February DOTM: King of Cookies

The Disappointment Cookies.

I don’t know why, but I don’t have a repertoire of recipes that I trust. Maybe it’s because I would usually rather experiment with something new than actually make something that I know will turn out well? I don’t know. At any rate, I don't have much of a collection. So when it comes to giving recipes to other people, or suggesting things for a dessert, or whatever, I’m never like, “Ooh, my grandmother’s coconut cake, it’s so easy and perfect!” it's always more like, “Hmmm, I bet I could make a filling out of this tart recipe and then wrap it in the leftover puff pastry I have and oh it calls for hazelnut flour but I’ll just grind up some almonds instead...” and then I have to test it and tweak it forty seven times before it really comes out well.

That’s fun and all, but sometimes you get tired of complicated things. I make enough complicated things at work. I just wanted a cookie. But ya’ll. I went through THREE cookie recipes before I found one that came out well. THREE. Wtf? I mean, they were edible. But I can’t share a recipe that only comes out so-so. As I was chewing on a rubbery sablé I could just imagine your collective disappointment when you finally made them and I COULD NOT DO THAT TO YOU GUYS. So I got really pissed off and stomped around for a while. And then I remembered that I DO have a perfect recipe!

I didn’t come up with this, and in fact it might very well be the recipe off the Nestle bag, I don’t know. But I do know that it makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.

1/2 pound butter
365g brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
360g AP flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
450g chocolate chips

Cream the butter and the sugar to a paste. Add the vanilla and eggs. Once that's combined, add the sifted dries, then the chocolate chips and mix just til incorporated. Bake em at around 325 or so.

Successsss!

MARCH DOTM POPS BY AMELIA

I told you guys Amelia's DOTM was gonna be worth the wait. You will be getting these in your mail box but if you are already crazy from the heat perhaps you'd like to make some now!!! Just click the images to see the luscious recipes for these weather appropriate treats!

february: salted caramel chocolate lava cakes!

February is a terrible month. The fun of winter (lights, cookies, Santa, etc.) has long passed but spring still seems so far, far away. I have been lucky enough so far not to experience anything a news team might name "snowmageddon," but winter is still sucking pretty hard right about now.

That's why I, and you, need WARM GOOEY OOZY CHOCOLATEY CHOCOLATE CAKE to make it through. When the cold and dark are bringing you down and you're ready to murder some groundhogs hole up with a valentine and make this and feel better.

Chocolate lava cake is basically nothing more than an undercooked cake. You cook the batter over a water bath before baking so that you can take the cake out of the oven early, before the center is set. You can make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze it. It's so easy but trust me, people will go apeshit for that lava. Serve it warm out of the oven and VOILA, VALENTINES APLENTY.

If you're not into caramel (in which case you'll never be MY valentine, but that's ok) you can skip that step; you'll just have chocolate instead of caramel lava. Make sure to take them out of the oven when they start to look sunken for maximum goo.

This is the best dessert to eat in bed, according to the chef who demo'd this for our class. Take that as you will.



Chocolate lava cake with salted caramel
I'm not sure exactly how many cakes this yields; I halved the recipe so, approximately half a shit ton.

4 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
7 oz butter
150 g dark chocolate (I used 70%, cause that's how I like it, but anything above 55% will do)
3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

8 oz sugar
2 oz water
Heavy cream
Fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt


-Preheat your oven to 400.

-Make the caramel:
Have an ice bath ready. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan. Don't stir it! When it reaches a dark blonde (as seen against a white plate...it will look darker in the pot), stick the pot in the ice bath to arrest the cooking. Add an equal amount of heavy cream and stir to combine. It will be a thick sauce-like consistency. Let cool slightly and firm up a bit.

-Spray some molds, flan cups, ramekins, etc. I used a muffin tin which was a bit of a pain to extract the cakes from but it worked OK.
-Melt the butter and chocolate over a water bath.
-Add the yolks and the whole eggs a little at a time, whisking constantly. The mixture will appear to separate and then will come back together. Cook to 170-180 degrees (this ensures the eggs are pasteurized but not overcooked).
-Add the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time.
-Add the sifted flour a little at a time.
-When the mixture is well-incorporated, pour into molds 3/4 full.

-Form the caramel into small truffle-sized balls and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

-Bake the cakes for a few minutes, just until they start to set up a bit and a crust begins to form. Drop a caramel ball into the middle of each one and bake for another few minutes. They will look slightly sunken and underdone-- this is good. All told they'll probably be in the oven for about 10-13 minutes.

-Pop them out of the molds (or fish them out of the muffin tin with a fork) and serve immediately.

Chocolate and Red Chili Cookies

The cookies I made for Nicole and Molly's Cookie Party received a warm welcome... literally. There was a snow-typhoon outside, so what better to bring the heat than some spicy hot double chocolate cookies?

I searched all over for a good recipe... I had some red chilis at home, and knew I wanted them in the cookie somehow. Some recipes called for jalapenos, some for ground/dried ancho chilis... so It ended up taking Martha's recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, but making some adjustments along the way.
I also substituted her call for chocolate chips and instead used a Lindt Dark Chocolate Chili bar, broken into pieces (I also melted another one of those chocolate bars into the batter).

I used 2 whole red chilis, but de-seeded them. If you want to tweak the heat, you can keep some cayenne pepper on hand to add in as well. This recipe is really great- the heat hits you after you've started chewing...a slow rise of warmth, then boom!

Recipe below the pics...-1 cup of flour
-1/2 cup of unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-7 ounces of good-quality chocolate ( I used 2 Lindt Chili Chocolate bars total. Each bar is 3.5 oz...so 3.5 oz. for melting & 3.5 oz. broken into chip-size bits)
-1/2 cup of butter
-1 & 1/2 cups of sugar
-2 large eggs
-3 Tablespoons (for medium spicy) of red chilis, finely chopped, de-seeded. (Or Cayenne pepper to taste)
-2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 325'F degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt; set aside. Melt 1 chocolate chili bar (coarsely chopped) with the butter in a small heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, throw in the chopped chilis and incorporate well. Let cool slightly. I kept tasting this melted mix to get an idea of the heat level... it's the best way to gauge how hot a cookie (heh) you're gonna end up with.

2. Put the melted chocolate/chili mixture and the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a big bowl and blend well. Gradually mix in the flour mixture. Fold in the other (broken into chip-size bits) chocolate chili bar.

3. Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, (the dough is super sticky) spacing two inches apart. Decorative sugar is optional (I used some red sugar sprinkles). Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 12-15 minutes (cookies will be soft).

Cinnamon or Red Hots would work well in this recipe too.

NOV DOTM Chocolate Guinness Cake

So, this is a cake I make a lot because it's so easy and I usually have everything I need at home already. The beer, however, does need replenishing sometimes. I've found that even people who aren't cake people like this cake. It stays pretty moist even in the fridge and freezes well.

Ingredients:

1 cup dark cocoa powder (sifted)
1 3/4 cups flour (sifted)
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup Guinness (not extra stout)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put water on to boil
Mix all dry ingredients then add wet ingredients one at a time adding the water last.
The batter will be very wet. It’s normal.

I use a 10” sprayed spring form pan with a pizza pan or something underneath it in case any leaks out. In my oven the cake bakes in 45 minutes. About halfway into cooking time sprinkle the top with coconut flakes. They will toast as the cake finishes baking. Do a toothpick test and if it comes out clean it’s ready. Let it rest for about 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
Any pan can be used but the cooking time will get adjusted. If you use a casserole dish to make it more like a sheet cake it’ll take about 20 minutes.

I serve it with whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together in a cold bowl (I put mine in the freezer) until it looks like whipped cream. You can add more powdered sugar if it’s not sweet enough for ya.

MOLLY'S BIRTHDAY CAKE

Ms.Schnick had a birthday and this is the cake I made for her. Chocolate cake with layers of caramel and salt, frosted with a caramel chocolate ganache. I used the recipe from Baked.
It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, though the caramel recipe needs to be tweaked a bit, methinks.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT PIE

Last night I made this Chocolate Walnut pie, inspired by the Pecan pie in The Gift Of Southern Cooking. It was during this pie making session that I realized my new oven is about 100 degrees off! (Also the racks were in there upside down??) Oh, hurdles of NYC baking....
I am not usually a nut pie person but something about the chill in the air last night brought this pie into my consciousness. That and the pound of walnuts in my bakehouse.
I have no recipe to go along with this as I am not at home right now but I can urge you to go find a copy of The Gift Of Southern Cooking. It's magical.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE!

This cake was other worldly. My pictures are not even close to doing it any kind of justice. It was a chocolate genoise, with layers of dense chocolate mousse, covered in whipped cream.
I need a better camera.

WHEN I FALL IN LOVE I FALL HARD

I made that chocolate tart. Again

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BREAD

I have been at home sick for two days. In between feeling lousy and sleeping I have energy spurts and get stir crazy. So I bake. I wash my hands! Yeah, it may seem gross, but this is what I do. At least I am coming clean about it. Yesterday when I thought I was better I made
Chocolate Bread:
(adapted from an adapted recipe given to me by Chef Jeff at ICE)

1.5 oz fresh yeast
2 cups warm water
12 oz high gluten flour (I used King Arthur Bread flour)
2 oz hazelnut flour (I used chesnut)
1/4 cardamom (did not use)
1/4 tsp ginger (I used a tblsp)
1/4 tsp of nutmeg (I did not measure)
1 tblsp kosher salt

8 oz chopped semi sweet choc
8 oz chopped dried cherries (my awesome addition)
14 oz all purpose flour
2 oz dutch cocoa (another addition)

Stir yeast into warm water and let it do it's magic. Add high gluten and nut flour and stir. Combine spices and salt and add in to yeast mixture. Sift cocoa into all purpose flour add chocolates and cherries. Add this to yeast mixture. Remove from bowl and knead till smooth. ( I dumped it into my Kitchen aid with the dough hook and let it do this part for me- I'm sick!)

Shape dough into a round or split it into 2 small rounds. Put on parchment lined sheet and let rise for a half hour someplace warm, but not too warm.

Slash each round
Bake in a preheated oven at 325 for 30 minutes.
Let cool completely

Winging It Chocolate Pudding

Nicole is sick. In her honor I made dessert.

Winging It Chocolate Pudding

The only recipe I could find in my books called for corn starch as the thickener. I happened to have thrown out my unused huge thing of corn starch two days ago because at school on Saturday we talked about how un healthful it is (highly processed, probably irradiated or genetically modified) and how kuzu is a good natural replacement. So with that, I tried to make this! Notice there's lots of sugar in the recipe and in the cacao so.... whatchagonnado??

2 1/2 cups non homogenized whole milk
one cup organic sugar
one cup cacao blanxart (nicole you gave me this right?)
3 tablespoons kuzu crushed

In saucepan, combine and heat two cups of the milk with one cup sugar and heat on medium low until steam starts to form.
in separate bowl, combine kuzu with remaining milk and cacao blanxart until slightly thick
once saucepan begins to steam add thickened mixture
reduce heat and whisk for about 5 more minutes until thick
pour into a bowl, cover with plastic to avoid film forming and chill
eat it when you wanna!

Xocolata in Barcelona

I feel like I posted this before but I forgot if I did and I can't find it in the old posts so... if so... here it is again!

On a visit to Barcelona two years ago I was taken to Granja M. Viader a dairy bar near Raval where Cacaolat was created (basically like yoohoo but better.) The specialty is simply the most decadent pudding like hot chocolate you've ever tasted. You can either get it with whipped cream or without (I got it with) and it's such a treat. You need about 4 cups of coffee to wash it down but it's worth it.