Elizabeth_11

Elizabeth's Extreme Chocolate Lover's Cake Mmmmm rich, dense, chocolatey goodness. Not for the faint of heart! CAKE: 2-1/4 c all-purpose flour, sifted 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 6 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1/2 c unsalted butter 2-1/2 c dark brown sugar 3 eggs 1-1/2 T vanilla extract 1 c sour cream 1 c water FROSTING: 6 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1/4 c unsalted butter 1 egg yolk 4 c confectioners' sugar 2 T vanilla extract 2 T heavy cream 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened GANACHE: 2 c bittersweet chocolate chips 1 c heavy cream Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. 2 In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the melted chocolate. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. 3 Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 4 Make the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, whip the butter for about 10 minutes until it is super fluffy, beat in egg yolk. Gradually blend in the confectioners' sugar, alternating with 2 tablespoons vanilla and 2 tablespoons cream, then blend in the melted chocolate. Beat in the softened cream cheese. 5 Make the Ganache: In a large saucepan, combine chocolate chips and 1 cup heavy cream. Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. 6 Assemble the cake: When cake is completely cooled, cover the bottom cake layer with as much ganache as desired. Refrigerate for 5 minutes, or until ganache has set. Spread frosting over the ganache. Cover with top layer of cake. Frost top and sides with buttercream, and garnish with more ganache and fresh raspberries if you like! Keywords: Dessert, American, Intermediate, Chocolate, Cake ( RG431 )

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies! Serves 15 as Dessert. These are my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookies! They're big, fat, and chewy--and finally you can eat just one, they are just that big and satisfying! This recipe is adapted from the Cook's Illustrated version, only with some minor adjustments to my taste. Enjoy! 2 c all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c unsalted butter, melted 1 c packed brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 1 T vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 c semisweet chocolate chips 1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 2. Stir together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla. Add egg, then the yolk. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chocolate chips until incorporated. Refrigerate dough until firm (at least 30 minutes). 3. Drop 1/4 cup sized "puck-shaped" mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for approximately10-12 minutes or ONLY until the edges begin to turn golden. (They'll look underdone, but trust me, they're perfect)! Cool and enjoy! Yields about 12-15 BIG cookies! Keywords: Dessert, American, Easy, Chocolate, Cookie ( RG430 )

Double Fudge Frosted Brownies 1/2 c unsalted butter, cut into Tablespoons 1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz unsweetened chocolate 3/4 c granulated sugar 3 large eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 c flour 1/4 tsp salt Frosting: 3 T unsalted butter 2 oz unsweetened chocolate 1 oz semisweet chocolate 1-1/2 c confectioners sugar pinch salt 1/4 c heavycream 1 tsp vanilla extract oven to 350. Line 8" square pan and sides completely with foil. Lightly butter bottom and sides. In medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and chocolates until butter and chocolates melt and mixture is smooth, transfer to medium bowl. With wooden spoon, stir in granulated sugar. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until there is no trace of yolk. Mix in vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix vigorously until mixture is shiny and smooth. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake brownies for 35-40 minute, or until cake tester comes out slightly moist. Do not overbake. Let cool for 45 minutes. Lift brownies out of pan holding onto foil. Invert onto cooling rack and peel off foil. Let cool completely (brownies will be frosted on smooth side. Make frosting: Place butter and chocolates in medium saucepan. Heat over very low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and chocolates melt and mixture is smooth. Transfer to bowl of electric mixer. On low speed, add half of heavy cream. Blend in remaining confectioners sugar and remaining heavy cream. Beat in vanilla and salt. Beat frosting on medium speed for 30 seconds, or until smooth and shiny. Spread frosting over uncut brownies, and cut into 9 squares. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy! They are soooooooooooooooo good! Keywords: Dessert, Brownies/Bars ( RG410 )

Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Serves 30. These cookies are the pinnacle of perfection! If you want a big, fat, chewy cookie like the kind you see at bakeries and specialty shops, then these are the cookies for you! " Remember to chill the dough first, to avoid spreading 2 c all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c unsalted butter, melted 1 c packed brown sugar 1/2 c white sugar 1 T vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 c semisweet chocolate chips 1 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. 2 Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 3 In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. 4 Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Keywords: Dessert, Cookie ( RG350 )

Check out my big fat chewy recipe: It's a modified version of the Cook's Illustrated recipe: http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/BstBigFtCh...hcltChipCki.asp *note* just be sure to refrigerate the dough first to firm it up and prevent spreading!

Considering the fact that I was born with a freakishly strong sweet tooth, I always preferred the chocolate frosted s'more one, the strawberry frosted, and recently I tried the cookies and cream stix one...not that great but sure does satisfy that sugar craving in a pinch

Wow, so many replies, so many brands! Thank you everyone! I think I'm going to print this page out to remember it all, lol. Well for starters, I am aware of the property difference b/w the chips and the blocks, but I have actually tested the guittard chips out for the fillings and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Nice texture, no problems setting up properly, very rich and smooth. The dipping, however, was not successful--way too thick and just..ehh..not good results. This is why I was thinking about just getting a superb chocolate for the coating which would melt and coat easily and smoothly. I have thought about piping, but in my "trial run" I simply used a melon-baller and shaped the (still very maleable) ganache into somewhat round balls and stuck them in the fridge to firm them up, and this was rather successful. I tried to dip these into the melted guittard, but as I mentioned before, it was way too thick. I finished up by letting them dry on a silpat and they ended up resembling fannie mays--which is fine :) (Still worked, still was super tasty though--just not as aesthetically pleasing as I'd like them to be). Is this not the best way to do it???? I do know how to temper chocolate, although my experience in doing this is limited. As for cost, it's really difficult to say in exact dollars-just as little as possible. I know that doesn't help at all, and most likely I will cave and end up using high quality for the centers as well as the shells. Some of the prices you all have quoted are not "oh my god" expensive, so I'll probably just go the distance with it. Also, what about white chocolate? I know to look for high cocoa butter content, but any brand known for its white chocolate? Is adding raspberry puree a good idea? I know that I'll end up testing this all out myself, but I'd like to avoid wasting the chocolate as much as possible, therefore some sort of roadmap of how to go about this would be wonderful. Again, thank you all for taking the time to aswer me--what would I do without this site? -E-

Excellent, thank you so much for your speedy reply!

Hello everyone, I'm quite sure this topic has been addressed somewhere, but I couldn't seem to find the "best chocolate thread" when I searched. I need to find out which brand of chocolate is the best, but also affordable. I'm throwing a bridal shower in a couple of weeks and am making homemade truffles as favors. I am on a budget though, so I was wondering if anyone could recommend a brand that won't cost me an arm and a leg. With the amount of money I've already spent on the shower, I was even considering using Guittard (in my opinion, really excellent) chocolate chips for the centers, and only buying the higher quality for the coating chocolate. Would this be just--wrong??? I know E. Guittard is the good stuff, but I actually find their store bought chocolate chips to be great. I intend on making 4 different kinds of truffles, the kind being soft ganache centers coated in melted chocolate--not the firmer ones rolled in cocoa or nuts (who knows, I could change my mind though). My intended variations include: plain dark chocolate, dark chocolate-rum, milk chocolate-hazelnut (frangelico) and white chocolate raspberry. So I will need all 3 kinds of chocolate. In addition, does anyone have any ideas with the white chocolate raspberry one? The bride really wants this flavor combo, so I was thinking about trying fresh raspberry puree with just a bit of cream as opposed to, say, chambord or another liqueur for the ganache filling. I've also tried raspberry extract before and wasn't thrilled with the outcome, so I don't want to use that. Would this work? Anyone have a recipe for white chocolate-raspberry truffles? Thank you everyone! -Elizabeth

Although there have already been a countless number of recipes provided, after EXTENSIVE testings I have found that Nick Malgieri's Supernatural brownies are THE BEST in my book! I've altered the technique slightly to make it a bit fudgier (I think it worked) here's the recipe: http://www.recipesource.com/desserts/brown...00/rec0079.html **I make a half batch of these, and instead of combining the sugars with the eggs all at once, I add the brown sugar to the chocolate mixture (along with the salt and vanilla) and stir--add the egg, stir---add the remaining white sugar--stir, then finally add the last egg. Then fold in the flour. I find that this lessens the amount of "crust" on top--I don't like a too crispy crust--this creates just the right amount of it for me personally!** ENJOY!!! mmmmmmm brownies!

Cooks Illustrated "America's Test Kitchen" crust recipe has proven to have the best and most consistent results for me. I have never gotten such rave reviews on a crust before I used this one. It truly is tender, flaky and super super tasty! Here's the link: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/Recipe/338.shtml BTW, just a note: I have always used a hand held pastry cutter, never have I used a food processor!

Stella Artois, Corona in the summertime, and my favorite light beer: Amstel

*cowering* I kind of liked it! But then again, I am a bit of a girly girl........so that would probably explain it.

Wow. EXCELLENT work Dave! I can't believe my thread inspired an article/experiment! yay! Very cool, mad props for taking the time and effort to do that. (heh, I just said "mad props" didn't I?)

Thank you Really Nice, that was really nice! Ya learn something new everyday!

I may very possibly be incorrect, but to my knowledge it is to avoid overmixing and thus creating more gluten. I believe that by slowly incorporating the wet and dry ingredients together instead of all the flour at once, you avoid beating it too much at the end? So by gently mixing wet,dry, wet, dry, the ingredients are still thoroughly combined but not at as much risk as being beaten to death by overwhelming it with dry ingredients?? That's my take on it at least, but please correct me if I'm wrong someone! Edited to note that the only recipes I have seen for adding dry at the end are almost always quick breads like pancakes or muffins; these usually don't call for super-thorough mixing and lumps are permissable. This is usually when you just want to fold it in to produce a super tender crumb--I THINK.

Hey Bri, I am interviewing with a place called Bittersweet run by pastry chef Judy Contino. http://chicago.citysearch.com/review/37347...4763/editorial/ I actually learned of her while reading "The making of a Pastry Chef". She is relatively well-known here in Chicago and Bittersweet is just the most delightful little shop/cafe filled with european style pastries. It gets RAVE reviews. I'm thinking that she would most likely offer me a temporary no-pay position to get a better idea of what my skill level is, then maybe base payment on that? Either way, I'm very excited about it! I've been trying for months to get my foot in the door here, so it would probably be best for me to accept anything she has to offer. Do you agree?

Those are all excellent points. I actually have an interview on Tuesday to sit down with the pastry chef (not sure if I'll do any work in the kitchen), so I need to be prepared for the possibity that she could offer me work with no pay--at least temporarily. I really don't know what I'd say! I'd probably buckle (although I NEEEEEEED money right now) since it's probably the most amazing pastry establishment in all of Chicago. Oh what to do, what to do!

Hhmmm most likely a scone or spice cookie, like a crisp gingersnap or a crunchy sugar cookie suitable for dunking. Or possibly a cinnamon quickbread with a crunchy struedel topping.

This thread has given me so many good ideas! All of these recipes posted look absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to try some of them. I would actually love anyone's cutout cookie recipe if you have one you think is really excellent. I'm looking for a thick, dense, not too hard recipe that you frost. (like the ones in bakeries--does that mean it would use shortening??) Anyways, I used to have a wonderful sour cream cutout recipe, but I can't find it anywhere! All the ones I've tried using sour cream turns out way too puffy and cakelike for my taste. I'm going to bake up a storm this weekend--happy baking everyone!

It's great to read all these replies! Maggie--yours sound really good, I just might have to give those a whirl. I must admit I've never heard of or tried sfogliatelle or pignolis, and not even hermits! I'm actually looking for a tasty molasses-y spice drop cookie--if anyone has one, I'd really appreciate it! Mixmaster, I came up with this recipe for English toffee, it's not the one I've used (it's been a while and I have no idea where I got my recipe from) but this one is provided by a pastry chef so I'm assuming it's pretty good. It also got several rave reviews on the site I found it on. I've seen several recipes and they're all similar--some with corn syrup, some without. I'm assuming the syrup prohibits crystallization??? Anyways here it is: English Toffee Printable version of this recipe Rating: 100% would make this again 1 cup unsalted butter 1 1/3 cup sugar 1 tablespoon corn syrup, light 3 tablespoons water 1 lb bittersweet chocolate 1 lb pecans -- ground (optional) Melt butter and sugar, add corn syrup and water. Boil over high heat till candy thermometer reads 300 F. Pour on to greased cookie sheet. Break in to pieces and dip in melted chocolate. Cover with ground pecans. Fannie Farmer cookbook simply calls for cooking 1 lb butter with 2 cups sugar to 290, then pouring on a greased pan. Come to think of it, I believe that's the one I used and it was REALLY buttery and tasty. Hope that helps!

[Moderator note: This topic is rapidly approaching a size that our servers won't handle it efficiently, so we've locked it. There's a fresh discussion of holiday cookies, here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/146110-christmas-cookies-redux/] Happy Holidays everyone! Since I love baking Christmas cookies every year for friends and family, I was just wondering which cookies are a tradition/favorite in your homes. I always do the traditional sour cream cutouts, fudge with candied cherries or walnuts, spritz, chocolate-mint brownies...pretty standard stuff. If anyone would care to share their favorite recipes, I'd love to see what everyone has to offer and possibly try some new ones this year!

Ladybug, it's ALMOST the Cook's Illustrated recipe. I modified it slightly...twice. The one I wrote out on this post is my version of it crossed with Alton Brown's recipe, perfected to my taste. The one I posted from the link is more like the CI one, with only slight modifications in the flour and vanilla. :)

These use brown sugar, but I guess you can substitute white for all of it--although it may lose some moisture due to the lack of molasses. THese, if not overcooked (I like to take them out early, to the point where they almost look raw in the middle) turn out really crispy on the outside, and dense and chewy in the middle....here are 2 of my recipes: By hand, mix together: 3/4 C. butter, melted (not bubbling melted) 1 1/4 C. brown sugar (C&H!!! light or dark, I like dark or at least 1/2 and 1/2) 1/4 C. granulated sugar Stir in: 1 TBsp. vanilla extract 1 egg 1 yolk Stir in these previously combined dry ingredients: 2 Cups + 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt Add: 2 Cups high quality semisweet chocolate Scoop onto parchment paper using 1/4 cup scoop. (they'll be really big!) If you want to make them look really fancy, take the 1/4 cup ball of dough, and using both hands, "rip" the dough apart, then turn the ripped surface area of the dough to face up, and fuse them together again. This was shown in Cook's Illustrated to create a more aesthetically pleasing result. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or just until the edges are golden. ( I really don't know how long considering my oven is really whacked) The middle should look undercooked...trust me you do NOT want to overcook these babies, they are truly best when a little undercooked and cooled. **if using the correct ingredients, these SHOULD turn out huge and plump, but like my post shows, ingredients can affect the outcome. So if something should happen and they don't turn out this way, it could be the sugars. Also there have been times that, depending on humidity, I've had to add a bit more flour for them to retain their shape, they should only spread a TEENY bit in the oven** Happy baking, hope you like them! -Elizabeth Also, here is my original recipe I posted a while back (got over 200 5-star reviews!!) on allrecipes.com...I found that it wasn't AS thick as my new one, but a LOT of people seem to like it..it has a few subtle differences.....either way, enjoy! http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/BstBigFtCh...hcltChipCki.asp

I'm a big pudding pop fan. My advice would be to find a really kick-ass pudding recipe from scratch and freeze it, although instant jello brand might taste more authentic---who knows. I don't know of a really great recipe offhand, but I'll post it if I come across one. It's good to see someone else my age around here.....do you work in the culinary field?