Chocolate Crinkles

I just made these chocolate crinkle cookies. They are divine. I'd been seeing these cookies in all my cookbooks and thought, "Hm. Those look good. I should really try those." Finally, I did. I used the recipe from Betty Crocker's Baking For Today (2005). Before I give you the recipe, I should mention that I now do all my baking with unbleached white flour. I read in Essentials of Baking (Williams Sonoma, 2003) that unbleached flour has a more pleasant taste, and I quite agree. I think it has made a huge difference in the flavor of my sugar cookies, especially. Oh, I also use parchment paper to bake with now. It's just simpler.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
approximately 1/2 cup powdered sugar

In large bowl, mix granulated sugar, butter, vanilla and chocolate with spoon. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat. Shape into balls. On cookie sheet, place balls about 2 inches apart.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.

Be sure to really drop the dough directly into the powdered sugar. I thought I was being so clever by deciding it would work better to ball it up in my hands first. I was definitely wrong! Plus, if you ball it up after you've rolled it in the powdered sugar, the excess sugar comes off and doesn't get everywhere when moving the cookies. Maybe the dough was so sticky because I only left it in the refrigerator for about two hours. Hey, when you bake a dozen different cookies in half a week, you start to look for shortcuts! :)

(Note: The image was also taken from Baking For Today.)

5-Minute Fudge

My sister told me the best fudge she ever tasted was Rachel Ray's 5-Minute Fudge her friend made. I'm a bit skeptical of Rachel Ray because I've heard that her recipes are not as quick and easy as she professes. Some food critics say that her recipes are good, though. And Summer did say it was the best fudge she ever had. Summer's hard to please when it comes to fudge, and actually, so am I. So I decided to give Rachel Ray a shot. And I came to the conclusion that if I ever need to make something to impress someone, but I don't have a lot of time, I'll make this fudge.

Her fudge includes currants, and it's in the shape of a wreath. I generally think that putting fruit in dessert completely goes against the whole purpose of dessert, so I left the currants out. Also, presentation is nice, but in my family, desserts don't really last long enough to make the presentation matter, so I just slapped the fudge in a 1" jelly roll or cake pan. Fudge wreaths? Who needs 'em?!?

So this is what my final adaptation came out to be:

1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels
9 ounces (3/4 of a 12-ounce bag) butterscotch morsels
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) bag walnut halves

Lightly grease the cookie/cake/jelly roll pan with softened butter.

Place a heavy pot on the stove and preheat it over low heat. Add chips and milk and stir until chips are melted and milk combined. Stir in vanilla, and remove fudge from heat. Stir in nuts immediately.

The fudge will set up almost immediately. Chill covered in the refrigerator.

Now, this recipe does not take 5 minutes. But it probably doesn't take more than 10, either. Because butterscotch has a higher melting point than chocolate, you will probably need to raise the heat a bit past "low". I suppose you could just add as much butterscotch as you like, since it's a pretty rough measurement. Same goes for walnuts. If you like crunch, add more.

It's really a foolproof recipe. Try it.

Ghirar-heaven?

Ghirardelli chocolates aren't my favorites. I'd rather have a Milka or a Ferrero Rocher. Yesterday, though, I DID have Ghirardelli because my boss gave me some small samples -- or "Fun Sizes," as the candy world likes to call them. I wasn't expecting to be swept off my feet. But swept off, I was. I scanned the wrappers in the order of best to . . . least best. I'll cover the main points below.

1. Milk Chocolate with Double Chocolate Filling. This piece was brilliant. There was just enough filling to make each bite the perfect moistness. Now -- nearly two days later -- I can't recall what kind of chocolate was in the middle -- sweet or semi-sweet? Whatever it was, it was gooooood.
2. Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling. The effect here is kind of like those Nestle Treasures. The Caramel isn't chewy, but syrupy -- just how I like it.
3. Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling. This was actually not that tasty to me. As I get older, I am developing a taste for dark chocolate, but I'm still pretty particular about the amount of dark chocolate in a candy. For example, dark chocolate tastes great with mint. Look at the York Peppermint Pattie or the Junior Mint -- peanut butter and chocolate is perhaps the only flavor pair that tops the dark chocolate/mint combination. The problem with this Ghirardelli version, I think, is that it just has too much dark chocolate. To put it another way, Ghirardelli didn't use enough filling.

Well, folks. There's a very rough overview of Ghirardelli chocolate anatomy. Try these little chocolate squares out. I think you'll be very pleased.

Blogpoll = Crazy Poll

I had some technical difficulties with the current blog poll -- one of which is that I didn't name my poll. So obviously, it just says "Your title". Sorry, guys. Just work around it.

Aztecs and Chocolate

The Aztecs prepared a drink that contained chocolate, water, chili, achiote (a natural coloring), cinnamon, and vanilla. It is said that Montezuma drank 50 goblets of this bitter beverage each day.

Hernando Cortez brought cacao back to Europe but it was not well received. Later when Europeans deleted the spices and added sugar, the popularity of chocolate as a beverage soared.

(Source: California Academy of Sciences)

Dark, Milk, or White?

This just in: Poll results are finally displayed!

About two weeks ago, I posted a "Weekly Poll." Obviously, it wasn't a week-long poll because I decided I don't get enough visitors in a week to produce a decent poll result. Actually, I don't get enough visitors in month, either. . .

So why, then, am I posting the results two weeks too early? I found out someone's been cheating! You can all thank Lauren for skewing the polls and giving us inaccurate results. She clicked on dark chocolate a few times using different computers. I was wondering why milk chocolate didn't win. . .

Well, here are the results:

Dark: 46.2% with 6 votes
Milk: 30.8% with 4 votes
White: 23.1% with 3 votes

(For those of you thinking, "What is white chocolate, anyway?" I have the answer. It's made of sugar, cocoa butter, dry milk solids, and flavoring. It contains no milk solids other than cocoa butter.)

Please, people (LAUREN), please! Try to make what little votes I get count! Don't vote more than once! The poll is a small sample based on scientific principles, not a popularity contest! :)

Gourmet Chocolates

A Washington Post article was just uploaded on MSN today: Rich and Hot, Chocolate On the Luxury Level. It's all about how chocolatiers are raising the bar on their delicacies; they're learning how to raise the cost of chocolates and do it in a way that doesn't alarm customers. Part of the strategy is to make chocolate a fashion statement -- something cool. In an excerpt of the article, we read:

Last year, almost 65 percent of those surveyed in the Mintel report said that they would rather have a little bit of premium chocolate than a lot of so-so chocolate. To her customers, Leiberman said, the right chocolate in the proper packaging feels more like a fashion accessory than a threat to their waistlines.

What does this mean, practically? It means that Godiva is selling some of their boxes for $120 a pop!

Hmmm. It looks like I got into this chocolate trend at the right time. Now I'm cool, AND I could make money with advertisements on my blog! :)

Readers, would you pay $120 for a pound of chocolate?

(Image source: California Academy of Sciences)

French Hot Chocolate

If you've ever seen the movie Chocolat and loved it, then you've probably, at one time or another, craved the hot chocolate featured in the movie. It's French hot chocolate, and I'm finally posting the recipe, as promised.

I found this particular concoction at Bed and Breakfast Inns Online. I adapted it a little according to my own tastes.

1. In a medium, heavy saucepan, bring to rolling boil: 1 cup light or heavy cream.
2. Immediately remove from heat and whisk in: 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, cut into 1/4 inch pieces. (Refrigerate the chocolate concentrate in a covered jar for up to 10 days.)
   
3. For each cup of hot chocolate, stir together: 1/4 cup chocolate concentrate and 1/4 cup of milk, cream, half and half, or water.
4. Heat on low or in a microwave on high for 45-60 seconds, until warm but not boiling.
5. Stir in: 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.
6. Top each serving with whipped cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon.

The site says this recipe is a richer, sweeter version of hot cocoa. I found this to be half-true. It's definitely richer, but I'd also say it's a little bitter. As you can see, I added some sugar to make it sweeter, and I also played around with different chocolate -- Baker's German chocolate is a bit sweeter, but it's also richer. You really just have to play around with the recipe and find out what you like. But I can tell you this: If you're not into anything other than the standard American milk chocolate, you probably won't like it.

The key to French hot chocolate, though, and the part that makes it fun is the thickness. It's so viscous that it leaves a film on the sides of the mug. Check it out:


Just try it and see what you think! I will be trying out different versions, too and will update my blog accordingly.

(In case you're wondering, that "little something extra" in the first photo is a Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouette. They also come in Mint Chocolate and Vanilla flavors.)

Completely Inappropriate Use of Chocolate

While looking for chocolate images to use on this blog, I stumbled across an image of Michelangelo's Pieta.

What is the Pieta, you ask? It's my favorite sculpture and quite possibly my favorite fine art piece in general. It's Michelangelo's representation of the Virgin Mary holding her crucified son. Here's a Google image:


This sculpture is so aesthetically pleasing to me. I love to look at it. I marvel to know that Michelangelo carved this statue out of marble at age 23!

So I was a little surprised to see this thumbnail in a list of chocolate images on Google. I clicked on the image, and to my horror, saw that the image was a piece of white chocolate made to look like the Pieta. That's right; Encore Chocolates, Inc. -- a chocolate candy company in Rochester, NY -- is selling the Pieta as a PIECE OF FOOD!!!

This is extremely disturbing on so many levels. If we were to look at the piece of chocolate as just a piece of chocolate, then we could say that the mini-sculpture was terribly made. (It's not to scale at all.) But more importantly, it's a completely inappropriate way to sell candy. As a Christian, I respect the admirable and solemn tone of Michelangelo's sculpture. It's a religious art work that moves me in a profoundly spiritual way, and I'm sure it has the same effect on others. As such, it should not be replicated in chocolate form and eaten! And the same goes for any other religious figure or symbol. I would not, for example, condone a chocolate candy of the Catholic Pope, St. Peter's Basilica, or Mathura Buddha.

I can't believe this company is making money off the candies!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hmm, I wish I had a wonderful chocolatey dessert to show you for the holiday, but as my family never has chocolate desserts at Thanksgiving, I will have to find a random Google image.


Yeah, it's just another chocolate pour, but who gets tired of those?

If I have time tonight, I will whip up some French hot chocolate, take pictures of it, and give you the recipe.

Just To Get Your Tastebuds Going . . .

Why Is Swiss Chocolate Soooo Good?

Some of you Pro Chocolate readers have specifically asked about Swiss chocolate. Why is it so good? Well, the answer is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the natural fat of the cacao bean.

Now, the cacao bean is the seed found in a cacao pod, the fruit of the cacao tree. Workers cut the pods from the trees, cut the pods open, and scoop out the beans. The beans are allowed to ferment for about a week and are then cleaned, roasted, and hulled. Cacao beans with the shells removed are called nibs. The nibs contain about 54% cocoa butter, and when they are ground, the nibs release the butter. This mixture of finely ground nibs and cocoa butter forms a free-flowing substance known as chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is then processed in various ways to produce chocolate in the forms we buy at the grocery store: cocoa powder, and semi-sweet and milk chocolate. Want to know what the chocolate liquor tastes like, though? Just try some baking chocolate -- that's the commercial form of the liquor.

So, what does all of this have to do with cocoa butter and Swiss chocolate? Cocoa butter is very expensive, and to reduce production costs, many chocolate companies substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter. Why don't manufacturers just use the butter they ground out of the nib, you ask? Besides cutting costs, they can make an extra buck by skimping on the amount of butter and selling it for use in other products like laxative and anaesthetic suppositories, various medical ointments, and cosmetics.

But Swiss chocolatiers -- as well as other purist chocolatiers -- refuse to use vegetable oil in their chocolates. Although European Union chocolate makers are allowed to use up to 5% of vegetable fats in chocolate production, Swiss companies are resisting. They say they have a quality reputation to uphold.

And I think we can all agree that Swiss chocolate IS the best. Although I must say that Hershey makes a pretty good cheap version; the company is my chocolate addiction enabler.

Hmmm, perhaps I should call this blog "Pro Cocoa Butter."

To read more about the plight of the Swiss Chocolatier, click here. For more about chocolate production, check out the following site: "Vernost Kachestvu" Confectionery Ltd.

(Sources: The previous two linked web sites and Applebaum, Rhona S. "Chocolate." The World Book Encyclopedia. 2001.)

Chocolate Sculptures

When I was in the 5th or 6th grade, my gifted class visited the High Museum of Art while the chocolate busts of "some artist" were displayed. She'd also created soap busts, but I could care less about those. What I liked was the chocolate. I remember thinking, "Licking chocolate? How can anyone call that work?" I was fascinated. Sadly, I couldn't remember the name of the artist after all these years. But thanks to the wonderful service that is the internet, I found her name and some images of those sculptures.

Her name is Janine Antoni, and you can find information about her here. There are also video clips, so check it out.

Chocolate Bunnies

To kick off this blog, I thought I'd start with a little chocolate humor.