Blu Restaurant 2.24.12

Blu Restaurant, 4 Avery Street, Boston, MA

I actually wasn't impressed with the bread basket here.  The focaccia was kinda tough, maybe too chewy.  There was something about the texture that made it subpar for me compared to Clear Flour's focaccia.

Chocolate Sheet Cake 2.24.12

This chocolate cake recipe comes from baking illustrated.  Instead of baking in a rectangular pan, I doubled the recipe and divided the batter into four 8 inch round pans.  I used three of the layers for a triple layer chocolate cake.  The last layer I have saved in my freezer for a treat for later.

This cake suprised me because the batter and final cake came out so dark.  A black brown color.  It's magnificent.  The flavor was good, but it was a little sweet for me.  The cake had nice texture and was moist too.

The recipe requests dutch processed cocoa (neutral pH).  I bought Hershey's special dark cocoa, available at the Stop and Shop.  The box says it's a blend of natural and dutch processed cocoa. The recipe also includes buttermilk.

Butter and Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate

Whipped eggs, buttermilk and vanilla

Cocoa, sugar, flour, salt, and soda into the wet ingredients

The baked cake layers

Coffee syrup for flavouring the cake

The finished cake was frosted and assembled with milk chocolate frosting (also from Baking Illustrated).  The white frosting is an Italian buttercream (but I overcooked the sugar and deflated the egg whites while making it.  Luckily, the huge amount of butter in the frosting stabalized the consistence and made it pipeable).  I made chocolate roses from molded chocolate.

Homemade tootsie rolls 2.24.12

I was so lucky I was up early today and caught Sweet Dreams starring Gale Gand on the cooking channel

She was making homemade tootsie rolls.


I used the molded chocolate to make roses for a chocolate birthday cake.

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
About 75 squares of colored foil or cellophane, for wrapping, optional


DIRECTIONS

Line a 13 by 17-inch cookie sheet with sides with plastic wrap.

Melt the chocolate. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and scrape into the prepared pan. The mixture should be about 1 inch thick in the pan; it will not fill the pan entirely. Cover and let set overnight at room temperature; the mixture will be stiff but still flexible.

Turn the candy out onto a work surface and peel off the plastic wrap. Cut into 3/4-inch wide strips, then use your hands to "scrunch" each strip into a log. Roll the logs thin between your hands (or on the work surface) until they are about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1-inch long sections. Set aside to firm up a bit before wrapping or serving (the mixture warms up and softens as you handle it).

Roll each candy up in a square of colored foil or cellophane, twisting the ends to secure. You can also form the modeling chocolate into leaves, roses, ropes for initials or animals.

Chocolate pudding 2.19.12

I love being able to make a dessert on the spot.  Chocolate pudding is great for that, because you can cook it and then chill it, and it's ready in about 2 hours.  That's pretty good for a dessert.  What I don't like is when you haven't finished testing and developing your recipe and you have to just try one.

I decided I wanted a chocolate pudding that was thickened using cornstarch and that contained eggs.  I had previously made a chocolate pastry cream, but it was too rich for a pudding.  So I'm after the best chocolate pudding recipe.  Perhaps finding a recipe with milk only (no cream) will help too.

I made a chocolate pudding from a food network recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup natural cocoa powder
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup whipping cream

I made a half batch of this recipe (perfect for two) and used 3 tsp of cornstarch instead of 2 tsp.  Original directions (which I followed) tell you to simmer most of milk, with sugar and cocoa.  Then mix rest of milk, cornstarch, salt, yolks, and vanilla. Temper the egg mixture and boil everything for 2 or 3 minutes.  Pour into serving bowls, cover and chill.

However, there were some lumps in the pudding.  So I need to remember to blend dry ingredients slowly with milk and yolks into a paste, then add hot milk mixture.

Here's a spoonful of the chilled pudding finished with fresh whipped cream.

Here's the smitten kitchen recipe, but there are no eggs in this recipe.
Silky Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from John Scharffenberger, via Wednesday Chef

Serves 6

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces 62% semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used good quality semisweet chocolate chips; use 70% bittersweet if you want more of a dark chocolate kick)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Or try Martha Stewart recipe which includes egg yolks, and butter.

Ingredients

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (if making chocolate pudding)
2 1/2 cups milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

Valentine's Day crispy rice treats 2.13.12

I've made these treats before for Valentine's day and they came out much better than today.  I like to make them the likes of conversation hearts, but I was only making five.  Since you can make 6 in one batch, I only made one batch so I only made one color.  Up to 4 batches is ideal so you can have four pastel colored hearts.  For my one batch I used purple food coloring in the marshmallows, but I didn't use much so the light lavender marshmallow color looked quite faint and grey by the time I mixed it up with the crispy rice.

I like to make the writing red, just like the conversation hearts.  But red is such a hard color to get.  I can do it, using lots of gel color, but the frosting I had was very sensitive to the amount of liquid I used, and also I didn't have any powdered sugar on hand.  So after many failed attempts at making a red royal icing, I finally caved in and used a white chocolate coating i had in the store room.

Instead of the usual V day lingo (i.e. "fax me") I used everyone's name, since who doesn't love seeing their name on a crispy rice treat. I was happy with the shape of the hearts and how the cut outs came out.  I also liked the packaging.

I am thinking of making these again for everyone at the office, but I'm not sure if I should make these, or if I should make them cookies.  (The cookies wouldn't have their names on them.)

J. P. Licks 2.11.12

J. P. Licks, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

Maybe I should stop posting duplicate flavors that I've had.  I've certainly gotten mint chocolate chip ice cream at J. P. licks before.

Here's a very exciting picture of a half eaten wafer cone.

On the J.P. Licks website...
Finally, although a male, I gave birth to J.P. Licks Homemade Ice Cream as a 26 year old, in 1981, in my Jamaica Plain ("J.P.") neighborhood of Boston.

Chocolate brownies 2.10.12

I was thwarted by Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I think I should stick to the 60% cacao...or maybe even cocoa powder.  The brownies had a strange texture. The ganache got greasy and started to separate.  I'm not sure why.  I assume it's due to the chocolate I used (a blend of unsweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate), since I've only made it recently using the Ghirardelli 60% that you can get at Shaws.


I used 1.5 oz baking chocolate and 2.5 oz semi-sweet to replace the unsweetened chocolate and bittersweet chocolate from the Gisslen recipe for the brownies.  I used half baking chocolate and half semi-sweet in the ganache.


Here's the chocolate I used in the brownies.  The chips are the semi-sweet chocolate and the broken squares are the unsweet chocolate.

I ended up baking the brownies for much less than the recommended time.  I'm not sure if baking them much longer would have improved them.  Right after I took them out of the oven I measured the internal temperature.  It was 175.  They look good in the picture, but the taste wasn't what I expected.  I was disappointed.

Old Sturbridge Villiage 2.4.12

Old Sturbridge Villiage, 1 Old Sturbridge Villiage Road, Sturbridge, MA

Old Sturbridge Villiage is a historic museum.  Built as an outdoor living history museum, it is amazing, but here I'll only mention the sweets.  You can get rock candy in an assortment of flavors at the Grant store.


Ingredients: Cane Sugar, Egg White, Cream of Tartar
Manufactured by Squire Boone Village New Albany, IN

Homemade fudge. Yum.  It was delicious.

Publick House reprise 2.3.12

Publick House, Ebenezer's Tavern, 277 Main Street, Sturbridge, CT

Colonel Ebenezer Crafts founded the Publick House Inn in the early 1800s.  Ebenezer's Tavern is one of several dining areas at the Inn.  If you dine there, you get a bread basket containing rolls, cornbread, and sticky buns.

Dessert included a peanut butter mousse...

and vanilla ice cream with mixed berries.

I was impressed that the Inn offers a new gluten-free menu.

The Publick House also has their own bake shop on the premises, where you can get Joe Frogger cookies.

It's interesting how they describe these cookies keeping fresh so long.  Here's what they're made of.

Delirium Tremens Ice Cream 2.2.12

Delerium Tremens has two Wikipedia entries:

1. Delirium tremens (Latin for "shaking frenzy", also referred to as The DTs, "the horrors" or "the shakes.") is an acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol.

2. Delirium Tremens is a brand of Belgian strong pale ale produced by Huyghe Brewery in Melle.



The latter refers to this beer flavored ice cream (left).  On the right is Meyer lemon creme fraiche ice cream.  The lemon ice cream left a strange waxy feeling on my tongue after eating it.

Quebrada granola 2.2.12

Quebrada Baking Co, 272 Washington St, Wellesley Hills, MA

I finally got to visit the Wellesley store.  It is lovely.  I keep hearing about the great coffee, but unfortunately I'm not a coffee person, so I didn't try any.

The granola at Quebrada is sweetened with Maple Syrup.  It is delicious.  You get a really big bag (1 lb 8 oz), and it retails for less than ten dollars. Ingredients: oats, almonds, select seedless raisins, maple syrup, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, coconut, canola oil, soynuts, salt.

My favorite is to have this granola with my yogurt in the morning.  Yum!

When Pigs Fly 1.31.12

When Pigs Fly, 1378A Beacon Street, Brookline, MA

Artisan breads baked daily.  And they even have a slicer!  I visited the retail store in Brookline.  Every day the bread is baked in York, ME and delivered to their various stores and wholesale outlets.  I purchased the rosemary and hot garlic oil flavor.

The bread was delicious and had great flavor.  The crumb looks good too.  The crust was thin and not crispy, but I'm not one who requires a crisp crust.

Chambord Ice Cream 1.30.12

Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur.  Mmmmm...

According to Wikipedia "Chambord is made from red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey and cognac."

This ice cream has the taste and texture more like a sorbet.  But a very creamy sorbet.  The flavor is delicious.  It was very crumbly.

Sweet-N-Nasty 1.25.12

Sweet-N-Nasty, 90A Mass Ave, Boston, M

Specializing in erotic cakes and cupcakes, here is one of the fantastic creations I got at this fun shop.  They also offer penis and breast themed cakes.  The store front carries a lot of erotic toys and other fun sex trinkets, but the main business of the store is to sell the specialty cakes and cupcakes.

The cupcake came in a wonderful individual carrying case, which protected the cupcake all the way until I got home.  This cupcake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, topped with a pink chocolate vagina.

The cake had a very tight crumb and the chocolate frosting was quite sweet.  But I'm sure the selling point for these is the erotic theme.

Gluten Free Cupcakes 1.25.12

Part of developing gluten-free recipes is to try other gluten-free products, even box cake mixes.  I picked up a gluten-free yellow cake mix from Betty Crocker.

I don't remember exactly, but I think I changed the mixing technique described on the back of the box.  I believe I added the butter first, and the flour last.  I remember I adapted the mixing method based on what I know about cake mixes.  However, all of those techniques assume you are working with gluten and the methods used try to avoid developing any gluten during the mixing procedure.  (The mix method is also aimed to incorporate all of the ingredients uniformly.)  As I was mixing the cake I realized that none of those assumptions were valid with this recipe, so I really didn't have any guidance as to what the best mixing method was.

I was generally disappointed with these cupcakes.  As I tasted the raw batter, it had a very gritty texture, and the batter was quite watery.  The batter didn't taste good.  The poor taste and texture translated to the final product.

Here's the cupcakes before baking

Here are the cupcakes after baking. They did rise some and were easy to tell when done using the toothpick test.  I took a lot of attention to make sure not to overbake them because my friend, who tried a gluten-free cake mix, told me her mix had come out dry.  I took the cupcakes out before the recommended bake time on the box.  

After taking the cupcakes out I cored them, so they could be filled with pastry cream.  I was very interested to find tunneling in the cupcakes.  Tunneling occurs in gluten cupcakes when they are overmixed.  So I'm not sure why they can occur in gluten-free cupcakes.  Did I mix the batter incorrectly?  Or was the tunneling caused by the recipe?  Too much Xantham gum?

These cupcakes were filled with pastry cream (gluten-free as I used cornstarch and no flour), and topped with chocolate frosting for a Boston Creme themed cupcake.

I tried to make a whipped chocolate ganache for these cupcakes, but I had a lot of trouble with the temperature of the ganache.  It was difficult to get the right consistency to pipe the frosting on, so I ended up frosting these with a silver knife.

In the end, I wasn't happy with how these cupcakes tasted.   The ganache and the pastry cream was very good, but the cake was very dry and the gritty texture, present even in the batter, was still detectable.  I felt like I could feel the rice flour grinding between my teeth, and the feeling was quite unpleasant.

I'm going to have to experiment with more gluten-free cake recipes.

Jam'n Java 1.21.12

Jam'n Java, 549 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA

Jam'n Java serves these cranberry pecan rolls from Iggy's.  According to Iggy's website, the ingredients are:

Unbleached and unbromated wheat flour, filtered water, natural starter (wheat flour and filtered water), dried cranberries, pecans, sea salt, sucanat (evaporated organic cane sugar), sea salt and fresh yeast.

This roll was a little burned on the top, but otherwise it was good.  It had a lot of cranberries throughout, but I didn't think it was as light or moist as the New England Night from Clear Flour.