Kahlua Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

So it turns out that babies are kind of needy (who knew?!) and it took this mama a whole five and a half months to get back into the kitchen. I assure you, nothing less than the promise of alcohol and chocolate could have done it, both alcohol and chocolate being essential parts of the unofficial "Mommy Survival Pack." Earplugs and grandparents are also part of that pack, in case you were wondering. (haha, hi Mom and Dad!)

I have to warn you right off the bat - this cake uses *sounds of horror* the Dreaded Cake Mix of Dread. So, if you are a cake purist, avert your eyes now! Before I had a kid, I swore that I'd never use cake mix, but when your little helper insists on eating your utensils, it's either that or no cake at all, and believe me when I tell you that this cake is so worth it. The recipe comes courtesy of a fancy restaurant in LA which my mom and I went to on one of my "leave the baby to fend for herself with Daddy" excursions. I generally don't ask for recipes from chefs, especially at nice restaurants, because it feels somehow very personal, like asking to see someone's diary. Yet, this cake was so deliciously rich, with just the right undertones of coffee and liqueur enveloping your taste buds in moist, silky, slightly bitter chocolaty heaven, that I braved my own shyness and asked. The pastry chef actually came out to us and we chatted for a while, and she hand wrote this recipe for me. Frankly, I was amazed at her graciousness and warmth as she talked about the recipe, the restaurant and herself to two total strangers. I guess that experience adds a special richness to this cake, because being given something as a gift elevates it from a merely excellent cake to a lovely memory.

Kahlua Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
(makes 1 bundt cake, 2 9" round cakes or 24 cupcakes)

1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake mix (or any other chocolate cake mix)
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup (8 oz) full fat sour cream
1 cup Kahlua
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and butter a bundt cake pan really well.

In a large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream and Kahlua. Mix on slow speed for 30 seconds and then on medium-fast for 2 minutes.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 45-60 min for bundt cake; 25-35 min for 9" cakes; 20-25 min for cupcakes. Check that a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached. It's ok to slightly underbake this cake, but do not overbake.

Continued after the jump...

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

I think some of the best gifts I've ever gotten were food. Cocoa powder from Belgium, boxes of golden raisins, freshly baked bread. I love it all. And it's not because I consider myself a "foodie" or a connoisseur of the finer things in life. It's because I'm picky and also practical, and food is something I can always find use for and appreciate. In turn, I love giving food because I've seen people's faces light up at the sight of a chocolate tart or a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. There is something personal about food, something very primal that speaks to our inner humanity. It's no wonder that the first thing guests are offered in many cultures as soon as they cross the threshold is something to eat. Well, a martini is good too, but you get my point.

So when I'm asked to create party favors, I immediately think of food because hey, we can all use a cupcake once in a while, right? I was a tad skeptical about making chocolate cupcakes with only cocoa powder, but these turned out just lovely. Valhrona cocoa powder gives them a perfectly dark, indulgently chocolaty flavor, and the soft crumb and flat heads are just waiting to be topped with rich buttercream and devoured on the spot. Which is what we did with a few "test" cupcakes ("Oh, look, this one isn't perfect enough to go in the box - now, we have to eat it! Darn!"). Also, magic words: ONE BOWL. There's really no downside to these cupcakes and the biggest upside is that the guests truly loved them and almost everyone asked to take more than one so they could share with their spouses, kids and grandkids. It's the biggest compliment a cook/baker could get!

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
(from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)
Yields 24 cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups dutch-process cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups warm water

Preheat oven to 350F and line or spray two standard 12-cup muffin pans.

Sift into the mixer bowl: flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and warm water.

Beat with a paddle attachment on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups (my batter was pretty liquid, so I used a measuring cup to pour it out into the muffin cups).

Bake, rotating pans halfway through the baking time, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for a little bit and then transfer onto a wire rack or board to cool completely. Frost with swiss meringue buttercream!

Cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days (or frozen for a few months).

*I ordered the cupcake boxes from here.
*Labels: I adapted the sign and the labels from the amazingly creative and talented Amy from the Eat Drink Chic blog. I printed them out on full sheet shipping labels and cut them out. If anyone wants the template, send me an email and I can make it available.

Continued after the jump...

Quick Chocolate Buttercream

I totally had birthday cake for breakfast this morning. You see, when you are the birthday girl, you are practically forced into doing that by the last errant slice of birthday cake that your mom tucked away in the fridge, knowing that you'd want it later on. I know, my mom is the best. Surprisingly, though, I'm not here to talk about cake. If you want a really fabulous dark chocolate cake, this one is my favorite, but you probably knew that already. What I'm going to tell you about is the buttercream.

Silky, smooth, luscious, lovely chocolate buttercream. Holy cow, this one is for the books! And it's the quick kind, meaning no heating up egg whites, no worrying whether they will whip up or not, no curdling and ensuing tears, and if you've ever made Swiss Meringue buttercream, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Forget all other quick buttercreams you've ever known, guys. Break up with them and never look back. This one is Mr. Right.

There is a reason it works, of course. First, you do a bit of whipping, and then you add unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar very very slowly, so that the butter has a chance to incorporate all that goodness. Then, you whip some more. Ta-daa! Lick-the-bowl good. Oh, yes, yes it is.

Quick Chocolate Buttercream
Frosts 24 cupcakes or a 2 layer 9" round/8" square cake
(I found the proportions online somewhere, but I don't remember where, sorry...)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature [I use very lightly salted butter; if you use unsalted, you can add a pinch of salt to bring out the chocolate flavor]
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder [My favorite is Valhrona dutch processed for a little bitterness]
1/2 cup whole milk
3-4 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)

Whip the room-temperature butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes. Shift to low and add cocoa powder slowly, one teaspoon at a time, until fully incorporated. Still on low, add in the powdered sugar (also one teaspoon at a time), alternating with the milk, to achieve desired consistency and taste. Then, beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes. Add in more sugar if consistency is too thin.

[tip: to make a clean cut in a cake, put it in the refrigerator for an hour to let the cake and frosting harden a little. Then slice with a very sharp cake or bread knife, wiping the knife with a damp paper towel after each cut.]

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate Pear Cake

I know you were waiting for me to bring you Hamantashen... and I wanted to, I really did. I even bought all the ingredients for the cookies and then... I made chocolate pear cake instead. I don't know what happened to me, but somewhere between the store and my kitchen, cookies morphed into cake and let me tell you, I am so not sorry. Because this chocolate cake? It's the bomb. It's moist and intensely chocolaty, and at the same time so soft and light and faintly sweet, like a flourless chocolate cake that's been given an airlift and taken to places it's never dreamt of going. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that I'm telling you right now - whatever dessert you were planning to make next, scrap it for this cake. Eat it warm with some softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle a few raspberries on top. You will thank me later, I swear.

Chocolate Pear Cake
Elra's Baking

[Dairy-Free Note: I made this cake twice, once substituting a dairy-free Earth's Balance spread for the butter. This did not change the texture or the taste, but I did find that I had to bake it a bit longer, maybe an extra 10 min, with the substitution. So, if you need to make this dairy free, know that you can]

4 oz unsalted butter, softened (or unsalted non-dairy substitute)
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
4 oz dark chocolate, chopped (melted and cooled slightly)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds), or hazelnut meal, or combination of both
4 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, or Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
4 Bosc pears, poached (sometimes, I use poached pears from a jar to save time)

Poach the pears: peel, cut in half and core the pears. Combine 2-3 cups of water and half a cup of sugar in a sauce pan on medium-high heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the pears (add more water if needed to cover the pears), bring to a low boil and cook for 20-25 min or until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Butter or spray a 9 or 10 inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and set aside. [This can be done one of two ways: (1) In the microwave, on 20 second intervals or (2) in a bain marie - set a saucepan with about an inch of water over high heat; bring to a boil and turn down the heat; put the chopped chocolate in a shallow-ish, heatproof bowl; set the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom does not touch the water; watch the cocolate melt.]

Sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate, beat on a low speed until combined. Still on low speed, add the sifted flour mixture and beat for 1 minute, or until just combined.

Pour the batter into prepared cake pan. Arrange the sliced pears in a circle. Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes. Do not overbake. When a tester is inserted into the center of the cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I think caramel would be pretty awesome here too.

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate Pear Tart

Hey there, how's Thanksgiving prep going? Is that pumpkin pie getting a bit bored and lonely on the dessert list? Well, look no further for its companion because this Chocolate Pear Tart is going to blow your socks off. Holy heck, is this thing good! Ripe Bosc pears tenderly poached in sugar and vanilla and then nestled in an ungoodly amount of deep, dark chocolate. Are you drooling yet? If not, let's take a look at the close-up:

And now say the words: Chocolate Pear Tart. Say them slowly, imagining the aroma that will fill your kitchen. Not bad, eh? Now, back to work! But don't panic, because even if something doesn't turn out *just so* (sacrebleu, what an idea!), this tart will make everything right again.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! A. and I wish you all a wonderful, happy and warm holiday full of family, friends, laughter and love.

Chocolate Pear Tart

This tart is from Once Upon A Tart, but I hacked it a little, using a different crust and twice as many pears. I know I keep repeating myself with this book, but it's just too darn good!

You can certainly use pears from a can or a jar, but, considering that it's so ridiculously easy to poach them yourself, why would you? There are all kinds of fancy pants ways you can poach your pears, and you should feel free to use whichever way you are comfortable with. The easiest is to do it with water and sugar, and I always like to add half a vanilla bean or a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the poaching liquid.

For the poached pears
4 ripe Bosc/D'Anjour/Bartlett pears (I used Bosc)
4-5 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds and pod, or 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the crust (lightly adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, very cold, cut into 16 pieces
1 cold egg, lightly beaten

For the custard (from Once Upon a Tart)
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Apricot jam to glaze (optional)

1. Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. Scatter pieces of cold butter on top and cut in with a pastry cutter until the largest pieces are the size of peas and the mixture looks crumbly. Working quickly, drip the egg into the dough and toss with a fork until the dough sticks together when pinched. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of iced water. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times, just to incorporate the dry ingredients.

2. Butter or spray a 10-inch tart pan. Lightly press the dough into the tart pan. The dough should cover all the sides but not lose its crumbly texture (in other words, don't work with it too much or the pieces of butter will melt). Place the tart pan in the freezer for 1/2 hour.

3. Next, peel, halve and core the pears. Bring 4-5 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil in a large saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Scrape the vanilla seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean into the water and put the pod in as well, or just put in the teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir to combine. Gently place the pears in the water (add more water if needed to completely cover the pears), lower the heat, and cook at a low boil until the pears are just tender when pierced with a fork (but not mushy). For me, this was around the 10-15 minute mark. Drain the water and set the pears aside.

4. Whisk the egg and the egg yolk lightly in a medium-sized bowl. Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. In a double boiler (or a metal bowl set over an inch of gently simmering water so that the bowl bottom doesn't touch the water) melt the chocolate with the cream, stirring and folding with a heat-proof spatula to combine into a smooth and shiny ganache. Stir in the 1/4 cup sugar and cook a few minutes more, until the sugar has melted. Set aside to cool.

5. Remove the tart dough from the freezer and preheat the oven to 375F. Carefully transfer your pear halves to a cutting board and, holding each pear with one hand to keep it intact, carefully slice into thin slices. To fan out the pear slices, press the wide end of the pear gently towards the narrow end. Slide the knife under the fanned pears and arrange them in a circle inside the tart pan.

6. To make the custard, slowly dribble about 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. This warms the eggs, preventing them from cooking. Add the rest of the chocolate in a steady stream and stir to combine.

7. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart pan, pouring as much as possible around the pears rather than on top of the pears. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the chocolate custard is puffed and set (it will be firm to the touch and slightly cracked around the edges). Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

8. Remove the tart from the tart pan and slide onto a plate. If desired, brush the pears with a little bit of melted apricot jam to glaze and then sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Serve warm with lightly-sweetened whipped cream.

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Friends, let's talk cupcakes - dark, rich, chocolaty cupcakes; cupcakes with batter that practically begs you to lick the bowl; cupcakes which make you think, "Surely, I didn't say I'd bring all 12, right?" Draped in silky smooth strawberry buttercream, these will make you and everyone around you really happy. The beautiful thing about cupcakes is that you don't really need a reason to make them. A giant layered cake demands An Occasion, but cupcakes are your excuse to celebrate weekends, sunny days, getting-a-new-pair-of-shoes days and pretty much any day of the week that ends in "Y".

Oh, and did I mention the chocolate? And the pink strawberry buttercream? You'd better believe that these are good. I made them for my dear friend's baby shower and I wanted to tint the buttercream pink (because it's a girl!) without food coloring or any other artificial stuff. Strawberries frozen back in May came to the rescue and added just the right touch of flavor to balance the sweetness of the buttercream. Of course, strawberries and chocolate always play well together, and the girls loved them. Although, I'm pretty sure that - despite the ladylike pink color - even the most non-baby-shower-going manly man would also jump at one of these dark, rich beauties.

Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buttercream

Cupcakes (from Cake on the Brain via Cooks Illustrated)
(makes 12 - the instructions are not to double the recipe, just make a second batch if you need more)

These cupcakes are really easy to make - they only require a whisk and a few bowls. They are light and moist, and the chocolate flavor comes through beautifully. Also, these are wonderful to decorate because they bake up fairly flat. I was extremely pleased with them, as you can tell!

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a standard-sized muffin pan.

In a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl set over barely simmering water (not touching the water), combine the butter, chocolate and cocoa. Heat until the butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs just to combine - then add the sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until smooth and fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.

Add the flour and sour cream in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Whisk only until each addition disappears into the batter. Don't overmix, but make sure the dry and wet ingredients are fully combined before proceeding.

Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then set on a rack to cool to room temperature before icing.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

[I've had great success with Martha Stewart's recipe and this time, I scaled it down a bit and added strawberry puree for some tartness and for that lovely pink color. I was a little light-handed with the frosting, so there was buttercream left over which you can save in the freezer for about 3 months - just bring it to room temperature and re-whip before using. Don't be afraid of Swiss Meringue buttercream - it's about patience and faith. Just trust me when I tell you - if you whip it enough, it will work out.]

4 egg whites
3 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
8 oz (about 1 cup) strawberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw)

Puree the strawberries and pass through a fine-mesh sieve; set aside.

Place the egg whites, sugar and a pinch of salt into a heat-proof bowl set over barely simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water and that steam doesn't get out). Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot to the touch - when you rub the mixture between your fingers, it should be smooth, without granules of sugar.

Transfer to the bowl of a mixer, making sure no condensation from the other bowl gets into the egg whites. Whip with a whisk on high speed until the egg whites form stiff (but not dry) peaks and are glossy, about 10 minutes.

Cut the butter into 1 tbsp pieces and add it, one piece at a time, until it's completely incorporated. It's important that the butter is really at room temperature. Continue beating on high speed. The mixture will first look like curdled soup; then, it will look like curdled cream; then, just when you're ready to cry and give up in despair, it will magically transform into wonderfully smooth buttercream. Trust me, this will happen.

Switch to a paddle attachment and, with the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla. Beat for about a minute until incorporated. Then, still on low, gradually add the strawberry puree and beat for 3-4 minutes, until the strawberries are completely incorporated and all the air pockets are gone.

Decorate the cupcakes!

Martha says that you can make this up to 3 days in advance and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator - just bring to room temperature and re-whip with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes. You can also store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Continued after the jump...

Black Forest Cake, a.k.a. the Drunken Cherry Cake

I'm very late in sharing this cake with you, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this is the best damn cake I've ever made. It's kind of a big statement, given some of my previous experiments - the Strawberry Cream Cake, the Nutella Chocolate Cake or the Tiramisu Cake (dubbed "Temptation" by the birthday girl) - but this, this cake topped them all. I'm a little lost for words to describe it, though, which is kind of embarrassing for a food bogger and a lawyer. Let's first start with the perfect combination of ingredients - soft, light as air chocolate sponge cake that's been soaked in kirsch; big, juicy, tart brandied cherries; perfectly sweet whipped cream cushioning said cherries; and cold, crunchy chocolate curls. I mean, it just doesn't get much better than this.

This cake was for my dear dad's birthday, so you can imagine the days I spent flipping through recipes to find something that reflects his strength, wisdom, kindness and overall mench-ness. It just so happened that at the same time, I was reading "Confections of a Closet Master Baker" that I told you about in the previous post, and as I was getting deeper into the book and the author's remembrances about her family and the kuchens her German mom and grandmother used to make, the idea for a Black Forest Cake took over my mind and didn't let go. It seemed the perfect cake for my dad - complex and dark, full of strong flavors, and also, totally and completely liquored up. It was an awesome cake, best cut and shared in big, dramatic, drunken slices.

Black Forest Cake
Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes
(makes 3 9-in layers)

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cake flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
7 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Brandied cherries (1 lb cherries, 1/2 cup kirsch [I used 1 cup])
Chilled chocolate curls, for decoration

The night before: Pit the cherries and halve them, reserving 9 or 10 whole cherries for decoration. Submerge the cherries in kirsch. I found that 1/2 cup was not enough and I used 1 cup (I figured, I could always drink the leftovers later). Leave in the refrigerator at least overnight. Prepare the chocolate curls and put them in the refrigerator to chill. (The authors also suggest you could use frozen cherries - thaw them and then combine the cherries and their juices with the kirsch)

The day of: Preheat the oven to 350F and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Do not grease pans.

Sift the cocoa powder and cake four together, set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs on medium high for about a minute, to blend. Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of sugar and beat on medium high for 3-5 minutes, until the eggs are a light yellow color and the stream of eggs, when the beater is lifted, leaves a thick ribbon.

Sift the cocoa powder and flour into the eggs in 3 additions, gently folding after each addition. Take care not to deflate the batter, but make sure that no large pockets of dry ingredients remain. This is kind of tricky, so just make sure to fold thoroughly and have a very light hand when folding.

Divide among 3 9-in round (or 8-in square) pans and bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake is very fragile, so you need to cool it in its pan for at least an hour before attempting to take it out. When cool, gently run a knife around the cake edge and (again, gently) flip over onto a cake board. Remove the parchment paper.

Make the whipped cream: in a chilled bowl, beat the heavy cream on medium-high speed for one minute, until frothy, and then, still beating, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract. Beat until hard peaks form and the cream is fairly stiff.

Drain the cherries and reserve the liquid.

Assemble the cake: Place one layer on a cake board or cake plate. With a teaspoon or a pastry brush, soak the layer with about 1/3 of your cherry brandy (for me, that was about 1/4 cup). Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on top of the layer. Then spread half of the cherries and cover with a little more whipped cream. Place the next layer on top and repeat. Place the third and final layer on top and soak it with the remaining cherry brandy. Now, frost the cake with the remaining whipped cream. The cake is really crumbly, but since you will be covering the sides with chocolate shavings, you do not need a crumb layer. Once frosted, decorate with chocolate shavings and the 9-10 whole cherries you set aside in the beginning. This cake is better left standing for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving so that the layers can really soak through and the flavors can meld.

Continued after the jump...

White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

There are three things I want to tell you about this cake: (1) I overbaked the genoise - don't do that; (2) the white chocolate mousse was AMAZING; and (3) next time, I'm going to ditch the raspberry mousse and pair the white chocolate part with a Meyer lemon mousse and some bittersweet chocolate shavings, and we will all, ALL, be much happier.

So this cake was pretty good, but what I really want to talk about is the white chocolate mousse. Let me tell you - I don't even like white chocolate. I only bought a chunk of Callebaut because it was on sale and because melted white chocolate mixed with a little food coloring is a great way to write on cakes (I hate that gel stuff that's sold in the supermarket, yuk!). So this big hunk o' chocolate sat in my refrigerator for a while, just staring at me, until I guiltily found something to do with it. And boy, did this mousse show me! It was rich, it was creamy, it was all that white chocolate can ever aspire to be. I am definitely making it again, and I'm already seeing visions of cold, delicate white chocolate sweetness paired with something bitter or tart - anything, really - Meyer lemon mousse, tart cherry cheesecake, dark chocolate... I've gained some respect for white chocolate and I'm going to find a worthier use for the other half of my stash than cake decoration.

White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake
This cake is made of 3 components - a basic genoise cake recipe, raspberry mousse and white chocolate mousse. I didn't like the raspberry mousse recipe I used, so I'm not going to give it to you, but the cake and the white chocolate mousse were damn good.

Basic Genoise Cake by Flo Braker
Makes 1 9-inch cake (I halved the recipe to make a thin layer of cake)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sifted cake flour
*Framboise for brushing the cake layer

Position rack in lower third of oven; heat to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan; set aside.

Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Pour into small mixing bowl; set
nearby. Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip egg mixture until it has tripled in volume, about 4 to 5 minutes.Fold flour into mixture, one third at a time, just until incorporated. Pour about 1 cup of batter into the melted butter, and fold just until combined. Return butter mixture to reserved batter, and again fold to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth batter evenly. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or
until top springs back slightly when lightly touched. Cool 10 minutes, then run a table knife blade around the outside edge of cake, freeing the sides and allowing air to get under the layer. Invert cake onto rack and allow to cool completely.

White Chocolae Mousse(Gourmet, April 1990)
*Note that this mousse consists of a batch of pastry cream (the first 6 ingredients), melted white chocolate and whipped cream. The pastry cream is meant to be divided in 2, half for the white chocolate mousse and half for the raspberry mousse. If you are only making the white chocolate mousse, halve the first 6 ingredients to make half a batch of pastry cream.

4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
9 ounces fine-quality white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Make the pastry cream: In a bowl whisk together well the yolks, the sugar, and a pinch of salt, add the cornstarch, sifted, and whisk the mixture until it is just combined. Bring the milk almost to a boil, then slowly drible about 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the eggs, whisking to prevent the yolks from cooking. When the yolks are thus tempered, you can add them to the rest of the hot milk. Boil the mixture, whisking, for 1 minute, or until it is very thick and smooth. Strain the pastry cream through a fine sieve into a bowl, stir a few times to release the steam, and then stir in vanilla and the butter (one tbsp at a time). Press plastic wrap to the surface of the pastry cream and chill until it's cooled completely. Divide the pastry cream in half (if you have made a full batch). Set aside one half for the white chocolate mousse (about 1 cup) and reserve the other half.

Add in white chocolate and whipped cream: In a heat-proof bowl set over barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate, stirring occasionally, and let it cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl whisk together the white chocolate and the 1 cup of the pastry cream, until the mixture is combined well. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the heavy cream until it holds soft peaks, whisk one fourth of it into the white chocolate mixture, and fold in the remaining whipped cream gently but thoroughly.

To assemble the cake: Line the sides of an oiled 9-inch springform pan (or a 9-inch cake ring) as smoothly as possible with pieces of plastic wrap (the plastic wrap prevents the filling from discoloring and makes unmolding the cake easier), letting the excess hang over the side.

If you've made the full recipe of the genoise, divide it in half. Fit one half on the bottom of your mold. Brush the cake with about 2 tablespoons of Framboise, and spread it evenly with the white chocolate mousse. If this is all you are making, cover the cake loosely with plastic and set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

If you are using a second type of mousse (i.e., lemon or raspberry), let the white chocolate mousse set in the refrigerator for an hour before spreading the second mousse on top. If you are using the second half of the genoise, set the second layer either between the mousse layers or on top of the cake. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Continued after the jump...

Nutella Chocolate Cake

Sometimes, a cake is not just a cake. See, when you're friends with someone for fourteen years, when you've been through the ups and downs of life together, when you've cried and laughed and found life a little ridiculous and wonderful together, a 30th birthday cake is kind of like a summation of all those nights we stayed up until 3am propounding theories about the boy who went to Jamaica and discussing the relative merits of Bakery Boy 1 vs. Bakery Boys 2 & 3 (don't ask, you don't want to know). The trips to Palm Springs, the times we went shopping and bought the same outfit (and didn't even get mad at each other), the almost-being-pulled-over-by-the-cops-while-sort-of-kind-of-tipsy and the one jaywalking ticket we had to split between the two of us (as well as the Haagen-Dazs ice-creams we always shared). We were probably the only ones who voluntarily read Anna Karenina in high school (and loved it). Holding each other's hand through the loves that never were and celebrating birthdays, graduations, new jobs, and even a wedding (guess who watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding with me the night before I got married and peeled the petals off of 10 dozen roses? And guess who laughed at me the entire time?). So many memories, so much love, and I tried to fit it all into one cake.

Oh, but it was, it was a cake. Two thick, chocolaty layers filled and frosted with the most luscious, sweetest Nutella Swiss buttercream that you can imagine, and even a double layer of prime California strawberries in between. Because that's just what this girl likes, you see, and if a friend like that likes things like these, well, it's just a match made in heaven, isn't it? This cake could only go one way, and hoooo boy, did it ever.

Happy birthday, my dear friend, and here's to many, many more birthdays and memories to be shared!

For the chocolate cake, I used one of my favorite birthday cake recipes from "Sky High," one of my favorite (probably the favorite) cake books. The cake is super moist and chocolaty and the coffee gives it an extra depth of flavor that I really enjoyed (you can use decaf if you don't drink coffee). The Nutella buttercream? I just winged that. All you need to know is that I used almost a cup of Nutella - I highly recommend it. Don't be intimidated by Swiss buttercream - once you know what to expect (and I'll tell you exactly what that is), it's really very easy to make and tastes way way better than the "simple" buttercreams that only use butter and powdered sugar.

To frost and fill the cake (mine was a 9x13 two-layer cake), arrange the first cake layer on a cake board. Spread a layer of buttercream about 1/2-3/4 inch thick on the layer. With a large round piping tip, pipe a border of buttercream along the outer perimeter of the cake. Hull and slice the strawberries (I use about 1 lb), and arrange them in two layers on top of the buttercream. Reserve a few as decoration for the top of the cake, if you'd like. Place the second cake layer carefully on top. Coat the top and sides with a thin layer of buttercream (that'll be your crumb coat) and refrigerate for at least an hour or until the buttercream is very firm. Then, decorate with the rest of the buttercream. I used Nutella to pipe the letters - bad idea, it pipes horribly (as you can tell from the picture) so next time, I will probably just melt a little bit of dark chocolate and use that for piping the letters.

Chocolate Butter Cake
Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

A few notes about the cake:
(1) The recipe makes a three-layered 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake. However, I made mine a two-layered 9x13" cake and I thought that turned out really well. The layers were thick, but there wasn't *too* much cake, if you know what I mean. The size fed about 30-40 people (depending on how thickly you slice it) and seemed perfect for a birthday cake. However, I'd love to make the tall tall tall 9 or 8-inch version one of these days!
(2) This cake is pretty sturdy and yet, I had trouble (because of the size) lifting the second layer to fit on top of the first layer. Hence, I would really recommend wrapping the cake in plastic (3 layers) and freezing for a few hours or until the cake is firm. Then, it won't break when you're maneuvering the layers.
(3) Remember that as a butter cake, it will be dense if you eat it straight out of the refrigerator. Make sure to leave it out for at least a half hour to an hour before serving so you get maximum fluffiness. The buttercream holds up very well to all kinds of weather, so you can leave it out even if it's fairly hot.

3 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed coffee (or decaf - I use instant coffee), cooled to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter or spray your cake pans (or pan, if you, like me, only have one 9x13 cake pan and can bake one layer at a time) and line the bottoms with parchment paper cut to size. Butter or spray the paper.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and buttermilk and blend on low until moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. At this point, please make sure to scrape the bowl very very often because the little deposits of flour, sugar and cocoa can really sneak up on you.

Whisk the eggs and coffee together, and add to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only until blended after each addition. In the end, stir carefully, bringing up the batter from the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the batter is at an even consistency. Divide the batter among the prepared pans (if you are using 9-inch round or 8-inch square pans, each pan will take about 3 1/4 cups of batter; if you are only using two 9x13-inch pans, well, you can do the math, right? And if not, just eyeball it like I do).

Bake for 38 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully turn the cake layers out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely. Remove the paper liners only when they are cool. (to frost, wrap tightly in plastic and freeze for a few hours).

Nutella Swiss Buttercream (also called Swiss Meringue Buttercream)
Nutella added to my favorite Swiss Buttercream recipe from (who else?) Martha Stewart

Note: because of the Nutella addition, I found this buttercream to be not as stiff as if I had made it without Nutella, so while you probably won't be able to pipe chocolate roses with it, it still holds up extremely well to simple piped decorations and I was very pleased with it.

5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
4 sticks (1 lb) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Nutella, at room temperature

Place a medium sized pan with about 3 inches of water over medium heat and allow water to come to a gentle simmer. Put the egg whites and sugar in a large heat-proof bowl and set over the simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk egg whites and sugar together constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved (when you rub the egg whites between your fingers, you should not be able to feel granules of sugar). This usually takes about 5 minutes.

Transfer the egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure to wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl which you've just taken off the heat because if water gets into the egg whites during transfer, they won't whip up properly). Whip on medium-high speed until the whites hold firm peaks and are cool to the touch.

Meanwhile, cut the softened butter into 1 tbsp chunks (8 chunks per stick of butter) and once the egg whites hold firm peaks, lower the speed to medium and add the butter one chunk at a time, allowing it to incorporate into the egg mixture for about 20 seconds before adding the next one. Continue to add until all the butter is incorporated.

Here's the thing with buttercream: you need patience and faith. At first, the mixture will look soupy and you will a little skeptical. Then, as more butter is incorporated, it's going to look soupy and curdled, and then you will be afraid that it's never going to come together. Then, it's going to look really curdled and disgusting, and you will want to cry and throw it out. Don't, just keep mixing. I promise that just when you think it's reached its most curdled and disgusting point, it's going to magically turn into smooth, beautiful, thick buttercream.

When the buttercream is smooth, add the Nutella and mix slowly to combine, scraping down the bowl if necessary.

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

I am lucky to have a friend. She is one of those very rare and beautiful people, I think you know what I mean. The kind of friend whom you can't imagine your life without and whose kids you love like they were your own from the first moment they enter the world. She has a beautiful soul, the warmest hugs and the sweetest smile. Really more a sister than a friend.

My friend is about to bring her second son into the world, the cycle of life and birth beginning again and just in that magical time when the world is waking up, shaking the cobwebs out of its corners and clothing itself in brilliant colors. It's going to be a brilliant baby, just like her first one, and I don't only mean that he's going to be smart. He is going to bring her joy.

It was her birthday yesterday and I wanted to tell her "I love you" because, let's face it, we just don't say it often enough to the people who should hear it. Maybe I didn't say it in words (I'm still working on that, it's always difficult for me to express it verbally, especially when it really means something), but I said it in chocolate-dipped strawberries.

This recipe is from Jen Yu's website, Use Real Butter, which is one of my daily reads. Jen, I know you only through the magic of the internet, which is to say I do not know you at all, but when I made these, I was thinking about you, and of family, friendship, love.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
via Use Real Butter

24 ripe strawberries (Jen prefers organic, and I do too)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Valrhona 64% is always great, but I used Lindt)
1 oz white chocolate, chopped

Rinse strawberries and gently pat dry. Set on a rack to dry completely. Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler.

Dip strawberries in chocolate and shake off excess. Set to dry on a rack (on the tops as shown in the photos) or on parchment (on the bottoms which will give you a foot of chocolate) in a cool, dry location [Irene's note: I let mine dry in the kitchen for a half hour and then got impatient and put them in the refrigerator].

When chocolate has dried, melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries [Irene's note: melting white chocolate is trickier than dark, you have to watch it continuously and make sure the heat is low and no steam or water gets into the chocolate. I put the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag with a tiny piece cut off the corner]. Or, you can melt more white chocolate and dip the strawberries a second time.

More chocolate-dipped strawberries:

Ash keeps it simple and classic
Elise dresses hers up like little grooms, complete with mini tuxedos
April takes it one step further and adds cheesecake, oh my!
Paula goes nuts with toppings
And for something a little different, a strawberry-Nutella panini (wow!)

Continued after the jump...

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Frosting

It was a beautiful weekend here in Los Angeles, and I hope this means that the sun is done playing hide and seek with us and is finally ready for its summer debut. You see, "seasons" is kind of a relative term here -- spring lasts about a minute and a half, teasing us with perfect 70 degree sunshiny days, pink tulips and the subtle, turn-and-you'll-miss-it smell of lilacs in bloom (by the way, the phrase "lilacs in bloom" might just be the most beautiful and romantic phrase in the world). And then, just as you're putting away the winter jackets (singular, in my case - don't hate me) and settling in to enjoy wearing cardigans again, out comes the heat in full force and you are suddenly compelled, by a force stronger than you can resist, to remodel the patio and drive to the beach to check in on the buff Malibu boys playing beach volleyball at all times of day and night. Oh, am I the only one who does that? ;)

One thing that always brings me into the summer mood is beer. During the winter, I enjoy "sophisticated" cocktails with names that get you approving glances from the bartenders and make me feel like I know the secret handshake, but when it's hot outside, I'm a beer and cupcakes kind of girl and I don't care who knows it.

When I was at my first college party and picked up a bottle of Guinness, I got very disapproving glances from some of the boys. As you can imagine, these were all immediately crossed off my "list" (I would explain "the list," but I think my mother reads this blog and I don't want to get in trouble!). Later, I found out that it's kind of an unwritten rule that girls drink Coronas and light beers while guys chug the more "manly" bitters and stouts. Oh. Really. Good thing I've never been one to follow the rules, especially the unwritten ones!

Since then, Guinness has been on my list of favorite beers. Many say it's an acquired taste, but Guinness and I were friends from the very first sip and our relationship has only grown over the years. So when I saw this recipe for Guinness cupcakes, I knew, I just knew that here was the next step in the evolution -- I had to make them. They sat in my mind for a month -- fermented, if you will -- until a friend's birthday finally tempted me to bring them out in their full glory.

People, these might just be -- no, these ARE -- the best cupcakes to ever have come out of my kitchen and possibly the best cupcakes I've ever tasted. Deb is a genius. I have a massive girl crush on her and on these cupcakes (I hope her husband will forgive me). WOW. The combination of moist, lightly sweet chocolate cake in which you can only taste the best parts of Guinness, a chocolaty ganache filling and a buttercream frosting made with Bailey's Irish Cream is indescribable, unforgettable. It's something you have to make for yourself, like right now, and share it with others immediately. These cupcakes have to go out into the world. In the immortal words of a Seinfeld episode, they are real and they are spectacular!

Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes
via the Smitten Kitchen

*My only changes were omitting the whiskey in the ganache (I didn't have any on hand) and using 2 tbsp Bailey's and 2 tbsp heavy cream in the frosting. I used about 2 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar in the frosting and it worked out very well. Please click over to the Smitten Kitchen for Deb's great hints and instructions!

Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

Put the butter with the beer in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggas and the sour cream together. Add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly just to combine. Using a rubbet spatula, fold the batter until completely combined, making sure to incorporate little pockets of flour on the bottom so that the batter is of equal consistency everywhere.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way if you want flatter cupcakes and 3/4 if you want domed. Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick or a slim knife inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature.

Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. I went about half to 2/3 of the way down and used a small knife to help me extract the centers. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffly. Slowly add the powdered sugar, letting it incorporate, utnil the butter becomes thicker and stiff (you will know when this happens). Slowly drizzle the Bailey's (or milk or cream or a combination thereof) and whip until combined. Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

Deb says that you can make these in advance: "You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.)"

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate biscotti

On days like this, when the clouds are thick, dark and saturated with rain, when the plants look droopy and the streets are almost empty and silent, I forget that it's sunny somewhere else in the world. I forget that soon, the seasons will change again and I won't need that extra shot of espresso to feel good because the air will carry the smells of spring. On days like this, I embrace my mood and I bake chocolate biscotti.

Since I've previously had success with Dorie Greenspan's almond cornmeal biscotti, I decided to give her chocolate biscotti recipe a try. The flavor was great - dark, dense, chocolaty with smoky notes of espresso and a crunch of almonds (although I think hazelnuts would have worked better, but I didn't have them around). Alas, they were crumbly - very very crumbly. What did I do wrong? The recipe said that the tops will crack a bit, and not only did the tops crack quite a lot, but I had such trouble slicing them after the first bake AND after the second bake, that at least a few had to be sent to that great biscotti gig in the sky (aka, A.'s afternoon tea). Also, and this is a minor complaint since they did taste great, these biscotti weren't very pretty. Does anyone have a chocolate biscotti recipe that works better than this one? Help!



Chocolate Biscotti
(Dorie Greenspan, Baking)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant coffee or instant espresso powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar (I always use a bit less, more like 3/4)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or hazelnuts - next time)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla; beat for another 2 minutes. Decrease the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times just to incorporate any dry ingredients that didn't get mixed in before. Divide into two portions; on the baking sheet, shape each portion into a 12 x 2 inch log. Dust the tops with a little sugar (to make them look pretty, I'm assuming). Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Then, with a very sharp, serrated knife, slice the logs into about 3/4 - 1 inch slices and leave the slices standing up on the baking sheet (some people lay them down, but I like both sides to get crispy). Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes of baking.

Transfer biscotti to a rack to cool.

Continued after the jump...

Strawberry Frangelico Tart

One of my favorite places in the world is Italy. When I was nine and my parents were making the staggering move from Russia to the United States, with two children and elderly parents in tow, we had to stay in Italy for six months to wait for our visa. At first, with the help of an American Jewish organization, we were housed in an old gray villa, where the paths crunched with gravel and the tall windows let in the cold spring wind. Eventually, though, we found a little house all of our own, in a town called Nettuno - a little seaside retreat an hour south of Rome. Nettuno was heaven for us kids. While our parents worked, we ran around the neighborhood, peering (discreetly, of course) into windows of strange shops, smelling the wonderful ciabatta bread which had a hard, crackly crust and soft insides. We watched the procession of colorful characters on the boardwalk and there always seemed to be something going on, music playing just around the corner and red, green, blue confetti flying through the air. That's how I remember Italy during that time, a whirl of confetti and the feel of warm bread breaking beneath my fingers.

Our neighbors - an Italian family - had a house which seemed to us (coming from a tiny apartment) the height of luxury. There were two little girls, too - Valentina and Federica. Valentina was the oldest - nine, just like me, and despite me not speaking any Italian and her not speaking any Russian, and neither of us really speaking more than four words of English, we got on swimmingly, and not a few months passed before we were tyrannizing our younger sisters and deciding matters of national importance, like who would play with which doll. Their parents made us our first ever pizza - a rectangular one, of course, with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil layered on the thin crust, and my grandmother made them a cake that said 'grazie.' Their house was always full of people - friends, cousins, neighbors - and I think they didn't mind the addition of two timid girls who probably did unspeakable horrors to the beautiful Italian language. Whenever I get sad or lonely, I think about them and those beautiful months playing in the sunshine in Nettuno and drawing pictures that said 'ciao' when we only meant to say 'until we meet again.'

This strawberry tart with Frangelico somehow makes me feel closer to that time and I wanted to share it with you. It's also full of color and fragrance and uses two of my favorite Italian ingredients, mascarpone cheese and Frangelico (and, well, Nutella isn't so bad either). At a time when rain beats against my window, I want to wrap myself in my memories like in a warm blanket and bring back the smells of Italy.


Strawberry Frangelico Tart

One fully baked sweet tart shell

Filling:
3/4 cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened and at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar (for lightly sweetened, or more to taste)
1-2 tablespoons Frangelico (Italian hazelnut liquor)
2-3 tablespoons Nutella (OR 2-3 oz chocolate, finely chopped)
1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved (I think sliced in half would be best, though as you can see I tried it with whole strawberries first and then I sliced them thinly)

Bake the crust fully. When you remove the crust from the oven and it is still warm, spread the Nutella or chopped chocolate (whichever one you are using) on the bottom. If you are using chocolate, the chocolate will melt - this is a good thing. Set the crust aside to cool to room temperature.

Next, whip the cream with sugar to soft peaks (there are varying philosophies on how to do this, but I usually start on medium-high speed and once there are some air bubbles, I add the sugar and continue whipping on medium-high). Fold in the Frangelico, one tablespoon at a time, depending on how boozy you want it to be. Add the mascarpone cheese and continue whipping on medium until the mascarpone is incorporated and the cream is thick but not completely stiff.

Spread the cream inside the crust and top with strawberries. I also sprinkled some grated chocolate on top.

Continued after the jump...

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

When I go to Europe, I often hear American food described derisively as "burgers and fries," and gourmands kind of wrinkle their noses at it as if omg! burgers! who eats that?! (I bet they secretly do). To me, however, American food is the stuff of summer BBQs, the sunshine and warmth of sunsets on a back patio, the comfort of family and friends - in a word, it's timeless. Certainly, American food is not so delicate as French food and not so exotic as Korean, for example, but there is so much flavor there that I return to it over and over again when I have the luxury to cook to please only myself.


Which brings me to this cold spell Los Angeles is having - rain pattering on the roof, rolling gray clouds and temperatures below 60 (that's COLD for around here!). At times like these, I want something that will be the taste-equivalent of a fleece blanket, and I want it fast. Wherein come these brownies. People: I am not a chocolate person, but these are divine. Meltingly soft when warm and dense and fudgy when cold, intensely chocolaty at every temperature, it was actually torture to package them away for early Valentine's Day gifts. I really hope giving away chocolate puts out some cosmic karmic good vibes, because whew, I suffered when they left my hands, I really did.


First, you start with a lot of chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, eggs and butter, and then, because clearly, that's just not enough, you add in some creamy mascarpone cheese and a bit of flour to hold it all together, and THEN (yes, you heard me right, there's more), you make a chocolate ganache that covers the brownies with a shiny blanket of awesomeness. Let me pause a moment to let that all sink in. Yeah. They were that good.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

Brownies:
1 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate (I use 70%), finely chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Ganache:
6 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 325F and butter an 8-inch square baking pan.

For the brownies: In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), melt the butter and bring it to just below a boil; put the chocolate in a mixing bowl and pour the hot butter over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds and then whisk until smooth and chocolate has completely melted.

Sift in the sugar and cocoa powder and fold into the chocolate.

Beat in the mascarpone cheese, eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt and then gently fold them into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes while you make the ganache.

For the ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl; in a small saucepan, bring the cream and the butter to just below the boiling point, over medium heat. Pour this hot cream-butter mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth; ganache is now ready to use and can be spread over the brownies.

Should you wish to wait a bit, make sure the ganache is warm when you spread over the brownies, as it does firm up which makes spreading hard to do.

Don't cut into the brownies until ganache has firmed up; I find it best to put the brownies into the fridge to speed this along; once the ganache is firm the brownies do not need to be kept in the fridge, though.

Continued after the jump...