Easter Bonnet {0}
If chocolate bunnies just don’t seem to do it for you, and you’re looking for something for a more refined pallete, try some of the great creations my team and I have produced for this season.
Mar 25, 2009
Mar 24, 2009
Chocolate Bunnies {0}
Easter is quickly approaching , another holiday in which to indulge in delicious desserts. Although Easter brings with it those nearly inedible, pseudo-marshmallow, peeps, it does also bring Chocolate bunnies, a childhood favorite of mine. But it seems, according to South Coast Today.com, that many are skipping the chocolate bunny this year and planning on getting real bunnies for their children. In a a campaign to stop the purchase of bunnies, which are generally abandoned after the excitement is gone, Make Mine Chocolate is trying to get people to opt for the sweeter, less messy version of a bunny this year.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090330/OPINION/903300310/-1/NEWS
Mar 20, 2009
Hazelnut Cake with Chocolate Mousse {0}
From my own personal archives, and one of my absolute favorites.
HAZELNUT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
4 oz. (1/2 c) softened butter ½ C cake flour
½ C sugar ¼ C cocoa
3 yolks ½ C hazelnuts, toasted and ground
6 whites
¼ C sugar
¼ tsp. Cream of tartar
1. Cream butter with ½ C sugar till light and fluffy.
2. Add the yolks, 1 at a time, scraping well.
3. In a clean bowl, whip the whites with cream or tartar until foamy. Gradually whip in ¼ C sugar, 1 Tbl. At a time. Whip to medium-stiff peaks.
4. Sift together flour and cocoa. Mix in hazelnuts.
5. Fold whites into butter/yolk mixture while folding in nut/flour mixture.
6. Pour into 2 –greased and papered 8” cake pans. Bake 350o approximately 25 minutes.
7. Cool completely. Fill and frost with chocolate mousse.
8. Decorate with chocolate shavings on sides and top, and a light dusting of powdered sugar.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
8 oz. Melted semisweet chocolate 1. Melt chocolate and coffee and
2 Tbl. Coffee or water over hot water. Stir well to
¼ C soft butter (2 oz.) blend. Quickly whisk in butter,
4 eggs, separated, room temp. then whisk in eggs.
3 Tbl. Sugar Whip whites with cream of tartar
½ tsp. Cream of tartar begin gradually adding sugar
½ C cream, whipped to soft peaks when foamy and whip to medium
peaks.
Fold whites into chocolate mixture till approximately half-way incorporated, then fold in cream until mixture is uniform. Do not over fold.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH COOKED EGGS
8 oz. Melted semisweet chocolate
1 ½ C cream, whipped to soft peaks
4 yolks
1/3 C sugar
2 Tb. Water
Whip yolks until thick and pale. Combine sugar and water in a small sauce pot, bring to boil, cook to 240o. Pour syrup into egg yolks while whipping at medium speed. Whip till yolks are cool. Fold into melted chocolate, then fold in the cream.
Mar 19, 2009
American Chocolate Week! {0}
In between the long stretch between the chocolate filled holidays of Valentine’s day and Halloween, you may find yourself with a sweet tooth. But not to worry! The third week in March, along with St. Patrick’s day is American Chocolate Week. So, if green beer isn’t your thing, indulge this week with something a little more pleasing to the palate.
Mar 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day {0}
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of our Irish ancestors, my amazing culinary team and I have created a DELICIOUS Bush Mill’s Irish Whiskey Cake. Chocolate cake + whiskey buttercream = a party in your mouth.
www.chocolatebakery.com
Mar 9, 2009
Chocolate Warrants Smithsoian Support {0}
Learning can be fun, especially when it involves chocolate. Over the weekend, the Smithsonian Institute and Mars Chocolate Inc sponsored a chocolate making demonstration and displayed chocolate related advertisements for the public to enjoy as part of the National Museum of American History.
Click the link below to read more.
http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mars/37228/
Mar 6, 2009
Chocolate, the next energy source? {0}
According to the Boston Globe, the combination of cocoa bean shells and coal may provide a new energy source.
“In the world of interesting energy possibilities from waste products, a test burn at a Portsmouth, N.H., power plant is by far the most creative. The substance to be burned: cocoa bean shells.
Chocolate maker Lindt USA and Public Service of New Hampshire’s Schiller Station in Portsmouth had a test run recently, mixing one part cocoa bean to 33 parts coal and burning it to produce electricity in a boiler at the plant.
If it works – and only time will tell – Lindt will start sending the power plant cocoa bean shells from its Stratham facility when it starts producing its own chocolate from raw cocoa beans.
It is believed to be the only cocoa bean-to-energy project in the US chocolate industry.”
Mar 3, 2009
Cookie Thieves {0}
Cookie Thieves! Some one tried to rip off the Girl Scouts!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1vh2GIv5on0IhAx3L01rVDcmGkgD96M4JC80
Mar 2, 2009
Apple Tart {0}
POLENTA TART DOUGH
1 C. All purpose flour 6 Tbl. Butter, cold, cut into chunks
1/3 C polenta or cornmeal 1 egg
½ C sugar 1 Tbl. Water
½ tsp. Salt
1. Combine flour, sugar, polenta or cornmeal and salt in a bowl.
2. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Mix egg with water. Add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough is moistened and begins to clump together.
4. Gather dough together, knead 2 or 3 times to smooth out, then form into a ½” thick disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate 1 hour before using.
APPLE FILLING:
2 Tbl. butter
4 Granny Smith apples, or any good baking apple, peeled, cored and cut into ½” thick slices
2 to 3 Tbl. brown sugar ¼ to ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbl. flour dash nutmeg
1 Tbl. Apricot jam or apple butter 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbl. Water
1 tsp. Sugar
Saute apples with butter and brown sugar for 2 to 3 minutes to soften slightly.
Cool, then stir in flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.
ASSEMBLY
1. Roll out Polenta Tart Dough into a 12” to 14” circle. Place onto parchment lined half-sheet pan.
2. Spread a thin layer (approx. 1 Tbl.) apricot jam or apple butter onto center of pastry, leaving a 2” to 3” margin without jam.
3. Place apple filling onto pastry, covering jam, and again leaving a 2” to 3” margin .
4. Fold the edge over the filling, toward the center of the tart, leaving an uncovered portion in the center.
5. Brush the pastry with egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 Tbl. water). Sprinkle with 1 tsp. Granulated sugar. Bake @ 350o for approx. 25 to 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and fruit is tender.
Mar 2, 2009
Going Nuts {0}
This has to be one of my favorite tart fillings of all time. Half the time I make it, the filling seems to disappear small bite by small bite before I can get it into the tarts. But for those who have a little more self control, celebrate your sense of taste and try out this recipe.
CARAMEL NUT TART
1 par-baked sugar dough or chocolate sugar dough tart shell
FILLING:
4 Oz. Butter ½ C toasted pecan halves and pieces
¾ C brown sugar ½ C toasted walnut halves and pieces
3 Tbl. Honey ½ C toasted blanched, slivered almonds
¼ C cream or Half & Half ¼ C tosted hazelnuts, skins removed
To toast nuts: place nuts on a sheet pan, bake @ 350o for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Nuts should be light golden. Using a dry towel, rub skins off of warm hazelnuts after toasting.
1. Melt butter in a small pot. Add honey and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, cook while stirring for 3 minutes.
2. Off heat, whisk in cream. Caution: Mixture will splatter. Wear an oven mitt when adding cream.
3. Add nuts, stir to completely coat nuts. Pour into prepared tart shell.
4. Bake 350o approximately 20 minutes. Mixture will be bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool to room temp.
5. Garnished with striped melted chocolate if desired.
VARIATIONS:
1. Use any assortment of nuts to total 1 ¾ C
2. Add ½ C chocolate or white chocolate chips to filling. 
( HIGHLY RECCOMENDED IF YOU LIKE CHOCOLATE!)
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I have loved baking and cooking since I was a child. I studied foods and nutrition in college, but my secret desire was to own my own restaurant. Participation in a culinary program landed me jobs in several upscale restaurants, where I discovered my passion for baking and pastries. In 1981 I opened my bakery, Tarts and Truffles, in Sacramento, CA. Realizing a need for trained, knowledgeable bakers, I began teaching baking classes in the culinary arts program at American River College in 1990. I hope you will find my interest in high quality baking reflected in every product we sell.
