SMS: Rum Truffles

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays was chosen by Nina of Nina's Cupcakes: rum truffles.  If you've never made truffles, you'll be surprised by just how easy they are to whip up.  They tend to be pretty expensive to buy (at least the good ones anyway) so making them at home is not only cheaper, but you can customize them to suit your tastes.  There's nothing worse than the boxes that leave you guessing about the flavors so you wind up having to bite into 4 or 5 before you find one you like :)



Most of the truffle recipes I've made rely on a combination of chocolate and cream for the base of the truffle, but this one was a bit different.  No heavy cream - instead we used butter and egg yolks along with the chocolate.  I was skeptical about the egg yolks (presumably they add richness), but no harm in trying once I figured.  The final ingredient in these truffles is dark rum.  The full recipe made 4 dozen truffles, which is way too many for us, so I made 1/8 of the recipe and wound up with 6 truffles (I used my melon baller to scoop them so they were fairly small).  A lot of people swear by rolling their truffles in cocoa powder, but I tried it once and to put it mildly, Shane wasn't a fan.  So, I didn't make that mistake again; instead, I rolled my truffles in chocolate sprinkles and confectioners' sugar.  



Truffles are the ultimate in decadence, and these were no exception - very rich and chocolate-y, half a truffle was plenty for me!  I liked that the rum wasn't overpowering in this recipe.  As for the egg yolk?  Completely undetectable, thankfully :)  I may actually prefer this butter/egg yolk variation over the heavy cream version.  Thanks to Nina for hosting this week.  She'll share the recipe on her site today, or you can find it on page 217 of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. 



While I made the truffles I was also working on lunch.  It was a salmon recipe I was really excited about but sadly, it was a major fail.  The salmon turned out dry, and the accompanying sauce was bitter.  I hate wasting food so recipe failures always bum me out, but luckily that wasn't a problem as Shane claimed to like the salmon and ate his plus a good portion of mine.  I was talking to a few friends on Twitter about the fail, and it started a discussion about whether we blog recipes that don't turn out well.  Personally, I won't blog a recipe that fails (recipes made for blog groups being an exception to this rule) unless I know exactly what went wrong and can offer suggestions for improving the recipe.  Now, I'm curious - if you have a blog, what do you do about recipes that don't turn out well?  Do you only blog what you love?

Vanilla Bean Whoopie Pies with Nutella Buttercream Filling

I never feel as if there are enough hours in the day to accomplish everything on my to-do list.  Inevitably, I end up carrying a few things over to the next day's list, and the vicious cycle repeats itself.  (Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that way...)  If I could figure out a way to squeeze additional hours into the day, one of the things I'd love to do is spend more time browsing other food blogs.  In the past month alone I've discovered scores of gorgeous, inspiring blogs I want to add to my daily reading, but unfortunately, I know it's just not feasible.  The other day, though, when I was procrastinating on the work that needed to be done to file our taxes, I did spend a few minutes over on Tessa's site, Handle the Heat.  I just found her last month, and I am so glad I did; she's only 19 and so crazy talented it's hard to believe.



I bookmarked several recipes on Tessa's site, but the one I wanted to make immediately was her Nutella buttercream frosting.  What can I say, I've been on a Nutella kick since making the Nutella marshmallow turnovers a few weeks ago :)  I wasn't really in the mood to make cupcakes though, so I decided instead to use the Nutella buttercream frosting as a filling for vanilla bean whoopie pies.  I'd been meaning to try a recipe from the whoopie pies book I picked up a few months ago and this gave me that opportunity.  The frosting didn't disappoint - it's smooth, creamy and really delicious.  Plus, it couldn't be easier to throw together, which always scores points in my book.  The vanilla bean cookies were good too, but definitely served as a vehicle for the Nutella frosting more than anything else.  If you're a Nutella lover, you'll definitely want to give this frosting a try! 

Vanilla Bean Whoopie Pies
from Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined (your batter may look curdled - mine definitely did, but it came together when I added the flour). 

Combine the milk, baking soda, and vinegar in a small measuring cup.  With the mixer on low add half of the flour mixture, followed by the milk mixture and then the rest of the flour mixture.  Beat just until everything is combined.  Add the seeds from the vanilla bean and beat for another minute, until everything is completely combined.

Using a small cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between cookies.  Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8-10 minutes, or until they are set and just beginning to brown.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the filling with the recipe below.  Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip with the Nutella buttercream.  Once the cookies are cool, pair them by size.  Pipe some of the buttercream on the flat side of one cookie in each pair.  Sandwich the whoopie pies together, pressing to nudge the filling to the edges.     

Nutella Buttercream
from Handle the Heat

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and Nutella together until combined.  Add the vanilla, milk and confectioners' sugar to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed until the powdered sugar is just about incorporated.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is smooth.

Note: Yield will depend on the size of your cookie sandwiches - I halved the recipe and ended up with 12 sandwiches - my cookies were about 3 inches in diameter.

Duchess Potatoes

 

I think a lot of you probably know this by now, but in case you don't, I'll mention it again - Shane does not like fruits and veggies.  There are very few exceptions to this rule.  He eats potatoes, and he likes tomato sauce on his pasta, but I haven't had much luck convincing him of the deliciousness of other options.  When it comes to potatoes, it's white potatoes only - even though I've assured him several times that sweet potatoes are just as good (if not better - especially when loaded with brown sugar and cinnamon, right??) as white potatoes.  In other words, white potatoes are on the menu fairly often for dinner here and even though I'm not eating them every time he does, I still like to switch things up so it's not always just a baked potato or roasted wedges on his plate.  Variety is a good thing when your side dish options are so limited!



This is one of the recipes I turn to when making potatoes, and we both love them.  They're basically just a rich mashed potato piped decoratively and baked until they have a slight crust on the outside and a creamy interior.  Two of my favorite things about this recipe - first, I get to break out my piping bag, which always makes me happy.  The potatoes pipe beautifully and mostly maintain their shape in the oven.  They spread/shrink just slightly, so keep that in mind when deciding how tall/wide to make your mounds.  The other great thing about this recipe is that you can make the potatoes ahead of time, pipe them onto the baking sheet and refrigerate for up to a day until you're ready to bake.  It makes them the perfect option for company then since all you need to do is remove them from the fridge and bake for 15 minutes when dinner is almost ready - couldn't be more simple! 



Duchess Potatoes
from Cook's Country

3 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and softened
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 475 F and place a rack in the upper third of your oven. 

Using a fork, pierce the potatoes all over.  Place them on a microwave safe plate and microwave until tender, about 18-25 minutes.  (We have a baked potato button on our microwave that I always use so I haven't verified the time the recipe suggests here.)  Turn the potatoes over after 10 minutes.

When you remove the potatoes from the microwave, cut them in half and then let them cool enough that you can handle them.  Scoop the flesh of the potatoes into a large bowl and mash until no lumps remain (for the most smooth texture, use a food mill or ricer to mash the potatoes - I've used my ricer each time I've made these & had good results).  Add the cream, 3 tablespoons of the butter, the egg and egg yolk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and baking powder and stir until combined and smooth.  Let the potato mixture cool to room temperature (this will just take a few minutes) and then fold in the remaining butter until evenly distributed. 

Transfer the potato mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip (if you don't have a piping bag or tips, you can also use a resealable plastic bag to pipe the potatoes).  Pipe eight 4-inch-wide mounds of potato on a rimmed baking sheet.  Spray the mounds lightly with cooking spray then bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. 

To make the potatoes ahead: After piping them onto the baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.  When you're ready to bake, don't forget to spray lightly with cooking spray before placing the potatoes in the oven.

Walnut-Strawberry Quick Bread

So, remember last month when I went on and on about how much I loved the snow and what fun snow days were?  Is it too late to take it all back?  :)  I'm kidding...mostly.  This happens every year so I shouldn't be surprised about the way I'm feeling.  In December and January there is no bigger fan of the snow than me; I'm one of the few people up here you won't find complaining about it.  By the time February rolls around, though, I'm totally over it.  I yearn to see the grass emerge from under the piles of snow and sand.  I yearn for warm, sunny days when I can throw the windows open and let some fresh air in.  And last week, I found myself yearning for juicy summer berries.  The craving was so strong I caved and bought a pint of strawberries when I was out shopping for our Valentine's Day dinner.  It'll be many months before I can get local berries, but until then, these will do the trick and help me get through this final stretch of winter.



If you're lucky enough to live somewhere with access to gorgeous red strawberries in February, I highly recommend you use them to make this walnut-strawberry quick bread.  It'll take you all of about 7 minutes to make the batter, and the hardest thing you'll have to do is mash the strawberries.  For your effort, you'll be rewarded with a moist, slightly sweet bread loaded with strawberry flavor that would be perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover the lemon zest wasn't lost among the other flavors in the bread - you'll definitely notice its brightness.  The recipe calls for a 9x5 pan, but I baked my loaf in an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 pan without issue (the cooking time was the same as the recipe suggests for the larger pan).  The bread gets even better on the second day, if it lasts that long...



Walnut-Strawberry Quick Bread
from King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

1/2 cup (2 oz) chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 oz) sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups mashed strawberries
1/2 cup canola (or vegetable) oil

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan (or, even easier, spray with the cooking spray with flour).

Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a medium bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is fragrant and has a texture similar to wet sand. Add the walnuts, flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg to the bowl then whisk to combine. In a large measuring cup whisk the eggs, mashed strawberries and oil until blended. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top of the loaf is browning more than you'd like, you can tent with foil (I tented mine around 40 minutes). Remove the pan to a wire rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes then turn it out and let it cool completely on the wire rack.

Homemade Wheat Thins

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm sort of obsessed with attempting homemade versions of items I might otherwise buy prepackaged at the store - from graham crackers and croissants to puff pastry and pop-tarts, I've tried quite a few.  A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for homemade Wheat Thins crackers on 6 Bittersweets, and realized it came from a cookbook I already owned - the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book (proof that my cookbooks are seriously under-utilized).  It was inevitable I'd try them eventually, and because I'm prone to forgetfulness I decided to do it sooner rather than later.  The funny thing is, I never buy Wheat Thins at the store because we aren't really cracker eaters.  That said, I have tasted them, and I just had to know how this homemade version compared. 



This recipe couldn't be easier and you'll love the short ingredient list.  I'm constantly amazed that you can take a few simple ingredients and turn them into something so terrific; I think it's one of the big reasons I love baking so much.  The only slightly tricky part of making these crackers is rolling out the dough, and if you've ever rolled dough before you'll likely find this one pretty easy to work with.  As long as you keep your work surface lightly floured and turn the dough to ensure it's not sticking, you shouldn't have a problem.





The crackers bake quickly, and you can fit a ton of them on each sheet since they don't spread at all (meaning you'll probably only need to bake 2 sheets even though the recipe makes a lot of crackers).  You want to take them out when they're brown and crisp, but keep in mind they will crisp up even further as they cool.  The cooling happens in a matter of minutes, which means I didn't burn my tongue when I tried one less than 5 minutes after it emerged from the oven.  The verdict?  I was impressed - King Arthur Flour really created a terrific homemade version of Wheat Thins.  The flavor is spot on as is the appearance.  As I mentioned, I'm not even a big fan of crackers, but these disappeared more quickly than I'd like to admit. 



Homemade Wheat Thins
from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Cookbook

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for topping
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add the flour, sugar, salt and paprika to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl.  Then, using a pastry blender, mix the butter into the dry ingredients thoroughly.  Combine the water and vanilla in a small measuring cup.  Add to the butter/flour mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms.  (My dough was still pretty dry so I added slightly more water before it came together.)

Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, keeping the others covered with a towel so they don't dry out.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Lift the dough and turn it as you roll to ensure it's not sticking.  You want to roll the dough as thin as possible, try to make sure it's 1/16-inch thick at most.  If you want all of your crackers to be perfect, trim the edges of the dough so you have a rectangle with even sides.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle into squares about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. 

Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheets.  You don't need to leave much space in between the crackers - they don't spread at all in the oven.  Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt.  Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.  Save all of your scraps under the towel; reroll them all at once to create a final batch of crackers.  (I covered the baking sheets with towels while I rolled the rest of the dough so the cut crackers wouldn't dry out.)

Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Check the crackers at 5 minutes, and if some of the thinner ones are browning too quickly, remove them to a plate and return the remaining crackers to the oven to finish baking.  The crackers can burn quickly so you want to keep a close eye on them.  Once brown and crisp, transfer to a plate to cool.  Store the crackers in an airtight container.

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

I didn't get a chance to check in yesterday and wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day, but I hope it was a good one!  We had a low key night at home and enjoyed a very decadent dinner.  I surprised Shane with one of his favorite appetizers, scallops wrapped in bacon, and then we had braised short ribs, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus (for me only, of course).  Chocolate pudding and chocolate crinkle cookies were on the menu for dessert but we were already so stuffed we didn't make much headway on either.  Oh, we also watched Jeopardy together - did anyone else see Watson the supercomputer take on past champions?  We're big nerds so we got a kick out of it :)

.

If Shane ate oats these chocolate oatmeal drops, which were chosen by Caroline and Claire of Bake with Us for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, may have made an appearance for dessert after our Valentine's Day meal.  Since he doesn't, I'd actually made these several weeks ago and left them for his parents in their freezer when I was house sitting.  (When I sat down to write this post, I was very glad to find I'd been smart enough to create a draft post with notes as I didn't remember much!)  The method for making the cookies is reminiscent of a lot of brownie recipes - melt chocolate, butter and sugar, then whisk in eggs followed by the dry ingredients.  The twist is the oats that are stirred in to the very thick, shiny cookie batter just before it is portioned and baked.  I made just 1/4 of the recipe, and wound up with 12 cookies.  The cookies baked for 12 minutes, and emerged from the oven with a crackly top.



As much as I love both oats and chocolate, the combination honestly didn't work for me in these cookies.  We have a favorite brownie-type chocolate cookie in our house so I'll probably stick with those and save my oats for oatmeal raisin cookies.  That said, I noticed many of the other TWD bakers enjoyed this recipe, and the feedback from Shane's parents was positive as well, so take my opinion with a grain of salt and try them yourself!  Many thanks to Caroline and Claire for hosting this week.  You can find the recipe on their blog here, or on page 75 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Triple-Chocolate Chocolate Pudding

On the off chance that you're still searching for a last minute dessert for your Valentine's Day meal, I thought I'd share this triple-chocolate chocolate pudding today.  It's thick, rich and intensely chocolate-y in flavor due to the incorporation of unsweetened chocolate, semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder.  Pudding honestly doesn't excite me much, mostly for textural reasons, but I did enjoy the flavor of this one.  I tried the recipe for Shane, who is a much bigger pudding fan than me, and he declared it a winner.  It's a low stress, no-bake option; you can make it today to enjoy tomorrow with your sweetie! 

The pudding calls for whole milk, which I almost never have in the house.  I feared the pudding wouldn't be as decadent with 1% milk though so I used a substitution I learned from Cook's Illustrated a while ago that I employ regularly in my baking.  Combine 1% milk and half and half in a ratio of 2:1 and you've essentially replicated the fat content of whole milk (so 2/3 cup of 1% milk to 1/3 cup of half and half for every cup of whole milk called for in a recipe). 



Although I don't enjoy pudding, you know what I do love that also serves as the perfect garnish for this pudding?  Homemade whipped cream!  Seriously, I cannot resist the stuff.  Last week I read a post on The Kitchn (who'd seen the tip in the LA Times) about making whipped cream in a food processor.  To say I was intrigued would be putting it mildly, so I gave it a test run when I made the pudding.  I only wanted enough whipped cream to top one bowl of pudding so I pulled out my mini prep food processor and poured in just a small amount of cold heavy cream (no need to chill the bowl or the blade of your food processor).  If you want sweetened whipped cream just add sugar and/or vanilla to the food processor along with the heavy cream.  Less than one minute of processing later?  Picture-perfect light and fluffy whipped cream.  Best.trick.ever!  I will never make whipped cream in my stand mixer again.  Even if you don't make the pudding, you've got to give the whipped cream a try! 

Triple-Chocolate Chocolate Pudding
from Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours by Sarabeth Levine

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
3 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Put the butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water.  Melt the butter completely, then add the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate to the bowl with the butter.  Melt the chocolate until smooth, stirring frequently.  Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

Heat the milk and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a medium saucepan set over low heat until it begins to steam. Meanwhile, in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt together.  Add the eggs, egg yolk, and heavy cream and whisk to combine.  Slowly add about half of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.  Pour the egg/milk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk.  Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking frequently.  Reduce heat to low and boil for 30 seconds. 

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the melted chocolate/butter mixture, rum, and vanilla and whisk to combine.  Pour into a heatproof bowl or small individual heatproof ramekins.  (I strained the pudding through a fine mesh strainer, but only out of an over abundance of caution.)  Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic against the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming.  Pierce the plastic with the tip of a knife a few times and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.  Transfer the pudding to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours before serving (or up to 3 days).