Pops De Milk » Unhealthy

Heart of Darkness Brownies

Pops De Milk — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:29:38 +0000

Some days you just feel like your body can’t continue to hold and support all the day’s worries, late lunches, mistakes, and over-all fatigue. All you really want to do after work is curl up on the couch and watch re-runs of Family Guy.

A few days ago at work, I volunteered to bake brownies for a co-worker’s birthday and it was the night before his birthday and I felt the way I just described above. I wanted to hop in my pjs and veg out in front of the TV but instead I pulled out all the necessary ingredients to make Heart of Darkness Brownies from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. All the recipes I’ve tried from this book are incredibly amazing and so I trust this book so much that I made these brownies for my co-workers despite the fact I’d never made them before. I had no idea if the brownies would turn out but I had (and have) faith in the book.

Upon reluctantly rolling up my sleeves and unwrapping the block of butter the knowledge that I would soon bake something somehow lifted my spirits and I felt more peppy. I felt even happier seeing that these brownies were nothing more than a cup and a half of butter, 6 squares of unsweetened chocolate, 6 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, chocolate bars, chocolate chips, nuts, and of course flour, and salt. In the book it says to use muffin tins but as I mentioned already I was feeling lazy so I split the batter and poured it into two square pans. That meant, of course, that I had to bake them longer for 30 minutes or so.

My goodness, these brownies could have mended any broken heart (as Jill says in the book) or in my case, scared away all the lethargy taking refuge in my body. They were thick and disgustingly rich in the middle with a firm layer on top. Each bite was slightly different because you didn’t know if you’d get a chunk of pecan or a piece from a Snickers bar. To make it even more messy to eat, I topped the brownies with multi-coloured mini marshmallows, which perfectly puffed and melted in the oven giving the brownies a nice fruity goo on top.

I’ll be making these brownies again but next time, I’ll listen to Jill and use muffin cups because cutting melted, chewy marshmallow and gooey brownie is a bitch.

Recipe can be found here.

Perfect Party Cake

Pops De Milk — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:11:13 +0000

I believe it was over a year ago that my friend sent me a link to this Perfect Party Cake (recipe here from Tartelette). Since then I had been looking for an excuse to make the cake but I could never seem to get around to making it. The recipe is originally from Baking From My Home by Dorie Greenspan and now I’m simply dying to buy this book!

Over the weekend I celebrated my birthday and I took that opportunity to make myself and my family this amazing cake. I don’t know why but I think I was a little intimidated by the recipe and the cake itself but after putting the finished product on my cake stand, I thought, “That was easy!” Well, for the most part.

Because I didn’t have 4 inch cake pans, I made two 9 inch cakes. This was probably the most annoying part because my oven is incredibly tiny so I had to bake the two 9 inch cake batters one at a time.

In the recipe it says to use “seedless chocolate raspberry” preserves and I had no idea what that meant and I also couldn’t find that at the grocery store. What I did was to melt about half a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips and I mixed that with half a can of raspberry pie filling. I didn’t use rhubarb as the recipe says.

Overall, the cake was amazing but so very rich. I was struggling to finish my slice. As Jay said, “This is the kind of cake you can only eat one slice per week.” My little sister disagrees, “You can eat two slices per day.” I think I could probably eat one tiny slice per day. I’ll definitely be making this cake again but next time I’ll be changing the filling and I might make a lighter frosting.

Gorgeous, velvety lemony buttercream frosting.

White chocolate shavings on top.

The slice I couldn't finish.

Saturday Chicken, Sunday Biscuits

Pops De Milk — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:58:42 +0000

I have been thinking a lot about the Carrot Juice Chicken I made last week. It truly was spectacular and since then I’ve been wondering about using other types of juices to cook meat in. I was inspired and on Saturday, I decided to experiment with tomato juice. I used V8 juice with high fibre and low sodium and I followed the same steps as the carrot juice recipe. The result was a fine tasting chicken…but not as spectacular as the carrot juice version. I think the V8 lacked the amount of sugar the carrot juice had that gave it that sweet and sticky (like BBQ sauce) taste. I’m thinking that maybe next time I’ll let the chicken cook in a pool of freshly crushed tomatoes with brown sugar. We’ll see how that goes.

Along with the tomato juice chicken, I served carrot juice carrots which were, for some odd reason, not as fabulous as the first time I made them. Overall, it was a very good meal, one I would make again and again…but it was not as thrilling as the Carrot Juice Chicken and Carrot Juice Carrots.

The next morning, before I’d had my usual cup of coffee and breakfast, bleary eyed and drowsy, I pulled out my favourite dessert book; Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. I needed to bake something and I already knew what it was because I had bought buttermilk specifically for that recipe. I had meant to make Quicky Sticky Buns (recipe here) two weeks ago but I never got around to it until yesterday morning.

I’m not sure if it was because I was still half asleep as I went about making the biscuits, but, they are not quick to make. Alright, maybe it was because I was moving slowly and having breakfast at the same time. It took me longer to make these because I did not have the right size baking pan. The recipe calls for a 9 x 13 pan. I have a 9 x 11. Yes, that makes a huge difference. My biscuit dough had to be squished in the pan since I didn’t think to use two separate baking dishes. This meant that after the required 15-17 minutes baking time, my biscuits were slightly crispy on top but the insides were still a bit sticky and undercooked so more baking time was required.

It was worth it though. As I type this entry I am enjoying a sticky biscuit and a cup of coffee. Divine!

Iced tea, pizza and cookies

Pops De Milk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:45:22 +0000

It was Canada Day yesterday and Jay and I decided to walk through High Park where our local MP was hosting a picnic. We only stayed long enough to watch a group of belly dancers perform their dance routine before we continued our walk toward the lake. It was a gorgeous day and I was surprised it didn’t rain.

As we made our way back home we began to ponder what we would have for dinner. I suggested we order a pizza because I had been craving pizza for a while. Jay suggested we make pizza and I somewhat grudgingly agreed. I wasn’t really in the mood to cook but I didn’t really mind since pizza is super easy to make.

I decided to use the Uno’s Deep Dish pizza recipe (same recipe I used for Jay’s Pizza Pops). I have to say that this pizza dough recipe is way better as a deep dish pizza than as a pizza pop.

While the pizza dough was rising I felt inspired to make a small dessert. I pulled out my Small Batch Baking Book and I flipped through each page until I found something I could make; Cream-Filled Chocolate Cookies. The book describes these cookies as being sweet and very similar to Oreos. The book is right. The cookies were very sweet and if I ever make them again I’ll only use half the sugar. It’s a good thing the recipe is from the Small Batch Baking Book and only makes enough for six cookies.

Earlier in the day I had a strong desire for iced tea, but not Nestea or other traditional iced teas. I wanted to make steeped iced tea and I chose Lipton’s Chamomile tea. I used 6 tea bags and 6 cups of boiling water. I let it steep for about 5 minutes then I added a generous squeeze of honey, almost an entire tray of ice cubes and then I popped the pitcher in the freezer. It wasn’t until after we returned from our walk that I remembered I had left the tea in the freezer. Luckily it wasn’t frozen solid. It was just right and so refreshing after a long walk.

With the pizza, cookies and iced tea ready, Jay and I settled back to watch a documentary while we ate our scrumptious dinner. This is what I consider a perfect way to end the day.

Steeping 6 bags of chamomile tea

The contents of an entire ice cube tray melting in a matter of seconds.

Pizza dough ready for toppings.

Delicious deep dish pizza!

Chocolate cookies ready to be assembled.

Cream-filled chocolate cookies. Yummy but a bit too sweet.

Potato Pizza

Pops De Milk — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:11:38 +0000

We just finished eating a ridiculously unhealthy and oily, yet sinfully satisfying and scrumptious “pizza.”

Essentially, all I really did was fry up two coarsely grated potatoes and shaped them into a pancake. Once it was fried I topped that with diced canned tomatoes, mushrooms, pepperoni, onions and mozzarella. I was afraid the bits of potato would stick to the pan so I poured the oil into the pan like it was a deep fryer. I think next time I make this I will go easy on the oil.

I baked this at 450F for 10 minutes and…voila! I’ve gained back those five pounds I lost last week!

A Day of Gastronomical Debauchery

Pops De Milk — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:00:00 +0000

As planned, yesterday was my day of sinful eating. I began my day with my usual cup of coffee, pineapple chunks and, this time, scrambled egg whites over a thick slice of warm buttered toast. Mmmm. Later, I met my mom and sister at Sneaky Dee’s at the corner of College St. and Bathurst St. This place might look like a grungy looking bar but it is awesome. They serve Tex-Mex type dishes for brunch, lunch and dinner. Yesterday, we opted for their amazingly famous nachos; King’s Crown Nachos loaded with a ton of guacamole, sour cream, ground beef, cheese, beans…I’m not even sure what else is in there. The server brought us a bottle of Frank’s Redhot Hot Cayenne Pepper sauce and I have never tried it so I put a tiny drop on a chip and I was in love. I think if I’d had the option I would have unscrewed the top and guzzled the sauce out of the bottle. We ended our lunch with dessert; my sister got a slice of Snicker’s Cake and I got a slice of Toffee Cheesecake. Both were pretty decent but I preferred the Snicker’s cake. It tasted like a Snicker’s bar in cake form. My mom thought it tasted like they scooped a mound of peanut butter and then covered that with melted chocolate. She did not like this. To each his/her own I guess.

Next stop was The Hideout at Queen St W and Denison. Here, we found a cozy little spot out on the patio and we sat back with a couple of pints (Amsterdam Blonde for me) while we listened to some live music. I could almost fall asleep.

But we couldn’t stay long because my aunt and her family had just arrived in Toronto and she beckoned us to her hotel across from Toronto Island. I chugged what was left of my beer and we began to walk. Once we met everyone we tried to find a patio, again since it was so gorgeous outside, but all were full. We settled for a table inside Scotland Yard Pub on The Esplanade. Since I was still too full from those amazing nachos and cake I ordered another pint of beer (Rickard’s White). By this time, Jay had joined us as well and he was famished. He ordered poutine and convinced my aunt to order one for herself as well. We marketed it as a Canadian delicacy that everyone must try. It wasn’t the best poutine I’ve had but it was alright. At least they used cheese curds instead of mozzarella cheese.

It was night time and Jay and I said goodnight to my mom, sister, aunt, uncle and cousins and made our way to our final stop; Pauper’s Pub near Bloor and Bathurst. Again, I ordered a pint of Rickard’s White in addition to The Annex Combo which included nachos, cheese sticks, quesadillas and bruscetta.

As my day of gastronomical debauchery came to an end, I discovered my stomach was protesting. It was churning and begging for me to stop eating such crap food. After not eating salt or oily things for a week I guess the overload of deep-fried, salty bar food was a bit of a shock.

Next Saturday I plan to eat whatever I want but it will be something homemade and not so unhealthy. And maybe just one pint of beer…maybe two.

It was a good thing I walked for more than two hours yesterday! Good exercise haha.