Monthly Archives: April 2009

TWD: Chocolate Cream Tart

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Wow. Just Wow. I am not a pudding fan, and I tasted this right when it was done. I was…eh. Then I chilled it. I LOVE it. In fact, you had better get it OUT of my house NOW or I will undo all the good healthy eating work I’ve done up until now…four weeks. I will not let this tart be my undoing.

But if it were, it would be so WORTH it.

I love shortbread, I love chocolate, so what’s not to like about a chocolate shortbread tart shell. I actually read the recipe ahead and made the crust early enough so it would be cool when I made the filling.

Again, a custard filling and I’ve learned my lesson: 4 yolks. Cornstarch. A generous amount of cooking time.

I cooled this quickly, filled the tart and topped it with the touch of whipped cream called for. As I noted, I love this cold better than room temp (I am one of those who likes cold chocolate chip cookies better than warm. Let this be a lesson to me…)

Like other chocolate I have had while writing this post, this goes very nicely with my daily dose of red wine. Drink up. …I mean EAT UP. You’re all invited to my house to finish this before I devour it. PLEASE.

Recipe at Scrumtious Photography

TWD: Chocolate Cream Tart

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Wow. Just Wow. I am not a pudding fan, and I tasted this right when it was done. I was…eh. Then I chilled it. I LOVE it. In fact, you had better get it OUT of my house NOW or I will undo all the good healthy eating work I’ve done up until now…four weeks. I will not let this tart be my undoing.

But if it were, it would be so WORTH it.

I love shortbread, I love chocolate, so what’s not to like about a chocolate shortbread tart shell. I actually read the recipe ahead and made the crust early enough so it would be cool when I made the filling.

Again, a custard filling and I’ve learned my lesson: 4 yolks. Cornstarch. A generous amount of cooking time.

I cooled this quickly, filled the tart and topped it with the touch of whipped cream called for. As I noted, I love this cold better than room temp (I am one of those who likes cold chocolate chip cookies better than warm. Let this be a lesson to me…)

Like other chocolate I have had while writing this post, this goes very nicely with my daily dose of red wine. Drink up. …I mean EAT UP. You’re all invited to my house to finish this before I devour it. PLEASE.

Recipe at Scrumtious Photography

TWD: Chocolate Bread Pudding

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I did it again. I made bread pudding for someone who “never liked bread pudding before” and guess what? Now she likes it. Or she likes Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Bread Pudding, at least–this week’s entry in the Tuesdays with Dorie saga.

Here’s the beauty of this dessert: It’s extremely easy. There’s not too much bread, so you get some custard separate and apart from the bread. AND you bake it in a water bath, which keeps the custard from becoming a tough pudding–it’s silky smooth.

I made this as dessert for the Greek Easter Dinner I went to (see the blog post on Greek Easter Bread below)-okay, so it was a bread heavy contribution I brought, but all is fair in war and Tuesday with Dorie baking.

It is so delicious. I baked in a glass dish as suggested…I would have loved something smaller but deeper so I’d get even more custard to bread ratio in the finished product…I also wish I’d made some vanilla custard sauce to serve with this…it was plenty tasty just as it is, but bread pudding just deserves custard sauce, right?

Happy eating, all. Visit everyone else’s TWD Chocolate Bread Pudding blogs for more sweet fun.

TWD: Chocolate Bread Pudding

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I did it again. I made bread pudding for someone who “never liked bread pudding before” and guess what? Now she likes it. Or she likes Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Bread Pudding, at least–this week’s entry in the Tuesdays with Dorie saga.

Here’s the beauty of this dessert: It’s extremely easy. There’s not too much bread, so you get some custard separate and apart from the bread. AND you bake it in a water bath, which keeps the custard from becoming a tough pudding–it’s silky smooth.

I made this as dessert for the Greek Easter Dinner I went to (see the blog post on Greek Easter Bread below)-okay, so it was a bread heavy contribution I brought, but all is fair in war and Tuesday with Dorie baking.

It is so delicious. I baked in a glass dish as suggested…I would have loved something smaller but deeper so I’d get even more custard to bread ratio in the finished product…I also wish I’d made some vanilla custard sauce to serve with this…it was plenty tasty just as it is, but bread pudding just deserves custard sauce, right?

Happy eating, all. Visit everyone else’s TWD Chocolate Bread Pudding blogs for more sweet fun.

Happy Greek Easter: Christo Anesti!

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I had the privilege of being invited to my great friends’ Rachel and Mike’s to celebrate Greek Easter with them. Rachel grew up in a Greek household, and her holidays are all linked to Greek tradition–this week, today, in fact, was Greek Easter. She asked (or did I volunteer? Can’t remember, because I wanted to do this) me to bring Greek Easter bread.

I looked up several recipes and settled on a Greek Easter Bread recipe credited to Saveur. The consistent ingredient that I was/am missing? Well, to start with, something called makhlépi. Best I can tell it’s the seeds of the Mediterranean wild cherry. I was to steep the seeds then use that tea to scent the bread. A lot of recipes also use mastic. Guess I need to get myself to the Greek market and ask for these things. I made it without the steeped cherry water and without mastic and added anise extract instead. I think that was my Italian coming out.

It was fabulous. First of all, it was beautiful. Beautiful. Rachel was impressed I used a red egg (red-ish. Dyes are wimpy, aren’t they? Best I could get was a dark pink), but of course, when I do something, I want it done right. I wanted most of all to live up to Rachel’s memories.

The crumb is lovley, too, so even and regular and small–Rachel thought it was a bit sweet, but my recipe used half a cup LESS sugar than the recipe in the book she had on her shelf–perhaps that anise addition gave that hint of sweetness. All in all? Great bread. She’s taking some to her mom out in California. Frankly, that says it all: I couldn’t be prouder!

BTW, Gary won the little crack-the-red-egg game. We could use the good luck. That egg is staying with me. Christos Anesti, all!

Happy Greek Easter: Christo Anesti!

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I had the privilege of being invited to my great friends’ Rachel and Mike’s to celebrate Greek Easter with them. Rachel grew up in a Greek household, and her holidays are all linked to Greek tradition–this week, today, in fact, was Greek Easter. She asked (or did I volunteer? Can’t remember, because I wanted to do this) me to bring Greek Easter bread.

I looked up several recipes and settled on a Greek Easter Bread recipe credited to Saveur. The consistent ingredient that I was/am missing? Well, to start with, something called makhlépi. Best I can tell it’s the seeds of the Mediterranean wild cherry. I was to steep the seeds then use that tea to scent the bread. A lot of recipes also use mastic. Guess I need to get myself to the Greek market and ask for these things. I made it without the steeped cherry water and without mastic and added anise extract instead. I think that was my Italian coming out.

It was fabulous. First of all, it was beautiful. Beautiful. Rachel was impressed I used a red egg (red-ish. Dyes are wimpy, aren’t they? Best I could get was a dark pink), but of course, when I do something, I want it done right. I wanted most of all to live up to Rachel’s memories.

The crumb is lovley, too, so even and regular and small–Rachel thought it was a bit sweet, but my recipe used half a cup LESS sugar than the recipe in the book she had on her shelf–perhaps that anise addition gave that hint of sweetness. All in all? Great bread. She’s taking some to her mom out in California. Frankly, that says it all: I couldn’t be prouder!

BTW, Gary won the little crack-the-red-egg game. We could use the good luck. That egg is staying with me. Christos Anesti, all!

TWD on Wednesday: Best Cake Ever, The 15-minute Amaretti Torte

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Okay, it would be the best cake ever if it were easier to buy amaretti anywhere within 10 miles of home. In the end I made them, which was easy, too (lesson 1, learned the 300th time: it’s so simple, we should all do more of this more often)..And now I know from other TWDers that Starbuck’s and World Market/Cost Plus carry amaretti.

Anyway. I made amaretti using some marcona almonds I’d gotten as Costco–decadent? Perhaps. Worth it? Definitely.

Then you make the cake ALL IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR. In go the almonds and amaretti (2.75 ounces to be precise). Whir til finely ground, dump out. Add eggs, sugar and butter to processor. Process til glossy. Add back almonds/amaretti and melted choc. Scrape into pan. Bake. (Dorie specifies 8 by 2-inch pan. Nope. I have three 9-inchers, but …that’ll have to do. It’s thinner, but still wonderful.)

Ahh. The landscape of a chocolate cake:

Once out, glaze it (oh, before that, lick the bowl clean. No, I mean it. That was lunch!) and treat yourself to slivers. Do not share…Oh, did I say that? Invite friends for coffee and serve slivers of this cake…taken from half the cake because you hid the other half for enjoying the rest of the week.

Happy Tuesday on Wednesday, folks. Now head out and check out what everyone else did.

TWD on Wednesday: Best Cake Ever, The 15-minute Amaretti Torte

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Okay, it would be the best cake ever if it were easier to buy amaretti anywhere within 10 miles of home. In the end I made them, which was easy, too (lesson 1, learned the 300th time: it’s so simple, we should all do more of this more often)..And now I know from other TWDers that Starbuck’s and World Market/Cost Plus carry amaretti.

Anyway. I made amaretti using some marcona almonds I’d gotten as Costco–decadent? Perhaps. Worth it? Definitely.

Then you make the cake ALL IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR. In go the almonds and amaretti (2.75 ounces to be precise). Whir til finely ground, dump out. Add eggs, sugar and butter to processor. Process til glossy. Add back almonds/amaretti and melted choc. Scrape into pan. Bake. (Dorie specifies 8 by 2-inch pan. Nope. I have three 9-inchers, but …that’ll have to do. It’s thinner, but still wonderful.)

Ahh. The landscape of a chocolate cake:

Once out, glaze it (oh, before that, lick the bowl clean. No, I mean it. That was lunch!) and treat yourself to slivers. Do not share…Oh, did I say that? Invite friends for coffee and serve slivers of this cake…taken from half the cake because you hid the other half for enjoying the rest of the week.

Happy Tuesday on Wednesday, folks. Now head out and check out what everyone else did.

Easy Easter Dessert Inspired by See’s Candies

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Imagine my surprise when a sweet note (heh, pun intended) landed in my inbox complimenting this blog and offering me a sampling of any See’s Candies I want if I used them to create a recipe and then blog about it.

Game on. I recently passed by a See’s kiosk at Aventura Mall, a San Francisco friend leading the way, and we got to sample something delicious. I knew I’d find something to inspire me.

I chose Scotch Eggs and asked for jelly beans and a chocolate bunny to decorate. Not a problem; they were boxed and sent.

The box arrived. I opened it to check contents, but didn’t unwrap. Then I had to head out of town for some work (eating Vietnamese food for VISITFLORIDA.com/experts/dining). But I schemed up my recipe, finally deciding to make a “five minute ice cream pie”–great ice cream enhanced by great candy. I would use a chocolate crust, top that with dulce de leche as a nod to my current home in South Florida, top that with caramel swirled ice cream, top all with coconut and the See’s Scotch Eggs.

I shopped today and found dulce de leche mixed with coconut AND Samoa ice cream. Wow. Perfect. I got to work, first spreading the dulce de leche in the crust. Top that with the softened ice cream, pop all into freezer to harden. Then it happened. I unwrapped the scotch eggs only to find the few hours they’d spent waiting for me to get home had done some damage. March/April in South Florida is summer. It was probably 85 the day those candies arrived. I had better hopes for the chocolate bunny, which was wrapped in foil..but no. He too, was deformed. So minor change. Chop the eggs, swirl them into the ice cream, top all with the coconut and use the perfect, unmelted jelly beans as the finishing touch. It is all still inspired by those See’s Scotch Eggs. Yummy. Chocolate, caramel, marshmallow. What’s not to like?Easy Five-Minute Easter Pie with See’s Scotch Eggs
Serves 8 to 10

1/2 cup dulce de leche with coconut, softened slightly for easy spreading
1 chocolate cookie crumb crust
1/2 gallon Samoa cookie ice cream
6 See’s Scotch Eggs, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut tinted green
Handful See’s Jellybeans for garnish

Spread the dulce de leche gently in the bottom of the cookie crust. (If you press too hard, you’ll shatter the crust. Trust me on that.) Stir ice cream with the Scotch eggs. Spoon ice cream into crust, filling to top of crust. Freeze until solid. Top with shredded coconut and jelly beans. To slice, warm sharp knife under hot water; wipe dry then cut pie. Warm knife blade and wipe dry for each cut.

Easy Easter Dessert Inspired by See’s Candies

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Imagine my surprise when a sweet note (heh, pun intended) landed in my inbox complimenting this blog and offering me a sampling of any See’s Candies I want if I used them to create a recipe and then blog about it.

Game on. I recently passed by a See’s kiosk at Aventura Mall, a San Francisco friend leading the way, and we got to sample something delicious. I knew I’d find something to inspire me.

I chose Scotch Eggs and asked for jelly beans and a chocolate bunny to decorate. Not a problem; they were boxed and sent.

The box arrived. I opened it to check contents, but didn’t unwrap. Then I had to head out of town for some work (eating Vietnamese food for VISITFLORIDA.com/experts/dining). But I schemed up my recipe, finally deciding to make a “five minute ice cream pie”–great ice cream enhanced by great candy. I would use a chocolate crust, top that with dulce de leche as a nod to my current home in South Florida, top that with caramel swirled ice cream, top all with coconut and the See’s Scotch Eggs.

I shopped today and found dulce de leche mixed with coconut AND Samoa ice cream. Wow. Perfect. I got to work, first spreading the dulce de leche in the crust. Top that with the softened ice cream, pop all into freezer to harden. Then it happened. I unwrapped the scotch eggs only to find the few hours they’d spent waiting for me to get home had done some damage. March/April in South Florida is summer. It was probably 85 the day those candies arrived. I had better hopes for the chocolate bunny, which was wrapped in foil..but no. He too, was deformed. So minor change. Chop the eggs, swirl them into the ice cream, top all with the coconut and use the perfect, unmelted jelly beans as the finishing touch. It is all still inspired by those See’s Scotch Eggs. Yummy. Chocolate, caramel, marshmallow. What’s not to like?Easy Five-Minute Easter Pie with See’s Scotch Eggs
Serves 8 to 10

1/2 cup dulce de leche with coconut, softened slightly for easy spreading
1 chocolate cookie crumb crust
1/2 gallon Samoa cookie ice cream
6 See’s Scotch Eggs, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut tinted green
Handful See’s Jellybeans for garnish

Spread the dulce de leche gently in the bottom of the cookie crust. (If you press too hard, you’ll shatter the crust. Trust me on that.) Stir ice cream with the Scotch eggs. Spoon ice cream into crust, filling to top of crust. Freeze until solid. Top with shredded coconut and jelly beans. To slice, warm sharp knife under hot water; wipe dry then cut pie. Warm knife blade and wipe dry for each cut.