Love and the City

My love for New York City goes WAY beyond the incredible desserts and pastries available. You know the old cliche, love is in the air? Well, love is in the air here. There are young couples everywhere, pregnant women holding their bellies as they jog at a slow pace and older couples holding hands as they cross the street. Yesterday, on the way home from my usual jog, there was an elegant table set up on the sidewalk outside of a stone-walled apartment complex. You must understand, there were no restaurants on this particular street. There was only a man and a woman sitting at this table enjoying a wonderful meal, the comfortable evening, and each other. Today at the store, the woman behind the counter told a co-worker her account number, so that he could log in. She said soon after, "That's my husband's birthday," with a huge smile on her face. You see, everywhere I go (and I'm sure it would be the same for you, if you were here) I'm surrounded by this giant bubble of love. No wonder there are endless amounts of cupcakeries and ice cream shoppes—sweet confections are the perfect food to share with a loved one.
Naturally, being the intense romantic that I am, when I heard the story of how one of my fellow interns fell in love with her boyfriend, a tear came streaming down my face. Tamar met her man (who was a friend of a friend), while she was studying in Spain. He was in Belgium and insisted upon paying Spain a visit (he really wanted to see her), after communicating through email—only. It took less than two weeks for them to fall in love. Two years later, they are still together.
When Tamar told us (the girls at work) she would be out for a few days, helping with her mother's wedding, we were all ecstatic to hear the details. Since Tamar has her heart set on pastry school, I asked if she'd be making the wedding cake. Although the wedding cake was provided by the lodge, where the reception took place, Tamar did not hold back from adding a hint of sweetness.
Tamar, or T-Muffin, made lovely party favors which were filled with heart-shaped sugar cookies, a chocolate brownie, and (my favorite) chocolate chip cookie with dried cranberries. The confections were wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon and placed in a box labeled "Compliments of T-Muffin."

Tamar said her favorite part of the process was, "decorating the cookies" and "testing the recipes" to make the perfect treats for her mom's wedding.
Today, Tamar brought us party favors from the wedding. With each bite I was more and more impressed. The sugar cookies looked like they were professionally decorated. They had the most wonderful consistency—not too soft and not too crunchy. The brownie was chocolate(y) with little chocolate chunks, yet they were smooth at the same time. The chocolate chip cookie had an incredible surprise—dried cranberries.
So it is true, love just makes people do crazy things...baking is definitely at the top of my list.

A New Kind of Brownie

Brownies are a great dessert mainly because of the dense consistency, rich chocolate flavor and its finger-food form. I've never met someone who has an aversion to brownies—even my friend who claims to dislike chocolate occasionally indulges in one. Brownies are the perfect treat probably because we've indulged in these chocolate squares since we were little. Slumber parties involved brownie-baking and birthday parties required a pan full of brownies for those who didn't like the classic celebratory vanilla cake—well, I somehow managed to always get both. Whether from a box or an old family recipe, you can never go wrong with brownies.
When my friend, Laken, spoke of red-velvet brownies excitement began seeping through my mind. This confection was foreign to me, so I did my research and found a great recipe. I've always been a fan of red-velvet cake, with its aesthetically pleasing rouge color and fantastic flavor. To top it off, a cream-cheese frosting makes this sweet treat even more spectacular.
After being introduced to red-velvet brownies, I feel like I've been upgraded to first-class. This recipe makes for an incredible dessert, which I just added to my leather-bound cook book (the one I will use for family gatherings, birthdays and the one I will pass on to my daughter). From now on, a ceramic plate of these velvety brownies will attend ALL of my soirées.

You must try this recipe from McCormik:

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil. Spray foil with no stick cooking spray. Mix flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Mix eggs, granulated sugar, sour cream, food coloring and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Gradually stir in flour mixture until well mixed. Spread in prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

Drizzle on top of brownies or spread them evenly like you would for a cake (after they cool)