#55: A Salty Chocolate Bar

I love milk chocolate. Sometimes, when I'm really in a pig out mode I like to eat potato chips and chocolate. It has to be good old-fashioned Lay's or some type of plain, greasy, salty potato chips. None of these fancy chocolate-dipped potato chips will do. There is just too much chocolate and not enough salt on those.

Image my surprise when Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in 2008 included a Salty Chocolate Bar as #55 on its list. I was definitely intrigued, and also doubtful. I ordered L’Artigiano’s Salty Chocolate Bar from Worldwide Chocolate. It was $8.99 for the 3.5 ounce milk chocolate bar.

At first I thought this candy didn't taste like anything special. It was good quality milk chocolate so I could not complain. As the last of my first bite melted away on my tongue, I started tasting the salt. Hm, I think I needed to do that again. So the second piece went down. Definitely more salt this time. Flakes of sea salt are right inside the chocolate - you can see them!

Overall, this candy bar is pretty good. It is definitely something interesting and unique so I'm glad I tried it. However I'm not sure if it completely addresses my salty/sweet craving. I miss the crunch and grease of my potato chips. So, while I do enjoy this candy bar, I think I will still turn to my Lay's chips and Lindt truffles for my fix.

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. But I'm not a big baker so I have not made them in years. For a while I got into those cookie dough packs that have the cookie all prepared and all you have to do is heat it up. But they are just not the same. And I usually end up eating more of the dough than making cookies.

The April 2007 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine has a recipe for Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies that I just had to try. Mostly because they looked good in the picture, but also because I bought a pack of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips! Those made the cookies even extra special.

I found it funny to back up a batch of cookies and there being only 12 cookies total. When my mom makes them it seems like she gets 50 cookies or something like that. But I find a big cookie satisfying - it's like Mrs. Fields. But I was nice and didn't hoard them all. I kept 4 for myself and brought the rest to work. Everyone raved about them.

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes one dozen cookies) Ingredients: 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the granulated and brown sugars until just combines and sandy (do not cream). Mix in the egg until just combined, about 3 seconds. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips.

On a large ungreased cookie sheet, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough a few inches apart. Bake until just golden around the edges, about 20 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool completely.

The Cupcake Challenge

24 cupcakes are just too much for one gal to eat. Well, 24 of the same type of cupcakes anyways. So my co-workers got really lucky today when I brought in a whole bunch of Cappuccino Chip Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream.

When Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit and Vanilla Garlic issued a challenge to create a cupcake, I was trying to come up with some unique tastes. I was inspired by the Wattleseed Ice Cream I tried recently from Vosges Haute-Chocolate. I ordered some aboriginal wattleseed and went in search of a recipe I could use as a base and then modify with the wattleseed. It was a great opportunity to crack open Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor which I purchased from a school charity a few months ago. Anne Byrn, the author and self titled Cake Mix Doctor, specializes in using cake mixes as a base and making amazing cupcakes. Her secret is to add other ingredients such as pudding, yogurt, spices, fruits and nuts to give them a twist. It didn't work out for me though, I ran into problems though when I tried to customize it myself and use the wattleseed. I tried several things but realized that I should have bought the wattleseed extract instead of the grounds.

After messing around for an hour or two with no success, I was still determined to get some edible cupcakes! So I made the recipe I was going to customize just as it was originally written, straight out of the book. And they turned out great! I got a bunch of compliments on them and I learned a whole lot. I'm not much of a baker and this book offered lots of good tips on the art of cupcakes.


Cappuccino Chip Cupcakes
24 paper lines for cupcake pans (2 1/2-inch size)
1/3 cup water
4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips,
Mocha Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips or cracked roasted cocoa beans for garnish

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

Place the water and instant coffee in a small glass liquid measuring cup and microwave on high power for 40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set it aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and coffee in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. Place the pans in the oven.

Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger. 18 to 20 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottom of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wine rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare the Mocha Buttercream Frosting (see below).

Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread it out with a short metal spatula or the back of the spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Garnish with the remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips or roasted cracked cocoa beans. The cupcakes are ready to serve.


Mocha Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup milk
1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee granules
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 ounces (1/2 bar) German's sweet chocolate, grated
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 Tablespoon water, if needed

Place the milk and instant coffee in a small glass liquid measuring cup. Plan in the microwave oven on high power until the milk is hot enough to dissolve the instant coffee, 30 to 40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Place the butter in the large mixing bowl and add the coffee and grated chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture has softened, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 tablespoon water if the frosting seems too stiff.

Use to frost the cupcakes of your choice.

Stuffed Roasted Strawberries

They taste better than they look! I first saw these Stuffed Roasted Strawberries on 30 Minute Meals. I had the Food Network on one day while I was doing things and I happened to catch Rachael Ray putting strawberries into the oven. I was intrigued by that. When I started to pay attention I noticed that the strawberries were being filled with chocolate! At that point I knew I wanted to try them to use as my entry for Sugar High Friday #27: Chocolate By Brand hosted by David Lebovitz. Strawberry season is just starting down here in Florida. This is a perfect way to eat more fresh strawberries!

As is typical for me, my strawberries ended up looking nothing like hers. Even though I cut off the bottoms so that they were level, over half of them tipped over while roasting. I filled my strawberries with some chopped Lindt Lindor Dark Chocolate Truffle pieces which I received as a Christmas gift. The result is like a warm inside-out dipped strawberry. It is a fun dessert because it is light and unusual. All my friends know that Lindt is my favorite chocolate so I received a whole bunch of yummy Lindt chocolate. Ah, the simple pleasures . . .


Stuffed Roasted Strawberries
Serves 4

Ingredients
12 extra-large strawberries (the bigger the better!)
1 to 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
Spray whipping cream (the real kind in the can in the dairy section)
Cocoa powder, for garnishing

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice the tops of the berries off just below the stem. Cut the tips off (about 1/4-inch), so that the berries will sit upright. Next, use a small spoon or a melon ball scoop to hollow out the strawberries, working from their tops, in order to create a cavity in each one. Stuff some chocolate into the cavity of each strawberry and place them upright in a baking dish. Lightly sprinkle the berries with sugar, if using. Roast the berries until soft and the chocolate is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes.

To serve, place 3 strawberries on a dessert plate in a triangle. If the berries have given off liquid in the baking dish, spoon it over them. Spray a small mound of cream in the center of the berries, and top each berry with a rosette of cream. Sift a little cocoa powder over the plate, and serve!

#20: Chocolate in Tea. . . Why Not?

      
Pictured are Mocha Pu-erh Truffle, Mayan Chocolate Truffle and Masala Chocolate Truffle loose teas.
I was curious when I saw Truffle Teas listed as #20 on Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in 2007. It is described as "A healthy new way to kill a chocolate craving." I have never really tasted truffles (the fungi) but I figured they must be good since they are an expensive food item. I assumed that since these teas were "truffle" teas, that they would be made with truffle shavings. The chocolate must be similar to what a truffle tastes like. But I got it all wrong.

The "truffle" teas are named so because they are made with flavor combinations similar to chocolate truffle candies. And I LOVE candy truffles. I recently tasted truffle flavored ice cream made by Vosges Haut-Chocolat. And now I get to enjoy truffle flavors in my tea. Mocha Pu-Erh Truffle by Mighty Leaf is one of the most popular truffle teas.

As for the flavor of these teas, I love the two that I have tried so far. Mocha Pu-Erh Truffle reminds me of a tea that would be served at a spa. Just smelling it makes me think of being wrapped up in one of those fluffy spa robes while sitting in the quite lounge before going in for a facial or fabulous spa treatment. The decaffeinated Mayan Chocolate Truffle looks and smells more like potpourri than any tea I have seen before and seems more fruity than chocolaty. The Mighty Leaf website gives excellent descriptions of their products:

Chocolate Chip Truffle: Deep dark chocolate chunks mingle with rich black tea leaves in this decadent infusion.

Chocolate Orange Truffle: Combines Madagascar vanilla, chocolate cacao nibs and orange peels blend with Ceylon and China black tea leaves to impart a full, deep chocolate citrus tea.

Mocha Pu-Erh Truffle: Combines handcrafted small golden leaf buds to make this a rare and full-bodied tea from the Yunnan Province. It is one of the most difficult of the Pu-erh teas to produce. In the cup the tea is a deep amber color with a rich, smooth and savory flavor with a hint of cocoa, accented by additional cacao nibs and then balanced by the clean, sharp notes of citrus.

Chocolate Mint Truffle: An intoxicating blend of chocolate cacao nibs, mint and rooibos leaves.

Masala Chocolate Truffle: Creamy chocolate notes are accompanied by zesty cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves in this chai-like herbal infusion.

Mayan Chocolate Truffle: Chocolate chips mingle with chunks of chili and red pepper, and bits of apple and strawberry in this hearty stimulating herbal infusion with a sweet finish.

I purchased the Au Chocolat sampler for $36.95 which contains six mini tins of Mighty Leaf's Truffle Teas: Chocolate Chip Truffle, Chocolate Orange Truffle, Mocha Pu-Erh Truffle, Chocolate Mint Truffle, Masala Chocolate Truffle, and Mayan Chocolate Truffle. Three of these are decaffeinated teas.


The sampler not only contains the teas, but also a tea strainer and several chocolate candies. I have had a hard time actually making the tea since I am use to tea bags. My first cup was too weak and my second cup was too strong. I am obviously having a problem finding the proper amount of dry leaves to use for brewing a single cup. But this weekend I plan to brew a pot of tea the old fashioned way.

So what about you guys? Have you ever had a "unique" tea? Before these chocolate teas I usually drank a variety of Asian, African or fruit teas.

#67: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For . . . Curry?

When I saw that Exotic Ice Cream was number 67 on Food & Wine Magazine's 100 Tastes To Try in 2007, I was a bit suspicious. There seemed nothing new about exotic ice cream. I have been seeing mango and coconut ice creams on menus for years. But apparently mangoes and coconuts just do not cut it in the exotic category anymore.

Vosges Haute-Chocolate has now added ice-cream to their list of sweet treats. Probably best know for their truffles, Vosges has been playing with unique flavor combinations for years. I remember the first time I walked into the purple Vosges store in the Bloomingdale's building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It was such a small shop. I think this was in 1994 because my cousin had taken me there to sample chocolates we were going to give away as party favors to the guests at my bridal shower. Not only do they offer top-quality chocolate, but the flavors are so amazing they seem almost crazy the first time you read them. Try an Absinthe truffle that tastes like licorice and is sprinkled on top with ground Chinese star anise. Or their Sal de Mar which has sea-salt and caramel. You can even get your Italian fix with one of their truffles such as the one made with balsamic vinegar, dark chocolate and hazelnuts.

As soon as I discovered that the Exotic Ice Creams I needed to taste as part of my undertaking of Food & Wine's 100 tastes were from Vosges, I got excited. They have taken four of their best-selling truffles and have turned them into ice cream! Naga and Red Fire from their Exotic Collection and Pandan and Wattleseed from their Chocolate Chakra Collection are the four flavors Vosges selected to begin their foray into frozen treats.

Naga - Sweet Indian Curry and Fresh Young Coconut in a creamy custard ice cream.

Pandan - Pandan Leaf Extract, similar to vanilla wafers with a touch of pine nut, and dark chocolate

Red Fire - Ancho & Chipotle Chillies, Ceylon Cinnamon and dark chocolate

Wattleseed - Aboriginal Wattleseed, which tastes like chocolate, coffee, hazelnut and vanilla all in one, with macadamia nuts

I was so excited when I came home from work today and a box from Vosges Haute-Chocolate was sitting by my door. I knew the collection of Exotic Ice Creams were waiting for me. I ordered them from their online store since there is not a Vosges shop near me. I know, ordering ice cream to be delivered seems crazy, but the package arrived safe and sound and completely frozen. Inside the cardboard box was a silver type of cooler with two pieces of dry ice. The ice cream was frozen SOLID. So solid that I almost bent my spoon trying to taste one before it softened up. I had to wait for over an hour with them sitting out on my counter before I could get my first bite.

This item is a splurge. I could not just purchase one flavor, I had to buy all four. The ice cream cost $45 and over-night shipping was another $31. But once that first bit of ice cream melted on my tongue, I decided it was worth every penny.

Right off the bat I'd say that two of these ice creams are like no other ice creams you have ever tasted before. The best way I can describe Red Fire is to say that it tastes like Big Red chewing gum. You are hit right away with cinnamon, but the chiles give off a heat that lasts in your mouth for alot longer than you expect. I think Naga, with it's curry flavor, has to be the most interesting. This is the only one out of the three that is yogurt-based. At first it is sweet and coconuty. Then the curry comes through and lingers a while. This is the one out of the bunch that doesn't necessarily remind me of dessert. It is much more elegant. Like you should have some at tea-time with a glass of champagne.

The Pandan and Wattleseed flavors are more familiar, and yet the are both difficult for me to articulate. (hee hee, I just had to get up and taste them both again. are you jealous?) I suppose Pandan tastes similar to a hazelnut. It definately is richer and nuttier tasting than something like green tea (which is what I expected a Pandan Leaf to taste like for some reason). I don't know what a Wattleseed is, but I think it may be one of the best natural flavors on earth. Vosges is spot on with their description of this spice/nut: chocolate, coffee, hazelnut and vanilla all in one. And what could be better than that? Vosges Wattleseed ice cream delivers the ultimate indulgence for someone with a sophisticated sweet-tooth.

Am I happy with this splurge? Yes. The flavors are so complex that I can not imagine sitting down and eating a bowl of this ice cream like I would with mint-chocolate-chip. A spoonful or two really wakes up the tastebuds. So I think these ice creams will last me a long time.

note* a half of a cup of any of the flavors of ice cream is 8 Weight Watchers points.