Chocolate and Earl Grey Budino

Also known as wicked fancy chocolate pudding.  Which reminds me that I should tell you about The Great Pudding Fight of 2008.

It was fall of 2008 and Felix and I had been dating for less than a year.  I was inspired to make pudding from scratch (I'd just started reading food blogs, starting with Orangette).  I mixed and whisked and blended and chilled and served my pudding to my English then-boyfriend.  We hadn't even been dating for a year when it happened.

I handed the pudding to him - dish, spoon, napkin, expectations, hopes.  He took a bite and then two.  And then another.

"Good." He's a man of many words.  "What is it?"

"Pudding."

"I mean, what IS it," he said.   

"It's pudding, "I said more loudly, but still kindly, as if I were speaking to an elderly Bloodhound.

"But what KIND of pudding?" He seemed a little annoyed, for a man with a belly full of homemade pudding.

"It's CHOCOLATE pudding!" I was expecting oohs, ahhs, thank yous, proposals, kisses, worship - all kinds of things, but not grumpy bastards who questioned my pudding.

"But WHAT KIND OF CHOOCLATE PUDDING?" It had become an all-caps conversation.  The caps lock was ON, baby.

"SERIOUSLY.  It's CHOCOLATE PUDDING.  Like, Bill Cosby, ugly sweater, J-E-L-L-O, but FROM SCRATCH."

"Oh, custard.  Got it"

And that was our first fight.

Had I only known about this recipe, I could have made it, and it would have been like pudding to me, the American, but I would have said it was Budino, avoiding all conflict.  Thank goodness we made it through.

Long story slightly shorter, I made this Milk Chocolate and Early Grey Budino as part of The Bitten Word (Super Awesome) Cover to Cover Challenge.  The first time I made the recipe, I made it exactly as directed.  It was a perfect assignment - I had a tin of very fancy Earl Grey from Fortnum & Mason in London and this was a perfect use.  (What, I'm supposed to drink it?)

We found the result to be really flavorful - the Earl Grey gave it a complexity that we loved.  It was was unique, fragrant, but not too floral.  Pretty amazing.  But the texture wasn't quite as pleasing as I'd hoped - it was indeed smooth, but it was a bit plasticky rather than silky.  The version below is adjusted to fix that.  The Early Grey whipped cream on top was lovely, but I was inspired by the tea to try a different flavor pairing in the whipped cream - honey.

(Conflict-free) Chocolate and Early Grey Budino
Adapted from Milk Chocolate & Earl Grey Budino, Food & Wine October 2012

3 oz. Sharffen Berger semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 TBS butter
2 TBS cornstarch
1 TBS unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp Earl Grey tea leaves
2 cups (16 ounces) whole milk

3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 TBS honey
flaked sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

Add chocolate chunks and butter to a heatproof bowl.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk sifted cornstarch and sifted cocoa powder with granulated sugar and tea leaves.  Add milk and bring to a low boil, whisking constantly until quite thick. 

This took me a solid 3 minutes of bubbling to achieve.

Pour the thickened mixture through a fine sieve over the butter and chocolate and let sit for 30-60 seconds.

Whisk to combine.  Divide among four 6 oz ramekins and chill for at least an hour.

To make whipping cream, whip cream until soft peaks form and then add the powdered sugar and another 20 seconds.    Drizzle honey over the cream and gently turn it through to combine.  When you're ready to serve, put a dollop of cream on each pudding (budino, whatever) and sprinle with flaked sea salt.

No raising of voices necessary, unless you want to shout, Awwwwww, yeaaaahhhhh.

Also, if you're not reading The Bitten Word, you should be - they really do rule.  Some of my favorite Bitten hits are this spatchcocked turkey -- and if you're hosting Thanksgiving, reading all of their Thanksgiving posts would serve you well -- this adult beverage, this cake, and this sophisticated twist on tuna casserole.

Notes:  This recipe is a great base for variations.  I look forward to subbing a teaspoon or two of instant espresso for the tea, or perhaps simmering the custard mixture with a strip of orange zest - even just a dash of vanilla instead of Earl Grey would make for a nice variation.  Go wild.

This post in its entirety can be found at the Wicked Delicious Blog's new home - here.

Joy the Baker's Single Girl Melty Chocolate Cake

Oh, that Joy the Baker!  I was so pleased with my (admittedly food-poisoning-induced) ten-pound weight loss… And then Joy the Baker’s “single girl melty chocolate cake” came into my life, courtesy of the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  This bit’o’cake is petite and addictive and far too easy.  I’ve made two versions (for the sake of science, obviously) and both made me want to make out with the cake. 

Joy is wrong about one thing: this is a two-person cake.  Both nights I made this cake and ate it (for science) I was unable to finish it, although I tried my best.  It was silky and seductive, heavy with chocolate, simple, direct, something to think about hours after it was gone.  Dear god, this cake was the best affair I’ve never had – and it was just too much.  With a wee scoop of ice cream, this is a two (to four) person sweet treat.

Before I go any further, I must implore you:  buy this book:

It’s everything I hoped it could be – it’s well written, engaging, informative, and full of things I wanted to make.  It didn’t freak me out or make me feel inadequate; it is simply, beautifully, humorously inspiring.  It’s full of things I can handle, in ways I’ve never thought of – absolutely marvelous.  I was lucky enough to receive Joy the Baker’s cookbook as a KCRW angel member (another thing I implore you to go for, if you’re a KCRW listener) and I’m so thankful.  I never buy baking-skewed cookbooks because I’m easily frightened, so, thanks, KCRW! (Note: KCRW is my local public radio station – the programming is stellar and you can listen, and subscribe, online.)

Okay, the recipe.  You want this – you want to keep it in your virtual back pocket.  This is something you can make anywhere you have access to basic ingredients and have fifteen minutes of spare time.  You know how on Top Chef everyone is defeated by dessert?  It’s because they don’t have Joy the Baker as an ally – her cake will make you king the lab, Top Chef champion, and the best date ever.   It will make you look like a rockstar chocolate goddess.  After making it twice (for the sake of science) I had the recipe memorized.  It’s like having a superpower, or an edible Invisibility Snuggie.  It’s awesome.

 

Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Single Girl Melty Chocolate Cake, found in Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

¼ c semi-sweet chocolate chips, or heaping ¼ c chunks

1 egg

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp flour

pinch salt

Variation options:

¼ tsp instant coffee (add to melting butter and chocolate) OR

1 tsp strong-brewed coffee* (add to melting butter and chocolate) OR

Pinch orange zest (add to melting butter and chocolate) OR

Pinch cinnamon (add to flour and salt)…..and on and on.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F and butter ¾ c or 1 c ramekin.

Heat butter and chocolate in a double boiler**.  As this is melting, whisk egg and sugar vigorously in medium-sized bowl - I gave it a serious beating the second time and my tiny piece of heaven rose beautifully.  When chocolate and butter have melted and combined, add to egg/sugar mixture and whisk.  This will thicken.  Stir in flour and salt.  Pour into butter 3/4-cup ramekin and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, checking regularly after 8 minutes.

Let the cake rest for 2-3 minutes.  If you plan on turning it onto a small plate, run a knife around the edge.  Or, do as I have done and set the ramekin on a folded napkin on top of  a small plate (to keep it from sliding onto your legs and ruining your night).

Notes:

* you’re adding liquid, so it will impact the texture and cooking time – I had trouble getting this version out of the ramekin cleanly, but the taste was so extraordinary that I’m happy to eat it directly out of the ramekin.

** or microwave, or glass bowl set above an inch of simmering water, which is what I did…

I used Scharffen Berger semi-sweet chunks; chocolate is the bulk of this dessert, so use the best you can.

On Perfect as the Enemy of Good: Ugly Cookies

All of a sudden there are words on this page – this page that had been blank for more than three years.  Not too long after I made that egg sandwich I was paralyzed by the quest for perfection.  I would draft posts, choose pictures, look into hosting and promoting a website, research monetizing, etc.  Nothing I wrote was perfect and no matter what I learned I felt I should know more.

And then one day last week, a woman I used to work with quit.  She stopped her day job and started her life as she wanted it.  First I was inspired and then I was motivated.  And then suddenly I didn’t care if I was perfect, I just wanted to start doing something I wanted to do.  And now there are words on the page – imperfect words and imperfect pictures, but they are mine.  So I say all of this to say, hang in there with me while I get in the groove – and if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do, try it.  What’s the worst that can happen?

This recipe is dedicated to my former co-worker and to my friends whose ooooh’s and aaah’s over the cookies below helped me feel like I had something worth posting about.   It is adapted from my friend Linda’s world famous-in-the-neighborhood cookie recipe.  I’ve changed the oats-to-flour recipe to make a flatter, chewier cookie – they aren’t as pretty as Linda’s, but I’m a sucker for oats, so these ugly cookies get me every time.

Ugly Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4c. oats
1 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1 c. Scharffenberger’s bittersweet chocolate chunks
1 c. flaked coconut

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until mixture is light, about 2 minutes. Whisk the next four ingredients together and then add to the wet ingredients until blended. Finally, mix in cherries, chocolate and coconut – be careful not to over mix.  Store dough in the fridge covered in plastic wrap for 1-2 days before continuing for best results.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Drop batter by the heaping tablespoonful on a prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.

Notes: The fridge storage time really makes a difference in the flavor.  Plus, I like that I can keep the dough in the fridge and bake off cookies as I need them.  Sometimes I scoop them and lay them on a cookie sheet to freeze individually and then pop them in a storage bag.  That way you can bake just a couple at a time.

Bittersweet Macaroons

This wasn’t our first Christmas together – it was our fifth – but it was our first as an engaged couple and it really did feel different.The feeling was a combination of a very first Christmas kiss and an 80-year old couple holding hands. Peace and joy, peace and joy.

We had purchased Christmas cards to send to our now mutual loved ones, which was already a step up from the years prior. We had decorated our tree, Our tree, and it felt momentous. And as we did so I was trying to figure out what to do for casual gifts – something to leave in someone’s cube in case they left something in mine, something that said thank you and I’m thinking of you. Something… affordable.

I should tell you that I don’t like macaroons. I only liked a macaroon one time – at Angel Maid bakery in Culver City. But I thought quite highly of that macaroon and I thought I could replicate it, so attempt to replicate it we did.

This started with a trip to Surfas, also in Culver City. A million dollars and some unnecessary but satisfying purchases later, I had our ingredients. We settled in for a long winter’s baking (okay, it was 72 degrees – this is Southern California, after all).

In a matter of two hours, we made 80 macaroons - two batches following the recipe below. Simple, chewy and toasty on the outside, soft on the inside, dipped in bittersweet chocolate. They were a major success – they were the macaroons that make you into a macaroon person. And they are our first new tradition as a nearly married couple.

This recipe is adapted from Danny Cohen’s recipe, as posted on Food & Wine. I got lucky -- the recipe was simple and exactly what I was looking for and it was the first one we tried. These macaroons highlight coconut and chocolate -- no filler, no weird doughy or cakey texture. The ingredients remain essentially the same as the original recipe, but we put them together differently for the second batch because it worked better for us. The recipe below makes 40 macaroons.

Ingredients:
One 14-ounce bag sweetened shredded coconut
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces Scharffenberger bittersweet chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until you have firm peaks.

In a separate large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk with the vanilla. Fold in the egg whites. Gently, gently, gently fold in the coconut.

Scoop tablespoon-ish sized balls (I used a small ice cream scoop) on to your cookie sheets prepped with silpats (preferred) or parchment. Pop in the oven for 22-27 minutes until lightly golden, turning and rotating half way through.

Cool completely – if you’re on a mission, mine got cold enough after 10 minutes on the counter and five minutes in the freezer.

While your macaroons are cooling, melt your bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (or the microwave, or a glass bowl set above simmering water, etc.). When they are cool enough to handle, dip their little bottoms in the chocolate and allow to set.

Eat or give away, as you wish. Rumor has it they will store quite nicely in the fridge for two weeks, but I can only tell you they didn't last very long in my house at all -- but they have only themselves to blame.