Since I love the whole concept of soup for dessert, I was looking forward to trying out this concoction. The creamy, dark chocolate soup (not to be confused with the much-coveted cartons of sweet chocolate-y bliss that we remember from grade school)  topped with a foam made from Devonshire (Devon) cream, and whimsical cocoa puffs enrobed in milk chocolate did not disappoint. So let’s get down to it, shall we?

I have to admit it, the “puffs” pictured above are impostors – Whole Foods 365 brand that I purchased while at my wits end grocery shopping on Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m not sure that it made a difference, but, being the daughter of an emphatically anti-sugar cereal mother, I’ve still never had the pleasure of tasting real cocoa puffs. The real bummer, however, was that I’d planned on buying Valhrona 40% milk chocolate for coating the puffs, as the recipe suggested, but found myself screwed over once again by the romantically inclined shoppers of Whole Foods. They were fresh out and I settled on the Callabaut 33% instead, which is more sweet and strongly vanilla flavored, and has a markedly lighter color.

The biggest star in this dessert is the flavor of juniper berries, which I crushed and infused with some of the warmed milk for half an hour. The flavor imparted from the juniper berries, when combined with Valrhona 72% bittersweet chocolate, is complex and divine, and I’m so excited to now have this flavor combination in my arsenal as we begin working with chocolate at the FCI.

I used an immersion blender to create an emulsion of melted chocolate and juniper-infused milk, and just like that, the soup was ready to chill.

Devon cream, aka Devonshire cream, according to Wikipedia, is: “a type of clotted cream made by heating unpasteurised cow’s milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms clots.” I didn’t anticipate having trouble finding a jar of the stuff, considering the number of Brits in Manhattan, but after three unsuccessful attempts in specialty stores I opted for plan B: making the cheat version. Luckily, I learned to make a lovely styling of Devonshire cream back at the Brooklyn restaurant where I used to intern, using Mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and just a bit of sugar and lemon juice. I subbed it in for the real deal, and created my foam using the immersion blender once again.

Components: Devon foam, bittersweet, juniper-infused cold chocolate soup, chocolate-covered cocoa puffs, and extra-tall shot glass (which we had on hand courtesy of Brian’s fraternity ball, circa 2000, but I’ve also seen them at CB2).

This dessert goes down as perhaps my favorite incarnation of chocolate to date. There’s nothing too sweet here, the milk chocolate of the cocoa puffs is well-balanced with lots of intense bitter flavor from the soup. The juniper berries, as I already mentioned are made for this kind of chocolate, they harmonize so well that I can’t believe more pastry chefs and chocolatiers are not pushing the combination. The Devon foam, though not completely authentic, still lent a nice contrast of subtle sweet flavor and smooth texture, I found myself trying very hard to ration the cocoa puffs as to get a little foam, puff, and soup on my spoon with every bite. I can’t wait to make this for dinner party guests.

Next up: Flameed Bananas ~ Rum and Coke Ice Cream ~ Peanut Phyllo Crisps

Interested in playing along? Click to get your copy of Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef

So yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Was it just me, or did it seem like people made more of a fuss about it than usual this year? My feelings on this Hallmark holiday can best be described as love/hate. One the one hand, all that pink and red crap, the blatant consumerism masquerading as love, and the starry-eyed, cooing couples who seem to think that grotesque displays of PDA are suddenly acceptable… all of that is completely off-putting. On the other hand, I have some great memories of nights inspired by Valentine’s Day backlash; wine-fueled all-girls dinner parties, slasher movie marathons, defiant nights out in the Village with every unattached friend I’d ever had. This year, the fact that Brian and I cooked a decadent dinner of caviar potatoes and cracked a bottle of amarone had nothing to do with the fact that it happened to be Valentine’s Day, and everything to do with us seizing the opportunity to spend a nice night at home together – something our schedules haven’t permitted us to do since New Year’s Day.

When I selected two chocolate desserts (this, and also, the Chocolate Soup – post coming soon) for the Dessert FourPlay project this week, it much less a coincidence: I did it, unabashedly, as a tribute to the holiday that I so love to hate. When I set out to blog the whole book, I knew that I would eventually have to make this, the most “conventional” dessert, at some point. What I hadn’t anticipated, however, was how much I would enjoy doing it. But enough of my blathering.

The Jean-Georges Warm Chocolate Cake did not inspire a whole lot of excitement at first glance. I’m not one of those Cathy cartoon style “chocoholics” who’d, I imagine, swoon for desserts like this. I enjoy chocolate, but when it comes to selecting a dessert, I get way more excited about fruit, spice, or caramel. But, I wasn’t bored, because I learned a lot of cool new things with this dessert, and discovered some new loves of my own. For starters, the candied vanilla bean pod garnish is exactly my kind of thing. Vanilla Beans are, for me, one of the most sensual, complex ingredients – the very act of cutting one open and scraping the lush, oily seeds from the pod, the unbelievable fragrance… just wow. That takes me there. Do that, then take the pods, slice them thin, simmer them in simple syrup and roll them in granulated sugar so they shimmer, and you may begin to understand just what I love so much about this cooking stuff.

Equally delightful, the chocolate sauce also took me by surprise. Others that I’ve tried before called for corn syrup and liquor for texture and flavor, but this deceptively simple recipe has neither. Slow simmering coaxes out the most unbelievably thick and dark chocolate flavor that I ever could have hoped for. I’m resisting the urge to go stick a spoon in the leftovers right now.

Heaps of praise are also due for the chocolate crumble, which is essentially a cookie made from a dark, buttery dough…

…baked until crisp, and then pulverized in the food processor. In addition to lending contrast of texture, the crumble serves the purpose of cradling ice cream on the plate, preventing it from sliding away and colliding with the cake.

The vanilla bean ice cream recipe called for both invert sugar (which I made by cooking sugar, water, and lemon juice) and corn syrup, which some might balk at until they taste the creamy results. Iuzzini explains that invert sugar helps reduce ice crystallization and lends a softer mouth-feel and smoother texture, both of which are especially hard to achieve in my detached canister model home ice cream maker. I’m looking forward to using this technique whenever I make ice cream in the future.

With all of the accessories ready, all that remained was making the cake itself. For this recipe to be successful, it’s important to that you achieve proper volume when whipping the eggs and yolks with the sugar. Stand mixers make this extremely easy, and the cake batter can be piped into ramekins and stored in the fridge for up to 8 hours before baking.

Which makes it a great dessert for showy dinner parties, because once you have everything ready to go, you can entertain your guests, pop the cakes in the oven, plate, and serve, like nothing ever happened. They’ll all think you’re some kind of domestic god(dess).

Just to recap, the elements of the dessert: chocolate crumble, vanilla bean ice cream, candied vanilla bean, and the warm chocolate cake (not pictured).

So here’s where it becomes painfully apparent that I’m not up to the point in school where they teach us how to artfully plate anything. That swoosh of sauce  in the picture is try #4, and it still looks like a fifth grader did it. Also, the quenelle of ice cream is very very sad. Nothing like the museum-quality one in Johnny Iuzzini’s book, with the perfect points on either end. And, I had an unmolding issue with my cake, due to insufficient buttering of the ramekin. Despite the fact that by appearance, this is a plate that only a mother could love, it put a smile on my fiance’s face, and that’s all I ever really need.

Next up: Chocolate Soup

Interested in playing along? Click to get your copy of Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef

I’m trying hard to keep my holiday baking interesting this year, and my strategy is to integrate unexpected, fun pieces into my cookie presentations. Gingerbread men, rum balls, and peppermint sandwich cookies all have their place, indeed it wouldn’t feel like the holidays without them. But, as your second, or third, or tenth holiday party rolls around, you might start to get a little tired of sampling them.

That’s why I’ve decided to offer up some different ideas for hand-held holiday treats. They may not be the first ideas that come to mind when you think about seasonal indulgence, but you’ll also notice that they tend to disappear first from the dessert table.

Having grown up with whoopie pies as a New England kid, I had no idea that they were a regional delicacy until Oprah caused a stir about them, as she is wont to do, by featuring ones from this Maine-based company on her list of favorite things two years in a row. Even with this much-deserved publicity, I’ve still encountered many New Yorkers who have never heard of them.

This recipe puts a fun spin on the classic whoopie pie. The two cakes are sort of how I remember them from my childhood, only better; moist, with an unbelievably light and tender crumb and intense cocoa flavor. The real surprise here is that the classic fluffy marshmallow frosting is replaced by a whipped, peanut butter filling, raising this whoopie pie to new heights. Peanut butter cup fans, eat your hearts out.

I made these in a minature, three-bite size (or two, if the bites are ambitious), perfect for grazing party-goers. The inclusion of chunky peanut better in the filling was the result of the simple fact that its the kind that I enjoy, and I discovered that it lent a pleasing contrast of crunchy texture inside all of that creamy smoothness, and I’d never consider doing it any other way.  4 out of 5 holiday revelers agreed.

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Filling:
1 1/3 cups natural, chunky peanut butter (or creamy, if you prefer, just be sure you are buying natural peanut butter, the kind that you need to mix before using)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Coarse salt

Make cookies:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl; set aside.

Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes, until the mixture is pale and fluffy.. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and beat until well combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Pipe (or you can drop using a tablespoon) rounded 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 8 minutes, rotating halfway through. (when the top of the cookie is gently touched, it should feel soft, but not wet.) Let cool on sheets on wire racks 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
Make filling:

Put peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add confectioners’ sugar; mix until combined. Raise speed to high, and mix until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Season with salt, if desired.
Assemble cookies:

Spread 1 scant tablespoon filling on the bottom of 1 cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Cookies can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

There are cookie recipes everywhere I turn, a sure hallmark of the holiday season. They’re on the blogs, they’re in my email, and they’re are all over my food mags. They’re at my internship too. It’s the holidays and everyone loves the excuse to bake, including yours truly. I love setting aside whole days devoted to baking, then turning up the music in my apartment, plotting my recipes, and then stocking the fridge with a dozen different doughs that I turn out, one after another.

I’ve been in pastry school for three months now and I’ve been a pastry intern for two. When I come calling with my cookie plates this year, people rightly have high expectations for the treats that I bring and I don’t want to let them down. So I’m pulling out the stops. I’m assembling all of my favorites together on one festive silver platter, and that platter could never, ever be complete without meringue mushrooms.

Meringue mushrooms are the signature item on every dessert tray that Brian’s Aunt Karen has ever presented. She is the original culinary talent in the family, having owned and operated a very successful catering business on Long Island for many years. When I first saw these mushrooms, I was impressed and I couldn’t wait to add them to my own party rotation. They’re delicious for sure, with their light,melt-in-your-mouth exterior coupled with just a taste of solid dark chocolate, but their real appeal to me is that they look so real that they still cause me to do a double take.

Best of all, they are actually quite simple to make. A little more time consuming than the rest of my cookies maybe, but now that I’m becoming a pastry chef I’m all about aesthetics and making things memorable, and this cookie pays off in spades on both counts.

Meringue Mushrooms
Adapted from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts

1/2 cup egg whites (this is from 3-4 large eggs) at room temperature
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cocoa
High-quality (Callebeut is my brand of choice) dark chocolate (61-70% is best)

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.

In the bowl of a mixer at med-low speed, beat the whites for about half an minute, until they start to get foamy. Add the salt and the cream of tartar. Increase the speed to moderate and beat for another minute until the whites hold a soft shape. Continue to beat on medium and start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating 1/2 minute between additions. When half the sugar has been added, add the vanilla, continue beating, and resume adding the sugar as you were before. When all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to high and beat for 7 to 8 minutes or until the meringue is very stiff and the sugar is dissolved (rub some between two fingers to feel for grittiness). Depending on the power of your mixer, the total beating time will be between 15 and 18 minutes.

To hold the foil in place, pipe a little of the meringue onto each of the corners of the baking sheets and press the foil flat on to to adhere.

Do not allow the meringue to stand. Fit a large pastry bag (or gallon ziploc bag with the corner clipped) with a plain round tip (1/2 to 3/4 inch works best) and fill the bag with meringue. Pipe the stems onto one of the foil-lined baking sheets, by holding the bag at a right angle close to the foil and pressing the meringue out gently while slowly raising the bag straight up.  The base of the stem should be a bit wider for support. Hold the bag with one hand and use a knife to cut away the stream of meringue with the other. If you get little points on top do not worry, you can shape them away after baking using a microplane. The stems should be 1 – 1 1/2 inches tall. Be sure to make a few extras, just in case (of hunger, while assembing, which tends to happen).

Strain the cocoa through a fine strainer lightly over the stems to imitate soil and natural mushroom coloring.  Place in the oven on the high rack.

On the other piece of foil, shape the mushroom caps. Holding the bag straight up and close to the foil, press out flat, even rounds of meringue. The caps should average 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter. Sharply twist the bag away when finishing to avoid leaving a bump on the top (smooth over with a knife if you do).

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or even longer, until the meringues may be lifted easily from the foil and the bottoms are firm to the touch. The longer they bake, the drier they are (and the better they are too) but they should not be allowed to brown at all as it will affect the taste. Turn the heat off, prop the oven door open slightly, and allow the meringues to dry out even more as the oven comes down to completely cool, approximately one hour.

Remove the meringues from the foil. They may be placed on a clean piece of foil, or parchment. Immediately, while the meringues are very crisp, use a microplane to shave away any points on the tops of the stems, making small, flat surfaces on top for easy gluing to the tops.

Weigh out one oz. of chocolate for every five mushroom caps that you have. Chop the chocolate coarsely and warm it over a double boiler until it is completely melted and smooth(not over 115 degrees). Turn off the heat to avoid burning. Allow the chocolate to come down to 91 degrees before using. (you can do this by adding additional room temp chocolate)

Hold a mushroom cap upside down and use a spoon to spread a thin layer of chocolate around the flat side of the cap. Adhere the stem to the center of the cap in the chocolate. Place the mushroom, stem side up in an empty egg carton to stabilize it. Freeze in the carton, only until the chocolate is completely set (it will go from shiny to matte) but no longer (the moisture will kill the meringues). Remove and store at room temperature.

Do NOT store the mushrooms in an airtight container. They should be stored under layers of parchment, in a very cool, dry place.

It never ceases to amaze me just how fast the biggest meals go rushing by before our very eyes. As cooks we spend days, even weeks choosing our menu, shopping for our ingredients, and stocking our fridges to the gills with containers filled with our raw materials. We cook and cook our hearts out until the last guest has taken his seat at the table, the last bowl of soup placed upon the serving plate.

And then, for one exquisite moment, not a word is spoken and the only sound that can be heard is that of silver brushing against china. For those of us who love entertaining, this is the payoff for all of our toils.

That beautiful moment of silence, an homage to to the cook, is of course followed by lots and lots of satisfied grunting, chomping, and gulping, and if you are dining with my soon-to-be -in-laws, a healthy dose of rambunctious laughter as well. Too soon, it’s over; careful cooking is reduced to leftovers and dishes. And this is why the dessert course is so important. It puts on the breaks after a fast-paced meal, giving us time to stop and savor, not just the food, but each other too. The way I see it, the better the desserts, the longer folks will linger, and maybe they’ll even stick around to help with the dishes.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart
Adapted from Saveur, Issue #119 from Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn

This tart recipe comes from a restaurant that holds a very soft spot in my heart. It was a huge hit at Thanksgiving this year, satisfying both the caramel lovers and the chocolate lovers at the table. I love the contrast of sweet and salty, complimenting the deep dark chocolate and the tender, cookie-like crust. It’s perfect for the holidays because it can be made in advance (and ideally, needs to be, since there are three steps with three pauses for things to cool or set), freeing the cook from the burden of thinking about it on the day of the big meal or having it take up oven space.

Serves 8 (or more in a multi-dessert situation)

FOR THE CRUST
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE CARAMEL
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. crème fraîche

FOR THE GANACHE
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt or Maldon sea salt for garnish

1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Transfer dough to a 9″ fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork, line with foil or crumpled parchment, fill with pie weights (I have a jar of beans that I use over and over for this purpose), and bake until it is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack, remove the weights and liner and let cool.

2. Make the caramel: In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 tbsp. water and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer inserted into the syrup reads 340°. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth. Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

3. Make the ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt, slice, and serve chilled.

I spend a lot of time mulling over the following question: If [insert friend's name here] were a cake, what kind of cake would [he/she] be?

Those of us who enjoy baking celebration cakes understand the weighty significance of this question, with its myriad of factors to be weighed. Taste is an obvious one, our goal being to avoid flavors that exercise the recipient’s gag reflex and focus squarely on those that cause he or she to roll around and salivate like a dog.

I had a whole year’s notice for choosing the cake recipe for Brian’s birthday this year, but in classic style, I waffled on the decision until just two days before. I flirted with the flavors of sweet potato, dulce de leche , gingerbread, and caramel, but dismissed them all on the grounds that Brian is, if nothing, a chocolate man.

And, not surprisingly, my quest for chocolate celebration cakes led  to a book that pulls me back time and again with its georgeous photography, festive spirit, and more importantly, innovative recipes that please ever time.

When it’s a chocolate fiend’s birthday, you have to bring your A-game: rich, intense chocolate cake with a surprisingly light crumb, filled with a creamy white chocolate mousse, and slathered with a bittersweet sour cream icing that reminds you that chocolate frosting can be so triple-X sexy that it should be kept far from children.

I don’t think I have to tell you, this cake was a success. The only issue that remains is that I’ll be baking cakes for my beloved for the rest of our days, and I’m not sure how I’ll top this one next year.

Shameless Plug Alert! You may have noticed that I’m participating in a bake-off over at Bon Appetit.com. I really hope that you will take a moment to click over here and vote for my entry for my unbelievably delicious chocolate ravioli in the miscellaneous category (you get there by selecting your favorite in other categories and then clicking on vote on next batch at the bottom – the miscellaneous category is the last one). And now, without further ado…

Triple Chocolate Layer Cake
Adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne

A few months ago I might have been shocked by the idea of using mayonnaise as a cake ingredient, but we use things that are far more shocking in pastry school every day, so I’ve become a bit desensitized. Don’t allow the mayo to sway you, after all, it’s basically just eggs, oil, and vinegar, and it gives the cake a luxurious, soft crumb. The while chocolate mousse set up in the fridge with a firm layer on top and a more liquid layer on the bottom of the bowl – I skimmed the firm layer off the top and had plenty for the filling. You may consider using a few bamboo skewers or strawy to stabilize the cake (I wish I had), as the layers slid around a bit around the mousse when I was frosting the exterior.

Serves 10 people

butter for greasing pans
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups hot, strongly brewed coffee
2 eggs
1 cup mayonnaise  (Do not substitute with light mayo.)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar

White Chocolate Mousse:

4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg white
1 tablespoon sugar

Sour Cream Chocolate Icing:

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup half-and-half, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

Heat oven to 350F. Butter bottom and sides of 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment or wax paper. Butter top of linings.

For batter, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Put chopped chocolate in heat-proof bowl. Pour milk and coffee on top and let it stand for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool slightly. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs, mayonnaise, and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar. Add dry ingredients and coffee liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth (do not over beat). Divide batter among pans.Bake 25-28 minutes, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks 10-15 minutes. Unmold cakes. Peel off paper lining and cool completely, 1 hour.

3. For mousse, melt white chocolate with 1/4 cup cream, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Beat remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form. Whip egg white with sugar until fairly stiff peaks form. Fold beaten egg white into white chocolate cream. Then fold in whipped cream.

4. For sour cream icing, melt chocolate with butter and corn syrup on very low heat. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Whisk in half-and-half and sour cream.

5. Place one cake layer flat-side up on cake stand. Cover top with half the mousse, leaving 1/4 -inch margin around edge. Repeat with second layer. Set third layer on top. Use enough of the icing to thinly cover top and sides. Don’t worry if cake shows through. This layer seals in crumbs. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes to set. Cover cake with remaining icing, swirling with back of spoon or offset spatula.

Recipe note: If icing becomes too soft, chill slightly. If icing becomes too stiff, microwave on high 2 or 3 seconds to soften, and then stir to mix well.

**Please consider (Please? Please!) taking a moment to vote for this recipe at the holiday bake-off on Bon Appetit.com (click here). You will find it, appropriately, in the “miscellaneous” category, where you need only click on the picture to vote. Vote early, vote often!**

I think that we’ve all grudgingly accepted the fact that the holiday season seems to kick off just a little earlier each year than it did the year before, but today I stopped in my tracks and laughed at the absurdity of the Halloween and Christmas candy displays propped up side by side in the drugstore isle.

To a certain degree, the joke was also on me, because as I left the drugstore on this fine, balmy day in October, I was heading home to my kitchen to test a new holiday recipe that won’t be making its debut for another month. Certainly, I must be the most organized, efficient, forward-thinking domestic goddess that ever walked this Earth, no?

Ahem, not exactly.

You see, I become very motivated when Bon Appetit reaches out to invite me to participate in their holiday bake-off.  It seems only fair, seeing as how I’d spend many a hungry night wallowing in takeout if not for their recipes.

It was an exercise that prompted me, for once, to really put some thought into what I’ll be serving for dessert to friends and family this year, as opposed to my classic approach to the holidays: think about it a week before hand, put it off, procrastinate some more, go out to dinner the night before and it’s still not done, wake up early that morning and FREAK OUT, then throw together a boring tart from crust dough that I froze months ago and forget about cooling it properly as we jump in a cab bound for Penn Station.

This year I’m changing everything with chocolate ravioli. Drawing from my family’s most sacred holiday tradition (more on that here), I have created a dessert ravioli filled with a decadent chocolate ganache and surrounded by the most tender, melt in your mouth crust. It’s so rich it begs for a fruit sauce to balance it perfectly, like the one I’ve made with these just-barely-tart cherries. It’s no more involved than your average pie to make, creates a stunning plated presentation, and, best of all, is so much more portable than any tart, pie, or cake. Let the holiday eating begin!

Chocolate Ravioli

To achieve the perfect tender, melt-in-your-mouth crust, this dough has a high butter content, which can make the dough a bit of a challenge. Keeping the dough cold and working with small pieces at a time makes it a manageable project, as does using a plastic dough scraper to handle the dough. The results are worth the extra effort.

Makes approximately 16 ravioli

For the ravioli dough:

250 grams butter
150 grams granulated sugar
440 grams all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
big pinch of salt

powdered sugar (optional, for garnish)

For the ganache filling:

150 grams good semi sweet chocolate (60% coco solids preferred)
150 grams heavy cream
1 tablespoon corn syrup

For the cherry sauce:

12 oz. frozen cherries, pits removed
100 grams sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2 sheets of gelatin

For the egg wash:

1 egg
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

Make the ganache:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces (no bigger than 1/2 inch) and place in a heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the heavy cream and corn syrup just to the point that it starts to boil. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and pour it over the chocolate and allow it to sit for one minute untouched, then whisk the mixture rapidly until the cream and chocolate are uniform and glossy and there are no solid pieces of chocolate. Set aside to cool and then cover with plastic wrap directly on top of the ganache and refrigerate for 4 hours or until cold and solid. Can be made up to a week in advance if it is stored in an airtight container with plastic wrap pressed on top.

Make the cherry sauce:

Put the frozen cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium sized pot. Cook over medium heat until the cherries are thawed and the sugar has completely dissolved. Transfer the cherries to a blender and run the blender for a 2-3 minutes. You want the cherries to be mostly liquid. Strain the juice from the blender through a medium to fine strainer. Discard the solids and return the strained mixture to the pot over medium-high heat and allow it to simmer for approximately 20 minutes with the top off, until the liquid has been reduced by half. Bloom the gelatin in cold water for one minute, and once it is flexible, squeeze out all of the excess water. Remove the cherry juice from the heat and wait for it to stop bubbling, then add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. Allow the cherry sauce to cool, then place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before using. The sauce can be made up to two days in advance.

Make the ravioli dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until the mixture is homogenous and light. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl multiple times while mixing. Add the flour and salt and mix on medium-low, just until combined, taking care not to over mix. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. form the dough into a rectangle and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours before using. This dough can be made two days in advance.

Make the egg wash:

Beat the egg and egg yolk together with the pinch of salt until the yolks are broken and almost completely integrated with the egg whites. Egg was cab be stored for up to two days, refrigerated in an airtight container. Allow the wash to sit out for at least 15 minutes before using.

Assemble the ravioli:

Slice off a fourth of the dough piece and return the remainder to the fridge. Liberally flour the work surface, top of the piece of dough, and rolling pin, and have a flexible plastic scraper handy. Work quickly (as the dough becomes warmer, it becomes more difficult to work with) to roll out the dough. You may need to press it with your palms a bit to warm it up at first, and as you roll you should pause to push cracked dough back together, and to run the plastic scraper carefully under the dough to ensure that it is not stuck to the table. Continue to add flour as necessary.

Once you have a rectangular piece approximately 4×12 inches, stop rolling. Trim the edges of the rectangle with a pastry/pasta cutter so they are uniform. Using a pastry brush, outline the outer edge of the dough with egg wash, then make a line down the middle (the long way) and three lines perpendicular to that line, each two inches apart. You will end up with eight squares painted onto the dough (see picture in the post). Working down one side of the dough, place a teaspoon of the solidified ganache in the center of the boxes. flatten the ganache slightly. Using the scraper, carefully fold the other side of the dough over the ganache filling, ensuring that the edges meet. Smooth out any cracks using your fingers and press the dough together around the ganache fillings. Use the cutter to cut evenly between the mounds of ganache, and then use the pastry cutter to smooth out the edges of each ravioli. Place the ravioli on a parchment lined tray and refrigerate. Ball up any leftover dough, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate. If the ganache is getting too soft to handle, chill that as well.

Repeat with the remaining dough pieces and ensure that they have all chilled down for at least 20 minutes before baking. You can assemble these in advance and cover the baking sheet in plastic wrap in the fridge before baking, or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer, where they can be stored for up to one month.

Bake the ravioli:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven has reached 350, remove the ravioli from the refrigerator and spread them evenly on parchment lined baking sheets. When the dough is cold, use your fingers to smooth over any cracks in the top and to press along the seams to ensure that they are sealed. Brush the tops with egg wash and bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, or until the tops have turned golden brown.

Remove from the oven and transfer immediately to a cooling rack using an offset spatula. Allow the ravioli to cool completely for storage, or cool down to just warm for plating and serving. Ravioli may be warmed up in the oven before serving.

Presentation:

Remove cherry sauce from the refrigerator. Fill a squeeze bottle with the cherry sauce. Place the ravioli on plates and decorate them with sifted powdered sugar and cherry sauce, as you see fit.

I went out in the heat first thing this morning to meet my friend Nora for breakfast, and was delighted to see all the signs that summer has (temporarily) arrived in the East Village. Steam was rising from freshly-hosed pavement and the bodegas were already putting down the shades over their flower selections to protect the delicate petals from burning up in the sun. I happily flipped and flopped in a sundress all the way to Veselka.

With temperatures this high, I know I run the risk of not doing these brownies justice, which would be a tragedy. I made them weeks ago – to round out the honeycomb cannelloni that I prepared when Graig and Alice came to visit. Back then, the weather felt like winter, extended. A heavy, Sunday supper of family-style comfort foods seemed entirely appropriate.

Of course in a heat wave,  nobody wants the thickest, most dense, fudgy, delectable, heavy-duty brownies that ever lived. Perhaps if I freeze them and put them on a stick you’d be interested? Or give them a spin in the ice cream maker? Quickly sear them on the grill?

But in a few days, when we are back to more natural seasonal temperatures hovering in the 40s at night, I hope that you will remember these amazing brownies. They are dangerously decadent and not for the faint of heart.

Oh, so speaking of moist, dense, and amazing, I’m soooo excited to share that my original recipe for Cheesecake Sweeties was chosen as one of six finalists in a blogger recipe contest sponsored by the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission! I’m all aflutter! Check out Sara Bonisteel’s commentary of the contest on Slashfood, including a gorgeous photo of her interpretation of my recipe.

Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put a 9-inch square baking pan on a baking sheet. Line the baking pan with parchment (it’s ok if it hangs over the sides).

Whisk the flour and salt together.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the butter in the bowl and top with the chopped chocolate. Stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Add 1 cup of the sugar and whisk gently just to incorporate it, then remove the bowl from the pan of water. Stir in the vanilla and transfer the warm chocolate to a large bowl.

Put the remaining 1 cup of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl and, using a whisk, stir in the eggs. Switch to a rubber spatula and, little by little, add half of the sugar-egg mixture to the warm chocolate, stirring very gently but without stopping – you don’t want the heat of the chocolate to cook the eggs.

With the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the remaining sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until they double in volume. Using a spatula and a light touch, fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture, stopping just short of blending them in completely. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until the disappear. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the top looks dry. Poke a thin knife into the center and take a peek; the brownies should only be just set and still pretty gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

The brownies are fragile and best cut in the pan. Cut into 18 1 1/2×3-inch bars.

I’ve been a little down in the dumps about my job lately because things are moving across my desk at a dizzying speed and I’m feeling sort of powerless about quality control, bound to each successive deadline. I’m not proud of my work and there have definitely been mistakes. In this situation, with no opportunity for do-overs, I’m feeling pretty blue.

In the spirit of fixing something within my control, I did a do-over of a recipe that I recently botched and with which I never felt I had closure. You may recall the disaster that was the coffee crunch biscotti bars,  which were the result of my total inability to follow clear instructions. 

Molly Wizenberg’s story about her first experience with these was burned in my brain. There was one particularly salient part for me, for whatever reason, the part about how they smelled as they baked was something that I needed to experience for myself.

Molly writes about the “successive waves of scents: now melting butter, now freshly brewed coffee, now old-fashioned toffee”. 

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The air in the apartment was literally making me drool.  

As Molly also recounts, and I concur,  that waiting for these things to cool is a masochistic exercise of self-restraint.

When they finally (finally!) finished cooling, they were buttery and crisp with intense coffee-toffee flavor. I hadn’t been able to decide on just one kind of chocolate, so I did half milk, half dark, which I recommend if you happen to have them both around. I brought them to a housewarming party this weekend and I was delighted when a woman there asked me if these were the bars from the Bon Appetit article. Apparently it had left a strong impression on someone else as well.

Coffee Crunch Bars Recipe
Adapted from the recipe in Molly Wizenberg’s article Bon Appetit, January 2009 

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup dark chocolate, 1/2 cup milk chocolate)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.

Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in another medium bowl until blended, about 2 minutes. Add espresso powder and almond extract; beat 1 minute. Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just absorbed after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds (dough will be thick).

Turn dough out onto ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Using hands, press dough into 12-inch square. Pierce all over with fork at 1-inch intervals.

Bake until edges are lightly browned and beginning to crisp, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on sheet 1 minute. Cut into 48 bars. Immediately transfer to rack; cool (bars will crisp as they cool). DO AHEAD Can be made 5 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

There was talk of pancakes all week long with no action, so it was really only a matter of time until, well, these happened. 

And after a lot of weak justifications (“Isn’t it still technically Valentine’s Day?”) and with the obscenely large, rediculously cheap block of high-quality dark chocolate that I picked up the day before at the Chelsea Market burning a hole in my pantry, the chocolate part just sort of happened. 

Cherries and chocolate together make for one sexy pancake, don’t you think?  It still seems like such an oxymoron to me, for some reason.

But I have to believe that this whole obscene episode was meant to be, because as I so often do, I happened to reach for Mark Bittman’s book for some fast inspiration, and discovered a recipe for the lightest, fluffiest pancakes ever made. If not for the weight of the chocolate, they would have risen off the plate.

It’s the egg whites, beaten until they hold soft peaks, that are the secret.

If you fold them into the batter carefully, they hold much of their air, and keep things light from bowl, to ladle, to pan, to plate.

Guest photo credits to Brian, who was messing around with the new lens. As usual, he acted as head taster.

Except for this shot, which I took, post meal.

Fluffy Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Cherry Sauce
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman