Tag archive for chocolate

I could tell that summer was fully over and fall was winding to an end when I stopped hearing our friends kid in the morning. Every morning at about 8:00 am Em heads off to daycare. He runs down a nearby flight of stairs hooting and hollering. Then one day about two weeks ago his shenanigans abruptly stopped. The sounds of summer fun were quickly replaced with rain beating against the windows. Alas, winter is here.

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In an effort to not remain indoors for the next 4 or 5 months Scott and I have learned to embrace the wet weather and still head out for our usual weekend adventures no matter what. This is where the chocolate cake comes into play. Who wouldn’t be ok with spending a few hours hiking in the rain if they knew this chocolate coconut pound cake was waiting for them at home.

Don’t judge. You do what you gotta do.

We’re bringing Valentine’s in-house this year. I know there is a case to be made for a lovely evening out, but this year, I think dining in is going to be just as much fun. And let’s be honest, finding a babysitter on Valentine’s evening is no easy task! At the request of a three-year-old, we’re going to “build” a raclette. He’s still working out the details of the accompanying meats and vegetables he’d like to cook, but I think he’ll come up with a good plan. And with a starting point of melting cheese and crusty bread, it’s hard to go wrong.

My son has always been accustomed to time in the kitchen. His first baby swing was set up in a corner of the kitchen and stayed there throughout his infancy. As a result, he has become keenly interested in what is going on—what is being prepared and more importantly, when can he have a taste of it? I take full responsibility for making an occassion out of every treat in the oven—turning on the oven light, and “voila,” pulling back the tea towel curtains with a grand flourish. Any baking process that involves a mixer has him standing at the kitchen counter, tightly gripping the rail of the chair, mesmerized by the spinning beaters. It hasn’t taken him long to learn the location of the baking staples and he dashes back and forth from the pantry, retrieving sugar and flour. He takes great pride in the moments when he alone holds the whisk over the bowl, attempting to stir with as much bravado as he can muster. I couldn’t be more pleased.

As he has gotten a little older, I’ve been looking for ways to get him a little more involved with whatever I am working on. It’s no surprise that he is more willing to try things he has had some hand in. Try as I might, I can’t get him interested in salad. But put him at the sink with a head of lettuce to wash, and suddenly the boy is crunching through leaves with the enthusiasm of a small rabbit! And while I generally don’t have to do much to get him interested in treats, I’ve been trying to include him in more of the baking steps. The gingerbread twigs I baked at the holidays were perfect for him and the inclusion of sparkles made them that much better. For Valentines, I’ve been looking for something that we could make together. This holiday is rich with fancy sweet treats, but what about something for a three-year-old to get involved with? How about some no-bake bars that require little more than a few swipes of the spatula through the melted chocolate, mingling marshmallows and crunchy nuts in a few deft movements? Sounds like a plan to me!

I hope your day is sweet, whatever your plans may be!

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Rocky Road

There are hundreds of Rocky Road recipes out there. This version uses dark chocolate, 60 to 75 percent cocoa is a nice range, for a rich flavor without quite as much sweetness. I added salted pistachios to bring a little savory note to these treats and a bright pop of color when cut into squares. A sprinkle of salt adds sparkle and brings balance to the rich chocolate. Perfect for assembling with children and sharing with sweethearts.

11 oz of good quality dark chocolate, chopped
10 oz. mini marshmallows
2/3 cup pistachios, shelled
Sprinkle of flaky salt, optional

Line an 8×8 baking pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.

Melt chocolate in a large bowl over a pot of steaming water. Remove from heat. Stir in the nuts and marshmallows. Place mixture in the prepared pan and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for at least two hours to set. Lift foil from pan and cut chocolate mixture into small squares. Wrapped tightly, squares will keep for several days.

Makes about 16 squares.

Nothing beats a snow day. Seriously, they really are the best. Or perhaps the truth of the matter is that I am still a kid at heart. I am particularly fond of the blanket of silence snow brings and the brightness that it adds to winters often grey days. This Christmas was a white one! These types of Christmases seem to come few and far between these days, so when the heavens opened up and the snow began to fall I strapped on my snowshoes and headed for the mountains. That may not be a totally accurate recount of the actual order of events but you get my drift.

My favourite treks are ones that venture off the beaten path and ever so slightly veer off into the woods were the snow is light and fluffy and I am sure to see a set of bunny tracks. This years snowshoeing treks were especially delightful as we had 2 new snow trekkers join our ranks. Both of whom were great sports and happily spent a number of afternoons traipsing through the trees on what eventually became a Sasquatch hunt. Alas a Sasquatch wasn’t to be found and we would head home rosy cheeked and ready for a little something to warm us up.



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On these types of days nothing warms you like a cup of hot cocoa!  And what better reward for our new snow trekkers than with this holiday take on the affogato.

Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Affogato

Hot cocoa
Candy cane ice cream
Peppermint extract (optional)

This recipe really is as simple as whipping up a batch of your favourite hot cocoa and topping it with a scoop of candy cane ice cream. I am a die-hard peppermint fan so I also like to add a drop or two of  peppermint extract into my cup. If you are unable to get your hand on a carton of candy cane ice cream you easily create your own by mixing crushed candy cane into some softened vanilla ice cream or perhaps even try a scoop of chocolate chip mint.

Nothing quite soothes the soul like a warm chocolate chip cookie on the first rainy evening in September. There is something so comforting about cookies, they seem to bring you right back to the good old days when you got to help your mom bake. Tasting the dough, watching the cookies slowly turn golden and eventually sitting down with a fresh cookie and glass of milk. In my case baking cookies seems to conger up memories of the time that my mom was baking cookies for guests that were arriving later in the evening and I did a super giant sneeze into the mixing bowl.

Anyway, enough about me and my cookie dough tragedies. This is a story about what may be the best chocolate chip cookie ever. In the world. Ever. You maybe wondering how on I came across the this recipe. Well, on Saturday Scott and I went on a Instagram walk and on that walk we met Jeff of @lostinkits. Jeff had ever so kindly baked cookies and brought them for all of us nerdy IGers.

After I ate my cookie I immediately had to chase down Jeff and get the recipe. Here is what he told me to do: mix the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Cook’s Illustrated with David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and you’re done. The result was pure magic: sweet, salty, rich, nutty, caramel… I could go on. This one will from now on be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Perfecter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from David Lebovitz, Cook’s Illustrated & Little Nest 

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
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1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel + additional salt for sprinkling
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped pecans toasted

Instructions
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour and baking soda. Next, over medium high heat, melt 10 tablespoons of butter in a light coloured sauce pan so that you can monitor the changing colour of the butter. Once the butter has melted continue cooking and swirling the butter until it is a dark golden colour and the butter develops a rich nutty aroma. This should take about 1-3 minutes. Once the butter has browned transfer into a heatproof bowl. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to the hot butter and stir until completely melted.

To the melted butter add both sugars, salt and vanilla, beat until fully mixed. Add the egg and additional yolk to the sugar mixture and whisk until no sugar lumps remain approximately 30 seconds, then let the mixture stand for 3 minutes. Repeat this process of 30 seconds whisking and 3 minutes resting 2 more times. The mixture will be thick, smooth and shiny. Using a wooden spoon stir in the flour mixture until just combined, about a minute. Add the chocolate chips and nuts until both are just mixed.

Set out two pieces of plastic wrap. Scoop the dough onto the plastic wrap and form into two large logs and wrap tightly. Place in the freezer and allow to cool for at least one hour, perferably over night.

Once the dough is fully cooled, heat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick rounds. Place on the cookie sheet with room between the cookies as they will spread. Top each slice with a small sprinkle of fleur de sel. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

*The dough will also keep nicely in the fridge for about a week.

One of my favourite columns on the Bon Appetit blog is the Fake it or Make it column. They test homemade items against their store bought counterparts, comparing cost, time commitment and taste. Good times! I personally like the idea of making whatever I can from scratch but sometimes that just doesn’t happen…

Case in point, the other day while at the grocery store I found myself facing a dilemma right out of the fake it or make it column. Cake mix and premade icing were on sale for 1$ and my very eager shopping companion insisting that we needed both items or we would face certain death. I’m not sure what the emergency was all about, but I could only assume that it had something to do with the impending zombie apocalypse that I was hearing about. I guess zombies don’t like chocolate cake?!?! Here I was thinking that guns were your only option against zombies. Anyway, the whole cake and icing thing turned out to be a big decision for me. On one hand I would much rather make a cake from scratch, I’m not sure if it is true, but deep down I feel like a homemade cake is healthier. On the other hand, over 2 years ago I bought two 9″ round cake pans because I was going to start making layer cakes. I still haven’t made a single layer cake. So, in all honesty what was the likely hood that on a Monday evening I was going to head home, make and ice a cake all from scratch. Not likely.
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So into the basket went the cake mix. But I drew the line at canned icing. Zombies or no Zombies I was not eating canned icing. So, I faked the cake and made the icing. Where do you draw the fake it or make it line?

*If you ever find yourself being attacked by zombies and you try to ward them off with a cake and it doesn’t work, it’s not my fault. I’m just throwing out ideas here.

Cookies – who can get enough of them? Around our house, it seems like we almost have more fun making them than eating them. Every weekend, or so it seems, the little guy starts rummaging around in the cupboards, finds the mixer and started chanting something about making cookies. It’s a habit we got started around the holidays and I can’t say I’ve done anything to discourage it.

Sometimes I distract him with the idea of using the mixer for other things. We’ve made bread and rolls, whip cream and soufflé. But it always comes back to the cookies. And I know we could be a little more adventurous with our cookie choices, but somehow the chocolate chip varieties are always popular.

Everyone has a go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies, right? Maybe even a couple, to suit different moods? I am fond of this recipe because of its convenience – make the dough and pop it in the fridge. Then get ready to enjoy a pan of fresh cookies at a moment’s notice. OK, maybe 10 minutes notice! I love that I don’t have to bake them all at once. I’m also kind of a sucker for chocolate chunks, hand-cut by yours truly. The chocolate shaves off the thin slivers, leaving some chocolate dust, as well as perfect size bites of chocolate.

Also, if you ever find yourself with the tail end of a few chocolate bars that didn’t quite get finished, this recipe is a great way to use them up. I also like to vary the cocoa percentages – you can tailor the chocolate to your taste, adding in a little more bitter varieties to keep the sweetness in check. Sometimes it is tasty to add in a little bit of a mint chocolate bar or something equally delicious for a fun surprise. And while the salt doesn’t have to be added at the end, I think it’s a nice touch.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Fleur de Sel

Adapted from Little Nest’s recipe

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
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2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound good quality chopped bittersweet chocolate
Fleur de sel, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy in an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the edges of the bowl between each addition. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a bowl. Chop the chocolate into pieces about 1/4 inch thick, or to your preference. Add the chocolate into the flour mixture. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and stir gently, until just incorporated. Set out two pieces of plastic wrap. Scoop the dough onto the plastic wrap and form into two large logs and wrap tightly. Place in the fridge and allow to cool for at least one hour.

Cut the dough into rounds. Depending on your preference of crisp or tender cookies, somewhere between 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Place on the cookie sheet with room between the cookies as they will spread. Top each slice with a small sprinkle of fleur de sel. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

The dough will also keep nicely in the fridge for about a week, which is perfect if you prefer your cookies fresh out of the oven!

If you are like me, you are a Valentines Day slacker. I decided to whip up a batch of brownies and call it. By the way, this was my first batch of brownies ever! So, fingers crossed, I have made a yummy chocolatey treat. I turned to Gilt Taste for my recipe. I couldn’t help it, these brownies looked easy, but also fancied up just enough to make them a special treat. I can tell you they smelled delicious while they were baking. But the verdict is still out on taste, I’m sure I’ll have an update later. However, if you are looking for a sure thing to go along with a bottle of bubbly there is no better choice than kettle corn.

Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions
In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. add the popcorn. When the oil sizzles, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels. Cover and shake the pan until the popping slows down, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss with the salt.

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Adapted from Gilt Taste | Makes 8 2″ brownies

2/3 cup (5 ounces) unsalted high-fat butter (like European or European-style butters)
5 ounces unsweetened excellent chocolate
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons best-quality vanilla extract
4 farm fresh organic eggs
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup all-purpose white flour, sifted

1. To prepare the pan, butter a 9×9 square pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the bottom again and lightly dust the pan with chocolate or cocoa powder.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Beat the eggs and salt in a stand mixer. Add the sugar and beat on high for about 10 minutes, until the mixture has turned quite white. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs, beating on low until just mixed.
5. Gently stir in the flour until it just disappears.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, place in the middle of the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes; the brownies will be quite fudgy and a toothpick should come out not quite clean. Cool on a rack.
7. Invert the pan, remove the parchment paper and invert again onto a cutting surface. Cut into squares.