TWD: Chocolate-Mint Nightcaps

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Marcel DeSaulniers

Ahh, I was so looking forward to making these!! Chocolate mint ganache, sandwiched between two chocolate cookies, and topped with even more ganache (to resemble a nightcap).

These treats are small, and are meant to be eaten with your fingers. However, a fork may have been better, for the cookies are like a small moist sponge cake, that stick to the tips of your fingers, and are quite messy.

These were a bust for me. The chocolate mint ganache had no mint flavor to it all. I should have went with my instinct to infuse the cream for a longer time - at least an hour, as I do when I make ice cream. It also was too firm to pipe. Well, it was perfect when I pulled it from the fridge, but as it sat out on the counter, while I baked my last set of cookies, it firmed up even more! I had to place the bowl of ganache over a waterbath to soften it back up. Unfortunately, the ganache was not as smooth after doing so.

I felt the cookies were too light for the heavy ganache. I'm thinking maybe brownies would work better, or maybe even meringue cookies for more of a textural difference.

I only made a few for the photo - the rest of the cookies are in the freezer, waiting for a recipe that calls for cake crumbs - they'll probably end up in the trash though. And the extra ganache? Who knows. Would hate to throw out all that good chocolate. Maybe I can make truffles with it, or stir it in to warm milk for hot cocoa. (It would be a lot of cocoa!)

To view how my fellow bakers fared with this recipe, click here to be taken to the TWD blogroll for their links.

TWD: Chocolate-Mascarpone Cheesecake

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: David Ogonowski

Chocolate-Mascarpone Cheesecake. Sound and look decadent? It is.

Made with cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, sour cream and chocolate. Good thing I was able to ride a couple of extra days this week!

Every time I make a cheesecake (not all that often, but when I do..) I am always nervous as to when to take it out. The baked cake is supposed to be somewhat "jiggly" when pulled from the oven, and firms up as it cools, but just how jiggly? I usually trust my "scent-o-meter" when it comes to baking. And my nose was telling me it was done, though it was like really jiggly at the time specified (50 - 60 minutes) in the recipe. A quick Google search told me most cheesecakes take up to one hour fifteen, to an hour and a half. Mine baked for about an hour twenty before I felt confident in taking it out.

Oh, David.. your recipe needs a little tweeking:
 
One: The cookie crumb bottom. Seriously? You want me to invert the cake onto a cutting board (after baking, obviously) and press the crumbs into the bottom of the cake, then upright it? Why? So much easier to make your typical cheesecake crust and pour the filling over it (this is what I did). And wouldn't inverting the cake maybe damage the top? (I'm interested to see what route the other bakers in our group took.)

Two: Speaking of the top. You say to bake the cake until the top is dry and a little blistery. And you want it to be served this way? No embellishments on top to hide the unattractive, dull looking top? No wonder there was no picture of the cake in the book.
 
I took the initiative to adorn the cake with a chocolate ganache, not only was it way more attractive, it was delicious, as I'm sure it would be without it; but, we do feast with our eyes first, do we not?

I saved a slice for my husband and me, and sent the rest with my sister for her to take into work. She texted me this message the next day:

David, David, David. What were you thinking? You want me to serve this decadent sounding dessert looking like this? Undressed? Maybe you were thinking that looks can be deceiving - and wanting to prove a point. Well, I was not about to go that route - I have a reputation to uphold (especially when it comes to chocolate desserts).
 

What to do, what to do...

 Oooh, a marbled cheesecake would have been pretty!

I decided on a dark chocolate ganache glaze for the top; I also felt there needed to be something on the side of the cake. I was thinking little lace hearts would be perfect! However, the mini lace hearts were not working out for me (I only gave it one try - just was not into it when the time came to get it done). I did make a few larger hearts and ended up using one of those on top of the cake. If I had known that I would not have had any garnishment on the side of the cake, I would have let the glaze drip down the side - that would have been pretty too - even a chocolate lace border.. oh well, another day.

 Amazing how different the lighting is when you move from the corner of the room to the center.

This picture best reflects the true color of the cheesecake.

This is a fairly quick cheesecake to make, but it does require an overnight chill - so plan on making this a day before you want to serve it.

The finished cake can be stored up to four days in the refrigerator - so nice to finally have a recipe from this book that lasts longer than a day!

I read a fellow baker had success with a gluten-free version, check out the post over at Oven Chaos.

This post participates in Tuesdays with Dorie. Click here for the links of all the talented bakers of our group, to see how they fared with this recipe.

Book 100: Bittersweet

by Alice Medrich

I found it fitting that my one-hundredth book be by Alice Medrich. It was Alice's book, Cocolat, a gift from my husband many moons ago that go me started on a baking adventure of a lifetime. I love Cocolat - the recipes are easy enough for the average home baker to make, yet they will impress your family and friends, as I'm sure the recipes in this book will too.

It was hard to pick a recipe from this book. There are so many beautiful and delicious sounding cakes, breads, cookies, (and even a couple savory dishes!) to choose from. Originally I was going to go with Alice's Tribute Cake, a beautiful chocolate cake filled with ganache, frosted with a chocolate glaze and decorated with ruffled chocolate fans. This, has my name written all over it.

 (source)

However, I opted for the Coconut Saras. These are a different take on her Sarah Bernhardt cookies from Cocolat. In this recipe she uses a coconut macaroon rather than an almond macaroon (not to be confused with macaron. Though macaron is French for macaroon, they are a different cookie). I must say I do prefer the coconut over the almond (I have made both).

The base of this petit dessert is the coconut macaroon, this is topped with a chocolate ganache, and dipped in, and drizzled with, a chocolate glaze. Yep. Sounds good doesn't it?

As I was finishing these up, our daughter stopped by and she did a taste test for me. Her reaction was "Mmm, I can eat these all day" and frankly, so could I.

Success meter (1-3): 3

amazon

To make the ganache, finely chop your chocolate.

Bring some cream to a simmer and pour over the chocolate and mix until smooth.

Let cool before refrigerating overnight.

Oops. I thought I forgot to add all of the chocolate. I reheated the cooled chocolate mixture over a water bath and stirred in the extra chocolate. Only later did I realize this was not the case.

The macaroons are made from sweetened coconut, sugar, egg white, vanilla, and salt. (The leftover egg yolks I will be using to make Alice's recipe for Chocolate Mint Ice Cream!)

Mix macaroon ingredients together in a stainless steel bowl and place in a waterbath, and cook until the egg whites are no longer runny, and have turned from translucent to opaque.

The recipe calls for you to drop by the tablespoons full (I used a scoop approx. 2.5" in diameter - holds about 1 tablespoon). I thought they looked a bit large, so for my second batch I went with a smaller scoop. (Approx. 1 1/8" in diameter.)

I found the tip of a candy thermometer dipped in water worked well to create a hole in the center of the cookie to form the nest shape.

Wouldn't these be cute at Easter filled with mini chocolate eggs? In that case, use the larger scoop.

The chilled ganache. This you whip until it is spreadable, yet firm enough to hold a shape.

This is how it is NOT supposed to look like after whipping! Spreadable? No. I realized later that when the recipe called for half of the chocolate ganache recipe, I used half of the cream, but ALL of the chocolate called for, in a full recipe. Oops. No worries though. It still tasted great, I just was not able to pipe the ganache onto the cookies. Instead, I had to spoon the mixture on.

They would have been cutter if I were able to pipe the ganache onto the cookie rather than having to spoon it on.

You may be thinking that is a lot of chocolate. Not really. In no way is it heavy. The chocolate melts the moment it hits your mouth, and you have this deliciously smooth, satiny, chocolatey goodness that compliments the coconut cookie. It's a bit reminiscent of an almond joy - sans the almond. Light bulb moment!! Add an almond to the center of the ganache!!! Oh yeah.

I can't very well say that I am at the halfway point of cooking through my two-hundred plus books. I have come to the realization that this is going to be a never-ending project, for I keep adding to my collection; this is not a bad thing, not in my book at least.