Homemade Chocolates and Choco Chip Cookies
Weekend two of my senior spring break went by much like the first, all too quickly, but completely filled with baking. My family is starting to worry, I think, because my obsession has become entirely permanent, and it’s nearly impossible to get my away from the kitchen. I have to say though, I’m absolutely smitten. Even at the most stressful moments (like this past weekend, completing the Daring Bakers challenge), there is just something about it that grabs hold and keeps me going. I. LOVE. Baking. So let’s get on with it, shall we?
Weekend two of my senior spring break went by much like the first, all too quickly, but completely filled with baking. My family is starting to worry, I think, because my obsession has become entirely permanent, and it’s nearly impossible to get my away from the kitchen. I have to say though, I’m absolutely smitten. Even at the most stressful moments (like this past weekend, completing the Daring Bakers challenge), there is just something about it that grabs hold and keeps me going. I. LOVE. Baking. So let’s get on with it, shall we?
Friday night I prepared a few of the initial Daring Bakers challenge components. Then it was time to make the perfect Friday Night Dessert, and of course chocolate chip cookies were in order. I’d think that with a daughter and sister so into baking that my family would insist on finer things, but Friday night after Friday night, all they want are cookies. So Friday I obliged them, instead of trying something new and edgy. Instead, I tried a new recipe, Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” Chocolate Chip Cookies, and they were pretty fab. I’m constantly in pursuit of the chocolate chip cookies, but it seems like there are endless recipes to try. Alton’s cookies are definitely a new favorite — it was the first time I’d used bread flour in cookies, and I think it made a world of difference. The recipe also has you melt the butter first, which offers a completely different consistency, and ultimately lends to a tender, deliciously wonderful cookie. YUM! I may have eaten a couple of the largest cookies, but they were just too good to pass up. And best of all, they satisfied every member of the family too.
The following day I had a bridal shower to attend, so I wanted to throw together something for that, and I’d settled on handmade/homemade chocolates. Little did I know, the bride-to-be was allergic to chocolate (I clearly don’t do my homework), but in the ignorant bliss of Friday night, I was in deep with the chocolate, throwing together a peanut butter cup filling, and making seemingly excessive amounts of empty chocolate cups. Saturday morning came early, and after I’d thrown together a batch of Morning Glory Muffins (a post on those is coming soon) and gotten in a quick run, it was back to the kitchen to make some ganache!
I ended up choosing to do a blackberry/raspberry ganache, and a white chocolate peppermint ganache. Both came out wonderfully! They were both kind of trial-and-error, and I didn’t exactly follow recipes. I was working on limited time, so I checked out a few ganache recipes to figure out the right proportions, and then crossed my fingers as I mixed everything together. Somehow, which happens often with me, both batches of ganache came out beautiful despite some chaos in their making, and ended up completing the chocolate shells beautifully. Next to the shiny little peanut butter cups I’d made the night before (for which I didn’t follow a recipe either… oops!), they looks rustic and almost a little bit sassy? Perfect for a bridal shower, I’d say. I enjoyed the contract of perfectly molded chocolates next to the free form ones — as you can see from the pictures, I got a little bit (too?) creative in putting them on the plate, but ultimately it didn’t matter because they were gone in no time! I snagged a few to make sure I got to try them, but they were one of those dishes that sold themselves (and fast!) without so much as a peep from me. Wonderful.
Just for reference, here are the ingredients for each of the different types of ganache. Personally, I think that there is much room for tweaking with ganache, so you can add and alter all you want, and still end up with a pretty darn delicious dessert.
Blackberry/Raspberry Ganache
4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 spoonfuls of blackberry jam
a splash of Chambord
White Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
5 oz white chocolate (could have used more — 6 oz would have probably been perfect)
1/4 heavy cream
a few small splashes of peppermint extract (maybe 1/2 tsp? I’d do it to taste)
For the peanut butter filling, I put together:
Graham Cracker crumbs
Peanut Butter
Butter (just a little!)
Confectioners sugar
I had some extra peanut butter filling, and some extra dark chocolate berry ganache, so I filled the ganache with peanut butter and made PB&J truffles! I felt very creative and proud of it, and even better — they were absolutely delish.
It was a great way to start the weekend, and fun to venture outside of my typical quick-breads-and-muffins-and-cookies habit. Who knows what the future will hold! Today I learned how to make maple candies from maple syrup — the world is my Oyster! I think that’s the saying…
I’ve got more to write, but until next time…
With love, and sugar. And lots of it. Enjoy!
