17 posts tagged “chocolate”

Remember the test cake?  It's time.  Here's what I'll be doing over the next two days.  I'll try to take some pictures.

Cake Layers

3.22 T butter, melted for pans
45.11 T butter
20.94 ounces chocolate
29.00 egg yolks
3.22 cup sugar
12.89 egg whites

 
Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

1.91 pints raspberries
0.48 cup sugar
30.48 oz. semisweet chocolate
7.62 oz. unsweetened chocolate
11.43 egg whites
2.86 cups heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache
 
3.22 cup heavy cream
6.44 T butter
6.44 T sugar
38.67 ounces chocolate

Decoration

8 oz. white chocolate
6 oz. milk chocolate
48 lemon leaves
0.5 pint raspberries

I'm piecing together three recipes to make a cake full of chocolately goodness.  The final cake will need to be made a day or two in advance of eating, so I'm trying some test cakes to make sure they hold up.

The base is a chocolate génoise that is sliced into three layers, sandwiched with chocolate-raspberry mousse, and covered with a chocolate ganache.

Now it's just a matter of letting it sit so I can see what it tastes like after a day or two.  I suppose I should have a piece now so I have a frame of reference for what it tastes like after a day.  All in the name of science and research, of course.

First Test Cake - Cross-section

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First Test Cake

Results of the cacao nib experiment were inconclusive.  Both are amazing and personal preferences vary.  We'll just have to keep sampling to see if a more conclusive decision can be made.

Cacao Nib Truffles

I don't normally make truffles in the summer, but since I wanted to use my new cacao beans I started a batch this morning.  The plan was to divide a batch of ganache and make some truffles with cacao nibs mixed into the ganache and some truffles with smooth ganache rolled in the nibs (I suppose I could also make a few that are both infused and rolled in nibs).

I thought about chopping the cacao beans in the food processor, but decided to start with my small, hand-cranked nut grinder.  That's when I discovered that cacao beans are really hard.  I also noticed that the skin was separating from the beans.  I changed my tactic and painstakingly crushed each bean using a pair of pliers and separated the skin.  It took over an hour to skin about 1.5 ounces.  Clearly I need to find a better method (perhaps soaking in water for a bit first) or find a supplier that sells skinned beans.  [Update: Soaking the beans in water for about 20 minutes made them much easier to peel.]

The ganache is chilling in the fridge.  Truffles will be rolled later this afternoon and then they'll be tested tonight.  I'll provide more details tomorrow.

Cacao Nibs

Cacao Bean Skins

Peeled Cacao Beans

Cacao Beans

There's a relatively new, small chocolate studio in Somerville, Massachusetts called Taza Chocolate.  They buy cacao beans directly from growers and cooperatives in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.  A representative has been doling out samples of their stone ground 70% chocolate bar and chocolate covered nibs (crushed raw cacao beans -- try them instead of chocolate chips in chocolate nib cookies!) at a local (tiny) farmer's market.  This week they also had samples of raw organic cacao beans from Talamanca, Costa Rica.  I am now the proud owner of a bag of raw cacao beans.  I'm going to try lightly grinding them and mixing them into a batch of truffles.  Who knows, maybe I'll even experiment with rolling a truffle in ground cacao beans.  Oh, the possibilities.

[Updated with cross-section photo below.]

While chocolate had always been a part of my life, the nature of the relationship changed on a snowy December afternoon in 1992 while watching The Chocolate Edition: A Great Chefs Special on PBS.  I joined PBS so I could get the booklet of recipes featured in the show and have made several of the recipes.  (Side note: White chocolate ravioli filled with dark chocolate mousse and served with hazelnut cream sauce is a lot more difficult to make than it looks on the show -- but tastes divine!)

The Passover Seder is the one holiday in my family that is steeped in tradition.  Mom's been putting on the production for longer than I've been alive.  Growing up, we'd have at least 20 people over for both the first and second Seders, with traditional recipes coming from her mother and grandmother.  Through my college years, we adopted any strays who couldn't get home to their families.  My freshman year roommate has joined us just about every year he's been in the States, even though he's not Jewish.  Eventually the effort of hosting two nights became too much, and others help with the food preparation now that we've got real kitchens of our own (I'm in charge of making the brisket and chocolate dessert).  With the addition of my nephews and other attendees having small children, the nature of the ceremony changed and fewer people were invited. 

For the past 14 years I've made the Chocolate Cream Pie with Meringue Crust from the Great Chefs recipe booklet.  When more people were participating I'd make two desserts, with the second dessert varying from year to year, but these past few years it's become the standard chocolate dessert.  I'm glad I've been able to add to the tradition of the holiday and hope to continue making it for many years to come.

(Preparation note: The pie isn't quite complete.  It still needs to get covered with a thin layer of fresh whipped cream and then sprinkled with the chocolate shavings.)

Sliced Chocolate Cream Pie

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Ooo, baby!

Naked Truffles

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