Chocoholic Friday

Whew, what a week it's been.  Trying to do a minor remodel in the kitchen-very minor but hopefully it will create more storage and more baking space for moi !  Had to make a decision about my job and if I wanted to move on to more responsibility-decided to stay put for now ! And last but not least getting ready for a major garage sale next week.  Now I'm not a garage sale kind of gal -truth be told I hate holding them,love checking them out but really hate putting one on.  So you ask why am I doing one-that's exactly what I'm asking myself right now and I haven't come up with the answer yet. And in the middle of all of this mess J and I have decided to head to the Oregon Coast for a 2 day vacation. Ahhh. the coast- the beach just like chocolate makes everything  good again !  And I really need that right now-my spirit needs recharged.   I even felt frazzled when I was baking this week.  I couldn't commit to what I wanted to make for Chocoholic Friday. I would think of one thing and drift to another-very uncommitted and indecisive. And then when I decided on Francois Payard's recipe for pate a choux,pastry cream and ganache I had trouble putting everything together. My pate a choux was a little tough,my pastry cream a little too thick and my ganache-actually my ganache was pretty nice-shiny and smooth. 

I'm a firm believer in being right with the universe that whatever you put out there is what you get back. Unfortunately I was putting out frazzled energy and stress so my little cream puffs were bumpy and lumpy.  Oh well such is life-just a minor bump in the road. Really with all that is going on in the world my little cream puff crisis is ridiculous and guess what? I'm so grateful that it's the worst thing I have to worry about. And a bumpy cream puff tastes just as delicious as a perfect one.  I wish you a worry free life, but if you do have bumps in the road I hope they are as small as the bumps in my cream puffs ! Enjoy.

Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake

Things were very hectic today. You know one of those days were one thing starts everything else rolling and spiraling almost out of control . And I say almost because you are always right on the edge,thinking you may fall off or maybe even leap off just to get away from the craziness. But then you look up and the day is over and you are looking into the eyes of someone who loves you, who can make the world calm again for you and make you realize what life is really all about. And a day of craziness turns into a sweet little night,watching my favorite,Anthony Bourdain, in Provence. Not just Provence,but Saint Remy-my perfect place. It's the place I go to when I need to center myself and calm myself. Just closing my eyes I can see the blue skies and the bright sun and smell the olives and lavender. Then in my mind I see the produce,the beautiful melons, the juiciest reddest tomatoes I have ever seen with a taste that I will never forget. The saltiness of the olives, the smell of the fresh herbs, the creamy tartness of the cheese..yes it's my part of the world I hold in heart always....

And now it's time for dessert....if only I had a bagful of cerise de Provence...cherries...I have always loved cherries. Growing up we had one of the most beautiful cherry trees in our backyard. Every spring it was so full of blossoms and bees-incredible. And we would watch the little green cherries grow and turn red and darken to a deep dark red. Then we would try and pick the most perfectly formed ones before the robins devoured them. That sweet taste,the dark stain on our fingers,the red cherry juice on our lips,those were wonderful times picking those cherries. In honor of that wonderful cherry tree I give you today's dessert for my Chocoholic Friday. Triple C- Cherries,Chocolate and Cheesecake-a perfect food for the end of the day. Something that reminds me of the beauty of Provence and the sweetness of youth.

Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake

Adapted from Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
Bon Appétit October 2006
by Jeanne Thiel Kelley

Yield: Makes 24 small cupcake size servings
Crust24 chocolate wafer cookies (from one 9-ounce package)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup blanched almonds finely chopped

Filling
1 9.7-ounce bar Scharffen Berger 70% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate,* chopped
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Scharffen Berger)
4 large eggs

Topping
3/4 cup whipping cream
6 ounces Scharffen Berger 70% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate,* chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 13oz jar of Chukar Cherries Raspberry Cherry Preserve & Topping

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with 12 cupcake lines. Blend cookies and almonds in processor until finely ground; blend in sugar. Add melted butter and process until well blended. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom (not sides) of cupcake lines. Bake just until set, about 5 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Stir chopped chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable. Blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder in processor until smooth. Blend in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. This filling is very thick, I used an ice cream scoop and placed a scoop of filling into each cupcake liner. I used the scoop to flatten out the filling,it came to just about 1/4 inch of the top of the liner. Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 15-18minutes. Cool 15-30 minutes. Then chill overnight.
For topping:
Stir cream, 6 ounces chocolate, and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Take a teaspoon of the Chukar Cherries preserve and place on top of the cheesecake in the center. Pour the chocolate ganache carefully around the preserves so that you don't cover the cherries. Chill until topping is set, about 1 hour. Do ahead: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with foil and keep refrigerated.

Cheesecake and Chocoholic Friday

It has been a busy week, as am I sure is true for you too ! Work has picked up and I took on a new assignment-writing once a month for our blog at work . I'm very excited about that and trying to map out my strategy ! I'm a week away from first deadline and first blog so if I seem a little scattered it's because I am !
On top of that I had to do what we call "site visits", that is visit the hotels we sell as part of our tour packages so I know what I'm talking about when I make recommendations to our customers ! It couldn't have been a more beautiful day to visit Victoria, BC. The skies were blue, the waters calm and our boat, Clipper IV fast and comfortable.

In between site visits I discovered a wonderful little Scottish Pub that opened in Victoria just a little under 2years ago-The Bard and Banker. If you are in Victoria stop by and order the Pork Sliders for lunch. You will not be disappointed ! 3 little sliders of delectable pork served three ways, a spicy pork sausage with a sweet smokey sauce, a pulled pork with zesty barbecue sauce and coleslaw dressing and last but not least a crisp bacon,lettuce and tomato slider. Mmm Mmmm good. Definitely on my list to return to and should be on yours too.

From Vicpubco

But I digress, again and again. Back to Chocoholic Fridays-today I'm dedicating my White Chocolate,cinnamon blueberry , mouth puckering lemon cheesecake to Chocoholic Fridays ! I started working on this recipe on Tuesday and after 2 other combinations this is the recipe I came up with. Warning- this is not your one little bite won't hurt me cheesecake. This is give me the cheesecake or I will huff and puff and blow your house down cheesecake ! So don't say I didn't warn you.

White Chocolate,Cinnamon Blueberry, Mouth Puckering Lemon Cheesecake

Crust
1 cup finely crushed lemon shortbread cookies or make your own lemon shortbread !
1 cup finely crushed lemon snicker doodles -ditto
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest

Filling
1 1/2 lbs creme cheese,room temperature softened
2 cups coarsely chopped white chocolate
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of sour cream (or whipping cream)
4 large eggs-room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped lemon shortbread and lemon snicker doodle cookies
11/2 cups of whole blueberries
1/2 cup Hershey cinnamon chips.
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon

Finishing touch
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
For the crust:
Toss the crushed cookie crumbs,butter and sugar together in the bottom of an 9" spring form pan. Press the crust into bottom of pan ,clean the sides of any stray crumbs and spray the sides lightly with a nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of lemon zest over the crust.

For filling:
In a mixer bowl, blend cream cheese,sugar,and sour cream until smooth, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to incorporate everything, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in eggs,vanilla,lemon and flour and blend well for 2-3 minutes on low speed. You don't want to beat and incorporate air into your batter.

Assembly:
Place the spring form pan on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle 1 cup of fresh blueberries over the crust . Spoon one third of the cheesecake filling into prepared pan and top with half each of chopped cookies,cinnamon chips and the zest of one lemon and 1 cup of the coarsely chopped white chocolate. Dust on some cinnamon sugar. Cover with the 1/2 cup blueberries and another third of the cream cheese filling and then layer on more cookies,more cinnamon chips, and more cinnamon sugar. Add the last bit of filling and finish the top of the cake with cookie crumbs,coarsely chopped cookies in small pieces, cinnamon chips,the remaining white chocolate and a good dusting of cinnamon sugar. You want to end up with what looks like a streusel type topping.
Bake 55-65 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the oven door about 6 inches and let the cheesecake cool down inside the oven for 1 hour. Don't be alarmed if the center appears jiggly prior to chilling it-it should and it will firm up. Once cooled move it to the refrigerator and chill for at least 6 hours-12 hours is best. Carefully loosen the spring form pan from the cheesecake-you may need to slide a flexible metal spatula which has been dipped in hot water around the inside ring of the cheesecake to loosen it.

Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

In Search of the Holy Grail on Chocoholic Friday

It's Chocoholic Friday and because it's also Easter week-end I wanted something simple that I could grab as I run out the door in the middle of errands. Come on you know you do it too! In the middle of a million things and you haven't stopped to eat and you have to run out the front door to the grocery store or soccer practice or the bank and you have rumblings in your stomach and no time to stop. So you grab a couple of cookies off the counter and away you go. Yes I know it's not healthy to eat like that and I'll pay for it in an hour or two with that sugar high hit and an extra thirty minutes on the treadmill. This is an eating practice for emergencies only-could I grab a healthy power type bar-sure I could but a just baked Chocolate chip cookie with the chips still soft and melting sounds so much better,doesn't it ?
With chocolate chip cookies we are always in search of the Holy Grail. Looking for that perfect recipe. I have found it, well at least for me !
This is an adaptation of a recipe posted on LA FUJI MAMA's blog, courtesy of Chris Garboski at the Nestle Test Kitchens. It's the original Nestle recipe ,but uses half the amount of butter normally used in the cookie recipe. I substituted dark muscovado sugar for the brown sugar and for half of the batch I sprinkled in some Heath English Toffee Bits. By the way, when did they start selling them in convenient packages all broken up so you don't have to buy the bars and crush them yourself ? I love it ! Try this recipe if you are one of the Chocolate Chip Crusaders in search of the Holy Grail and let me know what you think. If you already have THE Chocolate Chip recipe, the best cookie in the universe and are willing to share it post it here.
I'm on my way to the market and it's a 3 cookie drive !

Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Chris Garboski's tip at the Nestle Test Kitchen
for the Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Makes 60 cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar-I used dark muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 cups (12-ounce package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Heath English Toffee Bits-when my cookie dough was mixed I just divided it in half and added these bits to one half of the dough.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large mixer bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar (or muscovado), and vanilla extract until the dough is creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the dough well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough (use a small ice cream scoop to keep your cookies all the same size-they look so pretty and appealing that way ) and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then remove the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Pour a glass of cold milk,sit back and enjoy. Happy Chocoholic Friday !

Chocoholic Fridays-Brownies From Another Time

Have you ever wondered where time goes ? I was out walking my sweet little Hailey during a recent sun break this week and as we followed our familiar path I could hear sounds of the kitchen coming from various houses we passed. You know those sounds, pots clanging when you pull out the one that is on the very bottom, silverware chiming and tinkling as you gather it for the table, the gentle clatter of the dinner plates. And then I realized , Winter is gone and Spring has arrived. Everyone has thrown open their doors to allow the fresh air of Spring easy entry into their lives. We were buttoned up and wrapped in sweaters for so many months just waiting for the snow to come and it didn't. Mother Nature was easy on us this Winter and she is now treating us to so much greenness and so many flowers . It's as if she can't wait and doesn't want to pace herself over 2 or 3 months so she is pushing all her little tulips and daffodils and hyacinths out into the world all at once .

 I am trying to teach myself to savor each and every moment. Sometimes it seems as though those moments can disappear -poof like a little wisp of fog,gone but never really forgotten. Do you remember when you were 12 or 13years old and thought that turning 21 was a century away and would never happen ? Sometimes I long for those days when time seemed to move much slower.

I decided that since this was such a lovely week I didn't need chocolate to alleviate my stress but I was longing for something from another time-when time moved much slower. I remembered brownies, and the surprise of finding them in my lunchbox along with newspaper clippings about the high school baseball pitcher I had a crush on-thanks mom-those were always special little surprises and it took the passing of time for me to realize how special. So in honor of those moments I give you brownies . You can make these according to the recipe, and they are incredible, or you can make them a little more special to bring back the sweetness of that moment in time that is gone but always in your heart.

Heart of Darkness Brownies
adapted from a Maeda Heater recipe

These are dense with a crackly crust, they have a little tang from the sour cream which also adds the moisture. The dusting of sugar helps a nice crackly crust to form. I planned on icing these with ganache so I eliminated the dusting of sugar.

Note: It is very important to use good quality, bittersweet chocolate, with 60 to 72% cocoa solids. Don’t be tempted to substitute Nestle’s or Baker’s chocolate in this recipe. You are going to all the trouble of making your own brownies, go the extra step and buy the better chocolate-you won’t be sorry. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive higher end brand of chocolate -just keep an eye on the percentage of cocoa solids.

12 oz / 340g bittersweet chocolate, at room temperature, chopped into small chunks
12 oz / 340g unsalted butter (plus about 2 tsp for greasing pan)
1-1/4 cups / 238g white sugar
2 Tbl / 24g (approx) additional sugar for dusting
3/4 cup / 100g all-purpose flour
1/4 cup / 24g cocoa powder (plus about 2TB for dusting pan)
1 tsp / 6g salt
4 large eggs /200g
2/3 cup / 140g sour cream
1 Tbl / 14g vanilla extract
Optional: chopped nuts or chocolate chunks

Directions:

-Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat
-Whisk in sugar until smooth and thick
-Sift and thoroughly stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt
-Whisk into the butter/sugar mixture until smooth.
-Turn heat as low as possible, and stir chocolate into butter/sugar/cocoa mixture until mostly melted. --- -Remove from heat, and continue stirring until smooth. allow to cool until just above room temperature; about 80 degrees F. it should become fairly thick. you can speed the cooling process by putting the pan in a water bath and stirring.
-While mixture is cooling, preheat oven to 300° with rack in center.
-Grease baking pan and lightly dust with cocoa powder. optionally, line the bottom with a greased/dusted with cocoa sheet of parchment, to make serving easier.
-Shortly before chocolate mixture is cooled, combine eggs and sour cream in a medium bowl. whisk until well mixed, pale, and a bit frothy. do not try to incorporate enough air to increase the volume. stir in the vanilla.
-Stir egg mixture into the other ingredients (if the saucepan is big enough, just do it in the pan). If mixture gets thick and lumpy, it means the chocolate has cooled too much--return it to the stove, and stir over low heat. mixture should get fairly smooth.
-If you're incorporating any chopped nuts or chocolate chunks, stir them in.
-Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. dust a light, even coating of sugar over the top .
-Bake about 35 to 45 minutes, depending on oven and batch size. batter should rise evenly from center to edge. the top surface should look uniform. a tester should come out of the center dirty, but without any large chunks of batter attached. better undercooked than overcooked.
-Allow to cool on cooling rack. they can be served room temperature, warm (very soft), or chilled (like fudge). they keep a long time at room temperature or refrigerated, but crust will soften quickly.

These brownies are delicate; be careful cutting and serving. they should be cooled to room temperature (or ideally chilled) before slicing.

And because I love chocolate so much and these were being prepared for my Chocoholic Friday I made them a little fancier by baking them in a 9" round tart pan. After they cooled and I removed them from the pan, I sliced the tart into 16 delicate slivers. I then prepared chocolate ganache and coated the brownies with the ganache. Once coated I chilled the ganache. After the chilling I whipped the ganache and used a pastry bag to pipe little rosettes on the ganache coated brownies . I then dusted them with a grating of fresh nutmeg.
Ganache:
8 ounces /227g bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup /180 ml heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons/28 grams unsalted butter

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Voila-my brownies, dressed to the nines !