Note: Please give a warm welcome to Heather Rawlinson, our new chocolate correspondent. She kicks things off with ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie analysis—which chips are best? You might want to grab a cold glass of milk for this one. Take it away, Heather! [Photograph: Heather Rawlinson] Like so many other great discoveries, the chocolate-chip cookie supposedly started out as a mistake. According to the story, which seems to border on myth, Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts intended to make chocolate cookies for her guests one day. After running out of her usual baking chocolate, she improvised with some Nestle chocolate morsels instead. To her surprise, the chocolate chips didn't melt and combined with the dough just...
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Sprinkles? White chocolate? A mountain of whipped cream? Yes, please? Marisol, of Once Upon a Plate, makes a white hot chocolate worthy of a fairy tale. There's heavy cream and half-and-half in there, but I never think that's a bad thing. I'm sure you could substitute milk or more half-and-half though if you'd like something a little less rich. Besides, all the wow factor is in that gorgeous whipped cream mountain and the smattering of sprinkles on top. Sprinkles make everything better on a dreary day....
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I hope my mother, who lovingly taught me how to bake dense, fudgy brownies from The Joy of Cooking when I was a little girl isn't reading this: while her version holds a special place in my heart, the Fat Witch's brownies are better. The Fat Witch Bakery is located in New York City's Chelsea Market, which is also home to Food Network headquarters. Two years ago, when I was freelancing at the Food Network, I couldn't stop myself from popping into the bakery every day on my lunch hour to savor a sample (or two, or three) from the plate so generously set out by the cash register. Thick, buttery, and moist, Fat Witch's brownies had the most intense...
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Among all the controversial subjects in chocolate, perhaps
the most controversial is the question,
"Is white chocolate really chocolate?" It's a question that evokes almost religious fervor and is akin to the question, "Mac or PC?"
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