Chocolate Espresso Pot De Cremes

My sister is a chocolate pudding person like Jello and Snack Pack Chocolate pudding use to be the end all and be all of snacks for her up until last year...in recent time it seems as if shes grown tired of the readily available chocolatey stuff. In my attempt to revive her love for chocolate pudding, finally use my ramekins, and use some leftover egg yolks...I decided to try out Chocolate Espresso Pot De Cremes. I think the recipe is very easy and quick outside of the three hour chill time, but this is an simply elegant recipe that can make you receive oohs and aah's come dessert time. Ramekins will cost you about $2.00 or less for one but I must say that the colored ones you see in the photos are from target and cost $2.50 for four in the dollar section. The chocolate I used was Trader Joes Dark Chocolate Pound Plus bar that I had in the house, its very good chocolate but if you want it to be extraordinary try something like Valrhona or Barry Callebaut chocolate which may be available if high end supermarkets like Whole Foods and other specialty stores. I also want to say that the recipe does call for espresso but not everyones pallette takes kindly to the strong coffee flavor so if you have young children or non coffee lovers you may want to cut down to half a teaspoon or even a 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder. I am still waiting for my sister to give this a taste but so far one person thinks it has too much coffee in it and one person loves it, I had some even though I don't too much care for mousse like desserts but I think it was lovely. The dark chocolate and espresso compliment each other well and the smooth silky texture is something that no cup of store bought pudding will have!  I am hoping jasmine likes it..if not I will just continue to make and tweak it till its her taste. I also hope that you all decide to try this recipe as its soo good..top each with a lil whip cream and your ready to wow them!

Chocolate Espresso Pot De Cremes

epicurious.com

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Active Time: 30 min

Total Time: 5 1/2 hr (includes chilling)

6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup whole milk

½ tsp instant-espresso powder*

6 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

Special equipment: 8 (4- to 5-oz) ramekins or pot de crème cups

Garnish: bittersweet chocolate curls (see cooks' note, below)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 300°F.

Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring cream, milk, espresso powder (to taste), and a pinch of salt just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until espresso powder is dissolved, then pour over chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt in another bowl, then add warm chocolate mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a 1-quart glass measure and cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Line bottom of a baking pan (large enough to hold ramekins) with a folded kitchen towel and arrange ramekins on towel. Poke several holes in a large sheet of foil with a skewer. Divide custard among ramekins, then bake custards in a hot water bath , pan covered tightly with foil, until custards are set around edges but still slightly wobbly in centers, 30 to 35 minutes.

Transfer ramekins to a rack to cool completely, uncovered, about 1 hour. (Custards will set as they cool.) Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.

Christmas Cupcakes

A tasty winter wonderland.

Cupcakes always means theres a celebration...even if the celebration is just the fact that they turned out well. My reason for making cupcakes last week was to celebrate the holiday and the fact that I graduated from college with my bachelors in Hospitality Management. It has been a a long journey and I fell down a couple times and almost quit but I'm happy that I had people around me to inspire me to keep going and to even take my education further after this chapter closed. Ok enough of the soft stuff...on to the cupcakes, so I made two types of cupcakes and two types of icing. One of the recipes I made were vanilla bean cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and then peppermint jo jo cupcakes with Italian meringue buttercream. All the recipes except the cream cheese frosting are from other websites and then tweaked by me. The swiss meringue is from Baking 911, the vanilla bean cupcakes are from thespicedlife, the chocolate cupcakes are a tweaked cake recipe from paxye.com, and the cheesecake frosting is actually the Kraft no bake cheesecake filling. I especially loved using the cheesecake filling for frosting it was extremely easy but its not shelf stable so it can only be out for a short time and refrigerated the majority of the time. The vanilla bean cupcakes definitely weren't my favorite, the cake had a nice flavor but it was too heavy and mealy. The author suggested to spray the cupcake liners but it is a totally unnecessary step.  The chocolate cake and Italian meringue buttercreams are old faves.

Vanilla Bean Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
2 large eggs, room temp
2/3 cup (160 g) full fat sour cream
seeds from 3 Tahitian vanilla beans
1 T Tahitian vanilla extract
1 t lemon zest (to amp the vanilla--I was not going for a lemon flavor here)
2 cups (200 g) cake flour
1 cup (200 g) superfine sugar
1/2 t baking powder'1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t fine salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 T, 170 g) unsalted butter, between 65-75 F 

- Preheat the oven to 350 F.

- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, the vanilla seeds and extract, the lemon zest, and 3 tablespoons of the sour cream. Set aside.

- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with hand mixer), mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt with the flat beater for 30 seconds on low. Add the butter and remaining sour cream to the dry ingredients; mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and a higher speed will not cause the flour to fly out of the bowl. Then mix on medium speed (high for hand mixer, 4 for Kitchen Aid) for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

- Then add the egg mixture in 2 additions, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down the bowl in between. Finish by hand if any parts have not incorporated so as to not overbeat.

- Fill each cupcake 3/4 full (or use a #30 disher--which I did not have). Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz container cool whip topping, softened

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

- Place cream cheese in mixing bowl with whip attachment and whip until soft and spreadable

- Add in cool whip and sugar and whip until combined. 

- Ice cake immediately or store in a container until ready to use.

Chocolate Jo Jo Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted and slightly cooled

24 peppermint Jo Jo's or other peppermint sandwich cookies.

-Prepare cupcake pans and liners and set to the side.

- Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

- In another large bowl, beat eggs for about 3 minutes, until they have thickened slightly and are lemon-coloured. Add buttermilk, coffee, oil, vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix  until well blended.

- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until batter is smooth. 

- With liners in place in cupcake pans scoop in about a tablespoon of cake batter and then place a cookie on top of it then finish fill liners with cake batter. Divide batter equally among cupcakes liners.

-  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F, until a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcake from pans and cool completely before frosting.

Italian Meringue Buttercream from Baking 911

1 pound (4 sticks or 2 cups) unsalted butter (65 degrees F - slightly softened and cool - not runny, greasy or soupy)
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
1/4 cup (60 grams) water
5 large (150 grams) egg whites, room temperature
1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

- In a mixing bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy and set aside in a cool place. 

- In a small heavy saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar and the 1/4 cup water. Under medium-high, boil sugar and water mixture, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Stop stirring and reduce the heat to low. 

-  Meanwhile, place the egg whites in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Fitted with a WHISK attachment, beat the egg whites with a stand mixer on medium until foamy for 1 to 2 minutes. Then, stop the mixer and add the cream of tartar. Beat for 3 more minutes on medium-high or until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. 

- Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, taking 3 more minutes. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Simply turn off the mixer.

- Increase the heat of the stove and boil the syrup until you get bubbles all over the surface. The syrup starts to look thicker and the Candy Thermometer registers 248 degrees F to 250 degrees F.

- Immediately remove syrup from the stove and prepare to drizzle it into the egg whites

- Fit the mixer with a PADDLE attachment (not a whisk attachment.) Turn the mixer on high, and start drizzling the sugar syrup, in a thin stream, into the contents of the bowl. Keep beating until the mixture cools completely, taking about 5 to 10 minutes. 

- Beat in the butter at medium speed 1 tablespoon at a time. After the first few tablespoons have been added, the mixture will seem thinner, but keep adding in butter slowly and beating because the meringue will thicken beautifully by the time all the butter is added. Keep the mixer speed on medium and drizzle in the liquor. Don't use more than 1 teaspoon or the recipe's emulsion will break. Place in an airtight bowl. 

Chocolate Surprise Shortbread Cookies

Since I could not think of anything more creative to name the cookies  will stick with chocolate surprise. This is a take on my favorite shortbread cookie, but with the alterations it comes in as a cross between a sugar cookie and butter cookie without all the extra ingredients such as eggs, baking soda, etc. The cookies came about from hours and endless calories of experimentation. These cookies are too yummy for words, they just melt in your mouth and the chocolate is truly a welcomed surprise and if your a coffee drinker I recommend that you sit down with a few and your favorite cup of espresso.

Chocolate Surprise Shortbread Cookies

1lb unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

4oz Ghirardelli semi sweet baking bar

1. Combine sugar and butter in mixer until fluffy, add in vanilla and beat for one more minute

2. add in flour and mix on medium low until combined.

3. Using a cookie scoop or your hand, scoop half of the dough you need for one cookie, add a piece of chocolate to the center then cover with some more dough to finish the cookie.

4. Continue shaping out all your cookies and lay them on a sheet pan to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. While the cookies are in the fridge preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your baking pan. (if you have a large enough fridge you can lay you cookie balls to chill on the sheet you will bake it on)

6. After 15 minutes have passed remove your cookies from the fridge and bake in the oven until cookies are browned on the edges, about 15 minutes.

7. remove pan from oven but don't remove cookies right away, allow cookies to sit for about a minute to firm up and then remove with a spatula. 

8. Cool cookies on a rack and then move to cookie jar or container.