Category: chocolate

by Rachel Sally

More, More, More

All the s’mores!
I am so greedy.
Today, I said goodbye “see you later” to one of my best friends, S.
Yes, the S for whose birthday I made a s’mores cake.
What are the chances that this post would be about s’mores?
I didn’t engineer it this way, it just happened to be so.
It was meant to be.
I’m greedy because now is not enough.
The years I have spent with my friends, growing and fighting and partying and loving, are not enough.
I want more.  I want more time.
More chances to show them how much I love them,
how much I appreciate them and all they do and all their quirks.
I want more, more, more.
I want to drink up all of their love, all of my love, all of the times we have spent together, to soak in it and revel in it and I’m worried I haven’t done enough of that.
It is so bittersweet, this time in our lives.
We are both leaving and being left.
We are starting a new part of our lives.  It’s terrifying.
I’m not ready.
I don’t want to be ready.
I’m scared.
I took these s’mores to a farewell BBQ with just a few of my closest friends.
The marshmallows were soggy because it rained all day.  I was pissed.
But whatever, that’s not what matters.
I love these people.  That’s something I’ll never lose, and something I’ll never get enough of.
I don’t have many words today, so I will share pictures.
 
Marshmallows here.
Graham crackers here.
Love below.
by Rachel Sally

Dirrrty

Ahh… Sorry to burst your bubble, but this post is not about Xtina.
I know.  I’m sad about it too.
 
 Let’s talk about my OCD.
Because everybody loves a crazy person, right?
Today, I cleaned my entire KitchenAid with a toothpick.
Cleaned as in burrowed into every nook and cranny and crevice to pry out any old cookie dough, flour, and other nasty residue.
 
It was the single most horrifying and awesome thing ever.

 
Do you clean your appliances often?
Let me tell you right now, it’s probably not often enough.
I’m scarred after today.
 I mean, sheesh, I go at my stand mixer every so often, when the spirit so moves me, with a toothpick and a warm, wet paper towel, but not to the extent that I dug today.
How does all that even get all up in there?
All up in there in the weirdest places.  
Have you ever unscrewed the little button thing where the meat grinder attaches to your stand mixer?
DON’T DO IT.  JUST LEAVE IT.
TRUST ME.
Okay, new subject, same topic.
You know what my favorite commercials are?
Cleaning product commercials.
Ranging from face wash to shower cleaners.
I just love the feeling I get from watching dirty things become magically clean.
I get all of the satisfaction, and don’t have to get my hands dirty.
It’s like a wonderful dream.
 
Glad we talked about this.  I’m done rambling now.
This turned out to be a lot more about dirt than I meant it to be.
See, I was more thinking mud.
Because that’s what I’m sharing today.
Mud pie.
Mississippi Mud Pie, to be exact.
Only, this isn’t any ol’ Mississippi mud pie.  It’s MY Mississippi mud pie, redesigned and shined up a little bit by my imagination.
 
Traditional mud pie is comprised of a chocolate cookie crust and a chocolate pudding filling, topped with marshmallows and/or whipped cream.
(No, no, I know.  Quit your whining.  We all made gross-ass mud pies in puddles after the rain- those are not what I’m preaching about up in here.  You want that, you can walk yoself out of this fine establishment.)
 
I took it to another gut-busting, button-bursting, chocolatized level.
Because yes.
 
(Chocolatize me Cap’n!  Yes, Chocolate Cap’n Crunch is a thing.  I know.)
I was inspired in part by the Baked guys, because I saw a snapshot of their Mississippi Mud Pie and decided to make it my way.
Then, Russell of Chasing Delicious made this amazing Mississippi Mud Cake, and I decided it was high time to get back on the chocolate wagon.
It had been so long.  Summer just doesn’t always seem to be compatible with chocolate, which melts and makes a mess.  I usually stick to fruit.
But here we are, with a giant chocolate pie to talk about.
I’ll talk you through the layers- it’s not as hard as it seems, I promise.
Come your next chocolate craving, make this.  It will satisfy every bone and tooth in your body.

First up: chocolate cookie crust.
I used Oreos, because for some reason all the regular chocolate cookies were out of stock in all of the grocery stores near me.  Whatever.  
Smash up some cookies, add a little seasoning (sugar+salt) and bind the whole thing with a stick o’ butta.  Yum.  
Next: my favorite brownies.
These are a one-pot, one-spoon, super simple affair.
They come together in 5 minutes and bake in 15.
They’re fudgy and perfect to line the base of the crust.  
Simply cut off the top of the brownie base and lay it right in your crust.
Third: milk chocolate mousse.
This stuff has two major steps, but neither is difficult.  
You come away with the smoothest, fluffiest mousse, one that is very light on the tongue but is completely sliceable.
This would usually be a pudding, but I wanted something a little more sophisticated than chocolate puddin’.
A mousse is perfect for this type of molded dessert!  
Spread it over the cut side of the brownies and chill until it’s completely set.
Next: salted chocolate ganache.
Rich, dark, and so, so deeply chocolaty.  Need I say more?
Finally: Italian meringue.
These marshmallow-y clouds on the top of the cake are the perfect foil for all the chocolate they’re sitting on.  Traditionally, these would be marshmallows or whipped cream, but I prefer the lightness and softness of meringue.

One slice of this will do in your chocolate cravings in just the right way.
Mississippi Mud Pie just done grew up.

Mississippi Mud Pie
 
Assemble everything in the order shown here: crust, brownies, mousse, ganache, meringue.
Chocolate Cookie Crust:
ingredients:
2 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used about 40 Oreos, after I had scraped the cream filling out)
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons butter, melted
directions:
Mix the cookie crumbs with the sugar and salt, then gently stir in the butter.
Press into a 9-inch springform pan and chill until solid, then begin layering.
Classic Brownies
same recipe as here
ingredients:
8 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
9 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
directions:
In a heavy pot, melt butter, shortening, chocolate, and cocoa powder together.
Once they are all melted, add the sugar and remove from the heat.
Whisk in the eggs vigorously one by one.
Add in the salt and vanilla and whisk.
Finally, stir in the flour.
Spread the batter in a greased and floured 9-inch cake pan and bake for 20 or so minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
To use in the cake, allow to cool completely, then cut off the shiny, crackly top along with about 4 mm of brownie.
Gently place in the bottom of the chilled crust, cut side up.
 
Milk Chocolate Mousse
adapted from Cannelle et Vanille
ingredients:

 

For the pâte à bombé:

 

56 grams sugar

 

14 grams corn syrup

 

28 grams water

 

1 medium egg yolk plus 1 large egg yolk or 1.5 large or extra large egg yolks

 

For the mousse:

 

56 grams (2 ounces) pâte à bombé

 

4 grams gelatin

 

84 grams (3 ounces) milk chocolate

 

8 ounces (1 cup, 235 mL) heavy cream

 

directions:

 

Make the pâte à bombé: place the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer.

 

Begin to whip them on high while you combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small pot and heat to 240 degrees F.

 

Once the syrup comes to temp, slowly drizzle it over the whipped egg yolks while the mixer is running.

 

Allow the yolks to whip until they cool to body temp.

 

Weigh out 56 grams (2 ounces) and set aside.

 

Melt the chocolate gently, then set aside to cool slightly.

 

Sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of cold water and set aside for 5 minutes to soften.

 

Set aside 1/4 cup of the heavy cream and whip the other cream to stiff peaks.

 

Once the gelatin is softened, microwave it with the 1/4 cup cream until melted. Gently stir into the cream; the mixture will become loose.

 

Stir in the pâte à bombé and the cooled melted chocolate, and gently mix until homogeneous.

 

Mixture will be loose.

 

Pour over the brownie in the crust and refrigerate until set.

 

Salted Chocolate Ganache
ingredients:
230 grams bittersweet chocolate
130 grams heavy cream
40 grams corn syrup
Small pinch kosher salt
directions:
Heat the chocolate until half melted in a microwave or over a double boiler.
Add the cream, syrup, and salt and heat until the chocolate is 2/3 melted, about 20 more seconds on medium power in a microwave.
Stir gently, increasing speed, until the mixture is shiny and homogeneous.
Use right away- spread over the chilled and firm mousse.
 
Small-Batch Italian Meringue
ingredients:
38 grams egg whites

 

Pinch cream of tartar

75 grams sugar
25 grams water
Directions:
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the cream of tartar.
Combine the water and sugar in a small pot and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites.
When the syrup reaches 245 degrees F, the egg whites should be at soft to stiff peaks.
Slowly pour the hot syrup over the meringue with the mixer running. 
Allow to whip until completely cool, then pipe onto the cake.
by Rachel Sally

Make It Work

Watch out, because whether you like it or not, I’m sharing some shi stuff that I’m loving right now.
This post is peppered with links.  Click ’em!
Meow.
Reading Blood and Beauty, a fabulously intricate novel about the Borgia family in 15th century Italy, by Sarah Dunant.
This book is right up my alley. I love historical-fiction novels about European monarchies. (Speaking of which, I’ve just binge-watched the first season of the Tudors.)
Also reading Dash and Bella, a new-to-me blog that makes me laugh and cry and cry and laugh.
Seriously, I read every single post in the span of two days.
I cried three times and laughed the whole way through.
Phyllis is an amazingly personable writer who has a way of transporting her reader into her kitchen.
In other words, she is not a terrible writer.
Watching Pirate Radio, a movie set in 1960s Britain on none other than a pirate radio ship.
I’m actually writing this right after having finished this movie, so it’s still fresh in my mind.
My final thoughts- they did an awesome job with the music and the actors captured the very British and very raucous, racy mood perfectly.
Also watching the new season of Project Runway… Gosh how I love Tim Gunn.
I’ve been watching Project Runway with my dad since the second season.
It’s one of our shows, among the ranks of GoT, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Top Chef, Veep, etc.
Carry on!
Listening to lots of the Rolling Stones- I love rock n roll in the summer time. It makes me feel extra free and fun.
Also listening– this song by Ellie Goulding. Love!
Making these tarts, for a little dinner party, filling them with luscious lime curd and deep dark chocolate ganache.
Also making ice creams and summer succotashes served with hot sauce and scrambled eggs, dreaming of making malasadas and hand pies and ice cream cakes. (I’ll back quite soon with some of these delights!)
Raspberry Tartlettes
makes 5 or 6 small tartlettes or 1 9-inch tart
for the pâte sucrée shells:
ingredients:
12 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups flour
2 medium egg yolks, or one large/extra-large
directions:
Cream the butter, salt, and sugar together on high for 5 minutes, until very fluffy and extremely pale.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the flour, mixing only until the mixture is starting to form large curds.
Add the egg yolks with the mixer running and mix until a cohesive dough comes together.
Press into tartlette molds or a 9 inch tart pan.
Prick all over with a fork, then freeze for at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the shells until they are golden and slightly tanned, 15-18 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
for the lime curd:
ingredients:
3/4 cup lime juice
scant 1 cup sugar
zest of 2 limes
pinch kosher salt
5 medium egg yolks, or 4 large/extra-large
8 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
directions:
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, rub the lime zest and sugar together until fragrant.
Add in the egg yolks, lime juice, and salt and whisk to combine.
Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 10 minutes.
The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail when a spatula is dragged through.
Either transfer mixture to a blender or blend with an immersion blender.
Add in the butter chunks one at a time, blending to emulsify. (If you use a real blender, you can throw half of all the chunks in and just do it in two additions.)
Allow the curd to cool completely before using.
for the salted dark chocolate ganache:
ingredients:
3/4 cup dark chocolate, either chips or chunks, at least 70% cocoa
3 tablespoons heavy cream, or as needed
pinch sea salt
directions:
In a microwave or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate until it is 2/3 of the way melted. (In a microwave, nuke it in 25 second blasts, stirring between each.  You will probably need 3 blasts, but it depends on the wattage of your microwave.)
Stir in the heavy cream and sea salt and heat just a little more, to melt it 3/4 of the way.
(In a microwave, this will probably be a 15 second burst.)
Finally, stir the mixture very well until it becomes shiny and glossy.
Allow to cool to body temperature before using.
to assemble:
Fill each of the tartelette shells with a scant 1/2 cup of either mixture.
Smooth out with a small offset spatula or a butter knife.
Decorate with raspberries (you’ll need about 2 pints) and dust with powdered sugar.
by Rachel Sally

Skywire

“There must be a better way to get a pole across the Grand Canyon…”
Did you guys watch the Skywire special on Discovery a few weeks back?
The one where a man walked across the Grand Canyon with a giant pole on a tightrope without a harness wearing slippers?
I watched it with a bunch of friends.
It really was attention-capturing.  We watched for 45 minutes without realizing there hadn’t been commercials.
I had a bet with one of my friends that they would cut off camera if he fell.
 My friend insisted that they would show it at least once- his reasoning was that they replayed Kevin Ware’s horrific leg injury twice, so falling 1500 feet to one’s death would be aired.
I was just glad we never settled the bet.  Ick.
Anyhow, that’s a bit off topic.  I was just reminded of that special because of this ice cream.  
It’s called “Graham Canyon,” because it’s a copycat, as far as I can tell, for BYU Creamery’s flavor of the same name.
People describe Graham Canyon (no, I’ve never had it, but the descriptions sounded so good that I had to try and make my own) as caramel-y, with dark chocolate covered honeycomb candy and a graham swirl.
My version is a graham ice cream, with graham ganache mixed in (unfortunately it didn’t swirl the way I wanted it to, but the graham cracker flavor was already prominent), along with honeycomb candy, both robed in chocolate and plain.
The non-chocolate coated honeycomb melts into the ice cream, creating a toffee flavor that pairs really well with the graham.
 
That said, this ice cream is still an endeavor to make, with lots of components.
However, it’s similar to store bought ice creams in that it has a rich flavor and lots of mix-ins.
I’m becoming more and more interested in trying to make ice creams like Ben and Jerry’s- inventive and flavorful… Stay tuned!
 
P.S. I’m thoroughly enjoying myself at a super hippie local music festival, Grassroots, for the weekend.
It’s hot as… all get out.
It’s wonderful.
Happy groots weekend to all!
Stay cool!  Eat ice cream!

“Graham Canyon” Ice Cream
ingredients:
1 batch graham ice cream, recipe below
1 batch graham ganache, recipe below
1 batch honeycomb candy, divided, recipe below
1 cup melted dark chocolate, mixed with 1 teaspoon coconut oil
directions:
Churn the graham ice cream in your ice cream maker.
Meanwhile, break the honeycomb into small bits.
Take approximately 1/3 of the honeycomb- (choose the bite sized pieces rather than the crumbs) and stir it into the dark chocolate.
Fish the bits out of the chocolate with a fork and place on a plate- chill until chocolate is set.
Take approximately 1/4 of the original amount of honeycomb (this measure should be mostly crumbs and tiny pieces) and mix it into the ice cream while it churns.
Once the ice cream is done churning, swirl the graham ganache into it.
Stir in the chocolate covered honeycomb and freeze until solid.
Enjoy!

Graham Crackers
adapted from smitten kitchen
ingredients:
188 grams (1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon) white whole wheat flour
88 grams (1/2 lightly packed cup) brown sugar
3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
2 grams (3/8 teaspoon) kosher salt
50 grams (3 1/2 tablespoons) butter, cold and cut into pieces

57 grams (1/6 cup) honey
38 grams (2 1/2 tablespoons)milk
14 grams (1 tablespoon) vanilla extract
directions:
Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, and kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor.
Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand.
Add the honey, milk, and vanilla and pulse until a dough forms.
Turn out and wrap in plastic; refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll out dough on a well floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness.
Cut desired shapes and bake on a parchment lined sheet for 15-18 minutes.
 
Graham Crust
adapted from momofuku milk bar
ingredients:
graham crackers, above, pulsed and turned into crumbs (190 grams, if you want to use store bought, which is approximately 1 1/2 cups of crumbs)
20 grams (1/4 cup) milk powder 
25 grams (2 tablespoons) sugar
3 grams kosher salt (3/4 teaspoon)
55 grams (4 tablespoons) butter, browned
55 grams (1/4 cup) half and half
directions:
Pulse the graham cracker crumbs, the milk powder, sugar, and salt together. 
Add the butter and half and half and pulse until the mixture resembles damp sand.
 
Graham Ice Cream
adapted from momofuku milk bar
ingredients:
1 cup graham crust
380 grams (1 3/4 cups) half and half
1 teaspoon gelatin
35 grams (2 tablespoons) golden syrup
65 grams (1/3 cup) sugar 
40 grams (1/2 cup) milk powder
1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) kosher salt
directions:
Combine the half and half and graham crust and allow to steep for 20 minutes.
Strain out the graham crust with a fine mesh sieve; discard the mush.
Bloom the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of cold water.
Warm some of the graham milk and whisk in the gelatin to dissolve.
Add the gelatin/graham milk mixture back to the entire batch of graham milk, then add the rest of the ingredients. 
Blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender to combine.
 
Graham Ganache
inspired by Christina Tosi
ingredients:
the remainder of the graham crust from your graham ice cream 
half and half
directions:
Continue to pulse the graham crust, adding half and half a teaspoon at a time, until it turns into a very smooth, grit-free paste.  (Do not add too much half and half at any one time, it may turn the ganache liquid.)
The consistency should be thick and creamy and smooth, like a cooled chocolate ganache.
 
Honeycomb Candy
adapted from not so humble pie
200 grams sugar
10 grams honey
15 grams golden syrup
40 grams water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
directions:
Line a baking pan with a silpat and spray with nonstick spray (do not use parchment; if you must, go bare with just nonstick spray).
Place the water in the bottom of a heavy, high-sided pot.
Add the sugar, honey, and golden syrup to the middle of the water, stir carefully to combine.
Heat over medium-high heat until it turns a very light golden color, or 300 degrees F, stirring constantly. (The color should be just barely turning; this took me 3 tries, 2 without a thermometer, so I just recommend going by temperature rather than looks.)
Moving quickly, stir in the baking soda with a whisk and pour the mixture onto your pan.
Allow to cool, then break into pieces.
by Rachel Sally

C.R.E.A.M.

Catz Rule Everything Around Me.
Meow.
I have a love/hate relationship with these two nasty little buggers.
See, Sasha and Kasha were both rescues of sorts- both rescued from dirty, teenage-boy apartments.
 
Sasha was a farm kitty who was bought on a whim by my older brother and his roommates.  
They brought her back to NYC and she promptly (and tragically) fell out of a four story window.
She survived with just a tiny cut on her chin…  She now has 8 lives left.
She’s the nicer of the two cats, but certainly lacks in the beauty department.
She also has a bad habit of escaping outdoors when you’re least expecting it (our cats are firmly indoor cats), and then manages to evade recapture for ages.  
She lets you get in very close, almost as if to catch her, then sprints away.
That little ratfink.  
Kasha was just a little kitten “rescued” from my friends’ apartment last summer.
They had initially rescued her from a field.
She is truly a feral cat… Raised among teenage boys, what else could one expect?
She’s a pretty one, covered in stripes and spots, but she’s very small.
I don’t expect she’ll grow much more.  We call her Peewee.  (More often than we use her real name!  She’s such a dinky little thing.)
Kasha is not very friendly, and doesn’t like to be held or pet.  Real lovely personality.
She eats like a starved and crazed animal, which she is not.
She’s even got a tiny pudgy little belly. 
If you even come near her eating her food, she will make a strange, high pitched gurgling/growling noise and proceed to try to fit everything in her bowl in her mouth.
It’s grotesque.  Seriously nauseous eating habits.
Also, Kasha tends not to purr.  Or meow.  She beeps.
She sounds like a bird mixed with a telephone.
I don’t know where this is going.
But basically, all I do is take photos of my cats and food.
And all I talk about are my cats.  I don’t even like them that much.
Welcome to my life, I guess.
It’s very exciting and instagram-worthy.
I don’t have a recipe for these cookies.  
I dumped a bunch of things in a bowl and hoped for the best.
When I experiment like that (which is very often), I always make notes on a post-it.
Trouble is, I have so many damn post-its that I can’t remember what they mean!
Also, I can only find two- I don’t know where the others go.
Somehow, I still have notes for an orange-olive oil cake, and I swear I’ve thrown this very one out three times.
It keeps coming back.
But alas, the search for the maple-bacon-brown butter-brown sugar cookie post-it has been in vain.  I will update this if I find it!
 
Be back soon… With ice cream!
by Rachel Sally

Spectrum

Remember how I said that people like to shove cookie butter into every dessert imaginable?
 
Well then, this swap of cookie butter for peanut butter should come as no surprise to you.
Cookie butter cups!  
The only problem with these is that the cookie butter mixture for the middle has to be formed into little patties- if it were more liquid and pourable, the little cups would have even tops, just like the peanut butter cups we all know and love.
A lumpy top is but a small price to pay for these.
 
The dark chocolate combines with the spices to give two or three perfectly creamy and balanced bites from each confection. (and then you reach for another… and another…)
Bonus?  They’re super quick and easy to make.
(I tempered my chocolate, which takes a bit longer, but feel free to add a teaspoon of shortening and a teaspoon of corn syrup to melted chocolate to make an approximation!)
This is a peanut butter cup.  This is a peanut butter cup on drugs…

 

Speculoos Cups
makes about 9
adapted from the Little Kitchen
ingredients:
1/4 cup speculoos spread (make your own!)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
about 2 cups dark chocolate, tempered (or see approximation above)
directions:
Put cookie butter and butter in microwave and heat in 30 second bursts until melted.
Stir in salt and powdered sugar until a thick paste forms.
Set out 9 cupcake liners and drop about a teaspoon of chocolate into the bottom of each.
Form small patties of speculoos mixture and nestle them into the chocolate.
Finish each cup by filling it with chocolate until the patty is covered.
Allow to set by placing in the freezer or fridge, then unwrap and enjoy!

by Rachel Sally

Speculative

These cookies are wholly counterproductive.
Welcome to the first installation of uses for your homemade speculoos spread (other than ravaging it with a spoon).
Basically, we made cookies to make cookies.
Oh, my lyfe.
 
These cookies are similar to peanut butter cookies, but they use cookie butter (can we just appreciate that for a minute?) in lieu of the traditional nut butter.
They’re big and soft and they make perfect sandwich cookies when pressed together with some dark chocolate ganache.
I’m telling you, these are not gingersnaps.  
Stop trying to make them gingersnaps in your head.  
They’re not.  I did it too.  Trust me. 
They’re more like lightly spiced peanut butter cookies.
Make them and you will appreciate this sentiment.
You will also be annoyed that you had to make cookies, grind them up, and then make cookies again.  It’s worth it my dear.
 
(Also, any excuse to pull out my Swedish pearl sugar is worth it.  
Let me just say how obsessed I am with this stuff.  It’s like sprinkles.  Addictive.
I actually prefer it over the larger, coarser Belgian pearl sugar, but you could theoretically coat these in the Belgian stuff, although it will add a lot more sweetness and crunch.  
You could also sub regular or turbinado sugar, but you’ll get less crunch.
 
I’m starting to think you could also coat these in sprinkles and then you’d have sprinkle Biscoff cookies and whaaa that’s a trap I’m getting out okay bye.)

 

Biscoff Cookies
adapted from Baking Bites
makes 6 large sandwich cookies
ingredients:
4 ounces (8 tablespoons, 1/2 cup) butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
pinch each cinnamon, ground cloves, and ginger
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup Biscoff (make your own!)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
swedish pearl sugar, or turbinado sugar, for rolling
for the ganache:
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy cream
directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Beat butter on high until fluffy and soft, about 1 minute.  
Add in the sugars, spices, and the salt and beat on high until all of sugar is dissolved and mixture is very light in color and shiny and not-gritty in texture, about 3 minutes.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the egg and vanilla extract.  
Beat for 3 more minutes.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the Biscoff and beat for 1 minute.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
Mix just until homogeneous, about 1 minute.
Using a large cookie scoop, or an ice cream scoop, scoop out 12 cookies. 
Gently roll them in the pearl sugar, making sure to coat all parts of the cookie.
Bake for 9-10 minutes, until puffy.  
They will look very underdone and will still be extremely soft in the middle; they will look somewhat uncooked in the very center.
Allow to cool on the sheet pans; the cookies will decompress and retain their softness, but the residual heat will ensure that they are not raw.
Once cooled, make the ganache.
Microwave the chocolate chips and cream together until the chips are mostly melted; do this in 30 second bursts.  
Stir to combine and finish melting the chocolate.
Spread between two cookies and sandwich them!

by Rachel Sally

Narco(leptic)

I am a chronic napper.
 
The last two or so weeks have afforded me extremely little sleep: although the majority of my finals were a month ago, during AP week, I have had final projects, presentations, and the odd final test in the past two weeks.
What this has resulted in is that any time I get remotely warm or comfortable, I fall asleep.
I can’t make it through one whole T.V. show.  
I’m constantly yawning.
The bags under my eyes are as droopy as Charlie’s.
Today, I fell asleep.  One hour after having woken up.
As in, I woke up, ate breakfast, went upstairs to change out of my pajamas, and fell asleep.
I mean, whatever.  
It’s summer, now.  I’m going to let my poor sleepy little brain live its life.
I don’t mind all too much.
It’s rainy and dreary outside- just how I love it.  
All I want to do is sit inside and nap under a fluffy blanket while watching LOTR.
Good lord that sounds good.
 
So, speaking of summer:  (Graduation is exactly one week from now… Trippy mane!)
You can expect posts to randomly appear at strange times, like 3 in the afternoon, when normal people would generally be working or doing productive things.
You can expect things to be extra sassy, once Ithaca heats up (still waiting for that to happen…).
You can expect no-fuss, no-bake things like this fudge.
5 ingredients.  2 minutes to make, 2 hours to chill 
(or 1 hour if you stick it in the freezer.  Plus then you get frozen fudge.  Ooooh have mercy.).
This stuff is like crack.  
Creamy with just a touch of chew.
Sweet but punctuated with crunchy, sour, fruity raspberry bits and the occasional salt grain.
Delectably stretchy and alarmingly available (like I said, 5 ingredients, 2 minutes…).
 
All I can think about is new adaptations to this easy little fudge recipe.
Namely, coffee and chocolate.
I mean, that’s all that I can think about lately anyways.  Coffee.
(And chocolate, always.  Always on my mind.)

 

Swirled Raspberry Fudge
ingredients:
9 ounces white chocolate
3 ounces dark chocolate
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (you may need a couple more tablespoons, depending on your chocolate)
3/4 ounce crushed freeze-dried raspberries
two big pinches sea salt
directions:
Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl with a pinch of sea salt and 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk.
Do the same with the dark chocolate, but with 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk.
Melt each on high until the chocolate is mostly melted and the sweetened condensed milk is hot and bubbly.
Stir each together swiftly to melt the rest of the chocolate.
Layer 1/3 of the white chocolate in the bottom of a 12×6 (you could use an 8×8 as well, for thicker fudge) pan that has been lightly greased.
Sprinkle some of the crushed raspberries on top.
Dollop some of the dark chocolate on top of the raspberries (if it has already hardened, you can stir in up to 3 more tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk).  
Repeat, layering white chocolate, raspberries, and dark chocolate.
Finally, dollop the remaining white chocolate and any remaining dark chocolate on top.
Swirl the whole mixture together very, very well with a fork.  
Don’t be worried about messing it up or getting it too marbled.  Just swirl.
Refrigerate until set, or freeze, if you’re impatient like me!

by Rachel Sally

Protips

Dirty little kitchen secrets shortcuts.
I never bother to sift.
(Except for royal icing, when lumps will cause certain failure and imminent disaster.)
Heck, I rarely even bother to combine the dry ingredients before adding them to the wet.
As long as everything is evenly distributed, it’ll all work out just swell.
Or temper eggs.
The idea behind tempering eggs is to ensure even heating of the eggs, preventing the proteins from clumping together and scrambling.
An immersion blender solves this issue very nicely.  
As long as the eggs are well blended into all the other ingredients and you bring them all up to temperature at the same time, blending constantly to ensure even heating, your eggs will not scramble.
I’m positive about this.  A lot of these tricks are just time-savers for evenly distributing ingredients and heat; traditional methods are equally effective, but often take longer and are fussier.  
I don’t like fuss.
 
I taste (constantly) as I go.
No explanation necessary.  Ahem.
 
 
I microwave pretty much everything and I never use a double boiler.  Ever.
Admittedly, ye of much patience and time to spare may prefer bain maries because they ensure even heating, but I prefer things done quickly and efficiently.  
You can insure even, slow heating yourself, by whisking, or better yet, blending, constantly and vigilantly.  
I make my curds, crème pâtissière, and crème anglaise (for ice cream) this way.  
I melt (and temper) my chocolate in the microwave; for ganache, I don’t even bother adding the cream to the chocolate afterwards.  I microwave them all together.  It’s faster.
(I will admit that for tempering, if you are not experienced and/or do not feel comfortable with chocolate, you should try tempering on a stove top first, so that you can constantly monitor the temperature of the chocolate.  Once you get the hang of it, ‘nuke it!)
 
I sling salt like cowboys do guns in Westerns.
A pinch in my book is approximately 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.
I never measure salt, I’ll admit it.  That’s what tasting is for!
Too often I find that recipes call for a measly amount of salt, too small to have an impact on the flavor.  Salt brings out and heightens flavors, especially sugar.
 

 

I eyeball things; I always add more vanilla and citrus zest than is called for.  

Again, just like salt, these additions heighten flavor.  
I rarely strain zest out of curds and batters and whatever because a) I like the texture and b) the rind contains a ton of the essential oils that give flavor, which is why we used it in the first place.  Why take that out?! 
Oh, and c) it’s less work.  Right.
 
Whenever I use melted butter, I brown it.
Um, duh.  No explanation necessary.
 
I indiscriminately swap yogurt, sour cream, and buttermilk; 
I even use milk with a little acid added, whether in the form of a baking powder swap or a touch of lemon juice.
Baking powder is baking soda with tartaric acid added, so if you add acid in the form of buttermilk or yogurt or sour cream in place of milk, switch some of the baking powder in the recipe to baking soda, which reacts with the acid.
 


I bake by weight 95% of the time.

This is one of the most important things; people’s measurements of cups and pinches and all sorts of things vary wildly, depending on how they measure them.  
Volume is not the best way to bake, especially not when precision is called for.
 
I very rarely soften butter.  
In fact, the only time when I do is for meringue buttercreams.
See the next shortcut for an explanation.
No matter what a recipe calls for, I cream my butter for a minimum of 5 minutes.  
This means that starting with cold butter is no problem.  Just beat it on high for 30 seconds before adding the sugar to cream.  
Easy peasy, and no pesky waiting.
(This especially applies for cookies, which I beat for a minimum of 10.  
I learned this trick from Christina Tosi.)
 
I temper my chocolate.
Tempering chocolate frees you from needing to use shortening or other fats and/or corn syrup in your candies.
The result is a cleaner, deeper, and richer taste: one of chocolate alone.
Granted, tempering chocolate takes (minimally, once you’ve got the hang of it) longer than candy melts, but it is way more flavorful and, in truth, healthier.
Candy melts= paraffin wax.  Yes, wax.  
Um… I’ll pass on those traditional cake-pops.

Even better? Cookie dough pops.  Om nom nom.
There’s nothing better than raw cookie dough.  Except raw cookie dough that’s safe to eat and is covered in more chocolate.
One last protip?  Stick these in the freezer (if you’ve tempered your chocolate, this won’t create any ugly blooms) and you have heaven on a stick.

Cookie Dough Truffles
ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 tablespoons, 4 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
heaping 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons milk
splash vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2-3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
bittersweet chocolate chips, tempered, for coating
popsicle sticks
directions:
Beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy and softened, about 2 minutes.
Add in the sugars and beat for 3 more minutes, until very fluffy, shiny, and not gritty.
Scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add in the milk, salt, and vanilla, and beat for 2 more minutes.
Add in the flour and mix on medium low until homogeneous.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Roll into balls, dip popsicle sticks in a little bit of chocolate, and stick into the balls.
Freeze until solid, dip into tempered chocolate and allow to set.
Enjoy!