Tea Party: Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I recently threw a tea party for some of my *gasp* Internet friends. Throw yourself a wedding, find theknot.com, and you'll quickly know what I mean.

Although my inspiration was British, my obsession is chocolate. Here's the menu:

Cream scones
Blueberry streusel scones
Lemon curd
Mock Devonshire cream
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread
Dark chocolate digestive biscuits (only McVities will do)
Cadbury Flakes
Egg salad tea sandwiches
Cucumber tea sandwiches
Goat cheese and watercress tea sandwiches

and

Chocolate Chip Shortbread
1 stick butter, diced (save the wrapper)
3/4 c. flour
3/8 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loose-bottom fluted tart pan (mine was 10.25 inches and turned out just fine, but watch it during cooking) with the remaining butter from the butter wrapper. Sift the flour and cornstarch into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, then add the butter and rub it in (or "cut" it in with a fork, two knives, or dough blender) until the mixture starts to bind together.

Turn into the prepared tart pan and press evenly over the base. Prick the surface with a fork. Sprinkle the chocolate morsels and press lightly into the surface.

Bake at 325 for 35–40 minutes, or until cooked but not brown. Cut into portions. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

YUMMM.

Mom's Chocolate Inside-Out Birthday Bundt Cake!!!

First, I'd like to share a birthday in the life of inkpadchocolate.

7:15 a.m. Discover peanut butter cup wrapped in birthday wrapping paper from hubby. Devour peanut butter cup on way out the door.
8:30 a.m. Get to work, begrudgingly.
11:30 a.m. Get surprise Chocolate Truffle Cake from coworkers from Bread & Chocolate.

1:30 p.m. Break for lunch at Dickey's Frozen Custard for rich chocolate custard. (melted too fast to take a picture, sorry!)
3:30 p.m. Decide to get the heck out of there and hoof it to Georgetown Cupcake for a lava fudge cupcake. Walking 12 blocks = I deserved it!

5:30 p.m. Meet hubby for dinner at Faccia Luna in Arlington. After fettuccine alla bolognese dinner, devour their Chocolate Noir, one of my very favorites.

7:30 p.m. Meet up with parents and in-laws for Mom's Chocolate Inside-Out Birthday Bundt Cake and Peanut Butter 'n Chocolate Baskin-Robbins ice cream.

12:00 p.m. Go to sleep knowing that your arteries (and hips) can recover tomorrow. It only happens once a year. :)

Mom's Chocolate Inside-Out Birthday Bundt Cake
1 package (4-serving size) JELL-O instant chocolate pudding mix
1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate cake mix (mom prefers it over Devil's Food)
12 oz. bag chocolate morsels
1 3/4 c. milk
2 eggs

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Combine pudding mix, cake mix, chocolate morsels, milk, and eggs in a bowl with a spatula. Mix by hand until well blended, about two minutes. Pour into greased Bundt pan.*

Bake at 350 for 50–55 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with finger. Cool 15 minutes in pan; remove from pan and continue cooling on rack.

Serve with ice cream. This baby's rich!

* Tips for greasing a chocolate cake: since the last thing you want to see on a chocolate cake is white flour, after greasing the pan with a leftover butter wrapper (preferred), simply dust the pan with cocoa powder instead of flour. Be sure to bang the cocoa around the pan so it adheres to most of the butter and dump out the excess.

Happy birthday to me...

Southern Chocolate Chess Pie

I'm not sure how or why, but I somehow managed to go 25 years without ever hearing about or tasting chess pie. And now it's everywhere! My first experience was in North Carolina in March. My hubby's uncle brought us a chocolate chess pie from a local bakery. Afraid that it would be bad, since he had never heard of it either, he also bought a marbled pound cake. Guess which wasn't eaten. :) The chocolate chess pie was like a gooey brownie. No! A silk pie. No! A pecan pie minus the pecans! In any case, it was outstanding, and the obsession has begun. It's very, very sweet, but not rich, if that makes sense.

Several months later, a friend graduated from grad school and his parents threw a party at their home in Richmond—with a chocolate chess pie. In fact, the joke of the evening was "Can you get me a slice with a pawn in it? What the heck is a chess pie?!" Turns out, a chess pie is just a custard pie, although its origin is up for debate.

So when my church threw a "Puttin' on the grits" retirement party for our sweet Southern belle pianist, I knew exactly what to make. Best of all, it only takes five minutes to assemble.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com.

Chocolate Chess Pie
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 (5 oz.) can evaporated milk
1/4 c. melted butter (1/2 stick)
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and cocoa together. Beat the eggs then add the cocoa mixture. Beat in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Pour mixture into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell (I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts) and bake for 45 minutes or until set. (I recommend covering the pie's edges with foil or a pie guard after the first 20 minutes, or when edges attain a good brown color... so they don't burn.) Let cool before slicing.

Heavenly.

Classic Chocolate Cream Pie

So it's the end of June and I'm just now writing about Mother's Day, but don't judge me. :)

Back in April, a friend and I took an Italian cooking class at Sur La Table. I recreated the menu for my mom, but I knew that the light lemon cake we made in class just wouldn't do for her! Like mother like daughter, she craves a chocolate cream pie on special occasions. This is one of my favorite recipes, from my Good Housekeeping cook book, and I make it almost every year.

Classic Chocolate Cream Pie
One premade Oreo or graham cracker crust
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
1/2 t. salt
3 3/4 c. milk
5 egg yolks
3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened Baker's chocolate, melted
2 T. butter, cut into pieces
2 t. vanilla extract
1 c. heavy or whipping cream

In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt; with a wire whisk, stir in milk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened and boils; boil one minute. In a small bowl, with a wire whisk, lightly beat egg yolks. Beat 1/2 c. hot milk mixture into beaten egg yolks. Slowly pour egg mixture back into milk mixture, stirring rapidly to prevent curdling. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is very thick or until temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Remove saucepan from heat and stir in melted chocolate, butter pieces, and vanilla until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Pour hot chocolate filling into crust; press plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate until filling is set, about 4 hours.

To serve, in small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form; spoon over chocolate filling.

Chocolate Chip Cut-out Cookies

My sincerest apologies for the blogging delay... our new furry addition has kept us from doing anything not centered around him. :)

But, in that vein, I wanted to thank my in-laws for helping out with the dog so much, letting him play at their house during the day for the first few weeks, checking up on him, etc. What better way than with dog bone shaped cookies!

The recipe came from the back of a bag of Toll House morsels, but the cutting technique is all my own. ;)

Chocolate Chip Cut-out Cookies
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 c. (12 oz. bag) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts.

Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan (or shallow cookie sheet). Spread cookie mixture onto prepared pan, with the intent of getting the dough as close to the edges as possible. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown (mine took less time, so watch it). Cool in pan on wire rack.

When cool, use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes, then transfer each to a cooling rack or cookie tin. Be sure to space each cut close to the previous cut so you get more cookies than scraps. :)

Dad wasn't sure if they were for humans or not!

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...

Chocolate Passover Drop Cookies

Um, let's just cut right to the chase here and say I know exactly what I'll be making with my leftover matzo meal: THESE COOKIES. I'm touting them as the BEST DAMN COOKIES I have ever made. Seriously. Who needs flour? If they didn't use so many egg whites, I think I'd have them every day. If you're a chewy cookie fan, this is your ultimate treat.

In fact, my hubby asked me to find something else to eat. "Stop eating the only sweet I can eat!! Eat your brownies instead, since I can't have them during Passover." How sad. :(

This is another recipe from Martha. I could kiss her feet.

Chocolate Passover Drop Cookies
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 t. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/2 c. matzo meal (not matzo cake meal)
1/4 t. salt
4 large egg whites
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add melted chocolate, matzo meal, and salt. Beat until mixture just comes together. (It should be thick.)

In a bowl (or stand mixer) with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (this is important). Gently fold into chocolate mixture, but until no traces of white remain. Add chocolate chips, and stir. Let stand 15 minutes. (I didn't and the world didn't come to an end. I wanted my cookies!)

Scoop 2-inch balls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (or Silpat; I'd even recommend spraying the sheet instead because these are super sticky cookies). Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack, and let cool completely. Or just DEVOUR while still hot.

Chewy chocolatey goodness, Passover or not.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Macaroons

It's that time of year again! I've made my hubby macaroons for previous Passovers, but this is my first "real" one as a married couple.

Originally from Martha Stewart, this recipe actually comes in two other variations: plain and chocolate chunk. However, this wouldn't be a true chocolate blog if I didn't make mine chocolate chocolate chip! (For the record, her recipe is just chocolate; I wanted chocolate chips too! I need an intervention...)

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Macaroons
Yields 2 dozen
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut*
3 large egg whites
1 t. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips (I didn't measure... probably used more...)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (I used a Silpat).

In a double boiler of simmering water (or just use a good nonstick pot), melt chocolate, stirring until melted. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooled chocolate, cocoa, sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, salt, and chocolate chips. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining all ingredients.

Dampen hands with cold water (or just use a cookie dough scoop) to form 1.5 tablespoons of the mixture into a loose haystack shape, and drop onto prepared baking sheet. Place macaroons 1 inch apart.

Bake until just firm to the touch but still soft in the middle, 15 to 20 minutes (but check this; mine started to burn!). Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool.

* I had a hard time finding unsweetened shredded coconut, but ended up with the only one I could find at Whole Foods in their baking or bulk aisle! If I remember correctly though, last year I gave up and used the more common sweetened shredded coconut and just omitted the sugar in the recipe. Turned out fine.

I pulled out the burnt ones for this picture. ;)

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting

I was in the mood for something special this St. Patrick's Day, and am always up for chocolate mixed with BOOZE. :) This is probably the best and most moist cupcake I have ever made!

The original recipe is posted on Epicurious (originally from Bon Appétit) and the cupcake version is on the blog Batter-Splattered. I made a few tweaks, listed below. I'm definitely making this again!!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting
Yields 16 cupcakes
1 c. stout (such as Guinness)
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. sour cream (not reduced fat)
1 c. whipping cream
1/2 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 T. Bailey's Irish Cream (optional; my addition)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper cups.

Bring stout and butter to simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add slightly cooled stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among cupcake cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make icing. Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and optional Bailey's Irish Cream and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours. Spread over cupcakes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Truffle Brownies

My second Fran recipe was another success, but part of me feels like I have become to "Americanized." I think I prefer a regular chewy brownie over this indulgence. But it's still worth sharing! It is excellent with ice cream.

Truffle Brownies
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
2 t. vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch sheet pan.

In a double boiler over simmering water or a good nonstick pot, combine the chocolates. Remove when nearly melted and continue stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars at medium speed until light, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the mixture is smooth and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the cooled chocolate and mix well. If the butter begins to melt when the chocolate is added, stop pouring and let the chocolate cool further. The finished mixture should be glossy and smooth. Do not overmix. (I did; the mixture suddenly went from the consistency of brownie batter to that of cookie dough, and I had a really hard time folding in the flour.)

With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour until all traces of white have disappeared. Be careful not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 30 minutes, or until the crust is dull on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with dark, wet crumbs on it.

Let cool in the pan about 1 hour. Cut into squares and remove with a spatula. Store brownies in sealed plastic containers for as long as a week, or freeze.