Category: Chocolate

There It Stayed

July 14, 2010

On July 5th, I went to a workshop with the incredibly lovely and talented Aran of Cannelle et Vanille.  Have you seen this woman’s photos?  I mean, come on.  She is in a league unto herself (along with Helène of course).  The workshop was less about photography and more about food styling.  While Aran is a terrific food photographer, her real passion lies in how the food looks in the photo.  She has an amazing eye and a clear picture in her mind of how she wants things arranged just so.  She has amassed a collection of linens, plates, silver and other props to make her already beautiful food look spectacular.

I learned a lot from our few hours together.  Here were the two big takeaways for me specifically.  I am not, nor will I ever be, a food stylist.  I make food that I want to eat and then take pictures of it, usually moments before I eat it.  Yes there are things I could do to make it look better, but usually I have impatient dinner guests who are waiting to dig in while I get my shot.  Even if that was not the case, I don’t have the artistic eye that some of those incredibly talented people do.  And (big takeaway #2) I really need to learn how to use my camera.  Aran made some reference to her old photos and how she (shudder) had her camera on auto-everything.  I have my camera on auto-everything.  I know the terms aperture, shutter speed, and depth of field, but I don’t exactly know what they mean.  Someone in the workshop suggested a book for me and I ordered it as soon as I got home.

Aran gave us some general pointers and then demonstrated them with example after example of her gorgeous photos.  One of her “rules” that stood out is to make the food look organic.  “Like it just fell there.”  I believe those were the exact words and I know there were quotation marks around them.  I’m pretty sure the above photo was not what she meant.

Yes, this cake did more or less just fall there.  I turned it out of its pan onto my lovely white square platter and it did a bit of a skid.  Then it decided it was too fragile to be moved into the center of the platter without shattering into a million cake pieces.  So there it stayed.

So let’s talk about this cake.  If I say “flourless chocolate cake”, do you think one of those gooey centered things that are just about everywhere on restaurant menus?  When those things are good, they are pretty awesome.  Not so good and not so much.  This cake is actually not much like that at all.  It is indeed flourless but there is nothing gooey about it.  It’s just light but not too airy and tastes purely of chocolate.  While I like my chocolate a bit denser, I really liked this as an option – especially after a particularly heavy meal.  Lebovitz says this tastes best the day it is made but I froze half of it, thawed it wrapped at room temperature, and it suffered no loss of texture or taste.

One Year Ago: Roasted Tomato and Olive Galette with Fontina
Two Years Ago: Orzo with Broccoli, Feta, and Olives

Chocolate Pavé
Ready for Dessert
Makes one 9-inch square cake

In the original recipe, Lebovitz says to decorate the cake by sifting powdered sugar over it and then drizzling melted chocolate over that.  Yum.  But I knew I was going to try the freezing thing and powdered sugar starts to melt into cakes and look slimy after an hour or so.  Trust me. So I skipped that step.

Cocoa powder, for preparing the pan
1 cup salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
½ cup plus ½ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square cake pan, dust it with a bit of cocoa powder, then tap out any excess.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the butter and both chocolates.  Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth.  Remove the bowl from the heat.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whisk together the egg yolks and ½ cup of granulated sugar on high speed until the mixture leaves a defined ribbon on the surface when you lift the beater, about 5 minutes.  Fold in the melted chocolate mixture until fully incorporated.

In a clean, dry bowl and with a clean whip attachment, whisk the egg whites and salt on low speed until they form soft, wet peaks.  Gradually beat in the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and continue whisking at high speed until the whites hold stiff peaks.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture just until there are no visible streaks of egg whites.  Don’t overfold.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and gently smooth the top.  Bake until just barely set in the center (it should still feel jiggly), about 35 minutes.  The cake will rise as it bakes and form a slightly crackly top.  Let cool about 15 minutes.

Run a knife around the sides of the cake to help loosen it from the pan.  Invert the cake onto a plate, peel off the parchment paper, and re-invert it onto a large platter or cutting board.  Let cool completely.

(DT: I served this with the Caramel Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop.  I don’t think I need to tell you that it was the perfect combination.)


Category: Cake, Chocolate
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Spoiled Rotten

June 19, 2010

Six years ago, right around this time of year, Randy and I were living in London.  One day I sat in a wonderful cooking class at Leith’s – a day-long class on vegetarian food.  The teacher was swift and engaging and while I didn’t learn much in particular, it was a joy to watch such a professional work.  My eyes kept drifting up to the stacks upon stacks of copper pots on the shelves behind her.  She mentioned that the school had bought the pots and pans back in the 1950’s and they were the ones still used in the kitchens.  Dreamily I thought, “I want copper pots from Paris”.  Practically I thought, “I just got brand new stainless steel All Clad pots – there is no way I could justify buying copper”.  Dreamily I thought, “For my 40th birthday, I want to go to Paris and buy copper pots”.  The class wrapped up, I went home and told Randy about my 40th birthday plan – six years in the future – to which he said, “Got it”.

“Got it” in Randy language means many things.  Sometimes it means “please stop talking, I understand you” and other times it means “I am taking your criticism and I am moving on”.  In this instance it meant “you are making a special request of me and regardless of how frivolous it may sound, I will see that I fulfill it”.  If you know my husband, he is a get-shit-done kind of guy.  He is a tremendous problem solver, an incredibly hard worker, and he really likes to plan.  What you may not know is that he is a pretty romantic guy and he really likes to make me happy.

So, my 40th birthday is this summer (July 26th to be exact) and on Tuesday, I am flying to France.  Randy has business in Cannes so I will meet up with him there, then fly to Paris for a few days, then take the Eurostar to London for one day, and then back home.  It will be whirlwind.  I feel very lucky.  My in-laws are flying in from Atlanta to stay with my kids and I will get my husband all to myself for a whole week.  A week in Europe where I have not been in six years.

Will I buy pots?  I don’t know.  It is highly impractical.  I can’t carry them on the plane and to ship them would be ridiculously expensive.  I hope to maybe find a brand that does business online and buy them that way.  I have a list of shops to visit but our time is limited, especially since one of our two full days in Paris will be a Sunday.  Maybe I will just buy a symbolic pot (like a ½ quart butter-melter) and spend the rest of my money on chocolate.  I know that it doesn’t matter.  I will lay on the beach in Cannes.  I will have an early birthday dinner with Randy and my parents (who are joining us) in Paris.  I will get to have lunch with Ele and Hilary in London.  I get to fly on an airplane armed with stacks of books and magazines and not one single Sesame Street DVD, garbage truck, or Leap Frog game.  Parents of small children, you know what I am talking about.

Whenever I feel extra spoiled, I feel like I want to give back.  Here is where the chocolate cookies come in.  I got the recipe for these treats from David Lebovitz’s new book Ready for Dessert.  David Lebovitz, if you don’t know, is an American pastry chef and ice cream guru living in Paris.  He has written a number of cookbooks (including the only ice cream book you will ever need – The Perfect Scoop) and also a memoir about living in the city of lights called The Sweet Life in Paris.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a contest, pick a winner, and send that person to Paris?  Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.  So, I’m going to have a contest, pick a winner, and send that person a copy of The Sweet Life in Paris and winner’s choice of one his other books.  Just tell me what your favorite spot is in Paris and if you haven’t been, tell me what would be your first stop in that beautiful city.

I will pick a winner when I return from my journey.  I will have a few posts go up while I am gone.  Until then, à bientôt!

One Year Ago: Strawberry and Sour Cream Ice Cream (from The Perfect Scoop!)
Two Years Ago: Spicy Lime and Herbed Tofu in Lettuce Cups (pardon the photo)

Flo’s Chocolate Snaps
Adapted from Ready for Dessert
Makes about 50 cookies

I took the liberty of adding ½ a cup of mini chocolate chips to my batter which you could, of course, leave out.  I cut my cookies a bit thicker than he recommends and next time I will just listen to him so they are thinner and snappier.

3 cups flour
¾ unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Into a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the sugar on medium speed just until smooth.  Add the vanilla, then beat in the egg and egg yolk.

Gradually add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until completely incorporated and no streaks of butter remain.  If using, mix the chocolate chips in by hand using a spatula.

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into quarters, and shape each quarter into a log about 7 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter.  Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until they’re firm enough to slice, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  (DT: I skipped this step and had no trouble with the cookies sticking.)

Slice the logs into disks ½-inch thick and place the disks on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about ½-inch apart.  Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are puffed and slightly firm, 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.  They will continue to firm up and get “snappy” as they cool.

(The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.  The baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container for 2 days.)


Category: Chocolate, Cookies, Personal, Travel
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Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

June 16, 2010

We food bloggers can be a bossy group.  You see a lot of “You have to try this!” and “This is the best (fill in the blank) recipe out there!  Throw away any other version!”.  We feel strongly about food and when we find something we like, we want to share.  I come by my bossiness naturally.  I am an oldest child and a Leo.  I have almost 40 years experience telling people what to do.

I like to think that I am not overly bossy on my site.  (Please let me know if you feel otherwise.)  I fully appreciate that taste is completely individual and something I love might be something you hate.  We all have different opinions about what is delicious and I respect that you might hate chocolate and french fries (although I will never never understand it).

It is with restraint and respect that I tell you that I have found the last chocolate chip cookie recipe I will ever need.  What I want to do is to type in all caps and tell you that you have found the last chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need…but I am holding my inner boss in check.  I respect that you might have a much beloved recipe that you will never part with.  But it is my duty as a food blogger to share my treasure.

I  never really gave much thought to chocolate chip cookies until the New York Times recipe came along several years ago.  Periodically I would see recipes in books and wonder why anyone would stray from the good old Tollhouse recipe.  When all the hubbub died down, I made the NYT recipe and understood that a chocolate cookie is capable of subtlety and there was a difference when you used different kinds of flour, used chocolate disks instead of chips, and let the dough rest at least overnight.  I made them again and again and thought I had found my until-the-end-of-time cookie recipe.

And then, just a few weeks ago, Ashley’s recipe came into my life.  You know Ashley, right?  If you don’t, you should.  This very sweet very young woman is very accomplished and a very very good cook and baker.  She teaches wonderful classes that happen to take place right next door to my house.  I have taken a few and I look forward to taking more.  I am a good cook and baker but I have learned some great things from her.  Like how to make a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

What makes them so special?  Three different kinds of sugar.  A long creaming time.  A lot of chocolate.  A little trick with adding the flour and chocolate pieces to prevent over mixing.  I don’t know.  I asked her what she thought made them so special and she answered, “It’s just all those things together”.  All right whatever, cookie genius.  What I do know is that these cookies turn out perfectly round (every single one of them!), they have loads of chocolate and no nuts (a big plus for me), and they are that perfect combination of crisp exterior and chewy interior.  They also have a sprinkling of sea salt on the top of each one which makes them irresistable.

I also asked Ashley about the let-the-dough-rest theory.  She said her cookies are in fact even better (is that possible?) if you refrigerate the dough for 24 hours.  When I told her that I found refrigerated dough kind of a pain to scoop, she said that she turns the dough out and forms it into a log.  Then she slices and bakes.  Cookie genius indeed.

One Year Ago:  White Chocolate Almond Chunk Cookies
Two Years Ago:  Feta and Ricotta Cheese Skillet Pie

Ashley’s Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
Not Without Salt
Makes about 2 dozen

I have made no changes to the original recipe but have clarified a bit, with Ashley’s blessing.  I used bittersweet chocolate for my cookies but semi-sweet would be great too.

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup Turbinado sugar
1¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
12 oz. chocolate (use the best quality chocolate you can afford.  With a serrated knife, cut chocolate into roughly ½-inch chunks.)
Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 360ºF.  Set rack in the middle of the oven.

Cream the butter and the sugars on medium-high speed until light, 4-5 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times during this process.  Continue mixing while adding the eggs one at a time.  Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next.  Add the vanilla.  Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.  Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl.  Mix with a whisk.  With the machine on low, slowly add almost all the flour.  Reserve just a bit of the mixture.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the last bit of flour along with the chocolate.  Stir with a spatula until just combined.

Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop out mounds of dough making sure there is about 2 inches between each cookie.  Do not crowd them and there is no need to press the dough down.  Sprinkle each mound with a bit of sea salt.

Bake sheets, one at time, until the cookies are lightly golden on the edges and a bit gooey in the center, about 12 minutes.  Do not overbake!  Remove sheet from oven and allow to sit undisturbed for two minutes.  Then carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack.  Repeat with the remaining sheets.

(DT: I have a convection feature on my oven and was able to successfully bake three sheets at a time.  If you do not have convection, I would highly recommend just doing one sheet at a time.)


Category: Chocolate, Cookies
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Giant Chocolate Cake

May 20, 2010

I’m not sure how this happened, but the last “treat” I posted was 2 weeks ago.  There have been lots of savory things in May but not many sweet.  Time to remedy that.

What do you do when you need a cake to feed a lot of people?  You can make a big fat layer cake which requires filling of some kind and often a buttercream frosting.  Or you can go easy on yourself and make a one-layer 12-inch dense chocolate cake with a ganache frosting.  You can serve 25 people easily with this baby.  Thankfully, I had a cake conversation with my friend and neighbor Julie before I made it.  She advised me to cut it like a wedding cake – that is, cut a smaller circle in the middle, cut the outer circle into wedges and the inner circle as you would a regular smaller cake.  That would not have occurred to me and my poor friends would have been trying to eat massive wedges of cake – not that there is anything wrong with that.

I realize not everyone has a 12-inch cake pan lying around.  The only reason I have one is that I made my own 3-tier wedding cake 7½ years ago, but I haven’t used the pan since then.  I hung on to it through moves to four different residences and am so happy that I did – this is definitely a cake that I will be repeating.  It was easy to make and even easier to eat.  It is perfect for those times when all you really want is chocolate with no other competing flavors.  Truth be told, I often feel that way and in those moments, what I crave is a brownie.  Think of this as a sophisticated brownie with just the perfect amount of over-the-top frosting.  The oohs and aahs when you bring out a giant cake are pretty nice too.

If you want to buy a large pan, I highly recommend buying what is called a cheesecake pan.  When I bought the pans for my wedding cake, I sought the advice of the somewhat cranky but incredibly knowledgeable woman who owns a local cake decorating supply store.  If you tried to bake a large cake in a simple cake pan, it would be difficult to get it out without wrecking the cake.  The cheesecake pan has a false bottom, much as fluted tart pans do, so you can just push the cake out of the pan without having to turn it upside down.

OR, if you don’t want to make a one-use purchase, you can get a little tricky and use alternate pan sizes.  It is a testament to how good this cake is that I got involved with a bit of math and figured out things like volume and inches.  Using Bing of course – not Google (we are a Microsoft household, wink wink), I found that the volume of a 12-inch round pan is 15 cups.  A 13-x-9 inch pan has the same capacity so you could make this same cake in a rectangular pan.  If you have two 8-inch square pans lying around or two 9-inch round ones, you could also make it in those.  The cakes will be a little flatter because the proportions aren’t exactly right.  The chocolate lovers won’t care.  Trust me.

Chocolate Cake Previously on Dana Treat:  (this is a little embarrassing) Milk Chocolate Layer Cake, Double Baked Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling,  Sweet and Salty Cake, Chocolate Spice Bread

One Year Ago:  Roasted Asparagus with a Poached Egg

Giant Chocolate Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
From Gourmet
24 servings

Cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Ganache
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
¾ cup sugar
Edible flowers for decoration (optional)

Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray 12-inch round cake pan with 2-inch high sides with nonstick spray.  Line bottom of pan with parchment paper round.  Spray parchment paper with nonstick spray.  Dust pan with flour, tapping out excess.  Sift 2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl.  Sift cocoa into another medium bowl.   Pour 1 cup boiling water over cocoa; whisk to blend.  Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add butter to egg mixture and beat until blended.  Beat in cocoa mixture.  Add buttermilk and vanilla; beat on low just to blend.  Add dry ingredients and beat on low just to blend.  Transfer  batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 38 minutes.  Cool cake completely in pan on rack.  (Do ahead:  Can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Ganache
Place chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl.  Bring cream and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Carefully pour hot cream mixture into bowl with chocolate.  Let stand 1 minute.  Whisk until melted and smooth.  Chill ganache until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Carefully invert cake onto large cake plate.  Gently remove parchment paper.  Spread ganache over top and sides of cake and allow ganache to set, about 1 hour.  (Do ahead:  Cake can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.  Allow to come to room temperature before decorating with flowers.)


Category: Cake, Chocolate, Dessert
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Gianduja Gelato

May 1, 2010

The first time I ever tasted Nutella, I was on a three month-long bike trip in France.  It sounds romantic, doesn’t it?  Rather than spending spring trimester of junior year in a classroom, I spent it on a bike riding through five different regions of France.  Even as I type that I think,”Man, that sounds amazing”.  Parts of it were amazing.  But not seeing the sun for 14 days straight and camping in soaking wet tents along the side of the road was not.  I was 16, cold, wet, hungry, and homesick.  Food was more important to me than it ever had been in my life up until that point.  Meals, homestays, and mail were the things that kept me going through what proved to be a difficult trip.

All of us carried food with us either in our paniers or, as in the case of baguettes, strapped to the back of our bikes.  There were certain things that some people were never without.  For me it was a large bar of chocolate.  Others were intensely loyal to Nutella.  I thought the idea of spreading a chocolate/hazelnut mixture on bread sounded like a strange and not-all-that-appetizing practice.  The color and consistency of Nutella turned me off  so I didn’t eat it.  Then one day, when I had run out of jam, I accepted a smear from a friend and then – oh yes – I understood.

What does this have to do with ice cream?  Friends, this is Gianduja Gelato.  In other words, Nutella ice cream.  Oh, and with a ribbon of dark chocolate running through it.  Homemade ice cream will impress just about any dinner guest (“You made the ice cream??”), but just to totally blow peoples’  minds, try serving this with Nutella Pound Cake.  Prepare yourself for praise.

(If you are looking for something more savory, I posted a terrific Eggplant Parmesan recipe over at Amazon Fresh.)

Gianduja Previously: Gianduja Mousse
One Year Ago: Classic Currant Scones

Gianduja-Stracciatella Gelato
The Perfect Scoop
Make about 1 quart

1½ cups hazelnuts, toasted
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. coarse salt
4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
5 large egg yolks
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
Stracciatella (recipe follows)

Rub the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the papery skins as possible, then finely chop them in a food processor or blender.

Warm the milk with 1 cup of the cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.  Once warm, remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts.  Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Put the milk chocolate pieces in a large bowl.  Heat the remaining 1 cup cream in a medium saucepan until it just begins to boil.  Pour it over the milk chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Set a mesh strainer over the top.

Pour the hazelnut-infused mixture through a strainer into a medium saucepan, squeese the nuts firmly with your hands to extract as much of the flavorful liquid as possible.  Discard the hazelnuts.

Rewarm the hazelnut-infused mixture.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm hazelnut mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the milk chocolate mixture.  Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Stracciatella
Make enough for 1 quart of ice cream

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (do not use chocolate chips)

In a clean, absolutely dry bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate stirring it until it is absolutely smooth.

Mixing it in: Drizzle a thin stream of the warm chocolate into the ice cream during the last possible minute of churning.  If the chocolate clings too much to the dasher, remove the ice cream from the machine and drizzle the chocolate into the frozen ice cream by hand while you layer it into the storage container, breaking up any chunks as you stir.


Category: Chocolate, Dessert, Ice cream
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