Tag Archives: baking

My Version of an $8 Chocolate Chip Cookie

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eight dollar chocolate chip cookie n

High quality milk chocolate, white chocolate, toasted almonds, browned butter and vanilla paste pack in the flavor. Served warm out of the oven, this cookie adds up to… Irresistible!

This week, I read an article about a restaurant which offers a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of flavor-infused milk for $8! The value of this pricey cookie lies in the care with which it is baked and served as well as with the quality of the ingredients. Customers love that this warm-from-the-oven-cookie has a soft, melty chocolate center and crispy edges.

Using the concepts from the article – ingredients should be top notch and the cookie needs to be served individually-baked and warm – I created my own version of a cookie that would deserve an $8 price tag. I love the flavor and texture of nuts in my chocolate chip cookies, so I browned the butter and toasted some chopped almonds to ensure plenty of nutty flavor. I added a dash of almond extract for additional flavor. Traditional chocolate chip cookies use vanilla extract. I substituted the extract with vanilla paste for a richer vanilla flavor. I baked the cookies at a little lower temperature than traditional recipes to allow the cookie to retain its gooeyness a little longer… not that these cookies will last long! I highly recommend you bake only the number of cookies you will immediately serve. The dough will keep in the refrigerator so you can make ’em as you need ’em fresh out of the oven.

Both Jack and I agreed that the flavor was amazing. Jack thought the cookies could have been a little bit bigger for the price tag. Feel free to scoop them larger if you agree with Jack!

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, browned
  • 2 tsp vanilla paste
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped
  • 1/3 cup good quality milk chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup good quality white chocolate, chopped

Directions

  1. Mix the sugars and the egg well.
  2. Add in the browned butter.
  3. Mix in vanilla paste and almond extract.
  4. Stir flour, baking soda and salt into the mixture.
  5. Fold in the almonds and chocolate pieces.
  6. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
  9. Scoop tablespoon-sized balls using a small ice cream scoop onto the baking sheet. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes.
  10. Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes before removing them to a wire cooling rack.
  11. Continue to cool for another two minutes on the wire rack.
  12. Serve cookies while still warm.

Makes 10 cookies.

Cinnamon Toast Biscotti – A Light, Satisfying Small Batch

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Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti n

Warning: the enticing aromas from baking this crunchy, cinnamon biscotti may cause neighbors to knock on your door. 

During our summer break, Jack and I don’t have as many little volunteers to help us eat our sweet creations. Being mindful of our waistlines, it is time to switch gears to confections that are either made in smaller batches, are lower in fat, or are just plain healthier. Curious what I’d discover, I searched for “lowfat cookie recipes” on the Internet. The top result, according to Google, was biscotti. Delicious and versatile, I could see how they would make the cut. I decided today’s creation would feature cinnamon, which always tricks my taste buds into thinking the cookie is sweeter than its sugar content would indicate. This small batch will be just right for the coming week.

So with all this, I give you a small batch of cinnamon biscotti that that is easy to whip up in about an hour’s time. This “two bake” recipe is especially galley and camper friendly, as it limits propane use.

Cinnamon Toast Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

 

Cinnamon topping (just mix ingredients together)

  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees Celsius).
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.
  4. Stir melted butter, egg, and vanilla into flour mixture
  5. Form dough into a flat log shape on parchment-lined baking sheet. Log should be about 10 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide.
  6. Generously sprinkle top of log with about half of the cinnamon topping.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Log will be firm to the touch.
  8. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
  9. Cut log into 10 pieces using a serrated knife.
  10. Place pieces on their side, exposing a cut side.
  11. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon topping.
  12. Bake for 10 – 15 more minutes, until biscotti is nicely toasted.
  13. Cool completely on wire rack before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Individual Pizza Crusts: For Dinner, Breakfast, Camp and Galley

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individual pizza crusts n

Tasty individual-sized pizza crusts ready to use for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks. The size is perfect for the grill, for a galley, or the small oven we use here in Mongolia.

After trying many different recipes, I now have our go-to basic pizza crust recipe. The recipe can be easily modified by adding different spices or cheese into the crust. I’ve also substituted half of the all-purpose flour with wheat for a heartier crust that goes especially well with olive oil-based toppings. The best thing about the recipe is that it makes six crusts – two for now and four more for two more meals later. These crusts freeze well.

The crusts bake up best on a pizza stone, or, as I’ve recently learned, on an untreated clay tile from your local hardware store. The stone provides for even baking, giving the bottom a satisfying crispiness and leaving the top of the crust nice and chewy.

Our traditional dinner pizzas tend to be fully loaded, like our cheese and burger pizzas or smoked anchovy and salmon pizzas or our Alaska silver salmon pizzas. Pizza crusts can be loaded up for breakfast, too. How about a pepperonata and fried egg pizza? Or brush on some olive oil and grate some parmesan cheese on the crust, bake for 10 minutes and you have yourself a tasty appetizer. The possibilities are endless.

Individual-Sized Pizza Crusts

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

  1. Mix water, olive oil, yeast, and sugar together in a large bowl.
  2. Mix in salt and about half of the flour.
  3. Knead in more flour in increments of about 1/4 cup. (I actually knead the dough in the large bowl.)
  4. When all flour is incorporated, dough should no longer be sticky.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and clean the large bowl.
  6. Oil the bowl well and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour.
  7. Divide dough into six pieces. Stretch the dough into the shape of a plate. Let pizza-shaped crusts rest for 10 minutes while you preheat oven.
  8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (about 200 degrees C). Preheat with baking stone in oven. If you don’t have a baking stone, preheat baking sheet.
  9. Place two crusts on baking stone, pricking each generously with a fork.
  10. Bake for 10 minutes.
  11. Repeat with remaining crusts.
  12. Let cool completely before you keep in the freezer or refrigerator.
  13. When you are ready to use crusts, let them thaw slightly (if frozen) cover with desired toppings and bake at 400 degrees F (200 C) for about 10 minutes – cheese should be bubbly and slightly browned.

Need some tasty ideas to top these crusts?

Click here for silver salmon pizza.

Click here for smoked anchovy and salmon pizza.

Click here for pepperonata and fried egg pizza.

When You Cross a Monster Cookie with a Fudgy Brownie…

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Monster Brownie n

A decadent, sweet confection stuffed with peanut butter and chocolate and decorated with the fun colors of M&Ms. This Monster Brownie is a rich, colorful dessert delicious for any age.

Once a month or so, I bake for my students. They earn tickets in the classroom and can spend the tickets on “bake sale” day. It’s a tasty incentive that allows me to bake, which I enjoy, and allows them to have a tasty reward for their hard work and good behavior. My bake sales have created monsters… cookie monsters! After the first couple of baking events, my students started to come up with ideas and challenges for me to bake. One of the first rewards was a fudgy brownie with a chocolate ganache frosting. Of course, this went over quite well. Several bake sales later, I brought in mini monster cookies… which were an instant hit. One day, my cookie monsters were arguing over the best baked treat I had brought them. It was fudgy brownies versus monster cookies. There was only one way to settle this argument… a confection made up of all the flavors of both of these confections. So, monster brownies were born.

As you might guess, the monster brownies came out fantastically. The fudginess of the original brownie recipe was retained. Swirling in a peanut butter mixture, instead of mixing in peanut butter, kept the peanut butter flavor as an upfront flavor. After mixing in the M&Ms, I reserved a few extra M&Ms to speckle the top to make sure there was no mistake that this was a monster brownie! My bake sale “customers” were extremely happy.

Monster Brownies

Ingredients

Brownie Batter

  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup M&Ms

Peanut butter filling

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (Use a quality brand made only of roasted peanuts or roasted peanuts and a dash of salt, such as Laura Scudder’s or Adams.)
  • 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
  2. Line an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish with foil. Grease foil. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter and sugar.
  4. Sift in cocoa powder and flour to eliminate lumps.
  5. Mix well.
  6. Mix in vanilla and eggs.
  7. Fold in M&M pieces.
  8. Set aside and make peanut butter filling.
  9. In another medium bowl, mix filling ingredients together until mixture is smooth.
  10. Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter evenly into prepared baking dish.
  11. Scoop tablespoons of peanut butter filling and drop onto brownie batter.
  12. Pour remaining batter on top of peanut butter filling.
  13. Gently drag a butter knife through all layers going from left to right and from top to bottom in order to slightly mix batter.
  14. Bake for about 50 minutes. A wooden stick inserted into brownies will have a few crumbs and not be wet. Check the brownies away from the edge and away for the middle for best results.
  15. Let cool slightly in pan. Finish cooling on wire rack.
  16. Cut when completely cooled.

Almond Bread Pudding with Cognac Caramel

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bread pudding n

You don’t need to share an individual serving of sweet nutty bread pudding drizzled with cognac caramel sauce!

Heavy whipping cream is not readily available in Ulaanbaatar. This surprised me. Since the Mongolian culture is heavily tied to herding and to dairy, I assumed that whipping cream would be much easier to get than in remote Point Hope, Alaska, where we had to fly in this precious commodity. The plight of whipping cream difficulties has followed me across the globe. Well, that’s a bit overdramatic. I did come across heavy whipping cream in the one store that carries many western groceries here in UB. But at about $28 a liter, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Plus it was UHT (ultra heat temperature processed) in order to keep it shelf stable. My experience with UHT whipping cream is that it turns to butter with the slightest amount of whipping.

The other day, I noticed a box of a new product in the dairy section of a grocery store we frequently shop. Everything was in Korean, except for the words “whipping cream.” Since the price was reasonable and since I could not find anything that looked like “UHT” written anywhere, I took a chance. Boy, am I glad I did! Not only does this cream whip up beautifully, it is the best tasting whipping cream I have ever had.

As is often the case in Ulaanbaatar, a product is here one day and gone the next. Alas, I can no longer find this whipping cream, so I am using it sparingly. I hope it will show up again.

One of our favorites is bread pudding. Using pantry staples such as homemade French bread, toasted almonds, and good cognac, I baked a small batch of individual bread puddings. It was the perfect amount for us to enjoy and share with guests. And it was a delicious way to use some of the precious heavy whipping cream.

Almond Bread Pudding with Cognac Caramel

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup almonds, chopped and toasted
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 1/2 cups French bread, cubed small

Ingredients for cognac caramel

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp good quality cognac

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Grease 6 cups in a muffin tin. Set aside.
  2. Whisk together melted butter, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond extract and eggs in a medium bowl.
  3. Stir in bread cubes. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the bread to soak up egg mixture.
  4. Divide mixture equally into prepared muffin tin.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes.
  6. Add almonds to the tops of bread puddings and bake for 10 more minutes.
  7. Let the bread puddings cool in the tin for 10 minutes. While they are cooling, make the cognac caramel.
  8. Bring brown sugar and cream to a boil in a small pan and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Sauce should thicken.
  9. Remove from hit and stir in cognac.
  10. Loosen the bread puddings from tin by cutting around the edges with a knife. Transfer puddings to individual plates.
  11. Drizzle cognac caramel sauce on each bread pudding and serve warm.

Two Monster-Sized Monster Cookies

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Monster Size Monster Cookies n

Sometimes you need a big, soft, peanut buttery cookie stuffed with M&Ms and white chocolate chips.

OK, sometimes you need two. I love recipes measured in tablespoons and minutes, especially when they produce a soft cookie with an instant connection to childhood – and when there is enough to share with a friend.

Two Monster-Sized Monster Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 8 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 4 tbsp quick oats
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup M&Ms
  • 2 tbsp white chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 C).
  2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together first 6 ingredients.
  4. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Fold in M&Ms.
  6. Fold in chocolate chips.
  7. Divide dough in half. Scoop each half onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly.
  8. Bake for 20 – 22 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.
  9. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

 

 

Semolina Grissini – Italian Style Crunchy Breadsticks

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semolina grissini n

Crunchy, savory sticks ready to be eaten plain, wrapped in prosciutto, or dipped in any savory sauce imagined. In addition to the rich flavor extra virgin olive oil provides, our grissini were peppered with black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, smoked rock salt, and charnushka.

semolina grissini in red bowl n

Grissini make a fabulous edible table centerpiece, and they are a cool prop to animate your dinner conversations!

Grissini, Italian-style crisp breadsticks, have long been on my list to make. They are a tasty and fun addition to so many meals. Imagine a romantic Italian meal where grissini are centered on the table alongside tapered lit candlesticks. How about enjoying grissini with a meal of crispy salad and hearty minestrone? The list could go on.

Any type of herbs or spices could be kneaded or pressed into the dough before baking. I experimented with poppy seeds, black sesame seeds, rock salt and charnushka. The smoked rock salt was the clear winner in the flavor category, but charnushka was a close second. If you haven’t experimented with this seed yet, now is the time. Charnushka has a moderately nutty, smoky, peppery flavor that I first enjoyed on one version of everything bagels. They worked perfectly on the grissini.

Semolina Grissini

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/43 degrees C)
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp active dry yeast
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cups semolina flour
  • 2 tsp toppings of your choice (smoked rock salt, poppy seeds, charnushka, etc.)
  • additional extra virgin olive oil for brushing on sticks before they bake

Directions

  1. Stir water, sugar and yeast together in a large bowl. Let sit for about 5 minutes to ensure your yeast is bubbling and active.
  2. Stir in olive oil.
  3. Add 1/2 of both flours and the salt. Mix well.
  4. Stir in 1/2 of remaining flour.
  5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
  6. Knead in the rest of the flour. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and flour is well-incorporated, about 5 minutes. Dough will have a slightly coarse texture due to the semolina flour.
  7. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl. Turn to coat.
  8. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free location until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
  9. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces.
  10. Roll each piece into dough sticks, about 12 inches long, or the length of your baking sheet.
  11. Brush both sides of dough sticks generously with olive oil.
  12. Press in toppings, if desired.
  13. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  14. Place 6 dough sticks on parchment-lined baking sheet.
  15. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip sticks over and bake for 5 more minutes. Sticks should be lightly browned and crispy.
  16. Repeat with remaining dough, baking batches of 6.

Twisted Sweet Adzuki Bean Roll

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sweet buns w adzuki bean filling n

Stuffed sweet dough is fairly easy to make and yields delicious results. Sweet, nutritious adzuki beans burst from this roll sprinkled with black sesame seeds. 

I have happy memories of making both steamed and baked versions of sweet buns for New Year’s Eve in Alaska a few years ago. These Arctic anpan were enjoyed by everyone. Back in those days, I relied on my Zojirushi bread maker to mix and rise all the dough for me. Now that we are in Mongolia, I am determined to make all my dough from scratch without the aid of any kind of machine. I’ve found that my bread machine recipes need just a little tweaking in order to convert them to fully handmade.

This from-scratch sweet dough recipe is simple enough. In order to amp up the looks of this confection, I jelly-rolled sweet adzuki paste into the sweet dough, slashed the dough as you would miniature French bread loaves, brushed them with egg to give the finished product a golden brown sheen, and sprinkled black sesame seeds for added flavor and a dash of “wow.” A friend at work told me these confections reminded her of bakery goods she used to buy in fancy Vietnamese boulangeries.

Sweet Adzuki Bean Roll

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1 tbsp yeast
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten (reserve 1 tbsp egg)
  • 6 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sweet adzuki paste*
  • 1 tsp black sesame seeds

Directions

  1. Whisk sugar, milk and yeast together in a large bowl. Let stand for a few minutes until yeast starts to foam.
  2. Stir in egg, oil, and salt.
  3. Stir in flour and mix until well combined.
  4. Turn dough out onto floured surface.
  5. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
  6. Place dough in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  8. Roll dough into a thick rope.
  9. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces.
  10. Roll each piece into a rectangle, about 5 inches by 6 inches.
  11. Spread adzuki bean paste (about 2 tbsp) onto rectangle, avoiding the edges.
  12. Roll the dough, jellyroll-style. Pinch to seal the seam.
  13. Place rolls, seam side down on baking sheet.
  14. Repeat with remaining rolls.
  15. Cover rolls and let rise for 30 minutes.
  16. Slash the rolls a few times with sharp knife.
  17. Brush all rolls with reserved egg. Sprinkle rolls with black sesame seeds.
  18. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  19. Bake for 20 minutes. Finished buns should be browned and shiny.

*I made adzuki bean paste using just dried adzuki beans, water and sugar following the excellent directions from Japanese Cooking 101.

Dough recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Like Everything Bagels? You’ll Love Everything Bread!

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everything bread n

Braided bread topped with anything you’d like! We topped ours with smoked sea salt, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, poppy seeds, and dried minced onion.

The beautiful photo on Taste of Home’s website grabbed my attention. With tasty success making everything bagels, I decided to tinker with their bread recipe and see what happened. Jack’s review – salty, hearty yet soft and perfect to go with a bean soup he whipped up. Oh yeah, he said “Magnificent!” too. My review – easy dough to work with with a delicious result. I really liked how the everything topping added layers and layers of flavors. I would agree with “Magnificent!”

Everything Braided Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1 cup warmed milk
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp coarse sea salt, or kosher salt
  • 1 tsp dried minced onion
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp poppy seeds

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together warm milk, water, and yeast.
  2. Add butter, sugar, egg yolk, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix together well.
  3. Add another cup of flour and mix thoroughly.
  4. Add another cup of flour and mix thoroughly again.
  5. Knead in remaining 1/2 cup of flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.
  6. Place dough in large oiled bowl. Make sure to roll the dough so that entire dough ball is lightly covered in oil.
  7. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
  8. Punch dough down. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and divide into thirds.
  9. Roll each third into a long rope, about 20 inches long.
  10. Place ropes on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  11. Pinch one end of ropes together and braid remaining strands. Pinch together both ends firmly, so that braid doesn’t come undone.
  12. Cover and let loaf rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
  13. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (about 190 degrees C).
  14. Combine salt, onion and seeds in a small bowl.
  15. Brush loaf with egg white.
  16. Sprinkle salt combination evenly over loaf.
  17. Bake loaf for about 22 minutes. Loaf will be golden brown. The smell will delight you.
  18. Let loaf cool on a wire rack before serving.

Raspberry Flaugnarde – Très Délicieux

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raspberry clafoutis n

Traditionalists might argue that this is a dessert; we say a bakery item made fresh in the morning loaded with fruit and eggs works perfectly for breakfast.

This time of year, the warm, yellow sun may invite thoughts and flavors of Spring. But here in Mongolia, we were greeted this morning with fresh snowfall, prompting me to serve a warm baked breakfast with hot cups of tea. Of course, this baked creation served with French vanilla ice cream or a hot custard would satisfy any time of the day.

Raspberry Flaugnarde

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 cups frozen or fresh raspberries
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tbsp cherry flavored brandy
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp Penzeys lemon peel powder (or fresh zest)
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup finely ground almonds
  • powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
  2. Grease an 8 x 8 inch (20 cum x 20 cm) glass baking dish with unsalted butter. Sprinkle bottom of baking dish with 2 tbsp of granulated sugar. Spread raspberries evenly in baking dish.
  3. Using a stick blender, or regular blender, mix 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, milk, brandy, vanilla and almond extracts, lemon powder and salt. Blend until smooth.
  4. Add flour and almonds to mixture. Blend until smooth.
  5. Pour mixture evenly over blackberries.
  6. Bake flaugnarde until edges are puffed and golden, and center is firm, about 25-30 minutes. When wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, the flaugnarde is done.
  7. Let cool on wire rack for about 30 minutes.
  8. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.