Bread and Jam

Time for Truffles

The last time I made truffles was around Christmastime, which was over 2 months ago, and in my mind, much too long ago. So this past weekend when my "sweet" friends came over, I made a couple batches and I actually enjoyed them more than I did at Christmas when I was already on holiday treat overload.

I'm a big fan of dark chocolate and ganache so when I discovered truffles, they became a great way to get my decadent chocolate fix without devouring a whole dessert. What's nice about them is you can make small batches to suit anyone's taste, using different types of chocolates, fillings and coatings. This time around I made one batch of dark chocolate mint truffles and one batch of semi-sweet chocolate truffles with cinnamon cocoa and nut coatings. Here is the dark chocolate recipe to try:

Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles

Filling
2 cups Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Coating
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Melt butter and cream in a saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir until dissolved. Pour into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Using a double boiler or a glass bowl with the bottom heated by boiling water, melt together the semi-sweet chocolate chips and peppermint extract. Set aside. Using a small spoon or melon baller, scoop the refrigerated chocolate mixture from the pie plate into small round balls, forming them by rolling and shaping them with your hands. Do this quickly and handle them as little as possible or they will soften and be difficult to shape. Dip each ball, one at a time, into the pan of melted chocolate-mint and toss lightly with a fork, pulling it out to let the excess chocolate drip from the fork before placing on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until set, about half an hour. Store in refrigerator. Makes 30 truffles.

Stove-Top Caramel Corn

My brother made this from scratch the other night for my nieces and nephew but all of us adults were hovering over the pan eating handfuls! It was sooo good. Warm, salty, gooey, sticky - perfect! I had him give me the recipe because it seemed like he pulled this off in about 5 minutes. You basically just need to pop the corn in an oil popper (canola oil is good) which only takes a few minutes and then on the stove top in a stainless steel saucepan, combine the following:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 cup lite corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar

Stir over low heat until dissolved. Dip a small amount onto your finger and feel for granules. If dissolved, turn to medium high until thickened. Pour immediately over popped corn and stir well. You can add some salted nuts if you want to be super indulgent.

Biscuit Cake

 

The first time I ever tasted this cake was at a place called The Larder on Parliament Street in Dublin. It was the perfect combination of salty and sweet and very chocolatey. Here's my attempt at re-creating this cake at home, piecing together a variation of recipes. So incredibly easy!

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces (you may use semi-sweet if you prefer) I used Bittersweet Ghiradelli baking pieces

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 Tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup

2 cups broken-up tea biscuits

1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds

2/3 cup dried blueberries or dried cherries

Line an 8 x 8 baking dish or 9 x 5 loaf pan with plastic wrap. In a large saucepan, melt your butter and chocolate together over low heat until smooth. Remove this from heat and immediately stir in your cream and golden syrup. Add the chopped nuts, berries and broken biscuit pieces, stirring until coated. Pour into your lined pan and smooth down with a spatula. Cover the top lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. Once this is set, you can remove the plastic wrap and turn out onto a cake plate. Cut into slices and serve. (You can store this at room temperature once it has set.)

Note: Making this in a loaf pan gives you more of a cake-like slice and using a 8 x 8 baking dish gives you a slice more like a brownie. This recipe is nice because it can be altered by trying different chocolates and berries, but try not to substitute the golden syrup if possible. This is from the UK but can be found at any International market. It runs about $4.99 per jar and lasts for a very long time. 

Cake = Happy

My mom's sour cream chocolate frosting recipe is my favorite frosting recipe of all time. When I was five years old, she and I were frosting my birthday cake with it and using M&Ms for decorations. By the time we were finished, we were so full of M&Ms and frosting that I couldn't even look at the cake!

Over the years I've used this frosting with many flavors of cakes, but I think it's most delicious with yellow or chocolate chip. The picture above is from the cake's appearance at a picnic last summer and it's making me anxious for picnic weather. Hurry Spring!

Mom's Chocolate Frosting

In a medium saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter and 3oz. unsweetened chocolate. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 tsp. vanilla to the chocolate and mix. Add 3 cups powdered sugar, mixing one cup at a time until smooth.

One thing to note: You can double this recipe because the frosting freezes well. It's nice to have handy at a later time to make graham cracker sandwich cookies or decorate some cupcakes with.

Chocolate Cherry Scones

I have been playing around with scones a lot this year and am amazed at how many variations there are for just the basic recipe. Every place I've traveled they've made them differently and everyone I know has a different ingredient ratio for their version. I've found the universal trick is to handle them as little as possible, meaning once you've added the milk to the dry ingredients, you give it a few turns with your hands and that's it or they will turn into rocks when you bake them. I remember the first batch I ever made, I was working it like bread dough and they were pretty much inedible. Once I learned how to handle the dough, every recipe has cooperated since!  I'll post a few different versions over time but these were the ones I made tonight that I've already had two of.

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2  1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2" pieces
3/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup buttermilk

Combine all of the dry ingredients and stir together well. Cut your butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter until blended and mixture is coarse. Stir in the cherries and chocolate chips. Add your buttermilk and give it a few turns with a spoon or your hands and transfer it onto a pastry mat or wax paper lined cutting board. Flatten the rounded mound slightly and cut it into 8 equal pieces, just like cutting a pie. Take an egg with a few tablespoons of milk and whisk together. Brush the tops and sides of each triangle with the egg wash and transfer to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (Be sure to space them apart - they expand a lot while baking.) Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: I don't use parchment paper that often in baking but I always use it for scones. It really makes the bottoms come out nice.

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

I have been eating so much chocolate lately that when I decided to bake a batch of cookies Saturday, I realized I wanted just a simple oatmeal cookie. I added some cranberries and walnuts to them but there was no chocolate involved. Give them a try, it's a great recipe!

Mix together:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine your flour mixture with butter/sugar mixture. Now stir in:
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

You can use raisins or diced pieces of dried apricots in place of the cranberries if you prefer. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Happiness is Caramel Bread Pudding

 

I can't take credit for this recipe. I was flipping through the December issue of Bon Appetit and the gooey caramel pic jumped off the page at me so I gave it a try. As it turns out, this is one of the easiest bread puddings to make and the kitchen smells amazing when it's baking.

10 slices cinnamon raisin bread (no end pieces)

6 large eggs

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 cup chilled whipping cream, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

3 tsp. finely grated orange peel

pinch of salt

Cut bread into 3/4" cubes and place in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, milk, 1/2 cup cream, sugar, vanilla, orange peel and salt in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Pour over bread and toss to coat. Cover with plastic and chill 4 hours or overnight.

Let stand at room temp before baking. Preheat oven to 375 and butter 8 ramekins or custard cups. Divide bread mixture among cups and place cups in a roasting pan. Add hot water to the pan until halfway up the sides of cups. Bake about 40 minutes until puffed with golden edges. Beat remaining cream and powdered suagr until peaks form. Serve with warm caramel sauce over top of puddings.