Addicted Sweet Tooth

All the rave about chocolate these days is wrapped around cocoa content. The more the better it seems. Some companies are daring customers to go as high as 90% cocoa content, the rest being sugar and small amounts of flavorings like vanilla or emulsifiers like lecithin.

Many people know cocoa powder, but they do not know much about the other part (in fact about 50%) of the cocoa bean that makes chocolate chocolate and not just a powdery substance.

The melt in your mouth heavenly treat relies on cocoa butter, the fat from the cocoa bean, to achieve its unparalleled consistency. No other fat in the world has such characteristics and scientists still cannot recreate its behavior. Nature is hard to top. Vanilla extract is not the same as the aroma from a vanilla bean, but this could be another post.

“What is it about cocoa butter then? I can see that only 10% sugar would not please me too much, but I know how much you like chocolate. And pure (unsweetened) chocolate as part of a good quality brownie… Close to heaven, I agree. But fat? Who likes fat?”

At moderate (not tropical) room temperature cocoa butter by itself is really hard. If you were to punch a block of it, your hand would really hurt. Imagine now a block of butter at room temperature and punching it. Aside from the mess you create, your hand would only hurt if you hit the table underneath the butter, correct?

“Who would do such a thing? Butter belongs on a warm croissant or fresh bread!”

This is just to explain things! That can be hard without “show and tell”.

Back to cocoa butter. Chocolate, like butter, will melt in your mouth, won’t it? So it goes from hard at room temperature to completely melted at body temperature. That is the shortest melting range for any fat available as far as I know. Oils are liquid way below room temperature and pretty much stay that way when heated. Shortening is somewhat firm at room temperature but won’t really melt in your mouth.

“That’s true, I still have a vivid memory of fat covering the roof of your mouth after we tried that cheap croissant a few years ago. Stick to the ones made with real butter, won’t you?”

Ok, it took us this long to establish the first phenomenal fact about cocoa butter:

1. Cocoa butter has a sharp melting range.

Firm enough at room temperature to be used for confections or chocolate bunnies yet it will melt in your mouth (or even hand, which could be seen as a disadvantage, but come on, when is life ever perfect?).

The second phenomenal fact about cocoa butter is that it does not spoil easily. Unlike butter or margarine it contains no water so it does not turn rancid that easily (I have been told “not ever”, but I tend to play it safe – but I cannot reveal how old my cocoa butter really is or I would lose potential taste testers and my husband would have a talk with me about fixed capital – remember the rhubarb in the freezer?). So here it goes:

2. Cocoa butter withstands rancidity.

I am sure that there have to be more good facts about cocoa butter – after all: Chocolate was considered only worthy for gods not too long ago way back when…

But – what makes cocoa butter more of a topic than butter ever will be is the fact that with its beauty comes also pain – working with it can be tricky. Cocoa butter is the “Diva” of the chocolate world. If you don’t treat her well or correctly, she will get back at you, and let me say this – this one aims pretty well!

Cocoa butter has the ability to form different kinds of crystals when it hardens again after being melted. They can be smaller or bigger and more or less stable. All out of the same batch of cocoa butter, just influenced by how it was treated. This phenomenon that translates into pain challenge for the person working with it is called:

3. Cocoa butter is high-maintenance polymorphic.

“Ok, I so need a piece of chocolate to get over this word – right now!”

Not only has cocoa butter this unique ability,

“Would it help if I said please?”

…, cocoa butter also has the tendency to form large crystals when left to its own devices. Those larger crystals “gang up” and would rise to the surface of the chocolate, resulting in fat bloom as pictured below.

Last fact for today:

4. Cocoa butter has the tendency to form large crystals and thus needs to be tempered.

More about that later on - if anyone is still reading and interested…

“Can I get my chocolate now? …. Pretty please?”

Filed under: Chocolate, background information | 4 Comments »

Finally we have rhubarb again. So many rhubarb treats await… so little time.

Enough time for a quick variation on my Orange Cherry Muffins - take out orange zest and cherries, enter rhubarb and frozen strawberries.

“They were good! Hmmm.”

The first picture above will be my entry for “Snack shots: Muffin” hosted by Michelle of Greedy Gourmet. I do not have enough time to write anything more specific than “delicious!” about the muffins, so I will have to pass on any chance of entering her Word4Word part of this event. Anyway…

We are off to Mexico now (almost). With a tear in my eye (how much of a blogging addict am I already?) I decided not to pack any computer related items. There I was - thinking that finally I could comment on all those great other blogs, not only but also importantly reading through all the latest Daring Baker’s Cheesecake Pops. Oh well, they will be there when I get back. My comments will be found under number 154 and counting then…

I will try to finish one other post (Chocolate demystified #3) and have it publish itself time-delayed so that the time until our return won’t seem that long. Keeping my fingers crossed…

Until soon!

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

yields 16 regular size muffins

240 g sugar (8 oz.)
pinch of salt
60 g butter, room temperature (2 oz.)
3 eggs, whole
120 g buttermilk (4 oz.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60 g canola oil (2 oz.)
150 g all purpose flour, I use unbleached (3 oz.)
150 g bread flour (3 oz.)
10 g baking powder (1/3 oz.)
240 g rhubarb pieces, frozen or fresh (8 oz.)
120 g strawberry pieces, frozen (4 oz.)

• Preheat the oven to 190ºC (375ºF)
• Cream sugar and salt with butter until homogeneous.
• Add the eggs one at a time scraping the bottom of the bowl once in a while.
• Add the buttermilk, vanilla and oil.
• Mix the flour with the baking powder and add it to the batter.
• Continue to mix for about 30 seconds after the flour is incorporated.
• Fold in fruit pieces by hand, divide into lined muffins tins.
• Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
• Let it cool, enjoy!

Filed under: Blogging event, Flour, Fruits, Muffins, breakfast | 5 Comments »

There are quite a few desserts that share the name with a person, a town, or even a country.

In Germany we have filled jelly doughnuts (solid, no hole in the center). In some parts of the country they are called “Berliner”, a word which also refers to the people living or born in Berlin. That led to some funny misunderstandings about John F. Kennedy’s famous sentence “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Just to be sure - he did NOT identify himself with a jelly dough nut

The drop cookies I want to write about today are called “Amerikaner” (Americans) in Germany. Probably because they were adapted from the cookies found here in the U.S. My Mom found this correlation so funny that she created her very own pun by ordering “Kleine Amerikaner” (Little Americans) from a local pastry shop to share with colleagues on the days after her grandchildren were born.

Here in the U.S. they are simply called “Black and white cookies”. They are my entry for this month’s Tasty Tools: Scoops hosted by Joelen.

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Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Chocolate, Cookies, Flour | 3 Comments »

For this week’s Mondays with Martha Mimi picked the Mocha Roulade from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

My husband cannot stand coffee. But I knew that he would love the cake if it was done without the coffee. Since the coffee only adds flavor, I simply omitted it. Everyone liked the flavor of the chocolate version.

However - unlike my taste testers who got the finished result, I saw the mousse before it was used for the Roulade. It was nice and not too fluffy and set up fairly quickly (I used good quality dark couverture chocolate with 70% cocoa content). I kept thinking - why would you chill this nice mousse and then spread it onto the cake afterwards? It will lose almost all of the air that I incorporated. BUT: I wanted to check out the original so I followed the instructions. I would not chill the mousse again. One piece of the Roulade can finish you off! It is very rich and dense, great for a chocolate lover (which I consider myself to be), but one should be realistic about fat and calorie intake, even with an Addicted Sweet Tooth.

“Ooooh, come on, cut me some slack! Do I complain when you eat your salad?”

Next time I would make the cake and then the mousse, assembling the cake before the mousse sets. Yes, this can be more stressful, but I am pretty sure that you will be rewarded with a nice eating pleasure as well as being able to eat the next (regular) meal.

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Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Chocolate, Flour | 5 Comments »

Cheesecake pops - the Daring Bakers challenge Elle and Deborah gave us this month. The founders of the Daring Bakers faced another challenge this month - they helped all of us move - simultaneously! They did a tremendous job of moving the Daring Bakers to a new platform after so many of us struggled with postings on the “old” version. And the good news for you: Part of the forum is now public.

Now back to our regular programing

You probably won’t find much straying away from the beaten path in my Daring Bakers challenges.

“Yeah, you read “Little Red Hiding Hood” a few times too often lately, haven’t you?”

No, I just don’t have specific nutritional requirements that I want or have to follow. I have likes and dislikes, but they are minor (in the “natural” pastry world).

All this said - what can I bring to the table aside from “yet another cheesecake pop”? I will try my best to document the process step by step and try to address some of the challenges many of my fellow members faced. This month a big part of the post will be dedicated to dipping the pops into chocolate. And yes - I used the REAL stuff. Real chocolate can be tricky to work with but in this case it was very easy. See way below in the recipe section for my 2 cents on the subject (it will be rather elaborate, so maybe 48 cents? ).

Changes I incorporated:

• I cut the amounts in half (look for my procedure regarding “the egg problem” in the recipe section).
• I made most of them in the required size (2 oz.) but a few of them smaller, which I preferred.
• I used pure, real couverture chocolate for dipping, both white and dark.
• I used sprinkles and crushed, freeze-dried raspberries for decoration (and flavor).
• I used two different lollipop sticks as well as straws, an idea I got from a Daring Bakers preview from Passionate baker.

Verdict:

I liked the idea and the outcome. Doing it again I would only make the smaller size. I also liked the fruits on the outside better than the sprinkles because they added so much more flavor. Since I would be able to find other freeze-dried fruits at a market here, there is a whole new world out there…

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Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Chocolate, Daring bakers, a classic with a twist, custard | 26 Comments »

Bread that I am used to from growing up in Germany is hard to come by where we live right now. Yes, in some places the quality catches up, but it is still a long shot from the bakeries that can be found at almost every street corner in Germany.

“You are exaggerating, you know that, right?”

Yes, I know, but everything looks brighter in one’s memories, doesn’t it?

I am a pastry chef by trade, not a baker. In Germany you learn one or the other trade in one apprenticeship, not both as many culinary schools offer here. When we first moved to New York and I still worked as a teacher in pastry arts, I was blessed with incredible bread from my bread baking colleagues - my, oh, my, did we have a good life back then.

After switching professions to “domestic engineer” I was forced to either switch to available bread, buy it at the school (which I rarely enter since it brings back so many good memories that I am always tempted to return and quit my current “job” on the spot) or learn to make my own. My colleague E. provided me with a wheat sourdough starter and after almost giving up on rye bread, my other colleague A. taught me how to successfully transform the wheat eater into a rye lover. Both of the starters have been with us ever since (almost five years).

The rye breads became so popular with my husband’s German colleagues, that there was a time when I baked three times a week to “share the love”. I was able to set up quite a good system for a “regular home kitchen” and my dislike for our gas powered oven turned into love. Now that I have more “employers” that demand my attention, I bake only every other week or so, freezing the sliced bread for the period in between. Hardly any loaf leaves the house to be shared anymore. But: My kids love the good, denser rye bread. That is an accomplishment I am quite proud of, comparing my kids’ lunches with the “peanut butter and jelly bread” the other kids live on is almost an incentive - still, I do not dare to venture back into the godly smelling halls of (my) passion that I had to abandon…

Here are the basics of my system that works well enough for us so that we can enjoy homemade bread- a lot when it is “baking day” and enough when it is frozen.

I want to share them as part of my contribution for Bread Baking Day #9, hosted by Paulchen’s Foodblog, who picked the theme “bread with oats”

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Filed under: Blogging event, Flour, Grains, breakfast | 4 Comments »

If you venture over to Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi this month to look at all the entries for Click: Au Naturel, you will be stunned (as usual) by all the talents that submit their gorgeous pictures.

When I saw the theme for this month I immediately had to smile because I was thinking about the raspberry pictures I had already taken while just playing around last month. Easy enough! Then I looked at the phenomenal entries, including of course the incredible pictures the judges contribute themselves.

I came across passion fruits in the supermarket (one for $1.99) and started to daydream about passion fruits “au naturel”. Daydreams seldom include reality checks, they do not take into account what other tasks are at hand and what kind of challenges might come your way while trying to continue to “dream on”. Well, I did not manage to take the pictures I wanted to take. I am giving in to real life for now, counting on my luck that there will be years of taking pictures in my future and more passion fruits too (my supply right now is conserved in a deep freeze sleep mode hoping for its luck that scientific development will include reviving from the frozen state soon ).

And raspberries go really well with passion fruits, so no harsh feelings please.

So without further ado - here is my entry for this month’s Click food photography event:

It was taken with a Canon 40 D with macro lens EF-S 60mm f/2.8.

The settings were ISO 100, aperture f/4.6.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

“Okay, the first word of the title scares me! Will this be another soup? I thought this blog was for me, why did you name it after me otherwise?”

Clafoutis (kla-foo-TEE) is a French dessert.

To keep the explanation really simple one could say that it is a baked pancake with quite a few fruits in the batter.

“Pancake? Oh, so I could have this for breakfast?”

The batter is close to what my mother would use for apple pancakes, not one for “pancakes” that could be found in a diner here in the U.S. It is closer to French Crepes or a custard. And it is equally easy to prepare, no elaborate technique, no limits to creativity, not too many dishes to clean, just pure eating pleasure.

The traditional version is made with cherries and “plain” (read - no chocolate) batter.

“To pit or not to pit - that is the question”

Leaving the pits in cherries (and plums for that matter) intensifies their flavor. The cherry pits are used to make “Kirschwasser” a German cherry brandy, so of course they add cherry flavor, how couldn’t they? In my version here I used sour (Morello) cherries out of a jar however. And they should have no pits, even though one can usually count on anything between 1 and 3 pits per jar that did not let go of their homes. Here in NY we do not have fresh cherries or plums right now. So the original recipe that Bron Marshall picked for this Hay, Hay, It’s Donna Day (HHDD) #19 did not work for me in this regard. Usually I want to check out the original version, but plums here are rather pitiful right now.

“To pity or not to pity - that is the question”

My solution was: Take the original batter and use Morello cherries instead, naming it “Black Forest Clafoutis”.

Also - without the pits it was more suitable for my little one - they are big on “choking hazards” here in America ;-).

I mentioned above that the Clafoutis is really versatile, and this easy substitution provided us and our taste testers neighbors with delicious, comforting desserts.

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Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Chocolate, Flour, Fruits, custard | 11 Comments »

Sugar High Friday was one of the first food blogging events I ever read about. So it is about time I contributed too.

This time it is hosted by La Petite Boulangette. The theme is Asian Sweets Invasion, namely taking a dessert and giving it an Asian twist.

I picked milk shakes for my post. The Asian ingredients I used were coconut milk and tapioca pearls.

Tapioca pearls are often used throughout Asia but have become very popular in my neck of the woods (New York City) as part of “bubble teas”. They add a chewy consistency without changing the flavor of the original drink.

I made two different versions, but started out with a strawberry coconut combination. Coconuts and strawberries are a match made in heaven as far as I am concerned.

I used to serve coconut parfaits while working as a pastry chef in a hotel in Germany. Since I don’t work there anymore and thus cannot be fired I can now officially admit that the coconut parfait might have been good for their sales numbers but had a hidden ingredient that was not included in the food costs - fresh strawberries from a local farm. They never made it into the actual frozen treat. They were dipped into the freshly prepared mixture and eaten by myself and the few lucky ones that were on duty before the parfaits made it into the freezer.

“Oooh, yes! Very fond memories!”

Then of course, one cannot go wrong with Mango and coconut either.

I have to tell you that I did not really know where I was headed while working on this creation. Now however I am proud to say that these recipes are keepers! It worked really well and specifically in the smaller version they are candy for the eye, a sweet and refreshing treat, as well as nutritionally sound - made with fresh fruits (read - vitamins) and organic milk - (read - protein).

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Filed under: Blogging event, Fruits, Nuts, a classic with a twist, breakfast | 5 Comments »

When I saw an announcement for Recipe Remix hosted by Danielle and Robin, I had an idea for their category of grilled cheese with tomato soup.

I did not know what “grilled cheese” was until I had children (and lived here in NY). It is a staple in children’s menus here in the USA. Take two pieces of buttered sandwich bread, put cheese in the middle and “grill” it on a griddle until the cheese melts and the bread is somewhat brown - voilà, all done.

Tomato soup is almost as simple - Sauté chopped onions and carrot pieces in a bit of oil until soft, add canned tomatoes and spices of your choice (I used salt, pepper, paprika, basil, and a bit of sugar), simmer for about 30 minutes, puree and serve. Adding heavy cream or sour cream elevates it to new heights (and calorie levels).

So what was my idea so that I wanted to include this into the recipe REMIX event?

I saw something about cups made out of toast a while ago. Butter sandwich bread, put it in muffin tins and bake in oven until brown and crispy. I was really intrigued by that. So I figured, soup is served in bread bowls (one of the few times I actually like soup and prefer it over other lunch menu items), so why not in a “grilled cheese cup”?

I took two slices of sandwich bread, buttered one side and put grated Swiss cheese in the center (buttered sides facing out). Then I put the bread into the bowl I wanted to serve the soup in. I baked it in the oven until the bottom was nice and crispy, cheese melted, and edges turning brown. The surface did not brown and looks kind of soggy, but was actually crispy too - enough to insulate a bit when pouring the soup onto it.

Verdict:

The bread cup added a really nice crunch and the cheese layer in-between the bread slices insulated the bottom layer enough to keep that crunch even until after the pictures were done. It was a bit too challenging to eat. No spills on clothing or surrounding areas, but not a real pleasure either. For the next time I would consider to use just one layer of bread, “grill” it and then sprinkle cheese on it and heat until it melts. Add soup and enjoy even more. But this would not have been true enough to the rules, would it?

So, not really a recipe contribution, but maybe a new way to assemble the two popular meals.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »