Chocolate Meringues

Before I get to the chocolate meringues, I have to tell you about the reason I had six extra egg whites. I served this vanilla ice cream when we had friends over for a cookout. We ate scoops of it on top of brownies for dessert. After a busy day and a delicious meal, we all ended up melting into soft puddles just like the ice cream we devoured. (hint: churn the ice cream about an hour before you want to eat it, it will be the perfect soft yet frozen).

When the ice cream is long gone and you suddenly remember the six egg whites that have been sitting in a jar in the fridge, this is the recipe for you. If you are lucky you will remember them on a day that is perfect meringue weather. To be honest, I'm not sure if meringues have to be weather dependent but my mom always insisted that they should be made on clear days with few clouds and almost no humidity. I set out to make these meringues on a day that perfectly fit that description. It was cool and the sky was vibrantly blue. By the end of the day it was raining and my meringues survived just fine.

My first impulse for these egg whites was to make a pavlova but I didn't have a pile of fresh berries, nor did I need a show stopping summer dessert. So I made chocolate meringues. These could be good under a pile of berries, too, but they are excellent eaten as is.

Chocolate Meringues
It seems like the basic ratio for meringues is 1/3 cup of sugar for each egg white. These are definitely sweet so next time I will try reducing the amount of sugar a little bit. If you don't have six egg whites, it is easy to adjust the recipe to make a smaller amount.

6 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder 
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350'. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until they are stiff, but not dry. Continue beating and add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time. When all the sugar is added, beat in the cocoa until it is completely incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scoop the meringue onto parchment lined baking sheets. Place the meringues in the oven and turn off the oven. Leave the meringues for at least two hours or over night (I stored mine in the oven and that kept them fresh for a couple of days).

Makes 12 large meringues.

To Messes

I've always been neat and organized. I don't enjoy cluttered spaces or coats on the floor when they could be on a hook. I'm not completely obsessive about it, but I do at least a little tidying every day. But I've been noticing more and more that its not just my house that I want to keep neat, I have the urge to organize and make sense of the rest of my life too.

I ponder questions of how to use my time, how to accomplish my creative goals, how to find fulfillment and some sort of balance between everything I need and want to do. I've realized how much I want everything to be neat and orderly, linear and logical but I am doing my best to let go and embrace the mess. It isn't possible for me to pick up every speck or thread on the floor before Amos pinches it between his little fingers and tries to put it in his mouth (yes I do vacuum and sweep regularly). I can't perfectly schedule my time or fit everything I do neatly into the boxes that I create in my head as I try to make sense of it all. And that is okay.

It turns out that most acts of creation start with a mess before they become what they are meant to be. A seed requires soil and water. Writing begins with a jumble of letters and words and eventually a rough draft. When I sew I end up with scraps of fabric and tangles of thread. I truly love my studio space when the floor is swept and the fabric is tucked neatly on the shelves but when I am creating I hardly notice the upheaval as I pull things off the shelves.

The kitchen is full of messes that end deliciously. Baking is thought of as precise, scientific and orderly. You add exact amounts of each ingredient at the precise time. But whether or not you measure carefully, it all gets mixed together in its own sort of chaos. Flour flies, butter sticks, egg shells break. The dough is lumpy or slumpy or a big blob, it sticks to your fingers, drips on the floor, and it rarely resembles the loaf or cookie or cake that you pull out of the oven and serve with pride. 

So here is to messes. And chocolate.

Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies
Adapted from Tartine Book No. 3
I've been baking bread from the Tartine Bread Book and slowly exploring the pastry section of Book No. 3. These cookies are slightly crisp on the outside which yields to a soft very chocolatey middle. The dough does need at least 30 minutes to chill but they are certainly worth that extra time. They keep well for a few days in an airtight container. I cut the recipe in half and made the cookies slightly smaller and got at least 3 dozen cookies.

227 g (1 1/3 cups) bittersweet chocolate (70%), chopped
2 tablespoons (28.5 g) unsalted butter
42.5 g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) dark rye flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
170 g (3/4 cup) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) for topping

Place a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or use a handheld mixer). Whip on medium high speed, adding the sugar a little at a time. When all of the sugar is incorporated turn the mixer to high and whip until the eggs have nearly tripled in volume (about 5 or 6 minutes). Reduce the speed to low and add the melted chocolate and butter, mixing to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes or until it can be scooped and rolled into smooth balls. Preheat the oven to 350'. For larger cookies measure the balls by the heaping tablespoon, for smaller ones use a heaping teaspoon. Roll the balls of dough slightly so they are smoooth on top. Sprinkle each ball with a few flakes of sea salt. Bake for 8-10 minutes until they have completely puffed up. 

Again and Again

There are the days when I tiptoe past the the sink full of dishes and try to ignore it as it grows into a pile, when a nap is somewhere between irresistible and imperative, when I throw together what I can for meals. I have been spending a lot of time in the studio and on my computer working on an exciting new project (more on that soon!). I have also been immersed in reading, researching and preparing for the new addition to our family who will be arriving in a few months. My eyes glaze over and my head starts to throb and I realize that I desperately need to step away from the computer and do something tangible and real.

I keep coming back to this again and again: the need to connect with the rituals and routines of home and kitchen. Soon, the afternoon sun is shining on the empty sink and the multi-colored dishes gleam brightly in the dish rack. I didn't need to bake a cake, but I needed to make something simple, to mix flour and milk and eggs and let the hot oven work its magic. There is nothing utilitarian and practical about an olive oil and rosemary cake punctuated with shards of dark chocolate. Its certainly not a pantry staple but I had all the ingredients in my cupboards to make this incredibly easy and very rewarding cake. My recent forays into the kitchen have been sporadic and I've been missing the inspiration and new ideas from cookbooks so I was happy that this page in Good to the Grain caught my eye.





This cake was the perfect simple indulgence for a cold February afternoon. The delicately crusted top yields to a soft and not too sweet crumb. Dark chocolate and rosemary play on the edge of savory but stay sweet enough for a beautiful dessert or snack if you can't wait until after dinner to have a slice. I think this cake would be wonderful with nuts or orange zest instead of rosemary, but it really doesn't need improvement. The flavors are elegant and the cake takes little time or work. Just right for watching to golden sunlight as in lingers on the kitchen walls and catches tree branches outside, hinting that the seasons are shifting ever so slightly and winter will give way to spring again.

Olive Oil Cake
Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

I did not have spelt flour on hand, so I used whole wheat instead. If you have spelt flour, definitely use it but if you don't you should still make the cake.

3/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons chopped dried rosemary)
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao is recommended) chopped into about 1/2 inch pieces.

Preheat the oven to 350'. Rub a 9 1/2 fluted tart pan (or other pan of similar size) with olive oil. Sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the eggs to thoroughly combine. Mix the eggs, olive oil, milk and rosemary until smooth. Pour this into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the chocolate and stir to distribute evenly. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 minutes, until the cake is golden brown (darker around the edges) and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy while warm or once it has cooled. 

Spontaneous Sharing

 

Perhaps it is obvious that someone who writes about food and making things enjoys sharing the things that she makes. Of course I enjoy sharing them here, but it isn't often enough that I get to share them with people outside of my home and blog. Last week as part of a course on cultivating courage, I gave myself the challenge of sharing a homemade treat with my neighbors. I live in a building with six units, but rarely see or interact with the people who share the same walls. I guess living in a building full of quiet people who keep to themselves could be worse, but I want to do more to connect with my neighbors.

I love the idea of baking and cooking and spontaneously sharing with friends and neighbors and I'm determined to have more of it. One of my favorite special treats that I make no more than once a year are peanut butter cups. Chocolate pairs well with so many flavors but peanut butter is a classic than never lets me down. I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys the combination but when it comes to giving things I make to others I start to worry. What if people don't like dark chocolate, or they are allergic to peanuts or they hate sugar or? I did my best to put aside the silly worries that crop up when I challenge myself in a new way. Although I would never expect my neighbors to leave a little bag of treats in my mailbox, I know would be nothing but touched and grateful that they wanted to share.

These peanut butter cups are not too hard to make and they give me the chance to feel a bit like Willy Wonka, without the oompaloompas or golden tickets, of course. Stirring a bowl of silky melted chocolate, dabbing dollops of peanut butter filling make for a not too intricate and satisfying process. A homemade candy like this should certainly be shared, if only because it is more fun when others can taste the joy, too.



Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Adapted from Gilt Taste
These can be more or less complicated, depending on how involved you want to get. The recipe starts with creating a version of peanut brittle which is then chopped into a peanut candy powder in the food processor. It's not a fussy candy and it adds texture and substance to the peanut butter filling. There is no need to temper the chocolate, but if you want to try it this is a simple tutorial. I used small fluted paper cups and therefore used less chocolate than the recipe calls for but the original recipe suggests you use paper muffin tin liners and only fill them part of the way full. If you have a kitchen scale it is easiest to just measure everything in ounces.

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) water
3 ounces sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) honey
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (I scraped out one vanilla bean instead)
3 ounces unsalted peanuts
6 ounces peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
15-20 ounces dark or milk chocolate (the amount of chocolate depends on the size of the paper liners you are using)

Combine the water, sugar, honey and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve and then let simmer gently until it turns a dark amber color (if you want to use a thermometer it should get to 340 degrees F). While you are watching the pot and stirring occasionally, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. When the water and sugars have cooked to the right color/temperature, remove from heat and stir in the peanuts. Spread out evenly on the lined sheet pan and let cool completely. When the brittle is cool, chop it into smaller pieces. Place them in the bowl of a food processor and process until they are ground almost as finely as sand. Add the peanut butter and salt and process until it becomes a thick paste.

Melt or temper the chocolate. Line up your muffin tin liners or small fluted cups and fill them with about 1/2  ounce of chocolate (if you are using smaller fluted paper cups, fill them just under half way with chocolate). Using a pastry bag or a spoon, pipe or spoon a blob (about 3/4 ounce) of peanut filling into the middle of each cup. Using a clean damp finger, gently pat down each peanut butter blob. Cover the peanut butter with another 1/2 ounce of chocolate (or fill the small paper cups). Let cool completely before eating and sharing.

 Makes 16-20 peanut butter cups.

Fresh Mint and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

I made you some ice cream. I wish you would join me. Knock on the door, I'll open it and invite you into my apartment. It's not perfectly clean, but we can sit at the kitchen table. I cleared off the debris that sometimes clutters it around the edges. Have a glass of water. Tell me what you've been up to lately. I'll sit down, too, and we can really talk. Maybe we'll eat something first, or maybe we won't be able to wait and I'll get some bowls from the cupboard. It's fresh mint ice cream, flavored with the leaves from the mint plant you saw by the door on your way in. The smooth mint ice cream is punctuated with chunks of bittersweet chocolate. It melts a little as we savor each spoonful.

Ice cream should be shared. Too often, I make a batch and eat most of it myself. Not in one sitting, but certainly without the benefit of a partner in enjoyment. There are few things so satisfying as sharing food with someone who appreciates it just as much as I do. Ray and I eat a few meals together each week but our schedules differ and I find myself sitting alone at the table just as often. There are many times when I enjoy the simplicity of a solitary meal. I also crave connection and conversation that can transpire from casually cooking and eating together. I don't know exactly how to make more food sharing happen. People are busy, I am still navigating the paths of new friendships. I think ice cream might help, though.

I'm serious about inviting you over, but if you can't make it, maybe you can help me out. How do you bring family and friends (or strangers) to your table? How does food help you create connections? 



Fresh Mint and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
I had heard for a while about Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream and her adaptation for making great ice cream at home. I am still kind of attached to using custard based recipes but this no egg ice cream was designed to make ice cream at home that is just as smooth and creamy as the kind you can get at a fancy ice cream shop. The unexpected ingredients works really well to make a perfectly spoonable and delicious ice cream. If you prefer a more assertive mint flavor, you can use peppermint extract. I adapted this recipe from Saveur.

On the subject of ice cream, I also wanted to point you in the direction of Sarah's Vanilla Bean Blog which has an abundance of mouthwatering no churn ice cream recipes. I love that there are so many different ways to make great ice cream and no shortage of recipes to try (aka reasons to make homemade ice cream).

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1/3 cup fresh peppermint leaves (or 1 teaspoon peppermint extract for a mintier ice cream)

3/4 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Mix 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch. In a saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar, cream, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and cook for 4 minutes. Add the milk mixed with cornstarch and return the milk to a boil, cooking for a few minutes until it has thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream cheese until incorporated. Add the mint leaves or peppermint extract. Chill the ice cream base until completely cold. 

While the base is chilling, make the chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and spread it over a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate cool until solid. You can freeze it which will make it really easy to break into chips and cold when you mix it into the ice cream

Strain out the mint leaves (if using) and mix in your ice cream maker. Stir in the chocolate chunks and freeze completely before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Lately I've seen various blog posts asking what do you like to make in stead of buy? What do you want to create in your kitchen, instead of getting from a box? I could answer this question in lots of ways. I certainly hold my weekly yogurt and yearly salsa making dear. But at the moment I would toss that all aside and say: ice cream!! 

I'm a little biased right now. I recently made the most glorious raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. It is perfectly smooth and creamy, tasting like a summer day with no obligations, no deadlines, nothing to do but stroll through green fields, lie on a beach or get lost in a book. I could wax poetic for pages about this dreamy dessert.

 


It is always so tempting to tell you how quick and easy a recipe is, or how much more economical it is to make something from scratch. But really, are those the only reasons I make food from scratch? Aside from how delicious it is, I revel in the satisfaction of turning disparate ingredients into something new and the connection that I have to my food when I am creating it.

It's true that making ice cream at home takes a little more planning ahead than just grabbing a carton from the freezer case, but I like the mindful dessert aspect of that. If you make it you won't be tempted to buy something that is not nearly as good. Even a custard based ice cream doesn't take much longer to come together than stirring a pasta sauce, it just requires a bit more attention, an overnight (or a few hours) chill, and a bit of churning.

I hope, though, that you'll need no convincing and that the promise of raspberry infused cream studded with shards of bittersweet chocolate is more than enough reason to make this yourself. 



Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This recipe is based on David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream recipe which I also use here. For the raspberry, I used a half pint jar of raspberry preserves I made. It wasn't as thick as jam, but I think jam would work just fine. Make sure it is seedless, or press the jam through a strainer to remove the seeds.

5 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 pint (8 ounces/ 1 cup) raspberry jam (seedless or seeds removed) 

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (preferably bittersweet, but it's up to you)

Whisk together the egg yolks in a bowl. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the milk is hot and sugar dissolved, lower the heat. Pour some of the heated milk into the eggs and whisk them together. Pour the eggs into the saucepan of milk and cook, still over low heat, stirring with a (heat proof) spatula to scrape the bottom and allow everything to cook evenly. Continue to stir until the custard thickens. When it thickens enough to coat the spatula, it is ready. Pour the custard into a bowl and add the cream and jam. Whisk together until it is smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled, overnight if possible.

While the custard is chilling, make the chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and spread it over a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate cool until solid. You can put it freeze it which will make it really easy to break into chips and cold when you mix it into the ice cream.

When the custard is cold, freeze it in your ice cream maker. Before storing the ice cream in the freezer, stir in the chips. Freeze until ready to serves. Makes about 1 quart.

The Preparations are Ongoing

In late December is it hard not to be overwhelmed by the many recipes for holiday sweets. So far I have made the treats which went in the packages that I shipped to my family on Friday. I plan to make some cookies this week and maybe a cake for Christmas, but it will just be the two of us so I'm trying not to go overboard. For me, the preparations are one of the most enjoyable parts of the holidays. For many years I have helped my mom prepare for an almost yearly Christmas party which requires baking cookies, spicing walnuts, assembling lasagna, filling and decorating chocolate rolls (you may know them as buche de noel, but it's chocolate roll to us).

Aside from this one event, in my fthe rest of the preparations are ongoing. Since my siblings all have other families to celebrate with, Christmas often lasts for a week. This keeps the kitchen warm and full until the end of the year as we make a few more chocolate covered pretzels or the chocolate roll for our family dinner. I think of this time not as one that is busy and stressful, but as one that is cozy and full of time shared with loved ones in the kitchen, playing board games after dinner, or crowding around the television to watch a Christmas movie.

Obviously things have changed over the years and now my siblings are scattered far and wide. Still, Jess sent me a message the other day when she was making toffee and Natalie and I compare plans for holiday baking when we talk on the phone. It's harder when everyone has their own families and lives, but I hope there will be future holiday preparations together.

You may have your holiday baking planned out or you may be done with it. I'm adding other recipe to the long list of possibilities in case you have some time and some friends and family around. Chocolate and peppermint might be my favorite Christmas flavors, so here you have a simplified truffle of chocolate peppermint ganache covered by a layer of semi-sweet chocolate.

There's no need to have these ready for by Christmas day. I recommend making these on one of those cozy afternoons before or after the big day, perhaps with friends or siblings who enjoy spending time with you in the kitchen. That's what I would do.

P.S. To my family members: you don't have to make these. I'll leave it at that.

Chocolate Peppermint Bon Bons
I wasn't sure what to call these, but bon bons sound good. I used bittersweet chocolate for the center and semisweet for the outside. You could use milk chocolate or even white chocolate in place of either of these. I was hoping to find reusable chocolate molds, but I used small fluted paper cups that I found at my local kitchen store.

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chocolate chips of your choice (I used bitter-sweet)
3 teaspoons peppermint extract
20 ounces chocolate chips of your choice (I used semi-sweet)
60-70 one inch fluted paper cups (or mold of your choice)
candy canes broken into bits, optional

Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Place 8 ounces of the chocolate you are using for the center in a small bowl. Pour in the heated cream. Let sit for a minute. Stir to combine the cream with the melted chocolate. Add peppermint extract and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool, stirring every so often. When this ganache is ready it will be much stiffer, but still stir-able.

Place the 20 ounces of chocolate you are using for the outside of the bon bons in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a simmering pot of water. Stir the chocolate until it is melted.

On a baking sheet or plate, place the fluted paper cups. Fill each cup about 1/3 full with the plain melted chocolate. Let the chocolate cool for a minute or two. Next, add the ganache either scooping into the center of the chocolate layer by the teaspoonful, or piping in with a pastry bag. When each cup has a ganache center, fill the cup up with the plain chocolate. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes if you wish.

Let the chocolates cool completely and keep in an airtight container. Refrigerate if storing for several days. Makes 60-70 bon bons.