DIY Strawberry-Dark Chocolate Syrup (lots of fruit!)

Hey all,

Remember how I said I’m lowering my sugar intake? Well, I decided to start by making over my recent Homemade Dark Chocolate Syrup. MMMMM, remember how rich and dark it is?

I love this stuff, but I could definitely make it a little healthier–how about blending the syrup with equal parts strawberries to make a Dark Chocolate-Strawberry Syrup?

Image from Alloveralbany.com

I blended the strawberries with the syrup one day just to see how it would taste. The results? Wonderful! I may like this syrup better than the Dark Chocolate Syrup! (It’s actually dinner guest approved, too–I poured some of the syrup on top of a brownie and my guest immediately asked where I got the delicious cocoa berry syrup!) The strawberries cut through the dark chocolate and make it an even sweeter berry chocolate sauce. They also thin the syrup a bit, which makes it more squeezeable and spreadable. In fact, I bought a squeeze bottle just for this syrup! I knew this would be a staple in my house. (A low sugar chocolate syrup that’s half fruit? Yes, please!)

Homemade Dark Chocolate-Strawberry Syrup

1 cup of my Dark Chocolate Syrup

1 tsp cocoa powder

3/4 cup frozen strawberries

Directions:

Blend together. That’s it! Eat with ice cream, greek yogurt, and more!

Homemade Mocha Fudge Brownies (with black beans)

Hey all,

Things have been turning around for me this summer. I don’t know if I told you, but Ron and I have had some not-so-great summer adventures.  First, when we came back from that national conference a few weeks ago, Ron woke up with 15-20 bug bites. We were convinced we had bed bugs in our hotel room and might have brought them home! We had multiple days of cleaning, steaming, and fumigating our entire apartment ourselves. Things came to a close when we realized that the previous tenants had a carpet beetle infestation–bugs that look like bed bugs but are much less invasive. Sigh of relief.

Then, literally a few days later, Ron’s computer stopped working. After trying EVERYTHING (re-formatting, resetting his computer PRAM), he reluctantly had to give his expensive Mac up to the genius bar.

I also ended up having Chronic Hives all summer. (Yes, I have had hives this whole time! 3 months of summer.) In fact, I still have them! I can’t wear fragrance, I can only use sensitive skin everything, and I have to take 3 antihistamines a day. I’m actually going in for blood-testing this week to make sure everything is okay.

After all that, my point is that Ron and I have had a strange summer. But, things weren’t all bad, and we’re actually having a great time! We moved in together, which feels SO much better than having to constantly pack our stuff and move one place to the next. One of my jobs ended, too, and everything feels just a little less stressful. Life is good! Life’s a beach!

Anyway, now that things have slowed down, we had two dinners this week (two nights in a row!) to show our friends our new place! We created two dinner menus and desserts. The first night we made dressed-up brownies from a box–I added a cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk swirl. But when Ron and I both woke up feeling blah from too many brownies and red wine, I decided to try and make things a little healthier. How about Extra Fudgey Mocha Brownies? Made with-gasp–black beans!

These fudge brownies are SO good. I cannot stress that enough. (Ron is obsessed with them!) And at 100 calories per square, you can’t beat ‘em. They have an interesting texture–too smooth and dense (not cake-like) to be a brownie, but not quite oily enough to be a fudge. It’s something in between! A guest who tried them said, “You’d never know these had black beans in them! They taste like a dense mousse!”

I adapted Melissa d’Arabian’s Black Bean Brownie recipe to make these squares of heaven. I replaced the necessary oil with applesauce (using only a tsp of coconut oil), used Oat flour instead of regular flour, used dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet or milk chocolate, used all Stevia in the recipe (no sugar), added extra vanilla and instant coffee, and added 3-4 dates to the recipe. I also used Trader Joe’s Cocoa powder, which has more cocoa solids and is a darker chocolate than Hershey’s Cocoa powder. These brownies pack quite a punch of protein with black beans, oat flour, and eggs. (And don’t forget the fiber from the beans, dates, and oats!) I think I’m going to freeze these and see how they taste cold. Definitely try these! You won’t be disappointed. And enjoy!

Honey Oat Quick Bread

Today was a much needed bake day. Ron and I were stressing a bit about money and our move (“Can we afford this? Can we afford that? What should we do?”), and we just had a much needed “let’s break down our finances” talk. And I feel so much better!! If I could bottle up and sell “talk therapy and planning” as a cure-all, I’d be its biggest salesman. I don’t know about everyone else, but I need to talk about things. If I don’t, bad things ensue, like me being grumpy. (Or a “grumper”, as I sometimes call Ron!)

from Whereapy.com

Anyway, baking calms me down (especially if the baked good is budget-friendly and healthy). Right now, I’m on a semi “self-sustaining” recipe kick. I’ve made my own applesauce, I’ve made my own chocolate peanut butter, etc. Today was no exception. Let’s make quick bread for the week! Yay! Fun!

I’ve actually never baked bread before, but I was hankering for some Sweet Honey Oat-type bread. In California, my parents live fairly close to the Berkeley restaurant Cafe Intermezzo (right off Berkeley downtown), which sold the BEST wheat bread in the world. I’d travel an hour away (from Santa Cruz) just to buy this bread and would relish every thick, sweet slice. However, I just recently found out that Intermezzo burned down in a freak fire. NO! NO! NO! I was crushed, to say the least. Since then, I’ve decided I’d try my hand at making bread, and see if I could make a yummy alternative to my beloved Intermezzo bread.

How about this Honey Oat Quick Bread by Eating Well?

My first quick bread!

Pretty, right?

I love the results of this recipe. Even though I’m a first time bread baker, my loaf turned out golden brown and not too crumbly. And this looks like it took me hours to make, right? Nope! I was in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes! And I adapted the recipe, as always, using greek yogurt (instead of regular yogurt), using oat flour and wheat flour (because that’s what I had on hand), substituting half the oil for applesauce, and sprinkling the top with Pepitas, sesame seeds, and oats (all seeds I had on hand).

I do think this recipe as a base can be improved.  The bread itself lacked the deep wheat flavor I am looking for—next time I will use all whole wheat flour (instead of half wheat and oat flours), and add molasses and more honey. Overall though, I am so excited! This bread was so easy to make! What a great recipe! I may have already tried multiple slices of the bread with raspberry jam (delicious) and butter (super delicious).

“Dear BB…”: the New Category!

Now that I’ve started this blog, some of my friends know about my little cooking/writing hobby and read my whimsical posts. They’ve even started asking me questions about food prep, baking, and meal suggestions.

from the Gals Rock site

How about, then, I take frequently asked questions from folks and make them a category of their own? “Dear BB…” then is the “Dear Abby..” of this blog (but sassier)! You can ask me questions about cooking, baking, quick and easy tips, DIY home, and even my own skincare/haircare and DIY beauty.

Dear BB...

And not only do I love food and DIY tricks, but I also am fascinated by food science and food history. (I am an academic researcher! Of course I am somewhat of a history buff!) This may also be why I’ve had a long-standing crush on Alton Brown and actually took notes while watching his show Good Eats. You can ask me about food etymology, food science, etc., and I will see what I can find! Whatever you have a burning question about, I may be able to answer it.  Comment on my “Dear BB…” page or email me at burlesquebaker@gmail.com, and I will write back to you via a “Dear BB” post. Hope to chat soon!

PS: My first post will be dedicated to a friend who asked for quick and easy breakfast options. Coming soon!

(Pretty and Pink) Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Yesterday, I visited friends and wanted to bring them baked goods. Have you noticed how a good cookie or cupcake can brighten anyone’s day? There’s something friendly and inviting about offering a baked good (or food). But, gasp! My plans to visit these friends arose somewhat spontaneously, and I had nothing on hand to offer them (and I only had an hour to make something). I wanted to bring them a refreshing April showers-esque dessert– something sweet and cool, yet tart and refreshing. I noticed I had a yellow cake mix, greek yogurt, lots of fresh lemons, and local Raspberry Rum jam.  How about Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes (with a sugar glaze)?  (These are my first foodie pictures! Whoops, the second one is off-center.)

DIY home: Citrus-infused Sugar

If life gives you lemons, you make lemon-infused sugar, right?

Because I’m on a citrus kick (and this California girl can’t wait for spring), I decided I wanted to include yet another DIY tip to use up the remaining citrus fruit and zest from your Grapefruit-Orange Scrub and Morning Glory Toner. (I swear this is the last one!) How about you take the peels from your grapefruit, orange, and lemon, and make something that looks pretty on your shelf and tastes just as sweet? Something like this…