Christmas Goody Baskets

For my co-workers this year, I made cookies, candies and bars, wrapped them up in cellophane, tied them with ribbons and handed them over with a smile. It's so much easier than trying to think of something thoughtful, appropriate and un-embarrassing for the cook you work with who happens to be a 20 year old over-grown boy, or a waitress who is a mother of two, lots of fun but I really don't know her on a personal level. Everyone is ready and waiting to eat during the Christmas season, so this is the route I decided to go to show my co-workers I appreciate them.

Raspberry Almond Thumbprints and Fudge Brownies

Lemon Bars, Chocolate Truffles and Speckled Biscotti

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Chocolate Truffles

Most of the truffles I've made have been interesting. Making the filling, rolling the filling, trying to figure out just how to temper chocolate. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't; I do not claim to have mastered the art of tempering. Nobody every told me that classic chocolate truffles were one of the simplest things in the world to make. This is an outrage, so I am here to tell YOU!

Chocolate truffles are one of the simplest things in the world to make.

Now you know, so there's no excuse for you to never try them.

I started with a British recipe, and quite frankly, since I have my kitchen scale I really prefer the metric measure system. For your sakes though, I will put it up here with both system measurements as closely as I can figure it.





Chocolate Truffles


1 3/4 C (400 ml) heavy cream, room temperature
1 3/4 C (400 g) very dark chocolate.

Coconut, chopped nuts or cocoa powder


The original recipe called for 70% cocoa chocolate, but I used half 70% (hint: most 70% chocolate bars come in 100 gram bars. Handy!) and half dark chocolate chips because the sugar level would have been too low for me. Also, if you wish to use even lighter chocolate, reduce the amount of cream slightly or it may not end up stiff enough.

Here's what you do:
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave with reduced power level so it won't burn. Using electric beaters or a whisk, gradually beat the cream into the chocolate a little at a time, fully combining each addition before adding more cream. Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly, at least 2 hours.

Using a melon-baller or a small food scoop like the one from Pampered Chef, scoop out balls of the thickened chocolate and roll in coconut, chopped nuts or cocoa powder. Try to handle them with your finger tips, using your palms as little as possible. Also, rinsing your hands with cold water before you start might help keep them from starting to melt as you work with them. I would keep the truffles covered in the fridge until 1/2 hour or so before serving, or if you have a cooler room in your house that would do. Just know that they get very soft in a toasty warm room.

Boston Creme Waffles

Custard*

2 C milk
1 C sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 C flour
1 Tbs butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Put the milk on to boil. In a mixing bowl, gradually beat sugar into egg yolks and continue beating 2- minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon (Julia Child's definition of forming the ribbon: "The mixture will turn pale creamy yellow and thicken enough so that when a bit is lifted in the beater, it will fall back into the bowl forming a slowly dissolving ribbon on the surface of the mixture."). Beat in the flour. Beating the egg mixture constantly, gradually add the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets. Pour into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir with a whisk constantly, making sure not to let any flour scorch on the bottom. When it begins to boil, lower the temperature and let boil 2-3 minutes. (I found that the custard on the bottom of the pan got VERY thick at this point, a giant lump almost, and stirred like a mad woman to keep it from sticking. It was worth it though.) Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla.

At this point, you can do two different things - use the custard as it is, a thick pudding-like creme, OR you can beat the left-over egg whites with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form and fold them into the hot custard for a lighter, fluffy topping. This is what is pictured here, but I want to try using the thick custard next time.


For the chocolate sauce, use 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate and 1/2 C heavy cream. Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate, stirring until melted and smooth. Allow to stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over your favorite waffles.


* Based on the recipe Creme Pastissiere by Julia Child, Vol. I Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Chocolate Raspberry Scones

I'm not a huge fan of raspberry flavored chocolate, but raspberries and chocolate are a totally different story. We have a bumper crop of our own raspberries stored in our freezers, and I'm forever trying to think of something different to do with them. When a sweet ingredient needs to be used up, I generally look to scones for the answer. The results this time are amazingly delicious.

Chocolate Raspberry Scones

2 C all purpose flour

1/3 C sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 ounces dark chocolate chunks* or chips (about 1/2 cup)

3/4 C fresh or frozen raspberries**

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk or sift the dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs, letting some of the butter remain in small pieces. Mix in chocolate and raspberries. Make a well in the center. In a separeat bowl, beat together yogurt, vanilla and egg. Pour into the well in the flour mixture, and using a fork, quickly but gently incorporate the yogurt into the flour. Don't over mix. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a few times till the dough comes together. Pat into a 7" round, about 1 1/2" thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on a pan with about an inch between each scone. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes, then drizzle with a glaze made of 1/2 C powdered sugar and 1 tbsp milk.



* I roughly chopped 2 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate. I actually like this a lot better than chocolate chips, having the varying sizes of chocolate pieces. Also, chips have a way of turning hard soon after the scones are out of the oven. The chopped chocolate didn't seem to do this.

** If you want to use frozen raspberries, like I did, don't defrost them first. Bust them up with a knife and throw them in as frozen as possible to prevent them from bleeding and dissolving into the dough.

Christmas Monster Cookies!

Monster cookies are some of my favorite cookies ever. Huge, chewy and moist, peanut-buttery and full of chocolate, what's not to like? I got this recipe from a friend who runs a diner - never fear, she does not own the recipe, so I'm not betraying her secret recipe. These were very popular at her diner when I was last there; I remember a young boy coming in just as I pulled them out of the oven. He bought a baggy of them, and in five minutes he was back for more. :)

Since these contain M&Ms, they are easily made into Christmas cookies by using red and green M&Ms. I made several dozen for a party last week and very few came home!

Monster Cookies

1/2 C soft butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C peanut butter
1 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 C old-fashioned oats
1 C chocolate chips
1 C M&Ms

Cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then peanut butter. Mix in flour and soda thoroughly before adding oatmeal. And last, mix in chocolates. I use the large Pampered Chef scoop to drop the cookies onto cookie sheets, but optionally you could use a 1/4 C measuring cup. You'll probably only get about 8 to a pan.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom edges begin to turn brown. They should be still gooey in the centers, this is crucial. Allow the cookies to sit on the pans a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks. The centers will be cooked but still moist, and will remain so for several days.

Enjoy with a cup of cocoa!