I was skeptical about the Cinnamon Squares this week. I love coffee cake and I enjoy chocolate, but I had never considered putting the two together. I've never been a fan of pain au chocolat and prefer my chocolate treats after dinner. However, I've been convinced this week that cinnamon, coffee, and chocolate play well together. To prove the point, I made some of my squares without chocolate and some with. The chocolate ones were perfect and the plain version lacked this extra flavor boost.I made some unintentional modifications when making this cake. I forgot to put the cinnamon/sugar/espresso powder in the middle so I sprinkled it on top. It would have been much tastier blended into the cake. I also lost track of time and didn't make the frosting.
Recipe: Cinnamon Squares
Makes: 9 servings
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon (I ground up a cinnamon stick.)
1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
¾ cup whole milk
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I forgot to melt the butter and it worked too.)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped,
or ½ cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
For the Frosting
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
You can find the recipe for Cinnamon Squares in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours (affiliate link) by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures who chose the recipe for this week.
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Tasting NotesA delicious coffee cake with a chocolate kick.
Recipe for Next Week (June 9)
Jessica of My Baking Heart picked Parisian Apple Tartlet on page 319.
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