Tag Archives: recipes

Homemade Chocolate Mousse

24 Apr

Certain recipes instantly go into the “filed for life” box.  This is one of them.

I love chocolate mousse when it’s good. But so many times it’s just not.  It’s not chocolaty enough or it’s gritty or it’s sickeningly sweet.  This mousse is just perfect. And much easier to make than I anticipated.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com. Step one: whip cream to form light peaks.  You would think that I have done enough homemade schlag in the past to know better than to leave the mixer unattended while whipping, but alas, I wound up with some stiffer peaks than I anticipated. Luckily, this didn’t impact the recipe from what I could taste.

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This recipe especially caught my eye because Ghirardelli is my favorite chocolate to bake with. Hands down, changing to these chips made every recipe better. Every time I run out and use Nestle’s or Hershey’s, the taste difference is noticeable and if I’m making anything with melted chocolate, these cheaper brands just don’t temper as well, come out as smooth and uniform, nor taste anywhere near as good.  Lesson for anyone new to chocolate: Spend the extra $1 on the good chocolate chips. It’s worth it. Case in point, these melted perfectly smoothly in my double boiler (metal bowl placed on top of a pot with simmering water… hint: make sure the bowl is bigger than the pot so steam doesn’t work it’s way out of the pot and into your chocolate).

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AllRecipes is my favorite recipe site because of the dedicated readers who leave comments on the recipes. Thank goodness for them!  While certain times I don’t follow their advice and end up with a mess, this time, they guided me in the right direction, because while the recipe calls for 4 eggs, they really meant 4 egg WHITES.  Big difference.  The egg whites fluffed up perfectly with the sugar.

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I think the next ingredient is where this recipe really takes on a new level.  1/4 cup of coffee added to the recipe gave it a richer flavor that also countered some of the sweetness without making it taste less chocolaty.  A few people mentioned that they left out the coffee and regretted it later.

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You stir the coffee into the chocolate and then quickly add the eggs and fold in the whipped cream. I was nervous that the chocolate would bind upon adding the coffee (chocolate basically turns into an ugly mess when it’s mixed with water), but working quickly left me with a perfectly smooth and delicious mousse.

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Any elegant chef might pour these into a martini glass or mason jar to present, but I had to make them transportable to offices, so I went with Dixie cups.  Keepin’ it classy.

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I also wanted to top each with whipped cream, but whipped cream won’t stay fluffed overnight, so I added a tiny bit of gelatin to my whipped cream for the first time to stabilize it and, surprisingly, it worked. And it still tasted great.

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This recipe was perfectly delicious and surprisingly easy to make. I highly recommend this as a crowd pleaser (and impresser!)

Ghirardelli Chocolate Mousse
  
recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: Ghirardelli®
Servings: 8
“Serve this simple chocolate mousse in a martini glass for a fancy presentation. A dollop of whip cream adds an elegant touch.”
INGREDIENTS:
10 ounces Ghirardelli 60% Cacao
Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup coffee, hot
4 eggs, room temperature (JUST THE WHITES!)
2 tablespoons sugar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Whip the cream to form light peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator. Melt the chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl set over barely simmering water. Meanwhile, whip the eggs with the sugar until very fluffy and thick, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir the hot coffee into the melted chocolate chips. The mixture will start to thicken, so work quickly. Quickly stir in the beaten eggs, then fold in the whipped cream. Pour or spoon mixture into cups or bowls, and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 4/22/2012

Recipes with Homemade Bread: Grilled Cheese and French Toast

17 Apr

It was very exciting to have finally successfully made bread.  We gave one loaf away to friends, but that still left us with more bread that we could eat between the 2 of us.  So… it was time to come up with some meals that included bread.  Which led me directly to grilled cheese and French toast.

Grilled cheese was up first.  I browned some shallots in butter first.

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Then I sliced some apples very thin and layered it up with Gruyere and the shallots and placed each sandwich in a pan with hot butter to brown up.

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The bread was browning but the cheese wasn’t quite melting  yet… so I turned the heat down and let ‘em melt.

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And melt they did.  

Boy were these good!  The sharp cheese combined with the sweet apples and shallots made for an incredible grilled cheese sammie.  The homemade bread browned up nicely and maintained a crunch on the outside with some fluff on the inside.

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Next morning it was French toast time.  I actually realized that I hadn’t made French toast in quite some time, and really didn’t remember exactly what to do.  One thing I always disliked about French toast at restaurants is when it is nicely browned on the outside  but still tastes like normal bread on the inside.  I decided that if I really buried these slices in the egg and cinnamon mixture and left it for a while to absorb, that should do the trick.  Problem is, the bread was so fresh and fluffy that it started to fall apart.  Damn.  Had to just make do.

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They browned up really nicely and tasted great… on the outside.

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The inside was still lacking in the flavor… so I vowed to learn a better way.

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It was just a few days later that I saw a perfect “How To” from America’s Test Kitchen. Turns out, if you bake the bread first to dry it out, that solves the problem that I saw and helps it absorb the right amount but not be soggy. (Here is their recipe)

Next time!

Sludge Fudge

22 Mar

For my coworkers birthdays, I have sent surveys to ask for their favorite desserts.  My one coworker said “anything with raspberries and chocolate” so I went about trying to find a fun recipe that included both.  I was surfing through allrecipes.com and came upon a beautiful looking chocolate and raspberry layered fudge recipe. 

It started out pretty good… made some easy chocolate fudge and layered it on the botton… then made some of the raspberry fudge and layered it on top, then topped it with raspberries. 

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It sure looked pretty.

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That is… until I tried to get it out.

Turns out, the top layer didn’t actually set up.  It was basically raspberry mush… and it caused what can only be defined as “goop” to spread all over the fudge below as soon as I cut into it.

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Don’t get me wrong, it still tasted DEElicious, but it was a sloppy, gooey, sticky mess.

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The notes on the recipe said that a lot of people had this issue, and I should have listened.  Only a few people had issues, so I figured they screwed up and if I followed the recipe pretty closely, I’d be fine.  Wrong.  It didn’t seem that the ratios between the chocolate fudge and the raspberry fudge were that different, but white chocolate does act very differently.  I would make this again, but with more white chocolate and no cream, and perhaps some gelatin.

 

________________________
RECIPE
________________________

 

Raspberry Truffle Fudge

  
recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: Leeza
Photo By: littlemisscook
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Servings: 40
“A unforgettable double-layer confection that’s absolutely perfect for your true love!”
Ingredients:
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed
milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
salt to taste
 
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup raspberry flavored liqueur
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (substitite white chocolate to get the top layer to be pink)
Directions:
1. Spray a 9×9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, and line with wax paper.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 3 cups chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat in microwave until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let it scorch. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Spread into pan, and cool to room temperature.
3. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine cream, liqueur, and 2 cups chocolate chips. Heat in microwave until the chocolate melts; stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, then pour over the fudge layer. Refrigerate until both layers are completely set, about 1 hour. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com Copied from Allrecipes.com 3/18/2012

I made bread!

24 Jan

Two years ago, I epically failed at making bread. I went into it with such gusto… but it was so traumatic that it took a full 2 years for me to pull up the courage to try again.

I received a recipe that my friend Lillian had been using for years.  By the time I put all the dough together and kneaded, I wound up with a perfect ball of dough.  A much better state than the one from 2 years ago at this point.

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And then I left for a bit and came back the requested 1 hour later and was overjoyed to see my dough had risen SO MUCH that it was playing pic-a-boo under my dish towel.

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Now that was SOME rise!

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I pulled it out and took out some aggression by punching it in the face. (And while you’re there… LIKE NYC Nom Nom on Facebook!)

I then split it into 2 loaf pans and one mini loaf pan.

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And since I just can’t 100% follow a recipe without adding something to it… I painted the top of olive oil and then added flake salt to the top of the mini loaf.

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And when it came out of the oven, I was ecstatic.  Not only did it LOOK like bread… it SMELLED like bread!

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And it’s hard to resist a wee loaf.

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The bigger loafs also… amazingly… both LOOKED and SMELLED like bread.  It was so satisfying! (So satisfying, in fact, that I debated not cutting into it just in case I screwed something up)

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But cut into it we did and it sliced up perfectly.

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And then we ate it with homemade jam…

And it was good.

Damn good.

It was BREAD! Real bread!

And I made it.

_______________________
RECIPE
_______________________

Homemade White Bread from Lillian (original source unknown)

INGREDIENTS:
7 1/4 to 7 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon nonfat dry-milk powder (they sell this in big packets in big boxes)
2 packages active dry yeast
2 2/3 cups water
1/3 cups shortening
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt

DIRECTIONS:

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of the bread flour, the nonfat milk powder and yeast; set aside.
  • In a medium saucepan, heat and stir water, shortening, sugar and salt until just warm and shortening almost melts (I actually got nervous because I know temperature is important for yeast, so I looked it up and found this handy dandy chart. I realized my water was WAY too hot already, so I pulled it and let it cool down to below 130°)
  • Add water mixture to the dry mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly.
  • Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
  • Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can with a wooden spoon.
  • Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
  • Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that’s smooth and elastic (8-9 minutes total). Shape the dough into a ball.
  • Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface of the dough. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (45-60 minutes)
  • Punch dough down.
  • Turn out again onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 2 or 3 equal portions.
  • Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, lightly grease two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or three 8x4x2 inch loaf pans.
  • Shape each portion of dough into a loaf by rolling on a lightly floured surface into a 12×8 inch rectangle. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting from the short side. Seal with fingertips as you roll.
  • Place into prepared loaf pans.
  • Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (20-30 minutes).  (Mine didn’t really rise MUCH more, I guess because it rose SO much in the first round, but it turned out just fine)
  • Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap the top with your finger. (My mini loaf took about 20 minutes total)
  • Immediately remove bread from pans and cool on wire racks.

YIELD: 2 or 3 loaves

Best Recipes of 2011

29 Dec

As I reflected on the past year and searched for recipes, I realized a very important thing about 2011… we didn’t cook NEARLY as much as we did the years prior (2010 best recipes here) or at least didn’t post as many recipes.  And almost everything I cooked was of the dessert variety. Hmmm… Reflection is 20/20.

So without further ado… please enjoy my favorites of 2011:

Pancakes

Bailey’s Frosting

Fudged Fudge

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

The Famous Cider

Strawberry Shortcake

Salted Caramels

Grandma’s Plum Tart

Homemade Popovers

Drunk ‘N Nutty Pie

Happy Nomming!

“What do I make for my Cookie Exchange?” (AKA The Big Dessert Post) – 2011 Update

12 Dec

#1 question that is coming up right now:

“What should I make for my cookie exchange?”

(Funny story… I have never been to a cookie exchange. I do love the concept… trading recipes and eating cookies does sound particularly awesome.  Perhaps I shall host one next year!)

In honor of the holidays… here is a selection of options that I have blogged about in the past that are great for a cookie exchange (with some 2011 updates):


Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars/Cups (cups recipe at bottom of post)

Black and White Cookies

“O” Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cake Balls (they’re almost a cookie)

Homemade Crunchie Bars AKA Chocolate Covered Honeycomb (also not quite a cookie, but I think candy can count for an Exchange)

Chocolate Coffered Toffee with Salt (Candies for Cookies)

 

2011 Update:

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

 

Chestnut Cookies

 

Homemade Salted Caramels (this photo was done in a mold and topped with chocolate)

 

Faux Fudge:

 

Meringue Mini Pies

 

Not into cookies/candies but still need a good dessert?


Peach and Pear Crumble

Key Lime Pie

Pie Variation #1 (Apple, with detailed instructions on making pie crust)

Pie Variation #2 (Cranberry Apple Pie- Prepared Crust)

Berry Belt Cake

 

2011 additions:

Grandma’s Plum Torte

Pumpkin Cheesecake: (and how to water-bathe it)

Drunk ‘N Nutty Pie

Strawberry Shortcake

Confetti Cupcakes with Bailey’s Frosting

 

If anyone does use any of these recipes for an Exchange, just give them this blog URL and ask them to tell all their friends!  K? :)

I will continue to add to this post as I post more dessert recipes.  So bookmark it or find it in the “Best of the Best” tab on the title bar.

Spiked/Spiced/ Sloshed/Sloppy Cider

29 Nov

A hit at fall parties has always been a special hot cider recipe.  It is easy to make for a large group of people and is always a crowd pleaser.  The recipe below is for about 10 people and you can just increase the amount from there.  We usually make it in a big lobster pot and let it boil away. Added bonus: It always makes the house smell AMAZING!

If you have kids, a fun project is putting cloves in the apples so they look like medieval torture devices.

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Ingredients:
  • 1 gallon of apple cider
  • 2 apples (you want something firm… I usually use granny smith but anything works as long as it’s not super soft)
  • 1 orange, sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons of whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  • ~4 tablespoons of cinnamon (I do this to taste since it depends on how strong the cinnamon is and if they added cinnamon to the cider you bought)
  • 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (or more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon allspice (or more to taste)
  • Spiced Rum
Directions:
  1. Pour cider into a big pot and bring to a simmer
  2. While it is heating, poke cloves into the apples
  3. Add the cloved apples and the sliced oranges to the pot (it doesn’t have to be simmering yet, just add it whenever you are done slicing and assembling)
  4. Add the brown sugar and spices
  5. Let it simmer for at least 1 hour (the longer it simmers, the better it is)
  6. Taste it along the way and spice it up as you like it. If it’s not sweet enough, add more brown sugar.
  7. When you are ready to serve it, pour it into a hot cup and then add as much rum as you would like (don’t add it until right before drinking or else all the alcohol burns off… and what’s the fun in that?)

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Strawberry Shortcake

21 Sep

 

I was on a mission to make a great strawberry shortcake.  In my mind, the shortcake should always be more biscuit like. It has become fashion to make a strawberry shortcake with something that resembled angle food cake rather than the shortcake I know and love.  I went through AllRecipes.com and read a lot of reviews and comments and eventually decided on the one that had the most people complaining about how this didn’t taste like commercially bought shortcake.  Perfect!

I also picked up an awesome tip when reading the reviews.  It is always a difficult task to keep the butter cold (an important part of flaky crust) while also getting it small enough to blend into a crust.  So someone recommended to freeze it and then use a cheese grater to make little butter ribbons.  Wouldn’t you know? Worked like a charm!  I will be doing this for all future baking.

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I wanted to make smaller short cakes, so I opted to make the dough into smaller balls and then press them down to create smaller shortcakes (rather than 2 large ones that I would layer). I also tried another version where I put them in mini tart pans, and that worked well also.

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The dough was a bit sticky, but as long as you’re not too worried about getting your hands dirty, easy to work with. I also added in almond and vanilla extracts to add a bit of flavor.  It was a good move.

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You are supposed to layer it with sugar coated strawberries, but I am a fan of adding balsamic vinegar to the mixture to add a little punch to the flavor.  I then made some home made whipped cream, layered, and adorned with fresh strawberries.  It was delicious!!

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___________
RECIPE
___________

Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake
(Original Credit to AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 quart strawberries, sliced
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (I wound up needing a bit more since it was a humid day and my dough was a bit sticky)
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I added this)
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract (I added this too)
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
  • Balsamic Vinegar (enough to coat the sugared strawberries)

Directions

  1. In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar; coat with balsamic vinegar, chill.
  2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly. (refer to tip above about grating butter)
  3. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well.
  4. Add vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened.
  6. Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans. (Or into 8 4-5 inch tart pans, or divide into 8 balls and flatten onto a greased or Silpat cookie sheet)
  7. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread over dough.
  8. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
  9. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden.
  10. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer may be thin.)
  11. Cool completely.
  12. Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream.
  13. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers. Garnish with mint if desired.

 

 

 

Confetti Cupcakes with Bailey’s Frosting

12 Sep

I have a tradition in my office where I bake my coworker’s favorite desserts for them on their birthday.  One coworker said she loved confetti cake.  Hmmm… I was stuck.  That’s out of a box.  But… I said ok. I went to the store and looked for a box of confetti cake.  To my dismay, they had none.  I wasn’t sure if confetti cake could actually be made (weren’t those sprinkles inside magic so they got soft and didn’t bleed into the cake?) but a short google later, I found out that any regular sprinkles will do.  Good to know!

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So I whipped up a simple vanilla cake recipe (recipe here) and added in some sprinkles.  Worked like a charm!

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But I had to get a little more original with the frosting.  Lori had blogged about a Bailey’s frosting a few months back, and that seemed like a great idea to spice up these cupcakes. She originally got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

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I also bought a new cupcake piping set, and it made for some LOVELY looking cupcakes.

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So lovely in fact, that I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

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And this picture was definitely my favorite.

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If you want to make Bailey’s frosting at home, I recommend staying very close to the following recipe.  I added a bit of extra powdered sugar to make sure the peaks kept their shape after I piped them and brought this to the office.  It was perfect.

___________________
RECIPE
___________________

 

Bailey’s Frosting
(from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

 

Directions:

1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.  NOTE FROM SMITTTEN KITCHEN THAT REALLY HELPED: “This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.”

2. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

 

 

 

Pancake Party

23 Jun

 

One thing I get complimented on often is my pancakes.  I think this is funny, because pancakes are SOOO easy.  All you need is a few tricks of the trade.

Oh… and a little extra of a secret ingredient that isn’t so secret… vanilla.

I always like to make my batter in a measuring cup, because it makes it so easy to pour the batter onto the pan.  I originally used this measuring cup to mix vinegar with milk and let it sour (it takes 5 minutes, and adds a wonderful taste to pancakes!)

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And I love that the center burners pull out and a griddle pan locks in.  Makes for a lot more room to cook pancakes!

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I add extra vanilla to my pancakes which gives it a little extra somethin somethin.  Most recipes call for about half of what I put in, but everyone seems to like them when they are extra vanilla-y.

So what is the key to pancakes that are not overcooked but not raw on the inside?  Bubbles!  In the below picture, you can see a pancake just start to bubble with one little hole.

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You want to wait until it looks like that across most of the surface.

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So when you flip them over, they are perfection.  (Hint: if they are getting too brown before bubbling, turn the heat down… if they aren’t browned enough, turn it up.  If you get mass bubbling and no browning, turn them over to cook on the other side, then flip them back over to brown to your liking on the original side when the pan is hotter)

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Not everyone likes chocolate chips in their pancakes (I call these people “crazy people”) so I always make a plain batch and then mix in what I want (this is another great reason to use the measuring cup to pour… you can make small batches with different mix-ins).

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Mmmm pancakes.

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____________

RECIPE

____________

 

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp. of vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • cooking spray

Directions

  1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”. (I do this directly in the measuring cup)
  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk and add the vanilla. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. (I like this recipe because it’s one bowl and one measuring cup, which I re-use to pour the batter)
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray or butter. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

 

 

 

 

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