The brownie flavor here is quite, quite intense. So this creature is the perfect foundation for a brownie sundae. Top this brownie with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream for contrast [look for a Vanilla Bourbon Ice Cream in tomorrow's post!]. Or, go for a complement. Coffee or mocha ice creams would be fine choices.

You can be decadent and top with marshmallow fluff. By now you need a bigger bowl. And probably a second batch of these treats.

On technique, this is a brownie made in a saucepan, not in a mixing bowl. It’s quick to prepare and you have less kitchen mess — yet you create a real treat. Chances are, anyone who tastes this will also vote for more.

Double-Chocolate Brownies

Yield: Makes nine 2 ½-Inch squares

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
• Chopped walnuts, pecans or chocolate chips may be added

 
Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with the parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt. Fold in flour until combined.

Pour batter into pan. Bake until set and toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan about 15 minutes. Lift brownies from pan using parchment. Remove parchment, transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.

Source: Martha Stewart Living Magazine

There was a television series on PBS called Rumpole of the Bailey where a very clever lawyer was married to someone he described as “She Who Must Be Obeyed.” Not to her face, of course.

Not that I’m in that situation, but recently I heard Suzen say, “Too much chocolate.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Every damn blog post,” she answered.

Okay, I was hitting the chocolate pretty hard in the springtime, I admit. I did seek help and this summer has been filled with berries and fruit covered in natural, raw sugar. So think I’ve made enormous strides.

Now about this recipe for chocolate cake. I don’t know how I got it. I do not remember looking it up or printing it or anything. One day, there it was, printed out and on my desk. I would deny any responsibility for its appearance, but Suzen would not believe me. I may have accidentally downloaded while I was sleepwalking one night. Bad things do occur when you are chocolate deprived.

I won’t say this is the best chocolate cake ever. I will say, that if I ever have a formal last meal, this is the dessert I would request. The cake is divine. But the frosting is the killer. Milk chocolate frosting. A pound of milk chocolate plus whipping cream. I had the best time ever making this.

And the truth is, Suzen did, too. She decorated the cake. And she ate several pieces. I was just politely silent with every bite she took. One smirk from me and … Well, we won’t go there.

The one change we made in the recipe was to add crunched up Heath bars to the top of the cake as well as the middle layer. In fact, we divided the recommended four Heath bars, putting just two in the middle and then the remaining two on top.

Now, be honest. When you look at the picture of the cake above, don’t you just want to like your monitor? This cake is that good. As you plan for next weekend, buy some milk chocolate. Like a pound. Maybe more because you’ll want to taste test to make sure it’s good milk chocolate.

And to where to buy very good milk chocolate? Trader Joe’s has a house brand that is reasonably priced and exceptionally tasty.

Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting

Yield: 10-12 servings

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• ½ cup hot water
• 1 ¾ cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup whole milk

Cake Preparation:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350˚F. Butter two 9-inch diameter cake pans with sides 1‑¾ inches high. Line bottoms of pans with waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pans with flour, tap out excess. Combine chocolate with ½ cup hot water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm, stirring often.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla extract. Beat in chocolate mixture. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating just to blend after each addition. Divide batter equally between pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean and cake just begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 35 minutes. Cool cake in pans on racks 5 minutes. Cut around pan sides. Turn cakes out onto racks; peel off waxed paper. Cool Cakes completely.

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups whipping cream
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 pound milk chocolate, chopped

Frosting Preparation:

Combine cream, corn syrup and butter in heavy large saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer. Add chopped chocolate. Reduce heat to low and whisk until frosting is smooth, about 1 minute; transfer to a large bowl.

Fill another large bowl with ice. Set bottom of bowl with frosting atop ice. Whisk until frosting is cool and begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Place bowl of frosting on work surface. Using electric mixer, beat until color lightens and just until frosting becomes thick enough to hold peaks when beaters are lifted, about 2 minutes. Frosting will continue to thicken as it stands.

Assembly Ingredients:

• 4 1.4 ounce chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath Bars or Skor), cut into ¼-inch dice
• 7 ounces milk chocolate (such as one Hershey’s bar)

Cake Assembly:

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on an 8-inch diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round. If desired, place pan bottom with cake atop 8-inch diameter cake pan to make a simple decorating stand. Top layer with 1 ½ cup frosting, spreading to edge. Sprinkle evenly with diced toffee. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Press slightly to adhere. Spread thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake to seal and set crumbs. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake (if frosting becomes stiff, stir gently spatula to loosen).

Stand chocolate bar on a short end. Using a vegetable peeler and starting at top edge of 1 side, run peeler down length of bar (chocolate will come away from side of chocolate bar in curls). Pile chocolate curls atop cake. Chill at least 2 hours. Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Source: Epicurious

I am not, as my family maintains, a prejudiced man. I simply have guiding principles. One of them is not to ever eat certain foods. I have a Top 10 list of the foods I will not touch, let alone allow to enter my body. There are about 30 items on the Top 10 list. Yes, it’s crowded there, but I have very rigorous standards.

From time to time, I will reconsider. Sometimes there is a recipe with such appeal that I think one of my Top 10, or Top 30 or whatever, might be capable of salvation.

I don’t like dates. I never have. If I eat sticky food, I want immediately to take a shower. It’s just my way. And God knows that if you get within five feet of a date, some part of it is going to collect on your fingertips.

I am addicted to chocolate. I like jalapeno. I adore bacon. So I saw this recipe on The Tasting Table, a wonderful website, and I thought if they can do dates, so can I.

It turns out, this is a perfectly sumptuous recipe. The contrasting flavors come in layers that just confuse you a bit. The whole date flavor is just lost amidst the bacon, chocolate and jalapeno. Oh the date is there, because there is undoubted sweetness on the tongue. But the chocolate kicks in and then jalapeno, and you are left asking yourself, “What did I just eat? And can I have another?”

This appetizer has substance so plan on only 3 or 4 per person. A substantial cocktail is suggested to accompany the strong flavors of this enormous nosh.

Devils on Horseback

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 12 strips of bacon, halved crosswise
• 24 dates, pitted
• 6 squares of bittersweet baker’s chocolate, broken into shards
• Fleur de sel or other coarse sea salt
• 12 marcona almost, halved
• ½ jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced into ¼-inch pieces

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 300F. Arrange the bacon on a baking sheet and warm in the oven for 15 seconds., the remove and let cool. Turn the oven up to 400F.

Stuff each date with a piece of chocolate, a few grains of fleur de sel, half a macron almond and a piece of jalapeño. Wrap each date with a strip of bacon and place on a baking sheet, seam side down.

Bake for 5 t0 7 minutes or until the bacon on is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Changes and Considerations:

Truthfully, Suzen and I did not get the 15 seconds bit for warming the bacon. Just let the bacon come to room temperature before assembly. You do have to ponder the thickness of bacon; we used some very thick bacon from Fleishers, our Kingston butcher. We needed to cook for about 20 minutes. That thickness may also mean you want to use toothpicks to secure each rollup and ensure they do not unwind during cooking.

Finally, if you do like things sweet, then before you place them in the oven, top each one with a teaspoon of dark brown sugar. It makes a big difference. Very sweet. Very sticky. After I ate them, I needed a shower. I didn’t mind at all.

Source: TastingTable.com

Simple can be very good. At times, like on a hot summer day, we like our food simple. So in the coming weeks, I’ll post some Really Simple recipes: ones that are still delicious, yet very easy to make.

I said “summer” and summer is the time for ice cream. I’m neutral about nudity as a life style, but I adamantly believe ice cream should be fully dressed. Chocolate sauce, not just syrup but real sauce, is a staple in our kitchen.

This recipe, from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, can be made in five minutes, stores for a couple of weeks, and makes any ice cream a treat.

Here are a couple of things you should know. First, David lives in Paris and has fully adopted the French style to marvelous desserts. So, this syrup is very good. And not very sweet. Be prepared to be a bit surprised at first, and then, upon consideration, fully pleased.

Second, this recipe calls for a cup of cocoa powder and David says get the best cocoa you can. He means it, for the dominant flavor is cocoa. Cocoa powder, good powder, is not cheap. A cup of cocoa powder is a culinary investment, but it’s the wise investment here. You’ll get well over a pint of sauce that gives you great mileage. The flavor is so intense that a small amount is all you need on your ice cream, in your shake, or in your coke. You do make chocolate cokes, don’t you?

Take five minutes and create this flavor multiplier.

Really Simple Chocolate Sauce

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 cup corn syrup
4 ounces semisweet chocolate

Preparation:

Put the water, cocoa, and corn syrup in a tall saucepan. Whisk to blend, turn on the heat and whisk occasionally while bringing to a boil. When the mixture is boiling, lower the heat to simmer and whisk for three minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the semisweet chocolate, and whisk to mix. Serve while still warm. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. This sauce stores in the refrigerator.

Why a tall sauce pan? When the mixture first begins to boil, it can double in volume in seconds. Be careful! If you need to, lift the pan from the heat and continue whisking.

Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

In Austin last week the theme for the party was Fear Factor. My resource was the web. I needed to find food items that were designed for 9-year olds who wanted to be grossed out.

I love the web, which happens to be a driving factor behind the escalating complexity of these parties. The web is truly a wonderful resource for party ideas, games, good foods, and disgusting foods.

What do you call a bunch of mice? An infestation.

What do you call a bunch of chocolate mice? A platter.

As part of the Fear Factor experience, each guest was required to eat one mouse. Not a dead one, just a chocolate one. There was demonstration: how to hold the mouse by its tail, turn your head back, open your mouth and slowly lower the morsel — that’s stretching the use of the word I know — into your open mouth.

“Me, me, me next,” was the chant from the guests. So each got one of these lovely chocolate mice and each mouse quickly disappeared. The two girls attending the party took a pass on this step. I fully understand.

My thanks to folks at www.chocolate-candy-mall.com for creating this great recipe. We did make one change here, doubling the amount of ingredients for the kneaded mixture that surrounds the cherry: the butter, corn syrup, salt and powdered sugar. We did not want slim mice.

Oh, tomorrow it will be meringue snakes. By this weekend, I’ll be back to adult food.

Chocolate Mice

Yield: 20 robust mice

Ingredients:

20 maraschino cherries with stem [stems are the mouse tails and needed!]
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons corn syrup
Dash of salt
1 ⅓cup powdered sugar
40 pieces sliced almonds, toasted
2 cups chocolate pieces or chips
20 chocolate kiss
Red decorator icing in a tube with squeeze top ending

Preparation:

Thoroughly drain the cherries on a paper towel.

Mix together the butter, corn syrup, salt and powdered sugar. Knead until smooth.

Place 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture around each cherry and place on a cookie sheet line with waxed paper. Put the 20 wrapped cherries on the sheet into the refrigerator to chill.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave.

Dip the covered cherries in the melted chocolate by holding the stems [uh, the tails]. Place back on a tray lined with wax paper. Immediately place a chocolate kiss and 2 almond slices in place for the ears and head before the chocolate sets.

Using the decorator icing, place dots on the face for two eyes and a nose.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

As the chocolate cools, there will be some leakage from the mouse onto the wax paper. Use a sharp knife to dress up the mice just before serving.

Source: www.chocolate-candy-mall