Lovin' From the Oven

Cheesecake Brownies

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Talk about baking on a scorching day. 97 degrees.. Really, southern California?! We skipped spring and jumped right into summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love southern California weather… just not when I’m at my apartment with no AC and the sun beams down through our window all day. Total bust. While on my way back to my little sauna of an apartment today, I was stuck in horrible Westwood/LA traffic (isn’t LA the worst?!?) and watched beautiful baller cars pass me by. Then I got to thinking… what are my top 3 dream cars? All from different price ranges? After long deliberation, I compiled my list:

1.) Price Range $25,000-$35,000: Mazda RX-8; I’ve loved this car for basically as long as I can remember.. since about 9th grade when it made its first debut.
2.) Price Range $35,000-$45,000: Audi TT Roadster; no words needed.
3.) Price Range $45,000+: Nissan GTR; alright so maybe that’s a little more than 45K.. but hey, we can all dream, right?

What’s your list of top 3 cars that you long for?

Alright enough dreaming & wishing and back to reality.. When I make brownies, I always use my go-to recipe. I’ve used this one for about a year now and haven’t bothered finding a new one. Why change something that’s perfect? I use the same brownie base for all my brownies, and tweak it as necessary. Sometimes I add nuts, sometimes I add some mint extract and Andes chunks, sometimes I add chocolate chips, and sometimes I swirl it with a cheesecake batter. This time, I baked it in a glass 8″x8″ pan because I wanted my brownies to be fudge-like rather than crispy. When baking in a glass pan, you have to let them bake for about ten minutes longer, depending on your oven.

The brownie recipe that I used can be found at my previous post HERE, but I’ll repost it here with the modifications for cheesecake brownies.

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8″x8″ pan. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well. Pour into greased pan.

For the cheesecake swirl:

  • 8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar (you can use 1/3 cup if you want it sweeter)
  • 1 egg

Beat the cream cheese and sugar mixture together. Mix in the egg until creamy. Drop by dollups on top of the brownie batter and then swirl using a knife. Bake for 50-60 minutes (mine took about 65 minutes before being completely done).

Cookie Mailing List! & Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

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I’ve seen this recipe popping up on tastespotting and foodgawker recently, and I just knew that I had to try it. The cake looked SO moist and delicious, how can I pass up on that? I got this recipe from The Food Librarian, but many other food bloggers have made this cake as well. I think the original poster was Vintage Victuals. Anyways, I added a little (okay, a lot) more cinnamon than recommended, but I think it was too strong. Stick to the original recipe! I also upped the vanilla, and you can never go wrong with that. The cake was just about the moistest cake ever with all the liquids in it. Amazing! I baked it in mini bundt cakes, therefore lowering the baking time. I topped it all off with a dash of powdered sugar on top.

Good news! I decided that I’m going to start my cookie mailing list up again since I have a lot of free time and will be available over the summer now. Why? Well, I HAD a job for the summer working at an outdoor camp in Lake Tahoe, but I recently got an email from them nearly three months after being hired saying:

“Dear Kim,

____ and I had a long chat today about camp, staffing, and enrollment. Unfortunately, the enrollment numbers for this season are down — much more so than when we looked at them closely about a month ago. To my great regret, we must withdraw the job offer you and I have discussed — counselor and activity specialist.

You seem to be a very bright, hard-working, and personable person, and I’ve no doubt you will find success wherever you choose to seek it. If our enrollment numbers change, we will certainly contact you to find out if you still have an interest, and are available to work with us. But in any case, we sincerely thank you for the time you’ve spent in seeking employment with us. We wish all the very best in your future endeavors.

Very best regards,
_________” (the name is bleeped out cause that’s just mean. i’ll leave the director and the camp name anonymous)

Uhhh… total low blow! They told me three months after being hired, meaning I’ve already turned down another camp job offer and two interviews. Now, it’s much too late to apply for positions at summer camps so I’m at a loss for summer. Talk about a sucky economy. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Anyways, this means I’ll have more time to bake this summer and keep up with my mailing list. If you’re interested, keep on reading!

COOKIE MAILING LIST:
What is it and what do I get? Home baked goods by me mailed to your house every month! A different treat each month, sometimes a variety. You will be guaranteed AT LEAST 18 cookies, usually more. You can find an example of what you’ll be getting at this post HERE (the cookies, not the cupcakes)

How much is it? A mere $15/month will cover your cost for shipping and supplies (only available to residents in the US.. sorry! Mailing baked goods internationally just doesn’t seem like a good idea)
Where do I send the money/Who do I pay?
You can pay me via paypal by clicking the link here:




I also take concealed cash/checks, just email me for the address on where to send it to. For May’s mailing list, I’ll need the payment by April 30th.
When can I expect the baked goods? I will bake and ship the first week of every month. I will only bake the cookies and send them out the same day! That way, they’ll stay fresher.

**Please let me know if you have any food allergies/ingredients that you absolutely despise so that I can avoid them for your batch, along with the address to mail the baked goods to and your email address so I have a way to contact you. Don’t forget to let me know if you have any favorites that you are dying to have!

Don’t hesitate to throw me an email at kim@lovintheoven.com if you have any questions. Thanks again!

Recipe:
1.) Bring 1 c water, ½ c oil, 1 stick butter and ¼ c + 1T (or 5 T) cocoa powder to a boil and then adding it to a 2 c flour, 2 c sugar and ½ t salt mixture. Add in ½ c buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup milk with a 1/2 tsp vinegar) and 1 t baking soda.
2.) Mix 2 eggs, 1 ½ t cinnamon and 1 t vanilla in a small bowl and combine with batter.
3.) Bake in a bundt at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pan.

Chocolate Cupcakes & a Giveaway!

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When I’m in the mood for chocolate, I’m in the mood of chocolate.. lots and lots of it. A little piece from a candy bar won’t satisfy my craving. I need a mound of it, something that’s over the top chocolate-y. I was thinking of some of the most decadent chocolate treats to make for myself (chocolate mousse, pudding, flour-less chocolate cake, fudge, brownies, etc), when I just happened to turn my box of Hershey’s cocoa over. What did I find? Hershey’s “perfectly chocolate” chocolate cake with “perfectly chocolate” chocolate frosting. With a name like that, I knew I was sold. I mean, what other dessert has chocolate 4 times in the title?

I have nothing but great memories of Hershey’s. I was lucky enough to go to Hershey’s Chocolate World in Pennsylvania when I was younger with my family and see how chocolate was made. I still have a souvenir from there– a picture of my entire family on the ride that teaches you the entire chocolate making process. I remember being so appalled and in complete awe of the amount of chocolate in the factory, while wanting to take a bite out of everything. I’d definitely recommend a trip there, if you haven’t already, for all the chocolate fiends like me! :]

I followed the recipe exactly as stated, adding a bit more cocoa into both batters. The result? A perfectly chocolate chocolate cake. Moist, sweet, and chocolate-y, without a sense of empowerment from any of the flavors. Everything blended perfectly together. I dusted half the cupcakes with powdered sugar and left the other half as is. The cupcakes were so beautiful that I couldn’t help but post a million pictures of them. Enjoy!
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups AP flour
  • 3/4 cup HERSHEY’s cocoa
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour 2 9-inch round baking pans or line muffin cups with bake cups.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on med speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter onto prepared pans.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes if doing 9-inch round pans, 22-25 minutes for cupcakes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans/cups to wire racks and cool completely.
  • 1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
  • 2/3 cup HERSHEY’s cocoa
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt butter, stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.
Hooray for my 100th post on Lovin’ From the Oven! Thank you so much everyone for following along. You guys are the very reason why I’m still blogging today! To show my appreciation, I’ll be doing my very first giveaway! I’ll be giving away A Year of Cookie Cutters from Crate & Barrel!
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If you recall, I own this set myself and LOVE it! I used the cutters in my previous post to make no fail sugar cookies. I love it so much that one lucky winner will be able to get your own, BRAND NEW set! It comes with 12 different cookie cutters, one for each month. The cookie cutters are adorably packaged in its own cookie container. It doesn’t get any better than that!
All you have to do to enter in my giveaway is leave a comment, saying anything you’d like… a random comment, a question, a thought… on this post with a way for me to contact you by Saturday, March 14th, 11:59PM Pacific time. I’ll choose the winner by using random.org. Good luck!
You can find more details about this gift (or if you just want to buy it for yourself) on Crate & Barrel’s site HERE

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