An Apple a Day…

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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were really true. Try to stay healthy. Take a walk, run or bike ride. Practice social separation and wash your hands frequently… You all know that. Do NOT socially isolate yourself from friends and family. Not all health is physical.

Now, here is a funny story. While at the market last week, Fran and I separated to expedite our essential expedition from sheltering-in-place. We wouldn’t want the Isolation Police to be upset. Somehow, when separated, one of us put our groceries into the wrong cart. One that was partly filled with someone else’s groceries. When I got to checkout I though we forgot our shopping bags in the car. Fran went out and they weren’t there. While she was gone I started to check out. I noticed we had a half dozen apples that I didn’t remember putting in the cart but “assumed” she did. When she returned to the market she found our original cart, with the grocery bags. I had already checked out so just kept the apples, which brings us to the reason for this post.

Last week we talked about making an apple pie and not, through a fortuitous mistake, now had the ingredients, and no thanks to an unfortunate circumstance had the time to make a pie. I had less than 2 lbs of apples so had to find a recipe that uses less than the 3 lbs we usually need. I found one this morning.

L to R: Top crust cut into strips, uncooked lattice, finished pie

Classic Apple Pie
INGREDIENTS

• 7 cups (840 grams) sliced apples
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar lightly packed
• 1/4 cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 pie crusts homemade or store-bought
• 1 tablespoon (15 grams) butter cut into pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoons milk
• Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top optional

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Adjust oven rack to the lower third position.
  2. Add the sliced apples and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl, toss until well combined. Set aside.
  3. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Pour over the sliced apples and mix until the apples are fully coated with the dry ingredients. Set aside for 15-20 minutes while you prep the pie crusts.
  4. Roll one of the pie crusts out to about 12 inches in diameter, transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, gently fit it in the dish, and trim any excess dough from the edges. Place in the refrigerator. Roll out the second pie crust dough and either cut lattice strips, decorations or leave whole to fully top the apple pie.
  5. Remove the pie plate from the refrigerator. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the filling into the pie crust (making sure to leave as much juice as possible in the bowl) and spread around into one even layer. Dot with the pieces of butter. Top with the second pie crust and decorate the edges (if topping with a full piece of pie crust, make sure to cut some slits in the top).
  6. Whisk together the egg and milk until well combined. Brush on top of the pie and around the edges. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
  7. Bake in the lower third of the oven at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cover the edges of the pie with a pie crust shield as needed to prevent excess browning. You may also cover the top of the pie with aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much before it’s finished baking.
  8. Once the pie is finished baking, remove from the oven, and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Don’t Spoonerize a Curd Tart

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Raspberry Curd Tart

I have been baking a lot of bread recently. With the self-isolation, several of our friends were unable to find bread in the nearly empty supermarkets and as I really like to bake I am giving a lot of bread away – a loaf or two a day. Luckily, I bought an extra 10 lbs of bread flour a couple of weeks ago, along with 5 lbs of AP flour and 4 lbs of sugar.

Today, I am taking a break from bread. I made a raspberry curd filled tart. I really like my chocolate tart with orange drizzle, but saw and adapted the Raspberry Curd to use with my tart shell. Luckily, the curd can be made in advance and refrigerated so today I only had to make the tart shell. (Don’t let me kid you. I also made 2 loaves of white sandwich bread for friends.)

L to R: Dough and Pan, Filled and Formed Shell, Weighted and ready for blind baking
L to R: Baked crust, completed tart, Quality Assurance Samples


INGREDIENTS

Raspberry Curd
• 3 cups raspberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp Meyer lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter, diced

Tart Shell
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 200 g almond flour (I may increase this by 50g, not sure yet)
• 60 g icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs (100g) Topping

METHOD

  1. For the raspberry curd, combine raspberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Bring mixture to a boil (about 5 minutes); reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and let stand 5 minutes.
  3. Place in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Wipe pan clean and strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a cleaned pan and discard solids.
  4. Whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth.
  5. Stir yolk mixture into raspberry mixture; bring to a boil over medium-low heat (about 5 minutes). Be careful, the mixture can burn if heat it so high. If it does, do not scrape the bottom of the pan.
  6. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat (the mixture should coat the back of a spoon).
  7. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth.
  8. Place curd into a medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.
  9. Chill curd in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, or up to 1 week (if making in advance).
  10. For the tart shell: Mix butter with sugar (I break up the chunks of butter by rubbing them into the sugar with my hands)
  11. Add salt then vanilla
  12. Add egg and mix well
  13. Stir in flour. Mix by hand until incorporated. I did this in 3 parts mixing well between each.
  14. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min until it firms up a bit.
  15. Butter (spray) tartlet pan
  16. Coat hands with flour and press the sticky dough into tart mold
  17. Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
  18. Add pastry weights to the pan
  19. Bake in preheated oven 350o F (175o C) for 17 – 20 min
  20. Remove pastry weights with 5 min left in the bake
  21. Remove pastry shells from pans and let cool on wire rack To assemble tart, spoon raspberry curd into cooled tart shell and spread into an even layer with an offset spatula.
  22. Arrange raspberries over filling in a decorative pattern.
  23. Chill in the refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

Catch Her in the Rye

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Day 2 of California’s Shelter-in-Place order and Bake #2 for “DeDe Bread.” Today I made two identical loaves of rye bread. One was delivered to my local family, and the other is currently being consumed by Quality Assurance Department.

Day 3’s plan is to make a replicate of today’s loaf plus a crusty loaf made in the Dutch Over. Before either loaf is delivered to likewise Shelter-in-Place friends and family the QA Department will be sampling a slice or two.

Homemade Rye Bread

INGREDIENTS
4 ½ tsp (16 g) packages active dry yeast
2 ½ cups warm water (just barely warm to the touch)
2/3 (225 g) cup molasses
2 tbl caraway seeds (optional)
1 tbl salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tbl Rye Bread Improver
2 cups rye flour
5 cups bread flour

METHOD

  1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the molasses. Put yeast mixture into a large metal bowl.
  2. Add the caraway seeds, salt, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, 2 cups of rye flour and then 2 cups of bread flour, mixing into the yeast mixture after each addition with a wooden spoon.
  3. Add more bread flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is not so sticky and it is too hard to mix it with the wooden spoon. At that point, spread a half cupful of flour onto a large, clean, flat surface and put the dough onto the surface.
  4. Knead the dough with a Kitchen-aide bench mixer using the dough hook. Add more bread flour in small amounts until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Once the sides of the bowl are fairly clean then knead 8 minutes.
  5. Let the dough rise: Spread some vegetable oil around a large bowl and place the dough in it, turning it so it gets coated in the oil.
  6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth. Let rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
  7. Gently press down on the risen dough so some of its air is released. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, knead the dough a few turns and then divide it by cutting it in half with a sharp knife.
  8. Shape each half into loaf. Place dough loafs into either oiled 8×4-inch bread loaf pans, or onto a flat baking sheet or peel that has been sprinkled with corn meal, depending if you want to cook the loaves in pans or directly on a baking stone. Cover with plastic or a damp cloth.
  9. Let the loaves rise: Let the bread rise again, this time not doubling in volume, but rising by about half of its volume, about 30 to 45 minutes, half as long as the first rising. The dough should be peeking over the top of the loaf pan if using a loaf pan.
  10. If you are using a Dutch Oven or baking stone, place it in the oven and preheat oven to 350°F for at least half an hour before baking.
  11. If baking in a Dutch Oven pick the dough up by the corners of the parchment paper and place the dough and parchment paper into the Dutch Oven or directly on the baking stone. Score the loaves a few times on the top of the dough right before putting it in the oven. Be careful, the Dutch Oven or baking stone will be hot.
  12. Put loaves in the oven. If you have a mister, mist the dough with a little water the first 10 minutes of baking. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until done. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.

The Galaxy is on Orion’s Belt

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So you may have wondered the purpose of making and posting a simple white chocolate mousse. Well, there was actually a reason for making the mousse, posting? Not so much.

Being bored during the rain storm yesterday I decided to make a half recipe of chocolate-chip/raspberry brownies. I cut a number of them in small rounds to embed in a white chocolate mousse molded into hemispheres then frozen. Today I made a gelatin based mirror glaze intending to coat the frozen mousse with swirling colors to make galactic mousse/brownie desserts. Well, it was practice. You all know I like to practice at home and failures never pass through the front door. I have an order of agar agar arriving soon so will try a vegetable based thickener for the glaze.

While not a failure, they were not a nice as I envisioned. However, practice, practice, practice and learn. The taste was excellent!!

Brownies – Some with chopped macadamia nuts

MIRROR GLAZE WITH GELATIN

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 packets unflavored powdered gelatin , (1/2 oz)
  • 192 g water , divided use
  • 215 g sugar , (scant 1 cup)
  • 142g or 5 oz (scant 2/3 cup) sweetened condensed milk , (1/3 of a standard 14-oz can)
  • 233 g real white chocolate , chopped or white chocolate chips
  • Gel food coloring (I used Americolor Royal Blue, Sky Blue, Electric Purple, Electric Pink, Super Black, and Bright White)

METHOD

  1. Whisk together the gelatin and 3 oz (1/3cup) cold water in a bowl, and set it aside to let the gelatin absorb the water.
  2. Combine the remaining 3.5 oz water, sugar, and condensed milk in a medium saucepan, and place the pan over medium heat. Stir while the sugar dissolves, and bring the mixture to a simmer.
  3. Once it is simmering steadily, remove it from the heat and add the gelatin (no need to melt the gelatin first—just scrape the big blob out of the bowl!) Whisk the gelatin as the heat from the pan dissolves it, and whisk until it is almost entirely incorporated. A few small pieces of gelatin are fine.
  4. Add the white chocolate to the pan, and let it sit for a few minutes to soften the chocolate. If you have an immersion blender, that is best to use—just stick it right in the pan and blend until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is very smooth. If not, you can whisk everything together, just try to avoid vigorous whisking that will create a lot of air bubbles.
  5. Divide your glaze into as many bowls as you want. I find it’s easiest to have a few “base colors” that are larger portions, and a few “accent colors” that are smaller portions. I made 3 base colors, using Americolor Sky Blue, Royal Blue, and a mix of Royal Blue + a drop of Super Black. I made 3 accent colors using Americolor Electric Purple, Electric Pink, and Super White. All you need to do is whisk a few drops of food coloring into each bowl of glaze.
  6. Let the bowls set until they cool down to about 95 Fahrenheit (35 C). An instant-read thermometer is the easiest way to check this, but if you don’t have one, it should feel barely warm on your fingertip, and be thick enough to coat it. Stir the bowls occasionally as they cool, so they don’t form a skin on top.
  7. Take the mousse cakes from the freezer. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper for easy clean-up, and set small jars or cups on the sheet for the mousse cakes to balance on—try to use ones that are smaller than the base of the cakes, so the glaze can drip down cleanly.
  8. In a new bowl, pour about 1/3 cup of one of your base colors of glaze, then drizzle the top of it with a few other colors—there’s no rhyme or reason here, so go crazy! After you’ve added all the colors you want, give it a brief stir to swirl everything together, but do NOT swirl too much and muddy the colors! Take this bowl of glaze and pour it over one of the cakes, swirling it around the top to make sure that all the sides are covered. Let the glaze drip down the cake onto the baking sheet.
  9. If it is dripping quickly and is a very thin layer, it’s too warm and needs to cool down a few more degrees. If it is gloopy and clinging to the cake and barely dripping, it is too cool. You can warm the bowls of glaze BRIEFLY in the microwave (start with 8-10 seconds each) and stir until they’re fluid again, and keep re-warming as necessary while glazing the cakes.
  10. Repeat the swirling and glazing process with the rest of the cakes. It’s fun to give them all different color schemes so they each look unique. If desired, finish the cakes with a pinch of edible silver star sprinkles. (Any remaining glaze can be saved and used on a different cake within about a week or so. Make sure it stays covered tightly with plastic wrap so it doesn’t form a skin and dry out.)
  11. Let the cakes sit for about 15 minutes, until the glaze is semi-set, then transfer them to small plates. Chill for an additional 10-15 minutes until the glaze is full set.

White Chocolate Mousse

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It’s Pi day, so in rebellion, I made white chocolate mousse for mirror glazing tomorrow and chocolate-chip/raspberry brownies with chocolate ganache for the chewy chocolate center of my galaxy mousse cakes.

Luckily, there was extra mousse today for quality control sampling tonight. I had mine with a raspberry coulis and Fran paired it with chocolate sauce. Excellent flavor and texture. Tomorrow I will mirror glaze them experimenting with a galaxy motif. Check back soon.

White Chocolate Mousse

INGREDIENTS
• 1 Envelope powdered gelatin
• 12 oz White chocolate chips
• 2 1/2 Cups Heavy cream

METHOD

  1. Dissolve gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water, and set aside for 5 minutes.
  2. Place chocolate in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until very finely chopped.
  3. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice and set aside.
  4. Place 3/4 cup cream in a small saucepan, and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Add
    the dissolved gelatin, and stir for 30 seconds to dissolve completely. Pour into food processor
    with the motor running, and process until chocolate mixture is smooth.
  5. Transfer to a medium bowl and place over ice water bath. Chill until mixture is thick enough to
    fall from a spoon and form ribbons on the top of the melted chocolate.
  6. Whip remaining 1 3/4 cups heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. If not using immediately, refrigerate in an airtight container or fill individual dessert dishes cover and place
    in fridge.

Good for the Soul

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Some people say confession is good for the soul. They may be right but there is no question chocolate is. However, I do have a confession to make. Actually, I have two (at least two) confessions to make.

Fran, my wife of nearly, well let’s just say many, years, frequently tells me due to my New England heritage and upbringing I am a frugal person. Actually, she uses another word, frugal is mine. I acknowledge she is correct, but I contend that’s not a bad thing. For example, I found three 6 ounce bags of Scharffen Berger bittersweet (70% cacao) chocolate that bloomed while stored in the cupboard. As everyone knows chocolate bloom can be repaired by melting the chocolate and allowing it to re-crystallize.

Now I confess (#1) it seemed a waste for me to spend the time and energy, meaning expensive natural gas, to melt and re-crystallize the chocolate with nothing to show for the effort. Not only would it be wasteful, according to Fran, it would be contrary to my nature. Luckily, I recently acquired a new chocolate mold and had all the ingredients in the cupboard to make some peppermint cream filling. This allowed me to finish up the chocolate and test the new mold.

New Bullet Shaped Poly Carbonate Mold

After golf this morning I frugally decided to make some filled chocolates. I tempered and thereby repaired, all 18 ounces and made some peppermint cream filled candies.

The round candy is peppermint from the new mold. The cubes are caramels.

Unfortunately, there was too much tempered chocolate left over, but with my lucky streak intact I had some extra caramel from another batch of candies I made a couple of weeks ago. I dipped 20 caramel cubes in the remaining chocolate and set them aside to cure.

At this point there was barely enough tempered chocolate to fill and seal the new mold to make one more batch. I now have peppermint and previously made vanilla and raspberry. I also confess (#2) what I never tried, but wanted to, was chocolate coated marshmallow creams. While “fluff” is very sweet, the bittersweet chocolate provides a nice balance, plus I have only made marshmallow at home once before and I like to practice. Unfortunately, I only needed a few ounces and the recipe I have makes almost 2 pints, most of which is now sealed and sitting on the counter.

The marshmallow filled chocolates didn’t cut well but the texture is evident

I was pleasantly surprised I could hold the chocolate in temper for the 30 minutes or so it took to make and cool the marshmallow. The chocolate temperature varied between 85 and 95 degrees as it sat on a double boiler. I checked the temperature frequently and turned the burner on briefly from time to time to keep the temperature fairly constant.

Marshmallow Recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 1/3 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup corn syrup or honey
• 3 large egg whites room temperature
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD
1. Place water, sugar, and corn syrup (or honey) in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine.
2. Insert a candy thermometer into the pot and heat over medium-high. Do not stir from this point on as crystals will form.
3. Ensure mixer bowl and whisk are completely grease free.
4. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
5. When the sugar syrup reaches about 225°F, start whipping the egg whites to soft peaks. Approx 3-4mins.
6. When the whites are ready, the sugar syrup should be at 240°F. Remove from the heat, turn mixer to medium and very slowly and carefully pour the sugar syrup into the whites in a thin, steady stream.
7. Once all of the syrup is in, set mixer to medium/high and continue whipping. The whites will deflate at first, but they will thicken and fluff up.
8. Continue to whip for 7-8 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and glossy.
9. Add in vanilla and whip until the fluff has cooled.
10. Pour into an airtight container and store for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.

Boston Cream Pie

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My friend Maggie asked if I would make a Boston Cream Pie using the same recipe she used. While her dessert was reportedly delicious, (I didn’t have any) the cake did not rise to her satisfaction. So, today I made the same cake (Betty Crocker’s recipe) with nearly identical results. The recipe called for a 9” pan sprayed on the bottom only, not the sides. Some cakes, like a angel food require dry sides for the cake to “grow” up the sides so I made sure the sides were dry. It didn’t help. The cake was just over an inch thick. Cutting it in half would result in two tortilla-thick disks rather than layers of cake.

I did a search for another recipe with significantly different ingredients and method. I chose one from Martha Stewarts Everyday Living. Following the recipe as written, Martha’s cake was nearly twice as high as Betty’s

Betty’s on the left – Martha’s on the right.

As I am inept at slicing a cake in half, this challenge provided the opportunity to use the “floss” technique. A butter knife was about half the height of the cake, so I used it to position tooth pics every few inches around the cake. I then laid the floss across the toothpicks and pulled it taut cutting cleanly through the cake, exactly where I wanted, resulting in two even, level layers of cake. THAT is a beautiful trick!

Left – Measure Height, Center – Wrap Floss, Right – Cut Cake

(Make a note for yourself – if you are making something that uses cream-pat and ganache be sure you have some frozen eclairs on hand. They are easy to thaw out, fill and dip in the extra ganache.)

Left Boston Cream Pie and Eclairs, Center BCP, Right Bonus Eclairs

The cake was moist, the cream-pat smooth and chocolate, well you know my opinion of chocolate. Incidentally, I used the cream-pat and ganache from my eclair post elsewhere in this blog.

Re-No Knead

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After my childhood Neighbor and still friend, Martha read my No Knead bread post she messaged me her go-to no knead bread recipe, which I tried and thought was both easy and excellent. I subscribe to the Washington Post weekly Voraciously Baking Basics Newsletter and last week was their no knead bread.

There is no question this is the best no knead bread I have made. Full disclosure I used Martha’s short rise version which only requires a 4 hour rise. I should go back and try the over night 14 hour rise to be a fair comparison to WashPo’s, which did undergo a 14 hour rise.

Voraciously Baking Basics No Knead Bread

INGREDIENTS

Makes one 8-inch round loaf (8 to 10 slices)
Prep time: 20 mins, plus 14 hours rising time
Bake time: 55 to 60 mins

  • 3 cups (375 grams) flour, plus more for kneading the dough
  • 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons uncooked grits (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon flaxseeds (optional) 
  • 1 1/3 cups (319 milliliters) warm water
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

METHOD

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt, plus grits and flaxseeds (if using). Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the water and olive oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a shaggy, wet and sticky dough forms.
  2. Cover the bowl with greased plastic wrap — greased side facing inside the bowl — and leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 14 hours. The dough will rise and bubble and flatten across the top. 
  3. Toward the end of the rising time, place a 6-quart Dutch oven and lid on a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  4. Generously flour a clean work surface and, using a rubber bench scraper or lightly greased silicone spatula, scoop the dough out of the bowl onto the counter. The dough will still be very wet and sticky, but there’s no need to knead it — just flour the top and sides to keep the outside of the dough dry enough to shape it into a roundish ball by pulling the edges to the center of the dough. You can use the bench scraper to assist in the folding.
  5. Flour a 14- to 16-inch piece of parchment paper. Cupping your hands around opposite sides of the dough, gently but decisively transfer the dough to the paper, fold-side down. Dust with more flour wherever sticky dough becomes exposed and loosely cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. The dough will have risen slightly and should bounce back when gently poked.
  6. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and set the lid aside. (I like to keep pot holders on the lid and handle of the Dutch oven to remind myself it’s very hot.) 
  7. Lift the towel off the bread and, using a serrated knife, slash two vents into the surface of the dough to make a big “X.”
  8. Holding two sides of the parchment paper, lower the paper and dough into the hot Dutch oven. Re-cover the pot and place in the oven. 
  9. Bake for 35 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the bread is golden brown across the top and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool in the Dutch oven for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool for 1 hour before slicing and serving. 
  10. The bread is best within 2 days of baking but will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

There’s Chocolate, Then There’s Chocolate

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Sigh, there are many, many varieties of chocolate, and so little time.

I am a fan of dark chocolate, (not intense 85%+ cacoa but a nice 52-70%.) I find the flavor more intense than milk chocolate (34%) and of course there are the currently purported health benefits of dark chocolate. Not only do I have to contend with percent cacao but also many different manufacturers. I should probably create a spreadsheet for them all.

I am also experimenting with fillings for chocolate candies, a tough job, but someone really should do it. Last month I made two new fillings, buttercream and fresh raspberry/chocolate ganache. Both were excellent, but I wanted some candies with a soft gooey filling.

This morning I made a batch with some Guittard 46% semi-sweet baking chips I picked up at the grocery story a couple of weeks ago. I thought these might be a good compromise between the dark that I like and the milk chocolate that Fran prefers.

I tempered the chocolate, coated the inside of a heart shaped silicone mold and let it cure. This morning I made a batch of cream filling and divided it into two. One was flavored with peppermint to make some gooey peppermint patties, the other with vanilla for plain vanilla chocolates.

I want to make this same recipe but flavor with fresh strawberry or raspberry or orange ganache. I am experimenting with fillings as much as I am with different chocolates.

Homemade Peppermint or Vanilla Patties

INGREDIENTS

• ½ – ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk (amount depends on desired consistency)

• 1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract (optional)

• 339g (3 cups) powdered sugar

Optional Dipping Chocolate or use tempered chocolate in mold

• 8 ounces dark chocolate chopped

• 2 teaspoons oil

METHOD

1. In a medium size bowl mix the sweetened condensed milk, peppermint extract, and powdered sugar together. Add more sweetened condensed milk until mixed to viscosity desired.

2. Divide dough into number of flavors desired and place each portion in a small bowl

3. Add flavorings and mix well.

4. Pipe filling to fill each chocolate well to within 1/8” of the top of the well

5. Let set for 10 minutes

6. Add enough tempered chocolate to each well to seal the filling inside.

7. Scape bottom of mold to remove excess chocolate

8. Store the peppermint patties in the fridge until ready to be served! Enjoy!

Yes, Need Bread

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While traveling last week I saw a recipe for no-knead bread and today was my first chance to try it. Actually, I started it last night and finished it in time for a sandwich for lunch today. That seemed appropriate as the recipe described it as sandwich bread.

Rather than kneading the dough, once mixed into a wet sticky mess, it is rested, covered, in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning shape it into an 8” long log and place into a lightly greased bread pan. Allow the dough to warm to room temperature and rise under a clean, flour dusted kitchen towel for two hours.

This recipe makes an enriched Pullman loaf, although I don’t actually have a Pullman Loaf Pan (a square bread pan with lid.) While the shape was off, the buttery flavor was excellent and it had the fine crumb a Pullman Loaf should exhibit. It made a wonderful turkey, tomato and home grown lettuce sandwich.

Bake at 375 deg F for about 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 200 deg F. Place on a cooling rack and coat the top with butter. Make your sandwich and sit back to watch the Tennessee vs Kansas City playoff game.

No Knead Sandwich Bread

INGREDIENTS
• 31⁄3 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface
• 11⁄2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
• 21⁄2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 11⁄2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from 1 1⁄4-oz. envelope)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
• 13⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Cooking spray

METHOD
Stir together flour, milk, sugar, yeast, and 5 tablespoons of the melted butter in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry spots remain. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let stand 20 minutes. Add salt and stir until dough is sticky and elastic, about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator; chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Lightly coat an 81⁄2-by-41⁄2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Turn chilled dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured hands, shape dough into a rough oval. (Dough may be difficult to shape.) Fold short ends of oval in toward the center, pressing gently to seal. Working in the same direction as the previous fold, fold dough in half over itself, pressing gently to seal and form an 8-inch-long log.

Transfer dough, seam side down, to prepared loaf pan, gently encouraging it into the pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Let rest in a warm place (like the top of the refrigerator) until dough has risen just over the lip of the pan, about 2 hours. During the final 30 minutes of resting, preheat oven to 375°F with oven rack in lower third.

Bake until bread is golden brown and a thermometer inserted in center of loaf registers 200°F, 40 to 45 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil after 30 minutes if bread is browning too quickly. Invert loaf onto a wire rack; turn right-side up and brush top with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter. Let cool completely before slicing.