Tuesday, June 2, 2009

TWD - Cinnamon squares


This week's Tuesday with Dorie focusses on cinnamon. Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures has chosen Dorie's Cinnamon Squares as our recipe for this week.

Basically, these squares are a cinnamon flavoured cake, sandwiched with a ribbon of cinnamon sugar and chocolate, and with chocolate frosting on top. In theory, this sounds really good, but it unfortunately did not do it for me. Perhaps there was too much cinnamon, or perhaps it was because I found the cake really plain, but I just couldn't get excited about these. They weren't awful - just "meh". However, taste is a subjective thing, and Ruth liked it, and the whole pan disappeared before lunch at work.

Like a lot of others, I found that the cinnamon sugar and chocolate tended to sink to the bottom of the batter - the slice in the photograph is the textbook slice, while most of the other slices had a sunken ribbon. My squares took 55 minutes to cook through, as opposed to the 35-40 minutes suggested in the recipe. Dorie certainly keeps me on my toes with baking times - mostly, I need slightly less time than stated in the recipe, whereas in this case, I needed roughly 1.5 times the suggested baking time.

You can see what the other TWD team members thought by checking out the blogroll.


35 comments:

Tammy said...

I really liked these, but thought they were better warm

Amanda said...

This was a bust for me, not done in the middle and everything else was dry it was inedible. Oh well, on to the next recipe!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Tammy, perhaps they would have appealed to me warm (they smelt wonderful) - with icecream!

Leslie said...

I made the cappuccino version and it was surprisingly delicious. I found that the chocolate that was more shaved than chopped didn't sink, but the chunks of chocolate sunk (and took the cinnamon sugar with them. Sorry this was disappointing, but I'm glad your coworkers made the best of it!

Anonymous said...

It looks great. Too bad you didn't like them. I liked them, but my mom didn't.

Pamela said...

I am so glad I wasn't the only one who had the sinking issue with that ribbon. I really enjoyed this one though, a little TOO much! It looks lovely.

Unknown said...

Thanks for baking with me this week! Sorry they didn't work out for you. Your cake looks terrific!

Engineer Baker said...

Yeah, I was on the fence on these. Yours looks wonderful, makes me wish I hadn't skipped the chocolate on top!

Susan @ My Wholefood Family Essentials said...

Sorry these didn't do it for you. Interestingly I only liked them cold, straight from the fridge!

Susan @ SGCC said...

Your cake looks like it turned out great! I just finished making mine and it cracked and sank in the middle like a lead balloon! I hope it at least tastes good.

natalia said...

Ciao ! I'm making the topping right now yours looks nice I'm sorry it wasn't your best !

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

That looks so luscious with that fabulous icing!

♥Rosie♥ said...

Those squares look really good!

I know what you mean when you bake something and on tasting it sort of doesn't quite come up to that WOW factor.

Emily said...

Silly Dorie and her crazy baking times. Of the recipes I've tried, I always have to bake longer.

Your cinnamon squares looks cinnful! Heh heh heh. I'm dying to try one of them!

Finla said...

Beautifl and yummy.

Cakelaw said...

Hi Amanda, oh no!!! Onwards and upwards. At 35 minutes, mine were still decidely wobbly in the middle, and it really did take 55 minutes for mine to get there.

Hi Leslie, this may have been the answer to the sunken ribbon - I deliberately left my chcocolate a little chunky, so it may have been better to make it finely grated.

Thanks Wendy - taste is a very subjective thing.

Hi Tracey, thanks for hosting us this week. The taste thing was just me - everyone else seemed to like them.

Thanks Caitlin. I read the forum posts about the plainness of the cake witout the frosting, so despite the "oh, no, lots of chocolate" factor, I was glad I put it on.

LOL Susan - glad you liked them.

Thanks Susan - with that chocolate frosting, it will hide lots of things!

Hope it all went well Natalia.

Hi Lorraine - I have to say that the icing was my favourite part :)

Hi Rosie, I know - we expect to like everything, when in fact, everyone likes different things so of course I should not expect to like absolutely everything.

"Cinnful" - LOL. If nothing else, I am sure that you'd love the icing Em - just chocolate and butter :)

Cakelaw said...

Way back up to Pamela - so glad you liked them. I don't think you can vere like a swee treat too much :)

Thanks Happy Cook - the icing was good ...

Hindy said...

I'm sorry you had a problem with baking these. I liked the texture and wonder what the cake would taste like with lemon instead of cinnamon.

Teanna said...

Sorry you weren't a fan!!! The frosting looks incredible, though! Here's to next week!

Kayte said...

Yours looks really good. I think your ribbon sank less than mine, mine was almost at the bottom. Didn't phase the guys...2 out of 3 loved it, Alex doesn't like cinnamon and chocolate together, so he opted out at the beginning.

mike said...

Looks fantastic - even though it wasn't your favorite! Strange about the baking times - but at least it was cooked through! I guess that's the fun about baking - a challenge to make it "look like the book" - not always successful, but a learning experience! Nice job!

Hindy said...

I liked the muffin-y texture and would like to try in in a different flavour, maybe lemon.
Yours look lovely, though.

chocolatechic said...

Sorry it wasn't your favorite.

Maybe if you could drown it in ice cream???

The Blonde Duck said...

I do adore cinnamon...

Anonymous said...

Your cinnamon squares look great - sorry you didn't like them that much! I had about the same cooking time as you too, it was getting me worried!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Clivia, I am thinking I may have liked this better with lemon zest and lemon or cream cheese frosting ...

Thanks Teanna - absolutely!

Hey Kayte, great news - 2 out of 3 aint't bad.

Thanks Mike.

LOL Tanya - everything is good with icecream.

Hi Duckie, these may have been up your alley minus the chocolate.

Hi LA, I know - I was worried that the outside would be too crispy while the middle still wasn't baked.

Amber Marie said...

I have trouble following the baking times too, thought it was just my weird oven but I'm beginning to see other twd bakers with the same thing. :) Your textbook piece looks lovely!

foodcreate said...

Delicious! I would like a bite with a glass of milk~

Thanks for sharing your recipe:)

Have a great Chocolate day~

www.foodcreate.com

Ivy said...

Chocolate and cinnamon do pair well with each other so I can only imagine this lovely combination.

adele said...

Sorry to hear that these weren't so appealing - they certainly look good!

Cathy said...

Looks great! I made half of mine with streusel rather than chocolate and really liked that version much better. I think some of us just aren't chocolate/cinnamon (together) people. On to the apple tart!

TeaLady said...

I don't guess it really matters where the stripe is. It's good. Looks good with the frosting.

Jacque said...

I have to admit that I was, and still am, afraid of this flavor combination. (I wimped out this week.)

Sorry you didn't love it. Hopefully next week's apple tartlets will thrill you more.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Interesting to hear you weren't too keen. Cinnamon and chocolate can work well together, but I guess it's not always guaranteed. Still, full marks for trying!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Amber Marie, I started to worry that these were not going to set up in the middle at all!

Thanks FoodCreate.

Hi Ivy, a lot of people liked it - just not me :(

Hi Adele, I liked the icing!

Hi Cathy, I like the sound of the streudel on top - it would have been a nice contrast.

Hi Tealady - agreed - the stripe was just an aesthetic thing.

Hi Jacque, I like cinnamon with fruit, but the cinnamon/chocolate thing didn't do it for me.

Thanks 'Ghetti - honestly, it was just me, because even the people who ate mine liked it.