Food Blog? Who us? Couldn't be!

Hello World!

Two medical students here, using our time in our tiny kitchens as little islands of sanity in our lives (mostly baking, some cooking). After Elyse had to endure sitting next to me day after day, lecture after lecture as I clicked through food blog after food blog - we decided - why not start one? (Thanks to our lovely English major friend for the naming of said blog!)

Elyse gets to use her college photography skills, Sam gets to use her deep inner fat child, and we both get to share our love of these beautiful culinary creations that we like to call - Baked Goods!

So for our first entry we wanted to try something from a blog that Sam is personally obsessed with. What blog you ask? Well the Blue Eyed Baker's of course! (http://www.blueeyedbakers.com). They may have replaced Sam's fanatical obsession of the lovely Giada de Laurentiis or even the sisters of Georgetown Cupcakes.


























Being caffeine dependent medical students - what better recipe to start with than these decadent espresso brownies? (There is no better recipe - rhetorical question). These beautiful creations were adapted a bit from the original blue eyed recipe by replacing half the chocolate chips with white chocolate and we coated them with a dusting of confectioner's sugar

Ahhhh!! the beautiful scene of powdered sugar cascading down a moonscape of chocolate ooey-gooey-goodness!
How did we make these babies you ask? well ask no further! (but please don't forget the original geniuses: BEB)

Better than Coffee Brownies 

2 cups dark brown sugar
1 ½ sticks (¾ cups) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons instant espresso coffee
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups  all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips, 6 ounces white chocoalte chips

Set that oven to 375F.  Grease and flour a 13- by 9-inch baking pan (I get a huge kick out of buttering a pan followed by flouring - it leaves the most beautiful footprint of flour where butter once stepped).  

Dissolve your espresso in 1 tbsp of boiling water and just put to the side

Melt the butter and sugar over heat. You can do this either in microwave as suggested as the Blue Eyed Bakers or do what I have always done - ghetto double boiler!!! I take a heat proof mixing bowl and set it over a pot half filled with water. Set the heat to med-high and mix as the heat transfers without burning your precious sugar. Once the mix has melted into a delicious dark brown molasses heart-stopping mess, remove from heat, mix in dissolved espresso and cool (on the counter or in the fridge). 

While your butter/sugar mixture is cooling - mix your dry ingredients in another bowl. Then, after the sugar and butter have cooled to room temperature - add the eggs and vanilla (to avoid scrambling the eggs)

Finally - incorporate the flour mixture and finally your chocolate chips and pour your chunky yet velvety  chocolate yet coffee filled batter into that lovely buttered and floured pan and bake for 25 minutes.  I took the BEB advice and took these babies out a little before 25 minutes letting the carry over heat do the rest of the work and man, did they turn out OOEY GOOEY.  p.e.r.f.e.c.t.i.o.n.

**Ideas: we replaced half the chocolate chips with white chocolate but given the holiday season - feel free to spice it up with caramel chips, mint chips, pecans, walnuts?! We may try adding some cocoa straight into the batter next time too!**

Hope you all enjoyed our first post - we so enjoyed making it. Happy Eatings!!!

Elyse & Sam