What's Your Chocolate?

I couldn't not participate in this blogfest once I saw the title on several blogs I read.  It's  “What’s Your Chocolate?” hosted by M. Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Barry, and Ciarra Knight.  It's a simple and delicious premise, post about your favorite chocolate to eat, when and where you eat it, chocolate memory, anything chocolate related.  

I love chocolate.  If we had as many words for love as the Inuits have for snow, there would be one just to describe my love of chocolate.  I take it pretty seriously.  I love to read about the harvesting of the cacao beans, the hulling and roasting process.  I've read and experimented with the tempering process (it's hard to keep your own temper, let alone the chocolate's, when you are trying this in a tiny kitchen with two little ones underfoot).  I still have plans to make my own chocolates.

It wouldn't be fair for me to call out one favorite chocolate.  I grew up in Belgium, so I was in the perfect place to indulge.  Sometimes, when I would go downtown Brussels just to walk around (why don't I do that as much here?), I'd let the different chocolate shops dictate which direction I would take.  There was a Leonidas shop on Northwest corner of the Grand Place, and my friend and I would buy a few chocolates and then eat them on the steps of the Bourse before seeing concerts at the Ancienne Belgique.  I'd pick up Cote D'Or bars from the local grocery stores, the Noissette and Double Lait were my favorite.  From the American Shoppette I'd buy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which you couldn't easily find on the local economy (a shame, since peanut butter and chocolate is one of the best combinations of all time).

Nowadays, I practice a little more self control when it comes to my consuming passion for chocolate (except  lately, but I'm pregnant, and there are so few vices I can indulge in).  I no longer devour an entire bar in one sitting.  I buy small amounts of quality, mostly dark chocolate, and have just one ounce at a time.  My children are chocoholics as well, which secretly pleases me.  Two Christmases ago, my sister and I each made a dessert for dinner.  I made a Buche de Noel with chocolate ganache and mocha buttercream.  My sister made a beautiful and delicious lemon-cranberry bundt cake.  She was serving cake to my son, cut him a slice of the Buche, and asked if he wanted some of her cake.  "No!" he shouted adamantly. "It's not chocolate!"

Nutella for the Win

First, a confession.  I have not yet eaten one of these cupcakes.  I have, however, tasted every component on its own, and I fail to see how they could not be spectacular together.

There are three parts to this cupcake:  chocolate cake, Nutella, and Nutella buttercream frosting.  I love the combination of chocolate and hazelnut, therefore I love Nutella, therefor I love Nutella cupcakes (the law of syllogisms at work!).  I actually want to kick myself for all the time I spent not eating Nutella.  I think I first tried it when we moved to Germany.  I must have been about six, and for a long time I didn't like nuts or things that were too sweet.  I've outgrown both those phases, thankfully.  I just didn't take to the chocolate-hazelnut spread, and avoided it until last year.  I purchased it on a whim, and thank goodness I did.  It is back in my life where it belongs.

Another confession.  The cake part is not completely made from scratch.  We had a busy weekend; pulling ivy, pressure washing our driveway to remove the paint the bank put on it, and general running around.  So I kind of cheated.  I used a Devil's Food cake mix as the base and doctored it up.  It's still delicious.  Moist and flavorful, and does not taste at all like a box mix.  Sometimes you've got to use shortcuts when they are available to you.

My assistant

A few lessons learned:  Nutella does not pipe well into cupcakes.  I tried to use the piping tip from the decorating set my sister got me.  I ended up with a very large mess.  The apple corer technique works much better.  I also tried using a round decorator's tip to pipe the icing, but let's just say the result was not appetizing.  I've only gotten as far as star tips.  Oh, I'm a big believer in different music to cook different things by, and Supreme Being's of Leisure's Never the Same is perfect music to pipe frosting to.  That smooth, jazzy thing they do just helps get you into the groove.  After that song I listened to David Byrne's Look into the Eye-Ball because, well, I can always listen to that.

These will be garnished with a piece of a chocolate-hazelnut candy bar

Here is where I got my inspiration and the recipe for Nutella Buttercream Frosting.  The recipe I used for the cake is below:

Ingredients:

1 pkg devil's food cake mix (with pudding in the mix)
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Either with an electric mixer or a wire whisk, slowly combine all ingredients.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then mix vigorously until batter looks well combined.

Divide batter among cupcake liners and bake for 20-23 minutes, or until tops look firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before filling.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I realize that it is an incredibly commercial holiday, but it's so much fun.  I went into Wegman's yesterday and it seemed Cupid became store manager over the weekend.  Roses were everywhere, of all shades of pink, orange, red, and yellow.  Bunches of balloons tied with ribbons hovered at the ends of every aisle.  Oh, and of course, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

Right now, Valentine's Day doesn't have too much meaning at our house.  Max was born this day four years ago, so we're in birthday mode.  We'll probably be feasting on a gourmet meal of McDonald's, Max's favorite, and having an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  Maybe, after the kids are asleep, Ed and I will try and watch at least part of a movie together before I drift off.

However you are spending the day, with a singular special someone, with friends, or just hanging out on your own, I hope you stay warm.  Winter seems to be making sure that we don't write it off quite yet.  Here, it threw a small tantrum over the weekend, but I see it's been more stubborn elsewhere.  Make up your own hot cocoa mix to have on hand when the cold is getting to you, or when you just need a rush of endorphins.

Drinking Chocolate adapted from Making Artisan Chocolates by Andrew Garrison Shotts

Apparently, his staff calls this a "liquid brownie."  The moniker is apt.

To make the powder:

8 1/4 oz of bittersweet chocolate, chopped.  (He specifies 64% cocoa.  I typically use  a combination of Ghirardelli 60% and 70%)

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk

1 cup sweet ground chocolate

Combine the chopped chocolate with the dry milk in a food processor.  Pulse until the chocolate is ground into small granules.  Be careful that the chocolate doesn't start to melt from the heat of the processor blade.  If it looks like it is starting to melt, take a break and come back to it in a few minutes.  Once the chocolate and milk are mixed in a fine powder, add the sweet ground chocolate powder.  Pulse until completely combined, and then store in an airtight container.  The chocolate powder should keep in a cool place for six months.

To make the hot drinking chocolate:

Add 3 heaping tablespoons of the chocolate powder to 8 oz of whole milk in a small, heavy saucepan. (I suppose you could use 2%, but it just won't be the same.)  Whisking constantly, heat over medium heat until all powder has dissolved and mixture reaches a rapid boil.  Immediately remove from heat and serve.

Shotts also suggests an adapting this for a chocolate martini.  You simply allow the hot chocolate to cool down in the refrigerator, add some Kahlua and vodka and shake it over ice.  Yes, please!  

TV and Brownies

I've been indulging lately in two unhealthy habits; TV and brownies.  Typically, I don't watch that much television.  Okay, I should correct that; I don't watch much "grown-up" TV.  I do have a strong familiarity with all things Nick Jr. and PBS Kids Go.  My husband and I only have a few shows we like to watch together, so in the evenings we may watch one or two episodes after the kids are tucked in, and then I will either read or head up to bed (I live an exciting life, can't you tell?).

Last week was just off, however.  We started the actual painting of the first floor.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, "how much harder is it to paint a room with two little ones underfoot?" the answer is "exponentially harder."  Sickness and the general running around we did to avoid working out of necessity, prolonged the project and it is still far from being complete.  Chaos had come for a visit, unpacked its suitcase, and was already leaving its dirty laundry on the floor and bossing me about in the kitchen.  The few hours I spent watching TV in the evenings were a welcome escape.

Why do I get so invested in television shows that were canceled after just one or two seasons?  Most recently it was Eli Stone, but Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies are on this same list.  I should know better, since I'm going into it aware that they were dropped.  Story lines do not get resolved, or are unsatisfactorily so.  Then after I've finished all there is of the series, I am left with a nagging, robbed feeling; and in this last case, a small crush on Jonny Lee Miller.

And the brownies, well, what can I say except, I love brownies.  This is another creation from Yvette Van Boven's Home Made.  I'm not going to lie, I exhibited some cultural prejudices and attempted this recipe with some hesitation.  Overseas, I had a lot of brownies from European bakeries.  They were light and wonderfully chocolaty, but they were more like cakes, not brownies.  I like chewy, fudgy squares that have crinkly tops and edges.  Van Boven has made me eat my words about European brownies.  Her recipe may even surpass Ina Garten's recipe and my go-to brownie.

Chewy Chocolate Raisin Brownies adapted from Home Made by Yvette Van Boven

I am not entirely sure my brownies came out as she intended.  I did not use self-rising flour, and I am sure my eggs and sugar were not whipped to "a light, airy foam."  Still, I have trouble imagining how the result could be improved upon.  They are moist and chewy with a delicious salty note.  Next time I am going to add hazelnuts and make my own "fruit and nut" brownie.

*Note: To make your own self-rising flour: add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt to one cup of flour.  You can make a bunch to have on hand and use in recipes as directed.

1 1/4 sticks of butter, cubed
8 oz semi sweet chocolate, in chunks (I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet morsels)
2 eggs
2/3 + 2 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup self-rising flour, sifted *see note above
pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate covered raisins

Preheat your oven to 340 degrees and grease or butter and flour a 8" x 8" baking pan

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler.(I find using a double boiler easier and there is less potential for mess.) Remove it from the heat and leave to cool.  Beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until the mixture is light in color and thick and foamy.  If you are doing this by hand it should take about 5 minutes with a wire whisk.  Gradually fold the chocolate into the the egg-sugar mixture.  Fold in your  self-rising flour, and add a generous pinch of salt.  Lastly, add the raisins.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool completely and then cut into pieces.
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