Thimbles, Bobbins, Paper and Ink: February 2014

Sunday, February 9, 2014

For you Valentine: Mayan Chocolates

St. Valentine's Day is this coming Friday and today for What's under the cake dome Sunday #47 I got made a box of Mayan Chocolates for my special Valentine, the Mister.

Start with as good of quality of dark chocolate as you can afford. Then, once you've created these delightfully and sinfully delicious dark chocolate truffles you can let your imagination free to top them with your favorite accoutrement. In photo above, I've topped a truffle with Coarse Sea Salt.

Or perhaps you'd prefer chopped almonds (or peanuts, cashews or any type of nut).

How about rolling some in cocoa powder and a dash of cayenne pepper and/or cinnamon?

The combinations and possibilities are endless and sure to delight the recipients of your creations. After all, to quote Forrest Gump's mother, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Valentine's Day Mayan Chocolates

Ingredients:

8 ounces (by weight) Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon freshly brewed coffee or coffee flavored liqueur
Optional top coatings: sea salt, icing sugar, cocoa powder, toasted coconut, chopped nuts, candy coating, sprinkles... (anything your imagination desires)

Directions:

Chop us your chocolate as finely as you can keeping the chopped pieces about the same size so that they will all melt evenly. Otherwise, you'll be left with little chunks of chocolate in your finished candy. I put my chocolate in a plastic zip lock bag and crushed it with a mallet. Place your chocolate into a heat safe glass bowl.
In a small saucepan, heat the cream just until it begins to boil (when you see bubble beginning to form around the edges of the pan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit a few minutes to begin softening the chocolate.
Now add the vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne and coffee (or coffee flavoring) and whisk everything together until it is smooth. If you still have a few lumps, place the bowl into the microwave to 10 seconds at a time and whisk/stir. Repeat until your mixture is smooth.
Now is the hard part because this is when you let the chocolate sit at room temperature for an hour to allow it to cool and begin to set up. How many times do you think you can see the bowl with chocolate and NOT taste it. (or shewing the hand of someone wanting just one taste.)
With a small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out small balls of the chocolate mixture and place on a parchment or waxed paper lined baking sheet. Place the balls in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to completely set up.
Once the chocolate is set take the chocolate balls out of the refrigerator and gently roll in your hands to form balls.
Roll the balls in your favorite topping. The choice is yours. You may leave them plain if you wish too.

*Recipe note: you do not have to add cayenne pepper or cinnamon to your chocolates if you don't want to. I really like these scant amounts in the chocolate for a particularly lovely Mayan Chocolate flavor. Sea Salt is a popular topping these days for the sweet/salty combo. It gets a thumbs up from me too!

Part of the inspiration for making these lovely Mayan Chocolates laced with cayenne pepper, cinnamon, coffee flavor comes from the movie, Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. A sinfully delicious romantic fable, is how it has been reviewed.

Let's all give a huge thank you and cheers of gratitude to the ancient Mayans and their contributions to the importance of Chocolate. I became engrossed in reading about the history of Chocolate while my truffles were cooling and setting up. It's a fascinating history and a very important one too. I encourage you to search Mayan Chocolate.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Jennifer

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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Lemon Chess Pie topped with Sticky Blueberries

Tonight while the rest of North America is watching the Super Bowl, the Mister and I will be watching Downton Abbey. What better time to have a piece of pie and a cup of tea than while watching our favorite television series.

Presenting What's Under the Cake Dome Sunday # 46:

Lemon Chess Pie Topped with Sticky Blueberries

There are many stories of how chess pie became known as "Chess Pie." No one actually knows the real reason how it came to be know by this name, but my favorite story about it is that someone was complimenting the pie baker on her delicious pie and her reply was, "Oh darlin'! It's just pie!" Now say that with a thick southern drawl and it sounds like "It's 'chess pie."

Chess pie comes in a variety of ways but the bottom line is, they are simple ingredients, mix up easily and are full of flavor.

At Christmastime I made a Cranberry Chess Pie and it was one of our favorites. Today's pie is much the same, but with Lemons (I used Meyer Lemons) and an interesting topping of Sticky Blueberries.

Lemon Chess Pie Topped with Sticky Blueberries

Ingredients:

1 unbaked single-crust pie shell
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup (112 grams) unsalted butter
Just a pinch of kosher salt
2 Meyer lemons, for zesting and juice (if using large lemons then 1 lemon should be enough)
2 Tablespoons cornmeal
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 recipe of Sticky Blueberries (recipe can be found after pie directions)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius)
Place the pie shell on a baking sheet and brush the rim with a pie wash of equal parts milk and cream (I find about 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon cream is plenty for one pie). Set pie shell aside.
Combine the sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Zest the lemon over the ingredients in the bowl. Set the lemon aside to juice later. (NOTE: because I used Meyer lemons and they were small, I zested 1 1/2 lemons and used the juice of 2 Meyer lemons. If you are using large lemons then one lemon should be sufficient.) Cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 or 3 minutes). Add the cornmeal and flour and continue to mix on Medium until the ingredients are just combined. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the side and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
With the mixer on Low, slowly pour in the milk. Add the lemon juice and mix until just combined.
Scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl and incorporate any unmixed ingredients, should there be any. Pour the batter into the pie shell and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, rotating 180 degrees every 20 minutes, until a dark golden brown crust forms on top and the filling is set. Once cool, top with Sticky Blueberries.

STICKY BLUEBERRIES

(makes enough sticky blueberries to top one pie)