This week is the kick off for the Tour of Italy Week on the Heven and Hell Tour: Charade! I have
been looking forward to this week during the tour since March!
So what is the Tour of Italy Week? It’s a celebration of all things
Italian because Sam and Heven (and their crew) all take a trip to Italy in the
second novel of the Heven and Hell Series, Charade.
During this week you will take a trip to Italy with all of use and it
won’t cost you anything! In fact, you might actually win some really cool
prizes! So sit back and relax for a few minutes each day this week and take a
mini vacation with us all!
What kinds of things can you expect on the Tour of Italy? Recipes,
Sightseeing and exclusive glances inside Heven’s travel Diary that she took to
Italy with her. There will also be exclusive photographs of Heven and Sam (and
maybe Cole!) on their trip! There will even be a special post from Kimber
telling us (and showing us with photos) about the fantastic shopping that she
did while in Italy.
Look for a couple giveaways throughout the week and then one big
giveaway on Friday to wrap up Tour of Italy Week where you will have the chance
to win Heven’s travel diary, complete with all her posts and photographs.
So let’s get this
Tour of Italy started!
The Tour of Italy begins with a recipe of Epic Italian
Proportions and it is brought to us by our hostess with the mostess, Jen! I hear
Jen is quite the talent in the kitchen so who better than to deliver us an
Italian good eats?
I know I've been absent for forever, but I'm back and going strong with hazelnuts. That's right,
hazelnuts. This week I'm kicking off the Italy Tour for
Charade (by
Cambria Hebert) and I have a new recipe for you. For anyone who isn't a regular reader of the blog, you can click the words "In Which I Am Well Informed" to read the intro post.
This week on In Which I Am Well Informed, I'm welcoming you all to Italy with Baci Brownies! According to the recipe from whence I found this recipe (
Christie's Corner) they came from the idea of Baci Chocolate.
Christie gives a little blurb on her blog about baci chocolate, baci meaning "kisses" in Italian, but the history and description buff in me wanted a little more. So, thank the heavens for Google. According to
Perugina an Italian based company that has made the little chocolates since 1922 dark chocolate mixed with a praline hazelnut center, wrapped with tiny little romantic love notes, baci chocolate has been a worldwide sensation for decades.
Those of you from America may not realize it, (which is really all I can speak for because I am American) but a lot of different cultures don't use the phrase "I love you" as a regular expression to show their love. This I actually discovered from my own experience, having a foreigner for a husband. In his culture they use the phrases "zemra ime" which directly translates to "my heart" or "shpirti im" which directly translates to "my soul". They have some others, but these are 2 of the most widely used from my husbands area. They rarely use the phrase "I love you" which I find fascinating.
In Italy, according to
Perugina's website, the baci chocolate has become such an edition into the culture that people use the different sayings from the wrappers as ways to express their love for others. One example is "
“Tubiamo!” (let’s “tube”), which refers to the youthful tube-shaped Baci
Perugina debuted in the 1980s, is a popular way for teenagers to
express excitement and fun." (
Perugina's website - baci history).
Which so brings me to the BACI BROWNIES! Otherwise known as Brownie Kisses, they would have to be one of the most delicious brownies I've ever made, albeit very rich. The original recipe can be found on
Christie's Corner (as well as below) as are some of my pictures. I have a LOVE of hazelnuts and feel that Americans do not use them as often as they should!!!!!
1. Toast your hazelnuts: before you start any part of the recipe, toast the hazelnuts. The reason being that if you attempt to do this at the same time as starting your batter (which involves melting butter and chopped chocolate together) you may end up with not enough hands and possible burnt chocolate. I found my hazelnuts at SPROUTS Grocery which is a health food store here and carries a huge nut selection. I'm also warning you, they are expensive ($7.99 a pound). I don't think I toasted mine long enough and rubbing off the shell takes some time dedication [and patience]. I ended up stopping and not caring as the "shell" is more of a "skin" anyway. Tasted good to me.
2. With a wire whip, mix flour, baking powder and salt: This is important. I know people think it's an extra step to mix it before you put it into the mixer/pot/main bowl, but it's important. It helps to create a consistent mixture of all the dry ingredients so everything (i.e. baking powder) is mixed evenly throughout. It also helps with the air bubbles that go into making baked goods making them smaller and such. You don't need to mix it a ton, just mix until blended.
3. Melt butter & chopped chocolate: First you'll melt your butter and chocolate together. KEEP HEAT ON LOW. Yes, it takes longer to melt, but your chocolate won't burn.
4. Mix in sugar with wire whip, continuously mixing. Then with a rubber spatula, mix in flour mixture above. Then add 1/3 nuts coarsely chopped: In the future, when I do this again, I'm going to add 1/2 the nuts some finely chopped and some coarsely chopped. I wanted more of a nutty flavor in my brownie base and more finely chopped nuts throughout, I think, would have accomplished that. Then I still could have had my crunchy nuts, too!
5. Pour into buttered 9x13 dish: In the original recipe it tells you to put TIN FOIL at the bottom of the pan and then butter that. The point is to pull the brownies out and making them easier to cut. I skipped this because I like my brownies in the dish and my corningware doesn't stick easy. You do what you like.
6. Mix ingredients for Nutella Swirl and dollop on top: place the dollops all over, edges included.
7. Using a [butter] knife, swirl around the Nutella: You don't want to mix it, otherwise you'd use a spoon. You want a swirl on the top, so you stick in your knife and swirl it around. If you click the picture above, it will enlarge and you can see my swirl design.
8. Top with remaining nuts: in the original recipe, this is 2/3 of the nuts. In my future recipe, this is going to be less, more like 1/3 of the nuts and I will be cutting them with a knife. I think the top nuts should have been a little bigger than some of the smaller pieces I "accidentally" chopped. Oops!
9. Bake in a preheated 325F oven (depending on your oven - mine was on 350F) for 35-38 min: You won't necessarily be able to stick a toothpick in it to see if it's done, so when the edges pull from the sides and the center is stable, pull it out. You'll be able to touch the center with your finger and it won't sink in, it'll be more springy. Ummmmm....don't push too hard, though. It's not a rock, it's brownies.
10. Cut and serve: These brownies are rich, so I recommend you cut them smaller and serve with gelato (aka vanilla ice cream/praline ice cream).
That's my finished product. That probably would have served 2 adults. When I met my husband he worked in a fine dining Italian restaurant in Phoenix (I was their bookkeeper, LOL). Anyway, Hubs is always telling me it's all about the display. The food could be delicious, but if you don't display it nicely then it just doesn't look as appealing. And while brownies would probably look appealing no matter what, I decided to decorate my plate. I created a little chocolate sauce by melting 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate with 4 TBS butter (ON LOW HEAT) and then added powdered sugar (to taste - about 1/2 cup-3/4 cup) and then added whipping cream until it was the right consistency and texture. We have random chefy items in our house, so I used a squeeze bottle with a skinny tip (kind of like an old fashioned mustard bottle) to create the swirl. I added the dots at the end. Then shaved dark chocolate over the top for affect. and TADA!
And if you're wondering....the brownies are pretty much made of awesome and epic swirled with moisture and hazelnut deliciousness. When I make them again, I'm going to add a praline layer between the Nutella swirl and the brownie batter.
Recipe (directly copied from Christie's Corner)
Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts (about 4 1/2 ounces)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Nutella swirl
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with foil,
making sure there’s at least a 2-inch overhang on both of the short
sides. Gently press the foil into the corners. Butter the foil.
- Place the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet and toast in the oven
for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until lightly golden. Spill
the nuts onto a dish towel and rub them with the towel to loosen and
remove most of the skin. Transfer the nuts to a cutting board and chop
coarsely.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a large saucepan over very low
heat, stirring often, until smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in
the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Mix
in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture until
fully incorporated, then stir in one-third of the toasted hazelnuts.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
- For the Nutella Swirl: Combine the Nutella, egg and flour in a glass
measuring cup and stir with a fork until thoroughly blended. Drop small
spoonfuls of the Nutella mixture evenly over the brownie batter. Use a
knife to gently swirl it through the batter.
- Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts on top. Bake in the middle of the
oven for 35 to 38 minutes or until the top is set and the edges have
begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don’t overbake or the
edges will be dry. Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 2 hours.
- Holding onto the two foil ends, lift the brownie up and onto a
cutting board. Peel the foil away from the sides of the brownie. Cut
lengthwise into quarters, then cut crosswise into 8 strips to yield 32
bars. Because these are so rich, you can also cut them into 10 or 12
strips to make 40 or 48 bars, respectively.
- Store layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container
for up to 4 days; or refrigerate, tightly wrapped for up to 1 week; or
freeze for up to 2 months.
Welcome to Italy, my lovlies!!
Join us on the rest of the tour to see more Italian magic!
About the book:
Dying at the hands of a psycho was a shock. Having my life returned to
me by an angel was incredible. Being named a Supernatural Treasure and being
given Sam as my guard was pretty darn awesome. Acquiring a debt for it
all—well, I should have seen it coming.
Now here we are, fighting demons from Hell, caring for a boy that I
just don’t trust, and traveling to faraway places to return a treasure to its
rightful place. Nothing is as it seems. Everyone wears a mask; everyone puts on
a charade. It’s up to us to separate the truth from the lies and reality from
fiction. A hard task when my new reality involves fallen angels, witches and
dragons… and did I mention Hell?
Anchoring me down through it all is Sam. Sam, who must face tragedies
of his own and is put to the test again and again.
If we fail in our task, life as we know it—life as you know it—will end. Forever.
Links
to Purchase:
(Paperback and
Ebook)
Tour
of Italy week Schedule
June 3rd-
Elisa @
ECwrites – A journal
Entry from Heven about Italian vineyard.
June 6th-
Wendy@
Cupcake and a Latte -
Travel
Diary Post about the Colosseum and a giveaway of a signed paperback, bookmark,
magnet, pen, notepad
June7th-
Veronica@
Mosty Reviews
- Shopping in Italy with Kimber – International Giveaway – Paperback of Charade
from Book Depository, a signed bookmark set and an exclusive keychain directly
from Italy!
June 8th-
Jenny @
Supernatural Snark –
-Travel
Diary post of Trevi Fountain and wrap up giveaway of a T-shirt, a tote bag, a
signed note card and Heven’s Travel Diary filled with all the exclusive pictures
from the trip.
A huge thanks to Jen
today for hosting the tour and kicking off Italy Week!!
