Brownie S'mores

What I love about long weekends is that I get to cook and bake all day! :)

Originally, my plan was to make Rocky Road Brownies then I figured I hated peanuts on chocolate so I had to substitute walnuts and pecans and there was this longing to add a caramel fudge and pecans plus caramel fudge would then result to Turtle brownies right? Whatever, let's just bake.

You don't know how excited I was to use Kraft caramels and well, it's my first time to use marshmallows.

 

The recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate but I have none at hand. Instead, I used a mixture of Tablea, Semi-sweet chocolate chips and Dutch-processed chocolate baking bars.

And the photo below was with a company of a staple ingredient in French cuisine-BUTTER.

While waiting for the brownies to cook, I craved for something to munch towards boredom and I found myself spreading a Laughing Cow Cream Cheese spread. And since I want to get rid of that fake flower as my props, I went for my favorite: Italian flat-leaf parsley.

But I figured I have better plans for the parsley. And so it swam in my cream cheese spread which resulted to a very comforting snack. I got addicted to it though and had a couple. It is addicting. Again, I'm asking you to trust me.

After baking the brownies, I threw in marshmallows, more chocolate chips and a combination of chopped pecans and walnuts. Bring it to melt for another 5 minutes in the oven.

And pour caramel fudge all over.

 

 

And the verdict? At one bite, you'd be in an instant chocolate high that it could compete with truffles! And it was sweet. Too sweet to be true! And well, I had to cut it into mini brownie bites for a normal serving would boost your adrenaline in no time!

I also had trouble cutting the brownies into squares because the melted marshmallows stood as a hindrance. It would stick to my knife and would ruin not only the brownie, but also the mood. I think I need to serve this to people with sweet tooth. Not only sweet but I guess those who can tolerate "too sweet" and taste them as "sweet". My sister is an example actually. She found the brownies okay, and not too sweet. I actually never knew the difference of using bittersweet, semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate. Now I know why. With the sweetness of the toppings namely the mallows, semisweet chocolate chips and caramel fudge; it was dancing together with the sweetness of the brownie. If I followed the recipe through and through, the toppings could have balanced with the brownie. Oh well, we all have to learn the hard way.

Rocky Road brownie recipe is from, Joy of Baking. And I've decided to call these devils brownie S'mores because they actually taste like one!

Lemon Bars

Joy of Baking - Through the years of trial and errors, I've come to trust one site more than I trust anyone. What I love about Joy of Baking is that it gives you a hindsight of each recipes plus her recommendations for each technique down to little what to dos with every ingredient present. 

 This is my third attempt on baking lemon bars. One looked more of a pudding, the second one was a way too tangy and this last one turned out just right. I booked an appointment with Joy of baking for my 2nd and 3rd attempt. The second try, I followed the recipe through and through. It turned out fine though my mom never liked it tangy whereas for me: The tangier, the better! 

For this 3rd attempt, I had to revise the recipe by reducing the amount of lemon juice to balance the sweetness and the wonderful tangy flavor. Also, this recipe has the easiest and the most delish crust to use for tarts! I have used this for my mango, peaches and apple tarts. Even used this crust as a base in my apple cheesecake and it turned out heavenly. Trust me on this one or should I say, trust Joy of Baking. I swear, she's gonna be your best friend in baking. 

So fire away, home chef!

Lemon Bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan. 

Shortbread crust

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just starts to come together. Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes, or just until lightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Filling

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 of 1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice 

1 tablespoons (5 grams) grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour

In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer,  beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 17-20 minutes, or just until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Garnish

Confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

 *Lemon Zest - The yellow outer rind of the lemon that contains the fruit's flavor and perfume. 
TIP:  Always remove the zest first before halving and squeezing the lemon.  Use a fine strainer to remove the seeds and pulp from the juice.

I agree that they are best eaten the day they are made. When it's kind of warm and tangy and just comforting. Partner it with a cup of coffee and you're good to go. :)

PS: I love handling lemons. Why? It perfumes your kitchen with its citrus scent leaving your hands and your kitchen utensils smell clean and just as wonderful. Plus it eliminates kitchen utensil odors (scrubbed my chopping board with lemon and succeeded on killing that garlic smell!).