Millionaire's shortbread

As I type this and think about these tasty millionaire's shortbread I made recently, our kitchen is a gutted, dusty space...renovation has begun!  I'm taking it one day at a time and trying to just go with the flow.  I'm thankful to be able to have an updated kitchen to cook and bake from soon, and also grateful I had the chance to make a few more delicious things to eat before we packed up the kitchen and got things ready for the construction!

I've heard about millionaire's shortbread for a while now and I figured it was a great indulgence to attempt to make during the holidays to share with friends.  It's made up of a base layer of buttery shortbread, a center of soft and chewy homemade caramel, and a top layer of dark chocolate.  It's essentially homemade Twix bars.  As my husband says, it tastes like a "fresh Twix bar" or a "fresh, gourmet Twix bar".  Well, I think Twix bars are pretty good as it is - it's a childhood favorite of mine - but this homemade millionaire's shortbread is a knockout indulgence!

This is the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  It's actually fairly easy to follow - the only "must" is a candy thermometer for cooking the caramel layer to ensure that it turns out smooth, soft, and chewy.  Using melted butter for the shortbread base, you can just stir the ingredients together and then simply press the crumbs into the pan. Finally, it takes a little time and effort to finely grate some of the dark chocolate that goes on the top layer and then to carefully - and slowly - melt the chocolate in the microwave for you to end up with a firm coating of chocolate that has a nice snap and won't bloom (turn gray).  Following the directions, this was as close as I ever got to tempering chocolate and I was very happy!

My bars aren't nearly as neat as the ones made by Cook's Illustrated but I can't say I'm too surprised.  I had trouble slicing the bars without making a ton of crumbs in the shortbread layer (and frankly, I was too impatient to try a little harder).  I'm fine with a little mess.  I packed up most of my batch for a few friends (the recipe makes a generous 40 bars so it's great for gifting) and I don't think my friends minded the mess, either.

I don't often eat a Twix bar these days but making these homemade bars was a great reason to indulge.  These millionaire's shortbread bars were so addicting.  The combination of buttery crunchy shortbread crust, with stretchy, sweet, and chewy caramel, wrapped up with a firm snappy dark chocolate top is a really winning combination.  This is the perfect time to make a batch!

Chilled Spanish flan

I had a few inspirations for making flan.  Way back in the day, my brother used to work in a Spanish-Asian-American restaurant.  We're talking roughly two decades ago, before "fusion" was hip and then commonplace. It was a restaurant owned by relatives of ours actually, and my brother worked there part-time as a waiter while going to school.  I imagine it was hard work, with late hours and weekend duty, but I think one of the perks of working there had to be the food.  I remember he loved their flan.  When I was making this, I was thinking about that...

Essentially a cold egg custard with a soft caramel top that provides a ready sauce

For my own part, I'm less familiar with flan than I am with another similar dessert, crème brulee. Unless you're in a Spanish restaurant, flan isn't something you see often on menus.  So I haven't thought much about it but when I did give it some thought recently, I realized that flan is simply an egg custard (a cold one) sitting below a layer of soft caramel.

And that brings me to a second motivation I had for trying flan at home.  I love egg custards - it's my idea of sweet comfort food - so why not try a cold version for a change! Without exaggeration, I make this warm/room-temperature egg custard all the time.  When I have whole milk in the fridge that I want to use up - and that happens quite often - I whip two of them up to enjoy with my husband in the evening.  It's smooth creaminess always feels both nurturing and nourishing and I love the flavors of the eggs and milk together with the hint of vanilla.  I have to say - if there's one ingredient I really appreciate, it's eggs.  They are quite possibly the most crucial thing I use when it comes to cooking and baking, and I always marvel at what the egg can do and help you create.  

Lastly, I made flan because I was thinking about cold desserts in these endless days of heat and humidity.  I was also looking for something I can prepare in advance.  With the busy summer schedule, it's nice to be to cook ahead when you have a free moment so that you can simply eat when the time comes.  Flan fit the bill nicely for our dessert rotation.

Like with most things, there are several versions of flan.  This one is on the lighter end of the spectrum - the custard base being essentially the same as the egg custard I make often.  That is, it's made with the foundations of whole milk, eggs and egg yolks. Some richer versions call for cream, condensed milk, or evaporated milk. 

The main deterrent against making flan must be the caramel coating.  I admit it can be tricky (the major issue being it hardens very quickly, making it difficult to distribute evenly in your ramekins) but don't stress about it!  Just expect it and do the best you can, like I did.  Because, quite frankly, it really doesn't matter all that much.  Once the custards go into their water bath and cook, that caramel redistributes.  When you turn it out, the caramel will, magically, be evenly coated and the caramel sauce will flow and pool before your eyes.

Being able to prepare these in advance is a huge plus.  I made these one rainy Saturday morning and stowed it away in my refrigerator.  It can stay there for up to 3 days.  I love opening up my refrigerator and seeing plenty of ready-to-eat foods.

Peanut butter crispy bars

The guys behind Baked are known for their creative and delicious spins on some classic American desserts.  I don't know who grew up eating these peanut butter crispy bars but I was not lucky enough to be one of those people.  I may be more of a Nutella person in general but very often, a peanut butter sandwich just hits the spot.  I think the Baked cookbooks have given me a new appreciation for peanut butter (I'm thinking about their very yummy monster cookies).

These peanut butter crispy bars are another recipe from their cookbook.  The bars are made up of three layers: a crispy, basically candied, rice crispy crust at the bottom, a prominent middle layer of soft peanut butter and milk chocolate, and a thinner coating of dark chocolate on top.  I love the way these bars look, the contrast in colors between the chocolate layers, as well as the textural difference between the crispy bottom and the other two creamy layers.

These bars were easy to make and come together relatively quickly.  There's no baking involved and the two chocolate layers only need about an hour of chilling time apiece.  I think the only technicality is you should have a candy thermometer since you need to boil some sugar for the bottom crust.  Since I had everything on hand, I literally made these on a whim one morning, went out to run an errand, and they were ready to be sliced.  I cut these into small servings and gave the majority away so I could share the calories (I mean, love) among friends. 

You know how you know you made something good?  You keep thinking about it and wanting more, as thought you're not convinced you've got a proper taste and need to make sure.  That's how we feel about these.  I have a feeling I'll be making more of these.  And while I'm tempted to play around with say a Nutella version and sometimes I think maybe, just maybe, the bottom layer would be better if it was just a tad softer and not quite so crunchy, it's hard to mess with a good thing.  And these are good!

Consider trying these out if you know some peanut butter lovers and want to mix up the usual cookie rotation.  I think it's hard to find this kind of distinct, multi-layer bar recipe.  My six-year old tasted these and started placing dibs on what we had left and my husband could've used a few more pieces as well.  You see why I keep thinking I need to mix up another batch?  The writing's on the wall...