For March 18

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!