chewy chocolate chip cookies

Today I've made some cookies...

Remember the nursery game that goes…

“Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? I think (supply name here) stole the cookie from the cookie jar. Who me? Yes, You! Not, me. Then who? I think (supply name here) stole the cookie from the cookie jar.” (and the cycle continues…until someone gets uber exhausted!) Yep, that's me!

I think I’ve been repeating this while I make my cookies to the annoyance of anyone within hearing distance. Hehehe

array of cookies...aren't they beauties?

So this afternoon I’ve decided to make some chewy chocolate chip cookies! (my first time ever!) Why? Because I like variety—of things I make…I just finished “perfecting” Brazo de Mercedes last night (my mom calls it brazo ni pitie—translation:my arms! Tsk tsk)

Anyhow, as I’ve said I’ve made some chewy chocolate chip cookies. I like my cookies chewy! I don’t like those crispy and challenging to the teeth kind of cookies! I wanted to experiment on my "baking" skills!

So here’s how I made did. (by the way, my mom—my taste tester—said that my cookies, for a first-timer was perfection! Cool right? I loveeeet!)

Got this recipe from Martha Stewart. Thanks Martha, hehehe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

2. In another bowl (where we will use electric mixer), combine the butter with both sugars. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Reduce speed to low and add the salt, vanilla, and eggs (I like to do this gradually, one at at time). Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute.

4. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips. FOLD IT IN! Until chocolate chips are well-blended.

6. Drop tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

7. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes.

8. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes.

9. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

finish product :D

my number 1 fan...delighted to eat a cookie

still on a sugar high,

prettytwistedchip--err chick :P

brazo de mercedes

I wanted to make a brazo de mercedes cake for my brother for his upcoming birthday. His birthday is still a month away from now, but I figured as this will be my second time to actually “bake” something I might as well give myself a month head start to perfect the thing.

Brazo de mercedes is my brother’s favorite cake. I don’t know why he loved this since for me its all air and eggs. (Did I mention that I have this slight aversion to eggs—in general?!) I just don’t like the aftertaste of an egg in any meal.

So it’s quite ironic for me to actually enjoy making something out of eggs. All for the love of my brother—and an excuse to make use of the kitchen! :D

Brazo de Mercedes is a classic Filipino dessert. It literally means “Mercedes Arms”. I have no idea who Mercedes is (perhaps she invented this recipe). Or probably because of the cakes’ elongated and arm-like appearance. (Who knows!). But as my further research would have it, this cake is also known as a Creme-filled Log Cake.

I found this recipe from Panlasang Pinoy. I followed this recipe from the said site because it had an instructional video and it was quite easy to follow! Yey!

ta-daaaah!

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients:
10 large raw eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 can condensed milk

Procedure:
1. Combine egg whites and cream of tartar then beat using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

2. Make the meringue by gradually adding the granulated sugar while mixing the ingredients. Continue mixing until the texture is semi-firm.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 175 degrees Celsius!).

4. Place wax paper on top of a cookie try or large rectangular baking pan and grease the surface.

5. Place the meringue on top of the greased wax paper then spread evenly using a spatula. When you’ve even out the surface, you can use a fork to “decorate” the meringue.

6. Bake the meringue for 20 to 22 minutes or until the color of the top part turns light to medium brown.

7. For the filling: combine beaten egg yolks and condensed milk in a small cooking pot. Apply heat and cook the mixture while continuously stirring until the texture becomes thick.

 (I like to put it in low heat to avoid burning the custard. Plus I’m dead serious about CONTINUOUS stirring or you will burn your custard.) 

Add the vanilla extract to the condensed milk and egg yolk mixture, turn off the heat, and mix thoroughly. Set aside and let it cool a bit.

8. Remove the meringue from the oven and cool down for a few minutes. The meringue is kinda bloated but once you air it out it will shrink a little. It’s a natural occurrence so don’t fret!(Like I did, when I first made this!)

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the meringue then place wax paper on the top part of the meringue followed by a similar sized baking pan or tray. The meringue should now be in the middle of two baking trays.

still bloated...

after a few minutes outside the oven

9. Flip the meringue: the new cookie sheet/baking tray placed on top should now be below. Remove the baking tray and the wax paper, spread the filling over the meringue. Spread it generously! It’s the fun and yuh-meh part! :D

10. Roll the meringue. Complete rolling side to side starting at the longest side. Make sure that the layer with filling is rolled inward.

baked 2 half-rolls of cake with this recipe

because my pan was too small

Lovin’ the baking life…

prettytwistedchick

my first ever chocolate cake

Yesterday, before going home i had the urge to make a chocolate cake. So i went online to search for a beginner cake that i could follow and i found the Hershey's website. The ingredients were okay...and the instruction was (i thought) do-able so after office hours, i went to the grocery to buy me some stuffs.

I was about to give up because i wasnt able to immediately find the Hershey's Cocoa in the "baking" section of the grocery... later on, (after about 30minutes of scouring the grocery) i was able to find it on the chocolate drink/milk section.

Here's how I made it (if you're too lazy to go to Hershey's website):

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups Hershey's Cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure:

1.) Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2 .) Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin--i was nervous when i saw a thin batter but after re-reading this instruction i calmed down). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.) Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.


FOR CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups frosting. Then add to your chocolate cake.
i love my chocolate cake!

but there were humps and bumps in the baking road...



at first i thought that the whole thing was a complete failure as i didn't realize that my pan was too small for my cake batter. Hence, when the cake batter rise, it overflowed. I was nearly teary-eyed with frustration! (see picture above--if it were you, wouldn't you get frustrated? i made this around 12midnight so i can't go out to buy some larger pan...)

BUT as it turned out, it only overflowed (thank goodness!!!)... it did not messed up the whole cake! I was able to sliced through it and my chocolate cake turned out great! :D



i cant wait to do more of these! it actually relieved my stress...(despite my interim frustration) iloveeeet! i'm planning on making a red velvet cake next time--simply because the color red appeals to me hee hee hee. i'm on a roll now and i cant be stopped! :D


on sugar-high!
prettytwistedchick