Molten Chocolate Babycakes

I made this last week to eat with my old roommates and a medical school friend who is also married long distance while we watched Moneyball. Because who doesn't need some truly serious chocolate and a little gratuitous Brad Pitt? (Sorry Robber.)

I have a prior recipe for lava cakes on this blog and I think I do like this one better, though I wonder if it is an issue of using ramekins this time instead of a muffin tin. I had some ramekins on this go around and the batter fit nicely into six, but I think I cooked them too long because I got distracted talking, and they weren't burnt or anything but didn't flow. The way they are supposed to when you cut inside. It was more of a slight ooze. Better luck next time. Still delicious. :)

Also, I tried to make the mint chocolate fudge sauce blogged last Valentine's Day, and I've decided it is a bust. It just is too thick and not saucy enough. Maybe I'm cooking it too long too? Sorry sauce. It was fun to know ye, but I think there's a better fit out there.

From the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/dining/141nrex.html

Ingredients:

4 T. soft unsalted butter, more for greasing dishes
12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (preferably with 70 percent cocoa solids)
4 large eggs
Salt
3/4 C. superfine sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 C. flour

Directions:

1. Place a baking sheet on center rack in oven and heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter insides of six 6-ounce heatproof glass or ceramic baking dishes. (If using soufflé dishes, line bottoms with parchment paper; dishes with flared sides will not need lining.)

2. In a small saucepan over low heat or in a microwave oven, melt chocolate; set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a medium bowl, beat eggs together with a pinch of salt until frothy; set aside.

4. Using an electric mixer, cream together 4 tablespoons butter and the sugar. Gradually add egg mixture, then vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Add chocolate and blend until smooth.

5. Divide batter among six baking dishes and arrange them on baking sheet hot from the oven. Bake until firm and dry on surface, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove dishes from oven and immediately invert cakes onto small plates or shallow bowls. Serve hot.

Yield: Six servings.

Coconut Hot Chocolate

Because I have the sniffles today I deserve this, don't you think?

Note: This is very rich even using "lite" coconut milk, and especially with whipped cream (I didn't do the meringue) on top. I could barely drink half of it myself. I think little girls would love it in small tea cups. Who knew coconut milk could even be used in hot chocolate? I want to try this with white chocolate. The end.

From the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/dining/111arex.html

Ingredients:

For the hot chocolate:
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 15-oz. can coconut milk
1/4 C. dark brown sugar
Pinch kosher salt
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the meringue:
1 large egg white
3 T. superfine sugar.

Directions:

1. Whisk cocoa into 1/3 cup boiling water.

2. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, brown sugar and salt. Simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Whisk in hot cocoa and chocolate until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

3. In bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg white on medium speed until it begins to foam, about 1 minute. Add superfine sugar tablespoon by tablespoon as mixer is running. Beat until egg white stiffens to soft peaks and is shiny, 5 minutes. Dollop onto cups of hot chocolate.

Yield: 2 (-4) servings.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

I made these for dessert on R-DAY for our guests and even the Robber, not usually a fan of chocolate and berries together, deemed these a hit. Thanks again, Annie! I love that it is a way of fancying up something as easy and simple as shortcake and making it seem decadent.

From Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan by way of Annie: http://annies-eats.net/2011/08/12/chocolate-strawberry-shortcakes/

Ingredients:

For the shortcakes:

1 1/3 C. whole milk (I used 2%)

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 T. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ C. sugar, plus more for sprinkling

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used semisweet)

1½ sticks (12 T.) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small piece

For the strawberries:

1½ lbs. strawberries, hulled and sliced or quartered

3-4 T. sugar

Squeeze of lemon juice

For the whipped cream:

1 C. heavy cream

2-3 T. confectioners’ sugar

Dash vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, vanilla and egg. Whisk to blend. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ½ cup of sugar. Stir to combine. Add in the butter and toss to coat the butter in the dry ingredients. Working quickly with a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the pieces of butter are no larger than small peas. Mix in the chopped chocolate and toss to combine.

3. Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients and stir gently until a sticky dough forms. Very gently knead the dough just until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Be careful not to overwork the dough.

4. Scoop the dough in about 1/3 cup mounds onto the baking sheets, leaving a few inches in between. Gently pat the mounds to about 1-inch thickness. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the shortcakes are puff and give just slightly when lightly pressed, about 15-18 minutes total. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5. To make the strawberries, combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Toss well to coat the berries with the sugar and let macerate at least 30-60 minutes. If desired, mash lightly with a fork.

6. Just before serving, make the whipped cream. Place the chilled cream and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip on high speed until medium-stiff peaks form, being careful not to overbeat. Blend in the vanilla.

7. To serve, split each shortcake horizontally. Top the bottom half of each shortcake with a dollop of whipped cream, spoon some of the berry mixture over the top, and replace the top half of the shortcake. Serve immediately.

Double Chocolate Pecan Pie

The Robber and R and I made this and ate a bit rather quickly out of the oven, but as the pie lasted for a few days and slowly carmelized it just got better and better producing this amazing chocolate carmel at the edges. I think the Robber would prefer just a plain pecan pie over this pie but I think that is because he only ate it warm. I like the idea of this pie because it provides an opportunity to make a chocolate pie that isn't as over the top as the chocolate cream pies I've had. Definitely a pie I would make again, though given my pie repertoire and the Robber's strong preference for coconut cream, it might be a while. (Unless I can sneak this in at Thanksgiving.)

From Williams Sonoma by way of Annie:

http://annies-eats.net/2009/11/23/double-chocolate-pecan-pie/

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1¼ C. all-purpose flour

1 T. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

8 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into medium cubes (about 16 pieces)

3 T. ice cold water

For the filling:

3 T. unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

¾ C. packed dark brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

½ C. corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 C. pecans, toasted and chopped into small pieces (or not)

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly to combine. Add the cubes of butter to the bowl and mix on low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal and the largest chunks of butter are not much larger than peas. Add the water to the bowl and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together.

2. Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until chilled.

3. On a lightly-floured work surface, roll the pie dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the round to a 9-inch pie plate by rolling the dough around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pie pan. Trim the edges as necessary and create a fluted pattern using a finger to make the indentations. Freeze the dough-lined pie plate until firm and very cold, about 30 minutes.

4. Adjust an oven rack to lower middle position and heat the oven to 375° F. Remove the dough-lined plate from the freezer, press a sheet of foil inside the pie shell and fill with ceramic baking beads. Bake about 30 minutes, until the dough looks dry and light in color. Carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue baking the crust 5-6 minutes more, until light golden brown.

5. While the pie crust is baking, make the filling. Melt the butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the double boiler but maintain the simmering water. Stir in the sugar and salt with a wooden spoon until the butter is absorbed.

6. Beat in the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Return the bowl to the double boiler and heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is shiny and hot to the touch, about 130° F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the pecans.

7. As soon as the pie shell comes out of the oven, lower the oven temperature to 275° F. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Scatter the chopped chocolate pieces over the filling and press into the filling with the back of a spoon.

8. Bake on the middle rack of the oven about 50-60 minutes, until the pie looks set but slightly soft, like gelatin, when gently pressed with the back of a spoon. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 4 hours.

Chocolate Orange Scones

The next little run of recipes will be different because I am going to try an experiment. In three days I start my medicine rotation, and I will have a lot less time to while away cooking, and I will be wanting for quick and accessible breakfasts. Enter Annie's Eats, my new food blog obsession. Annie makes all these scones and swears every time she posts a scone recipe that you can freeze rolled out, unbaked scones, for like forever and then just bake them the day you want to eat them, like fresh, like new! So I am going to take her up on it. This weekend I am going to try and make-- and freeze-- 56 scones. That way I will have breakfast all ready decided upon and ready to go for my whole medicine rotation. I really. hope. this. works.

Because I won't have tasted all of my scones when I blog the recipes, I will have to go back and comment as to how good they are a) after they have been frozen and b) after I write the post. Thus I won't be able to share my opinion until later. Via comment or re-post or something.

The first recipe in this little run is also a little step off the beaten path... from the LATimes instead of the NYTimes!!! I know. Really out there. But it tempted me during a perusal of the LATimes when I was bored during class one day and hence, it is my first frozen-scone attempt. The recipe is originally from Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales From a Life in Chocolate" and here is the link:

http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-easterrec19amar19,0,6877913.story

Notes: I didn't have oat flour or a Whole Foods to buy oat flour, so I used wheat flour instead. I used another 3.5 oz. Lindt intense orange chocolate bar and supplemented with 0.5 oz. regular 60% cacao chocolate. I used tangerine instead of orange zest, and lastly used 1/2 heavy whipping cream and 1/2 half-and-half. You know. To cut down on calories, or something. And then I wrapped them all up in plastic wrap and a heavy-duty freezer bag and froze them. I will bake the first one tomorrow, before I get too caught up in all this scone mess.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup oat flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Zest from 2 oranges

4 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate (65% to 70% cacao)

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, plus extra for brushing

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the orange zest and the chocolate.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the cream. Using a spatula, mix the ingredients until just moistened; the dough should look rough and shaggy. Gather the dough into a lump with your hands and knead it together five or six times, until it holds together and the sides of the bowl are clean.

4. On a lightly floured board, pat the dough into an 8 1/2 -inch round. Using a knife or a dough cutter, cut the round into 12 wedges. Place the wedges about an inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle them lightly with sugar.

5. Bake the scones until they begin to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Allow the scones to cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Each scone: 225 calories; 3 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 15 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 34 mg. cholesterol; 208 mg. sodium.

Chocolate Olive-Oil Mousse

I made this dessert for our Seder meal and served it with the hazelnut-pecan macaroons. Everyone loved it and it got rave reviews. However, I made the mousse two days in advance and stored it in the refrigerator, and when it was served it had a very fluffy texture, almost like eating rocky road icecream made of marshmallow cream. It was delicious, but I'm not sure it was quite the same product to a cream-based mousse. I would definitely make this again as it was not difficult, but I would serve it earlier and see if the texture was less gooey.

This recipe comes from "Dulce lo Vivas," by Ana Bensadón as referenced in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/dining/281prex.html?_r=1

Note: I doubled the recipe (to feed 18) and used 16 oz. of 60% cacao and 6 oz. of Ghirardelli intense-orange dark chocolate. I also used 2 T. tangerine juice in lieu of the brandy and the mousse had a delicious flavor to it, like the dark chocolate oranges you can buy at Christmastime.

Ingredients:

11 ounces bittersweet (60 percent cacao) chocolate
8 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher for Passover brandy

Directions:

1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat. Cool slightly. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until light. Whisk in olive oil, brandy and melted chocolate.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, whisking until stiff but not dry.

3. Fold whites into chocolate mixture so that no white streaks remain. Spoon into an 8- or 10-cup serving bowl or divide among 8 or 10 dessert cups or glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Grasshopper Pie

For my birthday I really really wanted a grasshopper pie. This because the Robber bought Thin Mints and I started thinking about them in pie form and hence the craving for grasshopper pie was born. I emailed my Mom for a recipe and she sent me this, which she says is of her own design.

1 baked 9 inch graham cracker crust

Ingredients:

I put a few things together from different recipes, but for my crust I used approximately:

1/3 cup crushed chocolate cookie crumbs
1 2/3 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into fine crumbs
7 Tbsp. melted butter

Directions:

1. Mix the crumbs, sugar, and chocolate together. Melt the butter and pour the hot butter into the crumb mixture. The hot butter will melt the chocolate. Combine and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Note: You may have some extra crumbs. I just put these on the top of the pie, in between the top chocolate layer and the whipped cream.

Filling

Ingredients:

Green filling Chocolate filling
4 oz. cream cheese 4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. sour cream 1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped 1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped
1 t. mint flavoring 1 t. vanilla flavoring
green food coloring 2 1/2 oz. sweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Mix the ingredients as above. You can mix the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and whipping cream for both flavors together and then divide into half and then add the remainder of the ingredients to the two halves separately. Or mix them separately to being with. Whatever is your fancy. Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature or it will not blend well.

2. Layer the fillings in the crust in three layers--chocolate, green, chocolate.

3. Top and decorate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

4. Store in the refrigerator.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Mint Fudge Sauce

The Robber made these for me for Valentine's day along with the Fettucine Alfredo and some awesome vegetables. He came up with the concept himself and then executed the whole thing along with the sauce. Well done Robber! Unfortunately, we only had a muffin tin so we divided the batter into nine muffin cups and baked them for the same amount of time. In retrospect, we should have shortened the baking time because the cakes were mostly done all the way through and not very molten-y. But delicious all the same. The sauce, when refrigerated, turns into a nice fudge that you can eat as fudge or warm up again for sauce with the leftovers or with another dessert. Originally from Bon Appetit, you can find the recipe on the Epicurious link below.

Ingredients:

Sauce

4 1/2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Cakes

5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Vanilla ice cream

Directions:

For sauce:

1. Stir both chocolates in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted. Add 1/3 cup hot water, corn syrup and extract; whisk until smooth. Remove from over water. Cool slightly. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Before serving, rewarm in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.)

For cakes:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)

2. Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates. Spoon sauce around cakes. Serve with ice cream.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Molten-Chocolate-Cakes-with-Mint-Fudge-Sauce-104604#ixzz1EYPzfVh1

Chocolate Cream Pie

This recipe came by way of my old roommate KT, who sent it to her friend Kim, who published it on her pieloveyou.blogspot.com blog. The recipe itself is adapted from Gourmet Magazine in 2004. I made this for the Robber for Minnissippi Founders' Day.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (you can use the accompanying recipe for chocolate wafers, or I just used one package of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers which are delicious and worked just fine for this recipe)
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups whole milk
5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1 pint chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Use a food processor to crumb the cookies or put the cookies in a resealable plastic bag and press the air out before sealing. Roll over the bag of cookies with a rolling pin until they form fine crumbs.

3. Stir together crumbs, chocolate, and sugar. Pour hot melted butter over the top and combine (The butter will melt the chocolate). Firmly press onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes and before cooling on rack, use the back of a spoon to press the hot crust back up the sides of the pan. Cool completely.

4. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined well, then add milk in a stream, whisking. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, 1 minute (filling will be thick).

5. Force filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl (I skipped this step, it was fine!), then whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. The pudding should still be warm hot enough to melt the chocolate. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap (make sure there are no air bubbles between the pudding and the plastic wrap) and cool completely, about 2 hours.

6. Spoon filling into crust and chill pie, loosely covered, at least 6 hours.

7. Just before serving, beat cream in a bowl using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks add vanilla and sugar and spoon on top of pie. Top with chocolate shavings for additional effect.