Having never made brownies from scratch (unthinkable to some), I was really on the lookout for a good recipe. I think I always made “box” brownies because I thought melting chocolate was always part of the deal. I was just unsure of, you know… double boiler, making sure not to overheat the chocolate, yada, yada, yada. I never thought to look for easy recipes. So, when my husband and I saw a few recipes using cocoa powder, it was like the clouds opened up and rays of sunshine shone onto the mixing bowls. Alright, it wasn’t that dramatic, but we thought, “HEY! We can DO THIS!”

Actually, we were going to bake together since my husband is more like the “McGyver” in the kitchen and doesn’t follow recipes. He ended up doing most, if not all, of it alone because I ran out of the house at the wrong time to run an errand. What we ended up with was a nice small batch of the most fudgy brownies I’ve had in a long time. The pan was quartered into sections: plain brownie, brownie with caramel, salted brownie, brownie with salt and caramel.

He even made the caramel from scratch (took two tries)!

Not so good caramel attempt

Leftover "good" caramel

For an 8 x 8 pan, you might be surprised how long it lasted. We cut the brownies into 1-inch squares. That’s all you need for a taste – it’s so rich!

The recipe we used is from Smitten Kitchen, and can be found here. I’ll be trying this recipe out again with some Scharffen Berger cocoa…mmm.

Other cocoa brownie recipes:

• Alton Brown’s cocoa brownies
• Hershey’s best brownies

This is my last post about our yummy stops in California. So, here we are satisfying another chocolate craving. We had a great lunch with my aunt, uncle and cousins and on the way back to Vacaville we stopped by Bittersweet: the Chocolate Cafe in Danville. Not only was this place cute and quaint, but the chocolate they stock is impressive! You walk in and the chocolaty aroma just swallows you up… so delicious and luxurious. Mmmm.

What lured us in was our cousins telling us this place has THE BEST hot chocolate. So thick it’ll knock you out. You know how they make it? With chocolate ganache! Brilliant!! You just choose the kind of milk you want: skim, 1%, whole, etc. Abby chose skim, and still, it was rich, but not overly so. Perfect for her.

We also took the opportunity to try their desserts. Unfortunately for me and Ollie, there were a lot of good looking pastries but with nuts.

This was my choice to go with the hot chocolate ganache: homemade raspberry marshmallow. Seriously, it makes me want to make my own. Why buy the white styrofoam-ish nuggets when you can have fluffy clouds that melt in your mouth…

Had to share this recipe I received from a relative in NJ. I call her Aunt Carol, and she’s my dad’s cousin.

I tried it the other day and added a pinch of salt (always good in baking) and I sprayed the inside of my mug with Pam. I also will try 2-1/2 minutes for my microwave… I think I overcooked it. Last thing, be sure to eat it while it’s still slightly warm. Totally cooled off… not as tasty. (The pictures are from the original e-mail posting.)

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And for those of you who like CUPCAKES… Martha Stewart’s Cupcake book should be out this week if it’s not already. Check out her radio blog! There’s a terrific XM radio personality contest and the cupcakes are fantastic. (Big fan of Peter Walsh!)

Two weekends ago, we took a small stay-cation and enjoyed our fabulous city.  Without kids!

It was so nice to sleep in, have coffee, walk around the Art Institute and the Magnificent Mile.  We browsed through stores we really had no business stepping into, but it’s fun to look.  The Art Institute is so incredibly inspiring!  I love Monet’s paintings (as in the movie Thomas Crown Affair, “I like my haystacks, Bobby.”), but it’s the historical and architectural artifacts that draw me.  I could spend hours looking and studying the details.  I took so many pictures (probably too many), and we’re thinking of enlarging, framing and hanging them in our home.

Appetizers: Eno at the Intercontinental Hotel.  A wine, cheese and chocolate bar.  I didn’t try the chocolate covered bacon.  We’ll be visiting again, so there will be a next time.

Nice sushi dinner at Aria, but I think we both agree that we’ve enjoyed other restaurants more.  Otherwise, it was a weekend we definitely needed.  Thanks sis-in-law and sis-in-law’s fiance for staying with the kids!