RECIPES

March 15, 2017

CHOCOLATE = LOVE, ANY DAY OF THE YEAR

Happy Valentine's Day! We hope this finds you and yours well and enjoying a love-filled day.

It is no secret that we here at Pretty Things & Cool Stuff are HUGE fans of good chocolate. So, we always are looking for ways to enjoy and share it. 

One of our favorite chefs/food writers is David Lebovitz ( we feature a few of his books in the shop - Drinking French, The Perfect Scoop, My Paris Kitchen), and he has an amazing recipe for a chocolate cake that he describes as "extremely rich, and tastes like the most delicious, silkiest, most supremely-chocolate ganache you've ever had." We totally agree! 

What makes this recipe really amazing is the fact that it is next to impossible to mess it up. In fact, David even once called it the Chocolate Idiot Cake! It takes just four ingredients, no special techniques, just some whisking, and once it has cooled, it can be refrigerated for several days before serving.

A couple of important notes:

• Use a good chocolate — a 70% bittersweet or semisweet chocolate is great choice.
• Because the cake will bake in a hot water bath — bain-marie in French — it is very important to wrap the springform pan you will use very well in several layers of aluminum. foil, making sure it goes all the way to the top of the pan to prevent any water from seeping in during backing. A bain-marie is a way to cook delicate foods, as it creates a gentle heat around the food and results in a uniform cooking process. 
• A good way to remove a cake like this from the bottom of a springform pan is to dip a chef's knife in very hot water and carefully slide it under the cooled cake. An even better way is to use a glass-bottomed springform pan, if you can.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

10 ounces (290 grams) bittersweet or semisweet good-quality chocolate, coarsely chopped

7 ounces (200 grams) butter — salted or unsalted — cut into pieces

5 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

Unsweetened cocoa powder for preparing the cake pan

CAKE DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC).

2.  Butter a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, in several layers if necessary (see headnote), making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

3.  Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.

4.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.

5.  Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the cake pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger pan that can be put in the oven, like a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting-turned-baking pan so that it reaches halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.

7.  Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It should feel just set in the center, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away almost clean.

8.  Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack.

9.  When it is cool, serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature, with crème anglaise, ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, Amarena cherries and their syrup, etc. 

Storage: This cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Make your St. Patrick's Day toast with a slice of this!

Guiness Cake with Bailey's Irish Cream Icing

Talk about having your cake and eating it, too!

What can be more Irish than Guiness beer and Bailey's Irish Cream? And just imagine combining them with chocolate in a deliciously dark cake for a double shot of Irish! The cake recipe comes from Clodaugh's Irish Kitchen: A Fresh Take on Traditional Flavors by popular Irish chef Clodaugh McKenna. 

Serves 10

CAKE INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup Guinness 

1 cup unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 large eggs

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking power

ICING INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted Irish butter

2 1/2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups cream cheese (not low fat)

4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

CAKE DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 12-inch, round springform pan with parchment paper.

Heat the butter in a a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Stir in Guinness, then remove from the heat and the stir in cocoa powder.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk and then slowly mix in the Guinness mixture.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder into a separate large bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, slowly mix the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and keep beating until all is well combined. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Test to make sure the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake — if it comes out clean, the cake is finished baking. Let the cake cool in the pan, then transfer from the pan onto a wire rack.

ICING DIRECTIONS

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting: Using a handheld electric mixer, blend all of the ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Place the cooled cake on a plate and generously spread the frosting on top.

The cake will keep up to a week in an airtight container.

Rose-infused Lillet Rosé

Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails

A rose is a rose is a rose. And what a wonderful cocktail it makes! Especially when combined with the French wine-based aperitif, Lillet Rosé, which is made from Grand Cru Bordeaux grapes and combined with fruit liquers.

This recipe is from the very talented mixology pioneers at New York's highly rated cocktail sanctuary, Death & Co., and it comes from their classic, beautiful, recipe-laden, encyclopedic, must-have book on Everything Cocktails.

INGREDIENTS

4 heaping teaspoons of dried rosebuds (Mountain Rose Herbs is a great source for organic ones!)

1 750-ml bottle of Lillet Rose

DIRECTIONS

In a container, combine the dried rosebuds and the bottle of Lillet Rosé. Stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass of choice.

 Yes, of course, you can get our own copy of the entire "The Violet Bakery Cookbook" by Claire Ptak,with all of its delish - morning to night - recipes here at Pretty Things & Cool Stuff!

Lord Bergamot Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffles

(Think Earl Grey tea, but with a superior flavor. Yields 100 truffles)

Ingredients

24 ounces bittersweet chocolate — preferably Valrhona Manjari 64% (not too bitter and not too sweet, perfect!) — finely chopped

8 ounces milk chocolate — preferably Valrhona 42% — finely chopped

2 2/3 cups heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)

6 ounces of Smith Tea Lord Bergamot Blend 55 Loose Leaf Tea , plus a little extra to decorate truffles. (You can substitute an Earl Grey tea, but the flavor will not match that of the Lord Bergamot!)

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups cocoa powder (not Dutch processed), preferable Valrhona, for rolling truffles in

Directions

1. Line a 13-by-9 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap; set aside

2. In a heatproof bowl, set over simmering water (don't let bowl touch water), melt 8   ounces bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate together until it reaches 120 degrees.

3. Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat; heat until cream just comes to a boil. Place loose tea in a medium, stainless steel bowl. Pour cream over tea and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the cream mixture through 4 layers of cheesecloth.

4. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and add 1 1/3 cups cream mixture, reserving remaining cream for another use. Using a heatproof spatula, mix together, starting from the center of the saucepan and working your way to the outer edges until mixture is emulsified.

Add butter and and mix with an immersion blender until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared baking sheet, evenly spreading mixture with an offset spatula; cover with plastic wrap, pressing down gently on chocolate mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.

5. Line the back of another 13-by-91/2-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Uncover chocolate and invert onto parchment paper; remove second piece of plastic wrap. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, and a ruler as a guide, cut chocolate into 1-inch squares.

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Roll each square of chocolate between your hands to form a smooth ball. Transfer chocolate balls to baking sheet; refrigerate for 1 hour.

7. Melt remaining 16 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set over (but not touching) simmering water. Place cocoa powder in a shallow dish. Place some of the melted chocolate in the palm of your hand and roll a chocolate ball in the melted chocolate to coat, then roll in cocoa powder. Sprinkle some of the extra Lord Bergamot loose tea on top of truffle and press in gently.

Repeat process with remaining chocolate balls. Transfer truffles to an airtight container, stacking truffles no more than 2 to 3 inches high, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Bring truffles to room temperature just before serving. ENJOY!

Recipe inspiration from Smith Tea and Charles Chocolates 

Also in News