Chocolate Truffles x2 and a Ginger Cake

I get that most of you are dieting, so perhaps this post is inappropriate. Or even mean-spirited. Please know it isn't intended that way. See, I'll be joining you on the calorie-count wagon shortly, but not until one last glorious (read butter-laden) meal at Blue Hill at Stone Barns this weekend! I'll be sure to blog about the whole thing so we can all relive it, because when you get to look out the window at the very vegetable patch where, that morning, they picked the carrots hanging out on your plate, you know it has to be divine!

But for now (and since my 2012 diet has yet to begin), not one, but two truffle recipes and a ginger cake for good measure. These are all what I would call "adult desserts." The truffles are rich and the peanut butter truffle rolled in cocoa powder has the perfect amount of bitterness to counter the richness of the creamy center. The ginger cake isn't sweet at all and packs a little punch at the back of your throat all while warming your insides and providing the perfect complement to a cup of after-dinner coffee. So if you want to cheat on your diet, or, if like me you haven't even started yet, give one of these a try!

Peanut Butter Truffles (from Martha Stewart Living, Dec. 2011)
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp coarse salt
1 cup smooth peanut butter
unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1. Bring heavy cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate and add salt. Let stand for 10 minutes (don't stir or the mixture will cool too quickly and become grainy).

2. Whisk the mixture until smooth and shiny being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to catch any pieces.

3. Add the chocolate little by little to the peanut butter, whisking constantly until smooth. Refrigerate in a 5x8/12 glass loaf pan, covered until cool. About 4 hours.

4. Scoop small, 1 inch balls and roll in the palm of your hands. Refrigerate again for about 20 minutes. Roll in the cocoa powder, tapping gently to remove any excess. Refrigerate in mini baking cups for up to 4 days.

S'mores Truffles (from the comfort of cooking)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups (12 oz.) milk chocolate chips
24 mini marshmallows
1 cup finely crushed graham crackers

1. Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat; whisk in cream and bring to a boil.

2. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Chill saucepan in refrigerator for 1 hour, or until chocolate is solid and able to be rolled.

3. Roll chocolate into 24 balls, stuffing each with a mini marshmallow in the center.

4. Chill truffles for about 20 minutes before rolling them in graham cracker crumbs. Chill for a few minutes before serving, or keep for up to 4 days.

Fresh Ginger Cake (from Joy of Cooking)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely minced fresh ginger
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together brown sugar, molasses, honey, and egg. Whisk in ginger.

4. In a saucepan combine butter and water and heat until butter is melted. Add this to the molasses mixture. Stir in flour mixture just until smooth. Scrape the batter into the pan.

5. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan. Invert the cake and peel off the paper liner.

6. Once cooled completely, serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter and Fudge Oatmeal Cookies

In the interest of full disclosure, I don't love these cookies. Don't get me wrong. They are great with a glass of milk and the peanut butter, chocolate, oatmeal trio is a winner. But there are a lot of other cookies I would reach for first if given a choice. On the other hand, it is the perfect cookie for Tom. And considering the fact that he can't eat starting at midnight tonight until after his surgery tomorrow afternoon, these cookies were made and an empty glass with a slightly white bottom and a small plate with a few crumbs are sitting between us.

The original recipe doesn't call for any flour. Not a sprinkle of it. And, maybe I'm old-school, but you don't make cookies without flour. It might be tasty. But a cookie, it isn't. So I adjusted that slightly. I also made mine much smaller than initially called for. I'd much rather eat 6 small cookies than 2 big ones. You feel like you get more. And its less daunting when you don't have to use both hands to eat.

So without further ado ... the peanut butter and fudge oatmeal cookie.

Peanut Butter and Fudge Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from the kitchn)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
4 1/2 cups old-fashion oats
2 tbsps all purpose flour
2 tsps baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl mix together butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir until completely mixed.

2. In a separate bowl mixt flour, baking soda, and salt. Add oats and flour mixture to peanut butter mixture. Place in the fridge to cool.

3. In a small saucepan over low heat stir sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips until all chocolate is melted. Turn flame off.

4. On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, place teaspoon sized balls of dough. Flatten them with your fingers and place a dollop of chocolate in the middle of each. Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges are light brown. Wait 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Whoopie Pies

I was already toying with making whoopie pies this week as a great way to have more chocolate in our lives and to use up the extra cream cheese frosting I made for the red velvet cupcakes last week. And then a friend of mine posted this New York Times article and (as though I needed extra encouragement) there was no way I would make anything else this week.

The article surprised me because, being from Lancaster County, I couldn't believe that anyone other than the Pennsylvania Dutch would lay claim to having created such a rich, chocolate-y, sugary treat. The people who brought us shoo-fly pie (so named because it is so sweet the flies had to be shooed away while the pies cooled on the windowsill). So in honor of the county of my birth, and the ever-popular Amish baked goods stand on Rt. 741, here is a great whoopie pie recipe. Be forewarned that these are a pretty big hit with law students, husbands, and obviously anyone from Lancaster County - so be prepared to share.

Whoopie Pies

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, dutch processed
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk and vanilla extract.

2. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on high for about 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated; scrapping down the sides as needed.

3. Reduce speed to low. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and then 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat, ending with adding the last of the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides and continue to mix until fully incorporated.

4. On a pan lined with parchment paper, spoon about 1/8 cup mounds of the batter about 2" apart. I did 6 per pan to make sure they didn't bake together, but they didn't really spread too much.

5. Bake for 7 minutes on the lower oven rack and 5 minutes on the upper oven rack. Remove to a cooling rack and, when completely cooled, ice the flat sides with this frosting and sandwich two halves together.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

There is very little that can't be fixed by pancakes. And this morning, I needed some fixin'. This past week has been INSANE. I mean, beyond what I could ever have imagined. Not only did I spend between 8-10 hours each day reading, but we had a super awesome extermination issue that needed attending to. I won't go into the gory details because this is a cooking blog and you came to hear about pancakes, not the most horrible thing ever, but when I say that ALL of our belongings are in plastic bags and totes, please know that there is no hyperbole.

Often my go-to pancake is this one from 101 Cookbooks. It's light and a little sweet and I can eat about 100 of them in one sitting. But I didn't need a light pancake. I needed a pancake with substance, one that I could wrap around myself like a blanket and forget about the plastic totes and civil procedure for just a little bit. Or until I ate it all. So where did I find such a recipe? Where my mother always told us to look with any food questions: the Fannie Farmer Cookbook!

If you don't have the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, I highly recommend it. It's a great general reference and I've never experienced a dud - so when I want to try something new I don't have to worry that I'm wasting time, ingredients, etc.

The only change I made was to add chocolate chips. Because, well, did you read above? My only regret is that I didn't double the batch, because there aren't any left...

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Boston Cooking School Cookbook, Fannie Merrit Farmer

1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter (I browned mine because, why not?)
1 egg

2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix milk, melted butter and egg in a medium bowl.

2. In a separate bowl sift the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt.

3. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just enough to combine.

4. Add more milk if you need to (I added a splash). The consistency should be that of heavy cream

5. In a hot buttered skillet, pour nice sized blobs of batter. This recipe makes 6 to 8 smallish pancakes.

Cowboy Cookies

These cookies are a go-to for me. In fact, most times I have available a lump of this cookie dough frozen, so if we get a hankering for something sweet, pure bliss is only about 10 minutes away.

I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart Living magazine ages ago and it has definitely stood the test of time. I think the fact that it's stuffed with basically every awesome flavor ever (except marshmallow I guess) makes it a clear champion.

If you're on a diet or have a nut-allergy this is not for you (though you could omit the nuts all together I suppose). But if you want a super tasty, substantial and gooey cookie, plug in your mixer, because I promise you won't be disappointed. The only difficulty I can attest to, is not shoveling spoonfuls of the dough in your mouth while standing over the kitchen sink. Wait, did I just admit to that?...



Cowboy Cookies adapted (barely) from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (or regular salt if for some reason you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks (I used chips because that's what I had)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper*. In a medium-sized bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, scrape down the sides and beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add the flour mixture. Add the oats, chocolate, walnuts, and coconut. Beat until just combined.

4. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. (The cookies will spread!)

5. Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks and let them cool for another 10 minutes before eating (good luck with that).

Cookies can be stored for up to 3 days. Unused dough can be frozen and stored indefinitely. I don't bother to defrost the dough before baking and there is no discernible difference.

*I always use parchment paper to line the cookie sheets, even if the sheets are non-stick. The parchment not only makes clean-up super easy, it keeps the cookie bottoms from overcooking before the rest of the cookie is done.

Friends Weekend Recipes

This past weekend a small group of us made our way to the family country house of one of our friends. We had one simple goal: relax. With some additional goals to be met if we felt like extending ourselves: cook, eat, swim in the pool, watch the Yankees, play bocce ball. I'm happy to report that we did ourselves proud.


Our menu was loaded with amazing foods, but some of my favorites include baby chocolate brioche, grilled salt & vinegar potatoes, gazpacho Andaluz, and blueberry & peach cobbler. It was so much fun to cook with Shannon, Ethan, Peter & Emily ... I'm smiling just thinking about it. And wishing that I was having half as much fun with my dinner preparations for tonight.


Shannon and I came up with a wonderful premise for what our cooking show would be (if any network execs are out there, pay attention!). We would break into houses in well to do neighborhoods and have to make dinner with whatever ingredients and equipment they had in the kitchen. And the name of our awesome program (thanks to the lovely and talented Shannon)... why, "Baking and Entering" of course! LOVE

Here are two recipes from our wonderful friends weekend, Baby Chocolate Brioche and Grilled Salt & Vinegar Potatoes. Stay tuned later this week for more recipes, including the to-die-for Blueberry & Peach Cobbler.

Baby Chocolate Brioche Adapted from At Home In Provence by Patricia Wells

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons wildflower honey
1 cup lukewarm whole milk
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
About 1 1/4 pounds flour
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, divided into 10 pieces

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar

1. In a medium sized bowl combine the yeast, honey and milk; stir to combine. Let stand until the yeast foams, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil, eggs and salt.

2. Add the flour, a bit at a time, stirring gently until most of the flour has been incorporated and the dough forms a ball. Be careful not to add too much flour, slightly sticky dough is better than too dry dough. Knead the dough until it becomes satiny but still firm, about 4 to 5 minutes, adding additional flour to keep the dough from sticking.

3. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let the dough rise until doubled or tripled in bulk, about 8 to 12 hours. (I let mine rise overnight)

4. About an hour before you plan to bake the rolls, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Punch down the dough and divide into 10 even portions. With the palm of your hand, flatten each portion into a disc. Press a piece of chocolate into each portion of dough and shape into a neat round, pinching the dough together around the chocolate to form a tight ball. Place the portions of dough on a baking sheet, cover with a clean towel and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

6. Prepare the glaze: Place the egg yolk in a small bowl and beat lightly. Add the milk and sugar and whisk together. Remove the towel and brush each piece of dough with the glaze. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake until the rolls are a deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, turning the baking sheet from time to time if the oven is heating unevenly.

7. Remove the rolls from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. If stored in a sealed plastic bag, the brioche will keep for 2 to 3 days.

Salt & Vinegar Potatoes from Martha Stewart Living by way of 101 Cookbooks

2 cups white wine vinegar
1 pound fresh from the garden potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Pour the vinegar into a medium saucepan, then stack (or arrange) the potatoes so the vinegar covers them completely. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are just fork tender. Let the potatoes cool in the vinegar for 30 minutes. Drain well, then very gently toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Heat the grill to medium high. Grill potatoes, covered if possible, until golden on one side, then flip and grill the other side - roughly 3 - 5 minutes per side.