The Daring Bakers make Chocolate Valentino Cake

It's the end of another month and time once again for another Daring Baker's challenge.  Being the month of love it was fitting that chocolate be the star of this months challenge.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.  We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

We have had so many sweets around here that I chose to halve the recipe for the valentino cake and bake them in my muffin tin.  For the ice cream I decided to go my own way and make up my own recipe.  I ended up with a deliciously creamy coconut ice cream, which is definitely for coconut lovers only.  Since the valentino recipe wasn't all that challenging I also decided to make these little chocolate cups which was a first for me.  I was so excited with how they came out.  They looked so fancy that I really didn't want to eat them.

  I put one of the small valentino cakes in the bottom of the chocolate cup and then topped it with the creamy coconut ice cream and then added another sliver of the cake as an accent and to let you know what was inside.   All in all a fun and delicious challenge.

My sentiment on the cake is that it was very similar to my rich chocolate brownies with a little silkier texture,  like a mix between an deeply chocolaty brownie and a silky smooth mouse.  A little of this cake definitely goes a long way.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.

Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Coconut Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

5 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. coconut extract

1.  Heat the coconut milk, cream and milk until it just begins to from bubbles around the edges.

2.  Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and pale and the mixture falls back on itself and forms ribbons.

3.  With the mixer on low,  slowly drizzle in a ladle full of the warm milk mixture.  Continue adding the milk mixture in ladle-fulls until you've add about 1/2 of the milk mixture.  Then pour the egg yolk  mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk mixture.

4.  Put the mixture back over medium-low to medium heat and heat stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.  Do not let it boil.

5.  Pour the thickened mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Stir in the extract and let the mixture sit out to cool.  Once cooled, cover and refrigerate until well chilled preferably overnight.

6.  Freeze in ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

A Little Hot Apple Love

 

The other day my 5 year old came to me and asked me what we you do on Valentines day.  She wanted to know if we could go out an buy presents for each other like Christmas.  I explained that daddy and I would probably go out but besides that we wouldn't be doing much.  She then requested that we make heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then tacos for dinner.  She then asked what we would have for dessert.  I knew she would love anything that we could make together and so these little heart shaped apple pastries came to be. 

These are so easy and the kiddos can help out.  All you need is an apple some cinnamon and sugar and some biscuit dough.

Heart Shaped Apple Pastries

1 medium golden delicious or granny smith apple, peeled and diced

2 1/2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 can Grands biscuit dough (I used the flaky layers ones)

1 Tbs cream or milk

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a cookie sheet.  Mix together the apples, sugar and cinnamon.

2.  Separate the biscuits, roll out and cut with a heart shaped cutter.  Place a heaping spoonful of the apples on top the half of the hearts and cover with another heart shaped biscuit.  Crimp the edges with a fork.

3.  Mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Brush the top of the hearts with the cream or milk and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Poke a few slits in the top with a knife.

4.  bake for about 20 minutes or until the biscuits are browned and cooked all the way through.  Drizzle with the glaze**.

**To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix together 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 Tbs cream or milk.  Drizzle over hearts with a fork.**

Brownie Truffle Bites

This is a super easy recipe that would be great for your sweetie this Valentines day.  All you need is a pan of brownies, some white chocolate or almond bark and some red or pink candy melts.

I made a pan of my peanut butter brownies for this one but any brownie would work, even a mix.  Using a small scoop, make balls out of the brownies.  Chill or freeze until firm.  Melt some almond bark or white chocolate (almond bark will cover the chocolate better).  Dip the brownie balls into the chocolate and lay on a parchment lined tray to set.  Drizzle with some melted red or pink candy melts and viola.  East peasy lemon squeezy.

You could also roll the ball into powdered sugar, cocoa powder or coconut for an even easier little treat.  These are so easy that you've gotta try them.

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies

 

Today my kids and I wanted to make a desert for family night but were running low on supplies.  No chocolate chips for cookies, very little brown sugar or nuts.  What we did find on the other hand was some leftover pie dough in the freezer, a package of chocolate pudding (yes a mix), and some whipping cream.

We could have made  regular chocolate cream pie, but I love small treats.  I think that's because I don't feel so guilty eating them.  These were great because they were so easy that the kids could help out but they look so cute too.  After finishing these, my kids were covered with chocolate pudding and whipped cream, it was even in their hair.  It was pretty cute!

Mini Chocolate Cream Pie

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3  Tbs. Sugar

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in to pieces

1/2 cup shortening

about 1/2 cup ice water

1 large pkg. (2.1 oz) Chocolate pudding

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 cup cold whipping cream

Grated Chocolate for garnish (optional)

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour salt and sugar.  Cut in the butter an d shortening until the fat has irregular pieces about the size of peas.

2.  Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time carefully mixing the water into the dough.  Add enough water so that the dough forms  a ball when pressed together.  Do not overmix.  Form the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour to let the gluten relax.

3.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Grease a mini muffin tin.  Place a tablespoon of dough into each cup.  Using a mini tart shaper press the dough to form a mini pie shell.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until baked through.  Remove baked shells from pan and cool.

4.  Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks.  Put the whipped cream into another bowl.  Empty the pudding mix and milk into the mixing bowl, whip together until thickened and well mixed.  Fold in 2/3 of the whipped cream in small batches into the pudding.  Be sure to fold and not mix as you don't want to deflate the whipped cream.

4.  Place the pudding mixture into a ziploc bag and snip the corner.  Pipe the pudding into the premade cooled shells.  Place the remaining whipped cream into another ziploc bag and pie the cream on top of the pies.  Garnish with some grated chocolate if desired.  Store the pies in the fridge to set.

Tuiles with the Daring Bakers

I was really bummed that I wasn't able to complete last months challenge.  December was just a crazy month in more ways than one and the Daring Bakers Challenge was pushed to the back burner.  I am back this month, albeit a day late. 

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I had never made tuiles, a thin crispy, traditionally almond, cookie that is shaped after baking, and so was very excited to jump right in and try this months challenge.  I loved that the list of ingredients wasn't a mile long or weighed down with ingredients that were pricey or over the top.  Just simple ingredients that I already had in my kitchen.

The tuiles were also fairly quick and easy, the hardest part being spreading them onto the pan in an even shape.  We were asked to pair our tuiles with something light and fruity.  I had several ideas but my procrastination shortened that list considerably.  I decided to go for a easy but fancy looking (think Valentines Day) dessert that was part cannoli and part blintz. 

I made a ricotta, cream cheese and raspberry filling for the tuiles which I shaped into tubes around my whisk.  I then drizzled them with dark chocolate and sprinkled them with a few pistachios for crunch and color.  These tuiles were putting on heirs as they donned this fancy look but were so simple to make.  It was fun to put these together and there are so many more possibilities in my head that I am going to have to make these again.

Tuiles

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:
Yields: 10 cannoli tuiles

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not over mix.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Use an off sided spatula to spread batter in circles on greased baking sheet.  Leave some room in between your shapes.

Bake tuiles in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Almond Ricotta Muffins

  

Last week I received an e-mail from the crew at Desserts Magazine letting me know that I had won the giveaway for a new super awesome kitchen scale, the Escali Pana Scale to be exact.  I love my old one but it is jut your average run of the mill kitchen scale but this one has a new amazing feature.  You can measure out cups or tablespoons of flour or 98 other ingredients without lifting a spoon, or should I say a measuring spoon.  With this scale, you push the volume button, enter in the number of the ingredient on the numeric keypad, watch the display until you get the correct number of cups or tablespoons.  No more spooning and leveling, easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I have been dying to bake something since last night when the UPS man delivered my new kitchen scale.  So, after I finished some much needed house cleaning, I looked through my fridge and pantry to see what I could put together.  I found a large container of  ricotta and a partial bag of almonds.  I decided to see what I could throw together in muffin form with these ingredients and came up with these muffins.

The ground almonds give the muffins a little chewiness while the buttermilk and ricotta add the tenderness.  The muffins aren't really that sweet, which is the way I like things.  The almond glaze on top is what gives them most of their sweetness.  You could add a few more Tablespoons of sugar if you really wanted a sweeter muffin but I think that combination of the lightly sweet muffins and the super sweet glaze really balance out the whole muffin.

Almond Ricotta Muffins

1 1/4 cups Flour

1/2 cups Almond meal** (See notes below on how to make your own)

1/2 cup Sugar

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Ricotta

1/2 cup Buttermilk

1 TBS. Milk

1/4 cup (4TBS. , 1/2 stick) Butter, melted

1/2 tsp. Almond extract

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

Glaze (recipe Follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease muffin pan, set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

3.  In a separate bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, buttermilk, milk, butter and extracts, stirring to combine.

4.  Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined.  Scoop mixture into the muffin pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and the tip of a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin.  Remove from pans to a cooling rack and let cool.

Almond Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 Tbs. Milk

1.  In a bowl combine all ingredients adding the milk slowly  to form a glaze that is thick enough to drizzle.  Drizzle over the cooled muffins.

**Making your own almond meal is easy and a lot cheaper than buying it in the store.  Just take a small saucepan and fill with water.  Heat to boiling.  Throw a few handfuls of almonds into the boiling water and boil for a minute or two.  Turn the heat off and let sit for another minute.  Pour the almonds through a strainer.  Take the skins off each almond by lightly squeezing them, the skins should just pop off.  Return the almonds to the pan and turn the heat back on for another minute just to dry the almonds off.  Stir them and watch them carefully, you don't want burnt almonds!  Put the almonds into a food processor or blender with 2 TBS. of powdered sugar and process until it is finely ground.  Be careful not to over process, you don't want a paste, the powdered sugar should help to prevent that.  Measure and use as needed.**

English Muffin Bread

This morning as I was surfing the Internet,  I checked one of my favorite sites, King Arthur Flour and came across this recipe for English Muffin bread.  They have so many recipes and many of them are guaranteed to work (if they don't they will actually send you a $5 gift certificate).  I have tried several of them and have been pleased with  them all.  This recipe was so quick and easy that I decided to make it to make it this morning and had it ready for breakfast.  This is a bread for those of you who are just starting out with bread making or are looking for something quick and easy. It is so easy that it requires no kneading.  It is a great mix between a yeast bread and a quick bread and only takes about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish.

The bread has a chewy texture with great air pockets and makes a delicious toast especially when covered in jam.  It is so good that while I was trying to take pictures this morning, my son kept sneaking slices that I had cut ( I lost count after three).

 

English Muffin Bread

from King Arthur Flour

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
• cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan

Directions

1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.

2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. The liquid will feel very hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would scald you. As a reference point, the hottest water from your kitchen tap is probably around 120°F (unless your tap water is so hot that it burns you).

3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft.

5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.

6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.

7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 20 to 22 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.

9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.