Chocolate Recipes – FoodWatcher

Aran’s Double Chocolate Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies

From Aran Goyoaga’s new baking book, these buckwheat & chocolate crinkle cookies are spiked with almond butter, gluten-free, and the perfect cross between a brownie and a cookie.

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Many of you know that I consider Aran Goyoaga a close friend and colleague. We first messaged each other over a decade ago, and made an effort in the years since to get to know each other. We’ll meet up if we’re in the same city, and travel together on occasion. I love hearing about what Aran is working on and enjoy catching glimpses of her work-in-progress. She works on a lot of cool (beautiful!) projects, but recently she has been writing and photographing a book that is exceptionally close to her heart. A baking book. Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies
Cannelle Et Vanille Bakes Simple is the culmination of Aran’s deep knowledge of baking. She mailed me an early copy of the book and I walked straight to the oven and dialed it to pre-heat. Cookies were going to get baked, pronto. I’ll tell you more about the book down below (and share some pics), but the first thing you need to know is that these puddles of fudge-y goodness were amazing. They’re her Double Chocolate Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies, and Aran says about them, “…these cookies are crispy and gooey at the same time- a cross between a brownie and a cookie.”
Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies
The flavor! I love the chocolate-buckwheat combination which adds depth and dimension working alongside a good amount of brown sugar. They’re delicious. If you rarely explore the realm of flours beyond general all-purpose flour (and want to!), these cookies would be a great place to start. Also, if you’re looking for a great gluten-free cookie recipe to take for a spin, these fit the bill. They were the first thing I baked and were much loved at the potluck I took them to.
Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies

Variations // Double Chocolate Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies:

Double Chocolate Fennel-Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies: Aran makes her cookies with a teaspoon or so of crushed fennel seeds. I couldn’t find my fennel seeds (in any of my seven spice drawers LOL), so we went for straight chocolate & buckwheat for this round. Though I imagine the anise-scented fennel seeds with the chocolate would be wonderfully fragrant and special.
Espresso Double Chocolate Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies: A bit obvious, but if you love a coffee-chocolate combination add a tablespoon of finely ground espresso beans with the cocoa powder.
Black Cocoa Buckwheat Crinkle Cookies: I can imagine replacing 1 of the 3 tablespoons of cocoa called for in this recipe with a black cocoa, making note, and dialing it up from there if you love the richness of black cocoa as much as I do.

Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies
Below are a few snapshots of the interior of Cannelle Et Vanilla Bakes Simple. The photography is stunning, as is the beautiful book design. I’ll weave in some thoughts between some of the spreads below.

Who is this book for? This is the book I would buy for anyone wanting one fantastic, substantial deep dive into gluten-free baking. It’s all here. You’re covered on the sourdough front. GF Breads, baguettes, brioche, bagels, babkas? Check. Cakes, pie dough, scones, shortbread, thumbprints? All there. I also love the inclusion of a holiday baking section as the final chapter in the book. Linzertorte! Hot cross buns! Rugelach! Challah! Alternately, if you’re a baker wanting to explore the wonderful realm of baking with alternative flours you’ll find much inspiration here as well.
Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies
Cannelle Et Vanilla Bakes Simple will be available October 26, 2021 and my pro-tip here is this – if you think this is a book you might want to give as a holiday gift, pre-order it now. I suspect it will sell fast. I’m not just saying that as a friend of Aran’s, I’m saying it as someone who is buying multiple copies to give to friends and family with gluten-sensitivity because it covers so much in a beautiful package.
Aran Goyoaga's Chocolate Rye Crinkle Cookies
Beyond the book, if you’re interested in more Aran goodness you’re in luck. She has a fantastic Instagram account, and you can keep track of her events and new projects on her site.
Before I sign off, just know that there is a lot of chocolate in the archives, and plenty of gluten-free recipes as well. Here’s where you can find more chocolate recipes, as well as lots of cookie recipes: Don’t miss these favorites: my all-time favorite brownies, this flourless chocolate cake, please please please make this chocolate pudding, and don’t miss out on this chocolate devil’s food cake.

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Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

Kim Boyce’s Rosemary Olive Oil cake is incredibly moist, golden-crumbed, flecked with rosemary, and dotted throughout with big and small chocolate chunks.

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This is one of my favorite cakes of the past ten years. It’s a rustic, incredibly moist, golden-crumbed olive oil cake. Flecked with rosemary, and dotted throughout with big and small chocolate chunks you’re looking at a perfect picnic treat. It’s one of those cakes that is both distinctive and memorable in an understated way and a breeze to make. We have Kim Boyce to thank for the recipe, and you might remember it from when I originally posted it here after Kim released Good to the Grain in 2010.
Olive Oil Cake Recipe

What Makes this Olive Oil Cake Special?

The rosemary is the wild card factor here. And it’s so good. It heats up in the oven as the cake is baking and permeates the cake in a subtle but steady way, not at all overpowering. The other thing I love about this cake is that it is such a breeze to make. You’re looking at ten minutes tops to get it in the oven. This is perfect when you’re trying to pull things together for a road trip, or picnic, or flight.

Why are Olive Oil Cakes so Good?

There are a number of reasons people love cakes made with olive oil in place of butter. You tend to get a nice, even crumb with olive oil cakes. But, in my opinion, you really see the difference a day or two after baking. Olive oil cakes tend to stay beautifully moist. Olive oil is fattier than butter with no water factor. There’s a theory that the percentage of water in butter interacts with the flour in a cake batter to form more gluten strands. This results in a more structured and less tender cake. Olive oil cakes are also great for people who forget to plan ahead. With butter cakes you’re often waiting for the butter to come up to room temperature. Not necessary when you’re baking with olive oil.
Olive Oil Cake Recipe

Tweaks and Variations

I’ve made a few tweaks to Kim’s recipe over the years, and you can see them integrated into the recipe below. Most are stylistic more than anything. I converted the recipe into weights for the scale-based bakers. I also decided I wanted more chocolate visible on top, and a bit of a sugary top crust. What about pan size? I wanted to bake it in a vintage baton cake pan I found in Portland a few years ago (my $1 pan!), and aside from a slightly longer baking time, it was no problem. Feel free to experiment with different pans or muffin tins, but adjust your baking pans accordingly.
Olive Oil Cake Recipe

This one of those perfect picnic, travel, or lunchbox cakes. I can’t believe it has been over a decade since I originally highlighted it here, but I love that it is still part of my repertoire. Xo Kim & congrats on the much deserved James Beard Award! xx -h

For more cake recipes, be sure to try this flourless chocolate cake, this chocolate pudding, or for a real chocolate jolt, make these chocolate brownies.

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Flourless Chocolate Cake

If you’ve never baked a flourless chocolate cake, please consider this serious encouragement. Not much of a baker? This is the cake that can change your mind. It’s a classic. Nearly every great baker I know has a version in their repertoire. Likely because it’s relatively simple to make, uses a short list of ingredients, […]

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Flourless Chocolate Cake on a Piece of Parchment Paper
The magic of a flourless chocolate cake is the way it billows and expands as it bakes, then collapses onto itself once out of the oven. As it continues to cool the top sets and crusts a bit like meringue, and the center settles into the consistency of a sliceable chocolate mousse. I like to fold extra chocolate chunks into the batter just before baking for extra dense little pockets of chocolate. Once you get the basics of this cake down, you can use this recipe as a jumping off point for endless variations, and I talk through some of those down below. Close up photo of a Flourless Chocolate Cake next to a Knife

Let’s Talk Technique //
What is a Flourless Chocolate Cake?

The formula for many flourless chocolate cakes, as well as fallen chocolate soufflé cakes, is similar. Recipes generally call for little or no flour, eggs, sugar, chocolate, and a fat (for example olive oil, butter, coconut oil, etc.). The technique goes something like this: melt the chocolate, stir in the fat, sugar, and egg yolks. Fold in the whipped and sweetened egg whites, then bake. The cake blooms as the air bubbles in the meringue expand in the oven heat. It falls once out of the oven, as the temperature drops. The resulting cake is woozy with melted chocolate, with a hint of the collapsed crust.
A Slice of Flourless Chocolate Cake on a Small White Plate

Flourless Chocolate Cake – What’s The Best Type of Pan to Use?

The main thing you need to know here is that the cake you’re baking is quite delicate. You can’t turn it out like a traditional crumb cake or it will likely break apart. This leaves you with a couple options. Many people (myself included until recently) will bake this style of cake in a springform pan. It works great.

I used springform until, I noticed Aran Goyoaga lines her standard cake (non-springform) pan with a big piece of parchment for this style cake. The paper hangs over the edges of the pan (see below), and you can lift the cake from the pan using the paper. It gives the cake a rustic vibe and you can serve it right on the paper – a detail I love. I almost always go the full parchment paper route with this cake now. But you can make the call.

Cake pan lined with a Piece of Parchment Paper border=
Parchment-lined cake pan pictured above.
Cake Pan filled with Batter before Baking
Cake batter in pan prior to baking (pictured above). And the cake immediately after removing from the oven (pictured below).
Cake in Pan Fully Baked Sitting on Counter

Also, What Size Pan will Work?

Unless you’re making baby cakes, the standard size pan for this cake seems to be 9-inches, round. It’s what nearly everyone uses, probably because everyone that bakes has a 9-inch cake pan, so recipe writers tend to default to 9-inch. That said, I bake this most often in my 8-inch pan (see photo). It’s always cutting it close, but the smaller pan delivers a cake that is slightly more deep-dish and fudge-y. I’m writing the recipe for 8-inch pan, but if you’re using 9-inch just reduce the baking time by five minutes to 35-ish minutes.
Close up photo of Flourless Chocolate Cake with a Slice Cut from It

Flourless Chocolate Cake Variations

The recipe I’m posting below is for a really amazing, straight-forward, flourless chocolate cake. It’s the straight shot, no tweaks or extra flavor frills. The base recipe – good chocolate, eggs, olive oil, salt, and sugar — is wonderful as-is. In fact, I love it like this and don’t think it needs a thing aside from a flop of barely whipped cream on the side. But! It’s so much fun to play with variations, and I’m including this list of different directions I’ve taken it over the years.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Buttermilk Whipped Cream: Whip one cup of heavy cream until it thickens and begins expand. Gradually whip in 3 tablespoons buttermilk, granulated sugar to taste, and a small pinch of salt. Serve dolloped next to your cake.
Espresso Flourless Chocolate Cake with Boozy Whipped Cream: Add 1 tablespoon of espresso powder to your melted chocolate and proceed with the recipe of the recipe as written. Gradually add a bit of Kahlua, Bourbon, or Dark Rum and sugar (to taste) to heavy cream as you are finishing whipping it.
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Lemon Olive Oil: Use a lemon olive oil in place of the olive oil called for. You can add lemon zest to the cake batter and whipped cream as well. And a finishing drizzle of lemon olive oil before serving doesn’t hurt either.
Flourless Browned Butter Chocolate Cake: You can use melted butter in place of the olive oil if you like, you can also use beautifully aromatic, nutty browned butter.

Close up photo of Flourless Chocolate Cake with a Slice Cut from It
And a few more ideas!

Flourless Rose Chocolate Cake: A bit of rose water (2 teaspoons) is a nice addition to the cake batter. You can also add a small splash to the whipped cream. In either case, some rose waters are strong than others so go easy the first time around and make note.
Spicing up the Powdered Sugar: I love a dusting of powdered sugar as the finishing touch on this cake. You can add spices and fragrance to the powdered sugar as well. A bit of cinnamon, cloves, freshly grated nutmeg, espresso, etc. I keep some rose geranium leaves in a bag of powdered sugar for a couple days, remove, and the remaining sugar is beautiful fragrant. Have fun getting creative!
Nut-kissed Flourless Chocolate Cake: Add 2-3 tablespoons of ground, toasted, almonds (or other favorite nut) to the melted chocolate and proceed with the recipe. You’ll see this in many fallen chocolate cake recipes. And, if you’re going to add the ground nuts, give a boost with a tablespoon on almond extract as well
Black Cocoa Flourless Chocolate Cake: I’ve had in my notes forever to incorporate 1/4 cup of black cocoa powder into the melted chocolate mixture. This would lend that incredible black cocoa flavor I love. But I haven’t tested it. Throwing it out there in case any of you want to beat me to it!

Marble Table with Flourless Chocolate Cake and Two Plates with Slices of Cake
You can read more about the origins of the flourless chocolate cake, or torta tenerina, in this Florence Fabricant article from 2016, Flourless Chocolate Cake Finds an Ancestor in Italy.

I hope this cakes finishes off as many great meals on your end as is has on mine! And if you want the chocolate parade to continue, there is always my all-time favorite brownie recipe, this Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake, or the perfect chocolate pudding.

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Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake

A 100% rye flour version of Benjamina Ebuehi’s Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake from The New Way To Cake. It’s everything you want in a cake. The chocolate notes are deep, the crumb perfectly moist, and the salted tahini icing? Something I didn’t know I needed in my life until now.

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I baked a 100% rye flour version of Benjamina Ebuehi’s Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake yesterday, and it’s everything you want in a cake. It is from her book The New Way to Cake, the chocolate notes are deep, the crumb perfectly moist, and the salted tahini icing? Something I didn’t know I needed in my life until now. The tahini rounds out the sweetness of the sugar in the icing. Fragrant sesame notes come to life as you whisk the flavors into balance with a generous pinch of salt. It’s so good.

Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake
There are a lot of reasons to love The New Way To Cake — the range of beautiful signature cakes, the minimalist book design, the naturally-lit photos by Holly Wulff Petersen — but her celebration of flavors close to my heart is what initially attracted me to it – hibiscus, chamomile, citrus, and chocolate all represent in unique and delightful ways.

A Bit More About Benjamina

She’s a London-based author, baker, food stylist & recipe developer, and she has been involved in some great projects since her appearance on The Great British Bake Off a few years back. You can follow Benjamina on Instagram. She also works in an ambassadorial capacity with Luminary Bakery (read about them!), and co-founded The Sister Table. And, if her use of tahini is what caught your attention today, have a look at the Necatrine, Tahini & Hazelnut Pavlova, on her blog. Or this Tahini Granola.

Benjamina Ebuehi's The New Way To Cake

The New Way To Cake

Before we jump into the Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake, a few more notes related to The New Way to Cake. The book is 160 pages in length, soft-back, with sixty cake recipes. It has a premium feel, and would make a nice gift for any baker in your life. The main sections are Nuts & Caramel, Spices, Chocolate, Citrus, Floral, and Fruit. The two recipes I’ve earmarked to bake next: Hibiscus Buttermilk Cakes, and then a Chocolate Guinness Bundt with Yogurt Glaze. Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake

Benjamina’s Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake

The two main components here are a coffee-bolstered, cocoa-based chocolate cake, and the salted tahini icing/frosting. You can make either component a day ahead of time if needed. Although, I should note that, generally speaking, I like to frost cakes the day of serving. Up to that point, keep the cake covered (after cooling completely) and, if needed, rewhip the icing before using.

A Rye Flour Swap

I made a few alterations to Benjamina’s cake out of necessity (different pan / alternate flour) & the good news is it baked up wonderfully. All-purpose flour can still tough to come by right now, and I keep a lot of rye flour on hand. I had a hunch that a rye flour swap would be good here – so I went for it. 100% rye. Didn’t hold back. So good! I think people worry that going an aggressive whole-grain flour swap will result in tough, dry cakes and muffins. And quite honestly, that can often be the case. But this worked nicely – have a look at the slice down below! So tender. If you’re apprehensive, go with all-purpose flour, or you can do half rye, half all-purpose flour. But there’s something that happens in the intersection of the rye, coffee, and cocoa, that is really nice. Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake
One slice of Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake

Benjamina Ebuehi's Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake from The New Way to Cake

Let’s Talk Pans

Per my mention up above – I didn’t have the three 6-inch cake pans Benjamina used to create the stunner cake pictured in her book (above). But you all know I have an endless collection of bundt pans. So that’s what I used. I baked the batter in a single 9-inch bundt pan. Buttercream wasn’t going to work with the ridged cake, so I did a salted tahini icing that I could pour over the bundt shape cake, in place of the tahini buttercream version in the book. No bundt pan? My sense is you can get away with baking in a single 13×9 pan, or two 8-inch rounds as well (adjusting the timing, of course). A long way of saying, don’t be deterred if you don’t have the “correct” pan. Bake until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
Chocolate Fudge & Tahini Cake
And a last little side note – I’ve been trying to add weekly favorites links to my newsletter more regularly – articles, books, cookbooks I’m excited about, recipes to try, products I love, or new discoveries in general. So, instead of including them here in “Favorites Lists” on the site, you’ll be able to get them there, along with the heads up on new recipes I’m highlighting. I’ve been sending newsletters out once a week, on Saturday mornings. xx -h.

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Chocolate Dipped Biscotti

Sesame studded and heavily scented with crushed fennel seeds and chamomile, these chocolate dipped biscotti punctuated my espressos this week.

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Sesame studded and heavily scented with crushed fennel seeds and chamomile, these chocolate dipped biscotti punctuated my espressos all week. They were the petite treats I looked forward to. If you’ve never baked biscotti before, they’re a lot of fun, and quite adaptable. The main thing? You double bake them. First with the biscotti dough shaped into a long loaf. And a second time after you’ve baked and sliced those loaves into biscotti.

Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Recipe
You can play around with the flavors here, but the way the fennel seeds and chamomile complements the chocolate is really fantastic (I used, and loved, Guittard 66% organic semisweet). That said, I’ll offer up some alternative suggestions down below, because I totally get that not everyone keeps chamomile around ? xx!
Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Recipe

Biscotti Tips:

A couple things I should point out:

Rolling Technique: First, make sure to roll your dough into a tight shape (pictured below). This way, when you go to slice your biscotti after the first bake, they’ll hold their shape. You don’t want crumbling biscotti going into the second bake. A serrated knife is the way to go for slicing, using a quick sawing motion, and not too much downward pressure.

Texture and Baking: If you like a cake-y biscotti, slice them a shade thicker and bake them for a hint less time. If you like a crunchier, more structured biscotti, slice them a shade thinner, and bake them a bit longer (consider flipping them toward the end to really get both side toasty).

Storage: On the storage front. They’ll keep in an air-tight container for a couple of weeks.

Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Recipe

Variations

Herbs: I love herbs like rosemary, thyme, and lavender in biscotti. You can experiment with those. Chop and add to your dough with the other dry ingredients. Go easy, make notes, and adjust each time you bake them. A teaspoon is a good place to start.

Spices: A bit of turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, all are welcome here. Basically if it’s a flavor you can imagine being good in a muffin, it’s fair game here. Or, pre blended spices. My favorite chana masala blend is magic here, and garam masala is a good fit as well.

Citrus Zest: Lemon zest, makrut lime zest (or minced leaves), orange zest – all add a sunny punch of flavor.

Outer Texture: I rolled these biscotti in sesame seeds to add some texture and boost the flavor inside the cookies, but you could go in all sorts of directions. You could roll them in large grains of sugar, for a crunchy, shardy texture. Or, poppy seeds (or a blend of seeds) could be nice. Or, you could add some sort of flavor boost or ingredient to the egg wash you do before the first bake.
Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Recipe

This is what my biscotti looked like when they came out of the oven after their second bake. Once you’ve sliced your biscotti, for the second bake, you can put them all on one pan. They’ve already risen, so you don’t need to distance them the way you would with most other cookies.
Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Recipe
If biscotti aren’t your thing, but you’re still up for a baking adventure, I love these brownies, this Devil’s Food Cake, these snickerdoodles, or the swirl cake from last week.

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Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake

A fun swirl cake made with a beautiful yellow olive oil cake paired with classic chocolate buttercream frosting that has been bolstered with an entire tablespoon of almond extract.

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Buckle up everyone. I’m going to counter all the recent bean recipes with a birthday cake. It was Wayne’s birthday this week and I felt like a special cake was in order. I wanted to make something that looked classic from the outside, with a surprise when you slice into it. I also wanted to combine all the flavors he loves – chocolate, olive oil, almond, and a good kiss of salt to balance the sweet. He’s always showing me photos of crazy cakes, so I thought it’d be fun to bake him some sort of a swirl cake.

Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake

The Swirl Cake Game Plan

Swirl cakes, zebra cakes, and tiger cakes all have three main components: the base cake, the swirl, and the frosting or icing. For this version I made an incredibly moist and fragrant olive oil cake to use for the base and swirl. It’s a favorite made with yogurt which helps keep things tender. The tangy note of the yogurt nicely balances out the sweetness as well. And then there’s the frosting. The frosting here is classic chocolate buttercream bolstered with an entire tablespoon of almond extract. On the swirl front I ended up doing two versions to see which one I liked better – one I envisioned with a hot pink dragonfruit or raspberry swirl (I had such high hopes!!), and another with classic chocolate.
Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake

How to Assemble a Swirl Cake

This is what a swirl cake looks like (above) just out of the oven. When you slice into it you get beautiful striping and swirls depending on how you layer or swirl the batter. For a cake like this I use a ratio of about 2 parts yellow cake batter to 1 part chocolate cake batter. You do 2 big spoonfuls of batter into the center bulls-eye of your prepared cake pan, and then top it with one spoonful of chocolate. Repeat until all the batter is gone. Always placing the batter onto the bulls-eye. Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake Recipe

The Frosting

Before we get to the details, just a reminder to let your cake cool completely before you attempt to frost it. And before you go to mix up your buttercream, make sure your buttercream is at a nice, mild, room temperature. Not too warm, not too cool. You want it to whip up nice and billowy. If your kitchen is too warm, and your butter is starting to get a little sweaty looking as you mix it (or at any point, really). Just give it a few minutes in the refrigerator. Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake
To make this shape cut a square cake in half, and stack.

A Tasty Fail

You can see a couple of in-process shots (below) of the version of the swirl cake made with dragon fruit puree. You know those smoothie packets? I pureed one of those. And it looked incredibly promising all through the bake. The disappointment came when you sliced into the cake. If you were expecting bold stripes, no dice. But if you were expecting a really delicious cake, we’re still in business. If you want to make this version – do it for the flavor, not the visual. Mix 1/4 cup of the puree into about half of the yellow cake batter, and skip the cocoa.
Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake
Before the bake (above), after the bake (below).

Swirl cakes are a lot of fun. And you can play around with all the different components of your cake if you have another frosting you like, favorite base cake recipe, or even the shape.

Or, if swirl cakes aren’t your thing but you still want to make something sweet and tasty try these brownies, this Devil’s Food Cake, this popular chocolate cake, or skip the cake altogether, and churn up some berry swirl ice cream.

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Turkish Coffee Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are dense and fudgy, deep-dish, and decadent with a high fat (butter & chocolate) to flour ratio. Espresso powder and an infusion cardamom seeds lends a Turkish coffee flavor profile.

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Ok friends, buckle up. This post is important, because it includes the recipe for the very best brownies I know how to make. They’re fudgy, deep-dish, and decadent with a high fat (butter & chocolate) to flour ratio. In addition to lots of bittersweet chocolate in the batter, I dial up the intensity with 1/4 cup of espresso powder and an infusion of fragrant, freshly ground cardamom seeds blooming in vanilla extract. It’s a flavor profile I love every time I encounter it. They’re Turkish coffee chocolate brownies, and before you decide on your favorite brownie recipe, I encourage you to give this one a try. They’re SO GOOD.

Tips for the Best Brownies

Chocolate: I love Amy Guittard and her family’s San Francisco-based chocolate. For these brownies I use a bag of Guittard Organic Bittersweet 74%. That said, any good bittersweet chocolate over 70% is great. If you can only get semi-sweet right now in the 60-70% zone – they’ll still be delicious, but look for bittersweet as your first choice.
Grinding spices: If you have a coffee grinder at home, you can grind the cardamom seeds along with your beans when grinding the espresso powder. Although, it’s probably easier to use a mortar and pestle to quickly grind the cardamom. Your coffee grinder will retain the cardamom scent for a while if you don’t clean it which takes some effort. To clean a coffee grinder you can grind a handful of white rice to clear it of other ingredients and scent.
Invest in good cardamom: Many of you are familiar with Diaspora Co. turmeric, but don’t sleep on the cardamom. I use it here and it is incredibly fragrant and special. Other things you can do if you have a jar – steep pods in tea, grind a couple seeds with your coffee beans in the morning, toss a few pods into stews, etc. Freshly ground spices can make a huge difference in your baking.

Turkish Coffee Chocolate Brownies

What Type of Coffee to Use?

A dark, robust roast is welcome here. Anything labelled espresso. You’ll want the coffee beans ground espresso-fine.

What Size Brownie Pan Should I Use?

You have some flexibility here. I call for baking in a 8×8-inch pan. If you only have an 9×9-inch brownie pan, I’ve baked these in that size as well. Your brownies will be a bit thinner, and you won’t need to bake as long. A 9×13-inch pan will result in a thinner brownie, you’ll need to bake for even less time.
Turkish Coffee Chocolate Brownies
One variation I want to mention. I love using almond extract here in place of the vanilla extract called for. I’m out right now, but if you have some, consider using it!

Other baking ideas: Maybe you’re not in the mood for brownies, but cookie recipes sound good right now? I love these snickerdoodles, these shortbread cookies, and this Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie. On the cake front, a lot of people are baking this One Bowl Banana Bread right now. Kim Boyce’s Rosemary Olive Oil Cake is wonderful, or if you’re up for a bit of a project, make the Violet Bakery Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake.

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An Incredible No Bake Chocolate Cake

The easiest chocolate cake you’ll ever make. And it’s always a huge hit. It’s the sort of easy dessert perfect for summer, and entertaining, because you don’t need to heat your oven.

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I suspect this will be the easiest chocolate cake you’ll ever make. And it’s always a huge hit. It’s the sort of easy dessert that is perfect for summer (and entertaining!) because you don’t need to heat your oven. I think of it as a no bake chocolate cake, you wouldn’t be far off calling it a slice-able truffle. Or, imagine an espresso-spiked, velvety, chocolate mousse you were able to cut into beautiful wedges. Sounds incredible, right? If you have ten minutes, some dark chocolate, cream, and something to infuse the cream with, you’re in business. I also have some non-dairy variations as well.