emmalish

I managed to salvage a few of the cookies from the office for photographing...

I made the linzer sablés last night to bring to work today. I didn't finish making them til quite late so I didn't take a picture, but I'm wishing I had. They look great. The cookies held their shapes beautifully and the sandwiches fit together perfectly. I cut out heart shapes with smaller heart-shaped windows, and saved the wee cookies to bake as well. I used the chocolate ganache to fill the sandwich cookies, and put what was left in a pastry bag and piped it onto the smallest cookies. I also made a few small ones sprinkled with red sugar. They look fantastic all together on the plate. I didn't get a chance to try one last night, but I'm having one now with my coffee – this recipe is another winner! The flavour of the nuts is subtle but noticeable (I used almonds), and the chocolate ganache is a wonderful complement to the cinnamon and cloves.

I made the choco-nana bread last night. Like someone else upthread, it took forever to set up at the top – I think I had to bake an extra half hour, so it's got a bit of a hard crust around the edges as a result. I used Scharffen Berger cocoa and Callebaut semi-sweet chips. So unbelievably rich and chocolatey. I'll make it again, definitely.

Thanks Rhea, I'll check that out!

I usually use dutched too, but only because it's the most readily available. I've never done any taste comparisons between the two, but I think I may have to. On topic? I made the black & white loaf on the weekend – it's amazingly rummy and chocolatey, with a wonderful texture. Yum. I'll definitely make it again. There's only about 1/4 of the loaf left – I'll try to take a pic later tonight. I've got a few more bananas that I can bake up this weekend, so I think I'll try the choco-nana loaf next. I'm also thinking of making the sablé sandwich cookies (don't have the book here and I can't remember the proper name) with the chocolate ganache for valentine's day (heart-shaped, of course). I was thinking of using raspberry or strawberry jelly for a more valentine-y colour, but who am I kidding? Everyone I work with would prefer chocolate.

This is interesting (from an older thread about cocoa)... The only cocoa that my local grocery store carries is Fry's. When I want the good stuff I need to make a special trip to Meinhardt's or Gourmet Warehouse. I guess I'll have to stock up on some decent dutched cocoa now and do a little experimenting.

Toliver, I checked the recipe when I got home last night, and it doesn't specify dutch-process. And in the glossary at the back, Dorie states that either natural or dutch-process can be used interchangeably in all the recipes. Is there a reason why you used dutched cocoa in this recipe? Or is it personal preference? (forgive me if I'm being dense...)

World Peace cookies need Dutch-process cocoa? I've been meaning to make these for awhile, but haven't really read through the ingredients closely yet. Dang. I was just looking at Dutch-process in the store this weekend but I didn't think I needed it.

Unfortunately I've only got the two bananas right now. Thanks for the rec for the bundt cake tho – I'll have to buy more bananas this weekend and try it out later. And thanks for the vote for the black & white loaf. Eventually I will try them both, but like I said, I've only got the two bananas right now, so a choice must be made.

I've got a couple bananas sitting on my counter just begging to be baked up this weekend. Should I make the choco-nana bread? Or the black and white banana loaf? Any recommendations from those who've tried these two recipes?

I just made three batches of muffins to take to work tomorrow. I made carrot spice, orange berry, and chocolate chocolate chunk. Gosh, I wonder which will be the most popular. There are only twelve people in my office, so I'm taking about half in, keeping a few out for myself for the week, and freezing the rest. I figured everybody else would be dragging their feet as much as I will be tomorrow. Hopefully this'll make coming back to work a little more bearable.

Just reporting that everyone loved the chocolate swirl sour cream bundt that I made for Christmas dinner. As stuffed as we all were after dinner, everyone had to have a big piece of cake, and it was a popular choice for the leftover packages. I even got emails the next day saying how much it was enjoyed with coffee the next morning. Thanks Dorie!

I made the orange berry muffins again today. Getting the recipe right this time? Made all the difference in the world. They're delicious. I'll definitely be making these regularly. I also used a different brand of blueberries (I prefer them small & tart – the ones I used last time were large & sweet). I'll have to make a note of that. Dorie will be happy to hear that the pages of my book are already sticking together. And I'm contributing dessert for tonight's Christmas dinner, so I made the sour cream swirl bundt.

I made the orange berry muffins this weekend. They're okay, but it's not the recipe's fault I'm not in love with them. First I didn't have any honey (didn't realize – oops), so I had to fiddle with the sugar a bit, and then the blueberries I used were sweeter than I would've liked (I prefer them to be more on the tart side). I'll make them again, but I'll try using different blueberries next time. Or maybe I'll sub cranberries...

I made the chocolate swirl sour cream bundt again (not the proper name), and knowing now that it makes a fairly thick batter I think I did a better job spreading it into the bundt pan and layering the swirl ingredients. I took it to work this morning and there aren't even any crumbs left now. It was a huge hit and I got several requests for the recipe. I can see this becoming one of my trusty standards!

Ling, those look and sound fabulous! Every time I think I've decided which recipe I want to try next, someone posts a beautiful photo of something they made and suddenly that's the thing I have a craving for. Must. Make. Savory. Muffins.

Michael M, it sounds like you might need to post all your recipes – I'd love to see the Mexican Tea Cakes recipe.

I used to go all-out with Christmas baking, but it was exhausting and everyone is inundated with baked goods and sweets this time of year, so I've cut it down to just making my gingerbread cookies (I think the recipe is from Gourmet). I'm not sure I'll be making it this year, though, because it involves so much standing (for the rolling out and cutting shapes, etc) and I'm recovering from a broken leg. The list used to be gingerbread, gingersnaps, two kinds of shortbread, sugar cookies, fudge, spiced pecans, two or three different kinds of truffles, homemade crackers (recipes from Martha), and brittle. Phew!

I tried some of the coconut tea cake (for breakfast – ahem ) and of course it's delish. I was planning to take most of the baking in to the office to share with my coworkers, but I'm snowed in (I'm on crutches and snow + crutches = another broken leg). I might just have to eat it all myself!

It snowed all day today, so it was a baking day here. I made the chocolate swirl sour cream bundt (not the proper name) and the coconut tea cake. I was going to make it a lemon coconut tea cake, and did add the lemon zest, but a friend was over and we were chatting and I got distracted and forgot about adding the juice. Oh well. I haven't tried the coconut one yet, but my friend and I both tried the first and it is delicious! I was surprised at how thick the batter was though and had some problems with layering the swirl ingredients (so there's a lot on the bottom of the cake that keeps falling off). The recipe said to bake for 60-65 minutes. I checked at about 55 minutes and the tester came out clean. But when I sliced into the cake (after letting it cool, of course), it still looks wet. Is this right? Like I said, delicious, so I'll definitely try it again. The coconut tea cake batter was more like what I'd expect in a cake batter. I should have spread it up the sides of the bundt pan a bit more though. But I'm happy overall. These were my very first ever bundt cakes! I just bought the pan on Friday (it's the fleur de lis Nordicware pan).

Ahhh, see I was thinking of this kind of tunnel.

I've never used one of those tunnel of bundt thingies, but I've been looking into them and my understanding is that you add the filling after the cake has baked and the filling doesn't go in the oven at all.

This is handy, thanks! (I'm almost afraid to look, though)

Pam that's hilarious!

You guys, I think I need an intervention. I've made the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies four times so far (once for me, once for work, and twice for different friends). It's time to move on! Especially since you all keep posting new items that I'm dying to try. I've got the ingredients for both the thumbprint cookies and the ccoconut tea cake, and now I want to go out and get some cranberries, but the cookie recipe is such a big hit with everyone I keep coming back to it. Dorie, thanks for responding. I guess I was comparing my results to Patrick's photo upthread. And to clarify, I only tried the insulated sheet (which I usually only use for cookies that I don't want to have a lot of browning, like shortbread and biscotti) after I'd read in one of Patrick's posts that he always uses them. So I thought I'd give it a shot. What I've found though, is that I get the best results when I use a regular cookie sheet, refrigerate the dough, roll it in balls, and then don't flatten them as the recipe instructs... Edited to note that the cookies in the background aren't burnt – it's just a shadow – I swear!