Sans Rival

Ingredient

•  10 large egg whites, room temp
•  1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
•  1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
•  ¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
•  2 cups (480 ml) (240 gm) (8½ oz) chopped, toasted cashews

Directions:
Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.
1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.
2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)
4. Fold in nuts, reserving enough to use for decoration.
(Note the more finely ground for folding into meringue. The coarsely ground for is decoration of finished cake.)
5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.
7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.
French Buttercream:

Ingredient

•  5 large egg yolks, room temperature
•  1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
•  1/4 cup (60 ml) water
•  1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
•  Optional Flavorings: 2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) almond extract, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) vanilla extract, or any flavor you like

Directions:
1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).
3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.
Assembly:
Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.
Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a
thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of
buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and
sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. It is easier to cut cold. May freeze.

AMAZING!!

Just sayin’.

Last year I had done some searching for recipes that both used pumpkin and white chocolate.

Do you think I could find it when I actually wanted to make it? Of course not.

As I was browsing just plain blondie recipes, I came across Smitten Kitchen.
Looked like something that I could modify! And I did.

These were so tasty and not too sweet. My recipe is below, and I will link her original for you all to look at.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter, melted
• 1 cup (218 grams or 7 3/4 ounces for light; 238 grams or 8 3/8 ounces for dark) brown
Sugar
• 4 oz White Chocolate
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup (4 3/8 ounces or 125 grams) all-purpose flour
• ½ cup pumpkin
Direction
1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and white chocolate – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in pumpkin.
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 30 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times – has a gooey middle!

After tasting this cupcake at a wedding I just had to try to make them myself. Some encouragement came from My Baking Addiction and their holiday recipe exchange.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by Scharffen Berger.

One tip I have is to make sure your ganache isn’t too warm or it will melt the “bumps”. My cupcakes are not a dense chocolate like you see with other recipes. The ganache gives such a great punch of chocolate that I didn’t want to over power the cupcakes.

This cake was first created by Sanders’ in the Detroit area. They have been making all sorts of yummies since 1875. You may have seen their ice cream toppings in your local store.

Enjoy!

Detroit Bumpy Cupcakes

Ingredients
• 3 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 8 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 5 large egg, separated into 5 yolks and reserving only 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk, room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini cupcake pans with 72 mini cupcake liners or line a regular-size cupcake or muffin pan with 24 cupcake liners.
Melt chocolate in double broiler or microwave, set aside.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat about 3 minutes more, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract and cooled chocolate. On low speed, mix in 1/3 flour mixture and 1/2 the milk, repeat alternating between the flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. Do not over beat once the flour mixture is added. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium-stiff peaks form and fold into the batter. Scoop the batter into the lined mini cupcake pan or regular-size cupcake pan. Bake 22 minutes for mini cupcakes or 27 minutes for regular-size cupcakes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting

Cream filling “bumps”

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream

Pipe strips onto the cupcakes using a pastry bag

Chocolate Ganache:

• 8 T cocoa
• 4 T oil
• 4 T + 8 t water
• 4 T dark corn syrup
• 4 C powdered sugar

Butter Cream “Bumps”

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Fill pastry bag and set aside.

Chocolate Ganache:

Mix all except sugar in a saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot. Whisk in sugar and stir until smooth.
To assemble:

After cupcakes cool, pipe 2 large strips of buttercream on each cupcake. Freeze for at least 30 mins. Make ganache and once frozen dip the cupcakes into the ganache. Refrigerate until set. Enjoy with a large glass of cold milk!

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
This was a fun month! I had a wedding shower, bachelorette party and a wedding. My cousin got married at the beginning of the month so it’s been extremely busy.

This challenge was a lengthy but fun adventure. I made the Pate de Fruit first and it turned out the first attempt! The candy was yummy, a way softer version of a fruit roll up. It takes time so be prepared!

The chocolates were not as quite successful. My tempering needs a lot of practice. They look awesome, just didn’t set quite right. Not as firm or as shiny as they should have been. Oh well, they tasted good. That was what was important in the long run.

If you want to learn how to make your own dulce de leche, David Lebovitz as a great post using a can of sweetened condensed milk. Find it here

Dulce de Leche Chocolates

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form (about the size of almonds).
• Place about ⅔ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl
• Set aside ⅓ of the chocolate pieces
• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water) Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that may fall into your
• chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!
• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly

• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)
• Add small amounts of the remaining ⅓ un-melted chocolate (seeds) and stir in to melt
• Continue to add small additions of chocolate until you’ve brought the chocolate down to 27°C/80.6°F (You can bring the dark chocolate down to between 80°F and 82°F)
• Put it back on the double boiler and bring the temperature back up until it reaches its working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart. (32°C/89.6°F for dark, 30°C/86°F for milk and 29°C/84.2°F for white)
• If you still have a few un-melted bits of chocolate, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently and watching the thermometer constantly.
• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature so that it doesn’t go over its working temperature

It’s now tempered and ready to use
Filling Molds:
Directions:
1. If using colored cocoa butter and plastic molds, paint designs at the bottom of the wells in each mold. Let dry. You can also use lustre dusts mixed with a bit of extract or vodka, instead of colored cocoa butters for a nice sheen. Let painted molds dry.

2. When coating the molds with the tempered chocolate, I like to do it how the chocolate pro’s do it (much faster and a lot less tedious). While holding mold over bowl of tempered chocolate, take a nice ladle of the chocolate and pour over the mold, making sure it cover and fills every well. Knock the mold a few times against a flat surface to get rid of air bubbles, then turn the mold upside down over the bowl of chocolate, and knock out the excess chocolate. Turn right side up and drag a bench or plastic scraper across so all the chocolate in between the wells is scraped off cleanly, leaving you with only chocolate filled wells. Put in the fridge to set, about 5 to 10 minutes. Alternately, you could take a small brush and paint the tempered chocolate into each mold, or spoon it in if you’d like.

3. Remove from refrigerator and fill each well with the filling of your choice. Again take a ladle of chocolate and pour it on top of the filled chocolate wells, knocking against a flat surface to settle it in. Scrape excess chocolate off the mold with the bench scraper then refrigerate until set.

4. When set, pop your beautiful filled chocolates out of each well and enjoy!

Strawberry Paté de Fruit

Directions:
1. Prepare an 8”x8” (20cmx20xm) pan by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spraying it with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor and process until very well pureed.
3. Pour them through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan, discarding any remaining fruit chunks. Stir in the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar, place the pan over medium-high heat, and insert a candy thermometer.
4. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it is hot, around 140°F/60°C. Add the remaining 1.5 cups of sugar and the liquid pectin, and lower the heat to medium.
5. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture registers 200°F/93°C. At this point, turn the heat to low and hold it at 200°F/93°C for 2-3 minutes. After this, return the heat to medium and bring it up to 225°F/107°C. This process will take some time, especially with the heat on medium, so have patience and be diligent in stirring frequently so the bottom doesn’t scorch.
6. Once the fruit paste reaches 225°F/107°C, turn the heat to low and keep it at that temperature for an additional 2-minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and scrape (Note
from Lisa: I poured it in, it should still be quite liquid) the strawberry pate de fruit mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing it into an even layer.
8. Allow the pate de fruit mixture to set at room temperature for several hours, until completely cool and firm. Use a sharp knife to cut it into very small squares, and roll the individual pieces in granulated sugar.
9. The strawberry pate de fruits can be served immediately, or refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week. If refrigerated, the pieces may need to be re-rolled in granulated sugar before serving.

Note:
Some paté de fruits take quite a long time to cook. If you think about what’s happening, you’re cooking all of the liquid out of the fruit puree and reducing it to a very thick paste. The exact amount of time depends on a lot of factors, like how much water was in your puree to begin with, the capabilities of your stove, and the quality of the pan you use. But you can expect the process to take at least 30 minutes and sometimes up to an hour. I do want to add that this is easier on a gas range, but can absolutely be done on an electric stove – in fact, I use a very old electric stove at home and it works fine.

The wedding was a success!

Congratulations to my cousin Chris and his new wife Courtney.

For her bridal shower I wanted to make something fun that they would get a kick out of. I went with pink champagne cupcakes! Paired with milk chocolate champagne truffles.

I am not a big wine/champagne drinker but these little cakes sure did taste wonderful. Thank you to Homemade By Holman’s Champagne Cupcakes

The recipe for the truffles I can’t find, but basically I used milk chocolate and a few tablespoons of the champagne to flavor it. Darker chocolate over powers the flavor of the booze.

Champagne Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• ¾ cup champagne
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners (makes about 22 cupcakes)
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of champagne combined with vanilla.

In a clean bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until they hold stiff peaks. Fold in about 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten the batter then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Transfer batter to cupcake liners, filling each about 2.3 of the way full. Bake approximately twenty minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about five minutes in the pan and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp champagne

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium high speed until smooth and fluffy, about three minutes. Add vanilla extract and about three cups of powdered sugar. Mix on low speed to combine. Add in champagne and mix on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat about one minute to whip frosting. If frosting appears to be thin, add additional powdered sugar as necessary to reach desired consistency.

It’s seriously hot outside. And that calls for ice cream. Especially homemade ice cream. The hard part is waiting for it to be finished. This one was worth the wait!

I love the combination of coffee and chocolate together and I think that it was the perfect coffee flavor for me.

Only thing I recommended is adding some whipped cream on the top.

 French Vanilla Coffee Chip Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients
• 1 cup whole milk
• Pinch of kosher salt
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 ½ cup whole bean French vanilla coffee
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1.  Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Add coffee beans. Remove from heat and cover for at least an hour.
2.  Set up an ice bath. Place a bowl in the partially filled bowl of ice and pour in cream. Place strainer on bowl.
3.  In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk and gradually add to the egg yolks whisking constantly. Pour back into the sauce pan.
   Cook on low heat stirring constantly until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
4.  Strain into the cream. Add the vanilla and chill in the refrigerator; overnight recommended.
5.  Place your chocolate chips in a food processor and blitz until smaller pieces.
6.  Freeze your ice cream in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions. Towards the end of freezing, add your chocolate chips.
   Place into bowl and then into the freezer to firm up.

Summer is here! Yay!

Since I live in Northern Michigan, the weather can be hit or miss. Last year we didn’t have a whole lot of nice warm summer days. We seem to be on a better track so far this year.

This means it’s camping time. For other people. I don’t get to go except once a year due to my job. This really reduces the amount of S’mores that I consume.

To solve this issue, I decided that S’mores in cupcake form was needed. Graham cracker cake, marshmallow filling, and Hershey’s chocolate frosting. Gotta have the Hershey’s otherwise it wouldn’t be a S’mores.

After doing some searches on the use of the cracker in cake I found that on foodnetwork.com, Cupcake Wars had a Cinnamon Sugar Graham Cracker cupcake. Modifying this to fit my idea provided to be a success. Take out the cinnamon and change the frosting and add the filling. Done!

S’mores Cupcakes

Ingredients
• 3 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 large egg, separated into 5 yolks and reserving only 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk, room temperature

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini cupcake pans with 72 mini cupcake liners or line a regular-size cupcake or muffin pan with 24 cupcake liners.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, and set aside.
Combine the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar in a small bowl and pour in the melted butter. Stir until combined, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat about 3 minutes more, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract and cinnamon. On low speed, mix in 1/3 flour mixture and 1/2 the milk, repeat alternating between the flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. Do not over beat once the flour mixture is added. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium-stiff peaks form and fold into the batter. Fold in the graham cracker-brown sugar mixture. Scoop the batter into the lined mini cupcake pan or regular-size cupcake pan. Bake 22 minutes for mini cupcakes or 27 minutes for regular-size cupcakes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting

Cream Filling (Enough to fill and decorate 24 cupcakes)
Courtesy of Evil Shenanigins

2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool.
Whip the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy. Add the water and whip well.

Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting

1 stick softened butter
1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
3 oz Hershey’s Chocolate bar(s)
Few tsp of milk

Chop the chocolate and melt in the top of a double boiler. Set aside to cool.
Cream the butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, then chocolate, and beat on medium, adding milk in 1/4 tsp increments if necessary to make smooth frosting.

In April my cousin Jamie and I went to a chocolate festival. If you’re thinking “there must have been a lot of chocolate there” you are correct. We actually volunteered which meant free chocolate! Can’t really beat that at all.

Vendors from the area had their wares displayed and samples available. Oh so fabulous.

One of the vendors had these brownies available to taste. Using their new cocoa product, a powdered cocoa that includes the cocoa butter. No melting required at all. Davis Chocolate is the name of the company that has created this awesome product.

I just had to buy some. It called to me. I spent $12 on one pound of chocolate. 1/3 cup equals one ounce of chocolate. It melted just like a bar of chocolate in my sauce pan!

It is worth checking out, all organic chocolate.

Katharine Hepburn Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 ounces (60 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (100 grams) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Next, stir in the vanilla extract and eggs. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and chopped nuts (if using).
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. These freeze very well.
Makes 16 brownies.

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

Yet again another busy month for me.

This dessert is awesome tasting! The work that goes into it is worth it for sure. A little time consuming but not altogether difficult. The  changes I made were to use a quarter of the recipe and instead of tequila I used Smirnoff’s Orange vodka, chocolate almonds and omitted the spices. The orange worked so well with the chocolate and caramel! If you are a fan I do recommend trying an orange flavor.

Chocolate Marquise
Servings: 18 2.5″x2.5″ cubes

Ingredients

• 11 large egg yolks at room temperature
• 4 large whole eggs
• 2/3 cup (150 grams/ 5.3 oz) sugar
• 1/3 cup (2⅔ fluid oz/ 80 ml.) water
• Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
• 2 cups (16 fluid oz. / 500 ml.) heavy cream
• 2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling) (Note: We used extra brut, like Hershey’s Special Dark. Make sure it’s a Dutch processed cocoa, not a natural cocoa powder.)
• Torched meringue (recipe follows)
• Spiced almonds (recipe follows)
• Cacao nibs (optional)

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 – 15 minutes.
When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C). If you have a cake tester with a metal loop for a handle, the right stage for the syrup is reached when you can blow a bubble through the loop

With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.
When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you’ve whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn’t allow in any air).

Freeze until very firm, at least 2 – 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).

When you’re ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it’s still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment ‘handles’ or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment.

Cut it into cubes and roll the cubes in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don’t do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue, caramel, spiced nuts, cocoa nibs) are ready. The cubes need to sit in the fridge to slowly thaw so plating components can be done during that time. They don’t need to be ready before the cubes are rolled in the cocoa powder.

Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they’ve softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you’ll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate.

Chocolate Base

Servings: N/A – this is an ingredient for the chocolate marquise, not meant to be used separately

Ingredients

• 12 oz (340 grams/ 1½ cups) bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)
• 12 oz (355 ml/ 1½ cups) heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 cup (60 ml/ 2 fluid oz.) tequila
• 1/4 cup (60 ml/ 2 fluid oz.) light corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons/ less than an ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey’s Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 oz unsalted butter (2 tbsps. /30 grams), softened

Directions:
1. Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
2. In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
3. Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe.

Torched Meringue

Servings: Makes about 4 – 5 cups of meringue. If you aren’t planning on serving *all* of the marquise at once, you might want to scale this recipe back a bit.

Ingredients

• 11 large egg whites
• 1 ¾ cups (14 oz or 395 gms) sugar
• Splash of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don’t feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you’re ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue onto a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

Tequila Caramel

Servings: Makes about 1 cup of caramel

Ingredients

• 1 cup (8 oz.) sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 fluid oz. / 120 ml.) water
• 1 cup (8 fluid oz. / 240 ml.) heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons tequila

Directions:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water on medium-high heat. Boil until the water completely evaporates and the sugar caramelizes to a dark mahogany color.

Working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot.

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken. When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and tequila and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.
Spiced Almonds

Servings: Makes about 1 cup of spiced almonds
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg white
• 1 cup (145 grams/ 5 oz.) blanched whole almonds

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
3. In a larger mixing bowl whisk the egg white until it’s frothy and thick.
4. Add the spice mix to the egg white and whisk to combine completely.
5. Add the nuts to the egg white mixture and toss with a spoon.
6. Spoon the coated nuts onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake the nuts for 30 minutes, or until they turn light brown. Allow the nuts to cool completely and they will get very crunchy. Set aside until ready to serve.

Well today I received news that even though I’ve lost 22 lbs and started a job that is pretty active, my cholesterol has jump up 60 points.

And guess when I found this out.

Yep, while making these cookies.

Of course this news made me want to eat the whole batch. I did resist. I only had four.

This is my grandma’s recipe and all that is listed is the ingredients in the following order with the temp and baking time. The rest of the steps are how I interpreted it! Love Love these.
Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Cups flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 sticks oleo (butter)

~ Vanilla Sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the peanut butter
and mix well. Add eggs one at a time until well blended. Add the flour and baking
powder and mix until combined.

Scoop with medium scoop and roll into vanilla sugar.

Baking on baking sheet for 10-12 minutes