Raspberry Tart: The Result

I would serve this at room temperature, and if I had a sprig of mint, it would be on that puppy so fast. Although I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't find fresh currants at Wegman's, this is obviously the clear substitute.

-R

Raspberry Tart: The Process

Grated Butter for Crust

Pureed Raspberries and Sugar ready to boil

Chocolate Tart dough made by grating frozen butter and hand kneading. Kept in the fridge for a half an hour or so, and ready to bake.

The baked shell, sides cleaned up with a pizza cutter, filled with the raspberry filling that has been spiked with gelatin!

Making ganache...

Ganache made....

Once the gelee is cooled, pour the ganache on top.

Currently setting in the fridge is a raspberry gelee/chocolate ganache tart: a spin-off of my much coveted Red Currant tart by Palachinka. The only condition: I'm using a removable-bottomed cheesecake pan instead of a traditional tart tin, but so far this has proved to only be a minor disability. The final result will reveal itself tomorrow...

-R

Chocolate "Sherbet"

(No, not mine. But it looked a lot like that, really!!!!)

Dairy's been kicking my ass lately, so I thought I'd do a little experimentation based quite loosely on David Lebovitz' Chocolate Sherbet recipe. Sherbet, as opposed to Sorbet, contains milk. In this case, Soy Milk.

So I took 2 Cups of Soy Milk, 3/4 Cup of Cocoa Powder, one chopped banana, a bunch of tablespoons of thick apple butter, and a healthy couple of twirls around the pot of honey into a sauce pan. I brought it all to a boil and whisked it together. Somehow it came together nicely, and after boiling, I pureed it in my blender and set it to cool. Is it possible that this dessert could be good for you AND actually work?

Somehow, it cooled into a just slightly sweet chocolate pudding?!?!? How this happened, I do not know. It is in the freezer now, and all we can do is wait and see....

UPDATE: SUCCESS. Using Mr. Lebovitz's making-ice-cream-without-a-maker tutorial, I successfully crafted a perfectly smooth decadent fudgy non-dairy (low-fat if you dig that too!)dessert! (Sorry for lack of photographs). I think the apple butter/banana additions assisted this achievement. How the custard came out so thick and pudding like will forever befuddle me, but it worked.

-R

Chocolate Disaster Cookies with Salted Caramel

I baked without a recipe, and beginner's luck granted me a success!

I still christen these chocolate disaster cookies, because there's something very unruly and chaotic about them, and I think they look like a black hole.

The recipe went something like this

I melted four whole squares of semi sweet bakers chocolate with 1/3 of the european butter rectangles. In another bowl I combined 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 cup of regular unsweetened cocoa powder, one egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, and then I'm pretty sure I added a bit more sugar. Brown sugar, ps, for this whole recipe. When the chocolate and butter is melted together, pour all of that into the other bowl and mix well. Then add about 1 cup of regular flour and 1 cup of self rising flour, mix well, and incorporate lots of chocolate chunks. Then make a caramel sauce by not knowing what to do, so just throwing butter, light brown sugar, and milk in a pan and hoping for the best. Then, when you think it won't work, just start pouring a bit of that into the cookie batter, because you don't know what else to do. Start to form huge cookies on a baking sheet and create a well in the middle. Spoon a bit of the caramel into the well. Bake these cookies at an unspecified temperature, since your oven dial doesn't include numbers (350?), and take them out in about 10-15 minutes.

Then look at them and decide that you may as well pour the remaining caramel sauce all over them and then sprinkle sea salt on top.

Please wait for them to cool a bit before transferring them to a wire rack, and then let them cool completely before eating. They will fall apart if you do not heed my warning.

The cookies are incredibly rich and the salted caramel topping is a bit crunchy, but mostly chewy, and you cant beat the little salty lick you get as an after taste.

Next time, I think I would make them perfectly round and small and press a hole in the middle with my thumb. I would then fill that with the hot caramel, and wait until they were cooled completely to drop a few huge crystals of sea salt on top. I think there might actually be a next time for these babies!

-R

Cheesecake Brownies! Cheeeecaesake brwoooniessss!

I finally get a day where I don't have to be anywhere until 6:00!

SO I'M MAKING CHEESECAKE BROWNIES RAWWRRRRR

Pics in backwards order LOLZ

Result: I cut them while they were still hot (bah couldn't wait!), so the presentation is a little messy, but I have to say they are pretty delicious. I may have cooked them for just a few minutes too long, seeing as the outside pieces are a little too cake-y for my tastes (the closer to fudge, the better the brownie for me), but all-in-all the recipe was crazy easy, and looks so pretty!

Recipe follows... I used unsweetened bakers chocolate instead of bittersweet, and put a bit of cinnamon in the cheese-cake portion. I think these brownies could benefit from some sort of fruity swirl. Raspberry? Most definitely. Maybe next time!

(from www.davidlebovitz.com)

Cheesecake Brownies
One 9-inch (23cm) square pan
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped2/3 cup (130g) sugar2 large eggs, at room temperature1/2 cup (70g) flour1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder1/8 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips
8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature1 large egg yolk5 tablespoons (75g) sugar1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.
4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons (75g) of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
6. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter

. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set.
Let cool, then lift out the foil and peel it away. Cut the brownies into squares.
Storage: These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days. They also freeze well, too.

RAHHH as I was copy/paste - ing this I realized I completely left out the salt!! Salt is crucial for pulling out flavor, do not forget it! (Hits self)

Also, I just greased the pan, no foil. They came out fine.

-R