Orange and marmalade bars with almond crust and a certain British actor

Right after I started watching "Game of Thrones" (I have just finished the first season, so no spoilers, please), I accessed Sean Bean's profile on IMDb to check on his age, because on the show he just did not look as his regular charming and handsome self. :) The text says he's England's most versatile actor, and as much as I adore Sean Bean the person who wrote that clearly hasn't been introduced to Gary Oldman. :D

When it comes to versatility Alice Medrich's bars are hard to beat: I have made them in numerous ways already, with and without nuts on the crust, with different jam flavors, you name it. This time I've adapted the recipe once again, using oranges instead of lemons and making it in a larger baking pan so I could feed more people with it. Delicious.

Orange and marmalade bars with almond crust
adapted from the delicious Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Crust:
180g all purpose flour
60g almond meal
75g granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (168g) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225g marmalade
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan, line it with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil as well.

Crust: place the flour, almond meal, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Press dough evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fully baked and golden brown in the center.
Towards the end of the cooking time of the crust, make the topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the marmalade, breaking up any large pieces, then stir in the orange juice. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the topping no longer jiggles when the pan is tapped. Cool completely over a wire rack. Cut into bars.
Bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Makes 24

Lemon and blueberry cornmeal cake

Even though I’ve been very focused on my inventory project (two years now, wow) I still love to go around the supermarket aisles to see if there’s anything new I haven’t tried yet – my husband says that if we went grocery shopping at the same time with the same list on our hands he’d be finished in half the time (and he’s right). :D

Weeks ago I discovered a new brand of corn products, a Brazilian one, and those products are made of non-transgenic corn. I found that such a wonderful thing that I couldn’t resist and brought home a bag of corn flour, which was used to make Clarice’s beautiful cake. Since the cake turned out so good, I was inspired to bake again with that corn flour, this time using a recipe that originally called for polenta. The cake turned out delicious and really tender, with the blueberries popping like small bubbles of jam at every bite – I found the cake so good on its own I skipped the icing entirely.

Lemon and blueberry cornmeal cake
slightly adapted from here

225g unsalted butter, very soft
225g granulated sugar
4 large eggs
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
4 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
100g corn flour (not corn starch)
150g all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
200g blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with baking paper, buttering the paper as well*.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. Fold in the corn flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and lemon juice to make a smooth batter. Carefully fold in half the blueberries. Spoon mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Scatter over remaining blueberries.
Bake for about 40minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.

* I used a pan with a removable bottom, so I just buttered and floured it – I did not use baking paper to line it

Serves 20

Nib praliné brownies + a new band (at least new to me)

Days ago, while looking for good haircuts for fine hair (something that would make me look like I have tons of hair, which unfortunately is not true) I ended up on this lovely website and watching one of the videos I was introduced to “Foster the People” – I got hooked and can’t stop listening to their songs, especially “Helena Beat” and “I Would Do Anything For You”. Such a nice discovery.

I’m not usually that good to remember where and when I first found things, but I am quite sure that cocoa nibs were introduced to me by Alice Medrich; here the nibs are turned into a delicious praliné and then folded into brownie batter, and that alone made me drool when I read the recipe. The praliné recipe, however, yielded twice as much as the amount called for to be used in the brownies, but I went on and used the whole batch anyway – some of the caramel melted and formed a layer on the bottom of the brownies and that made slicing a little bit harder. Now it’s up to you: you can either follow the recipe below and use only ½ cup total of praliné in your brownies or you can go crazy like I did and caramelize the heck out of your bars – just make sure you have a sharp knife around. :D

Nib praliné brownies
slightly adapted from the adorable Luscious Chocolate Desserts

Nib praliné:
1/3 cup (40g) cocoa nibs
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) water
¼ cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt

Brownies:
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter
112g (4oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (33g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt

Start with the praliné: line a large baking sheet with foil and butter the foil. Spread the cocoa nibs over the buttered foil.
Heat the sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high and do not stir any longer. Cook the mixture until a dark golden brown caramel forms, washing the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals – it should read 160-165°C (320-330°F) on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and immediately pour the caramel over the cocoa nibs. Set aside to cool completely, then break into pieces- for a finer texture, process in a food processor.

Makes about 1 cup (you’ll use half this amount in the brownies)

Brownies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on the two longest sides and butter the foil as well.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Beat sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate mixture just until blended. Sift the flour, cocoa and salt over the mixture and fold gently. Fold in ¼ cup of the praliné.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan, then top with the remaining ¼ cup praliné. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out sticky with just a few crumbs. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 20

Raspberry jam and pecan bars + a discussion about age

Some of my colleagues on Facebook were discussing actresses that actually look their age – the examples given were Charlotte Rampling and Fernanda Montenegro, then someone mentioned Judi Dench. I always say that when I think of myself in my seventies both Fernanda and Dame Dench come to my mind: talented, beautiful women who aren’t ashamed of all the years stamped on their faces, and I find that admirable – I would love to look that good when I’m older and yet, at the same time, to have so much more than just looks to be proud of.

The conversation went on and Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock were mentioned as opposite examples: their faces have been changed so much by “cosmetic” procedures that it’s even hard to read their expressions – Nicole’s performance in “Rabbit Role” (an excellent movie, btw) could have been epic, magnificent, but unfortunately the big, weird lips and frozen forehead did nothing for the character, especially in very emotional scenes.

The desperate fixation on eternal youth has made male victims, too: while getting my daily dose of gossip this morning I saw John Rzeznik’s wedding photo and for a moment I thought he was Joan Rivers. So sad. :(

People shouldn’t have to worry about silly things like looking 30 when they’re actually 60. Life should be simpler. Simple like jam bars (in this case, with an extra kick of flavor from the pecans).

Raspberry jam and pecan bars
slightly adapted from the always delicious Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe

1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 ¼ cups (175g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (130g) light brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
¾ cup (82g) pecans, not too finely chopped
¾ cup (1½ sticks/170g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 cup raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 32.5x22.5cm (13x9in) baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on all sides and butter the foil as well.
Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until it forms crumbs. Stir in the pecans. Reserve 1 ¼ cups of this mix. Press the remaining mix into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and slightly firm to touch. Remove from the oven, spread the jam evenly over the crust, then top with the reserved crumbs. Return to the oven and bake until the top is golden and filling is bubbly, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan and cutting.

Makes 18 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers

Being someone who always has trouble choosing what to prepare, these double deckers were the perfect solution to my baking conundrum: two different layers, two delicious baked goods in one. To make things even better, the recipe is easy to put together and yields a lot, being great for sharing – they disappeared from the office quite fast the other day... :)

The recipe comes from a cookbook I bought on a day I was feeling bored to my bones and needed a little retail therapy – since I’m not into shoes and bags as apparently all the other girls are (or feel obligated to be as to feel they belong to a certain group of people), I bought a couple of books and Abigail Johnson Dodge’s "The Weekend Baker" turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: I have baked a handful of recipes from it and everything turned out delicious.

Chocolate chip brownie double-deckers
from the delicious The Weekend Baker

Chocolate chip layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups (218g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups (187g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie layer:
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chopped
¾ cup (68g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
1 ½ cups + 3 tablespoons (336g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour

Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F*.
Line a 32x22cm (9x13in) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil.
Chocolate chip layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set the butter mix aside to cool while making the brownie layer.

Brownie layer: in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg. Sprinkle the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Set it aside while you finish the chocolate chip layer.

To finish the chocolate chip layer: in a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk until it's well-blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla to it and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoops and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Bake until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it, about 40 minutes. Don't over-bake or the brownies won't be fudgy. Transfer the baking pan to a rack to cool completely.

Cut the brownies into small squares measuring about 5cm (2in) each.

* Out of distraction I baked the bars at 180°C/350°F (and they worked out fine)

Makes 24 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan; I found the bars really rich, therefore I cut each square in half to make smaller bars