Way, way back, when Tuesdays with Dorie first started, I was a member and baked along with everyone else. However, it soon became a little daunting and quite costly, both in the monetary sense and the calorie-count sense, as we were baking something every week. I stopped baking along after some time, though I continued to follow the blog and everyone else’s creations.

For Christmas, I received the Baking with Julia cookbook. Imagine how happy I was when I read that the new Tuesdays with Dorie group was not only beginning to bake from this book, but that the rules had relaxed, and now members only had to bake a selected recipe every two weeks. Not only that, but this cookbook is a bit more lenient on the waistline, as the cookbook is not only a slew of desserts, but also includes many bread recipes, which I wanted to get more experience baking anyway! All in all, this is a perfect situation for me, and I am excited to be involved with the group and to have something to motivate me to bake regularly!

I loved the first recipe we baked: White Loaves. It’s a great way to start, as it’s a simple, easy enough, plain bread. Making these loaves reminded me just how easy it actually is to bake bread. Granted, it is a bit time consuming, so you are sort of stuck in the house while the dough rises and then rises again, but if you’re planning on being home anyway, why not bake a couple of loaves of bread?

These white loaves are definitely easy, and call for few ingredients. It seems a lot of people were fancying them up, adding cheese and cinnamon swirls and other delicious things. I decided to start off simply, and just make the bread the way the book tells me the make the bread, and see how that goes before going all creative. I ended up with two loaves of amazing white bread, perfectly risen, with a slightly crispy, slightly buttery crust. I enjoyed eating slices just as is, nothing gspread on, not toasted, nothing! I can only imagine cheese or cinnamon swirls would’ve made this bread even more closer to perfection.

The only “problems” I had was with my standmixer and the baking time for my first loaf. The recipe makes enough dough for two loaves, but my mixer couldn’t quite handle all that dough! While it was “kneading” the dough, the hook kept getting stuck and stalling, so I ended up taking out half the dough, putting it aside while the machine kneaded the other half. I kneaded the put-aside dough, then switched…it was a long process, but I think it ended up working out, because the loaves had the ideal texture, density, crumb, everything!

The second (slight) problem was that my first loaf wasn’t baked all the way through. I couldn’t help but cut into it about 30 minutes out of the oven, and I saw its middle was definitely underbaked. I popped it back in the oven (as my 2nd loaf was still baking), and baked for another 10 minutes. Then it was fine. I also added 10 minutes to the 2nd loaf, and it came out wonderfully baked.

I’m not only looking forward to continuing to bake with the Tuesdays with Dorie group, but I am also excited to keep making this bread recipe. Nothing beats a simple bread, baked right!

For the recipe, check out the hosts’ page, Laurie’s blog slush or Jules’ blog Someone’s in the Kitchen, or better yet, buy the book, Baking with Julia!

I had been craving a batch of chocolately homemade cookies for quite some time. Unbelievably, I don’t think I’ve made any cookies since the summer, so the craving turned into obsession and I could no longer ignore it. I flipped through the big, fat and beautiful Bon Appetit: Desserts, looking for a cookie recipe I’ve never tried and that didn’t have any ingredients I didn’t already have in the house. The winner was the Chocolate Toffee Cookies, which I adapted into what is now Chocolate-Cinnamon Caramel Cookies.

I made a few changes to the cookies. We fortunately had a little bottle of rum we had been sipping from that evening, so I splashed the 1 tablespoon of rum the recipe called for in the batter. When I turned my back, Soli generously threw in another tablespoon or so more. This made for a definite hit of rum with every cookie…I was actually a bit nervous eating one of these things for breakfast (What? I know everyone eats cookies for breakfast sometimes!).

I didn’t have any Skor or Heath bars, but I did have these super tiny chocolate-covered caramel cup chips…I can’t really think of a better way to describe them. They were a great addition, I think! The cookies didn’t have that crunch that I’m sure the Heath bar would’ve given it, but were instead studded with soft pockets of sweet, luscious caramel and dark chocolate. I didn’t add the nuts either, so the cookies were soft and moist the whole way through, with a slightly crispy edge. The texture was just amazing, and I don’t know if I would’ve even wanted any crunches to disrupt that.

The last thing I did differently, and that I wholeheartedly recommend, is adding a little bit of cinnamon to the cookies. I didn’t add so much that the cinnamon became a dominant flavor; in fact, some people who tried the cookie couldn’t quite place what it was they were tasting. I thought it pushed the cookie over the edge, making it change from super-great cookie to a super-great-amazing-favourite-cookie-ever. How can a soft, tender chocolate, cookie, filled with caramel and hints of rum and cinnamon be anything short of perfection?

Chocolate-Cinnamon Caramel Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit: Desserts

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate covered caramels (the original recipe calls for crushed chocolate-covered English toffee, such as Heath, Skor bar; about 7 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped almonds (optional; I did not add any nuts this time)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg, the rum and the vanilla and beat again, until everything is blended together.

4. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.

5. Stir in the chocolates or toffee and nuts, if using.

6. In large spoonfuls, drop batter into an ungreased baking sheet about two inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies start cracking on top but are still soft.

7. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then place the cookies in a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Thanks for people’s comments on my previous post, both the ones posted on-site, and the ones emailed to me. It’s always interesting and helpful to hear the perspectives of others, especially when it comes to something so clearly…questionable.

Today, I’ll stay on the safe side and write about a great meal Soli threw together on a whim about a week back. We had picked up a Portuguese chicken a few nights before, and foolishly ordered a family-size pack of fries to go with it. Now, their fries are amazing, and I am an avid French-fry-addict, but even given these two truths, there was no way we would ever be able to finish these behemoth bag of fries. After a few nights of them sitting in our fridge, Soli decided to use them in a frittata.

I’ve got to start eating frittatas more often! They’re one of those dishes I always forget about, but shouldn’t, because they are so easy to prepare and pretty much anything in the fridge can be tossed in there with great results. This one was a concoction of lardons, a whole pack of frozen spinach and greens, a chopped onion, a sliced zucchini, a can of corn, a few handfuls of our spicy Portuguese fries, a whole lot of eggs, and some shredded cheese, all baked up in a cast iron pan and served alongside some ketchup and hot sauce. Simple, quick, delicious, and the perfect way to use up food that’s just sitting in the fridge.

There’s no real recipe here, just play it by ear. First, we thawed the frozen spinach and greens, and squeezed out all the excess water. Heat your French fries briefly up in the oven at around 400 degrees F. Next, chop an onion! We heated some butter and olive oil in a cast iron pan, and added some bacon that had been cut into cubes, then added the chopped onion. Next, we added a sliced zucchini and the can of corn niblets. Throw in the thawed greens, and heat. While it’s heating, beat together 10 eggs and add the shredded cheese. Add the French fries, and pour the egg and cheese mixture over everything. Pop it in the over at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the eggs are firm and are puffing up. Cut into triangles and serve with salad or lots of ketchup and hot sauce!

About a year ago, I found a recipe for a cake on someone’s blog that I knew would be the perfect cake for my mom’s birthday. I made the cake, my mom loved it, and I posted my photos of the cake, along with the recipe and about 4 links to the original recipe and words of praise to the site where I found the recipe. At no point did I ever say, or come close to implying, that the recipe was my own.

Within a few days, I received a lengthy email from the person who owns the site from whom I had taken the recipe. She told me I should not be posting her recipe as my own, which I hadn’t done, but because I hadn’t changed enough words in the recitation of the recipe, in her opinion, I had stolen her recipe.

I removed the post from my site.

Even though she hasn’t posted anything in almost a year now, I obviously still think about it. I am not a “real” chef or baker. I follow recipes and only occasionally alter them. Sometimes I mix and match. This blog does not exist because I hope to become the world’s best food-maker, but because I want to keep track of the things I make and because I want to share these things with other people, and exactly in that order. I want to remember a successful cake, I want to remember the day I made it, I want to remember what was good and what was bad. I’m not trying to gain anything with this site except for sharing what is delicious to me.

Is this wrong? I do not earn a cent with my site…in fact, I pay for its domain. It exists so that i can keep track of the food I’ve made. I love to take photos of food and I enjoy remembering and perhaps sharing these foods. Is it a harmful thing to post a recipe you’ve gotten elsewhere, with credit given? I feel privileged when someone makes something I’ve posted…is that weird?

What happened to sharing? I never pretend to have created a recipe, and always give credit where credit is due. Is that enough? What do you do with your food blog? Am I wrong?

I made Ina Garten’s chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts for Christmas after seeing the recipe in December’s Food Network magazine. The instant I saw the recipe, I was drawn to it, and saved it in the back of mind for Christmas. This was a perfect Christmas recipe for this year…we moved on December 17th, which is really a terrible time when it comes to being able to cook or bake for Christmas. Everything was a mess, my cutlery went missing for about 2 weeks, and we have a new gas stove that I had no idea to work, so even if I had had baking pans and flour readily available, I would still be hesitant to make any cookies or cakes. I was willing to give a panful of roasted nuts a try though!

I did use the same amount of nuts and “dressing” as the recipe states, though I upped the cashews, walnuts and almonds and skipped out on using the pecans. The cashews I used where not roasted. Finally, I couldn’t find our maple syrup (you think everything is so organized when you pack it, but when 8 boxes of canned/bottled foods are staring you down to be unpacked, you realize you could’ve done a much, much better job!), so I used honey instead.

In the end, these turned out really well. I am not a massive nut-fan (I think because I grew up never really eating nuts, as I was allergic to peanuts), but these were fun to snack on, especially when accompanied with chunks of old cheddar cheese. I adore the salty/sweet flavor combo, and the orange adds a fun brightness to the whole thing. I didn’t find them spicy at all, and would actually probably add some cayenne to the mix next time. They were definitely a good Christmas dish, and the recipe makes a ton. The nuts do like to really stick together though, so be prepared to have to stab at them a little to knock a few nuts loose.

One big change I made was follow some of the reviewers’ advice and reduced the heat from 350 degrees to 300 degrees and watched them carefully after about 20 minutes. It did take a little bit longer, but they certainly weren’t burnt!

Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts
Adapted from Ina Garten

Vegetable oil
3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)
2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)
2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces) (I skipped these and just used more of the other nuts)
1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (I used honey instead)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice and chipotle powder on the sheet pan; toss to coat.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.

3. Spread the nuts in one layer. (I needed to use two cookie sheets)

4. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Bake longer if they don’t seem finished, keeping a close eye on them.

5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary. Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning.

Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to a week.

A lot of people just adore crème brûlée. They see it on a dessert menu, and they just have got to get it. I am not one of those people. In fact, I think I’ve probably eaten crème brûlée just a few times, and this was my first time making it.

I followed the recipe exactly, and didn’t attempt adding any other flavours. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for the best. The taste was great – rich, creamy, sweet..almost heavenly. However, they never set and it was almost pure liquid under the hard sugar layer. I read around on the internet and found that many people had a very similar problem with this recipe, so if you do decide to make this, adjust the temperature! I did bake them for longer, but it still didn’t work out. Like I said though, the flavour was all there…just the consistency wasn’t.

Crème Brûlée
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
3 large egg yolks
1 / 3 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
About 6 tablespoons sugar or sifted light brown sugar, for topping

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200ºF/ 93ºC.

2. Put the six baking dishes on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

3. Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.

4. In a 1 or 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together until well blended but not airy. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid—this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the cream and milk. Give the bowl a good rap against the counter to de-bubble the custard, then strain it into the baking dishes.
Bake the custards for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the centers are set—tap the sides of the dishes, and the custards should hold firm. Lift the dishes onto a cooling rack and let the custards cool until they reach room temperature.

5. Cover each custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably longer. (The custards can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.) For the sugar to be successfully caramelized, the custards need to be thoroughly chilled.

SERVING
Serve the crème brûlée when the crème is really cold and the brûlée is still warm. You can serve the whole dessert chilled, but the sugar topping won’t have its characteristic crackle. And while I think crème brûlée should be served with nothing more then a spoon, you could offer berries and cookies as accompaniments.

STORING
The custard for crème brûlée must be made ahead so it has plenty of time to chill, but once you’ve caramelized the sugar on top, your storage time is over if your want the sugar to have crunch.

Just a few of my favourite dessert things: Coffee cakes. Chocolate and orange combinations. Cinnamon and pecan streusels. It’s pretty obvious that I would love this coffee cake, which has exactly everything I love!

First, the cake itself. Cakes that contain sour cream are notoriously moister, more tender, more delicious. All very true for this cake! Next, the streusel. It’s got cinnamon, it’s got chocolate, it’s got pecans, and the cake has two streusel layers! One runs through the centre of the cake, and the top of the cake gets all crunchy from the layer on top. I believe there is no such thing as too much streseul. Finally, the chocolate-orange flavor combo. Neither the chocolate or the orange is predominant. The only chocolate is in the streusel, and the only orange is the orange juice and rind in the cake. They’re there, subtly, and I love it. I did add a bit of extra rind in the streusel, just because I do love orange and chocolate together.

It makes for a wonderful morning cake with coffee, so if you’re looking for a cake to serve during the holidays at a breakfast or brunch, this is an ideal choice. I was thinking that it would be the perfect cake to use one of those Terry’s chocolate oranges (the dark chocolate one though, not the milk – to sweet!) in. I think I may just have to make this cake again….

Sour Cream-Orange Coffee Cake with Chocolate-Pecan Streusel
from Bon Appetit

CHOCOLATE-PECAN STREUSEL
1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled salted butter, diced
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

SOUR CREAM ORANGE COFFEECAKE
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice

STREUSEL
1. Whisk brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend.
2. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps.
3. Mix in pecans and chocolate chips. (Can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

CAKE
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended and smooth.
3. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then orange peel and vanilla extract.
4. Mix in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with sour cream in 3 additions.
5. Mix in orange juice.
6. Spread half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel.
7. Drop remaining batter over by heaping tablespoonfuls; carefully spread batter to make even layer.
8. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.
9. Bake cake 30 minutes.
10. Lay sheet of foil loosely over pan to keep topping from browning too quickly. Continue baking until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes longer.
11. Remove foil. Cool cake in pan on rack 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar; serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool completely. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Oh, and I got a visit from The Fairy Hobmother, from Appliances Online today, whose job it is to spread joy among the internet bloggers. A while back, I left a comment on one of Grace’s awesome posts, and today I got my visit, which resulted in a wonderful Amazon voucher (considering how close the holidays actually are, this is a great thing)!

And if you leave a comment on this post, the Fairy Hobmother might just be visiting you next!

Happy National Bundt Day!!!

One of my favourite food blogs, The Food Librarian, takes on the daunting task of preparing a bundt a day for the month (check out the aptly named “I Like Big Bundts” pages!) leading up to National Bundt Day. Needless to say, I wish I worked in her place of employment! Whenever I’m looking for a bundt cake to make, I always check out her blog first, and her countless number of bundt recipes. Last year, I made a lemon bundt cake. This year, to celebrate National Bundt Day, however, I went with a bundt from Baked’s cookbook, the chocolate root beer bundt cake.

I wish the photos captured this cake better; now that it’s daylight savings, I no longer have the joy of natural daylight during the week to take photos in. Add to that the fact that chocolate cakes are already pretty hard to photograph…and you’re left with this dark brown chocolate blob of a cake. It really is a tasty cake though! I can’t say that the root beer adds any flavor to it; it pretty much is just a rich, deep, moist, decadent chocolate cake with an enormous layer of smooth, fantastically chocolatey frosting. This is one powerful chocolate cake, and the perfect cake to celebrate National Bundt Day with.

Chocolate Root Beer Bundt Cake
From Baked: New Frontiers In Baking

CAKE
2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

FROSTING
2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

CAKE
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out the excess flour.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

FROSTING
1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

2. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the Bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving.

I am definitely a quickbread fan! While banana bread will always be at the top of my list, I am open to pretty much any sweet bread. The last bread I made was a rather mild-tasting, not too sweet, walnut-date bread. It has all the qualities of a banana-nut bread, but with a taste similar to date squares. It’s a great breakfast bread, and I loved toasting a slice and smearing it with some creamy brie. Because the bread isn’t (surprisingly, considering all the sugars in it) that sweet, it’s prefect with all sorts of cheeses!

I love the chunks of date in it, as well as the crunch of the candied walnuts. And one of my favourite parts? This bread is made in only one pot! If you’re looking for something a bit different from the usual banana bread, give this one a try!

Walnut-Date Bread
adapted from Honest Cooking

250g pitted dates
1 cup water
60g unsalted butter
180g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
180g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
cup candied walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter 4 small loaf tins or 1 standard loaf pan.

2. Place dates in a saucepan with water and bring to the boil, then decrease heat to low and simmer for 3-4 minutes until all the liquid has absorbed and the dates are mushy. Mash to break up any big pieces, then add the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Stir until the butter has melted, then remove from the heat and stir the baking soda into the hot mixture.

3. Cool slightly, then stir in the egg.

4. Fold in the flour and baking powder, then the candied walnuts.

5. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool slightly in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Looking for a 10,000,000 calorie dessert that’s bound to please pretty much anyone with a sweet tooth? No need to look any further!

I stocked up on cans of condensed milk last time I traveled over the border; $1.97/can vs $4.50/can? Sounds like a deal to me! I thought this would be a fun Thanksgiving dessert, and a great way to use up some of my stockpiled cans of condensed milk. They are decadently sweet, rich and perfect. The shortbread crust is so buttery, it’s great all on its own. The caramel layer, made from heating and stirring the condensed milk over low heat it extremely boring and time-consuming, but the end result is worth it. Eventually, the condensed milk thickens, then thickens more, and turns an amber colour and becomes so sticky, sweet, and heavenly! The chocolate layer (you can use any chocolate you like, but I prefer bittersweet to milk, as that caramel is sweet enough as it is, and needs something like bittersweet chocolate to cut the sweetness down) has a nice “snap” to it.

All together, every layer is gorgeous and each one plays into the other. It’s like a gigantic Twix bar, only better.

SHORTBREAD
2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for preparing pans
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing pans
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

CARAMEL
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter

CHOCOLATE
3/4 pound good-quality bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter

SHORTBREAD
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Butter 2 (8-inch) square nonstick pans and coat with flour, tapping off excess.
3. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse once. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles peas. Press the shortbread mixture into prepared pans and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

CARAMEL
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Continue stirring over the heat until mixture becomes thick and amber in color, about 15 minutes.

2. Pour the caramel over the cooked shortbread and spread evenly using an offset spatula.

3. Cool to room temperature.

CHOCOLATE
1. In a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter.

2. Once chocolate has melted, pour it over the cooled caramel layer. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes, and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, allowing chocolate to slightly harden but not get hard.

3. Cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy, or store in an airtight container, at room temperature.