Posted by Lucy Baker, May 9, 2008 at 1:30 PM
I saved the best for last. Today's Cook the Book recipe, the final one to be excerpted from Cowgirl Cuisine, is for a deep, dark, incredibly dense Chocolate Whiskey Cake. This is one of my go-to, never-fail dessert recipes: I've made it for a bourbon-loving friend as a going-away present and for my boyfriend on his birthday. Why not make it for my mom on Mother's Day? Served with a mug of spiked coffee, it would be the perfect ending to a special, home-cooked meal.
Spiced with black pepper and cloves, this cake has subtle gingerbread flavors. The whiskey becomes more pronounced if it sits overnight, so it’s a great make-ahead dessert.
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As is always the case with our Cook the Book selections, we're giving away a number of copies to lucky readers. Enter to win here.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, May 7, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the May 7th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
Why not treat your mom this coming Mother's Day with a plate of chocolate banana waffles? This recipe from Alice Medrich's Chocolate Holidays tops chocolate flavored waffles with bananas sautéed in sugar and rum.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, April 9, 2008 at 8:30 AM
If you can't get to the Dessert Truck in New York City to try their thick and creamy chocolate and hazelnut-flavored Gianduja pot de crème, here's a recipe to make it at home! It's comprised mostly of half and half, chocolate, hazelnut butter, and eggs. Mm, fatty deliciousness.
Also, be sure to check out the dessert-by-dessert review of the Dessert Truck on Ed Levine Eats.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 2, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, is for Brooklyn Brownout Cake, basically a chocolate-lover's one-stop shop for chocomadness. Even though the cake as a whole might seem to take more than a bit of work, each of the components—devil's food cake, chocolate brownies, and ganache—are all simple affairs in and of themselves. A bonus is that you can make the brownies ahead of time and just reserve a few for the cake later.
Win 'The Sweet Melissa Baking Book'
As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them. Enter to win here »
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 15, 2008 at 12:45 PM
This entire week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we put together a shelf of our favorite books on chocolate, with one Cook the Book recipe a day adapted from each volume. To end the week, and to complete our "Chocolate Lover's Library," we're adding Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
, by Serious Eats' baking contributor Dorie Greenspan. We can't think of a better duo to work on a book together. Here, you get the sophisticated chocolate desserts of Hermé written and tested for home kitchens by Dorie, so you know these recipes will work for you, and you know you'll have Dorie's expert advice guiding you through them.
The recipe we've adapted here is for simple chocolate mousse, made super-light by the addition of whipped egg whites and by using milk instead of the more common heavy cream. Hermé sees this mousse as a base recipe to which all kinds of flavors and textures can be added, from caramelized Rice Krispies to cardamom.
Win the Serious Eats Chocolate Library
We're giving away five (5) sets of the Chocolate Lover's Library—one each day this week. So you can win a copy of Dorie's Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé, along with the four other other fantastic chocolate books we rolled out this week. Just answer the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite chocolate dessert?
One (1) winner will be chosen at random from among the comments of this post. Comments will be open until 3 p.m. ET February 16. You may win only once during the lifetime of the contest as a whole. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 14, 2008 at 3:30 PM
This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we've put together a list of our favorite books on chocolate, with one Cook the Book recipe a day adapted from each volume. Today's addition to our "Chocolate Lover's Library" is one that many of you may be familiar with, especially if you read food blogs as much as we do. The Great Book of Chocolate by chocolate expert David Lebovitz, a Paris-based food writer and blogger extraordinaire.
This recipe makes a dozen Black Bottom Cupcakes, so called because the bottom and sides are rich chocolate cake while the centers are filled with a cream cheese filling studded with chocolate chunks, creating a visually appealing two-tone cake that needs no icing.
Win the Serious Eats Chocolate Library
We're giving away five (5) sets of the Chocolate Lover's Library—one each day this week. So you can win a copy of Lebovitz's Great Book of Chocolate, along with four other fantastic chocolate books (to be revealed as the week progresses) by answering the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite type of cupcake?
One (1) winner will be chosen at random from among the comments of this post. Comments will be open until 3 p.m. ET February 15. Feel free to enter every day, but you may win only once during the lifetime of the contest as a whole. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
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Posted by Ed Levine, February 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Chocolate fondue is, as I've previously stated, the perfect Valentine's Day dish and activity for adults and kids. It's the ultimate sensual (if you want it to be) participatory food. And as Sara Moulton (this recipe is adapted from her Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals) points out, "this recipe doesn't even require an official fondue pot. Just keep the sauce in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of hot water and set the saucepan on a trivet in the center of the table."
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 13, 2008 at 3:00 PM
This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we've put together a list of our favorite books on chocolate, with one Cook the Book recipe a day coming from each volume. And today's book from our "Chocolate Lover's Library" is Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage.
This drink takes advantage of burnt caramel, Recchiuti's signature flavor. If you've ever caramelized sugar, this should be a fun one, as it throws out all the rules about the process, actually allowing you to burn the sweet stuff. The recipe for the drink makes enough for two—you and your valentine—but you'll have an excess of the burnt caramel base, which may be kept indefinitely and used for other recipes.
Win the Serious Eats Chocolate Library
We're giving away five (5) sets of the Chocolate Lover's Library—one each day this week. So you can win Chocolate Obsession, along with four other fantastic chocolate books (to be revealed as the week progresses) by answering the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite chocolate recipe?
One (1) winner will be chosen at random from among the comments of this post. Comments will be open until 3 p.m. ET February 14. Feel free to enter every day, but you may win only once during the lifetime of the contest as a whole. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, February 13, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the February 13th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
I was drawn to Alice Medrich's recipe for chestnut torte from Bittersweet because right now I'd love any reason to roast chestnuts and fill my home with warmth. It's brain-freezing cold in NYC right now; a fat slice of chocolate flavored chestnut cake might just take my mind off of my sore frostbitten skin. And if you're not freezing your butt off, I'm sure it would also be a nice dessert for Valentine's Day.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 12, 2008 at 4:00 PM
This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we've put together a list of our favorite books on chocolate, with one Cook the Book recipe a day coming from each volume. And the next book in our "Chocolate Lover's Library" is Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow, the proprietor of Fran's Chocolates. In this, her debut book, Bigelow reveals the techniques behind her creations, with additional info on worldwide chocolate-making methods and a guide to deciphering chocolate labels.
The chocolate sablés that follow are classic refrigerator butter cookies that should bake up slightly crisp but with a soft interior. The roll freezes well, so you can tuck one away for a rainy day.
Win the Serious Eats Chocolate Library
We're giving away five (5) sets of the Chocolate Lover's Library—one each day this week. So you can win Pure Chocolate, along with four other fantastic chocolate books (to be revealed as the week progresses) by answering the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite chocolate recipe?
One (1) winner will be chosen at random from among the comments of this post. Comments will be open until 6 p.m. ET February 13. Feel free to enter every day, but you may win only once during the lifetime of the contest as a whole. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 11, 2008 at 4:45 PM
This week's Cook the Book is a little different—and sweeter—than most. Usually, we feature one book the entire week, excerpting adapted recipes as the days go by. This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we've put together a list of our favorite books on chocolate, and we'll be featuring a recipe from each.
First up is Alice Medrich's Bittersweet, and a recipe for cocoa brownies. Think brownies are too pedestrian for Valentine's Day? Think again. They're pure comfort—perfect for expressing how dear your valentine has become to you over the years.
Bittersweet is indispensable for anyone who loves baking with bittersweet chocolate. Each of Medrich's recipes is tailored to the stuff, and the book covers every question you might have about substituting one type of chocolate for another, how to decorate with chocolate, and almost anything else you'd want to know about the confection.
Win the Serious Eats Chocolate Library
You can win Bittersweet, along with four other fantastic chocolate books (to be revealed as the week progresses) by answering the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite chocolate recipe?
One (1) winner will be chosen at random from among the comments of this post. Comments will be open until 6 p.m. ET February 12. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, February 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM
I love chocolate. But when it comes to Valentine's Day it can be a bit of a cliché: the Whitman's Samplers with their impossible-to-decipher filling maps; the miniature heart-shape drugstore candy bars; the Hershey's Kisses, once simply silver, suddenly dressed in every shade of pink and red.
This year, why not make your honey swoon by baking her (or him) a special treat made with that other creamy, sweet, incredibly rich and decadent substance—peanut butter?
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 8, 2008 at 3:15 PM
And the last of our chocolately, Valentine's Day–appropriate from Cook the Book recipes for the week from Alice Medrich's Chocolate Holidays: Unforgettable Desserts for Every Season uses milk chocolate, for all you folks (like me) who prefer it to dark. The sweetness of the chocolate plays well against the heat of the ginger.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, February 7, 2008 at 1:00 PM
If you haven't already whipped up something wonderful for the sweetheart(s) in your life, here's a recipe for a cookie that makes any day sweeter. It's a linzer cookie—made with flour and ground nuts and spiced with cinnamon and cloves—cut out with a cute little heart-shaped cutter and dipped in melted chocolate. (I love the technique of pre-rolling the dough when it's soft and malleable and I hope you will, too.)
The cookie has the same buttery goodness and soft spices as a linzer tart and, in fact, you could use the dough to make a tart, if you wanted to. You can also make sandwich cookies (a classic linzerish thing to do), sandwiching the cookies with red jam. (Bring 1/2 cup of raspberry jam and 1 teaspoon water to the boil. Let the jam cool slightly before using it.)
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
This rich, moist flourless chocolate cake is sure to please any valentine. Unless he or she hates chocolate. And if that's the case, why don't you go get yourself a new valentine?
Be sure to make it at least one day before serving. And serve it with a dollop of whipped cream and a hot cup of your favorite coffee drink.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, February 6, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the February 6th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
Although I love ordering blintzes at restaurants, I've never thought of making them until I read Alice Medrich's recipe for chocolate banana blintzes from Chocolate Holidays. She says they look more complicated than they really are, which gives me a glimmer of hope that I could make them without screwing up too badly.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 4, 2008 at 5:30 PM
The first of our Cook the Book recipes this week is for a simple breakfast Valentine that you could bake up for your sweetheart the morning of Valentine's day or for tea later that afternoon. They require a 2 1/2-inch heart-shape cookie cutter, so dig yours out of the drawer or go grab one at the kitchen-supply store if you don't already have one.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, January 31, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Use a heart-shaped waffle maker for the best results
I know it’s a little early for Valentine’s Day, but for those of you who plan ahead and test ahead, you might want to give these little heart-shaped waffles a pre-fete run.
The batter for these waffles is almost a chocolate cake batter, which is why, when they’re baked, they taste like no other waffle you’ve ever had. That they’ve got crushed amaretti in them only makes them that much more special. Amaretti, for those of you who need a new addiction, are dry, crunchy, kind-of-meringuey Italian almond cookies that, in their most famous incarnation, are sold wrapped in beautifully printed tissue paper. Even though they’re a splurge, the amaretti I like best are Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno—they’re the ones in the red boxes and save-worthy tins. That said—I’ve used supermarket-brand amaretti and my waffles have been fine.
To get the full heart effect, you need a five-of-hearts waffle-maker. Lacking that, don’t give up on the recipe: make it in your regular waffler and, if you want to be truly romantic, cut your waffles ordinaires into hearts.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, January 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM
My sweet tooth seeks out vanilla, caramel, and fruit before chocolate, but somewhere along the line I either ate or dreamed of the perfect chocolate layer cake, and lo, it was good: enticingly tall and dark, with a firm but yielding crumb and a pure chocolate-butter taste, so moist you could eat it without icing (but why would you?).
I sampled many slices in pursuit of this ideal. Plenty of cakes had the looks, but none of them had the heart and soul: usually they were dry, and if they weren’t dry, they had a chemical aftertaste, or a squishy texture, or some kind of booze-flavored filling. When the outside world failed me, I got out my baking pans. Cook’s Illustrated and Rose Levy Beranbaum offered recipes for perfect cake, but their buttercreams were too buttery for me. I am not one to shy away from butter, but this tasted like delicious cake spread with pure, softened, faintly chocolate flavored butter, and that was kind of gross.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, January 24, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Here's an intensely chocolaty cake from Lora Brody, who made this when she came to Cambridge to tape an episode of Baking with Julia. The official name of the cake is Boca Negra, or black mouth, and the name aptly describes what your mouth will look like after one bite. I can't think of another cake that's this chocolaty (okay, maybe the Grandmother's Cake from La Maison du Chocolate) or this easy to make. And I love the boozy white-chocolate cream that Lora makes to go on top of it. (Attention: You should make the cream a day ahead.)
Lora suggested that the cake be served warm or at room temperature, when it's moist and dense, but if you like fudge, then you'll want to pop the cake into the fridge and have it cold. Either way, I know you'll be happy.
A word about whipping up the cake: You can make this cake by hand—a cinch—or in a food processor—even cinchier. It's easy no matter which method you use; actually, it's so easy that if you've never baked before, you can start here and be a star.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 24, 2007 at 4:07 PM
- makes about 5 dozen cookies -
Adapted from Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma
Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, skinned or unskinned
1 cup (2 sticks/8 ounces) unslated butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, for dusting
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 23, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Editor's note: Larry Gonick, a brilliant San Francisco–based cartoonist, is an avid and very fine home cook. He did a series of recipe cartoons for newspapers that I've always loved. We'll be bringing you one of these Sunday funnies from Larry's archives each week. They originally ran in black and white, but Larry was kind enough to color them in for us. —Ed Levine
larrygonick.com
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, December 13, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Madeleines are about as iconic as pastries get in France, which might explain why I haven't had the nerve to offer these Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines to my Paris neighbors. Actually, they'd probably like them—who in the world can resist chocolate and marshmallow and, just for good measure, ganache, that ethereal mix of chocolate and cream?
The first time I made these was also the first time I'd had Marshmallow Fluff. Since I didn't grow up with Fluff and it wasn't anything either my husband or son liked, filling luscious chocolate madeleines with the stuff wasn't an idea that jumped to mind naturally—I was nudged by a request from Justin Schwartz, the author of The Marshmallow Fluff Cookbook
, to come up with something fun for his collection. Since making these (I also included them in Baking: From My Home to Yours
), I keep a jar of Fluff in the cupboard, just in case the urge for these cute tea cakes strikes. I even brought a jar of Fluff to Paris. Who knows, one day I just might screw up my courage and make them for my neighbors.
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Posted by Ed Levine, November 8, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts From the Babbo Kitchen, recommended that we feature her Chocolate and Date Pudding Cake recipe, saying it has a "soft, gooey, spoon food, and the flavor of the dates really shines through the chocolate." They're "pudding cakes" she says, because of that very gooey must-use-a-spoon quality.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, October 25, 2007 at 2:30 PM
Bonjour from Paris, where the Salon du Chocolat just finished its run. This year’s salon, the French edition of what Americans know as the Chocolate Show (which will open in New York City on November 9), was held at the Porte de Versailles, a mega-big convention center on the edge of the city limits. It was huge and it made me think of that old advertising line, “You’ve come a long way, baby,” since I can remember going to an early Salon du Chocolat (it may even have been the first, 13 years ago) and "doing" the show, which was held in a tent near the Eiffel Tower, in about an hour.
In honor of the Salon/Show and to celebrate one of the greatest chocolatiers in Paris, Robert Linxe, who founded La Maison du Chocolat 30 years ago, here’s a recipe for a very simple cake that Mr. Linxe told me his grandmother used to make. Mixed in a saucepan and baked in a water bath, it’s a far cry from the polished sweets that fill his shops here and abroad. Actually, it’s more like fudge than cake and most like something you’d want to have with a big glass of milk.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 24, 2007 at 2:30 PM
I'd imagine this hot chocolate pudding would be an especially welcome dessert on a chilly day. (But who knows when that may be, what with the weird unseasonably warm weather that's befallen much of the U.S. lately). As the authors Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly write in Beyond Nose to Tail, this pudding needs no introduction. So on with the show.
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Posted by Dorie Greenspan, October 18, 2007 at 3:00 PM
The summer of 1995, when I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, shooting the PBS Baking with Julia series, Rick Katz, a terrific pastry chef, was in charge of the prep kitchens. He had his hands full because, while one chef was upstairs in Julia Child’s kitchen taping, another was downstairs in the laundry-room-cum-prep-kitchen getting ready for his or her star turn, and it was Rick who had to whip up everything that was needed for the shoots, all those step-by-step swaps and the final beauties, too. Not only did he do it all, he’d manage to eke out time to make us treats, among them these Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The cookies use one pound—yes, a full pound—of chocolate. You can use all bittersweet (which is almost always my choice) or make a mix, say a half-pound of bitter or semi-sweet, a quarter pound of milk, and a quarter pound of white. Just use great chocolate—it makes a world of difference.
Rick would add snippets of dried apricots to the cookies, an addition I adore (I’m crazy about apricots in any form), but they’re optional.
For those of you lucky enough to live in Boston, Rick Katz can now be found at Picco Restaurant, Ice Cream, and Pizza Company, 513 Tremont Street.
(If you'd like an additional chocolate-rich cookie recipe, try this one that a friend of mine adapted from my book Baking, From My Home to Yours.)
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 20, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Alice Medrich, author of Pure Dessert, from which this recipe comes, took inspiration for this Italian Chocolate-Almond Torte from Claudia Roden's torta di mandorle e cioccolata in Roden's Book of Jewish Food. The chocolate in this torte is ground, rather than melted, so it's easy to make.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 20, 2007 at 1:15 PM
To give extra kick to her Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie from Baking: From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan adds freshly grated ginger to the lime custard filling. Besides that I love lime meringue pies, I was caught by her description of the flavor as being, "big, bright and sassy." How many pies in my lifetime of pie eating have every been declared sassy? Possibly none, sadly. Not only is the pie sassy, but apparently the combination of lime and ginger will give your body the illusion of feeling cool, a good property for a pie to have in this hot, muggy weather. Why use air conditioning when you can eat pie?
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 19, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Muffins compose one of my most favorite categories of baked goods. They're cake-like and sweet, but not so indulgent that I would feel guilty about stuffing my face with a chocolate muffin or carrot muffin first thing in the morning. It's like cake...for breakfast! (Admittedly, I wouldn't feel guilty about eating dessert cake for breakfast either, but this practice is probably frowned upon by most people who don't want a sucrose-fueled morning.)
I also love muffins because they're ridiculously easy to bake, resulting in a high effort-to-deliciousness ratio. The next muffin I bake will be Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins from Baking: From My Home to Yours. They're cornier than your average corn muffin due to the inclusion of corn niblets. Lots of niblets. Mm, niblets.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 18, 2007 at 1:30 PM
I love a good madeleine, the buttery, single-serving cake, distinctively smooth and scalloped on one side and bulging with excess cake on the other. Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines from Baking: From My Home to Yours turns the dainty French pastry into something more indulgent. These aren't the golden lemon-flavored cakes I ate in Paris; they're cocoa-flavored, with small bellies filled with Marshmallow Fluff and dipped in chocolate ganache. Greenspan calls this "a madeleine for the nonliterary set." If being nonliterary involves eating Marshmallow Fluff and chocolate, I'm cool with that.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, May 18, 2007 at 5:20 PM
And here's our final recipe of the week from Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen. Here, chocolate unexpectedly covers two familiar snacks—popcorn and grapes.
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