I made Smitten kitchen’s Not Derby Pie Bars https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/04/not-derby-pie-bars/ as treat for my Valentine. I usually make chocolate mousse pie, but that’s a LOT of chocolate mousse between 2 people, and lots harder to share with friends. I think I was hoping that this would be more nutty than it was, more like a pecan pie (although I used walnuts, which I prefer). If I made it again I would up the nuts to a full cup, and put in less chocolate chips. But that’s just me. This is a perfectly nice chocolate and nut bar. The crunchy salt on top makes it more interesting, but aside from that it really isn’t anything more than what you expect.
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I go for a square. Looks so delicious
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Maybe next year, I could “pipe” on a thicker icing – maybe cut the corner off of a freezer bag and pipe the lines on??
Do you have any experience piping on icing?? I don’t want to purchase a piping bag, but think I could use a disposable freezer bag??
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I’m sure she loved it just the way you made it: with love.
You’re a good cookie, Dan.
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Yes, you can use a freezer bag with buttercream. Or you can smooth out the icing with a spatula and use toppings for decoration. Maybe you’ll find a piping set at goodwill. Or a squeeze bottle (like ketchup) is also handy.
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say more - have you made this cake?
They’re an acquired taste.
Drier and airier – not like a bagel at all, really (other than Eastern European Jewish provenance), and the center has a dollop of sauteed onions and poppy seeds.
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(I recently made chocolate mousse for the first time and I am looking forward to scaling it down for 2 people in the future - can’t be that hard, right?!)
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Watch this, dan. Reinforcing a ziploc bag with scotch tape gets you pretty far.
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I’d take a bialy over a bagel every time.
@LulusMom1 I’ve made Herve This’s water mousse many times in a single serve if you want to give it a try – just water & chocolate, very easy to scale.
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I was going to try a 2 egg version of this ganache / mousse / flourless chocolate cake myself to take over to a friend’s, but now that I’m looking at the water mousse again, I may just do that.
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I really should have just scaled down the mousse part of the recipe and served it in fancy glasses or something. Live and learn.
He has a birthday coming up, so he’ll be getting his favorite dessert soon (raspberry sour cream tart).
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I haven’t made it, but it sounds interesting (gift link) :
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My Valentine’s Day bake - @jammy ’s Chelsea Buns (Reader’s Digest Farmhouse Cookery).
I opted for an overnight retard of the preferment, but used too small of bowl and had a bit of a mess on my hands. 
All’s well that ends well. Good buns! I used currants along with cinnamon-sugar, and topped with raw sugar.
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Gorgeous !
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They look lovely! Now I’m craving them. Time to get baking. 
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Thank you!
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You are quite welcome! I happened to be looking at it just yesterday, and it seemed appropriate to the conversation.
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There’s something appealing about the sight of a whole pan crammed full of freshly baked buns. 
I’m so glad you shared the recipe. It’s perfect. Not too sweet or cloying.
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I like the scotch tape trick to make the tip stronger… Thanks!!
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