It’s funny how things work.  I was finally able to go to the nursery this past Sunday to choose plants for the patio project I’ve been working on for the past few weeks, and was so pooped lifting those 5-gallon containers I decided to put off planting them until the next day.  Bear in mind that lifting them into place and moving them around to decide which looked best next to what was just as physically taxing as planting, so quite a bit of stepping back to stare at the results was involved afterwards.

At some point Sunday evening, the clouds rolled in and the wind whipped the trees around, surprising us with rain lasting through much of Monday morning.  In this land of perpetually  sunny days and palm trees, I always welcome the rain but like to be able to look forward to it and have time to think about closing windows in the house I forget are open.  Yes, there were two open, and though I wouldn’t willingly risk having the rain come in and ruin the flooring, the soothing sound of a steady rain and scent of fresh moisture wafting through the house is what I was left with.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

It also leaves me with a gelato recipe to write about instead of rainy day food like a nice bowl of creamy asparagus soup, or cute little fruit handpies, but it’s a gelato recipe well worth writing about. Flavor you might find in a paper pint on a night when a good movie you’ve seen a trillion times is what’s in order and your couch has a spot with your name on it.

Jammies required.

Chocolate Toffee Gelato

1/2 c. sugar

2 T cornstarch

1-1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

pinch of sea salt

2 c. milk, divided

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1/2 c. heavy cream, chilled

1/2 c. Heath candy bar, crushed

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cardamom and salt.  Add 1/4 c. of the milk, stirring until all ingredients are well blended, then add the rest of the milk.  Cook over medium high heat, stirring continuously until the mixture starts to thicken and just reaches a boil — about 5 minutes.  Lower the heat and continue stirring for about 1 minute.  Remove the pan from the burner and add the chocolate making sure to submerge all the pieces and allow to sit for 1 minute before stirring until smooth.

Prepare an ice bath by adding ice cubes to a bowl.  Scrape the chocolate mixture to a bowl and set the bowl into the ice bath.  Carefully add water in the exterior bowl and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until chilled.

Pour the chocolate mixture into an ice cream maker and process about 30 minutes, or until the gelato is beginning to firm.  Add the toffee bits and continue to process briefly to distribute them.  Scrape the gelato into a sealable container and place in the freezer for 2-3 hours before serving.

To serve, allow to sit at room temperature 5 minutes before scooping.  Enjoy with chocolate sprinkles, or if you’re in a triple chocolate overload sort of mood, top one of these Salted Fudge Brownie with a scoop and drizzle some chocolate dulce de leche over the top.

Measure out the chocolate

Heat the milk, sugar, cornstarch and spice

Let the chocolate sit for a minute before mixing

It gets so glossy

Toffee candy goes in when the gelato is just about done

Freeze in a sealed container before serving

Load a salted fudge brownie

Drizzle on some warm chocolate dulce de leche

Notes:

• This is a Dorie Greenspan recipe originally published in the June 2006 issue of Bon Appetit which called for cinnamon, not cardamom.  I like cinnamon quite a bit (a lot?) but like to use cardamom which has the most lovely citrus flavor and isn’t as sharp as cinnamon can be to some palates.
• As far as volume goes, this is a nice recipe because it doesn’t overflow the ice cream maker and make a huge mess.  No chocolate covering everything in the kitchen.  Yes, it’s happened before.
• I used 2% milk for this recipe because that’s what I usually have in the fridge, but if I can get away with reducing calories in ice cream, I usually try.  There are gelato recipes I’ve tried that skip the heavy cream completely — like this Fresh Cherry Gelato which was quite the hit.
• The salted fudge brownie chocolate Toffee gelato drizzled with chocolate dulce de leche was my oldest son’s birthday “cake” this year and was well received by all.
• Although I’ve made my own dulce de leche quite a few times using a variety of methods,  when I don’t feel like making yet another thing when I’m putting a dinner together (in this case, it was caramel sauce) I decided to use a jar of La Salamandra Dulce de Leche con Chocolate I’ve had in the pantry since before Christmas.  I was saving it for something special, so this fit the bill.  It’s an amazing jar of chocolatey caramelly wonderfulness you just might want to treat yourself to at least once.
• A bit of after the fact searching has turned up a recipe for chocolate dulce de leche if you’re in the mood to experiment.  Make the dulce de leche like I did for this recipe, then finish by adding the chocolate, butter, and vanilla.  Easy peasy.
• Just think of all those lovely antioxidants your body is loving from that dark chocolate.  Treat!

Insert candle and sing!

At some point this month, Sass & Veracity will be four years old, and in blog years, that’s an accomplishment of sorts — one that could be classified as seat time, but that’s a matter I’ll continue to work on.

I can’t remember the first time I wrote here, but know it was near mid-March, 2007, about the time I’d decided to call it quits on my career.  Quits as in before my retirement date which is not something that is done when one has spent half a lifetime working with children and is within spitting distance of said date.  No, most would stick it out a few more months to get an entire 20 years in, but not me.  That would be far too logical.

A couple of months at home recovering from surgery gave me the opportunity to think about something other than my work, and I realized what I’d suspected.  I couldn’t go back.  Ever.  It was too remarkable finding out my brain was still capable of thought unrelated to the fine art of educating children or the not so fine art of working with ridiculous government policies and bureaucrats (but you might insert any career here that has overstayed its welcome).  I felt like a completely different person once I’d made my decision, and when alone at home during the day felt like I was playing hookey and about to get caught.  Bear in mind my husband was supportive of it and me, knowing that unless I wanted to find a different job, we’d be without half of what we normally lived on.

Half.

Giving up my food magazine subscriptions was probably not going to cut it.

I rationalized that my youngest needed me, and after raising three boys while spending more time with other people’s children, it felt like a gift to be home with at least one of them.  He was still in school and in need of some gentle but focused guidance to see him through high school — i.e., How to Survive The Geometry Teacher and Live to Tell About It – or not.

So how did this all begin?  I started another blog first, and because a good friend and I had committed ourselves to getting fit with a specified diet and exercise regime, I realized I’d have more to say about it all than what I wanted to write on one blog, especially if it involved food.  I thought writing about the healthy meals I was eating would be a great place to begin along with my never ending opinions about food in general.  It made perfect sense to start a second blog at the time.

Just.  Perfect.

It was perfect until our quest to lose 50 pounds stagnated at about 15 as did my motivation to write about food.  The struggle was more about my avoidance of this blog for the other which allowed me the space and freedom to write whatever I wanted whether anyone wanted to read it or not.  As much as I knew I could cook, making whatever I cooked look appetizing in a photo was another matter completely, so I begrudgingly realized I would need to spend more time than I originally thought I’d require to make Sass & Veracity work.  “Work” meant something I looked forward to, enjoyed spending time with, learning from…all of that.  But I just wasn’t interested in writing here — if I could actually call it writing.  It seemed more about the tedious task of recipe recording or revising.  Thankfully, the welcomed salvation of photography saved me — something I’d always been interested in, but had much to learn about.  There’s nothing quite like having to figure out how to shoot food which isn’t sporting a golden glow that will keep one thinking.

When I think of the blogs I first remember happening on to four years ago, 101 Cookbooks, Lucullian Delights, The Wednesday Chef,  and The Traveler’s Lunchbox come to mind with archives going back a year or two from that point.  They’d all been at it for a while.  With great photography and a clear voice in their writing, I had hope that maybe I would be able to make this a place to write well also.  Time went on and so many more food blogs surfaced.  I discovered The Daring Bakers when there were fewer than 50 members in the group and soon figured out that if I baked more instead of cooked, the food behaved better in front of my camera.  More time passed and  Foodbuzz surfaced along the way. Twitter began tweeting.  Facebook began its quest to take over the universe.  In the meantime, I have met lots of wonderful people who, like me, are interested in food.  I lost something along the way trying to write about food, though.  Writing for writing’s sake.

I miss that.

I’ve gotten to the point that too many of my thoughts — all of them –  are connected to where the next recipe is coming from.  Whether the ingredients are local or not.  How I’ll shoot the recipe, when I’ll edit the photos, and whether I’ll take the time to submit them to Tastespotting or Foodgawker.  It’s endless and the spark has gone from it on most days, but I’m working through some adjustments about where it all should settle into my life, which is so much more than food.

Evil thought, isn’t it?

So I’m here on this almost anniversary of an important time in my life to share something simple — at least in appearance.  To hopefully give you a bit of sass (which has been sadly missing for a very long time) with the always pragmatic veracity I’m prone to on whether there’s actually something that remains to be said about a brownie.

Please know that I am not a brownie baker.  In fact, it’s probably the only baking phobia I have, except that run-in with Julia Child’s french bread a couple of years ago.  My brownie phobia has been well-earned because no matter what I have done, the brownies that have come from my oven resemble cube-like hockey pucks more than fudge flavored treats.   The last batch of brownies I ruined came from a box mix sometime when my two older boys were in elementary school, a very long time ago.  The brownies that surface in our home have come from the grocery store in bite sized form ready for the snacking.

So today, I bring you brownies.  Surely it’s time I learned to make them properly.

The big question is, do you prefer them fudgey, or cakey?  With nuts or without?  Chocolate chips added?  Marshmallows, M&Ms, dulce de leche drizzled over the top? Or maybe plain with a bit of salt and washed down with a tall glass of ice cold milk enjoyed through a good old fashioned paper straw.

Salted Fudge Brownies

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/4 c. + w T unsweetened cocoa

2 c. sugar

3 lg. eggs

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. Maldon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 9×9″ baking pan with foil allowing the edges to hang over the sides.  Spray the pan and foil lightly with oil.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally until well combined.  Remove from the heat.

Stir in the following ingredients individually making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next:  cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour.

Scrape the batter from the pan into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.  Sprinkle the salt over and swirl in with a knife.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center is removed “with a little of the batter.”  Cool at room temp for an hour, then place in the fridge for an additional hour.  Remove from the pan and cut into either 9 or 16 pieces depending on preference.

Line the pan with foil and spray lightly with oil

 

Get the chocolate & butter melting over low heat

 

Have the rest of the ingredients ready

 

Make sure the chocolate & butter are well mixed

 

Look how silky it is

 

Add the sugar and cocoa

 

Mix well after each egg addition

 

It will get smooth again in no time

Add the flour and oops! I added the salt!

 

The vanilla is in there, too

 

Spread the batter in the pan

 

Bake until there's only a bit of batter on the stick

 

Notes:

• Insert happy jumping up and down with glee.  Or success.  Something.  Truly, this is the first batch of brownies I haven’t screwed up.
• They’re very fudgey.  Very.  I was worried about the “with a little of the batter” part because seriously — how much is little?  When you’re a failure at brownie baking like I am, I need details.  But they worked.
• Dense, chocolatey, and yes, you can taste that salt on the top (which I sprinkled on after the fact  because I blew it and added the salt with the flour).  We loved that part — especially with coffee in the morning when I’m wondering whether I need two instead of one.
• I did end up cutting the 9ths into 16ths.  They’re rich.
• Wait until you see what I made with these.  Just wait.  Fudge overload coming soon in celebration of my oldest boy’s birthday.
• Almost forgot:  This recipe is from Kate Krader as published in Food & Wine and which I followed the recipe almost to the “t.”  I figured if I was going to have success, then choosing a recipe that someone has made since she was 10 years old might help.  Thanks, Kate!
• When’s the last time you had some ice cold milk with a brownie?  It tastes different from a paper straw — just like it did when I was in school.  Go figure.
• Are there any other brownie challenged bakers out there like me?  Come on.  Fess up!  And if you’ve found success with a brownie recipe, send it to me at sassandveracity[at]gmail[dot]com and I’ll link it here with any comments you’d like me to add. Don’t be shy   Let the brownie chronicles begin.

I know I’m not alone in having had the experience of finding something long forgotten — if noticed missing at all.  The purses sitting just beyond a comfortable reach on the top shelf of my closet are veritable treasure troves when I finally decide one or two should be sent to the Good Will.  I recently found a gift certificate to a local book store dated June, 2000, ink smeared and dog eared. Cleaning out a junk drawer usually turns up a few movie passes, that button that popped off a favorite sweater I vowed to sew back on, and a recipe for margaritas torn from the local paper years ago.  One never knows when a truly excellent margarita could come in handy.

Writing a food blog has its similar moments.  More often, they’re comprised of instances when I finally remember exactly which recipe inspired that gorgeous set of photos taken last spring.  Or after doing a bit of endless organizing, I inadvertently find yet another list of bookmarks for recipes I want to try. And there’s also the class act of flipping through cookbooks for inspiration, seeing a recipe that looks familiar and realizing it is the one I’ve searched everywhere for but couldn’t find.  I forgot to tag it, my notes were written on a piece of scrap paper instead of my dated notebook, and the scrap is buried in the junk drawer.  Yes!  That recipe!  Elation quickly turns to dispair when I remember that the recipe was one I gave up all hope of finding.  The one I deleted most of the photos for because at some point, I can’t save a million photos of food I’ll never write anything about.  Yes, 10 or 12 thousand, but not a million.

It’s a vicious cycle and I’m on a quest to be truly organized with it all if anything to save time.

Here are some chocolate tarts I found in the depths of my photo library, the recipe just rediscovered, and…well, see above.  If you’re caught up in the throes of getting organized and need a bit of a boost, or want something decadently chocolate after a special meal, you’ll love these tarts made with a chocolate short dough crust and a soft bittersweet chocolate ganache.  They’re decadently rich and perfect for sharing.

Dark Chocolate Tartelettes

Makes four 4-inch tartelettes

For the tart shells…

1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 lb. butter, room temperature

1/2 c. powdered sugar

For the filling…

8 oz. semisweet chocolate

2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature

1-1/2 c. heavy cream

2 T strong coffee or espresso

Make the crust first by sifting the flour and cocoa powder together into a medium sized bowl.

In the bowl of a standing mixer using the paddle attachment, add the butter and beat on low for 2 minutes to soften it further.  Add the powdered sugar and mix just until blended, less than a minute.  Scrape down the sides.  Pour in the flour and cocoa mixture and beat again on low just until blended, less than a minute.

Scrape the dough from the mixer bowl, make a ball, then flatten into a disc and wrap well with plastic.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

When the dough if well chilled, divide into four equal pieces.  On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, roll a piece of dough into a 1/4″ thickness and a diameter of about 6 inches to fit in a 4″ tart pan with a removable bottom.  Gently press the dough into the tart pan making sure the dough fits into the fluted edges.  Trim excess  dough and place the crust in the refrigerator while the remaining three crusts are formed.  Make sure all have been chilled at least 15 minutes before baking.

To blind bake the shells, prick the bottom of each with a fork several times, then cover each with a square of foil and fill with pie weights, dried beans, pasta, or rice.  Bake in the lower third of the oven 15-18 minutes, then remove the foil and pie weights and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a baking rack before filling.

To prepare the ganache filling, chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it along with the butter to a large ovenproof measuring cup or bowl.  Heat the cream, just bringing it to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate and butter.  Make sure the chocolate is completely covered by the cream before allowing it to sit about a minute.  Using a spatula, begin slowly stirring the mixture until it is completely melted and is 90 degrees.  Pour in the coffee and mix well.  Fill each tart shell with the ganache and chill until set — at least 1 hour before serving.

Using a sharp cheese cutter or potato peeler, shave some chocolate over each tart if desired.

Press the dough into the tart pans and trim

Prick, fill with pie weights and blind bake

Fill with chocolate ganache and chill

Notes:

• This recipe was adapted from Sherry Yard’s “Deep, Dark Chocolate Tart” from The Secrets of Baking.
• Basic ganache is essentially an equal mixture of chocolate and cream.  It can be made in soft, medium, or firm consistencies depending on what you want to use it for.  A soft consistency contains twice the cream to chocolate, and a firm consistency twice the amount of chocolate to cream.
• The key to keeping the crust from getting tough is keeping it cool.  If your kitchen is hot, keep the balls of dough in the refrigerator while you work on one at a time.  Or roll out one large piece of dough to 1/4″ thickness, lightly fold it into a half, then quarter and put it back in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before cutting four 6″ circles from the dough.
• I made my tarts a day ahead and kept them in the refrigerator over night.  They become quite firm when chilled but will keep nicely until you’re ready to serve up to two days if necessary.
• Truly intense chocolate flavor guaranteed to satisfy any chocolate craving.

Decadently rich!

It’s been nearly three years since I joined The Daring Bakers and in that time, I’ve been quite diligent about making each month’s challenge and posting it on time.  Actually, I’ve had a slip here and there along the way, but recently,  I’ve struggled the past several months for a variety of reasons.  Suffice it to say I’ve had to reorganize my planning to bake or cook anything that is multi-stepped — something I usually enjoy quite a bit.  It’s all been consigned to the weekends and although that isn’t a bad thing on most weekends, there are recipes I’d like to try that sit alongside the monthly challenges and a husband who hopes he can peel me from my kitchen occasionally.  When I do decide to spend a day in my kitchen,  I indulge myself by making whatever strikes my fancy thereby avoiding the “have-to-get-it-done” feeling I’ve imposed on myself about our Daring Baker challenges.  Who knew that someone who writes a food blog could struggle with obsessive-compulsive tendencies?  (All food bloggers reading this, please raise your hands!).

Let’s call this my confessional, shall we?

I’ve missed the following challenges:

• December, 2008 — French Yule Log.  Go ahead and call me a big chicken for not tackling this one.  Or remember (if you’ve been reading my blog for a while) that our house had been under construction for quite a while and I’d agreed to join a nice group of bakers posting 12 cookies in 12 days for the holiday season.  Oh, the memories.

• November, 2009 — Cannoli.  I bought the cannoli forms.  Does that count?  To quote Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day.”  Of course, there are also more challenges.  Oh what a tangled web we weave,  when first we practice to deceive. Can you imagine hooking Scarlett up with good ol’ Will Shakespeare?

• December, 2009 — Gingerbread House.  My youngest is nearly 18 so the wonder of making something like this has to be in my ability to simply entertain myself.  Bear in mind that I do not begin Christmas shopping until my vacation begins, so it all makes for a whirlwind holiday season with very little down time (like everyone else!).  I had a great idea that I still haven’t given up on which may become a summertime fad.  Or, perhaps not.  We’ll see come July.  Hold me accountable.

• February, 2010 — Tiramisu.  I have no excuse for this one.  I’ll blame it on the fact that I couldn’t find (didn’t work very hard to find) cream that isn’t ultra-pasteurized so that I could make the mascarpone which is one of my favorite ingredients.  This recipe is definitely on my list even though my resident food samplers don’t especially appreciate the wonders of coffee.  A tea version is in the works.  It’s beside the fact that I need to learn to make ladyfingers as well.  Doesn’t everyone?

You noticed I skipped February, 2010, didn’t you?  Wonder of all wonders, I did complete that challenge graciously hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen.  She is Canadian and challenged all of us to make Nanaimo Bars, a Canadian confection.  Lauren also compiled and edited the cookbook A Hand for Haiti whose proceeds are all donated to the Red Cross as disaster relief.  She’s quite an inspiration, so I had to try my hand at Nanaimo Bars out of sheer respect.

If you’ve not heard of a Nanaimo Bar, it’s a dessert comprised of a chocolate layer containing graham cracker crumbs, nuts, and coconut, a pudding layer, and a final coating of dark chocolate.  I’ve created free-form deconstructions instead of the traditional cut bars.

Nanaimo Pies

First, the graham crackers: I used the recipe at 101 Cookbooks because I’ve used it before and it’s fabulous.  The only change I made was to use whole wheat pastry flour.  The dough comes together quite easily, but it is quite a challenge to work with in my opinion.  I chill it, then press it directly onto the baking pan lined with a silicone mat.  I prick the dough with a fork.  For this recipe, I chose not to score the dough because I wasn’t planning to make crackers.  Instead, I wanted it a bit thicker, like a cakey sort of cookie.  The edges browned more, so I was able to break those off and crush them for the recipe as well.

Next:  The pudding. I used a classic vanilla pudding recipe.  This is the biggest deviation from the original recipe for a Nanaimo Bar.  It was a risk because I knew the pudding wouldn’t be as firm as the Bird’s Custard Powder, an ingredient I’ve never seen locally.  Here’s the recipe I used:

Vanilla Bean Pudding

3/4 c. whole milk

1 c. cream

1 vanilla bean, split & seeds scraped

3 egg yolks

2 T cornstarch

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1-1/2 tsp. unsalted butter

Heat the milk, cream, and split vanilla bean in a saucepan over low heat.  Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

Whisk the yolks, cornstarch, sugar, eggs, and salt.  Remove the vanilla bean from the hot milk mixture,  then drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture while stirring rapidly.

Return to the pan and cook just until it begins to thicken.  You’ll know it’s ready when it will coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Transfer it to a bowl, and stir in the vanilla extract and butter.  Press plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate over night.

For the chocolate under layer: I deviated from the original recipe here, too, but somewhat unexpectedly, omitting the graham crumbs from the chocolate mixture in the small pies.  I realized it for the larger pie which didn’t have a cookie graham base.  I don’t have photos of this segment.  If I remember correctly, my camera ran out of batteries.

Chocolate Under Layer

Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler.  Add egg and stir to cook and thicken.  Remove from heat.  Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut.

Notes: To make the small pies that I show, omit the graham cracker crumbs in the chocolate.  Press the chocolate mixture over a disk of graham cracker instead.

Chocolate Top Layer

To construct the Nanaimo Pies: Begin with a baking tray layered with plastic wrap.  Place forms lightly sprayed with oil on the tray.  For the small ones, insert a graham cookie disk first.  Press the chocolate-nut-coconut mixture down next, then top with pudding and finish with the melted chocolate.  If desired, add other ingredients to the top of each.  I chose, cacao nibs, flaked coconut, and slivered almonds.  For the large one, construct it the way you would a traditional Nanaimo Bar.  Press the chocolate-nut-coconut mixture into the bottom of a lightly oiled springform pan.  Spoon pudding over that layer, then top with plain chocolate.   Allow to chill thoroughly –  over night if possible.  To unmold, wipe the exterior of the molds with a very warm cloth.  They’ll slide right out.  For the springform pan, use a sharp, thin knife to lightly score around the edges before releasing the pan.

Enjoy! Clearly, the chocolate layer on top is a bit too sturdy for the pudding layer beneath.  All in all, it was a nice bite of sweet, however, with the light sweetness of the pudding working very well with the rich chocolate.

]]> http://www.sassandveracity.com/2010/03/07/nanaimo-bars-deconstructed/feed/ 12 http://www.sassandveracity.com/2010/03/01/chocolate-fudge-cupcakes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chocolate-fudge-cupcakes http://www.sassandveracity.com/2010/03/01/chocolate-fudge-cupcakes/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:07:16 +0000 kellypea http://sassandveracity.com/?p=1328

Yesterday was my oldest son’s birthday, and although I do make him a cake from one year to the next (he’s 31),  I didn’t this year.   Retrospectively, I did decide that the cupcakes made as a Valentine’s Day treat for my two remaining menfolk-in-residence might be as good a reason as any to coerce me to sit and write something in celebration.  My oldest loves chocolate cake, and had I asked what he might enjoy for his birthday, he’d have said chocolate.  Anything with chocolate.  Like his mother, he can do without the calories, so I think it’s fitting this year that a photo of a birthday cupcake take the place of the real McCoy as long as I can get him to look at my blog.  I’m not holding my breath because as my grandmother would have said, the chances are “slim to none and Slim’s on a fast train out of town.”

Where was I?

Cupcakes.  True to form, I haven’t tried either the cake or frosting recipe before, but have tried many others from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  This is the book I go to when I want to experiment.  If you’re not familiar with it, you won’t see glossy photos of each recipe.  It’s more of a work horse cookbook.  What sets it apart from other cookbooks is the way the ingredients are listed.  Measurements are provided by volume and weight which makes it quite easy to divide a recipe or to adjust ingredient quantities.  Cakes are presented in one section and toppings in another and although Beranbaum makes suggestions about which go best together, I enjoy considering all the options.  Each recipe also contains a brief section on “understanding” where the science is explained.  As much as I’ve been an avid cook most of my life, I don’t always understand how or why certain ingredients interact with one another, so it’s helpful to understand what may not work when I’m experimenting.

What caught my attention with this recipe was the brown sugar — not something I’m used to seeing in a recipe for chocolate cake.  Equally interesting was the recipe for the buttercream.  Yes, it has an alarming amount of butter in it (hence the name “butter” cream…), but it’s made with egg whites instead of egg yolks, and they aren’t cooked as they would be in a mousseline buttercream.  Both recipes work quite nicely with one another and make a very chocolatey combo that the resident menfolk finished off in a couple of bites — even if it wasn’t in celebration of either of their birthdays.

Speaking of birthdays, Sass & Veracity turns a big three years old this month and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to share with you that Saveur magazine has graciously nominated me in their 1st Annual Best Food Blog Awards in the “Best Individual Post” category.  I’m very honored considering those whose work is sitting alongside mine.  They understand the time and effort it takes to put a good post together — let alone two or three in a week.  The post Saveur has chosen to focus on is one I wrote after returning from Puerto Vallarta last spring at about the time that H1N1 was gaining momentum.  A group of friends and I met there in celebration of a 40th birthday only to find that we may have trouble getting back across the border.  We didn’t, of course, and thankfully I was able to have fun with my own version of Mexican street tacos, which have absolutely nothing to do with chocolate fudge cupcakes or birthdays.

Are you with me?

Chocolate Fudge Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 c. + 3 T unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa

1-1/2 c. boiling water

3 lg. eggs

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. cake flour, sifted

2 c. light brown sugar

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pour the boiling water over the cocoa in a medium bowl and stir until well combined, then cool to room temperature.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, 1/4 of the cooled cocoa mixture, and the vanilla.
4. In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the rest of the dry ingredients and  mix on low until combined.
5. Add the butter and the remaining cocoa mixture, then mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated until well moistened.  Beat for an additional 1-1/2 minutes, then scrape down the sides.
6. Add the egg mixture a third at a time, making sure to beat at least 20 seconds after each addition.  Scrape down the sides again.
7. Fill 24 paper-lined cups with the batter.  They will be full.
8. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the cupcake springs back when pressed.
9. When removed from the oven, let sit briefly in the pans, then remove to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Recipe Notes:

• I’ve had to deal with the whole Dutch-processed debacle before and finally found it at Henry’s — a sort of home town market here in San Diego.  They have it available in bulk, which is nice.  If you don’t have that kind of cocoa available,  Beranbaum suggests that you can use 1 cup of non-alkalized cocoa like Hershey’s instead.
• The batter is really lovely once you get it past the curdle stage, and trust me, it curdles.  Just turn the motor up to high and let it rip.  At some point, it will all come together again.  It will.  I promise.  Then, carry on.
• Spray the top of your pans with oil, or rub them lightly with a paper towel dipped in oil.  This recipe fills the cups so full, should they over shoot the cups (and they shouldn’t) you wouldn’t want them to stick on the surface of the pans, right?
• They rise beautifully, but I have to admit, I used my convection oven set at 340 degrees F for 20 minutes.  I turned the trays half way through the cooking time to ensure even cooking.  We’ll chalk this up to paranoia.
• I let them cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then turned them out to cool completely on racks before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate

2 c. unsalted butter, softened

4 lg. egg whites

1 c. granulated sugar

Directions

1. Over low heat, in a double boiler, heat chocolate until it begins to melt, stirring frequently until smooth.
2. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the egg whites on medium high to the soft peak stage.
4. On medium, beat the sugar in gradually until stiff peaks are formed.
5. Add the softened butter a tablespoon at a time, beating briefly before another tablespoon is added.  If the mixture begins to curdle, increase the speed of the mixer and beat until it comes together again before continuing with the butter additions.
6. Add the cooled chocolate and beat until completely smooth and incorporated.
7. Set aside until ready to use on the completely cooled cupcakes.

Recipe Notes:

• This frosting is completely divine.  Period.
• I used an unsweetened chocolate for this recipe because that’s what I had on hand.  To make sure the recipe was as close to the original as possible, I added 1 T of granulated sugar for each ounce of chocolate in the recipe.  I added the sugar after the chocolate was melted and stirred until all was smooth.
• When the chocolate is added to the  butter mixture, please know that if it is too cool, chunks will stay in the frosting.  This isn’t alarming unless you plan to pipe it.  Then it’s extremely alarming if you’re me.  Chunks clog the nozzle, and although you attempt valiantly to create perfect swirls of chocolate that entice potential indulgent individuals to sample your cupcakes, the chunks cause more than a small problem.  Then you’re forced to frost each cupcake by hand, making sure each is perfectly coiffed.  But the chunks of chocolate should you happen onto one one?  Oh.  My.
• All in all, they’re a delightful mouthful of chocolate if you’re ever in need of one.
• Oh, and if you haven’t voted for me yet, please think about it. I’d grin from ear to ear knowing that you had.

I’m not sure what it is about mint, but it’s never been one of my favorite flavors.  I could blame it on the Junior Mints I ate too many of one afternoon in at a matinee when I was a kid.  But then again, it might have been the time that my grandparents took us to Howard Johnson’s to have ice cream and I chose a double scoop of peppermint and apple streudel which, if you think the way I now do, don’t exactly go well with one another.  Sadly, those cheerful red and white hard candy disks never quite appealed to me and just the thought of York Peppermint patties made my teeth ache.  Mint tea has no appeal whether I’m under the weather or not, and mint juleps remind me of cough medicine.

Mention Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints, however, and you’ll have my undivided attention.  It has to be the crunch.  These holiday cookies may not be Thin Mints, but they come very, very close.

I’ll have to give them a good dunk in the chocolate next time instead of making a big mess slinging chocolate all over my kitchen.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg

• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions can be found here.

Notes:

• Am I mistaken, or were these called refrigerator cookies once upon a time?
• I used pure peppermint extract and the quantity called for could actually be increased a bit.  The minty taste in the finished cookie is very subtle, so they’re perfect for a non-mint lover like myself.  The uncooked dough is something I might be caught sneaking from the fridge at night when no one is looking.
• These are terrifically easy to make.  Roll the dough in the plastic and it’s easier to even out the shape before refrigeration.
• There is absolutely no spread on these cookies.  Zero.  It’s interesting.  I’m sure it’s some kind of divine retribution for all the cookie spreading disasters I’ve survived.
• I had left over chocolate from two other recipes, so reheated that and drizzled it over the top of the cooled cookies.  If you’re going to reheat chocolate in a microwave, do so on the lowest power possible for one minute at a time and then stir well before deciding to put it back in the microwave.
• I coated a couple of the cookies that didn’t quite look as hockey puckish as the others and did note when I sank my teeth into one, that the chocolate does soften the cookie just the slightest bit.  Maybe a complete dunking is in order?  Wait.  Perhaps fill them, then give them a dunk.  Goodness, but wouldn’t that be decadent?
• These would be terrific cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with.  They’re sturdy little things.

Don’t forget to check out my fellow cookie bakers this holiday season.  Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen, Courtney of Coco Cooks, and Judy of No Fear Entertaining who are all returning this year, and Michelle of Big Black Dog, Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook, Renee of Flamingo Musings, and Tiffany of The Nesting Project who will be joining us this year.  A special nod goes to Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes who started the group last year, but cannot join in on the craziness this year.