Chocolate Recipes to cure your Cabin Fever!

[Deb Suran]

As per Michael Lewis' request, here's my current favorite chocolate recipe. Feel free to add your own! This is my version of a recipe a friend made with Grand Marnier. I doubled the recipe, then doubled the alcohol. Yum! I also didn't have the patience to roll out seven or eight dozen little chocolate balls, so I just dropped them when barely cooled by the spoonful into paper candy cups. Next time I'll experiment with a pastry bag. The recipe is still missing something, and I think that something is almonds. I may try almond extract, or whole blanched almonds, or ground almonds in the next batch. I did try making a batch with amaretto, but felt the amaretto was too sweet. Cheap brandy surprised me by tasting better than either (cheap) amaretto or (good) rum.

Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:
20 oz chocolate - (70% cacao, if you can find it, otherwise those 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips in the dark bag are a good choice)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup heavy cream
8 tbl unsalted butter (one stick)
one of these: 2/3 cup scotch, cognac, rum or other liquor of choice

Instructions:

1) Chop up chocolate into smaller pieces (unless it is chips), and place in large ceramic bowl to nuke it, or a pot for your double-boiler

2) blend yolks and heavy cream

3) Melt chocolate carefully in the microwave, or in a double-boiler

4) Combine butter, sugar in a saucepan and let boil. Take off stove.

5) Slowly combine cream mixture into butter mixture - be sure to whisk the whole time to prevent yolks from cooking

6) Mix in chocolate - all ingredients should be hot at this stage, otherwise the chocolate will cool and solidify.

7) Mix in the alcohol - this will make the mixture smoother.

8) Refrigerate til firm enough to shape

9) Shape and coat with cocoa

10) Refrigerate until you eat it.

[Kenneth Willits Jr.]

My wife and I Have a Fudge recipe that sells out quickly. Add a spoon of Instant coffe to your fudge recipe. Feed two joneses at once!

[Michael Lewis]

Thanks Deb. I made a list to go shopping. I hope it turns out as well as I imagine it!

[Mattia Valente]

First time I've seen eggs in a truffle recipe...interesting. I tend to make a simple heavy ganache with a bit of extra butter, using good chocolate (either valrhona or one of the single source callebaut chips I buy in 2.5 kg bags...yay for friends with wholesale gourmet food supply store cards!). Don't do it often, however, as it tends to get a little fiddly.

A relatively quick and easy classic is chocolate lava cakes. Gluten free, rich, warm and surprisingly easy to make. Like soufflé without the stress!

120 grams unslated butter
175 grams dark chocolate (about 60% works well, darker if you like it really intense)
60 grams granulated white sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 ramekins/mini soufflé dishes (200-250ml or so)

Instructions: meld butter and cholocate au bain marie, stir to combine. Set aside, while it cools slightly beat egg yolks with sugar until thick, pale and frothy. Fold into the chocolate mixture, add vanilla extract. Beat egg whites (I add a tiny drop of vinegar) to soft peaks, add a tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks start to form. Fold into the chocolate mixture gently until just combined. Butter the ramekins, dust with more granulated sugar, and divide batter. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees C until the edges are just set/small cracks form and the middle still looks a little wet. Makes a great finish to a dinner, and can be made well in advance - just cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with a good vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

My ultimate comfort food remains a classic chewy chocolate chip cookie, however. Or possibly home-made cookie dough ice cream with a home-made chocolate fudge sauce drizzled over the top...

[Deb Suran]

Grams?!

Thanks for the recipe! I love chocolate molten lava cake, but one operative word is "molten" - if you wait until the cakes cool, you lose that great gooey texture in the middle of the cake. They are best warm and molten, with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

[Waddy Thomson]

STOP IT!

[Mattia Valente]

Deb - I totally agree, and to clarify: the batter/mixture can be made well in advance, covered and refrigerated. And then placed in the oven 15 minutes or so (takes a little longer when they're cooled) before serving is required so it comes out hot, melty and begging for some home-churned madagascan vanilla ice-cream!

(And yes, grams. That's how I roll)

[Waddy Thomson]

Mattia, is Madagascan Vanilla Ice Cream, legally harvested?

[Louie Atienza]

Oh man, I have to try this!

Where's our resident chocolatier/demtist, Matt Lau?

[Kurt Veltman]

Does anyone have a recipe for dairy free chocolate I can make at home?

[Ryan Mazzocco]

Mattia, is Madagascan Vanilla Ice Cream, legally harvested?

I literally Laughed Out Loud. just hit me funny I guess.

[Michael Lewis]

Kurt, you might have to experiment but I thought of substituting coconut oil for butter and coconut milk for any cream or milk. There are various thickeners like corn starch, pastry flour, kudzu powder, etc. Oriental cuisine generally does not use dairy products and often have nice thick sauces. Get your adventure hat on and try some stuff.

A couple weeks ago there was a fairly simple recipe and an enticing picture of a pear tart in the PARADE section of the Sunday paper. It turned out better than I expected and now I want to choclatize it. How many fruits can you think of that go with chocolate? My first thought was bananas as the pears are pretty delicate flavor and I think easily overpowered. I'm looking for something to go with the chocolate, not over power it nor be overpowered. Of course it gets brown sugar and walnuts too. My mother always said one couldn't go wrong with brown sugar and butter. So I'm thinking of adding a little cocoa powder to the batter part and substituting some melted chocolate for some of the butter. The walnuts get sprinkled over the bananas with some brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon and I'm thinking a very light sprinkling of fine ground coffee just to put a slightly mocha notion and tiny crunch. If it doesn't turn out I'll eat it anyway and make notes for the next time.

[Al Dodson]

Apricots might be good but I might not use brown sugar. Sounds tasty.

[Mattia Valente]

Does anyone have a recipe for dairy free chocolate I can make at home?

Kurt, dairy-free chocolate what? Chocolate shouldn't have dairy in it - just cocoa solids, butter, generally some degree of sugar (I'm not a big fan of unsweetened, but then again you don't really see that at all over here) and an emulsifier (generally soy). The lava cakes posted above are both dairy and gluten-free.

[Kurt Veltman]

Mattia, butter = dairy. I believe dairy also can show up as whey and/or casein, and anything with 'lact- as a prefix. If I can find a recipe to make chocolate, I'm hoping to substitute soy butter for regular butter.

[Mattia Valente]

Well, yes, but butter is easily substituted. The chocolates I use contain letchin, but no casein or whey. I tend to buy bulk Valrhona or Callebaut chips (usually the latter for 'regular' use as they are fairly cheap and really quite good. Have several kilos left).