| Sunday, April 22, 2007 |
| Warming Up The Holidays With Ice Cream |
Ice cream is not just for summer anymore. More often, Americans are enjoying their frozen treats year-round, even when it feels like an icebox outside.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. produces more than 1.6 billion gallons of ice cream and related frozen desserts per year, averaging out to about 21.5 quarts per person.
Nearly 60 percent of ice cream purchases are made at "scoop shops," restaurants and other specialty outlets. One such company that's brought an added dimension to ice cream is Cold Stone Creamery. The direct result of two ice cream lovers' crusade for the perfect ice cream dessert, the business was founded by Donald and Susan Sutherland in 1988-after years of tirelessly searching for ice cream that met their standards of quality, flavor, consistency and variety.
Today, there are more than 1,360 Cold Stone Creamery locations, and the company continues to develop new flavors for all occasions. One of the newest additions, a delectable choice for the holiday season, is Dark Chocolate Peppermint, which will leave people with visions of candy canes dancing in their heads. This premium flavor can be enjoyed by itself or as part of a scrumptious confection.
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Ice Cream Sandwich
Serves 8
1. Purchase your favorite Cold Stone Creamery holiday ice cream flavor to go, such as Dark Chocolate Peppermint.
2. Purchase or bake 16 large holiday-themed sugar cookies.
3. Place baked cookies face down on a flat surface.
4. Place a large ice cream scoop on top of one cookie and cover with second cookie. Press together firmly.
5. Wrap cookies in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 2 hours.
6. Remove from freezer and enjoy!
Hot Chocolate Topped with Dark Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream
Serves 4-6
1. Purchase a quart of Cold Stone Creamery Dark Chocolate Peppermint ice cream.
2. Prepare favorite hot chocolate recipe as desired.
3. Scoop one serving of ice cream over hot chocolate and serve with a spoon.
For locations or additional recipe ideas, visit the Web site at www.coldstonecreamery.com.
Treats made with Dark Chocolate Peppermint ice cream can add a wonderfully sweet flavor to any holiday celebration.
by Stacey MooreLabels: chocolate ice cream |
posted by All About Home @ 12:37 AM  |
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| Sunday, April 15, 2007 |
| White Chocolate Whipped Cream |
White Chocolate Whipped Cream
-- 1 bar (4 ounces) Ghirardelli Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar (see note)
-- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Chop white chocolate baking bar into small pieces. Place in medium heat proof bowl. Set aside.
In microwave or small saucepan, heat heavy cream just until boiling. Pour over chopped white chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Cool at room temperature 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and chill 6 hours or overnight. Alternatively, freeze mixture until very cold. Mixture can be kept 1 week refrigerated before whipping.
To serve: Beat cream on medium speed until thick and peaks form. Serve immediately as you would whipped cream. Store whipped cream tightly covered in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Serves 12.
Baker's hint: You can substitute other varieties of white chocolate for the Ghirardelli. Look for cocoa butter in the ingredient list.
Nutrition values per serving: 150 calories, 14 g fat (9g saturated fat), 1 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 41 mg cholesterol, 13 mg sodium.
from www.dailyherald.comLabels: white chocolate |
| posted by All About Home @ 6:22 PM |
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| Saturday, April 14, 2007 |
| DRINKING CHOCOLATE: TIPS FOR THE HOME VERSION |
* Use good-quality chocolate. Any premium dark chocolate you enjoy eating will make good drinking chocolate, but we suggest one with around 70 percent cocoa solids. For fun, compare bars made from a single variety of cocoa bean (called single origin chocolate); Colombian is known for its berry and spice notes, Ecuadorean is earthy with a hint of licorice, Venezuelan is deep and fruity. Look for chocolate with a smooth (not gritty) texture and a long aftertaste.
* Chop solid chocolate from the corners. Use a chef's knife or a serrated bread knife.
* Use whole milkI to softens the chocolate's earthy intensity, and you need less of it than if you use a lower-fat dairy. If you find the drinking chocolate still too bittersweet and strong, add more milk or stir in cream or half-and-half to taste.
* Whip it up. Drinking chocolate gets extra-creamy and light when you whirl it in a blender. An immersion blender is a fine tool for the task, and a hand-held milk frother will do the job, too.
* Make it ahead. While this step is not essential (and you may not want to wait), refrigerating drinking chocolate overnight allows the flavors to develop and the mixture to thicken slightly. Reheat gently on the stove, and whisk or whirl in the blender just before serving.
* Season to taste. Cuppa chocolate not sweet enough for you? Add some sugar. Stir in a pinch of salt or a drop of vanilla to enhance the flavor. Or borrow a page from the Aztecs, and spike it with cinnamon, cayenne or ancho chile powder.
* Drink your dessert. For a cold-weather party, a warm cup of drinking chocolate makes an elegant finish to a meal. Serve it in pretty demitasse cups with a delicate cookie on the side.
from : http://www.startribune.comLabels: chocolate drink |
| posted by All About Home @ 9:53 PM |
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| Friday, April 13, 2007 |
| Types Of Chocolate |
by Jonathon Hardcastle
If you always like to accompany your cup of coffee with a chocolate cookie or other chocolate-based treat, or if you usually order a hot chocolate drink, you might not consider yourself a chocoholic, but you certainly make it to the fans' category. But even of chocolate is not your first choice when it comes to desert, you should probably by familiar with at least its main categories, just in case you are asked if you prefer couverture over white chocolate for your ice-cream glace.
- Dark Chocolate can contain anything from 30% to 75% cocoa solids. It has a slightly sweet flavor and a dark color and it is the chocolate type most used in cooking. For everyday cooking and the majority of the recipes for dark chocolate, choose one with around 50% cocoa solids. However, dark chocolate with a higher cocoa solid content will give a richer, more intense, flavor. This chocolate is often called luxury or continental chocolate and has a cocoa solid content of between 70-75%. Occasionally, cooking experts support that it is essential to use a better chocolate, but the recipe should specify when that is the case.
- Milk Chocolate, as its name suggests, contains milk and has lovely creamy, mild, and sweet flavor. It is mostly used as an eating chocolate, rather than in cooking. However it does have its place in chocolate cookery, especially for decorations, and when a milder, creamy flavor is required. It is more sensitive to heat than dark chocolate so care must be taken when melting it.
- White Chocolate contains lower cocoa butter content and cocoa solids. It can be quite temperamental when used in cooking. Always choose a luxury white cooking chocolate to avoid problems and take great care not to overheat when melting it. White chocolate is useful also for color contrast in decoration, creating a dramatic effect when it is placed over darker backgrounds.
- Couverture is the preferred chocolate for professional use, as it retains a high gloss after melting and cooling. Nevertheless, it requires tempering and is only available from specialist suppliers. In case it can be found to special cooking supply stores, it usually is more expensive than regular milk chocolate.
- Chocolate Glace is a chocolate-flavored cake covering which is an inferior product not generally used by true chocolate lovers. However, it has a high fat content, making it easier to handle when making some decorations such as curls or caraque. In case you do not want to compromise flavor too much, but have difficulty making the decorations with pure chocolate, try adding a few squares of chocolate-flavored cake covering to a good quality chocolate.
- Chocolate Chips are available in dark, milk, and white chocolate varieties, and are used primarily for baking and as decoration materials.
- Coco Powder is the powder left after the cocoa butter has been pressed from the roasted and ground beans. It is unsweetened and bitter in flavor. It gives good, strong chocolate flavor when used in cooking.
About The Author
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://wonderfulworldoffood.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://supershoppingtips.com/ and http://fitness-talk.net/.
Labels: chocolate info, types of chocolate |
| posted by All About Home @ 3:58 AM |
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| Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Organic Chocolate - A Trip Along The Assembly Line |
There is an intangible something about watching the creation of chocolate, from beginning with raw cocoa beans to the conclusion, delivering the finished product to the consumer that sets all my senses a-tingling. The smell wafting teasingly through the air, your mouth salivating at the very thought, the texture of the cocoa beans, even the sight and sound of the beans tumbling through the machinery, moving along the assembly line.
There are 16 steps in the manufacture of organic chocolate:
Buyers source the finest cocoa beans available on the world market.
The Destoner washes and scrubs the cocoa bean exterior, removing any detritus from the outer shell.
The Roaster’s function is to pre-roast, allowing the beans to become de-humidified.
The Winnower separates the bean husks from the nibs (small pointed parts).
A second Roaster develops the flavor of the nibs.
The Stone Mill crushes the nibs into paste.
The Ball Mill reduces the particle size of the cocoa solids in the just-created paste.
The Mixer adds sugar and/or milk powder.
The Finish Refiner reducers the particle size of the sugar.
The Conch has the important job of reducing acid through circulation and oxidation.
The chocolate moves to the Holding Tank, where it is given a chance to “rest.”
The Tempering Machine causes a bond to be formed between the cocoa butter and cocoa solids.
Molds are filled with liquid chocolate by the Depositor.
The Cooling Tunnel allows the temperature of the chocolate to be monitored, and maintained, at proper levels.
The Packaging Department wraps the boxes of chocolate with meticulous attention to detail.
The chocolates are shipped to fine retail establishments.
It is a given that there is always room for chocolate. No room for argument!
by Terry Kaufman
Terry Kaufman is Chief Editorial Writer for Niftykitchen.com, Niftyhomebar.com, and Niftygarden.com. ©2007 Terry Kaufman. No reprints without permission.
Labels: chocolate info |
| posted by All About Home @ 7:07 AM |
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| Wednesday, April 11, 2007 |
| Mint-Chocolate Coffee Spoons |
by LeAnn R. Ralph
A quick and easy way to enjoy mint-chocolate coffee!
My sister-in-law makes these, and they sell them at school events to raise money for the parochial school where her son is enrolled. She says they "sell like hotcakes." Suggested price: 2 for $1. If you want to make gifts for people for birthdays or Christmas or other special occasions, or as party favors, the coffee spoons work well for that too.
• Ordinary plastic spoons
• Bars of Hershey's chocolate
• Hard peppermint candy or, for something different, try dinner mints
• Saran Wrap or other plastic wrap
• Short pieces of ribbon
Melt the chocolate. Dip the plastic spoons in the chocolate. Lay spoons on wax paper. Before the chocolate sets, place a mint in the middle of the spoon.
When the chocolate has cooled and hardened, cover spoon with Saran Wrap (or other plastic wrap). Tie a ribbon around handle of the spoon to hold the plastic wrap in place. (Use colored plastic wrap and coordinating colors for the ribbon, if you prefer.)
To use: pour a cup of hot coffee, take the plastic wrap off the spoon, stick the spoon in the coffee and stir. And TA-DA! -- mint chocolate coffee.
Note: You might want to add some chocolate chips to the melted chocolate to give it a somewhat firmer consistency when it cools off. You may also want to experiment a bit with dipping the spoons a couple of times.
Another note: you could also experiment with other flavors. What about vanilla almond bark and butterscotch candy? Or chocolate and butterscotch? Or chocolate and raspberry candy? You get the picture, I'm sure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" and "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam." http://ruralroute2.comLabels: chocolate candy |
| posted by All About Home @ 2:46 AM |
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| Tuesday, April 10, 2007 |
| The Secret Of Chocolate Cake |
by Gary Stephens
There are few puddings sweeter than the traditional chocolate cake. It is one meal guaranteed to bring smiles to faces of those young and old. Contrary to the opinions of less advanced chefs, making one can be quick and easy. With a combination of a little skill and the right recipe, anyone can make one to die for.
A good chocolate cake needs to have certain characteristics to ensure that it is fully enjoyed by all who partake of it. Firstly it needs to be moist. It will be light and fluffy and free of dryness. It will also be rich in chocolate flavor while at the same time not being too sweet for the average pudding lover. These effects can be achieved with the specific and appropriate combination of ingredients.
A good simple chocolate cake recipe will comprise of two parts. The first part is the mixing of the dry ingredients in a small to medium bowl depending on the size of the desired output. The second part involves adding the wet ingredients and cooking then finally letting to set and serve. Both parts of the procedure should take relatively the same amount of time.
Another important aspect of your creation is to get the best quality ingredients. When mixed, poorer quality ingredients can dramatically damage the taste of the finished product so make sure to use good brand name ingredients such as Cadbury cocoa.
Preparation for chocolate cake making is very easy and can be a fun experience to share particularly with children. It's also a recipe that affords plenty of individual style to be included as the finished cake can be topped with a range of ingredients other than the standard icing sugar.
All up from start to finish you should have a pudding ready to eat in just over an hour!
These treats are a great idea for children's birthdays parties or to take to a friends place as an addition to dinner. It's also great combined with ice-cream for dessert for guests or even a family treat.
In today's busy world, time is of the essence. To be able to make a great tasting pudding quickly and easily is a skill to be proud of. With the right recipe and a bit of practice you will be cranking out cakes that people will love in no time. Even if you don't have time to slave away all day in the kitchen, you can still become a domestic kitchen God or Goddess.
About the Author
Gary Stephens is a respected and acclaimed cooking enthusiast who now makes some of her coveted recipes available online. To find great recipes like this chocolate cake recipe and many more all for FREE, go to easy recipes.Labels: baking tips, chocolate cake |
| posted by All About Home @ 2:29 AM |
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| Monday, April 9, 2007 |
| Wareham Woman's 'Triple Chocolate' Holds Recipes of 3 Generations |
by Joanna McQuillan Weeks
A Slice of Life
You might think this weekend is for chocolate bunnies and eggs, but it will be about all things chocolate when Kristine L. Hastreiter holds a signing for her new cookbook Saturday at Bev Loves Books in Rochester.
The Wareham woman is author of "Triple Chocolate: Three Generations of Chocolate-Inspired Cooking," newly released by Rock Village Publishing of Middleboro.
The softcover book, illustrated with photographs by the author, costs $13.95.
Ms. Hastreiter is familiar to shoppers who frequent the Rochester and South Dartmouth farmers' markets, where she sells preserves, artisan breads, biscotti, scones and dog biscuits under the Gourmet & Gourmand name.
After working for years in the museum field, Ms. Hastreiter decided to take a "creative sabbatical" and turn to her passion, cooking and baking. Combining formal culinary studies at BCC with the cooking experience she had gained from her mother and grandmothers, Ms. Hastreiter launched her career as a food entrepreneur. She still keeps her hand in the museum world by working seasonally for the Bourne Historical Society as an interpreter at the Aptuxcet Trading Post.
"The goal for this cookbook was to assemble a well-rounded selection of doable, delicious, chocolate inspired recipes," she writes in the book's introduction.
"I felt the need to write a cookbook to pull all the family recipes together, or they would get lost," the pastry chef explained in a phone conversation Monday.
"It was fun to try to standardize those recipes," she said, making them foolproof for home cooks. "It was a trip down memory lane," Ms. Hastreiter added, pulling out the old, handwritten recipe cards from family members.
While "Triple Chocolate" is her first cookbook, some of her recipes — apple-blueberry jam, fruit chutney, and blueberry truffles — appeared in publisher Yolanda Lodi's "Blueberry Cookbook."
In "Triple Chocolate," Ms. Hastreiter explores the uses of various forms of chocolate in sweet and savory dishes, as well as providing some historical background on the seductive ingredient.
The three dozen or so recipes range from Chocolate Scones to Chili with Cocoa and Coffee to Chocolate Walnut Fudge to Grilled Pork with Chocolate Vodka Barbecue Sauce. All are laid out in clear detail, and include lists of needed equipment.
A short introduction for each explains "where the recipe came from, or a tidbit about its history ... that was the museum person in me," the author said.
This summer, Ms. Hastreiter plans to sell her wares at South Dartmouth Farmers' Market on Fridays, Provincetown on Saturdays and Carver on Sundays. She also is in the midst of negotiating for a full-time kitchen/retail space in Wareham; currently, she rents a shared-use kitchen in Buzzards Bay to prepare her stock.
This fall, she'll be returning to BCC to teach a course that draws upon both her skill sets. Ms. Hastreiter will be teaching "Art for Culinarians," which develops food presentation technique and teaches students to make an effective digital photo portfolio, which they will need for job interviews.
In addition to Saturday's event at Plumb Corner Plaza in Rochester, Ms. Hastreiter will hold a signing at 6 p.m. April 19 at the Wareham Free Library, 59 Marion Road (Route 6). A reception and signing is set for 4 to 7 p.m. May 5 at Sail Away Studio, 177 Main St., Wareham. For the latter, the author will prepare some of the recipes, and wine and cheese will also be served.
The following sample from "Triple Chocolate" is a recipe from Ms. Hastreiter's maternal grandmother, Jane (Kirgasser) Tober.
Jane's Tannies
Makes 12 large tannies.
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
2 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Equipment:
Small bowl
Small saucepan
Standing mixer with paddle attachment
Rubber scraper/spatula
Metal cooling rack
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
Melt margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat.
Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract, mix to combine, and let cool to room temperature. Transfer cooled margarine mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer.
Using the paddle attachment, beat in eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition, scraping mixing bowl as necessary.
Add sifted dry ingredients; mix to combine. Add chocolate morsels and walnuts; mix to combine. Scoop mixture into greased pan; spread evenly into the corners.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and place on metal rack.
Allow tannies to cool completely before slicing into bars.
Store tannies at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.
Joanna McQuillan Weeks is food editor of The Standard-Times. Send her e-mail at foodedit@s-t.com
from http://www.southcoasttoday.com |
| posted by All About Home @ 10:09 PM |
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| Saturday, April 7, 2007 |
| Recipes: Chocolate Chip Cookies |
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 18 cookies.
Because they rely upon melted butter -- and a few odd preparation quirks to assure their goal of an uneven surface -- these cookies defy conventional cookie-baking wisdom, but they more than live up to their name. From Cooks Illustrated magazine.
• 2 1/8 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 c. brown sugar (light or dark, or a mixture of both)
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 c. chocolate chips or chunks (semisweet or bittersweet)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda, and reserve.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Form scant 1/4 cup dough into a ball. Holding ball using fingertips of both hands, pull ball into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface.
Place formed dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 9 balls per sheet (smaller cookies can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at a time and baking time may need to be adjusted). Bake until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven and cool cookies on baking sheets.
Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
"This is the quintessential crunchy (as opposed to chewy) chocolate chip cookie," write the authors of the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (The Countryman Press, $29.95). They're right.
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 c. flour
• 3 c. (18 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, salt and vinegar. Beat in egg until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add baking soda and flour, and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Remove cookies from oven, cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Gloria's Beacon Hill Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Note: This meringue cookie varies from the traditional Beacon Hill recipe with the addition of chocolate morsels. To toast walnuts, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake 5 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees (shaking pan once or twice during baking), until they begin to give off an aroma. From "A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Dede Wilson (Harvard Common Press, $16.95).
• 6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. miniature semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/3 c. walnut halves, toasted and finely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In top of a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
In a large, grease-free bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed, beat egg whites until small peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add sugar until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Beat in vanilla, then fold in melted chocolate until combined. Fold in chocolate morsels and walnuts.
Drop dough by generous rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake until cracked in appearance and dry on top, about 10 minutes; cookies should be able to be lifted off baking sheet, and insides should be very moist. Remove from oven, cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer parchment paper (or silicone mat) and cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Note: From "The Neiman Marcus Cookbook" (Clarkson Potter, $45). And no, we didn't pay for the recipe. The myth around its availability is one of many urban legends.
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 c. light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 11/2 c. chocolate chips
• 11/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for about 30 seconds, until mixture is fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract for 30 seconds longer, until well combined.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture and mix for about 15 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, stir in chocolate chips and espresso powder.
Using a 1-ounce scoop (or a 2-tablespoon measure), drop dough onto prepared baking sheet in dollops about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on dough with back of a spoon to spread dough into 2-inch circles.
Bake about 20 minutes or until cookies are nicely browned around edges (bake a little longer for crisper cookies). Remove from oven, cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 8 dozen cookies.
"Ready to take a break from 'this old Toll House'? write the authors of "The Frango Cookbook" (Book Kitchen, $14.95), a new cookbook dedicated to all things Frango, the chocolate candy tradition made famous by Marshall Field's. "Instead of using the usual chips and walnuts, these chewy cookies are studded with chunks of Frango Mint Chocolates and pecans." To toast pecans, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees (shaking pan once or twice during baking), until they begin to give off an aroma.
• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. shortening, at room temperature
• 1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 5 Frango Mint Chocolates, very finely chopped
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 25 Frango Mint Chocolates (about 1/2 lb.), coarsely chopped
• 3/4 c. coarsely chopped toasted pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt and reserve. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and shortening for 1 minute. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat for 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add finely chopped Frango Mint chocolates and vanilla extract and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just blended. Stir in coarsely chopped Frango Mint chocolates and pecans.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets, spacing dough 1 inch apart. Bake about 10 minutes, until cookies are firm at edges and soft in center. Remove from oven, cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
from http://www.startribune.comLabels: chocolate chip cookies |
| posted by All About Home @ 9:02 PM |
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| Friday, April 6, 2007 |
| Daily Quirk: A Mars Bar A Day Keeps The Doctor Away |
Presenting this week's health revelation: Chocolate is good for your arteries. According to a study conducted at Yale, people who eat eight ounces of sugar-free cocoa daily have healthier blood vessels. People who did not eat the cocoa all DIED, all at once, on Aug. 14, 2006.
by James Lileks, Star Tribune
Presenting this week's health revelation: Chocolate is good for your arteries. According to a study conducted at Yale, people who eat eight ounces of sugar-free cocoa daily have healthier blood vessels. People who did not eat the cocoa all DIED, all at once, on Aug. 14, 2006.
OK, they were on a bus that was heading for the testing center and it drove off a cliff, and that might have skewed the findings. Even so, the results are promising.
Just kidding about the bus part. Actually, the Yale study seems to confirm earlier findings by British researchers, and the researchers credit flavonoids, a substance that sounds like aliens from some Pufnstuf planet where everyone looks like a giant tongue. So what does this mean?
1. Until the chocolate patch is invented, people will be duct-taping Hershey squares to their thighs.
2. Someone has a good job spending grant money to try all sorts of arbitrary combinations. You never hear about the studies that fail. Eggs do not prevent those weird super-strength hairs in the ear; gargling Spam smoothies has no measurable effect on liver function, although it seems to strengthen the gag reflex. And so on. Right now, some researcher no doubt is assembling a proposal to test the effect of Pixy Stix on nasal congestion. (They seem to work, if you push hard enough.)
3. Someone is doing their best to find out if it's flavonoids alone that do it, or flavonoids in certain substances. In which case I should stop poking fun at them and offer thanks.
4. In three years, as experience has taught us, we will be told the exact opposite, and reassured that this is what the evidence suggests.
Which will be great, because I love white chocolate.
jlileks@startribune.com • 612-673-7858 More daily at lileks.com.
from http://www.startribune.comLabels: chocolate info, healthy chocolate |
| posted by All About Home @ 5:45 PM |
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| Thursday, April 5, 2007 |
| Chocolate: The secret to a girl's heart |
by Taylor Hahn
Read closely boys, and perhaps take a few notes. The following is the Idiot's Guide to Getting a Girl to Fall in Love With You (or to Getting a Second Date at the Minimum), using the world's tastiest Wonka-approved truth: chocolate has the power to make a woman fall madly in love. Simply take her to one of these old-time classics or trendy new romantic getaways and feel the magic that ensues.
For the woman toward whom you have merely mediocre feelings, Cold Stone Creamery on Sepulveda Blvd. is your target destination. Surprise her with the Cold Stone Original "Chocolate Devotion," and for $5.29 you've got yourself a spring fling.
This creation, a delectable merger of chocolate ice cream, brownie and fudge speaks clearly yet lovingly, "Baby, I'm devoted to you for the next month and a half…or until I earn my $5.29 back in kisses." She will melt in your arms faster than that Gotta Have It-sized dessert would melt by the fire in your heart.
If your palms grow sweaty each time you hold her hand, thus allowing her to call you her boyfriend in public, throwback to the always satisfying and ever present Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey, where a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake is awaiting you, as are many more nights of clammy hand holding. This $6.50 lusciously chocolatey dessert says you love her $1.21 more than you liked the Cold Stone girl, and she is bound to gaze into your eyes tenderly for years to come.
If your heart is brimming with affection to the point of confessing your love in the form of three enchanting words and you truly wish for her to reciprocate, try writing those words on a chocolate cupcake from 3 Square Bakery, a newly opened café and bakery located at 1121 Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice Beach.
This ultra-voguish hotspot, recognizable only by the three painted squares on the window of the stereotypical gray cement structure, is consistently packed between its business hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and offers a variety of baked goods and panini sandwiches, but most importantly a selection of delicious chocolate cakes.
The most fantastic of them all is the cupcake, which costs a meager two dollars. While you may think this says, "Darling, I care about you as much as I care about covered parking," it actually says, "Honey, my love don't cost a thing." This cupcake speaks such beautiful words that I in fact fell initially in love with myself for buying it, and then continued to fall head over heels for the cashier who handed it to me, partially because he was extremely attractive and partially because it was so incredibly mouth watering.
With the love potion that apparently radiates from the pores of this cupcake, she'll be so instantaneously crazy about you that on the drive back to campus, Lincoln Blvd. will be transformed into your very own, yet inconveniently busy, Lovers' Lane.
And for the girl who makes your heart pitter-patter to the rhythm of wedding bells, Comparte's Chocolatier is the ticket to the eternal romance you desire. Located in the Brentwood area at 912 South Barrington Ave., Comparte's features the young chocolate artist Jonathan Grahm, the Picasso of cholesterol, whose tiny candy masterpieces more closely resemble little chunks of heaven worthy of being preserved and displayed in the basement of the Louvre.
His unique confections are divided into colorful categories such as the Exotic Truffle Collection, Bonny Doon Vineyards Wine Truffle Collection and Jonathan's Nouveau Collection, yet all fall into the umbrella category of the When a Man Loves a Woman Collection, including creations such as Jasmine Tea, Apricot Rosemary, Vin De Glacier Ice Wine and Strawberry Balsamico.
These handcrafted tokens of love don't run quite as cheap as a vat of Cold Stone Chocolate Devotion, at $12 for a box of five truffles and $40 for an assortment of 20, but rest assured that the love you will receive will far exceed any monetary value.
Getting her to feel weak at the knees at the mere sight of you is a measly half a gallon of gas away, and while you're at what also happens to be a major sight of celebrity spotting, perhaps you will run into Kate Moss, buy her some chocolates and get her to fall in love with you too.
And lastly, when she dumps you because you didn't take her to Comparte's, Ben and Jerry's on Main Street in Santa Monica offers a $3.75 band-aid cutely called Chocolate Therapy, containing chocolate pudding swirls with the power to solve all issues of the ailing heart.
from http://media.www.laloyolan.comLabels: chocolate info |
| posted by All About Home @ 6:17 AM |
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| Wednesday, April 4, 2007 |
| Like Wine, Fine Chocolate Carries High Pedigree, Stature |
BY LIBBY QUAIDTHE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Call it chocolate with a pedigree.
Like a good Bordeaux or Chianti, some chocolate comes from a particular place - the Indonesian island of Java or Venezuela's Sur del Lago, for example.
As with wine grapes, the source of cacao beans is supposed to result in distinct flavors and aromas. Chocolate from Colombia might seem peppery while chocolate from Venezuela might smell like vanilla.
"It's like colors on a palette," says Gary Guittard, president and chief executive of San Francisco's Guittard Chocolate Company. "There is a tremendous parallel between wine and chocolate."
He mentions terroir (pronounced tehr-WAHR), a French word used for wine and coffee that translates loosely as "taste of the earth." The idea is that beans grown near a vanilla orchid plantation may carry notes of vanilla, depending on fermentation and processing.
"Terroir, weather - there are so many things that are very similar to wine," Guittard says. "I think people are beginning to understand that complexity of flavor."
Guittard was among the first U.S. companies to make "single-origin" chocolate, which had been available in Europe for many years. The term refers to chocolate made from beans from a specific region or even a single farm. Most choices today are dark chocolate, though milk chocolate varieties are produced.
Like other single-origin chocolate, Guittard's is sold in upscale supermarkets and specialty shops.
Until recently, high-end retailers such as Whole Foods Market have been the province of pedigreed chocolate.
But this year, Hershey's began making single-origin bars that are sold by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and most grocery stores.
"It's all about the exploration of chocolate and learning about different cacao levels and how that influences flavor, as well as the origin of the beans," says Tom Hernquist, senior vice president of the Hershey Co., the country's biggest chocolate company.
Labels on single-origin chocolate say how much cocoa - really cacao - the chocolate contains. Cacao percentage has become important as people explore the potential health benefits of eating dark chocolate.
Cocoa beans have natural antioxidant compounds called flavanols. Many studies suggest flavanols help ward off vascular disease, which can cause heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, dementia and hypertension. A Hershey-funded study in 2005 found the more cacao in chocolate, the higher the antioxidant levels.
The higher the cacao percentage, the higher the price tag. A giant-size 5-oz. Hershey's bar costs $1.59 - 32 cents an ounce. Hershey's single-origin bars cost $3.29 for a 3.5-oz bar - 94 cents an ounce. Guittard chocolate costs $1 for a 10-gram bar - $2.86 an ounce.
People want higher-end chocolate with more distinctive flavors, Hernquist says. Baby Boomers are aging, have more disposable income and are looking for quality over quantity, he says.
In pursuit of those high-end consumers, Hershey's recently purchased three premium chocolate companies, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Inc., Joseph Schmidt Confections Inc. and Dagoba Organic Chocolate.
Wine drinkers are also trading up. The strongest sales growth over the past year has been in wines priced $12 to $15, according to the marketing information company ACNielsen.
Part of the fun of eating single-origin chocolate is comparing chocolate from different places.
The various flavor notes can be subtle and harder to detect than in wine, so companies are providing guidance.
Hershey's bar made of beans from the African island of Sao Tome has "hints of aromatic coffee," according to its package. Guittard provides a pocket guide with its tasting kit of bars from Venezuela, Madagascar, Ecuador and Columbia.
Industry consultant Joan Steuer describes how to do the chocolate version of a wine tasting:
n First, notice whether the chocolate has a high gloss or sheen, an indication of quality. Listen as you break it to hear the snap, then smell the chocolate to see if you can detect specific aromas.
n Then put the chocolate in your mouth and hold it against the roof of your mouth. Is it creamy? Smooth? Chalky? Move it from side to side as different notes - perhaps fruity, toasty or tart - come through.
n Unlike wine tasting, do not spit out the chocolate, Steuer says with a laugh. But do not bite it. "These are bars you really should let melt in your mouth and not bite," she says. "We're tasting, not just eating.
"This is not chocolate to be gobbled," she says. "This is chocolate to be savored."
from http://www.saukvalley.comLabels: chocolate info |
| posted by All About Home @ 4:56 PM |
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| Monday, April 2, 2007 |
| Tiramisu I |
Huntsville Times
This is Sarah Fioroni's recipe for tiramisu. Lynda Mobley, general manager of Williams-Sonoma at Parkway Place, also provides a recipe for tiramisu that uses cooked eggs.
- 3 eggs, separated
- 4 tablespoons sugar, divided
- Ladyfingers
- Brewed espresso coffee
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
- Chocolate powder or shaved chocolate
In an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks with 3 tablespoons sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the mascarpone cheese and combine. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat! Fold the two mixtures together.
Mix the remaining sugar into the espresso and place into a low pan. Add the ladyfingers into the coffee for a few seconds to coat. Place in the bottom of an 8-by-8-inch pan. Layer on the mascarpone mixture and continue to layer, finishing with the mascarpone, until the pan is full. Sprinkle with chocolate powder and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Serves 6.
from http://www.al.comLabels: tiramisu |
| posted by All About Home @ 4:55 AM |
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| Sunday, April 1, 2007 |
| All about chocolate |
FOOD NETWORK KITCHENS
Chocolate comes from the cacao tree - the bitter fruits are fermented, then dried, roasted and crushed. The bits that emerge are called cocoa nibs, which are then pureed with sugar and cocoa butter (the fat that emerges) and liquefied. At that point, it's tempered - the temperature is raised and lowered so the cocoa butter is perfectly emulsified and the chocolate is stable.
Milk chocolate has powdered or condensed milk added, in different proportions depending on whether it's being made in the United States or Europe. Unsweetened chocolate is just that. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, with no cocoa solids, so it's technically not chocolate at all.
If your chocolate has white dots or streaks on the outside, that's called "bloom". It means the cocoa butter has become un-emulsified. It's perfectly safe to eat, but might be tricky to bake with. When you're baking with chocolate, always melt it over the gentlest possible heat - in a double boiler, or carefully in the microwave, and make sure that it stays far away from water - water will cause the chocolate to "seize," becoming lumpy and unusable.
from http://www.saukvalley.comLabels: chocolate info |
| posted by All About Home @ 5:24 PM |
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