The NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie

I admit that I have joined the bandwagon and made the famous chocolate chip cookie that took the world by storm when the recipe was published in New York Times on 9 July 2009 (albeit a little late). This is definitely the next big thing after the No Knead Bread. Accompanying the recipe was a lengthy discussion on what a perfect chocolate chip cookie should be (as well as its origins). Talk about food science. I wondered if the additional sprinkle of the sea salt and letting the dough sit in the fridge for 24 – 36 hours really turns the cookie into a wonderous one?I saw a mixture of reviews on all time American favourite. Some bloggers calling it the very best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, and others thought it was really no big deal. There is only one way to find out. Sad to say, my cookie making process was full of mistakes. For some reason, I kept thinking the required amount of butter was 1 1/2 cups. Next, I lost count of the amount of baking powder and baking soda I added. Last, my flour amount was slightly off too. Argh. I waited patiently for about 30 hours before I started baking. The cookies turned out beautifully, however, due to their size, I used nearly 30 minutes instead of the stipulated 18 – 20 minutes to bake these monsters.

The verdict? To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. Was I supposed to hear music or feel like dancing around like an idiot (see taiwanese foodie shows) after taking a bite? I got to admit that it was a darn good cookie. The sea salt adds a slightly more complex dimension to it and the cookie dough had a great texture. The expensive Valrhona chocolate helped too of course. Still, I wasn’t wowed by it. Perhaps it has got to do with expectation management. After seeing so many rave reviews about it, I naturally had really high hopes. Mr DC was real pleased with the cookie. He claimed that he could tell the difference, that this cookie was really really good. I am slightly skeptical about his comments as this is the same guy who couldn’t tell the difference between a chicken egg and a duck egg… For those interested to try out the recipe, check it out here.

Honey Oatmeal Sandwich Loaf

After slogging over the cheesecake on friday, I decided to take it easy and do up a simple loaf of bread. I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking and tweaked it abit. After leaving it to proof, I realised that I forgot to add milk powder. Argh. Still, it turned out pretty yummy. The bread is dense, and the honey lent a fragrant sweetness to it. The oats softened after being soaked in the boiling water and breaks up after kneading. Thus, the oats will not be visible in the bread. It would be good to have it toasted and eaten with some Nutella or peanut butter. However, I just used it to mop up some of my mom’s curry chicken and they were just as wonderful.

Honey Oatmeal Sandwich Loaf
(Loosely adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking)

1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup honey
2/3 cup wholemeal flour
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk (I forgot to add)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
handful of roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

1. Place the boiling water, oats, butter, salt and honey into a medium bowl, stir, and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

2. Mix the remaining dough ingredients with the oat mixture, and knead -by hand, mixer or bread machine – until you’ve made a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a lighly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise for 1 hour; the dough should be doubled in bulk.

3. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Gently deflate the dough – it’ll be sticky, so oil your hands – and shape it into a 9 inch log. Place it in the prepared pan, Cover it gently with lightly greased plastic wrap or a proof cover. Allow it to rise till it’s crowned 1 1/2 inches over the rim of the pan, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Near the end of the bread’s rising time, preheat the over to 175 degrees C.

4. Uncover and sprinkle a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds on the surface of the bread. Bake for about 45 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. The bread is done when it’s golden brown and gives a hollow sound when tapped.

5. Remove from oven and after a minute or so, turn it out onto a rack. Cool the bread completely before cutting it.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

I have a love hate relationship with Mother’s food processor. Love it because it gives me instant crumbs for my cheesecake base and hate it because of the horrific mess it makes after use. The horrific part is more on Mother’s feelings. That is the way she feels everytime I use the food processor. I am a girl with a vast knowledge on swear words and I use them alot. When I use the processor, I tend to use them even more.

With Mr DoubleChin’s birthday round the corner, I pondered on what I will make to commemorate this special occasion. My first choice was to make black bottom cupcakes, then I decided the honey castella cake looked better. One day, I was reading (and laughing) the blog posted Smitten Kitchen about the dilemma Alex faced very year when his birthday comes. If I have a superb cook like Deb in the kitchen, I would probably feel the same way too. Being curious, I went to prior years and checked out the other birthday cakes that Alex chose. When I saw the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake, I was sold. This is definitely what Mr DC will get for his birthday. It will be a fun (and delicious) challenge for me too. This time, I used magarine instead of butter. The cake consists of 4 parts: brownie, crust, cheesecake and ganache topping. I started off with making the brownie in the afternoon. That was easy enough. I followed closely to Deb’s recipe but used only 1 1/3 cup of sugar. I used Hershey’s baking chocolate and got a nice fudgy brownie. On a side note, Mr DC bought me a cookie cutter yesterday and insisted that it was a pig-shaped. If it was a pig, it was a really skinny one. My idea of a pig is something rounder and fatter, best with a twirly tail. This one is slightly far away from it ya? *oink oink*

The next step was the crust using Deb’s ’secret ingredient’ – Arnott’s Chocolate Tiny Teddy. I totally love this stuff and ate them alot when I was young. We went through quite abit of trouble to get them. Mr DC went to Candy Empire to get them. Apparently, they don’t come in boxes anymore, only in fun packs with 10 mini packets inside. Worse still, they were a mixture of chocolate chip, chocolate and honey. I ordered Mr DC to check out the supermarket at City Hall and finally found what I wanted. Although they were still fun packs, they had pure chocolate ones. I pulsed them in my food processor while cursing constantly under my breath and produced fine crumbs (of wrath). I went through 3 (250g) packs to get aboutc 4 1/4 cups of crumbs. No problems, as I intended to make a few smaller cheesecakes in my muffin tray too. I took a breather and eating an egg tart by the sink when Mother walked in and spied the mess I made. She gave me a look and walked out. I quickly wolf down the rest of my tart and proceeded to clean up. Phew.

After dinner, I continued my baking and started off by getting the crust ready. For the cheesecake, I decided to use Dorie’s tall and creamy cheesecake instead. It looked really tempting and easy too. After it was done, I folded the brownines in carefully but still could not prevent the brownie crumbs from mixing into the cheesecake. Next time, I will arrange the brownie cubes in the springform pan and just pour in the mixture instead. The cake needed 1 hour and 20 minutes to cook. I while my time away chatting to Dad, watching Olympics, and cleaning up the mess I made. For the mini cheesecakes, I shortened the cooking time to 50 minutes. Lastly, for the ganache, Deb’s recipe needs the use of the (hated) processor, so I used Dorie’s recipe instead. I gave my goodies to Mr DC (who had a big smile on his face), my hairstylist EW, Elvis and Jumper. Everyone is happy! Happy birthday Mr DC! ^___^ I would highly recommend all to try it. Although it is slightly time consuming, it is definitely worth it.

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Part One: One Bowl Brownie

Adapted from Baker’s One Bowl Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter / magarine
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

3. Microwave chocolate and margarine in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until margarine is melted. Or put the margarine and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar.

4. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

5. Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.

6. Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake. You will have more than the two cups of cubes, loosely measured, than you will need. (No worries, these are great with ice cream too. Also, it is easier to cut up the brownies after chilling them in the fridge first)

7. Add cubes to cake batter as directed below.

Part Two: Crumb Crust
Adapted from Gourmet, 1999

This gives a thick crust, if you prefer a thinner one, halve the recipe

3 cups of finely ground cookies such as chocolate wafers. Or Chocolate Teddy Grahams
1/2 magarine, melted
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Part Three: Cheesecake
Adapted from Baking: From my home to yours

2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two

1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla.

3. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

5. Carefully fold in the brownie cubes.

6. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.

7. Pour the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.)

8. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

9. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. (Depending on how hot your oven is, start checking on the cake after 1 hour 10 minutes.)Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

10. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

Part Four: Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Adapted from Baking: From my home to yours

4 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. Put the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl.

2. Bring the cream, sugar and water to a full boil, then pour the liquid over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds.

3. Working with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl, and working your way out in increasingly larger concentric circles.

(If you are pouring the glaze over a chilled cake, particularly a chilled cake that is already frosted, the glaze can be used as soon as it is blended. If you are pouring over a room temperature cake that is not already frosted, leave it to thicken just enough to pour in a ribbon.)