Passover: Toffee-Chocolate Matzah

I've been meaning to make this recipe for the past few years, especially since I've already tasted the same recipe but with either Saltines or graham crackers and can attest to its deliciousness. A sprinkle of salt on top is key—aim for either sea salt or kosher salt. It rounds out the other flavors so well!

Toffee-Chocolate Matzah
4 sheets unsalted non-egg matzah (or Saltines, or graham crackers)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
sea salt (or other toppings like nuts)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (less cleanup!). Arrange matzah in an even layer on baking sheets and set aside.

(These pictured matzahs don't even know how lucky they're about to become...)

Melt butter in saucepan on medium-low heat. Once melted, add brown sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved, it starts to bubble, and the mixture is pourable—about 5 minutes. Drizzle toffee evenly over matzah and spread with a spatula.

Transfer to the oven and bake until toffee has a rich sheen, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Tent matzah with aluminum foil and let stand 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove foil tent and spread melted chocolate over matzah to cover; sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer matzah to refrigerator and let chill at least 2 hours.

Break chilled matzah into pieces. Matzah will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days, but you may have to keep it in the refrigerator if your kitchen is always hot like ours is!

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a bag of chocolate toffee pieces that I wasn't sure what to do with (other than the obvious thing: eat them straight from the bag...) and happened to come across the following recipe in a cookbook I got for Christmas. The cookies were even featured on the cover, so they must be good, right?

I really had no idea that we would like them as much as we did! For basically being just a chocolate chip cookie with some toffee thrown in, these were darn tasty. The toffee added this buttery, salty flavor that really took them up a notch. And a sprinkle of my secret ingredient*, sea salt, on top before baking really rounded them out. M asked if I could make a batch every day. He was serious.

*I'm no good at keeping secrets. ;)

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 42
3/4 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. chocolate-covered toffee candy bar bits (or several bars, such as Heath, chopped)
sprinkle of sea salt, optional

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in batches and mix on low just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate toffee bits by hand with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Drop the dough in heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (lined with a Silpat, if you have one), spacing the cookies about two inches apart. For an extra hit of flavor, sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Bake 10 minutes, until golden. Leave them on the cookie sheet for about two minutes then transfer baked cookies to wire racks to cool.

See the toffee oozing out on the left? YUM.

Drunken Chocolate Toffee Trifle

So I'm super far behind on updating the blog, but you may think this one's worth the wait. This sweet treat is perfect for any time of year (although I made it in August for our house party, whoops).

I'm always intrigued by Paula Deen's desserts (although nowhere near my obsession with Giada) because they're usually pretty creative. I would have never thought to bake a cake from a box but then pour alcohol on top of it while it cooled!

If you're strapped for time, just buy some hot fudge and cool whip at the store. I won't tell. ;)

Drunken Chocolate Toffee Trifle
1 box chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines recommended)
1/2 c. Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
2 c. fudge sauce, recipe follows (or one 16-ounce jar fudge topping)
3 Heath or Skor bars, roughly chopped into pieces (I used more)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream, whipped and sweetened with 1/3 cup sugar

Prepare the cake according to the package directions for a 13x9-inch pan. Cool thoroughly. Prick the entire top of the cake with a fork. Pour Kahlua over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours. Slice the cake into 1-inch cubes.

Line the bottom of a large glass bowl with a single layer of cake cubes. Pour 1/4 of the warm fudge sauce over the cake, top with 1/4 of the candy bar bits, then 1/3 of the whipped cream. Repeat layering two more times ending with fudge sauce and candy bits. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

(Assemble the trifle shortly before serving or it will get soggy.)

Hot Fudge Sauce
4-oz. bar German chocolate
1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
8 T (1 stick) butter
3 c. powdered sugar
1 2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 1/4 t. vanilla extract

To make the sauce: Melt the chocolate with the butter in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir in the powdered sugar, alternating with evaporated milk and blending well. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 8 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

Scout (in the background) asks that you party guests please drop some, thank you.

Not Chocolate: Sticky Toffee Pudding

You should know by now that I won't put a non-chocolate recipe in my blog unless it's truly outstanding. The following dessert is no exception.

I became obsessed with sticky toffee pudding a few years ago when the Food Network hosted a competition for the next ice cream flavor for Häagen-Dazs. Sticky Toffee beat out the competition. Intrigued, I bought a pint, and the rest is history. For as much as I love chocolate, and never get any ice cream that isn't chocolate based, this has changed me. :) It's hard to find, so it isn't uncommon for me to stock up when I do find it!

Sticky toffee pudding isn't really pudding at all. Silly Brits! It's a brown sugar cake, sweetened with chopped dates, and covered in a warm, gooey, butter toffee sauce. Vanilla ice cream is a must.

Do I have your attention yet?!

I was a little hesitant about the dates—they just didn't sound appealing—but after some online research, I found that sticky toffee pudding just isn't right or traditional without them. You couldn't taste them either, especially when chopped finely enough and plumped in water first.

If you don't have the time to make the cake, I strongly STRONGLY recommend you at least make the sauce and pour it over vanilla ice cream, brownies, carrots... ok, kidding on the last one. But I'd eat it....

I adapted this recipe from two on the Food Network. Gale Gand is an excellent Chicago pastry chef, whom I'd trust with anything, but her sauce recipe was called "Butterscotch," which isn't authentic. I used Marie Simmons's recipe for the sauce instead, and some techniques from both.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
12 oz. dates, pitted and roughly chopped (you can find them near raisins)
2 1/2 c. water
2 t. baking soda
3 1/4 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
Sticky toffee sauce, recipe follows

Sticky Toffee Sauce
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. packed brown sugar
vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment or waxed paper. (I just greased it; turned out fine!)

Combine the dates and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and gradually stir in the baking soda (it will foam up), and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar to the butter, and cream until fluffy. Without stopping the mixer, add 2 eggs and mix until combined. Add the remaining 2 eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the date mixture and mix until combined. (You want to add the date "sauce" made from mixing the dates, water, and baking soda, but I had to strain a little bit of it out because it was too watery.) Repeat until all the flour mixture and dates are incorporated into the batter. Pour into the baking pan and bake 40 minutes, until firm and set in the center. Let cool in the pan. When cool, turn out of the pan onto a baking sheet and peel off the parchment. The recipe can be made through this step up to 2 days in advance.

Toffee Sauce: (Preheat oven to 400 if serving immediately.) Combine the butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar in a small saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes.

When ready to serve pudding, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour the sauce (or most of the sauce, if you want garnish later) evenly over the top of the cake. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and cake is heated through, about 5 minutes. Cut cake into squares and serve with vanilla ice cream and remaining sticky toffee sauce.

*Next time I might experiment more. The ingredients on the Häagen-Dazs carton list cinnamon in the cake and date paste instead of chopped dates. The sauce also contains corn syrup.

I could drink gallons of the sauce alone...