Sinfully Silky Chocolate Buttercream

March 6, 2009 | Posted by Lorraine as Chocolate at 11:21 am | (9) Comments »

Chocolate IMBC

This- this silky and smooth, rich but impossibly light buttercream- is my favorite chocolate frosting of them all. Oh, I love ganache of course, and the truth is I’ll never say no to the old powdered-sugar-meets-butter frostings of my childhood- but this buttercream, an Italian Meringue Buttercream with melted chocolate mixed in, definitely tops my list.

So many people seem afraid to try Italian Meringue Buttercreams- but while the recipe may look a little daunting and difficult at first, I promise you: it’s not. Trust me. I’ve made dozens of huge batches of IMBC, and I’ve never had to throw any away.

Sinfully Silky Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
This makes enough to ice a two-layer 9-inch cake, or around 24 cupcakes.

5 Egg Whites (keep the yolks for custard. Or ice cream. Mmm)
1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1/4 cup Water
3/4 cup White Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup White Granulated Sugar (yes, separated)
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (the real stuff, please)
4 sticks Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces

You’ll also need:
a Candy Thermometer, hopefully without a crack in it
a small liquid measuring cup
4 ounces best quality Bittersweet Chocolate, melted (use a microwave for the greatest of ease) and COOLED

Pour the water into a heavy saucepan. On top of that, pour the 3/4 cups sugar. Make an “x” in the middle of the mound of sugar with your finger- this will help distribute the water more evenly.

Over medium heat, begin melting the sugar and water. Now, others will tell you to keep stirring this or to brush down the sides of the pan with a brush, blah blah- I say don’t touch it. Walk away. Well, just a few steps away. You want to get started on the egg whites now anyway.

In the bowl of a stand or hand mixer, put your egg whites and start whipping them. When they look foamy, add the cream of tartar. Whip some more, and once you get to soft peaks, add the 1/4 cup of sugar. You’re going to want to keep whipping this until you get to stiff peaks- but at this point, I usually stop, go over to the saucepan on the stove, and check if everything’s melted. If the sugar and water mixture is clear and bubbly (meaning, no sugar bits), go ahead and stick your candy thermometer in there.

You can resume whipping your whites now- but keep an eye on that thermometer as much as possible. As soon as it hits 246, take the pan off heat, and transfer the syrupy goodness to your liquid measuring cup. Once your egg whites are forming firm peaks, you’ll want to SLOWLY begin pouring the syrup into the whites. Try not to hit the beaters with the syrup as you do.

Et voila! You’ve made Italian Meringue. You can make pavlovas out of this. Hey, you can even make macaron shells out of this. Oooh. But today, we’re doing Buttercream, so…

Get your butter ready. You’re going to want to add the butter to the meringue in one-tablespoon increments. And here’s where everyone freaks out: as you add the butter, your glossy beautiful meringue will begin looking mighty strange. But do not fear- it should all come together when you’re done adding all the butter. And if it doesn’t:

If the mixture looks like a wet melted mess, your butter was probably too soft, your room too warm. Stick the mixture in the fridge for around 10 minutes, and try again.

If the mixture looks like a curdled mess, kind of like scrambled eggs, rejoice! You’re on the right track. Just keep whipping it like crazy- and have faith. Before long, you will have silky smooth awesome buttercream.

At this point, I like to add in 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract, for the flavor and the alcohol. Mix that in well, then pour in your COOLED melted chocolate. Mix it in, and mmm… you’ve just made my favorite frosting ever.

Nigella’s Intense Chocolate Cookies

December 23, 2008 | Posted by Lorena as Celebrity Chefs, Chocolate, Cookie Recipes at 11:27 am | (1) Comment »

I am a big chocolate lover and for Christmas dinner, I think I shall try my hand at Nigella’s version of chocolate cookies. I have not tried to make them myself but a friend, who is an avid baker, told me that these cookies are to die for! Here is the recipe according to Nigella.

Ingredients
125g/4oz dark chocolate
150g/5¼oz plain flour
30g/1oz cocoa, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
125g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
75g/2½oz light brown sugar
50g/2oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 free-range egg, cold from the fridge
350g/12¼oz dark chocolate chips

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Break the 125g/4oz dark chocolate into pieces and place into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
3. Place the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract and crack in the egg, then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out 12 equal portions of the mixture – an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job – and place onto a lined baking sheet about 6cm/2½in apart. Do not flatten them.
7. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18 minutes, then test with a skewer – it should come out semi-clean and not wet with batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
8. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

Maybe a tad more chocolate?

Pretzels German-like

December 21, 2008 | Posted by Lorena as Candies & Truffles Recipe, Chocolate, Dessert Recipes, Snack Recipes at 12:05 am | (3) Comments »

Thinking of a good foodie gift for Christmas? Or maybe you need to whip up quick snacks for people to munch on. Here is a perfect recipe for you – Chocolate pretzels from Germany. I found this recipe from Taste.com.au and I think that it just might be a hit this year.

Ingredients
• 125g butter, softened
• 1/2 cup pure icing sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 200g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, chopped

Method
1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and icing sugar until pale and creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Sift flour and cocoa over butter mixture. Stir until dough comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth. Press into a 1.5cm-thick disc. Wrap in baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 large, flat baking trays with baking paper. Using 2 teaspoons dough per biscuit, roll out dough into 20cm-long sausage shapes. Bend into horseshoe shapes, with ends towards you. Cross over ends. Rest ends on top loop of dough. Place on baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, swapping trays after 6 minutes, or until golden and firm to touch. Allow biscuits to cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water (do not allow base of bowl to touch water). Stir occasionally with a metal spoon until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Dip each pretzel into chocolate. Place on baking trays. Allow chocolate to set.

What do you think? Looks easy enough to make?

It’s All About The Cookies!

December 20, 2008 | Posted by Lorena as Chocolate, Cookie Recipes at 1:51 am | Comments »

I don’t know about you, but scents, smells, and tastes bring back certain memories for me. For example, the smell of gingerbread, peppermint, and similar flavors always brings back memories of Christmas as a child. I suppose it is quite accurate if I say that the smell of baking cookies is powerfully associated with this particular holiday for me.

It seems that I am not the only one with the same experience! The people over at All Recipes have actually come up with a handy all-in-one guide to cookies for the holidays. Dubbed “Homemade Holiday Cookies,” the guide is in PDF format and can be downloaded for free. This is what the editors have to say about the guide:

If there’s one time of year when cookies take over the kitchen, it’s the
holidays, so we’ve gathered recipes for highly-rated holiday cookies to help you get things rolling.

You’ll also find tips for baking and decorating cookies, mailing cookies to far-off friends, and hosting a cookie exchange party. It’s everything you need to bake up some festive holiday cheer!

Sounds pretty good to me! I love cookies and baked goods but I have to say that this is not my forte. I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at making some for the holidays, though. I took a look at some of the tips presented in the guide and they look manageable – my favorite so far are the Chocolate Rum Balls. Why don’t you download this for yourself and whip up a batch or two for Christmas?

Hershey’s…caramel?

June 20, 2008 | Posted by Lorena as Chocolate, The Facts / History at 12:02 pm | (1) Comment »

hersheys

If it weren’t for heat, we would never have a Hershey’s bar.

Candy maker Milton S. Hershey used to make caramels. But since those didn’t retain the imprint of his name in the summertime, he made the switch to chocolate. That was 1903 — and more than a century later, his name has made a permanent mark in candy history.

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