Black Forest Chocolate Cookie, pg 142-143

The Verdict: I had loved every cookie in the book so far so I was surprised that these didn't rock my world. They were ok, but not as chewy as I had hoped and didn't keep for very long. Within a few days in a ziplock they were near inedible. 

Tips for Next Time: Eh, pass. 

Sweet and Salty Cake, pg 67

I was disappointed with the White Out cake so I decided to do a cake that I was sure would turn out pretty spectacular, chocolate and caramel can never be wrong. I was meeting up with a friend who was visiting around valentines so I made him a box of cupcakes.

The Verdict: I guess I have a different taste in cake because I found this cake too dry and not chocolate enough. Baked, you've failed me again! Other than that, this recipe was super heavy on the caramel. Caramel sauce and carmel buttercream on top of a chocolate cake that didn't have much chocolate wasn't the ideal balance. 

Tips for Next Time: I made these into cupcakes and ended up with tons of caramel leftover. Maybe if you're layering a cake it works out but for cupcakes I had at least a full cup of caramel sauce leftover. I saved it and have gradually been using it in my coffee. Mmmmhmm. If I was to make something like this in the future I'd use my go-to chocolate cake recipe, use the caramel sauce from the book and a chocolate ganache frosting. By the way, if you're layering cupcakes, the caramel sauce is really slippery so any frosting put on top of it will slide off. I learned this the hard way.

Flourless Chocolate Cake, pg 50-51

The bakery I worked at specialized in gluten free baking and the flourless chocolate cake was their star. I've made more flourless chocolate cake than I'd care to remember but I've always been found of it so I wasn't worried about finding a hope for all the leftovers.

The Verdict: Delicious. When I pulled it out of the oven it was tall and fluffy, unlike all the cakes I've baked before. I thought it was strange but after it cooled it had reduced to an inch and change, now that's how it should go! Granted, it didn't turn out as pretty as all the other flourless chocolate cakes I've baked but it tasted about the same so I was a happy camper. 

Tips for Next Time: The bakery recipe that I'm used to had ground coffee in it. It's no secret that coffee and chocolate are the new peanut butter and jelly so next time I make this I'll probably throw a tablespoon of instant espresso in. Also, for ease of serving a crowd, next time I also plan on copying the bakery by caking this in a sheet pan, that way I can slice and dice smaller more appropriate portions without it being a huge hassle. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf, pg 43

The Verdict: This baby is dense but the crust is a nice texture contrast. It wasn't as heavy on the pumpkin or spice mixture that I'm used to but it was delicious nonetheless.

Tips for Next Time: The husband insists that this needs to be made again in a bundt cake pan.

Orange, Almond, Blueberry Muffins, pg 31

One of my bountiful basket had blueberries and oranges. Sounds like the perfect excuse to make these orange blueberry almond muffins! I didn't have any orange juice on hand but luckily the juice from 2 oranges was ample.

The Verdict: With such strong flavors the almond is completely lost. The sliced almonds added a little crunch but I don't see the point to the ground almonds. Protein? Other than that, they were super tasty. The texture was right and I liked the little blueberry bursts. Plus the orange and blue/purple looked really pretty together. If I wanted to impress with breakfast baking, these would probably make the list.

Tips for Next Time: Skip the almond bit, I don't think it adds anything and could easily be omitted, especially since people might be allergic to almonds. 

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffin, pg 32

We've been doing this program called Bountiful Baskets where you pay for a basket on Monday and pick a delivery time. Pickups are on Saturday and you get a random assortment of fruits and veggies. And you get more than your $15 worth, it actually turned out to be so much food that I split it with my sisters family. This last Saturday our counters were overflowing with fruit so I turned to my cookbook to see what I could make and it was fate because I had just gotten blueberries, oranges and bananas in my basket.


Verdict: I'm one of those few people who actually like the flavor of coffee and drink it because I think it tastes good, not for the caffeine factor (not that it hurts!) so I was disappointed when I couldn't taste the coffee in the banana muffins. They were also a little gummy but that is expected with any type of banana bread I think.

Tips for next time: Increase the coffee in the banana muffins or leave it out completely. In Utah there are ample anti coffee people so it's nice to leave it out from time to time so everyone can enjoy the muffins. For the orange blueberry. eh.. I'd make them again if I needed to use some fruit again but they didn't change my life.

Peanut Butter Crispy, pg 133

The Verdict: I knew when I realized that the rice krispies were covered in caramel that they would be too hard. Mike took them to work and his coworkers devoured them. I had a piece cut out for pictures and he said that he could take it to work and auction it off because people loved it so much.

Tips for Next Time: Aside from someone requesting them, I don’t think I’ll make these again. They were ok, but the crispiness of the bottom later wasn’t my favorite.