labor of love...

ok

ok

ok...i know.

it's march 2nd and the last post was way back when in january.
(and yes, i wrote this on march 2nd and haven't had a chance to publish it yet...bad skimmy!)

trust me.

this cake is worth the wait...even if it was a labor of love.

2 days + one dozen eggs + 1lb of chocolate = bliss!

chocolate feather bed

(from here)

note: given the intense richness of this cake, i'd probably only make half the next time around since it takes such a small piece to transport you to the heavens.

anything with a british accent...

if i had watched love actually before getting married, i swear i would have found me a cute british boy to whisper sweet nothings in my ear...the english just get some things so right. rpatz, anyone??


this toffee is another one of those things that the english just got so right...
really simple ingredients that chemistry changes into something magical! the toffee is firm but not so tough that you would crack a filling. i had made this recipe for a dinner party on saturday but the hubby kept going back into the fridge that by the time the dinner party rolled around, i almost had to make another batch!!


english toffee

1 lb unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoon water
1 cup slivered almonds
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup lightly toasted pecans, finely chopped

1. melt three-fourths of the chocolate in a microwave oven at half power for 2-3 minutes. after melting, stir in the remaining chocolate and set aside. line a large jelly roll with heavy duty foil and butter the foil.
2. melt the butter with the salt in a heavy 3 QT saucepan over medium heat. slowly add the sugar, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. add the water about halfway through this process.
3. after all the sugar is added, begin testing the mixture to see if the sugar is dissolved. place a drop of the mixture on wax paper. allow it to cool before rubbing it between your fingers to make sure it doesn't feel grainy. continue to cook until all the sugar has dissolved, testing intermittently. (the mixture will most likely be boiling by this point.)
4. when the sugar has dissolved, add the almonds and increase the heat to medium high. cook to the hard crack stage (310 - 320 degrees) stirring constantly to prevent the candy from burning on the bottom. when it is done, the candy should be a medium-amber color.
5. remove from heat and pour into the prepared pan, spreading as evenly as possible with an offset spatula. set the pan on a cooling rack. after 2-3 minutes, pour reserved chocolate on top and spread evenly. sprinkle with chopped nuts and press them gently into the chocolate to set.
6. allow the toffee to harden 6-8 hours (but preferably overnight). break into pieces using a sharp knife. store in an airtight container in a cool place.

the holiday decorations are already up...

can you believe it?!

i happened to catch the martha stewart show one day while she was making these cookies and i was hooked. i had to make them.

i know nothing about martha's stock scandal nor do i have an opinion on it...but dayam, that woman knows cookies. i think i made these on at least *3* separate occassions last holiday season...and it takes a lot to remake a recipe when your stack of to-make recipes keeps spilling over onto the floor!

especially when these require quite a bit of work to make...the dough is incredibly sticky, uses an ingredient i use NO WHERE else and requires two hours to chill. i hate having to wait longer for goodness in my belly!!

but gawd, these are worth it!! (i also double the recipe to minize the pain...)

chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

from martha stewart

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate*
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup unsulfered molasses

1 teapoon baking soda

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks and set aside. in a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and cocoa.
2. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened (about 4 minutes). add brown sugar and beat until combined. add molasses and beat until combined.
3. in a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons of boiling water. beat half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. beat in baking soda mixture and then add the remaining flour mixture. mix in chocolate. turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. pat dough out to about 1 inch thick and seal with plastic wrap. refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
4. preheat oven to 325 degrees. line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. roll dough into 2-inch balls. place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. refrigerate for 20 minutes. roll dough balls into granulated sugar and return to baking sheets. transfer to oven and bake for about 18 minutes until surfaces crack slightly. let cool 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: if you have to get these into your belly quickly, you can use chocolate chips instead. they don't have the same texture and you won't get the small pieces that will just melt into the batter but they're still pretty darn good. =)

a pain in the bundt

it's been awhile since i've made a bundt cake...and now i remember why. while pretty, cleaning the pan is a pain in the bundt!! (i know...hardy har har...)

yet another dorie recipe... =)

she adds ground walnuts to the recipe which i thought was really interesting. i didn't notice them flavor-wise but definitely noticed the difference in texture. it made for a slightly heavier, "meatier" mouth feel.

i got a little overzealous and accidentally poured more than half of the batter with the chocolate. so instead of a pretty marble cake, i ended up with a chocolate cake with speckles of white. oh well...all's well that tastes well!
mocha-walnut marbled bundt cake
from baking from my home to yours by dorie greenspan

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground walnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup coffee, hot or cold
1 teaspoon finely ground instant coffee or espresso powder
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk, room temperature

1. center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. butter and flour a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) bundt pan.
2. whisk together the flour, ground walnuts, baking powder and salt.
3. set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. put 2 tablespoons of butter into the bowl along with the chocolate, coffee and instant coffee (or espresso) powder. heat the mixture, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate are melted and everything is smooth and creamy. remove the bowl from heat.
4. working with a stand mixer, beat the remaining 2 sticks of butter and sugar at medium speed until combined (about 3 minutes - this will not be light and fluffy.). beat in the eggs one by one beating after each addition. add in the vanilla extract. reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the dry ingredients with the milk alternating, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
5. scrape a little less than half of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and using a spatula, stir to blend thoroughly.
6. alternate spoonfuls of light and dark batter into the ban and swirl with a table knife to marble them.
7. bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. transfer the bundt cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes. unmold the cake and cool completely on the rack.

pudding in a cloud

the hubby: "do you like chocolate pudding?"
me: "sure...why?"
the hubby: "will you make pudding in a cloud?"
me: "what the heck is pudding in a cloud???"

i've learned a lot from being married...
how to make crab cakes
how to quickly and neatly fold 17 white t-shirts in one load of laundry
how to keep the bedroom cool enough for the hubby but warm enough for me to fall asleep
...and now i can add one more to that list - pudding in a cloud.

chocolate pudding
whippy cream (his words - not mine!)
chocolate pudding
whippy cream
...enough so you can see each layer.

chocolate pudding
from smitten kitchen

i love that this pudding doesn't use egg yolks as a thickener (made me feel better about my thighs as i was licking the spoon). the only downside is that it didn't seem to have the silky rich smoothness that comes from using egg yolks. don't get me wrong - the pudding was silky and rich - but i almost felt like i could feel the granularity of the cornstarch (could totally just be me). but i also liked that there is some variability in the chocolate. you can turn up the intensity of the chocolate by using a darker chocolate (i used 70% which made for a pronounced C H O C O L A T E flavor).

worth the extra hour on the treadmill...

so i signed up to be one of the testers for cook's illustrated.

i got the first recipe a little over a week ago...and i didn't make it.

i couldn't bring myself to use 3 egg YOLKS...i already have something like six egg whites sitting in the fridge, which i keep telling myself will be used to tackle macaroons. (did i mention that they've been sitting there for two weeks already and i have yet to make them??)

and besides, i already had a brownie recipe i LOVED...

intense chocolate flavor

crunchy walnuts

with just a hint of coffee...YUM.

the original recipe makes an awful lot of brownies and so i cut the recipe in half. and if you've ever noticed, the barefoot contessa loves to use extra-large eggs (which are not baking standard btw!). i used large eggs and didn't notice a difference in texture for lack of liquid.

go and make!
...and then if you want, we can just tell everyone we went to the gym. ;)

outrageous brownies (appropriately titled)

adapted from foodnetwork.com

1 cup unsalted butter

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped*

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease and flour a 9 x 13" baking pan.
   
2. stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar in a separate bowl. stir in the cooled chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
   
3. stir together 1/2 cup of flour, baking powder and salt. add to the cooled chocolate mixture.
   
4. toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of flour. add to the chocolate batter and pour into prepared pan.
   
5. bake for about 25 minutes or until tester come out clean. halfway through baking, rap the pan against the oven to allow air to escape from between the pan and brownie dough (and rotate the pan while you're at it). do NOT overbake!!! cool thoroughly before devouring.

*the original recipe tells you to use chips...except that chips were not meant to be melted and want to hold their shape. so it will take a little coaxing to get the chocolate mixture smooth. you can skip the extra coaxing by using a semisweet chocolate bar as opposed to the chips.

learn from my mistakes...

a couple of months ago, one of my girlfriends got into b-school and we went to l'ecole to celebrate. if you don't happen to know, l'ecole is the restaurant attached to the french culinary institute and they have this amazing deal ($35 for the chef's classic meal or $42 for a four course prix-fixe dinner). not only is the food amazing but since it's part of the cooking school, you get all these extras! like after we paid the bill, the waiter gave us each a cupcake to go. and walking out the door, the hostess told us we could take a french baguette if we wanted...and that loaf was NOT small.i almost threw away the cupcake...because i didn't get a chance to think about it until 3 days later and was worried it would be stale. but in the car on the way to boston, i decided to try the cupcake. it was this intense dark chocolate color - almost black! and covered in a smear of what looked like chocolate ganache...and i hoped that it wouldn't be too dry after sitting out for 3+ days in my kitchen.

OH MY GAWD...that cupcake was quite literally a little slice of heaven. it was soft and moist and so intensely chocolate there was no room for cloying sweetness. and the ganache? icing on the cake... ;)

i had come across this recipe before but had never made it until now. learn from my mistakes, people...make this now, asap, right this minute. don't wait until tomorrow...there is a reason why there are over 1200+ reviews on the website waxing poetic about this cake. heck! i waxed poetic after eating two cupcakes straight out of the oven standing over the kitchen sink. it is QUITE if not an almost perfect rendition of that little bite of heaven from l'ecole.

enjoy!

(the recipe can be found here.)