chocolate covered peppermint marshmallows

Every year about this time, I go on a candy-making binge. This year, I wanted something new, and was CONVINCED that the answer lay in marshmallows. I found a recipe for chocolate-covered peppermint marshmallows on the Washington Post. Halfway through the process, I had decided not to bother posting it to my blog. I was a bit disappointed. They were fun to make, but at that point I had just made the marshmallows (they were as of yet undipped) and I was a little underwhelmed.

Then I dipped them in the chocolate. Wow. Wowy wow wow.

The recipe is sort of long, (but they're not hard, it's just wordy) so I'm just going to give you a link and pray they never take the recipe down. I topped them, while the chocolate was still liquid, with some more crushed peppermints (I crushed them using a mortar and pestle, by the way). I don't know if it added to the flavor, but it looks pretty.

I simplified the cutting stage a little. Instead of sprinkling more powdered sugar on a work surface and then putting more on the top after flipping the mallows out of the pan, I just flipped the pan over with the parchment paper still on top (so, the paper kept the mallows from sticking to my kitchen). After cutting, I then tossed them with the sugar. Also, my lightly oiled pizza cutter worked great to cut them, I'm not sure if scissors would be easier.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I got this from one of my new favorite blogs-by-people-I-don't know, Love and Olive Oil.

Makes approx. 3-4 dozen.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk or soy milk
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 14 oz dark chocolate candy coating (or 14 oz dark chocolate if you want to try tempering the chocolate)

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
3. When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.
4. Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week (though good luck making them last that long).

RESULTS:
At some point in the middle of making these I was struck with the thought of how they were just wrong. We all crave raw cookie dough, but it's the danger of the raw eggs that keeps us from indulging. (and, let's face it, that danger is part of the appeal, no?) And now here's this recipe that says, go ahead, eat all the raw cookie dough you want. It won't kill you, at least, not immediately. But, believe me, they are oh so good. Chris is very mad that I took some to a party and am sending another batch to my old (and now redux) office in Bloomington.

I say make the balls whatever size you want. I yet again used my melon baller. I have yet to use that thing to ball melons, but it gets a lot of use.

If you're wondering, like I am, why the recipe includes baking soda when there's no need for leavening, the author said it adds a little something to lend to the authenticity of the cookie taste. Leave it out if you don't want it.

Mayan (?) Hot Chocolate

Today felt like a cooking day, so I decided to make a spinach and butternut squash salad when I remembered that the recipe insert in this Sunday's paper had a recipe that they called Mayan Hot Chocolate. It also feels like a hot chocolate day, and the first ingredient was butternut squash, so I figured I could just set aside some squash from the salad (of course, not tossing this squash with oil, salt, and pepper before roasting it) and give it a shot.

Puree 2/3 cup of mashed butternut squash and 1/2 cup 2% milk in a food processor. Place in a saucepan with 2 cups milk and 6 ounces of chocolate morsels. Heat until chocolate melts. Serves 2.

I don't know what I thought it would taste like, but I didn't expect it to taste like butternut squash mixed in with some hot chocolate, which is what it does taste like. It's got some fibrous chewiness that I'm not sure is worth the extra trouble. I'm also not sure that the Mayans made their hot chocolate with squash, but as I wasn't there I can't say for sure. The salad is good, though.

Peanut Chocolate Toffee

Peanut Chocolate Toffee

The transformation of butter, sugar, and salt into toffee is culinary alchemy at its best. This version is studded with cocktail peanuts and a decadent layer of bittersweet chocolate.

Yield: Makes about 3 pounds
Active Time: 45 min
Total Time: 1 3/4 hr

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups whole cocktail peanuts plus 1 cup chopped (1 pound 10 ounces)

7 to 8 ounces 70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Equipment: a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan; a candy thermometer; a metal offset spatula

Butter baking pan and put on a heatproof surface.

Bring butter, sugar, and salt to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat, whisking until smooth, then boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture is deep golden and registers 300°F (hard-crack stage; see Kitchen Notebook, page 240) on thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes.

Immediately stir in whole peanuts, then carefully pour hot toffee into center of baking pan. Spread with spatula, smoothing top, and let stand 1 minute, then immediately sprinkle chocolate on top. Let stand until chocolate is melted, 4 to 5 minutes, then spread over toffee with cleaned spatula. Sprinkle evenly with chopped peanuts, then freeze until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Break into pieces.

Cooks' note:
Toffee keeps, layered between sheets of parchment paper, in an airtight container at cool room temperature 2 weeks.

Cooks' note:
Toffee keeps, layered between sheets of parchment paper, in an airtight container at cool room temperature 2 weeks.

RESULTS: Love! I made these for a cookie exchange/charity for the poor grad students in our office to take home. They were pretty excited about it, so I think it turned out ok. I decided to make the toffee because I just don't think I use my candy thermometer enough. With Epicurious, I always check the reviews of other people, and those people had some really good tips for keeping the butter from separating (using salted butter instead of unsalted and leaving out the extra salt, boiling it for longer over lower heat, etc). They also recommended cutting back on the whole peanuts to 2 cups (in addition to the 1 cup of chopped nuts), which I did (I mixed regularly salted cocktail peanuts and lightly salted), and I added vanilla extract, which was delicious. I think you could do 3 cups of whole peanuts, but I don't think I would like 4 cups of whole peanuts, plus the chopped. Too many peanuts. Here's a link to the website so you can check them out for yourself.

A note of warning, there was a LOT of stirring. Also, it's really helpful to have everything chopped that needs to be chopped before the sugar and butter hit the heat. And some toffee-making music, as there was a LOT of stirring. A LOT.

One final tip: The only pan I had that was even close to being as big as this recipe called for was that enchilada pan I got from CVS, but it was still too small and the toffee came out too thick to break into small pieces in some spots. The toffee "batter" had a fairly high vicosity, so I was thinking I might try putting it on a cookie sheet next time, as those are pretty long and wide, even though they don't have edges to keep everything in. I just won't spread to the edges.

Buckeyes

Makes about 30

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening

1. Put sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt into a mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon. Roll peanut butter mixture into 1" balls and transfer to a wax paper–lined cookie sheet in a single layer. Freeze until firm, 15–20 minutes.

2. Melt chocolate and shortening in a small heatproof bowl set over a small pot of simmering water, stirring often. Remove pot and bowl together from heat.

3. Working with about 6 peanut butter balls at a time, insert a toothpick into the center of a ball and dip about three-quarters of the ball into the melted chocolate, leaving about a I" circle of peanut butter visible at the top. Twirl toothpick between your finger and thumb to swirl off excess chocolate, then transfer to another wax paper–lined cookie sheet, chocolate side down. Slide out toothpick and repeat dipping process with remaining peanut butter balls and chocolate, reheating chocolate if necessary.

4. Freeze buckeyes until firm. Smooth out toothpick holes left in peanut butter. Buckeyes will keep well sealed in cool place for up to 1 week and up to 2 weeks in refrigerator. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

RESULTS: How can you go wrong? It's nice when I can make something to help Chris connect to his Ohio roots, even though he's not an OSU fan, and it's a bonus when that thing is the Greatest Flavor Combination Of All Time.

I just have two notes. It's easier to roll the peanut butter into balls if you sort of squeeze it in your hand for a little bit to warm it up a little; otherwise it gets a little crumbly. Also, I guess I make my balls too small or something, but I've made this twice so far and ran out of chocolate both times, so I would make sure you have a whole 12 oz bag of chocolate chips on hand, just in case you need to melt more.

Barleywine Bonbons

1 can (14 ounces) condensed milk
2/3 cup barleywine (room temperature)
1/4 cup 22 percent plain cocoa
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Covering: Melted white couverture or dark chocolate couverture (about 2 pounds) Chopped macadamia nuts (or other nut)

Mix condensed milk, cocoa and barleywine until smooth. You should have 2 cups of liquid. Pour through a strainer into a heavy saucepan and heat to just a simmer. Chop 8 ounces of the chocolate very fine and place in heavy nonreactive bowl. Set aside remaining 4 ounces chopped chocolate for later use. When the barleywine mixture just bubbles and is hot, pour steaming blend into the 8 ounces chopped chocolate and stir slowly with a spatula, until the chocolate melts. Melt the unsalted butter in the same saucepan, and then when it is almost bubbling, remove from heat and stir in the remaining 4 ounces chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate melts and then slowly stir the melted butter mixture into the barleywine base. Stir slowly, so air pockets and bubbles do not form. When smooth and glossy, pour the ganache into a 9x9x2 glass pan, and let cool. When cooled, cover and chill 1 to 2 days.

Form centers by cutting ganache into squares and place on parchment-lined pan. To make bonbons, choose an assortment of coverings. Roll or dip each piece of ganache in the desired covering, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill uncovered 6 hours, then pack into candy cups and place in a sealed container. Keeps refrigerated for up to 3 weeks. Yields about 3 dozen bonbons.


RESULTS: At first, the condensed milk was literally at war with the barley wine. The two flavors were completely incompatible. That mellowed after all that time in the fridge, which is why, I think, you have to do that, because it certainly didn't harden the chocolate. I expected to get something akin to the rolled truffles, but after two days in the fridge and another in the freezer and I was still looking at GOOP, I figured that wasn't going to work. I ended up tempering some bittersweet chocolate (gently microwave 3/4 of the chocolate until melted, then mixing in the last 1/4 until that's melted too), using that as a shell in chocolate molds and then using the barleywine chocolate as the filling. I also added some teeny tiny hazelnuts. Got good reviews! Barleywine is generally always higher in alcohol than most beers, but it could be that if I had found one abnormally low, it might have hardened enough to cut. I do not know.

Truffles (not the fungus)

Well, it's been a busy week and work and will be for another 9 days, so I'm not expecting to have much energy for posting until April. So, here's one of my very favorite things to make: chocolate truffles. They are so not hard to make, but they're so tasty, and there is a lot of room for variations and playing around with it. I'll share some of my experiments, but please let me know what you come up with, too! If you've never made them before, I would start with the basic recipe.

By the way, the parsley sprouted a couple days ago and it has well caught up to the basil, which sprouted over a week before. I'm so excited to see what happens!

Makes about 30.

8 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (aka heavy whipping cream)
2 tablespoons liqueur such as Cognac or Grand Marnier or plain vanilla extract (very optional)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted

1. Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small, heavy saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes; gently stir until smooth. Add liqueur and stir to combine. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

2. Sift cocoa into a bowl. Using a measuring spoon, scoop up 1 teaspoon of chocolate, and quickly roll into a ball about 3/4 inch across. Drop into cocoa; roll each truffle in cocoa to coat. Chill until firm. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

TIPS: I've made this a few times and the first few were terrific duds. I got this recipe off of Epicurious.com and one thing I like about this site is you can print off selected reviews from other people who've tried it (sort of like a whole lot of me's giving advice on the same recipe). It does cause issues. This one person said she was a pastry chef, and it drives her crazy to see a recipe with chocolate that doesn't call for a pinch of salt. That seemed reasonable, but every time I've tried it with the salt, the truffles don't ever set, and I end up using the ganache as a middle layer in brownies. And I've never seen a truffle recipe, or ganache recipe for that matter, that calls for salt. So don't do it. Also, it really means heavy cream (aka heavy whipping cream). I also learned the hard way that this is not the same thing as whipping cream. It must say "heavy," or, again, you're just making chocolate goo.

Also, it will be tempting, but no matter how small of a batch you are making, do not microwave the milk to get it to boiling. It won't keep the heat long enough to melt the chocolate.

As for the chocolate, I really like using good quality chocolate chips, not chopping up a bar. It's cheaper and easier.

I really can't vouch for whether these will last for 2 weeks in the fridge. They rarely make it to 2 days.

Other tips: you can add whatever dash of flavoring that you want, or none. I like vanilla, but I'd also like to try mint extract. Whatever you use, it will really be a subtle addition. And you can roll it in whatever you want. I like confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder.

Jean got me an awesome melon baller as a wedding present and that's a really great tool to use for scooping out the chocolate. It's all in the wrist.

Last batch, I wanted to try shaping the ganache some other way than balls. I have a lot of candy molds, and what I did was temper some bittersweet chocolate (I'll post on that later), mix in a pinch of chili powder for kicks, coat the molds with the tempered chocolate, let that harden, and then glop in the ganache. Then I sprinkled the top of the mold (which will be the bottom after I pop them out) with my sugar/cocoa powder mix, and chill until its hard. I was afraid it would stick to the mold, but it turned out really well. I think it's because the chocolate was tempered.... I'm not sure I'd try this by putting the ganache right into the mold. Maybe it would work, who knows!

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

Today's experiment comes from Martha Stewart:

8 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I used chocolate chips)
4 Tbs unsalted butter
2/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tps baking powder
1/2 tps salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c packed light-brown sugar (I have also used dark brown sugar and it's still delicious)
1 tps vanilla extract
1 package (12-oz) semisweet chocolate chunks (I used milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat chopped chocolate (the 8oz of chocolate) and butter in microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until almost melted. Do NOT overheat. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy (I beat it for about 5 min). Reduce speed to low: beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough 2 to 3 in. apart on baking sheet. Batter should be thin, more like brownie batter than cookie dough. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 min. DON'T BAKE UNTIL CRISP: cookies are meant to be crispy. Cool on sheets for 10 mins, transfer to racks to cool completely with a metal spatula.


Results: These turned out pretty good. They make you VERY thirsty, so make sure you'd stocked up on milk before making them. Also, I found that the cookies really stuck to the sheet, more so than usual cookies. You definitely need elbow grease. Makes a little more than two dozen.

Casualties: one metal spatula, snapped.