This entry is a day late, due to some unanticipated work challenges involving a federal court brief filed at 11:53 p.m. on Wednesday night. I will say no more.
Anyway, this was a chocolate week:
Chocolate Peppermint Squares, from The King Arthur Flour Baking Companion
Chocolate Friands, from Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson, Tartine
The chocolate peppermint squares are a repeat. Sensei Merle Kodo Boyd is visiting ZCLA this month from her home in New Jersey, and I happen to know that these are one of her favorites, so in her honor I made them. Although many people think that peppermint is a winter flavor, chocolate and mint are a great combination, and these are a very yummy creation. This involves making a mint-infused base - essentially a mint brownie - that then has a peppermint icing, followed by a squiggle of melted chocolate. It gives me a chance to use my squeeze bottles for decorating - it is like being back in elementary school art class!
The second recipe falls in the "this will rock your world" category of dessert. According to the cookbook, "Friand" means "little mouthful" in French, and these are basically tiny chocolate cakes, but with a wonderful, tender consistency. They are made in mini-cupcake pans, and indeed are just little mouthfuls of cake. It is important not to overmix or overbake these or else they start to not only look but also taste like the Trader Joe's Two Bite Brownies. But otherwise they are really wonderful - the outside is firm, but the inside is incredibly tender and light.
According to the recipe, after they cool you are supposed to make a ganache and dip the tops in, so you have an iced babycake. Andrew helped me tremendously with this project, given my court filing challenge, and we only finished around 1 a.m. We decided to forgo the ganache; instead, I sprinkled powdered sugar over them before serving, which made them very beautiful. The ganache sounds nice, but this way we didn't distract from the pure intensity of the cake itself.
Enjoy!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
For March 11
Two recipes this week, both from Tartine, by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson
Deluxe Double Chocolate Cookies
Almond Rochers
The double chocolate cookies are a deeply chocolate affair. They combine high-quality bittersweet chocolate (I am using three different chocolates, with chocolate percentages at 66% (Valrhona), 70% (Scharffen Berger), and 72% (Green & Black Organic)) and a substantial amount of cocoa powder (I am using a mixture of Valrhona and Dagoba - can you see I am trying to clean up my pantry?). The result is a very chocolatey, quite soft and tender cookie. I am curious to see how people like it.
The other cookie is another effort to provide goodies for my friends who have gluten issues. These are almond rochers - "rochers" means "boulders" in French. It is a meringue-based cookie. It involved a few interesting (and, in the making, nerve-wracking) techniques. You take a substantial amount of sliced almonds and toast them well, then crumble them. Next, you make a meringue. This involved heating some egg whites and confectioners sugar in a double boiler. According to the instructions, you should wisk them constantly until the mixture reaches 120 degrees, which it estimates will take 5 minutes. Well....I guess I have kick-ass burners, so after not too long a time (like, 1 minute) the mixture was well (WELL) above the 120 degree mark. It got yanked off and onto the mixer to start whisking into a meringue. I think it all ended up OK, but it was quite a moment of panic. Anyway, a few other ingredients are added, then the almonds are folded in, and then I used a tablespoon scoop to form the cookies, which then bake into, well, baby boulders. While they continue to dry out over time, last night when we had some (uh, I mean when the quality control team checked to make sure they met normal standards) they were really soft and almost creamy inside and crunchy outside. We'll see how they are by tonight. For a cookie with no flour and no fat (other than what is in the almonds) these are really yummy.
Both of these are from Tartine, which is a San Francisco bakery I now obviously have to visit. A few weeks ago, the Tartine lemon bars were a hit, and I think that tonight will continue the winning streak.
Take care!
Deluxe Double Chocolate Cookies
Almond Rochers
The double chocolate cookies are a deeply chocolate affair. They combine high-quality bittersweet chocolate (I am using three different chocolates, with chocolate percentages at 66% (Valrhona), 70% (Scharffen Berger), and 72% (Green & Black Organic)) and a substantial amount of cocoa powder (I am using a mixture of Valrhona and Dagoba - can you see I am trying to clean up my pantry?). The result is a very chocolatey, quite soft and tender cookie. I am curious to see how people like it.
The other cookie is another effort to provide goodies for my friends who have gluten issues. These are almond rochers - "rochers" means "boulders" in French. It is a meringue-based cookie. It involved a few interesting (and, in the making, nerve-wracking) techniques. You take a substantial amount of sliced almonds and toast them well, then crumble them. Next, you make a meringue. This involved heating some egg whites and confectioners sugar in a double boiler. According to the instructions, you should wisk them constantly until the mixture reaches 120 degrees, which it estimates will take 5 minutes. Well....I guess I have kick-ass burners, so after not too long a time (like, 1 minute) the mixture was well (WELL) above the 120 degree mark. It got yanked off and onto the mixer to start whisking into a meringue. I think it all ended up OK, but it was quite a moment of panic. Anyway, a few other ingredients are added, then the almonds are folded in, and then I used a tablespoon scoop to form the cookies, which then bake into, well, baby boulders. While they continue to dry out over time, last night when we had some (uh, I mean when the quality control team checked to make sure they met normal standards) they were really soft and almost creamy inside and crunchy outside. We'll see how they are by tonight. For a cookie with no flour and no fat (other than what is in the almonds) these are really yummy.
Both of these are from Tartine, which is a San Francisco bakery I now obviously have to visit. A few weeks ago, the Tartine lemon bars were a hit, and I think that tonight will continue the winning streak.
Take care!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Catching Up, Part II - For March 4
OK, still a little catch-up work to do before tonight's baking begins. This week was a cookie week, to wit:
Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Flo Braker, Baking For All Occasions
Oatmeal Currant Cookies, from Alice Waters, The Art Of Simple Food
Flo Braker is another of the main movers and bakers on the scene today. I got this book quite a few months back, but finally took it out this week. This is a very simple chocolate chip cookie recipe. No nuts, no special ingredients. The limited number of ingredients and flavors means that quality matters. These were not my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie, but a lot of people liked them. This was a nice recipe because it has you make logs of dough and refrigerate them, then slice and bake later. Since this was a rare week where I was doing two cookies (no bars, no biscotti, just individual cookies), it was great to be able to at least make the dough ahead of time. So this one is a keeper!
The second cookie was a real favorite. This is a recipe from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. Her most recent cookbook has very few cookie recipes, but this one is very nice. The first step is to take the oats and grind them quite fine in a food processor - almost to a flour. This gives you the oatmeal flavor, but a much, much more delicate cookie. And using currants simply extends that approach, since the currants (which are briefly cooked in water to plump and soften them) are smaller and more delicate than raisins. This produces a soft, delicate cookie, not a big, hard, crunchy type cookie. The abbot of ZCLA is a big oatmeal raisin cookie fan, and I made these for her; happily, she enjoyed them very much!
Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Flo Braker, Baking For All Occasions
Oatmeal Currant Cookies, from Alice Waters, The Art Of Simple Food
Flo Braker is another of the main movers and bakers on the scene today. I got this book quite a few months back, but finally took it out this week. This is a very simple chocolate chip cookie recipe. No nuts, no special ingredients. The limited number of ingredients and flavors means that quality matters. These were not my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie, but a lot of people liked them. This was a nice recipe because it has you make logs of dough and refrigerate them, then slice and bake later. Since this was a rare week where I was doing two cookies (no bars, no biscotti, just individual cookies), it was great to be able to at least make the dough ahead of time. So this one is a keeper!
The second cookie was a real favorite. This is a recipe from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. Her most recent cookbook has very few cookie recipes, but this one is very nice. The first step is to take the oats and grind them quite fine in a food processor - almost to a flour. This gives you the oatmeal flavor, but a much, much more delicate cookie. And using currants simply extends that approach, since the currants (which are briefly cooked in water to plump and soften them) are smaller and more delicate than raisins. This produces a soft, delicate cookie, not a big, hard, crunchy type cookie. The abbot of ZCLA is a big oatmeal raisin cookie fan, and I made these for her; happily, she enjoyed them very much!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Catching Up, Part I - For February 25
Sorry for the delay in posting! It has been a bit crazy, and I haven't had a chance to post. So here is what has been happening:
February 18 -
Five-Spice Snickerdoodles, from The Los Angeles Times
Best Unsweetened Brownies, from Alice Medrich, Bittersweet
Both of these are recipes I have made before, and both proved worth repeating. The Five-Spice Snickerdoodles are a variation on the traditional snickerdoodle cookie. In the normal snickerdoodle, after making the dough, individual balls of dough are made and rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, then baked. In this variant, which I did in honor of the Chinese New Year, the cinnamon is replaced with Chinese Five-Spice Powder (which has some variants, but usually includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Szechwan pepper and ground fennel). The flavors are subtle and pleasant. The recipe is a very nice one, and very straightforward. The cookie is soft and a bit chewy. I recommend it!
The brownie recipe was another one from Alice Medrich's book, Bittersweet. She is amazingly knowledgeable and sophisticated in how she handles chocolate. Each variant on chocolate (cocoa, unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, etc.) has its own brownie recipe, with each leading to a different texture (since, as I know understand, a brownie that has all its fat coming from the butter (i.e., a cocoa-based brownie) will lead to a very different result than one that gets most of its fat from the chocolate (semi-sweet)). Anyway, I added some nuts and some cacao nibs to make it interesting. Quite yummy - very intense, not overly sweet. I tend to like a high chocolate to sugar ratio, and this brownie definitely delivers!
February 18 -
Five-Spice Snickerdoodles, from The Los Angeles Times
Best Unsweetened Brownies, from Alice Medrich, Bittersweet
Both of these are recipes I have made before, and both proved worth repeating. The Five-Spice Snickerdoodles are a variation on the traditional snickerdoodle cookie. In the normal snickerdoodle, after making the dough, individual balls of dough are made and rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, then baked. In this variant, which I did in honor of the Chinese New Year, the cinnamon is replaced with Chinese Five-Spice Powder (which has some variants, but usually includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Szechwan pepper and ground fennel). The flavors are subtle and pleasant. The recipe is a very nice one, and very straightforward. The cookie is soft and a bit chewy. I recommend it!
The brownie recipe was another one from Alice Medrich's book, Bittersweet. She is amazingly knowledgeable and sophisticated in how she handles chocolate. Each variant on chocolate (cocoa, unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, etc.) has its own brownie recipe, with each leading to a different texture (since, as I know understand, a brownie that has all its fat coming from the butter (i.e., a cocoa-based brownie) will lead to a very different result than one that gets most of its fat from the chocolate (semi-sweet)). Anyway, I added some nuts and some cacao nibs to make it interesting. Quite yummy - very intense, not overly sweet. I tend to like a high chocolate to sugar ratio, and this brownie definitely delivers!
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