SMS: Easy Chocolate Mousse

This week's SMS was chosen by Spike of Spike Bakes: easy chocolate mousse!  I'll just go ahead and say it (and of course, no offense to Spike intended): I don't like chocolate mousse, or any flavor mousse for that matter.  It reminds me of pudding, which I also don't really like.  Shane does like mousse though, and since this recipe only called for a few ingredients I figured I'd scale it back and let him give it a shot! 



I made 1/3 of the recipe which yielded enough mousse for the dish you see in the photos as well as a tiny ramekin.  I spooned some mousse into the bottom of the dish and then to make it look more decorative, I piped a few stars on top.  This recipe was simple, simple, simple but it did leave me with a big stack of dirty dishes.  We've got an assortment of homemade desserts at our house right now, but when it came time for a snack tonight Shane went straight for this mousse.  He declared it a hit - light, fluffy and delicious - something he'd definitely want me to make again!



A big thanks to Spike for her selection this week!  You can find the recipe for the chocolate mousse on her site and if you're interested, stop by the SMS site to see how the rest of the bakers fared this week.  Whether you're a fan of Valentine's Day or not, I hope you all have a wonderful day with the ones you love! 

Nutella Biscotti with Chocolate Chunks

World Nutella Day was last Friday, and as is so often the case, I couldn't get my act together in time to bake and post something to celebrate.  I even had a recipe in mind, a recipe that I was really looking forward to trying out.  At first I thought I would just save the recipe and make it next year but then I decided that was silly - there are plenty of other Nutella recipes I can try next year and, besides, I'd probably forget about this one if I didn't make it soon.  So, instead, I decided to share it with you all today - just in time for you to bake these wonderful biscotti for the ones you love this weekend to celebrate Valentine's Day!  And if you're not into celebrating Valentine's Day, just make these as a sweet treat to yourself, especially if you're a Nutella lover!



I don't make biscotti often because many times the texture is too hard and crunchy for me.  Those biscotti are made for dunking into a cup of coffee or tea and since I don't drink either, they just don't hold much appeal to me.  These biscotti are an entirely different story, though.  They're a bit softer, though still with the crunch you expect from biscotti - perfect for eating all by themselves.  I loved these with the combination of Nutella and the bittersweet chocolate chunks but you could modify the recipe to suit your tastes.  I omitted one cup of hazelnuts, which were in the original recipe (an obvious choice with the Nutella), but you could also use almonds or walnuts.  Likewise, you could use a different kind of chocolate, or none at all.  Like most biscotti, these will stay fresh for at least a week in an airtight container, but I highly doubt they'll last that long!



Nutella Biscotti with Chocolate Chunks
adapted from The Art & Soul of Baking by Sur La Table and Cindy Mushet

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (4 3/4 oz) sugar
1/2 cup (6 oz) Nutella, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups (13 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks, or 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth and slightly lightened in color, 2-3 minutes.  Add the Nutella to the bowl and beat to blend.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (15 to 20 seconds) and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the bowl of the mixer all at once and beat on low speed just until combined.  Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

Add the chocolate and mix on low speed until just blended.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir gently a few times with the spatula to evenly distribute the chocolate and ensure there are no patches of unincorporated flour or butter at the bottom of the bowl.

Divide the dough in half and on a lightly floured surface, shape each half of dough into a 13-inch log.  Place the logs on the prepared baking sheet spacing them about 4 inches apart.  Press down on the logs to flatten them slightly until they are about 2 inches across.  Place a second baking sheet under the first to prevent the bottoms of the logs from browning too quickly.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the logs are firm to the touch.  Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the logs cool completely.  (Definitely let the logs cool before cutting them - otherwise the warm chocolate chunks will smear and make for a less attractive appearance.)

Turn the oven down to 275 F and position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  Transfer the cooled logs to a cutting board and use a serrated knife to slice the logs on the diagonal into 3/8-inch thick cookies.  Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place the cookies, cut side down, on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are dry.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yields about 45 biscotti

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

Valentine's Day is almost here and while I know lots of people think it's a dumb Hallmark holiday, I enjoy it!  What's not to like about a holiday that celebrates love?  It's a low stress holiday around here -  Shane and I aren't going to buy one another expensive gifts (in fact, we have a $5 limit this year, which I love because it means we'll be more creative) nor are we going out for a fancy dinner.  We'll be spending the day together at home and I'll probably prepare a nice meal for us to enjoy, though I'm still working out the details on that.  One thing is for sure, though: dessert will be decadent, delicious and probably involve chocolate!



In addition to making dessert on Sunday, I thought it would be fun to bake a few other treats this week that I specifically selected with Shane in mind.  I may also dig through the archives of the blog and re-make a few of his favorites, something I rarely do since there are so many new recipes I want to try.  The chocolate and peanut butter combo is one of his favorites so these sandwich cookies were an obvious choice when I was looking for a new recipe to try - peanut butter cookies with a creamy peanut butter-chocolate chip filling!



This recipe comes together fairly quickly.  You'll have a much easier time matching up the cookies to make the sandwiches if you use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough, ensuring that the cookies are all roughly the same size.  I got 42 cookies from the recipe and used about half of them to make sandwiches (I made half of the filling recipe below), leaving the other half plain.  I sampled a few of the plain cookies and thought they were really good - sturdy enough to stand up to the filling yet still soft and very chewy.  The filling reminded me of our favorite peanut butter icing so I was pretty sure it'd be a hit.  Fortunately, I was right!  Shane thought the sandwiches were delicious!  The only thing I'll do differently next time is to add a bit more chocolate to the filling.  I omitted the nuts from the filling recipe and would probably substitute an equal amount of chocolate (so 1/2 cup of chocolate total) when I make them again.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies
from The Best of Fine Cooking Chocolate!

Cookies
6 oz (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 oz (2/3 cup) cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz (3/4 cup, 12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 oz (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted unsalted peanuts (I omitted)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate, or mini semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

To Make the Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and egg and continue creaming until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the flour mixture to the bowl and, with the mixer on low speed, beat until just incorporated. 

Using a small ice cream scoop (or cookie scoop) drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.  With floured fingers, flatten each mound of dough into a 2-inch round.  Bake until the cookies are puffed and golden, 12 to 14 minutes.  Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

To Make the Filling: In a medium bowl, cream the confectioners' sugar, butter and peanut butter with a mixer until smooth.  Add the heavy cream and beat until smooth and fluffy.  Stir in the chopped peanuts and chocolate.

To Assemble: Match similarly sized cookies to form pairs of 2 for your sandwiches.  With an offset spatula or butter knife, spread a teaspoon (or more) of filling onto one half of each cookie pair.  Set the other cookie on top of the filling and press gently to spread the filling.  Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.  They will keep for a few days. 

Makes about 18 sandwiches

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

I'm pretty set in my ways when it comes to a lot of things in life and honestly, I'm ok with that.  I acknowledge it and when I think it's necessary, I can step outside of my comfort zone.  One thing I was pretty certain about before this week - the kind of brownies I liked.  I've discussed this in previous posts but to reiterate, cakey brownies = good and fudgy brownies = bad.   In the introductory notes to this recipe Dorie specifically mentions that these are very fudgy brownies so I wasn't particularly excited about them.  I figured I'd bake them and ship them off to work with Shane.  



I almost always try to taste a little bite of whatever I make so I can comment about my impression on the blog, so I sampled a little corner of one of the brownies after I cut them....and then I ate the rest of that brownie and had to walk away so I didn't eat another and another and another.  Best brownies I've ever had, hands down!  They were perfection - fudgy and rich but not at all gooey.  This is one instance where I was thrilled to be wrong, turns out I do like fudgy brownies, I just hadn't tried the right ones - Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia!  My brownies were on the thin side because of the pan I used, but that didn't bother me one bit.  I'm psyched to have a go-to brownie recipe and since I am still planning to send these brownies to work with Shane I have a feeling I'll be making another batch very soon!



I was glad I waited until Monday to bake this week because I got some great tips from Nancy and Di that probably saved me from having trouble with this recipe.  Early reviewers described the brownies as gooey and underbaked so I was advised to either bake the full recipe in a 13 x 9 metal pan or 1/2 recipe in an 8-inch square metal pan (the recipe specified a 9x9 Pyrex pan for a full recipe).  My only square metal pan is 9x9 so that's what I used for a half recipe.  I sprayed the pan with nonstick cooking spray, even though the recipe didn't say to - better safe than sorry in my book.  I knew my brownies would probably be thin so I kept a close eye on them.  They were perfect at about 19-20 minutes.  After they'd cooled completely I was able to cut them and remove them from the pan easily. 



Many thanks to Tanya of Chocolatechic for hosting this week!  You can find the recipe on her site or on page 91 of the book.  The rest of this week's brownies can be seen by visiting the TWD blogroll.

Soft Pretzel Bites

We've been hosting a get-together at our house on Super Bowl Sunday since we moved in a few years ago.  Most (if not all) of our friends are Patriots fan, but even when the Patriots don't make it to the big game, we still like getting together to watch the game (and the commercials) and enjoy some good food!  Last night's game was really exciting and we definitely enjoyed watching the Saints win so congratulations to all of their fans!  Hopefully next year the Patriots will be back in the Super Bowl :)

I actually didn't make much food for our party this year since it was a small gathering.  Yesterday I blogged about the red velvet cupcakes I made and today I wanted to share the soft pretzel bites that were also on the menu.  I saw these over on Maria's site, Two Peas and their Pod, last week and I knew I wanted to try them.  They looked delicious and I've been on a pretzel kick lately plus homemade pretzels are so much better than anything you can buy in the store. 





These are definitely worth the effort!  They're really pretty simple, especially if you read the directions properly, which I failed to do on the first batch.  I didn't divide the dough into a small enough piece so my rope was thick, yielding jumbo pretzel bites.  Luckily, they still came out fine so no harm done.  The only other thing I'd advise is to spray the baking sheets very well with cooking spray.  Some of the pretzel bites from my first batch stuck to the bottom of the pan.  I liked these best when they were still a bit warm, but they're tasty at room temperature too. 

Soft Pretzel Bites
adapted from Bobby Flay (as seen on Two Peas and their Pod)

1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 F)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast (I used instant)
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled just slightly
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
coarse sea salt

On low speed, mix the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and 4 1/2 cups of the flour and mix on low speed until combined.  Increase the speed to medium (I don't put my mixer above 2 when kneading dough so I just kept it there) and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.  Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray (or oil with with vegetable oil), add the dough and turn to coat.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Spray two baking sheets liberally with cooking spray.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each.  Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches.  Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make pretzel bites.  Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches of about 10-15 for 30 seconds.  Remove with a large slotted spoon and place the pretzel bites on the prepared baking sheets, making sure they aren't touching.  Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt.  Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove to a cooling rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

SMS: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Happy Superbowl Sunday!  I love football and even though I'm really not a fan of either team playing today, I'll definitely be watching the game and enjoying plenty of delicious food!  Among the things I made are these red velvet cupcakes, which were selected for this week's SMS by Rosy of Rosy Lips & Lavender.

 

This recipe actually made a layer cake but I went the cupcake route instead.  I really love layer cakes and I wish I had more opportunities to make them, but they're just not very practical for a two-person household.  Cupcakes are so much more portable, not to mention easier to eat and give away to others.  There were a few things about this recipe I thought were interesting.  First, red wine vinegar is one of the ingredients, which struck me as weird.  I haven't made red velvet cake/cupcakes more than once or twice before (I can't even remember the last time) but I think I remember white vinegar was one of the ingredients.  I'm curious why this book uses red wine instead of white.  The cupcakes also called for cinnamon - another ingredient I'm not sure is traditional for red velvet.  In the end, the vinegar ended up being a non-issue, I couldn't taste it at all in the cupcakes.  I did detect the cinnamon hanging out in the background, but it wasn't prominent.



I made 1/3 of the recipe included in the book, which yielded 12 full size cupcakes.  They baked for 20 minutes and came out of the oven with cute little domed tops.  They were definitely red in color (though in some of my photos they look a bit more brownish).  I have to confess that I skipped the frosting recipe in the book in favor of my absolute favorite cream cheese frosting from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book.  I've made that frosting at least 3 times now and it never disappoints.  It's absolutely delicious and a perfect consistency for piping.  The recipe only has 4 ingredients and can be thrown together in minutes.  You can find it here if you'd like to give it a shot.



Since I don't have red velvet very often and therefore don't have much of a basis for comparison, I'm not sure I can fairly judge this particular recipe.  The cupcakes had great texture - very light and moist but when it comes to flavor, I thought they were just ok.  It may just be that I'm not a fan of red velvet in general, though, so I'll have to wait and see what others think when they try them tonight.  All that said, I'm happy to use the cupcakes as a vehicle for the amazing frosting so these definitely won't go to waste :)  Thanks to Rosy for hosting this week!  You can find the red velvet recipe on her site and if you'd like to see the rest of this week's cakes, stop by the SMS blogroll.

Caramel Ice Cream

Right before Christmas I added Thomas Keller's newest book, Ad Hoc at Home, to my wish list.  Unfortunately, it was backordered until mid-February everywhere so I didn't receive it.  A few of my friends already had copies, though, and last weekend when they tweeted about trying the caramel ice cream from the book, I jumped in too!  The recipe was available online via the Wall Street Journal, which made it easy to bake along, plus it allowed me to preview at least one of the recipes in the book before I purchased it.  I generally try to preview cookbooks before buying them, and my library has been a terrific resource, but there are quite a few holds on this book so it may be awhile before I get my hands on a copy.



This recipe forced me to face my fear of making caramel head-on!  I'm pretty confident with a lot of things in the kitchen now, but caramel still terrifies me for some reason.  It was actually going fairly well until I added the warm cream and milk and my caramel seized.  Fortunately, the recipe explicitly stated that it might seize, so I wasn't too freaked out.  I also had the benefit of Nancy, Di and Leslie encouraging me, as they had all made theirs just a bit before me.  I stirred and stirred over the heat and the caramel did eventually melt.  I also knew that the custard would eventually be strained so any of the little caramel rocks that didn't melt wouldn't wind up in my ice cream.



Just a few quick notes before the recipe - You do want to take the caramel to a nice, deep amber color when you make it or else the ice cream won't develop much flavor.  Don't be scared - if I can successfully do this, you can too!  Also, don't be terribly concerned if the ice cream is soft after churning.  It will get a bit harder after some time in the freezer, but this is definitely an ice cream with a softer texture than many I've made in the past (which also made photographing it pretty tough).  The ice cream has a very intense caramel flavor - it's delicious!  I'm not a huge caramel fan so for me this wouldn't be the kind of ice cream I'd eat in a bowl by itself.  More likely, I'd serve it on the side of a slice of pie or a piece of cake.  Di, Nancy and Leslie all raved about this one so it's a definite winner!

Caramel Ice Cream
from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller (via The Wall Street Journal)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole milk, warm
2 cups heavy cream, warm
10 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Put 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a deep heavy saucepan and stir in the water to moisten the sugar and make a mixture that resembles wet sand.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then simmer, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the sugar melts into a rich amber caramel. If any sugar crystallizes on the sides of the pan, brush with a wet pastry brush.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly (to prevent bubbling up) stir in a dash of the milk and cream. Stir until bubbling subsides and carefully add more, until all is used. Should the caramel seize and harden, return the mixture to the heat and stir to dissolve the caramel, then remove from the heat. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and yolks in a medium bowl until slightly thickened and the whisk leaves a trail. Slowly, while whisking, add about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid to the yolks, then whisk in the remaining liquid. Set a fine-mesh basket strainer over the saucepan and strain the liquid back into the pan.

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Set a medium bowl in the ice bath; have a strainer ready.

Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides often with a wooden spoon, until steam begins to rise from the surface and the custard thickens enough to coat the spoon (the custard should be about 170 F). Strain into the bowl, add the salt, and let cool, stirring from time to time.

Refrigerate the custard until cold or, preferably, overnight.

Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the texture is "soft serve," transfer to a storage container and freeze to harden.