Critique: Failure! However..

I'd say the critique of the stevia brownie recipe was unanimous for failure, but that wouldn't quite highlight the strength of the reaction from Paul. He found it bitter and sour, suggesting salt be added to decrease bitterness. Since I'd found it both bitter and salty, that didn't seem to be the cure. Steve thought putting some in a bowl and pouring milk over the top might be a fix, but decided that just wasn't a go either. I gamely finished them, being the sort who hates to waste any chocolate, no matter how bad. The sole exception was that long-ago batch which, as a non-smoker, I'd tried adding marijuana to in order to see if I could get any effect from them. What an awful thing to do to brownies! I'd class this as second worst, but marginally edible to the very determined.

I do note that the packaging claims that it's much sweeter than sugar. That certainly didn't seem to be the case. Nobody's palate detected sweetness, though it wasn't as bitter an unsweetened chocolate would have been, so there must have been some sweetening.

They were also quite dry and didn't cover the pan when the mix got spread in it for baking, nor did it spread out in the heat of the oven.

So: changes. Try again. I am nothing if not determined when it comes to chocolate.

I worked to cure the dryness by changing the butter amount to a full stick: easier to measure anyway, and not so-o-o-o much more fat. The big change was going half-and-half on real sugar and stevia. The batter tasted better and spread into the pan better. This changes the carb count of course, but by just over double, making the recipe total 166 grams of carbs. Cutting it into 16 pieces gives you approximately 10 grams of carbs per brownie, or conversely, 12 pieces gives you 14 grams of carbs per piece, or one carb unit.

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Critique: While it's still dry (cut baking time, I think, to 20 min), it's an acceptable brownie. No, wait. It's an acceptable chocolate something. It's still not a brownie. There's a slight weird taste for a moment, but the after that the taste is all good. I think it's salt, so I'm going to cut that again for next time. Still a bit dry, and if the baking time doesn't fix that, look into adding moisture some way other than more fat, though using a whole butter stick is simpler than 1/3 cup plus 2T for the first go-round. There will be at least one more adjustment. But hey, I'm a willing guinea pig. It is, after all, chocolate.

Heather's Saucepan Brownie Recipe

With all credit to Lylah Rosa, this has been adapted enough that I'm going to put my name on this version.

I got up early this morning to make these, and found the single saucepan in the house that is up to the job, the 3 qt., sitting on the stove crusted with dried mac-n-cheese. Since it's soaking a bit, I'm blogging.

Grease and flour an 8" cakepan, set aside. Set oven at 350.

In saucepan over low heat:
melt 1/3 cup + 2T margarine/butter. (not water-added kind)
6T unsweetened cocoa

Turn off heat. Beat in:
1 cup stevia
2 eggs

Sift together and add:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder.

Optional: add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
Pour into cake pan, bake 30-35 minutes. Done when top crust will take slight imprint from thumb. If you wait for the dry toothpick test, will overbake. Cool in pan an hour. Cut and serve.

Carbs: whole recipe has 66 grahms of carbs. Divide by number of servings.

I'll be back later with taste test. Possibly after the auction.

Pay No Attention to That Other Post

Oops. Mea Culpa. Forgive me. My Bad.

Of course, I paid for it already. That's how I know. But you shouldn't blindly follow and have to do it as well.

What am I talking about? That substitute pumpkin pie recipe, of course. Yes, it tastes great when it's only a single spoonful sample. But whoa! Too much is waaaayyyyyyy too much! I was just in such a hurry for something nummy that I didn't go cautiously.

Remember that comment about the strong flavor? Apparently after sitting overnight it only got stronger. So much so that I was only able to force myself to eat half of what I packed. And maybe there's something about cooking that destroys some of the spice - volatile oils or whatever.

On the plus side that means fewer calories in. On the minus, though, it means that nasty deprived feeling all day. Well, emotionally, anyway. I wasn't actually hungry for the whole day. Partly because the spices lingered on my tongue - for hours! Well, not quite, but it seemed that way. And I guess also just because there was simply no time to stop and indulge in shopping for something else to eat, and every time I might have been tempted to be hungry I hit that barricade of this is what is sitting in your cooler waiting for you! I did finally hit a Holiday for a couple jalapeno cheddar brats with mustard, no buns, about 4PM.

When I got home the other container, untouched, was still cold and went into the fridge. Today I'm going to mix it with a full 'nother container of cottage cheese. It'd be better if there were an easy way to mash out the lumps and spread the flavor even more, but no time or energy for that. Still, it's gotta be better than what I had yesterday. And hey, Mom taught me not to waste food. So, another day, another experiment.

I'll let ya know.

If You Hated Giving Up Pumpkin Pie...

Joan, this one's for you too.

Ever notice? The taste of pumpkin pie is such a favorite that now you can even get coffee in that flavor - seasonally, of course. Forty years ago a local dairy even made pumpkin yogurt - again, only seasonally.

I'm one of the pumpkin pie lovers. I tried this year to be very careful: tiny servings, waiting two hours after the meal, leaving the crust behind. It still kicked up my blood sugar levels past desired levels. I had to satisfy myself with a bit of the pumpkin cappucino in a big cup of black coffee about once every other week, on days when I really needed some extra caffeine. Like today, when the rain, the windshiled wipers, long drive and slight shortness of sleep combined to make me drowsy. Yummm.

It got me thinking.

To start with, I've been combining my cottage cheese with apples for way too long now. I particularly don't like the ever more frequent surprises in the middle of the apples we're storing in the back entry. You know, those brown trails through the core with an occasional extra bit of protein at the end. Sure, they've been cheap. I don't need to buy fruits twice a week or so, since I'm supposed to stick to fresh rather than canned, presumably because of no added sugar. But it's time for a change.

When I passed a Pumpkin pie filling display while shopping for other things, it hit me: I can "fake" pumpkin pie with blending ingredients into my cottage cheese! Worth enough of a try that I picked up three cans. Then I called home to see what still existed on the spice rack and shelves. OK, needed ground cloves. Not sure how much Paul has raided my Splenda supply in making low-carb jellies this year, I got a bag of that too. And, may as well grab more cottage cheese while I'm here.

Among the benefits, it's easy, tasty, and no-cook. Reasonably nutritious, low fat, low calorie, low carb. Also no gluten, since I don't bother with a crust. I guess if it needs a fancy name, you could call it lumpy pumpkin mousse, served chilled. Lumps are optional, depending on how much stirring/beating you feel like doing. Mine will have lumps.

Here's my recipe:

1 29 oz. can pumpkin filling.
1 22 oz. container 1% fat cottage cheese.
1 1/2 cup Splenda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. each ground cloves, nutmeg, and ginger.
1/2 tsp. salt.
In a very large bowl, mix all dry ingredients thoroughly. Stir in pumpkin, then stir in cottage cheese. You can stir with a spoon for lumpy texture, or with a mixer for smooth. Makes about 6 cups. Divide into portions and chill.

What's a portion? Up to you. 1, 2, or 3 cups. Is it dessert? Part of a meal? The whole meal?

For nutrition stats, the whole recipe contains 720 calories, 90.5 carbs. Even if you only divide it into two full meals, each is 360 calories and 45 grams carbs, or three units as I'm counting them these days. That's the limit for a full meal, which is how I've divided mine: breakfast and lunch tomorrow. If you go for thirds, each is 240 calories and 30 grams carbs. If sixths... well, you can do the math. It's easy. You want more information like protein or fat, get your own and read the labels.

It is highly seasoned. You might play around with lower levels of spices if that's an issue.

We'll see if I'm still thrilled with it by tomorrow night. There are still two more pumpkin cans to go through.