TWD: Cinnamon Squares, Day 10 of my TWD Marathon

OK, folks, this wraps up my Tuesday's with Dorie marathon. I've now baked all of the recipes chosen so far, which is around 110. And let me tell you, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I have baked things I've never heard of, things I didn't think I would like, things that were utter failures and surprising successes. And I'd say about 80% of the recipes, I've really enjoyed. That's pretty amazing, when you think of it. Dorie is to be commended on having hit recipe after hit recipe. Girlfriend knows her baking!


Anyway, Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures picked Cinnamon Squares in June, 2009. This was one of those recipes I didn't think I would like, since I'm not a big fan of the cinnamon-chocolate combo. Well, as it turns out, I think what I don't like is a predominantly chocolate recipe with too much cinnamon in it. Chocolate with a little cinnamon is OK, and mostly cinnamon with a little chocolate is OK.

I guess that's why I ended up liking this cake. Well, without the chocolate frosting... I was afraid it would push it into the bad cinnamon-chocolate range, so I left it off. I didn't include the espresso powder either, since I don't like coffee at all.


The cake consisted of a super-cinnamony cake with a layer of chopped chocolate and cinnamon sugar in the middle. You can see that layer here (half of the batter is underneath)...


The chopped chocolate and cinnamon-sugar is covered with the remaining cake batter. Since I halved the recipe, I used my adjustable cake pan that I got from a friend in England. I'm not sure if those pans are available here in the US or not.


I was surprised to see that the ribbon of chocolate and cinnamon was wavy, like in the picture in the book. Don't ask me how that happens, but it does, and I'm glad. If you'd like to see the recipe, please check out Tracey's blog or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

All right, I'm going to wrap up with my top 5 favorite Dorie recipes so far. These are the ones that left me saying "wow!" over and over.

1. French Pear Tart

2. Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart

3. Coconut Butter Thins

4. Butterscotch Pudding

5. Tarte Tatin

There were also a few runners up...

- Banana Cream Pie

- Blueberry Pie

- Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops

- Lenox Almond Biscotti

(So, I read through some of these old posts and have come to the conclusion that my old posts are WAY more entertaining than my current posts. I need to get back to the witty and entertaining. I'm just boring now, LOL. )

Thanks so much for following along, I really do appreciate folks stopping by. Hope you all have a really fantastic day!