Amazons: A Healthy Chocolate Cookie

Amazons nestled among Blushberry Cake sticks

I woke up at my usual 4:45 AM alarm and remembered that I was supposed to let a friend taste a couple new creations from my kitchen.  I still had some Blushberry Cake, the uniced tail end of the Coeur de Framboise baked on Saturday, cut into manageable sticklets for munching, but realized with horror that I was fresh out of Bad Girl cookies.

This, my friends, just wouldn’t do at all.

And so, still rather heavy-lidded with sleep, I waddled down to the kitchen and threw everything together to make a different sort of cookie, something healthy and satisfying but also rather moreish and tempting all at the same time.

The end result of my efforts: the Amazon.

Amazons are moist, chewy, rather cakey-textured chocolate cookies that get some of their oomph from a hint of hazelnut flavor in the form of both praline-filled milk chocolate and a healthy helping of gianduia (Nutella to those in the know). Somewhat bigger than the average cookie – it’s even bigger than most crinkles I’ve eaten – these truly are treats for those with gargantuan appetites.

The interesting part here is that they’re actually good for you.  The cookie itself is made with a blend of Splenda and dark brown [muscovado] sugar, AP flour, whole wheat flour, and rolled oats.  Throw in some pecans and dried cranberries, and these make a perfect post-workout snack.

Incidentally… If you’re planning to make these, I suggest that you use Ecuador dark chocolate (available in button form from Heavenly Chocolates) as the dusky bitterness makes for a good flavor balance with the creamy sweetness of the hazelnut paste.

Amazons

• 100 grams dark chocolate buttons or 1 100-gram dark chocolate bar, broken up
• scant 50 grams milk chocolate with praline filling or hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup granulated Splenda
• 1/4 cup muscovado sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup Nutella or any commercially available hazelnut paste (I used Nusica in these)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees / Gas Mark 4.  Line a cookie sheet with a greaseproof liner or Silpat mat.

In a heatproof bowl, microwave the dark and milk chocolates, gianduia, and shortening on HIGH for 45 – 50 seconds.  Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.  Add the Splenda, muscovado, and eggs and mix until well-incorporated.

In another bowl, mix together the flours, oats, and baking powder.  Pour in the chocolate mixture and mix to achieve a very sticky, rather gloopy dough.  Fold in the cranberries and pecans.

Drop 2-tablespoon rounds of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for about 10 – 12 minutes.  Do not overbake!

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.  Makes approximately 14 large cookies.

Take them with you when you go running or spend time in the gym.  They may taste very wicked, but they really are good for you. 

Madeleines: Pretty, Perfect Shells

A pretty plate of madeleines

I bought a set of madeleine tins a little over half a year ago but never got to use them until this weekend.  May I just say that they were definitely worth every centavo I spent on them.

There was a bit of batter left from the coeur de framboise cake I baked on Saturday since I didn’t want the heart tin to overflow.  There was barely enough to scrape for a dozen cupcakes, so I decided to butter up my madeleine tins and put them to work.

Sometimes, you just need all that butter.

The trick to making perfect madeleines is not to overfill the tins; a scant tablespoon and a half of butter-rich cake batter is all you need.  (Yes, it works better with butter-based cakes.)  Just bake for fifteen minutes in a 350 degree / Gas Mark 4 oven for crisp-edged shells with moist, melting centers.  To make them even more elegant than they already are, dip the larger end into melted dark chocolate and allow to set.

It’s the sort of treat Marcel Proust will definitely swoon over. 

La Coeur de Framboise avec Chocolat

Raspberry pound cake + chocolate ganache = LOVE

I apologize for going through the whole first week of February without posting.  It’s been a very busy past several days and, while I am quite tuckered out, I couldn’t let this week pass without messing about my kitchen at least once. 

A sale on bakeware last week resulted in the purchase of three new cake tins: a sunflower-topped semi-bundt mold, a rectangular tin, and a rather fetching heart-shaped one that showed up just in time for Valentine’s Day.  I decided to break the last one in by making a rather ambitious Saturday afternoon treat.

I’ve been baking rum cakes for about a month now, experimenting with new flavors to make my cakes more appealing than those sold by most commercial bakeshops.  I’ve made cakes with chocolate liqueur and Kahlua and I’m seriously thinking of baking mango-flavored ones (with chopped fresh and dried mangoes, mango flavoring, and mango liqueur) for this summer.  Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching – along with Chinese New Year – I decided to make a lovely pink cake in my new heart tin.  Thank goodness, then, for raspberry-flavored Vodka Cruisers and strawberry extract!

This particular recipe started out as a banana-infused rum bundt cake from Southern Living magazine.  However, why must one conform with the use of banana liqueur when people in this part of the world hate the stuff!  And so, I am pleased to state that a month of mixing and matching flavors has paid off and the end results are just fabulous.

What one gets is a gorgeously buttery cake with a slight fruity tang that keeps it from getting too rich.  Top the whole thing off with a raspberry-infused chocolate ganache frosting, and you have quite a romantic dessert.

La Coeur de Framboise avec Chocolat (Raspberry Heart with Chocolate Frosting)

For the cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup all-purpose cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-1/2 cups softened salted butter
• 2 teaspoons strawberry flavoring
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup raspberry-infused vodka or Framboise liqueur
• 3 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-1/2 cups granulated white sugar

For the syrup:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup raspberry-infused vodka

For the ganache:

• 1 100-gram dark chocolate bar (at least 50% cocoa solids), broken
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup all-purpose cream
• 2 tablespoons raspberry-flavored vodka

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and soda.  Set aside.  Grease a 9- or 10-inch heart tin.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees / Gas Mark 4.

Cream together the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy.  Whisk in the eggs and beat until well-combined.  Add the strawberry extract, rum, and raspberry vodka and stir till the mixture looks curdled.  Add the cream; stir, and add 1/2 of the flour.  Add the milk; stir, and add the remaining flour.  Mix until well-combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 55 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the syrup and cook over medium heat till the butter melts and the syrup starts to boil.  Lower the heat and simmer whilst stirring till slightly thickened.

Poke holes into the surface of the baked cake with a wooden skewer and pour the syrup evenly over it.  Set aside for about 30 minutes.

In a saucepan, add all the ingredients for the ganache and cook whilst stirring over medium heat until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Allow to cool for about five minutes.

Turn the now-syrup-soaked cake onto a serving plate.  Pour over the cooled ganache and spread evenly over the surface.

Makes twelve servings.

One Fluted Mold, Two New Ideas

Have fluted mold, will travel...

Late last December and in early January, I found myself rising to the challenge of baking something completely different from just about everything I’ve baked before.  First, Michi-meow’s mother asked if I made rum cakes, specifically those made in the magnificent, buttery, decadent style that used to be served at Savory Chicken during the Holiday season.  Then, my mother asked if I could bake something for one of her closest friends.

In both cases, I used my mother’s somewhat battered steel fluted mold.  It’s something I’ve rarely ever used, seeing how it’s too small for most of the recipes in my baking repertoire.  (It is, however, perfect for making brioche.)  But those two challenges finally gave it a chance to shine.

The first result is shown in the snapshot above: a beautifully golden kugelhupf for Mom’s friend.  It’s a very fancy bit of bread baking: brioche dough is allowed to rise, then cut into thin slices.  Each slice is spread with a truly mouthwatering paste made with butter, sugar, and chopped mixed nuts (I used a blend of toasted cashews, pecans, and almonds for this) and layered one on top of the other in a fluted mold.  It took a bit longer to bake than an average brioche, but the end result was pure, delicious decadence.

The second result actually yielded three cakes: two in portable aluminum tins and the third baked in the mold.  I ended up with some seriously buttery, magnificently fluffy cake, rum-sodden and perfect with coffee.

All things considered, this little mold is definitely a keeper. 

The Grown-up Mid-afternoon Milk Break Stays Home

Chocolate Mudshake and a thick chocolate crinkle

I don’t usually go for anything alcoholic unless it’s served at a party or an official function.  In my case, you see, alcohol is simply an occasional thing or – most of the time – an ingredient for pasta sauces (red wine) or cakes (rum and a whole plethora of sweet liqueurs indispensable for flavoring decadent treats).

However, given the stressful nature of recent events, sipping something with a bit of a buzz became somewhat necessary.  Between madness at work, troublesome and tightfisted clients, panicking over my [non-existent] social life, and my brother’s catching the measles (this making him miss out on the recently concluded 2nd National Congress of the Clergy), I needed something to calm me down.

It was fortunate that I still had about a third of a bottle of Vodka Mudshake in chocolate from a recent order for rum cakes.  This nifty little sipper is a product of Australia’s Independent Distillers.  It’s been on the market for quite some time now, but I only started using it recently when I noted that the creaminess and the gorgeously rich flavors made my rum cakes truly special.

So, how did I enjoy this?  I poured the remaining third of Mudshake over some ice in a small glass and filled up the remainder with low-fat milk.  (If you’re going to do this yourself, don’t stir!  Just let the liqueur lace the milk in a tantalizing manner.)

Now, serving it with a fat, undeniably rich chocolate crinkle may seem like overkill, but if your day – or week, for that matter – got shot to hell, you’re going to need all that unctuous yumminess to help you feel better.