Basically, we are talking about a butter cookie crust, filled with rich bittersweet ganache, topped with a cloud of delicately flavored lime cheesecake, and then embellished with the ripest of ripe raspberries, with a quick raspberry coulis poured over the top.

Did I say over the top?

This was better than good. The main problem was that the kitchen was hot and by the time I got the pictures taken the slice I was shooting had begun to look a little droopy. After all it was a good 95 degrees in the kitchen, and I was losing light fast.

I know this tart sounds complex but I swear to you it will go together almost as fast as instant pudding. The shell is the only thing that is baked, the rest of it is no cook. It would be best if you made it enough ahead of time that you could chill it thoroughly before serving.

The lime flavor is not distinct in this. If you are thinking of key lime pie or something it isn’t at all like that. With only a tablespoon or so of lime juice in the cheese mixture it is more of a delicate nuance, a little snap at the end of the swallow. It cuts the sweet intensity of the bittersweet chocolate nicely.

You can add a little non-GMO cornstarch to the coulis and microwave it to make it more of a glaze if you like. I preferred it to be just sweetened and blended. I think it tastes fresher.

Black Bottom Raspberry Lime Cheesecake Tart

Shell:

• 1 cup organic white flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup ice water, more or less
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Rub in the butter with your fingers, until the flour looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Mix water and vanilla and add it to the flour mixture until it forms a soft dough. Chill for about 3o minutes for easier handling.
4. Roll out on a floured surface and fit carefully into a tart or pie pan. Prick with a fork.
5. Bake at 375 until crisp, about 15-20 minutes.

Ganache:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream

1. Bring cream to a simmer.
2. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate.
3. Stir until melted and smooth.
4. Pour into crust.
5. Chill until firm.

Cheesecake:

• 16 oz cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Juice of one lime (1-2 tbs)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed.
2. Add cream, lime and vanilla
3. Beat until light and creamy, scarping down bowl often. You may need to add a little more cream to get the right consistancy.
4. Taste to adjust flavor.
5. Spoon over the ganache layer in the tart and return to refrigerator

Raspberry Topping:

• 1 pt raspberries
• Sugar to taste

1. Rinse raspberries gently.
2. Pick out the softest berries, and the not perfect berries to use for coulis.
3. Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top of the cheesecake layer.
4. Place the berries you set aside for coulis in a blender and add about 2 tbs water. Blend until a puree is formed.
5. Add sugar to taste. Blend until smooth
6. Thin with a little more water if necessary. Spoon over tart.

Makes 8-10 servings.

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I love doing Daring Bakers.  It forces me to challenge myself in ways I would not normally challenge myself.  It forces me to think outside of the box, and it allows me to be part of a group that includes the premier pastry chefs, bakers, and bloggers in the world.   I don’t know how you imagine my life to be, maybe blithely moving from mixer to oven to computer and back again, but that ain’t it!  Anyway, Daring Bakers gives me the chance to leave my daily stuff and imagine that I am a 5 star pastry chef once a month.

This month was cheesecake.  Once again, something that i have lots of experience with.  I used to create cheesecakes for Dallas area restaurants in the 80s as a little income.  I make cheesecakes the way some people make chocolate chip cookies.

You see, basically all good cheesecakes have the same basic ingredients in the same basic proportions.  You want to keep the fat content high and the air content low.  It is really quite simple.  Once you have the formula for a good cheesecake down it is just a matter of changing flavorings and textures.  So, I was not surprised when the recipe for this months Daring Bakers Challenge was very very similar to my own standby recipe.  I did not want to make something I had made before, again like last month I wanted to be stretched and challenged.  So…I present to you my Triple Layer *Oh Yes I Did* Cheesecake.

This is the cheesecake before the ganache is spread on it.

I used my Xanadu Brownies for the crust (more about that later) then a layer of chocolate cheesecake, followed by a layer of espresso cheesecake, using the JazzyBirdCoffee I reviewed on Kettle and Cup.  That is topped with a layer of intense vanilla bean cheesecake and then covered with a shiny, rich layer of ganache.

Oh wait…I forgot to tell you about a layer that you can’t see.  In between the chocolate and the espresso….

Chopped up milky way bars.  Uh huh…Oh yes I did!

I liked this cheese cake a lot.  I did not know how much it would make, and I should have doubled the recipe to get the layering effect that I was looking for.  Remember, my family is big so while this was a big cheesecake to most people, it gave us each one small serving.  If you are going to make this in a 9″ springform I do suggest doubling to get thicker layers.

The other problem I had was that it did not look as pretty as I wanted it to when it was cut.  I would suggest freezing slightly, and cutting with a knife dipped in warm water.  This is how my slices looked:

By the time I realized the images were bad the cake was gone. LOL!

This is going to be a long post.  I will give you the images and what I did first, and the recipe second.

I used my Xanadu Brownies for the crust.  These are rich, chewy brownies, deep dark and delicious.  I knew they would not be overbaked by being in the oven twice.  Just spoon the batter in the bottom of your springform pan.  Cover the outside with aluminum foil.  You will want that on their later anyway.  Bake until just done.  Set the pan aside to cool completely.

The first thing to know about a cheesecake is that you do not want to whip air into the batter.  You want it to be heavy and dense.  Always beat on lowest speed and use cookie whips rather than the ballon whisk attachment if you have them.  Everything should be at room temperature.

Once I had the basic batter made, but before I added the heavy cream called for in the recipe, I seperated the batter into three equal parts of about 3 1/3 cups each.

The recipe calls for one cup of heavy cream.  You need to divide this into three 1/3 portions.

*The chocolate layer: Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge.  Add 8 ozs of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped.  Stir until smooth.

*The espresso layer: I used one package of JazzyBird Espresso plus enough cream to make up the 1/3 cup.  You can also just heat the cream as above and then steep ground espresso beans in it, then strain.  You could substitute Earl Grey Tea for coffee if you wish.

* The vanilla layer.  Heat the cream as above.  Steep 1/2 inch of a split vanilla bean in it until it cools.  Remove pod.  Scrape out seeds into the cream  and set pod aside.

Chop 10 fun size Milky Way bars coarsely.

Now, pour the chocolate layer on top of the cooled brownie crust.  Add the chopped Milky Ways.  Keep them to the center more because if they are on the outside they will ooze and mess up the look of the layers.   Carefully spread the espresso layer over that.  Now, spoon on the vanilla layer.

Bake as directed in the recipe.

Cool the cake overnight.  Next day make Ganache:

1 cup heavy cream

12 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and shiny.

Remove cheesecake from refrigerator.  Working very fast spread the warm ganache over the cake, spreading it smoothly over the top and sides.  It is helpful to protect the cake plate with waxed paper while doing this.

Allow to set, in the refrigerator and then top with more chopped Milky Ways:

Store in the refrigerator.  Allow to stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving for best flavor and texture.  So here is the whole recipe without my changes.

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Some variations from the recipe creator:

** Lavender-scented cheesecake w/ blueberries – heat the cup of heavy cream in the microwave or a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Add 2 tbsp of lavender flowers and stir. Let lavender steep in the cream for about 10-15 minutes, then strain the flowers out. Add strained cream to cheesecake batter as normal. Top with fresh blueberries, or make a quick stovetop blueberry sauce (splash of orange juice, blueberries, a little bit of sugar, and a dash of cinnamon – cook until berries burst, then cool)

** Cafe au lait cheesecake with caramel – take 1/4 cup of the heavy cream and heat it in the microwave for a short amount of time until very hot. Add 1-2 tbsp. instant espresso or instant coffee; stir to dissolve. Add this to the remainder of cream and use as normal. Top cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce (I usually find one on the food network website – just make sure it has heavy cream in it. You can use store-bought in a pinch, but the flavor is just not the same since its usually just sugar and corn syrup with no dairy).

** Tropical – add about a half cup of chopped macadamias to the crust, then top the cake with a mango-raspberry-mandarin orange puree.

** Mexican Turtle – add a bar of melted dark chocolate (between 3 and 5 oz., to taste) to the batter, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of cayenne pepper (about 1/8 tsp.). Top it with pecan halves and a homemade caramel sauce.

** Honey-cinnamon with port-pomegranate poached pears – replace 1/2 cup of the sugar with 1/2 cup of honey, add about a teaspoon or more (to taste) of cinnamon. Take 2 pears (any variety you like or whatever is in season), peeled and cored, and poach them in a boiling poaching liquid of port wine, pomegranate juice/seeds, a couple of “coins” of fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, and about a 1/4 cup of sugar. Poach them until tender, then let cool. Strain the poaching liquid and simmer until reduced to a syrupy-glaze consistency, then cool. Thinly slice the cooled pears and fan them out atop the cooled cheesecake. Pour the cooled poaching syrup over the pears, then sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts and fresh pomegranate seeds.

Some variations from Jenny (from JennyBakes):

**Key lime – add zest from one lime to sugar before mixing with cream cheese. Substitute lemon juice, alcohol, and vanilla with key lime juice.

**Cheesecakelets – put in muffin tins, ramekins, or custard cups. Try baking 20-35 minutes, or until still a little jiggly, and cool as before.

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

O.k..with that said.. I only check the Daring Kitchen about once a month.  Sometimes I get there twice but not too often.  So when the date got changed from the 29 to the 27 I didn’t know.  You can bet I totally freaked on Friday when I saw daring lasagnes popping up all over the internet.

I was reassured that for this month the 29th was acceptable but that in the future the post date will be the 27th.  Whew. I have made homemade lasagne before numerous times..In fact I have made homemade lasagne from homemade pasta to homemade ricotta to homemade sauce…so this challenge seemed to me as if I would be cheating by doing a regular lasagne.  I thought about chicken and artichoke Parmesan lasagne…I thought about prosciutto, pear, and bleu cheese lasagne…I thought and I thought..How could I be different and challenge myself?

Dessert lasagne..only rule I gave myself was..No chipotle.  This is what I came up with:

Cannoli Dessert Lasagne with Ganache

Yeah.  Cardamom pasta cooked in orange juice, star anise, and sugar, wrapped around a sweet cannoli filling, drizzled with bittersweet chocolate ganache, topped with whipped cream and garnished with pistachios.

So…here’s how I did it.  Ready?

Cannoli Filling

1 pound of whole milk ricotta, drained in a cheesecloth for 30 minutes

4 oz cream cheese

4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

Whip the cream cheese and the ricotta together until well blended.  Add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, and beat well.  Stir in the pistachios and chocolate and set in the refrigerator to thicken.  This is best made one day ahead if possible.

Cardamom Pasta

2 tablespoons very fresh cardamom

2 cups flour

2 Eggs

2 tablespoons walnut oil (not toasted walnut oil..just plain walnut oil)

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

couple of tablespoons of orange juice if needed to acheive the proper consistency

Mix dry ingredients.  Beat eggs and stir in to flour mixture with walnut oil.  Form into a ball.  Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is very supple and elastic.  Cover and set aside until ready to roll or at least 1 hour.

Unless the dough is sufficiently relaxed you will not be able to roll it thin enough.  The main cause of pasta dishes that are just bland or mediocre is the pasta being too thick.  A thin pasta is delicate and adds a whisper of texture and flavor.

On a counter dusted with flour roll the dough as thinly as possible.  You will want to be able to almost read a newspaper through it.  Cut it in long strips about 2 1/2 inches wide.

Mix 2 quarts of orange juice, 1/2 cup of sugar, four whole star anise, a pinch of salt, and about 4 cracked cardamom pods (or a few teaspoons of cardamom) in a pan.  Add enough water to make it deep enough to cook the lasagne noodles.

Bring to a boil and then carefully add the noodles while stirring.  Cook until done.  You do not want these to be al dente..you want them to be cooked well but not mushy.

Drain well and pat dry.

Ganache

8 ozs of chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

Bring cream just to a boil.  Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until smooth and melted.  Keep warm.

Assemble

Take a noodle and lay it flat on the counter.  Spread it with a thin layer of the cannoli filling.  Carefully and gently roll it up.  Drizzle some of the ganache on a serving plate, carefully lay the lasagne on the plate at an angle.  Drizzle with more ganache.  Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of pistachios.

Makes 8

Once again, thanks to the Daring Bakers for helping me to push myself to be a little more creative than I would normally be

images (c)Marye Audet 2009, all rights reserved

Post from: Baking Delights

Ethan’s 15th birthday is Monday.  His birthday is the 29th anniversary of Marc and my first date, too.

Anyway, we celebrated it last night with friends and family.  He had three of his closest friends spend the night.  Of course one of the little brothers (of two of the friends) is best friends with Sean and Nick…so he stayed too…and then Kyrie and the grandkids, Amanda and Gabe, begged to have a sleep-over…

That is how I ended up with 12 kids in my house this morning.

Twelve.  The three littles are in the back room watching cartoons.  The big ones are in the den playing video games (one of the friends was nice enough to bring his game system ) and the medium sized ones are here in th office on one of the other computers.  Eventually they will all go home and we will be back to controlled chaos.

All of the kids that are here (with the exception of the grands) are from big families of 6 or more kids and are homeschooled.  I am always amazed at how well they all get along and interact.  There is no yelling at the littler ones, or complaining…they are letting everyone play..and it is peaceful, albeit a little loud.  Did I mention the numerous guitars?  Shiloh made breakfast this morning (I think one of the boys has a thing for her..who coud blame him? and asked her if she was cooking breakfast..so she made pancakes and apparently this one boy at 15 of them.)

With that many kids and then the adults that were here I decided to make two cakes instead of one.  They were the same base but I used french silk in place of the peanut butter mousse on one of them..I will post pictures of that one later..

The cake is good.  Moist, rich, chocolate….topped with a rich peanut butter mousse and then a thick ganache glaze it was almost too much.  Even Marc could not eat more than one piece..although the piece was quite large.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

12 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Sharffen Berger Cocoa
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• Peanut Butter Mousse (recipe follows)
• Chocolate Ganache Glaze (recipe follows

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch pan
2.  Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Melt butter.  Stir in chocolate until smooth and melted.
4. Add eggs, milk,chocolate mixture, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.
7. Cover with the peanut butter mousse.  Chill
8. Cover with a smooth layer of the ganache.  Refrigerate about 4 hours before serving.

Peanut Butter Mousse

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat the peanut butter and cream cheese together until blended.
2. Add sugar slowly, beating well until all the sugar is incorporated.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating about 3 minutes after each addition.
4. Add vanilla
5. Spread on cooled cake in a thick layer.

Ganache

• 1 cup cream
• 12 ozs bittersweet chocolat, chopped

Bring cream just to a boil.  Stir in chocolate until smooth.  Spread over the peanut butter while still warm smoothing it as you go.
In retrospect, even though this is a very rich cake, I think I would give this a layer of caramel syrup between the cake and the peanut butter…just to see what that would be like…Chopped peanut butter cups on the top would be great as well.

Images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Yes, I admit it.  I am meandering through cookbooks that I have not picked up in awhile.  I am a messy cook (ha! Understatement) and the books tend to get messed up. I waver between thinking that it is worth it to sacrifice the book in the quasi-anthropological quest for vintage recipes AND thinking that by the time I am finished the book will be compost.

Marc loves Boston Cream Pie and I have been on a pastry cream kick since the Great Daring Bakers Eclair Caper.

Anyway, decided to do this on Labor Day and I liked it.  The cake was sweet and light, although the batter was a little loose for what I am used to, it did very well.  It was a sticky cake with the texture of an angel food cake pumped up with air..if that makes sense.  I made it with the vanilla pastry cream but I intend to try it with the espresso cream that I used for the eclairs as well.  It was beautiful until it was cut and then, because the layers were so light it would not stand up properly for pictures.

I used to have the same problem with my kids on picture taking day.

So, try the cake, forgive the image, and have a great day.

Oh..and hey, I have less than 25 recipes to finish on the cookbook so I should be back en force at some point next week.

Boston Cream Pie

Cake:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease and flour a 9 inch baking pan.
2. Heat the butter and milk until bubbles form and butter melts.  Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients
4. Beat eggs until very light and thick.  Continue to beat and add sugar gradually. Ribbons will form when the beaters are lifted.
5. Add vanilla and milk mixture beat well.  Fold in flour mixture.
6. Turn gently into the baking pan and bake for  25 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, cool for a few minutes and remove from the pan while still warm..split carefully.

Pastry Cream

• 2 cups half and half

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/2 teaspoon almond flavor

• 1/3 cup butter

• 3 tablespoons organic cornstarch

• 4 egg yolks

1. Whisk together all the ingredients except the butter, almond, and vanilla.  Microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring every minute until the mixture is thick adn creamy and coats a spoon thickly.
2. Remove from the microwave and add the butter and vanilla.  Place buttered wax paper on the top, against the surface of the pastry cream.  Chill.

Chocolate Glaze

• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup (keeps it shiny)

1. Bring the cream just under a boil.  remove from heat.
2. Add the chocolate and stir until melted.
3. Add the butter and corn syrup and blend well.
4. Cool slightly and then smooth it over the top of the filled cake, allowing some to drip down the sides.

To Assemble:

1. Place one half of the cake with the cut side up on a cake plate.
2. Spread with the pastry cream.
3. Place the other half cake cut side down on the pastry cream.
4. Settle the layer by pressing down gently.
5. Smooth the chocolate over the top as directed.
6. Chill.

Serves 12

Image:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Being a homeschooler I have many opportunities to witness when something “clicks” with one of my kids and becomes something the understand rather than something they are learning. I love watching that light go on in their heads!

Shiloh has a knack for cooking. Somewhere I have a picture of her holding the first tray of cookies she ever baked on her own, at age FIVE! Many times I will just ask her to make some cookies, and within a short period of time the whole house smells great.

Baking has clicked with her. She now adapts recipes easily and without much though, measures by the feel of it in her hand, the weight, and the texture and look of what she is baking. Because of that she enjoys it. And she is good at it.

These are her recipe, totally. She adapted another recipe, changing both ingredients and actual structure of the cookie. I thought the addition of the pecan half on top was brilliant. The cookies are rich and peanut butter-y, and the bittersweet chocolate ganache gives them a sophisticated touch. They were completely gone in a matter of minutes.

This recipe is (c) Marye Audet at Baking Delights (http://bakingdelights.com) If you find it on another website..please visit the original and comment to let me know..thanks.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies

1/2 c unsalted butter

1/2 c peanut butter, preferably freshly ground homemade

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar, packed

1 Tbs honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c finely chopped pecans

1 tsp salt if the peanut butter is homemade

In a large bowl cream the butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat in the egg.

Combine the dry ingredients, and pecans, and mix into the creamed mixture.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto a silpat covered baking sheet. Bake at 350 until golden brown. Cool.

Ganache

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Bring cream just to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Cool in refrigerator until the consistency is thick and spreadable (about like peanut butter)

Sandwich two cookies together with a tablespoon or so of the ganache. Place a dab of ganache on the top of the sandwich cookie and affix a pecan half. Makes about 2 -3 dozen, depending on size.

Post from: Baking Delights

I love the word hearth, it conjures up romantic images of cottages, crackling fires and romantic heroes.

And the cake? That picture is from 1963…and I will share the story in a day or so…

Anyway, Valentines Day has become a holiday that is all about how much you spend, just like Christmas and Easter. The candy companies have convinced us that without a $20 box of chocolate our day is incomplete and we are unloved.

Is there anything more loving that homemade? I don’t think so. Here are some ideas for you, some are mine, some are from around the web. Take back the day. Simplicity is good for our budgets, our environment, but most importantly, simplicity is good for the soul.

Oh, and remember, if you are not reading this at http://bakingdelights.com, then you are reading stolen material.

1. A Chocolate Portrait. Seriously this site shows you how to do a portrait from a black and white picture in chocolate! What a great gift!

2. Decorated Cookies. I love this sugar cookie recipe. I will be making some Valentines Day cookies from it closer to Valentine’s Day. Beautiful with pink sprinkles, or glazed, or gilded with tons of royal icing flowers.

3. Chocolate & Earl Grey Terrine. This is rich, chocolaty and luscious. And sensual. Perfect with a sparkling dessert wine.

4. Melt some good chocolate and dip pretzels in it. Yum.

5.Chocolate Truffle Brownies

6. Apricot and white chocolate scones, cut in a heart shape? Or substitute dried cherries and dark chocolate!

7. Make your own truffles. It really is easy, and believe it or not you can make them as well as Godiva. I promise.

Basic Chocolate Truffles

8 oz good quality chocolate (50% cocoa, preferably higher) broken into pieces
1/2 c heavy cream

1 Tsp corn syrup

1 Tbs unsalted butter

Bring cream, butter, and corn syrup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and add in chocolate. Do not stir but allow chocolate to soften for 3-5 minutes. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. refrigerate until set. Using a melon baller, dip out the cold ganache and roll into balls. Dip into melted chocolate or roll in cocoa.

8. You can also make tea infused truffles, Earl Grey Truffles

9. Three Cheese Fondue with Champagne. I would be impressed.

10. Chocolate Covered Cherries. Yum

Not only that…but over the next week or so I will be giving my recipe for a Romantic Valentines Day dinner, as well as some yummy chocolate covered espresso beans over on Kettle and Cup… I LOVE Valentines Day..so check both blogs …
Today is the first day of voting for the chocolate contest. You can vote for me AND register to win a matching trip yourself…just click on the link.

Post from: Baking Delights

So…here is my submission. I was pleasantly surprised that the cake was beyond good. It was definitely five star calibre…and oh my goodness is it rich…Do brew a pot of good dark espresso to go with it..you will need it to cut the intensity of the cake. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time for this…I should have assembled the cake the night before and then let it chill an firm up overnight.
This is everything a chocolate ckae should be..intense in flavor, rich, creamy, with the bite of the orange curd cutting through the initial taste of the chocolate on the tongue..and then disappearing to allow the chocolate to have the last word, so to speak.

Cake:
2 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c hershey’s special dark cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1 c dark, strong coffee
1/2 c oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350
grease and flour three 8″ round pans.

Mix dry ingredients together.
Pour oil into a mixing bowl and mix sugar in on medium speed until sugar dissolves. Add eggs one at a time. Add coffee, buttermilk and vanilla and then dry ingredients. Mixture will be very thin. Seriously, it will have the consistancy of half and half. Pour 1/3 of the mixture in each of the pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until done. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, turn out and let finish cooling.

Bittersweet Frosting

Orange Curd Filling

This orange curd is super easy and wonderful as a topping for scone, a filling for cakes, or cheesecake, or sandwiched in cookies…or licked off your fingers….. you can cook it the traditional way, or microwave it.

1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 c lemon juice
3 Tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 c water
zest from one orange
1/2 c unsalted butter cut in pieces

Whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, orange concentrate, water and zest. Microwave ar one minute intervals, stirring, until mixture coats a spoon. Remove from microwave, add butter a little at a time and whisk smooth. Chill.

Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
5 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped small

Heat cream to just a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until smooth. Chill.

Assemble

Place cake layer on plate. Cover with the ganache. Place another layer on top. Cover with about one cup of curd. Place last layer on top, gently, and chill until firm.
Frost sides of cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, smoothing over sides. Frost top of cake, leaving an unfrosted 6″ circle in center of cake top. Pipe scrolls from frosting around circle and fill with about 1/2 cup orange curd in center. Sprinkle with chocolate shot. Chill.
serves 12.

Post from: Baking Delights

What kind of thing? You will have to check back. You should be out of your chocolate coma by then.

O.k. These are from Epicurious. They are…incredible. This is definitly a case for saving the best for last.

For hazelnut base
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick ( 1/4 cup) unsalted butter
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 large whole eggs

For ganache
2 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

Make hazelnut base:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square metal baking pan, then dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess. Finely grind nuts in a food processor with flour, sugar, and salt.

Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan, then remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, whisking until smooth. Stir in nut flour until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until top is firm and dry and a tester inserted into center comes out with crumbs adhering, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, at least 2 hours.

Make ganache:
Lightly beat yolks in a bowl. Bring cream with salt just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, then add half of it to yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining cream and cook over low heat, whisking, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil).

Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour ganache over hazelnut base in pan, smoothing top with offset spatula, and chill, covered, until firm, at least 5 hours.

Cut into squares with a warmed thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut, and remove from pan while still cold.

Serve truffles cold or at room temperature.

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

Post from: Baking Delights