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Charlotte’s Chocolate-Toffee Popcorn

07 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by ohlidia.com in Charlotte & Emma in the Kitchen, Cooking & Baking with Kids, Kid Friendly, Recipes, Something Different

≈ 59 Comments

Tags

chocolate, chocolate and toffee popcorn, chocolate popcorn, Fiesta Friday, Fiesta Friday #2, kids make popcorn, party popcorn, popcorn, toffee

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I’m invited to a party over at The Novice Gardner. I LOVE parties! Angie is hosting Fiesta Friday, and what fun is a party without popcorn? And not just any popcorn. I walked into the kitchen last Sunday and found my girls making this sweet treat. It was Charlotte’s idea and of course where popcorn is involved, Emma is sure to be there! Foraging through the pantry, Charlotte came across some Belgian milk chocolate and toffee bits. She told Emma her idea and off they were, making a mess in my kitchen. Do you recall when I mentioned that all I wanted for Christmas were little elves to follow me around all day, picking up after me? I neglected to mention that I’ve already got my little elves, only instead of cleaning up the messes, they create them! So, drop by Angie’s Fiesta Friday #2 and enjoy the party!

Charlotte’s Chocolate-Toffee Popcorn

Popcorn kernels

Belgian milk, or dark, chocolate

Toffee bits

Sea salt, optional

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Pop the kernels and spread the popcorn onto a couple of baking sheets. Melt the chocolate using a hot water bath, or bain marie. Using a spoon, pour the melted chocolate over the popcorn. Immediately add the toffee bits, so that they can adhere to the chocolate as it cools. Sprinkle with sea salt for a sweet and salty popcorn. Oh! So yummy! Perfect for any party. Have a great weekend!

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Exquisite Hazelnut-Chocolate Cakes

25 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by ohlidia.com in Baked Goodies, Recipes, Sweets

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

cakes, chocolate, chocolate hazelnut cakes, desserts, Frangelico, hazelnut-chocolate cakes, hazelnuts, Italian desserts, nutella

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I just love the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, don’t you? The first thing that comes to mind is Nutella. And although these little cakes are reminiscent of that delicious spread of hazelnuts and chocolate, there is no Nutella to be found in them whatsoever. They do share a few main components, hazelnuts and chocolate, but the cakes have an added ingredient to them: an absolutely divine liqueur known as Frangelico. If you love hazelnuts and have yet to be introduced to Frangelico, then you must give it a try. I would say it is the Italian equivalent to Bailey’s Irish Cream. Perfect on the rocks, in baked goods, even in your coffee. I had some in my cafe-latte this morning. Perhaps not ideal first thing in the morning, but hey, it sure was yummy!

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Frangelico dates back to over 300 years, to the Piemonte region of northern Italy, and was distilled by Christian monks living in the hills of that area. Legend has it that its name is the abbreviation for Fra. Angelico, a hermit monk believed to have inhabited the magnificent Piemonte hills during the 17th century. Take a look at the monk’s-habit-shaped bottle with the traditional rope-belt around it’s waist. Charming, no?

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Distilled with Tonda Gentile hazelnuts which are a specialty grown in this northern region of Italy, they are bigger, plumper, more uniform, shed their skin easily and allows for toasting with no bitter taste. It’s no wonder these hazelnuts are sought after from confectioner’s like Ferrero Rocher and, you guessed it, Nutella!

So why do these little cakes remind me so much of Nutella? The intense hazelnut taste, the smoothness of the chocolate, it’s rich, moist texture. But don’t take my word for it. Give these babies a try and see for yourself!

Recipe adapted from Mario Batali’s Babbo Cookbook.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. of bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate
  • 4 oz. of toasted hazelnuts
  • 3 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/4 cup of Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup plus 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup of hazelnut butter
  • 6 eggs, separated
  • 2 teaspoons of brewed espresso coffee, cooled completely
  • 3 teaspoons of Frangelico
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan or 12 3-inch ramekins with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Melt the 2 chocolates together and set aside to cool. I use the bain-marie method.

In food processor, pulse the hazelnuts, confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder to form a fine, sand-like mixture. I made sure the hazelnuts weren’t blitzed completely, so as to keep a little crunch. I used hazelnuts with their skin on. Immediately after toasting them in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, rub the hazelnuts between your fingers and the skin will shed right off.

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In an electric mixer, beat the butter and 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in the hazelnut butter, then the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in the espresso, Frangelico, and vanilla, followed by the melted chocolate. Fold in the nut mixture.

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In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy and then gradually add the remaining 5 tablespoons of sugar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the cake batter. If using ramekins, place them on baking sheets and divide the batter evenly among them.

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Bake the cakes for 16 to 18 minutes, until they puff up and no longer look wet on top. If making a 9-inch cake, bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely in the ramekins, or pan, on a wire rack.

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Don’t be surprised when your cakes go from looking like this…

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to looking like this.

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I was serving these little cakes to a group of 25 people. So I gently ran a knife around the rim and inverted them upside-down.

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The presentation was lacking somewhat so I decided to whip up some 35% cream with a couple of splashes of Frangelico. The addition of a toasted hazelnut on top and voila! Ready to serve.

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Winning Valentine’s Day Dessert

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by ohlidia.com in Recipes, Sweets

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

cayenne pepper, chocolate, chocolate pots, chocolate pots with cayenne pepper, cinnamon whipped cream, desserts, Grand Marnier whipped cream, Valentine's Day Dessert

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After my third attempt in presenting my brother with a dessert deemed worthy of his Valentine’s Day dinner menu, success! Although he liked them all, this one was the winner. Cayenne Chocolate Pots with Grand Marnier Whipped Cream. Outrageously decadent, I admit, but just perfect for chocoholics who are looking for that little twist in their chocolate pot. The taste of cayenne pepper is completely undetected. After the first spoonful you get the rich, unctuous taste of dark chocolate. After the second spoonful, you are in chocolate heaven! At this point, you start to feel a little heat at the back of your throat. By the third spoonful, the warmth that engulfs your throat and mouth, just slightly, leaves you with a pleasant sensation. And I haven’t even mentioned the whipped cream with Grand Marnier. Well, what more needs to be said about the marriage of dark chocolate and orange liqueur? Pure lusciousness in a pot!

I made a kid-friendly version for the girls. Meaning, no cayenne and freshly grated cinnamon in the whipped cream instead of Grand Marnier. And I made them in heart dishes. I chose to wait before having my dessert. I have to say, these are not for the faint-of-heart. It is pure, chocolate indulgence at its best. I thought that surely the girls couldn’t finish them off and that I would swoop in and clean-up their bowls. Clearly, I was mistaken!

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Although these little pots are quite simple to make and only requires 5 ingredients, the quality of the chocolate you use has got to be exceptional. I tend to use Belgian chocolate, Callebaut. But you can use Valrhona, Barry, Scharffen Berger… just not the baking chocolate you pick-up at the grocer’s.

Chocolate Pots

2 cups of whole milk
500g of dark chocolate (more or less 70% cocoa), chopped up
6 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, optional

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Over medium heat, bring milk to a simmer. Add the chocolate chunks, stirring until melted. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

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In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Slowly begin to add the chocolate, one ladle at a time, whisking continuously. You want to do this slowly so the eggs don’t cook and scramble. Once you’re about 1/2 way through, add the remaining chocolate and continue to whisk. Add the vanilla, salt and cayenne if using. I’m not very good at measuring and keeping track. Instead, I taste. So after adding say 1/8 of a teaspoon of cayenne, I tasted the chocolate and adjusted until I got the desired effect. Transfer the mixture to small pots, cups, glasses, bowls… or into one large bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours for the small pots and 3 to 4 hours if using a large bowl. Add a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!

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Whipped Cream

1 cup of 35% whipping cream

1 teaspoon freshly grated cinnamon or about 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier

Whip up the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in some freshly grated cinnamon. Or if you’re using Grand Marnier, whisk it into the cream as you’re whipping it up. Again, I kept adding little splashes of it as I went along. Taste and adjust to your liking.

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