Tuesday, June 2, 2009

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

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These squares were absolutely delicious, which surprised me since I'm not usually a crazy cinnamon fan. I think this would have to rank up there as one of my favourite Dorie recipes. I enjoyed the texture and the loved the combination of cinnamon and coffee. This is a flavour combination that I will have to use again. I made these a little differently than instructed though because I didn't want to risk over mixing by folding the butter at the end. Instead of melting the butter, I decided to cream it by hand just because I saw Bob of Cooking Stuff do it and couldn't wait to give it a try. Look at what a gorgeous batter he creates with a wooden spoon! Plus, think about all the extra squares I could eat after that workout (no seriously.. I should've waited for the butter to get to room temperature because it's not fun to cream cold butter). I still love my KA more than anything, but doing everything by hand feels like I'm baking for real if that makes sense and a lot of fun! I omitted the frosting and chips in that batter.. part of my efforts to cut calories where I can so I continue baking with TWD without outgrowing all my clothes!

Thanks so much to Tracey of My Culinary Adventures for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book. Don't forget to check out the TWD blogroll!

44 comments:

  1. Looks like it turned out perfect!

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  2. You made the perfect cinnamon square! It looks better than Dorie's!

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  3. Ooooh, pretty.

    Creaming butter by hand? Are you kidding?

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  4. That is the perfect square of goodness.

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  5. Ciao ! I don't know if it was thw wooden spoon but you square is terrific !!!

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  6. hand-creaming? You're amazing! no wonder your stuff is always a little (a lot) extra special! You really did make a perfect CS. How did you get such a nice swirl?

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  7. I'm glad this worked out for you! It did smell Heavenly, but something went wrong with mine. Amazingly, my ribbon didn't sink LOL

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  8. You never cease to amaze me, Steph. The cake looks perfect. Look at that ribbon!! This was a trigger food for me when it was around, very dangerous!

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  9. Your cake looks GREAT! And I agree-I love the 'by hand' recipes as it really makes you feel like you are doing it for 'real'--though I have yet to cream butter by hand!

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  10. This is one of the recipes from that book that I really wanted to try (cinnamon fan and all). I'm glad you really liked it, that's a good sign for me!

    I'm kind of the same way with mixing. By hand just has a more natural feel to it, and you get feedback from the dough. Am I crazy? Maybe :)

    Check out the butt workout if you ate too much cake :)

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  11. You got the most perfect swirl :D
    Great job

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  12. I am a huge cinnamon fan, will have to try this one!

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  13. yeah doing it by hand isn't so bad is it? I still do not have a mixer, can you believe that?
    Anyway, I am a huge cinnamon fan and have loved these squares. I haven't made them in ages though.

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  14. Yum your cake looks perfect! I've passed by this recipe many times but after your recommendation I may have to try it.

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  15. I love cinnamon and I love these squares even better. They look perfect, nice cut!

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  16. So the cake is still delicious without the frosting? I usually cut out glazes and frostings in recipes if the dessert is good enough on its own. Love how it looks almost exactly like the one in the book (minus the top of course!)

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  17. I had my KA for 2 years before ever using it. Yay for old school methods and elbow grease! Now I aim for 1/2 high- 1/2 low tech. And I'm all for calorie savings whenever possible. Your squares look great.

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  18. What an awesome picture and what a perfect looking cake!

    I liked the cake as well . . it tasted better the next day. I ate mine with ice cream and Kahlua. I am hungry now. ;)

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  19. I liked the cake, too, and ate mine with Edy's espresso chip ice cream.

    Oh, and everyone is right, in the photo of your cake slice looks perfect, exactly like Dorie's!

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  20. Those look great - even without the chocolate and frosting! A nice tea cake, simple and flavorful! Nicely done - the cake and filling look perfect!

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  21. Ahhhhh! Steph! (reads like I'm sneezing, no? LOL ...just joking!) On the serious side... this is simplicity at its best! Bravo for keeping it humble, crisp and clean. Love it! ...and the cake too of course!

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  22. I really need to know how you got your filling to not sink.

    It looks perfect.

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  23. Your line of chocolate and cinnamon in the middle is pure perfection! So glad you loved this one! I loved it, too! I echo Pearl's sentiments: nomnomnomnomnom

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  24. I totally rank this as one of my favorite TWDs too (at least the non-chocolate version!) Your picture is awesome; I am so glad you enjoyed these!

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  25. OMG. Your square looks perfect. Great job.

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  26. We also enjoyed the dense cake. Does chewing count as a workout?

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  27. Your Cinnamon Squares look gorgeous and your cinnamon/chocolate ribbon - beautiful! Creaming cold butter by hand - I'll have to try that next time so I can eat more squares too! =)

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  28. mmm... this looks amazing!!

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  29. Thanks for baking with me this week! Look at your absolutely perfect chocolate swirl - love it! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe :)

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  30. You're picture speaks a thousand words, it's one heck of a cake!

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  31. that is the most perfect square with the chocolate cinnamon line right through the middle. i'm with you, i love mixing stuff by hand.

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  32. I'll try to put some pictures up later today, all though most of them will be of Disneyland as I was terribly ill during my day in Paris and didn't feel like taking pictures.....

    Wasn't this recipe amazing? Definetely one of my favourites!!

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  33. I was going to leave out the frosting and use white whole-wheat flour, and maybe add some nuts -- both to make it healthier and so we could have it for breakfast without feeling guilty. But I didn't. And I'm glad! (But I will pay for it later, I'm sure.) Yours look beautiful.

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  34. These look perfect! Will go down very nicely here since it is winter and cinnamon and winter go together like umbrellas and rain!

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  35. I love seeing the TWD posts and who liked the recipes and who didn't. This cake is very intriguiging and I feel like I should make it because I am so curious as to how much I would like it.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. Glad you got a kick out of my comments. Yeah. I tend to get a little crazy on the RR topic. I must say you don't share much in common with her. Looking through your posts I can see you are a fantastic baker!!!

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  36. I would take this over any decadent chocolate or buttercream filled cake ANY day. Love it.

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  37. Mmmmm, I totally want a pan of these after drooling over everyone's wonderful photos. I wish I was as disciplined to cut back. I just shout give it all to me! :)

    I'm off to check out your pound cake!
    ~ingrid

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  38. Oh wow, I love cinnamon so these would be right up my alley!

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  39. Mmm, those look so good! I may have to try this.

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  40. wow, you got a really nice swirl in the middle there!

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  41. I never used to like cinnamon until just in the past couple of years. This cake looks fantastic, especially with that cinnamon swirl running through the middle.

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  42. I have a recipe for that cake too (in french but it might come from the book, translated!). This cake is just DELICIOUS and GORGEOUS!
    Nice picture
    See you

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