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...and to all, a good-night!
12/24/09
12/16/09
National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day
Did the title make your toes curl?
Mine too!
And, thanks to other chocolate radicals out there, this is only one of many chocolate holidays celebrated throughout the year.
There's also National Chocolate Day, National Milk Chocolate Day, National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, and National White Chocolate Day (seriously?), to name a few.
In any case, Marsha from Marsha-Kitchen is having a chocolate party, and you're all invited.
How many treats did I cover in chocolate, you ask? Well, uh...one.
I covered a single cake. Not too adventurous, true. But cake was what I craved at the time.
Besides, everything on the cake is chocolate. From the creamy ganache, and chocolate plastic bow, to the pine cone petals. Harmony is once again, restored to the universe, right?
The pine cone petals were made first, using dark chocolate, which was melted in the microwave, at 50% power, and stirred every 12 to 15 seconds.
Chocolate 'blobs' were smeared onto parchment paper, with the aid of an offset spatula. It took 10 ounces of chocolate, to cover the 9-inch cake halves.
I baked my favorite Almond Cake in a large, two-piece, egg-shaped pan.
Once cooled, I placed each half onto a cake board, and covered them with a whipped, dark chocolate ganache.
While the ganache was still soft, I placed the pine cone petals onto each cake, starting at the narrow end, and slightly overlapping each row, covering the entire cake.
The Chocolate Plastic Bow was made from a recipe I've shared on just about every cake decorating site on the interwebz, since 1995.
You may already have a recipe for chocolate plastic (which, btw, goes by many other names: chocolate clay, chocolate paper, chocolate paste, etc.), but this is the recipe I started using before dinosaurs roamed the earth, and it's always been very consistent. Give it a try.
Chocolate Plastic
1 lb. white, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate
½ cup glucose
2 teaspoons ice water
Melt chocolate, stirring often. This can be done gently, in a microwave, at 50% power. Or, in a double boiler.
Once chocolate is melted, stir in glucose and mix in lightly. Add water. Stir again, until incorporated, but don't overmix. Spread chocolate mixture onto a plastic wrap-lined platter. Cover tightly, and allow mixture to ripen 8 hours, or overnight, until firm. Knead before using.
If the chocolate plastic sets too hard, soften it in the microwave, for only a few seconds at a time, until soft enough to knead. It should be very smooth and malleable.
The white chocolate paste can be tinted with paste, or powdered food coloring.
Note: I've always used Lindt Chocolate for chocolate plastic. But Callebaut, and even Baker's chocolate would be fine.
To make the bow, get some sponge curlers, like the ones your mom used to wear to bed every night. Remove the plastic clip, and use the sponges to support your chocolate bow, until completely set.
You can add interest to chocolate plastic by using textured rolling pins, available in cake decorating shops, or online.
For the tails, just roll out chocolate paste to 1/8 inch. If you like, place them on sponge rollers to shape, as pictured, or keep them flat.
What? Not enough love in my post?
Well here, stick your face in this...
And, if you're not a chocolate fan, well then, we just can't be friends. But I'll forgive you, and suggest you go to a teddy bear near you, and just squeeze.
The world may not be all sunshine and rainbows, but chocolate helps.
Mine too!
And, thanks to other chocolate radicals out there, this is only one of many chocolate holidays celebrated throughout the year.
There's also National Chocolate Day, National Milk Chocolate Day, National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, and National White Chocolate Day (seriously?), to name a few.
In any case, Marsha from Marsha-Kitchen is having a chocolate party, and you're all invited.
How many treats did I cover in chocolate, you ask? Well, uh...one.
I covered a single cake. Not too adventurous, true. But cake was what I craved at the time.
Besides, everything on the cake is chocolate. From the creamy ganache, and chocolate plastic bow, to the pine cone petals. Harmony is once again, restored to the universe, right?
The pine cone petals were made first, using dark chocolate, which was melted in the microwave, at 50% power, and stirred every 12 to 15 seconds.
Chocolate 'blobs' were smeared onto parchment paper, with the aid of an offset spatula. It took 10 ounces of chocolate, to cover the 9-inch cake halves.
I baked my favorite Almond Cake in a large, two-piece, egg-shaped pan.
Once cooled, I placed each half onto a cake board, and covered them with a whipped, dark chocolate ganache.
While the ganache was still soft, I placed the pine cone petals onto each cake, starting at the narrow end, and slightly overlapping each row, covering the entire cake.
The Chocolate Plastic Bow was made from a recipe I've shared on just about every cake decorating site on the interwebz, since 1995.
You may already have a recipe for chocolate plastic (which, btw, goes by many other names: chocolate clay, chocolate paper, chocolate paste, etc.), but this is the recipe I started using before dinosaurs roamed the earth, and it's always been very consistent. Give it a try.
Chocolate Plastic
1 lb. white, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate
½ cup glucose
2 teaspoons ice water
Melt chocolate, stirring often. This can be done gently, in a microwave, at 50% power. Or, in a double boiler.
Once chocolate is melted, stir in glucose and mix in lightly. Add water. Stir again, until incorporated, but don't overmix. Spread chocolate mixture onto a plastic wrap-lined platter. Cover tightly, and allow mixture to ripen 8 hours, or overnight, until firm. Knead before using.
If the chocolate plastic sets too hard, soften it in the microwave, for only a few seconds at a time, until soft enough to knead. It should be very smooth and malleable.
The white chocolate paste can be tinted with paste, or powdered food coloring.
Note: I've always used Lindt Chocolate for chocolate plastic. But Callebaut, and even Baker's chocolate would be fine.
To make the bow, get some sponge curlers, like the ones your mom used to wear to bed every night. Remove the plastic clip, and use the sponges to support your chocolate bow, until completely set.
You can add interest to chocolate plastic by using textured rolling pins, available in cake decorating shops, or online.
For the tails, just roll out chocolate paste to 1/8 inch. If you like, place them on sponge rollers to shape, as pictured, or keep them flat.
What? Not enough love in my post?
Well here, stick your face in this...
And, if you're not a chocolate fan, well then, we just can't be friends. But I'll forgive you, and suggest you go to a teddy bear near you, and just squeeze.
The world may not be all sunshine and rainbows, but chocolate helps.
11/25/09
The Stinking Rose
You can just about imagine my reaction when I learned that Kim Alexis’ diet regimen included garlic. It was, "Who?" "What?"
Well, I heard it from a friend of a friend, of a friend's cousin, twice removed...so it must be true. Apparently, the 80s supermodel is a big advocate of the Italian perfume, and routinely consumes copious amounts of garlic.
If I had only known that garlic was the crucial component in Alexis’ perfect face and body, I would’ve grown my own stinking garden 30 years ago.
Of course, I’m only kidding. It's a well-known fact that, I too, could’ve been a thupermodel...if I had longer legs, flawless features, and the appetite of a fruit bat.
But no. Instead, I opted to be a work in progress.
But I will never denounce garlic! And this creamy, garlicky soup with just a gentle kick from the cayenne pepper is one way I procure my intake of the pungent lily.
I urge you to make it, soon.
Roasted-Garlic and Gorgonzola Bisque
Serves 6.
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 whole cloves garlic, about 3 bulbs
¾ cup dry sherry
¼ cup brandy
4 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart chicken stock
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 ounces Gorgonzola
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the whole garlic cloves to the pan, decrease the heat to low, and cook until cloves are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
Carefully add the sherry and brandy, increase the heat to high, and reduce the liquid by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and chicken stock. Cook until the potatoes are tender.
Purée with a handheld blender, or in batches in a blender or food processor. Return soup to the pan, and add the cayenne pepper and heavy cream. Cook over low heat until the cream almost comes to a boil. Whisk 4 ounces of the cheese into the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the soup, topped with the remaining Gorgonzola. The one pictured below was my serving, which I topped with hot sauce. I like heat.
Adapted from Caprial's Bistro-Style Cuisine.
I sometimes serve this soup with plain crostini, or bread sticks, using a basic pizza dough for the latter. I used kitchen scissors to snip Vs at one end of the breadsticks to create the "wheat sheaf."
But hey, this time of year, the Bread Leaves would also be a nice touch.
I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
May your turkey be plump and your waistline plumper, if only for one day.
It is Thanksgiving, after all.
11/10/09
I Heart Oatmeal
T
he experts agree. A bowl of cooked oatmeal is a healthy, fiber-rich and cholesterol-lowering way to start your day.
The experts have also concluded that dark chocolate (as opposed to that icky, solid white substance that tries to pass itself off as chocolate) is loaded with powerful antioxidants.
It is instrumental in decreasing bad LDL cholesterol. And flavonol-rich dark chocolate promotes healthy blood flow, similar in effect to a low dose aspirin.
Got a headache? Have a chocolate chip cookie.
Got high cholesterol? Have an oatmeal, chocolate chip cookie.
And now—by the power infested in me—by the commonwealth of (Hershey) Pennsylvania, I give you my family's favorite recipe for chewy, oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies.
These may never win a beauty contest, but neither has Keith Richards, and look how popular he is. Buh-dum-chhh!
Forgive me Keith. Call me.
Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
2¼ cups AP flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line sheet pans with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and both sugars, until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla extract and the molasses. Beat until blended.
With mixer on low, add the flour mixture, and beat just until blended. Stir in the oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts, if using, until evenly distributed.
Drop the dough by tablespoons onto prepared sheet pans, about 2" apart. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes. Yield: 5 dozen cookies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And because I got your back, here is another wonderful cookie recipe for you. This one comes from my friend Sharon, whose blog is like taking a trip to the beautiful Canary Islands, but cheaper than airline tickets and hotels.
Only changes I made to Sharon's recipe were to substitute butter for the margarine, because butter is what I always have on hand. And using chopped walnuts, instead of raisins, because my ball and chain dislikes them.
Willow's Glazed Apple Cookies
Cookies:
½ cup soft margarine
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
2 cups AP flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
2 peeled and grated, medium size, Granny Smith apples
1 cup chopped raisins
¼ cup milk
Glaze:
1½ cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon soft butter
dash of vanilla
pinch of salt
dash of cinnamon
2 - 3 tablespoons of heavy cream
Stir well to make a very soft but not runny icing.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream margarine with sugar . Add egg and spices. Beat until well blended.
Add apples and milk.
Sift together the dry ingredients adding raisins and nuts, if using.
Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and stir well until blended.
Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets, 2” apart.
Bake 13 - 14 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool approximately 10 minutes. Glaze while cookies are still warm.
Enjoy my friends. And I'll see you in health.
10/31/09
A Tale of Two Sillies
6:55 p.m. There was a chill in the country air, as a boy and his father eagerly walk out the back door of the old farmhouse, and into All Hallows’ Eve.
Playfully kicking little piles of crisp, fallen leaves, they make their way to a small tent they had set up in the woods just days before.
7:00 p.m. The boys reach their tent. A structure of cheap polyester was all that stood between them and the rapacious creatures that thrive when the sun goes down.
The autumn wind whistled through the tent, persuading them to gather kindling to build a fire, all the while anticipating a modest feast of s’mores and hot dogs stashed in their backpacks.
7:23 p.m. Pandemonium brakes out in the tent.
“A stuuunk! It’s a stunk!” the young boy screams.
("Stunk" being the boy's term for Skunk)
Without hesitation, the boys ripped through the flap of their tent, making a bee-line for home. And leaving a trail of marshmallows back to reality.
Perhaps I should mention (with devastating sarcasm) the tent stood only 23 feet from home.
What a pity. Of all the wild critters in the woods, the guys became unhinged by a certain Peppi Le Pew, hell-bent on crashing their garden party.
Based on a true story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, would you look at the time! I can't end our visit without sharing what I made for the two brave male characters in the story.
Say hello to Steampunk Jack. Thanks to my daughter for the steampunk idea.
Jack was baked in two 6” in diameter half ball pans (You could use mixing bowls for this).
I have only two favorite chocolate cake recipes—this is one of them—appropriately named,
Ultimate Chocolate Cake.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350°F.
Grease and line bottoms of two 9" cake pans with parchment paper (I used the ball pans mentioned earlier, with enough batter left over to fill a mini loaf pan).
Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or in a microwave on High, stirring every 10 to 15 seconds). Allow chocolate to cool.
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in melted chocolate.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt, and add gradually to chocolate mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Stir in boiling water and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for several minutes in the pans. Invert onto a wire rack to cool. Slightly adapted from a recipe by aunt Martha Stewart~
Steampunk Stylin' Jack
I sliced each half to create 4 layers. Then filled with chocolate ganache. Even though the cake was small I inserted couple of wooden skewers through its mangy little head and into the cake board for stability.
The cake was iced thinly, and allowed to set until no longer sticky to the touch. If you'd rather not wait, refrigerate the cake until buttercream is firm.
Tinted rolled fondant went on the cake next. Indentations on the pumpkin were made with a chopstick, but a skewer works too. Be sure to do this while the fondant is still soft. The white rolled fondant collar and bowtie were added last.
Jack's top hat was made of pastillage because this medium dries faster and harder than gum paste. But I also recommend it because it is made with ingredients already in your cupboard.
Pastillage
1 tablespoon gelatin
1/3 cup water
4 cups confectioner's sugar (lightly spooned into cup)
1/2 cup cornstarch (lightly spooned into cup)
1 pinch cream of tartar
food coloring (optional)
Sprinkle the gelatin over water in a small heatproof glass cup. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Set in a small pan of simmering water, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. (This can be done in a microwave on high power for a few seconds). Remove from heat.
Combine the sugar, cornstarch and cream or tartar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Stir in the gelatin mixture until blended. Mix with lightly greased hands and knead until sugar is incorporated.
Turn onto a smooth, lightly greased surface and knead until smooth. If pastillage seems dry, knead in a few drops of water. If too sticky, knead in more confectioner's sugar~
Allow pastillage to rest for at least 1 hour before using. To prevent it from drying out, keep it tightly wrapped in plastic, and place in an airtight container.
Store 1 month at room temperature, or freeze indefinitely.
Recipe: The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Instructions for Top Hat
An empty tin can, covered in plastic wrap and well dusted with cornstarch, was used to shape the top hat.
Roll out your pastillage to about 1/8-inch thick. Using the tin as a guide, cut out the top of the hat. Next, measure the tin's circumference (adding ½-inch to the length), cut out the strip for what will be the side of the hat.
Wrap the pastillage strip around the tin. For a clean cut, overlap the ends, and cut through all layers with an X-acto knife. Lightly dampen the ends to secure. Set on a cornstarch dusted tray to dry, while you make the brim.
Follow the same steps for the brim that you used to make the top of the hat. But add an extra 2 to 2½ inches. AND, poke a hole in the center of the brim with a wooden skewer. Allow the top and brim to dry completely, before gluing together.
What to use for glue?
No, not royal icing. Instead, dissolve a small ball of pastillage by adding a few drops of water at a time, until it is the consistency of Elmer's glue. Attach by brushing this glue on all the edges. Set aside to dry.
Take a toothpick or wooden skewer (depending on the size of your cake), insert it halfway into the top of the cake, wherever you want to position the hat. Slide the skewer through the hole in the hat, to securely anchor the hat to Jack's head.
The word, Boo, was handpainted with paste food color thinned with vodka.
Well my friends, the bewitching hour is upon us...
The stunk and I wish you a Happy Halloween!
Playfully kicking little piles of crisp, fallen leaves, they make their way to a small tent they had set up in the woods just days before.
7:00 p.m. The boys reach their tent. A structure of cheap polyester was all that stood between them and the rapacious creatures that thrive when the sun goes down.
The autumn wind whistled through the tent, persuading them to gather kindling to build a fire, all the while anticipating a modest feast of s’mores and hot dogs stashed in their backpacks.
7:23 p.m. Pandemonium brakes out in the tent.
“A stuuunk! It’s a stunk!” the young boy screams.
("Stunk" being the boy's term for Skunk)
Without hesitation, the boys ripped through the flap of their tent, making a bee-line for home. And leaving a trail of marshmallows back to reality.
Perhaps I should mention (with devastating sarcasm) the tent stood only 23 feet from home.
What a pity. Of all the wild critters in the woods, the guys became unhinged by a certain Peppi Le Pew, hell-bent on crashing their garden party.
Based on a true story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, would you look at the time! I can't end our visit without sharing what I made for the two brave male characters in the story.
Say hello to Steampunk Jack. Thanks to my daughter for the steampunk idea.
Jack was baked in two 6” in diameter half ball pans (You could use mixing bowls for this).
I have only two favorite chocolate cake recipes—this is one of them—appropriately named,
Ultimate Chocolate Cake.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350°F.
Grease and line bottoms of two 9" cake pans with parchment paper (I used the ball pans mentioned earlier, with enough batter left over to fill a mini loaf pan).
Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or in a microwave on High, stirring every 10 to 15 seconds). Allow chocolate to cool.
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in melted chocolate.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt, and add gradually to chocolate mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Stir in boiling water and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for several minutes in the pans. Invert onto a wire rack to cool. Slightly adapted from a recipe by aunt Martha Stewart~
Steampunk Stylin' Jack
I sliced each half to create 4 layers. Then filled with chocolate ganache. Even though the cake was small I inserted couple of wooden skewers through its mangy little head and into the cake board for stability.
The cake was iced thinly, and allowed to set until no longer sticky to the touch. If you'd rather not wait, refrigerate the cake until buttercream is firm.
Tinted rolled fondant went on the cake next. Indentations on the pumpkin were made with a chopstick, but a skewer works too. Be sure to do this while the fondant is still soft. The white rolled fondant collar and bowtie were added last.
Jack's top hat was made of pastillage because this medium dries faster and harder than gum paste. But I also recommend it because it is made with ingredients already in your cupboard.
Pastillage
1 tablespoon gelatin
1/3 cup water
4 cups confectioner's sugar (lightly spooned into cup)
1/2 cup cornstarch (lightly spooned into cup)
1 pinch cream of tartar
food coloring (optional)
Sprinkle the gelatin over water in a small heatproof glass cup. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Set in a small pan of simmering water, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. (This can be done in a microwave on high power for a few seconds). Remove from heat.
Combine the sugar, cornstarch and cream or tartar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Stir in the gelatin mixture until blended. Mix with lightly greased hands and knead until sugar is incorporated.
Turn onto a smooth, lightly greased surface and knead until smooth. If pastillage seems dry, knead in a few drops of water. If too sticky, knead in more confectioner's sugar~
Allow pastillage to rest for at least 1 hour before using. To prevent it from drying out, keep it tightly wrapped in plastic, and place in an airtight container.
Store 1 month at room temperature, or freeze indefinitely.
Recipe: The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Instructions for Top Hat
An empty tin can, covered in plastic wrap and well dusted with cornstarch, was used to shape the top hat.
Roll out your pastillage to about 1/8-inch thick. Using the tin as a guide, cut out the top of the hat. Next, measure the tin's circumference (adding ½-inch to the length), cut out the strip for what will be the side of the hat.
Wrap the pastillage strip around the tin. For a clean cut, overlap the ends, and cut through all layers with an X-acto knife. Lightly dampen the ends to secure. Set on a cornstarch dusted tray to dry, while you make the brim.
Follow the same steps for the brim that you used to make the top of the hat. But add an extra 2 to 2½ inches. AND, poke a hole in the center of the brim with a wooden skewer. Allow the top and brim to dry completely, before gluing together.
What to use for glue?
No, not royal icing. Instead, dissolve a small ball of pastillage by adding a few drops of water at a time, until it is the consistency of Elmer's glue. Attach by brushing this glue on all the edges. Set aside to dry.
Take a toothpick or wooden skewer (depending on the size of your cake), insert it halfway into the top of the cake, wherever you want to position the hat. Slide the skewer through the hole in the hat, to securely anchor the hat to Jack's head.
The word, Boo, was handpainted with paste food color thinned with vodka.
Well my friends, the bewitching hour is upon us...
The stunk and I wish you a Happy Halloween!
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