Afternoon Delight

  I have two new kitchen gadgets, and I love them both!  The first is a silicone macaron mat.  One side is for the tiny bite sized cookie like the one in the picture.  The other side is for the larger two inch cookie.  It takes all the guess work out of making all the macarons the same size.  I ordered it from www.siliconemoulds.com quite awhile ago, but I used it for the first time on Valentine's Day--my Valentine to myself, really.  The Chocolate Raspberry Macarons were my Valentine gift to my family, but I'll have to admit that I indulged myself by taking the time to make the little treats.  I'm not going to be shy about this, they were delicious, and as far as I could tell, of perfect consistency--and just look at those little 'legs' all macaron-ers talk about (the tiny little flanged crust around the bottom of each cookie half).  I do believe they passed every test.

My second new gadget, and one loved by everyone in the family, is a little Nespresso machine.  It was my early Christmas present to Doug, once again a little selfishness involved.  Truthfully, I don't know how we lived so long without it.  By 4:00 every afternoon we're watching the clock and waiting to push that button.  A perfect espresso every time.  Pairing a bite of macaron with an espresso is as decadent as I imagined! 

Chocolate Raspberry Macarons
(This recipe is from the macaron mould site and uses the Italian meringue method, which she prefers, and so do I: Sarah-Jane Nash, www.siliconemoulds.com - January 2012)

Ingredients

(I weigh all my ingredients on a kitchen scale.)

180g icing (powdered) sugar

180g ground almonds (almond flour)

30g cocoa powder

5g cinnamon

160g of egg whites (split into two batches of 80g)

80ml water

200g of caster sugar

For the ganache

200g milk chocolate

3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

200g double (heavy) cream

3 heaped tablespoons of soft brown sugar

Set your oven to 150deg C fan / 170deg C electric.

Put the ground almonds and icing sugar into a food processor and blitz until superfine. Add the cocoa and cinnamon and blitz again. I use my hand held bamix and grinding mill attachment for this.

Break up any big lumps that have formed and sift into a large mixing bowl. Throw away any bits too large to fit through the seive.

Add one batch of egg whites and mix until a thick paste forms.

Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and boil until the sugar thermometer hits 110deg. As soon as temperature reaches 110deg C, whip your egg whites until stiff peaks form. Get the sugar syrup off the heat as soon as temperature hits 118deg C

You know your egg whites are stiff enough when you can hold the bowl upside down above your head and the whites stay put !

Using a hand held or stand mixer, whip the egg whites and add in the sugar syrup in a slow stream. Take care to try and keep the sugar syrup from coming into direct contact with the beaters (or the syrup may crystallise and change the texture). Keep whipping until the italian meringue is cool, stiff and glossy. 

Mix about 1/3 of this into your paste of icing sugar, ground almonds, egg whites etc we already made to loosen in.

Fold in the remaining 2 /3rds. Make sure to incorporate it all fully. You want to mix it enough so that a ribbon of macaronage will start to disappear back into the bowl after about 30 seconds. If it doesn't fold another couple of times and try again. I reckon it takes about 25 full strokes (variable)

Once the macaronage is ready, put into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip. I like to use a 5mm nozzle for optimum control. I sometimes use a 10mm (1cm) tip - but the batter can flow a bit too fast, especially if you are using the small side of the mat.

Put the macaron mats on to baking trays.

Pipe the macaronage into the centre of each cell - leaving approx 3 > 4mm space around the outside of the batter to the cell walls to allow for expansion as they relax. You will only need to leave about 2mm on the smaller side. Once you've got the hang of it and made your first batch, you'll know what's right for you. Pipe in too much and it will overflow the cell walls.

If the macaronage is not dead centre, wet your finger and this will allow you to centre it. Handy trick whilst you get the hang of piping them centrally !

Rap the tray once or twice on your worktop to dispel any air bubbles and level the macaronage. Don't worry if not so level - they'll smooth out in the oven.

If you wish to add any edible glitter or sprinkles to the top of your macarons, do so now.

All macaron instructions I've ever seen involved leaving your macarons out for about 30mins to 1hour until a skin forms on the top before baking. Dr Tim Kinnaird was good enough to share a tip with me that I've used ever since.....

Simply pop the baking tray straight into the oven at 150deg C Fan, BUT leave the door open about 6" / 150mm for the first 5 minutes to dry off the tops. After that, shut the door to complete baking.

Baking time can be variable. I find in my oven that 2" / 50mm macarons always take 18mins to cook (excluding the first 5 mins with the door open) and the 30mm macarons take 13mins (excluding the first 5 mins with the door open)

For the ganache :

Put the chocolate in a bowl with raspberry jam.

Bring double cream to a boil to scald. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.

Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate fully melts. Allow to cool, and then chill in the refrigerator for around 1 hour until firm enough to pipe between your shells.

A Cookie Favorite

If you like peanut butter cookies and Fritos....

I've been saving the Momofuko Milk Bar Cookie recipe for a couple of years.  I saw it demonstrated on TV (can't remember which cooking show) and there was so much hype about it, I really wanted to try it.  So far, I haven't.  It requires the baking of a cookie-like cake to crumble into the cookie batter, and that seems like quite a stretch for me and a cookie.  The part of the recipe that is so intriguing to me is the crumbling of your favorite snack foods into the cookie--ie, cereal, peanuts, pretzels, cheezits, chocolate bars, potato chips--whatever your pleasure.  I'm still going to try it one day.


Meanwhile, I saw a very simple recipe for a peanut butter cookie that incorporated the same idea.  The recipe was in Real Simple, and used pretzels and chocolate chips.  The cookies were so good, and so easy.  Maybe too easy, because when they were gone I thought I should try it again, this time using Heath Bars, crumbled, and Fritos.  

For the cookie to be your FAV, I think you have to use YOUR addictive treats--one salty and one sweet, or even more if you're really willing to walk on the wild side.  Final declaration:  don't make these things if you're not prepared to gain a few pounds.  Maybe that's if you're over sixty.  I couldn't stop eating them.  However, I gave some to my children, and when I was at their house last week I saw the package still on the counter with the cookies only half eaten.  Maybe it didn't include their favorite snacks, or maybe I just have the will power of a slug.

Toffee-Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies

(adapted from Real Simple Daily Email Recipes)
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup broken salted pretzels
1 cup chopped chocolate toffee bars (about 4 bars)

Heat oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugars, eggs, baking soda, and salt until smooth. Fold in the pretzels and chopped toffee bar.

Shape the dough into balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each) and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each ball, creating a crisscross pattern.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until puffed and golden, 10 to 12 minutes (the cookies will deflate as they cool). Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

'There's No Place Like--Your Twenties'

When your baby is making the leap from Twenty-Something to Thirty-Ought, you can either laugh or cry. We chose to laugh all the way to the party! I don't know who was laughing more, Becki or me. After all, if Beck is passing into the third T decade, that means I'm well into the S's. Yikes. Where did the time go? But, Who's Counting?

I first saw the original recipe for this cake, Chocolate Stout Cake by Hubert Keller onwww.thehungrymouse.com. Miss Mouse gives a wonderful tutorial through pictures of the entire recipe, and the cake looked so delicious, I had to make it. I made it once as per the recipe with good results, and then started changing it a bit. The cake remains basically the same, other than using Blue Moon Beer rather than the Stout originally called for. This was for my daughter's 'once in a Blue Moon turning 30' birthday, and Blue Moon is her favorite beer. I also used ricotta cheese rather than sour cream. The major changes came in the cream filling, and icing, plus I added a raspberry coating to each layer, which makes the cake even more moist. Whether you use the original, or my changed version, the cake is delicious, decadent, and worth the effort. Plus, because of the four layers and filling, it offers many servings.

• Blue Moon Cake:
• melted butter and parchment for preparing 2 nine inch cake pans
• 1 cup Blue Moon Beer
• 2 sticks butter
• 3/4 cups Special Dark Cocoa Powder
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 cups regular sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cups ricotta
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat beer and butter in saucepan over medium heat. When butter is melted, add cocoa powder, and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and cool.
• Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of pans. Brush pan with melted butter, add parchment, and brush top of parchment with butter.
• Combine remaining dry ingredients, and whisk in small mixing bowl.
• Add eggs and ricotta to large mixing bowl, and beat to combine. While still beating on low speed, gradually add cooled chocolate and butter mixture to egg mixture. Then add dry ingredients, and fold with a spatula to finish combining. Don't over beat.
• Divide batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven to racks, cool for ten minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on racks, discarding the parchment paper.
• When cakes are completely cooled, cut each cake into two even layers, for a total of 4 layers, and set aside while making filling and icing. (If there is any 'doming' on either cake, remove the dome to make layers fit together well.)

• Mocha Cream and Raspberry Filling and Chocolate Ganache Icing:
• 10 ounces Seedless Raspberry Preserves
• 1 1/2 cup cold heavy cream, plus 3 T heavy cream for frosting
• 2/3 cups regular sugar
• 1/3 cup Regular Cocoa Powder (not special dark)
• 1 tablespoon Espresso instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cups 60% cacao chocolate pieces
• Put 3 tablespoons butter in small sauce pan over medium heat with chocolate pieces. Stir until melted and smooth, then remove from heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons heavy cream. Set ganache aside to cool and thicken, and continue putting cake together.
• Place one cake layer on serving plate and spread one-fourth of the raspberry preserves evenly over top.
• Stir espresso and boiling water together until coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
• Whisk sugar and cocoa powder together in medium sized mixing bowl. Add cold heavy whipping cream and beat on high until it holds its shape well. Fold espresso into whipped cream.
• Spread one-third of whipped mocha cream on top of cake on serving plate. Top with another layer, spread with another fourth of the raspberry preserves, and another third of the mocha cream. Add another cake layer, repeat raspberry preserves, and remaining mocha cream. Finish with final cake layer, and remaining raspberry preserves.
• If ganache icing is cooled and thickened enough to pour over cake, continue with icing. Otherwise, refrigerate cake until ready to ice.
• Pour about half the ganache around the outside top of the cake letting it drizzle down the sides. Pour remaining icing over the top and quickly spread with offset spatula to smooth. You can leave the sides of the cake with decorative drips, or smooth over sides with offset spatula.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• ENJOY!

While we were all 'hoorah-ing' over the birthday, Brady was making a move on Maxie in the bedroom. When she realized the paparazzi were watching, she resisted, but I have it on good authority that on occasion, she is the aggressor!

This Beer's For YOU!!

Hubert Keller's Chocolate Stout Cake is in the books as DONE—and well worth the effort! For his original recipe, go to http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/recipes/219_3.html or visitwww.thehungrymouse.com for a step by step pictorial. That Little Mouse knows how to make things look so darn delicious, you HAVE to make them.

I didn't have to go any further to find the cake I needed for a major celebration. Not only are we 'drinking' toasts to the wonderful review in NO DEPRESSION of our kids' new CD GHOST OF THE KNOXVILLE GIRL, now we are lifting a fork of beer to them, too! Can you tell I'm a proud Mama? Well, I am, and with good reason!

www.dandtw.com

Check it out for yourself:http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/doug-and-telisha-williams

Now let me tell you about this celebratory cake—I mean, how many cakes call for stout beer? And Guinness was certainly my stout choice. The cake is cut into four layers, and each layer is filled with a sweet chocolate cream that melts in your mouth. The cake makes a beautiful presentation—and I do believe the recipient of a slice of this chocolate heaven will know there's a reason to celebrate! All my recipients did.

A couple of things come to mind now that I've made this decadent layered dessert: the cake part has good texture, and you can actually taste the stout beer flavor as an elusive 'what is that flavor'. I'm not sure anyone would ever guess! The filling is so delicious you're tempted to eat it with a spoon and skip everything else. I'm pretty sure I'm going to find other ways to incorporate that exact mixture into other recipes. The glaze certainly holds its own. I might be tempted to make something a little heavier like a ganache, but that very well could be too much. Lord knows I'm not second guessing Mr. Keller! He's put together wonderful flavor combinations, and textures that really work. I'm just always messing with things.

Thank you, Hungry Mouse, for leading me through this recipe. I felt like we were making it together!

And congratulations, Douglas and Telisha Williams! All your hard work is paying off!!

Indulgent Dulce de Leche Chocolate Dessert

Need a dessert that works for most any occasion? If you like chocolate, then I have one that will fit the bill. I promise it is melt in your mouth delicious.

I'm a huge fan of dulce de leche, whether it's spread between cookies, added to an apple pie, or swirled into this scrumptious dark chocolate batter. The nice thing about this recipe is that it will bake little two-bite mini muffins, indulgent brownies, or a rich cake that has the decadent flavor of one of those flour-less chocolate cakes.

While the recipe takes very little active time, and really couldn't be easier, it does require some preplanning.

Here's the deal: you can either buy prepared Dulce de leche, or make your own from a can of sweetened condensed milk. Making it takes a little over an hour in the oven, then a couple of cooling hours before you can use it. You can certainly make it ahead and store it in the frig until you're ready to put the dessert together.

Another little time element has to do with the chocolate ganache icing. I like to let my icing set up after I decorate by letting it rest in the frig for a couple of hours before serving.

This is a good 'make the day before' recipe. Take it out a few minutes before serving and let it get its 'room temperature' legs. If you choose the cake format, serve with a little whipped cream or ice cream.

(I found the basic recipe for Dulce de Leche Brownies on www.davidlebovitz.com which is packed with GREAT food information. Then I started fooling with it a little...)

Indulgent Dulce de Leche Chocolate Dessert

One stick butter

three-fourths cup dark chocolate pieces

one-fourth cup unsweetened cocoa

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 cup regular flour

Dulce de Leche made from one 14oz. Can sweetened condensed milk* or about one cup, already prepared

Chocolate Ganache Icing**

*Dulce de Leche (Caramelized Sweetened Milk)

1 (14oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Preheat oven to 450°.

Pour can of sweetened condensed milk into clear glass baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Place dish in larger pan or casserole dish, to make a 'bain marie' (water bath), and fill larger dish with hot water to come up about half way on the outside of the baking dish holding milk.

Place in oven for about one hour, or until milk caramelizes. You may have to add more water to outer pan.

When milk thickens and turns a nice caramel color, remove from oven and cool. Beat with fork or whisk until smooth. This is just beginning to caramelize and needs a little more oven time.

Get all your cake ingredients together.

For cake or brownies:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line an 8 x 8 baking pan (for brownies), or 8 inch round baking pan (for cake) with heavy foil or parchment paper. Spray with butter flavored Pam. If making bite sized mini-muffins, line pan with muffin wrappers.

Melt butter over double boiler. Add chocolate pieces, and stir until melted and combined.

Remove from heat and stir in cocoa until smooth.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating with whisk.

Beat in sugar and vanilla, and finally flour, briskly whisking until well combined.

Pour half the batter into prepared pan.

Spoon half of Dulce de Leche onto batter in teaspoons, and gently swirl.

Pour in remaining batter, and follow by spooning and swirling remaining Dulce de Leche.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until just beginning to firm when touched in center. Do not overcook.

Remove from oven and cool.

**Chocolate Ganache Icing:

3 T butter

three-fourths cup dark chocolate pieces

2 T heavy whipping cream

Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in chocolate pieces and stir until melted. Whisk in heavy whipping cream until smooth.

When cake is cool top evenly with chocolate ganache.

Refrigerate until icing is firm.

Remove brownies or cake from pan by gently pulling on foil or parchment. Remove paper and discard.

Place brownies on a cutting board, and cut into 9 squares, then cut each square into two triangles.

Or place cake on serving platter, and cut into small slices (it's very rich!)

Happy Birthday, Ed!