Vinegar & Sweet Valentine's & Profiteroles

Valentine’s Day is known as the time 

to send love notes and cards, 

including anonymous ones signed by 

your secret admirer. 

But not always the case in the Victorian Era...

 

”Vinegar Valentine’s” were sent anonymously in those days, by ladies who didn’t want the attention of a specific suitor. 

Black Forest Trifle and a Chuckle of the Day for You!

Brownies made their debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, so in my way of thinking, that officially makes brownies the state dessert for Illinois, which leads on to this decadent sweet dessert...

It has all the flavors of a Black Forest Cake, but without the fussiness of a layer cake:  it’s Black Forest Trifle.  

Rich Creamy Chocolate for Your Valentine!

Caution:  Bill says this could be fatal!

Chocolate is a major food group to just about everyone ~ but not me ~ I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way for it.  I do have a sweet tooth though, it’s just not for chocolate like it is for my family members and friends.

So when the most chocolate-covered day of the year, Valentine’s Day, rolls around again ~ that day when everything seems to be slathered in chocolate ~ it’s the perfect time to make a delicious dessert.

Chocolate is everywhere, it’s universally loved.  Apparently, according to research done by Dr. David Lewis, letting chocolate dissolve slowly in your mouth produces as big an increase in heart rate and brain activity as a passionate kiss ~ except that the effects of the chocolate lasts four times longer. 

Therefore, truly, chocolate must be the food of love.

If you’re looking for a creamy, very rich chocolate treat for your Valentine, this Chocolate Pudding Cake by exclusive French pastry chef, François Payard, who launched several eponymous patisseries in New York City, is for you!  

The creation is not exactly quick to make, it takes a good bit of freezer time, 6 hours at least, but it’s worth the effort to make for your Valentine!

Believe me, this is a decadent dessert, so I’m told ~ smooth, creamy, rich, particularly luscious and velvety, a sinfully delicious chocolate treat!

Just a sliver will do it!


Françoise Payard’s Chocolate Pudding Cake
Printable recipe

Ingredients:
1¼ cups finely chopped semisweet chocolate
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional*
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar, divided
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon. pure vanilla extract
Cocoa powder for dusting

Method:
1. Place the chocolate, espresso powder and butter in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the milk and all but 1 tbsp. of the sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stop stirring and cook until the milk begins to bubble around the edge of the pan. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk together the egg yolk and the remaining 1 tbsp. sugar in a small bowl. Pour half of the hot milk over the yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and just begins to bubble around the edges (reaching 183° on an instant-read thermometer).
4. Immediately pour the mixture over the chocolate and butter. Whisk until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in the vanilla.
5. Scrape the batter into a 6-in. round springform pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight.
6. Remove cake from freezer, and let sit for 10 minutes before unmolding. Invert the cake onto a serving platter, and lightly dust the top with cocoa powder. Allow the cake to stand at room temperature for 45 minutes before serving.
notes

*This is the slightly adapted recipe of Chef Payard's. I added espresso powder for a darker richer flavor.
It doesn't taste like coffee, it just enhances the chocolate flavor.




 Enjoy! 

Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bill and I have enjoyed 

the bounty from several 

neighbors' gardens this summer, 

and my way of saying thanks 

is to bake sweet treats for them ~

they all have a sweet tooth…

I recently made a double batch of these great crunchy peanut butter cookies.  If you like peanut butter, you will love these cookies.

The recipe is adapted from my old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.   I added a little salt and semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus demerara sugar for sprinkling on top before baking. 

Demerara sugar adds a sweet crunch to the cookie, substitute granulated sugar for rolling, if you prefer. 

There’s always room for a cookie or two!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
Printable recipe

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups flour
12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Demerara sugar for rolling

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.
Add granulated and brown sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  
Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
Beat in as much flour with the mixer as you can, stir in remaining flour and chocolate chips.
Shape dough into 1” balls.
Roll in demerara sugar to coat.
Place balls 2” apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or till bottoms are lightly browned.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies


Enjoy!

  


 And...

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Birthday Cake for Bill's Birthday!

We celebrated 

Bill’s  71st birthday 

yesterday!

What Bill really likes on his big day is the cast iron crowd-please of cakes ~ Chocolate cake ~ A good old-fashioned chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting, and his 5-year-old grandson, Matthew, to help him eat it!

This is a simple rich moist cake recipe, from a Hershey’s Cookbook.

According to a University of Michigan study, chocolate contains chemicals called opioids.  Opioids are also found in opium, and they produce a euphoric feeling and are very pleasurable.  

Apparently, one of the effects of chocolate on the brain is to release natural endorphins so that when we eat chocolate, it dulls pain and gives us a little euphoric feeling. That could explain why chocolate is craved.  

There’s a sweet solution to that craving ~ feed it!

And this chocolate birthday cake with chocolatey fudge frosting, “filled the Bill!”

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Birthday Cake
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

4 squares Hershey’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
5 tablespoons hot water
½ cup butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1¾ cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Melt the baking chocolate, cut into small pieces, with the hot water in top of double boiler over simmering water.
Cream the butter and sugar together well.
Add the egg yolks, well-beaten, and whip thoroughly.
Then add the melted chocolate mixture, slightly cooled.
Add the flour, sifted with the baking powder and salt, and the milk.
Fold in the stiffly whipped egg whites and vanilla. 
Pour into well-greased and floured, 2 round 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans or a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan.*
Bake for about 20-25 minutes for round pans, 40-45 for oblong pan or until done when toothpick is inserted in middle and comes out clean.
Let cool in round pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Frost when completely cool.
*I used two 9-inch round pans, they baked for 22 minutes.

Classic Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Ingredients:

½ cup butter
3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup milk

Method:

Melt chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, or in the microwave.  
In a large bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and ½ cup of the milk.
Blend in the melted chocolate mixture.
Add remaining milk, a little at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
Let stand until spreadable, frosting will thicken as it cools.
Frost cake.

Serve 


Enjoy!

Death by Chocolate Trifle for Mother's Day!

Delight your mom’s 
(and everyone else’s) 
sweet tooth 
this Mother’s Day!

Who can resist the lure of chocolate?  I don’t know what it is ~ there’s something about chocolate that gets us going.

I would say this dessert is one of the most decadent desserts ever, both sinfully rich and sinfully delicious!

Brownies add some chewiness, while Kahlúa and the whipped topping make it creamy smooth.  For a fine finish, top it off with a delectable toffee crunch!

You try this and I guarantee you that it is so delicious there will not be any leftovers…

This is a chocoholic’s dream!  It’s wickedly delicious! 

Death by Chocolate Trifle

Printable recipe

Ingredients:

1 family-size fudge brownie mix

½ cup Kahlúa or coffee liqueur

2 (4.2 ounce) boxes Dr. Oetker Double Chocolate Mousse Supreme

8 (1.4 ounce) Skor or Heath candy bars

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Method:

Preheat oven and bake brownies according to package directions.

Allow to cool completely.

Using a fork, prick holes in the top of the brownies.

Drizzle with Kahlúa.  Set aside.

Make chocolate mousse according to package directions.
Break Skor candy bars into small pieces by tapping on them with a hammer while in the wrapper.

Crumble half of the soaked brownies and place in the bottom of a trifle bowl or large glass dish.

Cover with half the mousse.
Layer with ⅓ of the candy.

Spread half of the whipped topping over the layers.

Repeat layers with the remaining ingredients.

Garnish with remaining ⅓ candy bits.

Makes 24 servings

Enjoy!

Here’s wishing all of you moms ~

Happy Mother’s Day

full of  

happiness, love and relaxation

doing what you like to do best

because it’s

YOUR day!

ENJOY!!!

My Cincinnati Chili and a little time off...

   
I’m taking a little break.  Instead of chief cook and bottle washer, my temporary new role will be a combo of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton.

Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), she and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the death count by two-thirds. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.  Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform.

Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was a pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She worked as a hospital nurse in the American Civil War (1861-1865), and as a teacher and patent clerk Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work at a time when relatively few women worked outside the home. She had a relationship with John J. Elwell, but never married.


Last week, Bill had knee replacement surgery and I am in charge of bossing him around, woo hoo!   (∗ᵕ̴᷄◡ᵕ̴᷅∗)  making sure he follows doctors’ orders.  And, many thanks to our great son, Bubba,  for helping us out ~ would've been tough without you, and we appreciate all you've done!

In the meantime here's a recipe for the chili we enjoyed before his surgery:

I’m a Buckeye by birth so it doesn’t get much better than Cincinnati Chili!

This was new to Bill:  As in, “Who eats chili with cinnamon and cocoa, over pasta, with cheese sprinkled on top?”  I converted him and made a Cincinnati Chili Believer out of him!

I almost always serve the chili over spaghetti, but naturally, this time when I looked in the cabinet, there was only shell pasta.  It doesn’t make any difference what type pasta is used ~ if you’ve never eaten chili served over hot cooked pasta, you’ve got to try it to see how delicious it is! 

Most chili recipes include tomato sauce and water ~ I swapped V8 juice for them.  I go a little heavy on the chili and garlic powders and add chili beans instead of the traditional kidney beans. 

This is very different from the Southwestern version, and maybe you chili aficionados are doubting, just give it a go to believe it!  

It’s delicious and should there be leftovers, lucky you!

It's perfect for the bitter cold weather we're having now!


Cincinnati Chili, my way
Printable recipe 


Ingredients: 

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
1 (46 ounce) can of V8 juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon red (cayenne) pepper
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa* 
2 (15-ounce) cans chili beans
8 ounces spaghetti, or your favorite pasta
Grated cheddar cheese, for garnish

Method: 

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, and meat and chop into bite-size pieces.
Add onions and cook until tender and meat is browned.
Tilt skillet and use a baster to remove any accumulated fat. 
In a large pot, add tomato juice and seasonings, stirring well, bringing to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add meat and beans; cook for 30 minutes, until somewhat thick. 
Meanwhile, cook pasta, according to package directions; drain well.
Divide pasta into 4 bowls, top with chili.
Garnish with cheddar cheese. 
Serve hot with garlic bread or oyster crackers on the side.

*I use Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa




This is good eating, ENJOY!


 

Better than Robert Redford aka Chocolate Lush for Labor Day

It might be “Girdle Buster,” “Almost a Sin,” “Chocolate Delight,” “Better than Robert Redford,” or maybe, it’s “Better than Sex,” you get the idea…


Whatever you call it, it’s an “oldie, but goodie” for all you chocoholics out there, that’s known to us as Chocolate Lush.  



Great flavors mingle together in your mouth with every decadent bite.  Be adventurous and make it with your favorite pudding.  I think lemon is great, but the chocolate version rules here.  

The pecan crust is what makes it special.  It goes with any flavor pudding, and contains no sugar, making it a perfect balance for the sweet layers topping it.

Spread over the crust is a smooth layer of powdered sugar, cream cheese, and Cool Whip.  Topping that is the layer of cream chocolate pudding, then more Cool Whip is spread over the pudding.  

Finally, scatter a few chopped nuts for the finish.

Ooooohhhhh,  it’s a heavenly thing ~ maybe it should be called Heavenly Lush!

And, perfect for a Labor Day holiday dessert!

Chocolate Lush
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

Bottom layer:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1½ cups flour
¼ cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish
1½ sticks butter, softened
Mix all 3 ingredients, spread in 13” x 9” pan.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden.
Cool.
(Can be refrigerated overnight.)

Second layer:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (9-ounce) Cool Whip, divided
Using electric mixer, blend cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and 1 cup Cool Whip.
Spread over first layer.
Place in refrigerator and let set 1 hour or overnight.

Third layer:
2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding
3 cups cold milk
Mix pudding with milk.
Beat until dissolved and spread over second layer.

Top layer:
Spread with remaining Cool Whip.
Scatter ½ cup chopped pecans over all for garnish.
Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
Serve

ENJOY!

Cocoa Snickerdoodles

You remember those cookies, from way back when, Snickerdoodles?  Well, here’s the chocolate version for all you chocoholic cookie lovers!

These simple little cookies go overboard with good flavors ~ cinnamon and chocolate.  They’re a dark little chewy cookie with a sparkle.

They start out with butter and sugar, like the traditional snickerdoodle, with a little cream of tartar for the soft perfect texture.  I slightly adapted this Food Network Magazine recipe, by using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa for the best ever-chocolate taste, and Saigon Cinnamon for its sweet, especially rich, cinnamon flavor. 

Don’t over-mix the ingredients; combine them just well enough to produce the classic snickerdoodle chewiness.  Roll in cinnamon sugar to finish them off. 

This is a scrumptious twist on the traditional recipe.  They’re chocolaty without being overly sweet; they have a sugary crunchy crust, and an almost cake-like center ~ with a sparkle to boot.

Try them, they’ll melt in your mouth!

Cocoa Snickerdoodles 
Adapted

Ingredients:

1¼ cups flour
¼ cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup white sanding sugar
1¾ teaspoons Saigon Cinnamon

Method:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat butter granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Increase the speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 2 more minutes.
Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
Combine the sanding sugar and cinnamon in a small shallow bowl.
Form heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls with damp hands.
Toss in in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Arrange about 2-inches apart on 2 baking sheets.
Bake until cookies are set around the edge, 8 to 9 minutes.
Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Makes about 2½ dozens cookies

ENJOY!

Rich and Creamy Buckeye Candy ~ OHIO!

After we moved to Louisville, when I was a teenager, Dad gave me several Buckeye nuts for good luck ~ I still have them to this day, with one being in my purse all the time.  They always remind me of him…

  

I’m a Buckeye at heart ~ was born in Ohio, lived there through my early years; my extended family still lives there.  It’s almost a shame ~ I’ve never made Buckeye Candy until now. 

There are about a zillion recipes over the Internet for this delicious confection; this one belongs to Jif.  It’s not a candy that is made often in this neck of the woods, so that makes it even more of a treat with it’s taste similar to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

The buckeyes are dipped in chocolate in a manner to duplicate the nut from the Buckeye tree, the state tree of Ohio.  They have a smooth peanut butter filling that is coated with rich semi-sweet chocolate.  It’s an easy recipe, which you will probably want to double like I do. 

Maybe these sweet little candies will bring a person good luck, just like the real Buckeyes do!

Buckeyes

Adapted

Ingredients:

1½ cups creamy peanut butter (I use Jif)

½ cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

3-4 cups powdered sugar (I used almost 3½)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons shortening

Method:

Combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl.

Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended.

Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended.

Beat in additional powdered sugar until mixture, when shaped into a ball, will stay on a toothpick.

Shape into 1-inch balls.

Refrigerate 1 hour.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl.

Microwave on medium for 30 seconds, stir.

Repeat until mixture is smooth.

Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter balls.

Insert toothpick in peanut butter ball.

Dip ¾ of ball into chocolate, leaving top uncovered to resemble a buckeye; remove excess.

Place on wax paper-lined try.

Remove toothpick and smooth over holes.

Refrigerate until firm.

Makes about 4-5 dozen

Pam’s note:  The chocolate adheres well when the peanut butter balls are VERY COLD and the chocolate is VERY HOT.  Dip them immediately; don’t let them sweat, as the chocolate won’t stick.  They’re easy to make, and sooo good!

ENJOY!