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces (225 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup ( 35 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (about 135 g) walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

*Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Line a 9-inch square baking tin with two pieces of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side. Lightly grease the parchment paper with butter or cooking spray, set aside.

*Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and with a spatula, stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

*Whisk in the sugar until well combined.

*Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.

*Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift in the flour. Whisk batter vigorously for 1 full minute, until batter loses its graininess and becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.

*Add the chopped nuts and with the wooden spoon, stir to combine.

*Pour batter into prepared baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until the centre feels almost set, do not over-bake.



I wonder how they would be with mint extract? Or maybe topped with marshmallow cream while they're still warm?
What other combinations do you think would be yummy?

Mississippi Mud Ya'll!

Doesn't it look delicious?

The cake has dark chocolate cocoa, chopped pecans and coconut shreds inside, which is baked and then topped with marshmallow cream while still hot. Once cooled, its frosted with more dark chocolate.

The recipe for this cake was given to me by a fellow band geek's mom after I told her how wonderful her cake was. That was..well.. lets just say many moons ago. I misplaced the recipe and I thought I had lost it forever without ever getting to make the cake myself. I was cleaning out my cookbook cabinet and spotted a little book that I didn't remember having. It was one of those that you fill with your own favorite recipes. I opened it up and lo and behold there was Mississippi Mud Cake and my Grandpa's meatloaf recipe!

Have you ever found something you thought was gone for good?

Yoplait Yogurt Splitz!

Trying the birthday cake flavor for the first time right now and omg its good!
If you have not tried these, do it. You'll thank yourself!

I also have a pack of Rainbow Sherbet flavor, that I haven't tried yet. Yum!!

Pesto

Jason just finished making Pesto with basil he grew in his herb garden. I already ate one piece of flatbread of it and its soooo yummy!
He told me that he looked at a few recipes for ingredients and then made up his own proportions for each. I must say this is the best pesto I've ever tried!