Chocolate Lollipops–A Trifecta of Holiday Goodness!

December 24, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles12 Comments

Hello Dear Friends!

First and foremost, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season! Thus far, mine has been chopped full of quality family time, good eats—and plenty of vino! And let’s be honest…what more could a gal ask for? 🙂

Well, perhaps the gift of “saving time”. And wouldn’t you know it? These “Chocolate Lollipops” are just the trick!

Inspired by the most recent special of the Barefoot Contessa in London, I whipped up (with the wonderful help of my fab nieces) these quick and easy Chocolate Lollipops. The whole process took us less than 15 minutes. True Story.

And the end result?

A Trifecta of Holiday Goodness!

Planning a little soiree? These Chocolate Lollipops will serve as:

A lovely decor/centerpiece when packaged with ribbons and bundled in a vase,
A deluxe party favor for your guests when they leave,
and Of course, a DELISH Treat!

Another NGUYEN-WIN SITUATION! 🙂

Happy Holidays Friends!

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Chocolate Lollipops
Makes Approximately 2 Dozen Pops

Ingredients:

6 Ounces Quality Chocolate (either white, milk, dark, or mixed–your preference)
1/2 Cup Dried Fruits or Chopped Nuts (completely your preference)
2 Dozen Lollipop Sticks

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate stirring slowly until smooth. Remove from heat. Spoon one tablespoon of the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Try to do this evenly to form a round circle. Lay the lollipop stick 1/3-1/2 inch into the chocolate circle. Sprinkle with your choice of chopped nuts and/or dried fruit. Repeat process until all your chocolate is used. Set aside the cookie sheets in a cool area and allow 2-3 hours to harden. Once firm, carefully peel the lollipops from the parchment paper. The pops can be packaged with cellophane and tied with a decorative bow.

**The photo shown above features both white chocolate and 60% chocolate with dried cranberries and crushed pistachio nuts.

Enjoy!

Desserts/Pastries

Peppermint Crisps = Confidence Boost

December 13, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles19 Comments

Today was one of those days in the kitchen. You know what I’m talking about….those days where everything you attempt seems to go to heck in a handbag. It started at about 7:30am and after 4 failed desserts/pastries, I finally had to throw in the towel at about 1:00pm. I won’t get into the details of every misadventure but it was bad. Really bad.

Yes, I was the epitome of a Hot Mess.

But then I took a look at my nieces who I had promised a full day of baking to and decided to put on my big girl panties and get back into the kitchen. Their Cô Nam (auntie) is no quitter!

Since I was nursing a little bruised spirit, I opted for a sweet treat that required no “baking” and few ingredients. Hey—I was trying to increase my odds for success to end the day off in a good note. 🙂

Luckily, The Galley Gourmet recently posted a recipe for “Peppermint Crisps” and they looked delectable. A few hours later and HALLELUJAH–we did it! A bright treat after a tumultuous morning.

These little guys are perfect for a “late afternoon pick-me-up” or as a small goodie to end off a meal. Wonderfully minty with the delicious finish of chocolate. Pair it with a hot cup of tea or glass of dry red wine and you’ll be a happy camper.

PHEW!!! Victory at last!

Life lesson of the day….Humility is best served alongside a piece of chocolate 🙂

Note: A tin full of these minty bites would make a wonderful gift for the holidays!

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Peppermint Crisps
From The Galley Gourmet
Makes about 2 dozen 1 1/2-inch crisps

Ingredients:

½ Cup Granulated Sugar
½ Cup Water
1½ Teaspoons Peppermint Extract, divided
4 Ounces Dark Chocolate, chopped
4 Ounces Milk Chocolate, chopped
¼ Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut

Line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.

Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Over medium heat dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook without stirring until the mixture turns a light caramel color, about 7-9 minutes. Halfway through wipe the sides of the pan down with a damp pastry brush to remove and crystallization. Remove from the heat and add 1 teaspoon of the peppermint extract. Swirl the pan to distribute the extract.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and set aside for 15 minutes or until completely hardened and cooled. Break the hardened peppermint sugar into shards and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse to break up the large pieces, then process until it resembles fine sand.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the chocolates in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir. If not melted, return to the microwave and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Stir and repeat if necessary until the chocolate is completely melted. Once melted, stir in the coconut, remaining peppermint extract and the processed peppermint sugar. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Using an offset spatula, spread the chocolate into a 10×8-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Holding the parchment to the baking sheet, gently rap the baking sheet on the counter to even the surface. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate, about 1 hour.

Remove from the refrigerator and let rest for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the parchment to a cutting surface. Using a 1 1/2-inch circle cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can. Reserve the scraps for nibbling or fold into your favorite ice cream. Store in an airtight container in a cool location or in the refrigerator for a cool peppermint taste. Enjoy!

Desserts/Pastries

Chocolate Raspberry Tart inspired by “World AIDS Day”

December 1, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles11 Comments

December 1^st is World AIDS Day—an international day that aims to “raise awareness, commemorate those who have passed on, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services”.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on HIV and AIDS but I am proud to have siblings who are and work tirelessly towards the treatment, research, education, and yes—-even the development of vaccinations. So on this day, I ask that you join me and take a minute to learn more and share that knowledge. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a brief list of resources you can peruse:

The theme for World AIDS Day 2010 is “Universal Access and Human Rights”. Beautiful, poignant, and to the point….don’t you think? So to honor World AIDS Day 2010, I made individual Chocolate Raspberry Tarts –equipped with raspberry red ribbons! And although I am almost positive these delicious tarts will be finished by the end of the day, advocacy and awareness of HIV and AIDS should not.

Together, We can Educate, Advocate, and Act.

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Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Ingredients:

Shortbread Crust
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
½ Cup Confectioner Sugar
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1½ Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoons Cornstarch
¼ Teaspoon Salt

Chocolate Filling
10 Ounces Good Quality Dark Chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Framboise or Raspberry Extract
*Fresh Raspberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a brush, grease a 9 inch tart pan with melted butter. (Or four individual sized tart pans like I did.)

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt. In a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Slowly begin incorporating in flour mixture a few spoonfuls at a time. When the dough begins to come together, transfer to the prepared tart pan and press dough into it. Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork and place in freezer for at least 10 minutes to let rest. Once chilled, line the tart with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or beans. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes, until edges are lightly golden brown and set. Carefully remove the parchment paper from the pie and place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until center of tart is golden brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Using a double boiler, heat the cream until it’s very hot but not boiling. Remove from stove and add the chocolate. Gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate is melted and combined. Add Framboise (or raspberry extract) and stir until combined. You should have a beautiful glossy mixture when finished. Pour chocolate filling into the thoroughly cooled baked crusts. Carefully tap the side of the pan to even out the filling. Leave tart on the counter to cool (about 30 minutes) and then move to the refrigerator to chill for an additional 2 or 3 hours. The filling should be firm when done.

Remove the tart from refrigerator and carefully slide out the outer pan ring. Transfer tart to serving platter and garnish with raspberries. ENJOY!

Desserts/Pastries

Chocolate Soufflés with Raspberry Sauce

November 24, 2010November 24, 2010 The Culinary Chronicles8 Comments

I love spending time in the kitchen with my nieces (baby nephew is still a tad too young for cooking). The older ones are at the “tween” and “pre-teen” age and cooking/baking has been a wonderful time for us to catch up and bond.

I recently had a “Girls Night” with them–Dinner, Dessert, and a DVD. 🙂 They had the chance to choose whatever they wanted to eat for dinner, pick up the ingredients at the store, and then prepare it. Not only did it give them the chance to see exactly what went into the food they were eating but they were able to celebrate in the success of creating a delish meal!

Together, we made Mini Turkey Sliders on Kings Hawaiian Rolls (with all the fixins’) and fresh cut Cajun Seasoned French Fries. And for dessert, Chocolate Soufflés with Raspberry Sauce. You may be thinking, “Aren’t Soufflés too difficult to make with kids?” I resolutely say, NOPE! One just needs to follow all the steps in the right order, and VOILA! Deliciously decadent Soufflés that are light and fluffy—and let’s be honest. They look darn impressive. In fact, the most difficult step was snapping a photo quick enough before the Soufflés fell. (Yeah…..I was a little stressed while trying to get good lighting and a photo in time. <Sigh>…the challenges of being a novice photographer!)

If you’re new to Soufflés, I really suggest trying the recipe below from Zen Can Cook. It’s quite straight forward with wonderful results. The only edits we made was the addition of a pinch of Cream of Tartar when whipping the meringue (for extra stability) and serving it with my Raspberry Sauce versus their Creme Anglaise. I personally think the tartness of the Raspberry Sauce is a wonderful pairing for the deep set chocolate flavor—allowing the overall dessert to not be too sweet.

And if by chance you find yourself with a Soufflé or two leftover, fear not! Pop the ramekin into the microwave and warm for about 10-15 seconds. Invert the Soufflé onto a plate and serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzle of raspberry sauce. And there you have it–-Warm Chocolate Cake a la mode! Just as delish and surprisingly, still light and fluffy!

With that dear friends, I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday filled with laughter, fun, and of course…Foodventures 🙂

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Chocolate Soufflés with Raspberry Sauce
Serves 6

Chocolate Soufflé (from Zen Can Cook)
1/3 Cup Half-and-Half
3 Ounces Valhrona Manjari or your favorite bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, preferably Valhrona
1/3 Cup Water
8 Large Egg Whites
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Cream of Tartar
Powdered Sugar for Dusting

Raspberry Sauce
10 Ounces Frozen Raspberries
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 Cup Red Wine
Zest of 1 Lemon

Place all raspberry sauce ingredients in a medium sized, heavy saucepan. Simmer on medium-low until berries have broken down and the wine has cooked off. Approximately 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use a pastry brush (or your fingers!) to coat the inside ramekins with softened butter. Fill the mold with granulated sugar, and then pour out the excess.

Pour the half-and-half into a saucepan and heat over medium high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Remove from the heat and make a ganache by adding the chopped chocolate. Stir well until combined and all of the chocolate has melted. Make a double-boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water. Place the ganache in the mixing bowl, add the cocoa powder and water, and whisk until very hot. Remove from the heat and set aside.Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whip on medium speed until foamy. Add Cream of Tartar. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and make a French meringue by adding the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and whipping the whites to stiff but not dry peaks. Do not over whip the egg whites! You can tell the egg whites are over whipped if they start to separate and resemble scrambled eggs. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold about half the meringue into the warm chocolate mixture. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining meringue, being careful not to deflate the batter. The soufflé mixture should be homogeneous in color, but if you still see streaks of meringue in the batter, that’s okay. Use a large spoon to gently place the soufflé mixture in the buttered and sugared mold. Fill to about 1/4 inch below the rim of the mold. Run your thumb around the rim to remove the excess butter and sugar. Bake until the soufflé has risen to about 1 1/2 half-inch over the rim and starts to brown on top, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust the top with powdered sugar.

Serve immediately with a side of Raspberry sauce.

Nina and Stephanie with their creations.

Desserts/Pastries · Miscellaneous

“Ad Hoc at Home” Winners & Decadent Brownies

November 19, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles4 Comments

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for Thomas Keller’s “Ad Hoc at Home“. The response was truly overwhelming—so much so that I was convinced to pick TWO winners!

Drum roll please…..

Congrats to Xochitl M. (Fallon, Nevada) and Virginia R. (Artesia, California)! WOOT! Hope you both enjoy this lovely book and are inspired to try out some of Keller’s delish delights!

And in the spirit of “Ad Hoc at Home“, I decided to make the utterly decadent Brownies from the book. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with these bad boys. And in truth, “decadent” doesn’t even begin to describe them! So ridiculously choco-licous that you’ll just have to whip them up yourself.

You won’t regret it. For reals.

And if you have a few extra minutes, check out the video link at the end of this post with Chef Keller as he dicusses “Ad Hoc at Home”.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! (I know I will—Harry Potter comes out today!!) 🙂

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Brownies from Ad Hoc at Home
From Chef Thomas Keller

Ingredients:

¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Unsweetened Alkalized Cocoa Powder
¾ Pound (3 sticks) Unsalted Butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 Large Eggs
1¾ Cups Granulated Sugar
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Paste
6 Ounces 61 to 64% Chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. We use a 9-inch square silicone mold, because it keeps the edges from overcooking; if you use a metal or glass baking pan, butter and flour it. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.

Melt half the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Put the remaining butter in a medium bowl. Pour the melted butter over the bowl of butter and stir to melt the butter. The butter should look creamy, with small bits of unmelted butter, and be at room temperature.

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until thick and very pale. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed, add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then add one-third of the butter, and continue alternating the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate and mix to combine. (The batter can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer poked into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. If the pick comes out wet, test a second time, because you may have hit a piece of chocolate chip; then bake for a few more minutes longer if necessary. Cool in the pan until the brownie is just a bit warmer than room temperature.

Run a knife around the edges if not using a silicone mold, and invert the brownie onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 rectangles. Dust the tops with powdered sugar just before serving.

Desserts/Pastries

Triple Chocolate Mint Cookies

November 17, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles8 Comments

I think if you asked most people what their earliest candy memories were, they would probably say licorice, jellybeans, lollipops, or even chocolate bars. Nope, not me. My earliest candy memories were of Andes Chocolate Mints. Sure, it may seem strange for a 4-year old to love Andes Mints, but they were the special treats that our grandparents would give us—mostly by my Grandpa, Ôn.

When we were good (or needing consoling), he would hand us a few of the one-inch rectangles of minty-chocolate goodness. I would savor each little piece, allowing it to slowly melt in my mouth. Yum. And to this day, I attribute my love of “minty” things to these delicious confections.

So you can imagine my delight when I came across a bag of Andes Mint Chocolate Baking Bits at the local grocery store. (And they were on sale, too–SCORE!) So many options came across my mind of how to incorporate these minty bits into some type of decadent dessert. Should I make Brownies? Cupcakes? Ice cream?

Upon my sister’s suggestion, I settled on Cookies and looked to America’s Test Kitchen for some guidance. The recipe below is quite similar to the Chocolate Toffee Cookies I had made a few months ago with the same rich, brownie-like consistency. But of course what made these cookies so special were the bits of mint sprinkled throughout each bite. Truly reminiscent of Andes Chocolate Mints and my childhood.

Now Friends, a question for you…….What was your favorite childhood candy?

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Triple Chocolate Mint Cookies
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Ingredients:

16 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
½ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
¾ Teaspoon Salt
4 Large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1½ Cups Brown Sugar
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
1½ Cups Andes Mint Chocolate Baking Bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with the oven racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, melt semi-sweet chocolate. This can be done by placing the bowl over a pot of simmering water (for a make-shift double-boiler) or in the microwave at 50% power. Stir and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand electric mixer), beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar at medium at speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add one egg a time to the butter mixture, beating after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the cooled melted chocolate and beat until well combined.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in mint-chocolate baking bits. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the mixture sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the mixture is easy to scoop and fudge-like.

Using 3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, roll the dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, switching the position of the sheets and rotating them back to front halfway through baking. The cookies are baked when the edges are set, but the center are still soft. The cookies will still look a little raw in between the cracks, but are done.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the dough, using cooled cookie sheets. Serve the cookies warm or at room temperature.

Makes 25 to 30 cookies.

Note: I only had dark-coated baking sheets on hand when making these and found that the bottoms of the cookies were too dark despite the decrease in oven temperature to compensate for the sheets. As a result, I switched to using Silpats instead of parchment and had much better results.

Did I mention that these would be delicious as a vessel for Ice cream Sandwiches? YUM!

Desserts/Pastries

“Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes

November 5, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles44 Comments

Growing up I used to love going to Thrifty’s Drugstore (now known as Rite Aid in California) to get ice cream. At 35 cents a scoop you couldn’t beat the price and it was darn good! I usually rotated between two flavors, either Mint Chocolate Chip or their infamous Chocolate Malted Crunch. And yes, to this day I have been known to pick up a 1/2 gallon of it or so. You really can’t blame me—chocolate flecks with little malt balls enrobed in malt ice cream…..Who can resist??? My sibs also love Chocolate Malted Milk Shakes–YUM!

Thus was my inspiration to give these “Chocolate Malt” cuppies a try. I turned to Martha Stewart’s recipe and was happy to find that my sister had a jar of Horlicks Malt Powder on hand. I did make two minor tweaks to her recipe as I read that folks found that the cake didn’t have enough malt flavor. As a result, I increased the malt powder amount by an additional 1/4 cup and folded in a 1/2 cup of chocolate covered malt balls into the batter. As for the recipe, it was quite easy to follow–pretty much a one bowl situation. And when I pulled the cuppies out of the oven, I was pleased to see beautiful even domes on the tops.

The Chocolate Malt Buttercream was a great pairing for the cuppies, too–giving it that extra oompf of malt flavor. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I topped them each with chocolate covered malt balls. Hey, I never said this was low-calorie 🙂

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes…..same great flavors as a Chocolate Malted Milk Shake without the potential brain freezes 🙂

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“Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes
Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Buttercream adapted from Oh My! Sugar High
Makes approximately 28 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
2¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
¾ Cup Unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
¾ Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1½ Teaspoons Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Milk
1½ Cups Malted Milk Powder
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Large Eggs, at room temperature
1 Cup Sour Cream, at room temperature
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ Cup Chocolate Covered Malt Balls, chopped

Chocolate Malt Buttercream:
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Cup Vegetable Shortening, at room temperature
½ Cup Malted Milk Powder
2-4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoons Instant Espresso Powder
3 Tablespoons Milk
4 Cups Confectioner Sugar, sifted
*Chocolate Covered Malt Balls and Straws to garnish (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, both sugars, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk and malted milk powder until powder is dissolved.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat flour mixture, milk mixture and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sour cream and vanilla, and beat just until combined. Fold in crushed chocolate covered malt balls.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each halfway. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting. In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter and shorting for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Sprinkle in malted milk powder, espresso powder and cocoa powder. Whip for 1 minute. Slowly add the powdered sugar a few spoonful at a time, letting it incorporate until the frosting becomes thicker and stiff. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time and whip until combined.

Fill bag with the frosting and pipe large swirls on top of cupcakes. Top with candies and straw garnish.

Enjoy!

**Note: I was able to make these cuppies extra special by using the wonderfully decadent Valrhona Cocoa Powder for both the cake and the buttercream. Valrhona is quite arguably one of the best chocolates/cocoa to bake with and adds a lovely intense/pure flavor. With that said, I was able to get away with only using 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in the buttercream where I may have needed more had I used another brand.**

Desserts/Pastries

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rice-Cereal Treats

September 29, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles6 Comments

When nostalgia knocks, I answer—with open arms 🙂

So when I was in need of goodies for some wonderful neighbors, I appealed to everyone’s inner child and whipped up some Rice-Cereal Treats. Of course, I needed to up the ante a bit and added creamy peanut butter to the melted marshmallow and drizzled the tops with chocolate. Why Not, right? Because let’s be honest–what’s better than PB and Chocolate!?

Needless to say, they were DEE-LISH! And although I wish I could take full credit for them, a recipe can be found on the side of any box of rice cereal. But hey–no one seems to mind when they are taking a big ol’ bite of a rice cereal treat. 🙂

So here’s to having great neighbors and nostalgic-yummy treats!

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Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rice-Cereal Treats
Adapted from Any “Rice Cereal” Box 🙂

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
½ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
10 Ounces Packaged Marshmallows
7 Cups Rice Cereal
¾ Cup Milk Chocolate Chips

Grease 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

In large saucepan slowly melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted and smooth. Add rice cereal and stir until well coated. Quickly transfer rice cereal mixture into pan and pat down evenly. Cool for one hour.

Place chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl. Melt chips in the microwave using 20 second intervals—be sure to stir in between each heating. When chocolate is melted and glossy, drizzle melted chocolate over the rice cereal treats. Cool for a minimum of 30 minutes and cut into large squares.

ENJOY!

Desserts/Pastries

French Macarons…..The Holy Grail of Pastries

August 6, 2010February 10, 2011 The Culinary Chronicles25 Comments

I finally did it. Or more accurately, WE finally did it.

I, along with thousands of other aspiring bakers, have been meaning to try my hand at the elusive French Macarons. But for some reason or another, I always found myself pushing it off. “Why?”– you ask. Well, as the song goes….

“At first I was afraid, I was petrified……….”

It’s true. These finicky “Cookie Sandwiches” had me extremely intimidated. Simple in the number of ingredients—yet so much room for possible error. The amount of precision required to create them was simply daunting. But ever since I had my first bite of a Macaron from the famed Bouchon Bakery, I’ve been dreaming about them….Macarons—The Holy Grail of Pastries.

I cannot recount how many posts and articles I have read about Macarons to prepare myself for the day that I could muster up the courage to make them. But reading can only do so much—as I highly doubt I could fly a plane by just reading instructions alone! If I wanted to make Macarons, I’d just have to do it! Time to put on my big girl panties (or apron, in this case) and face my fears!

I entered this daunting experiment with my friend Carol and her sister Christine. Both ladies are quite the bakers and I figured it may be better to attack in numbers. In fact, the few days leading before our big baking day were filled with emails back and forth with various recipes and grocery lists. Heck, we were prepared!

I will not bore you all with the nitty gritty details of all 4+ hours we had in the kitchen but I will simply fast forward to the results (and some pointers). After all the stress and the worry, we were pretty darn successful!! We ended up making two types of Macarons that day. The first, a Chocolate Macaron with Chocolate Espresso Ganache (care of Annie Eat’s) and the second, a Lemon Macaron with Lemon Buttercream (care of Tartlette). Our Chocolate Macarons were the highlight of our day, warranting in my opinion a B+. Unfortunately, our Lemon Macarons were not so successful—-actually kind of a hot mess! The shells (or cookie) were suprisingly quite flavorful but just looked terrible….C- . Strangely enough, we did better with our first Macaron (chocolate) then our second batch (lemon)! We’re hoping it’s not beginners luck!

Here are some notes from our Chocolate Macaron with Chocolate Espresso Ganache:

We used Almond Meal that was ground with their skins intact (figured it was going to be chocolate so the speckles should be ok). Next time, I’ll try the Almond Meal without skins as the shells were a tad bumpy;
We had VERY good success using silpat mats but did not try parchment paper. Hey, why mess with a good thing?;
Getting a stiff peak with the egg whites is quite important before incorporating dry ingredients;
We tried both piping methods—piping “straight with a point” and as “commas”. The straight point yielded better tops – don’t worry about the points as they flattened anyhow;
We piped our shells on the slightly larger side–almost 2.5 inches. I’d recommend a little bit smaller…perhaps 1.5 inches;
Cookies were left for about 30-40 minutes to get the “hard shell” before baking
We baked each sheet for 9 minutes but it could have gone another 1-2 minutes (unfortunately there is no way to tell if they’re done than taking a bite into it). Also, the Macarons appeared to taste better the next day. “Aging” may possibly assist in texture/consistency;
If filling with Ganache, a thicker consistency is much easier to handle;
Using a scale to weigh things (as opposed to measuring) makes a difference.

Allowing the batter to rest after piping is imperative to achieve the macaron “crust”

Hallelujah!!! We have FEET!

Chocolate Macaron with Chocolate Espresso Ganache…..these little guys make me smile.

Here are some notes about our Lemon Macaron with Lemon Buttercream:

We didn’t weigh out everything but measured with cups, spoons, etc. to see if it made a difference. Turns out, it does.;
Egg Whites may not have been the precise measurement (see above);
We ground Almond Slivers instead of using Almond Meal and could not get a fine enough grind that resulted in grainy batter;
By using Almond Slivers, there potentially could have been more natural oils in the mixture thus causing inconsistency in the batter;
The meringue we added was very stiff….perhaps too stiff;
We could have used more confectioner sugar in the buttercream.

At this point, they still looked like they had potential…..

AGGGHH!! These aren’t French Macarons—they look like shiny cookies!

Ladies and Gentlemen…..this is what you call a HOT MESS! EEEeekk! (Photo by Carol Le)

I do have to reiterate that although our Lemon Macarons looked a bit crazy, it tasted REALLY yummy! The freshly ground almonds gave a wonderful, “true” almond flavor to the shells. We even considered just calling them a cookie versus a macaron. That way, we’d feel better about it 🙂

Our Little Babies (Photo by Carol Le)

Now, with the first attempt out of the way, I’m happy to report that it wasn’t as ridiculous as I had expected. Tedious, yes…but not impossible. It did help TREMENDOUSLY to have two great gals to work with (a little sparkling wine didn’t hurt either!) to whom we could each bounce back ideas and suggestions to. Thanks Carol and Christine–I’d bake with you two anytime!

The Moral of the Story? I’ll have to quote Julia Child on this one:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”

I’m am sure that other attempts are in my near future 🙂

Desserts/Pastries

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

July 21, 2010 The Culinary Chronicles9 Comments

Cookies = Good!

Brownies = Good!

So what can be better? Easy—-Cookies that have the rich decadent flavor and chewiness of a Brownie. Which is why this Chocolate Toffee Cookie was destined for greatness.

When I came across the original recipe in Bon Appetit, I knew that the low amount of flour and high amount of melted chocolate would yield a great brownie-like flavor. And it did! The toffee chips also intrigued me though next time, I would leave the toffee bits even more coarse as I think it got somewhat lost in the cookie. No worries because there will definitely be a next time 🙂

So for all you Chocoholics—what are you waiting for? This Cookies is just what the Dr. Cacao ordered!

Until next time friends…..Cheers!

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Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 20 Large Cookies

Ingredients:

½ Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
16 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
¼ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1¾ Cups Light Brown Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
8 Ounces Coarsely Chopped Toffee Bars

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Combine chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave using 20-second intervals, stirring in between each period. Continue until the mixture is melted and smooth—about 100 seconds, depending on the oven. Do this slowly and carefully as to not scorch the chocolate. Cool mixture to lukewarm.

With a stand mixer, beat sugar and eggs in bowl until thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and then toffee. Chill batter until firm but not hard, about 30 minutes.

Using a #10 ice cream scooper (or spoon approximately ¼ cup), place dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2½ inches apart. With the bottom of a flat drinking glass, press slightly down on each cookie to lightly flatten the tops. Bake just until tops are dry and cracked but cookies are still soft to touch, about 15 minutes.

Cool on sheets. ENJOY!