Truffle Mutt

#1 Chocolate Chip Cookie

This is it.  My new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It's taken searching and even more baking, but I'll look no further.  Yeah, who am I kidding, of course I'll keep looking, but this recipe has earned it's moment in the spotlight. 

For me chocolate chip cookie perfection is eating a day old cookie that's chewy enough to be fresh out of the oven, with browned crispy edges, a gooey center and loads of chocolate.  And lucky for me this recipe turns out a cookie that's all that.  Normally, I add toasted almonds to my chocolate chip cookies, for a more sophisticated taste, but these were pretty darn good on their own. 

Next time, and there will be a next time, I'll add the burnt almonds to half the batter and I'll try white chocolate and coffee in the other. 

Layers of Disappointment

Sometimes simple is better and my Melody Cake from Pierre Herme was a prime example.  All it took was 20 hours of baking apples, 1 hour of folding and setting the caramel Bavarian cream, 1 hour of whipping and baking the sponge cake and 3 hours of layering and then chilling.  A real piece of cake, no pun intended.

Regardless of the time investment, my beef was not with the prep time but rather with the finished product.  While I was making cake and whipping creams I discovered that the tastes were turning out very bland.  So, while I wasn't altogether surprised that the sum of the parts produced equally unexciting results, I won't deny that I was disappointed.

I will mention at this point that I didn't follow the recipe exactly, leaving out the cinnamon pastry base, choosing instead to top the cake with a simple cinnamon whipped cream.  I really don't feel that this would have turned things around, but I could be wrong.  I've had that happen from time-to-time.   

So the real problem was that the majority of the flavors were just too subtle.  The buttery, orange flavored apples and the sponge cake were completely overpowered by the caramel Bavarian cream that reminded me a lot of pumpkin pie filling.  And let me tell you these flavors did not work together at all.  Of course there were two people that really enjoyed it, so maybe it is me.

If I was to make this again I'd experiment with a Bavarian cream flavored with Calvados or apple wine, which I think would better compliment the apples. I still have a lot of apples left.  What to do, what to do.

19 1/4 Hour Apples

 

Sure the name doesn't sound quite as nice as "Twenty-hour apples" from Pierre Herme, but I couldn't quite spare twenty hours when I started these.  The sliced apples went in the oven the night before, for their marathon 10 hour bake, but had to come out before I went to work the next morning, which meant a total bake time of 9 1/4 hours.  I did however, manage to give them their full 10 hour chill, before using them in Pierre Herme's Melody Cake. 

Considering that the apples were a little shy on the bake time, I'd say they turned out really well.  Of course, never having had actual "Twenty-hour apples", it's hard to compare.  Once baked and chilled the apples are tender and yet still surprisingly strong.  They should still be handled with care but can be removed from the baking dish fairly easily with an offset spatula. 

I was expecting the resulting apples to be a lot more caramelized than they turned out, but the flavor was still great.  The orange peel leaves a distinct citrus note, but the apple still comes through in the end, and the addition of sugar and butter nicely balances the taste. 

If I was going to make them again though I'd consider giving them more wow.  I think adding cinnamon and a touch of apple wine to the baking process would make these apples perfect for using in a tart or served simply over custard.  The recipe makes a lot of apples so I'll have lots of opportunity to experiment. 

Running From Calories

The evil goodness given off by things like these chocolate burnt almond cookies have forced me to run.  Not away from food, I adore food.  It's more like running for food.  See, I detest dieting.  I can understand eating less fast food and junk food and I've trimmed that down easily enough, but I have a seriously hard time saying no to cream, cheese, butter, and other such yummy substances.  So, to fight the barrage of calories that I throw at myself daily I joined a running club. 

I actually started running last winter and, although I never thought I'd be the one to say this, it was a pretty good time.  The people at the club are great and although you are running you can chat away and before you know it you're done.  Not too bad at all I say.  However, as these things often go (at least with me), shortly after I finished the class last winter I fell off the band wagon.  The unfortunate part of that was that I did not also fall off of the food band wagon.  No, there's absolutely no worry of that.  I'm strapped onto that baby with a five point safety harness.  Which leads right into why I signed up for running class for the second time. 

Last week was my first class and as I was sitting around waiting for people to arrive I started chatting with a few new runners.  I meet this one fellow runner and we hit it off and it turns out we ran together briefly last winter.  Great a run buddy!  So, we end up running together and the first night goes off without a hitch (which means, I didn't pass out and have to be hauled off the path by paramedics).  So, we are back at the start stretching and my run buddy says to me, "I actually run to support my eating habit.  I really love food."

GREAT! 

Just freaking great!  I join a run club because my will power is so small it would remain undetected under an electron microscope and who do I meet?  A fitness freak who's going to drag me out onto the path to run until my feet bleed?  Or a diet goddess who's going to unlock for me the mystery of portion control?  No I meet an eater.  Someone who's going to talk me into going out for pizza and beer or indulging in a wing night instead of running. 

The future of my running career has been compromised.

Almost Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is one of those things that I associate with vacations to the US.  Maybe it's just me but it seems that pecan pie is much more popular with our neighbors to the South than it is here in Canada.  It's sad but I've all but given up trying to find an eatable piece of pecan pie in Canada.   

To fill the void I decided to try making my own from a recipe in a copy of Fine Cooking Magazine.  It's a not-quite-but-almost pecan pie which  is slightly less gooey than the real thing, which makes it incredibly easy to snack on, take to work or eat as you run out the door in the morning.  Not that I'm speaking from experience, especially on the last one.

This recipe combines a moist cookie base with a brown sugar and toasted pecan topping to create a totally scrumptious dessert.  I served it with a big dollop of bourbon whipped cream (which had mixed reviews). 

My Sweet Addiction

Warning this substance is highly addictive and in extreme cases consumption may cause hyperactivity and weight gain.  But trust me it's worth the risk.  This dense, caramel soaked confection is sticky toffee pudding, and I find that since I first had it at Simone's a few weeks ago I've developed a  sort of freakish obsession with it. 

I actually made this about a week ago, but as the result of various computer related issues, I couldn't post until this morning.  I've missed the official SHF deadline, but I'm hoping Debbie will have it in her heart to mention me anyway.  Pretty please Debbie, with sugar on top.   ;o)

To make this dessert I had to search various recipe sites for one I thought might produce a result similar to Simone's and I decided on this one.   I made some changes to the recipe, but sadly at least two of those were a direct result of not reading the recipe completely through.  How many times you ask, have I read the golden rule of using a recipe?  Apparently not enough times.  Okay leave me alone, so I didn't read the recipe, but I did skim through it.  That's kind of like reading. Right? 

Late Night Cravings

It was 9:00 and I was craving cake.  Chocolate cake to be more specific, and since it was late, simplicity was essential.  I’d seen a recipe for a dense chocolate loaf  in my copy of How to be a Domestic Goddess and it seemed fitting.  I took out the chocolate, chopped and weighed it, and then I seriously considered just eating the chocolate and scrapping the cake.  But I talked myself back into cake, and once I got over the eat-the-chocolate hurdle it went together quite quickly, even despite my lack of an electric mixer. As the recipe warned the batter was runny, watery even, but oh-so good.  At this point I seriously considered eating the batter and scrapping the cake, but I once again talked myself into making the cake.  I'd already gone through the trouble of lining the cake pan, so really.

Now all I had to do was bake it, but I’d like to reemphasize that the batter was runny.  So runny, that it ran freely underneath the liner in the pan.  I'm sure this might have had something to do with my inadequate job of lining the pan, but at the time I took no responsibility for this problem.  Not much could be done at that point anyway, so in the oven it went.  Remembering Nigella's warning that the cake might drip, I slipped a pan on the bottom rack to avoid any messes.  If you make this cake, heed this warning.  In the case of this cake, drip is a serious understatement.  This innocent looking loaf spews molten chocolate from its depths in alarming quantities.

See, I could have eaten some of the batter before I baked it.  I told you.

As it turns out the cake survived its purge and had all its innards intact.  It was deliciously moist and rich, and the chocolate is strong without being too sweet.  The finished product truly was better than the batter, so it’s a good thing I persevered.

To keep, or not to keep?

I hate to admit it, but I seriously considered throwing out my leftover puff pastry.  Hey look, I had my reasons.  For starters, I got to thinking about how much puff pastry a reasonably health conscience person should consume in one week?  At least the last time I checked butter laden, puff pastry wasn’t strongly recommended in the Canadian Food Guide.  Then there’s my really small freezer to consider, where the box of store-bought puff pastry is currently residing.

In the end my pastry came this close to going in the trash. This close.  But I couldn’t do it.  If it had come from the store it certainly would have been history, but I'd labored in this creation and I felt a strange connection to it.  Besides, if I threw it out now then I’d never know its true puffing potential, since I’d slightly undercooked it for the napoleons.  So, inspired by Jennifer's SHF entry I made palmiers. I rolled the dough out, brushed it with butter and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar.  Once out of the oven and still hot I tossed the cookies in another bowl of cinnamon sugar and gave them a quick roll around.  Well, why would I possibly hold back at this point?  If a girl's going to eat an entire batch of puff pastry, she might as well go all the way.  I did however, manage to pawn off half a dozen cookies on my lucky, or perhaps unlucky, friend Lisa.  It’s always good to spread calories around in this way, they do considerably less damage.  You may see my motivation for sharing as somewhat tainted, but who has to know.  And all this time my friends thought I was just being nice…  :o)

Happy Valentine's

You're not the first to notice that there are no hearts decorating this Valentine's treat.  No it wasn't on purpose, I wasn't rebelling against a day where you can't find a flower in the city for under $50.  No really, I didn't think about it until I'd snapped the first picture and you know with souffle you don't have a lot of time to waste until the dreaded deflation begins.  So, I snapped away and you'll just have to get by without the hearts.

I saw Rob Feenie making his souffle on Foodtv the other night and I decided to give it a try.  I mean after the puff pastry success why not try something else I find somewhat intimidating.  Next Phyllo.  Yeah right! 

My souffle took a bit of a different direction than Rob's, because I had no passion fruit puree and I had to use my leftover caramel pastry cream.  Instead of passion fruit I used a well aged banana and some maple syrup.  Baked 'em and filled 'em up with caramel pastry cream and a squirt of dark chocolate sauce.  This was a great introduction to souffle.  Next time I'll experiment with apple sauce filled with a cinnamon cream, or orange juice concentrate with an orange liqueur mascarpone.  Even without the hearts it was a great Valentine's dessert. 

Christmas Cake: Part 2

What's the reason for a part two to the Christmas cake saga?  Well, there ended up being 17 people at Christmas dinner, and that meant 2 cakes.  In truth, I probably would have made two for half that many people, I just like to bake.  I decided on a Chocolate Chestnut Torte with Cognac Mousse, a recipe that I found on epicurious.  It looked quite impressive and I thought the combination of ingredients sounded, well, yummy.  However, after several failed attempts to find chestnuts before Christmas, I made the switch to hazelnuts.  I already had a bunch of those lying around.

Making the cake proved to be quite an adventure.  I used a lot of dishes and it was time consuming, but overall it wasn't that difficult.  I listened to the advice of several cooks and added a bit more sour cream to the cake batter in an effort to remedy the dryness (I apologize for the lack of a measurement on the extra sour cream, too many things were going on).  I also brushed the cake with simple syrup after I trimmed the tops off. 

There was quite a lot of cake that had to be trimmed.  Not that I'm complaining. It provided the perfect snack while I was making the mousse!  I loved this cake.  It had a very strong nutty flavor and I would describe it as dense, rather than dry. 

The mousse and ganache went according to plan as well.  I found that the mousse firmed up nicely, supporting the third cake layer without squishing out of the cake.  It was rich and smooth, but the alcohol was strong.  But how would I know that?!  It's not like I'd just poke my finger into the mousse and then lick it off! 

The ganache was easy to prepare, but I had never used ganache icing on a cake before this one.  The resulting icing job was far from perfect, but for a first attempt I was impressed.  The amount of ganache was certainly enough, I even had some left over.