sweet developments

 

things are coming together… more to come soon

melt my heart

Hot & humid weather has descended upon New England, & I must say, I just wasn't made for these temps. Indubitably, neither is chocolate. Earlier this week my kitchen was a whir of activity as I assembled a small herd of chocolate mendiants for a wedding this coming weekend, luckily finishing before the brunt of the heat hit.

Now that it is officially summer, it's time to shut down the chocolate kitchen for the season, & dive into other projects that have been simmering on the back burner. My cool little subterranean studio has never looked so appealing...

les chocolats de chloé

We always stop at our favorite chocolate shops while in Montréal, & Les Chocolats de Chloé certainly rates as one of my most revered. Tucked away in the Plateau on cobbled Duluth, Chloé's shop is cozy & hip, a neatly stocked little gem with a beautiful array of chocolate truffles, tablets, turtles, chocolate covered sponge toffee, drinking chocolate, sauces, praline-filled molded chocolate sardines, cocoa & pastilles. Her packaging & logo are whimsical & simple, with a line drawing of the chocolatier herself on a vibrant color-blocked background; her truffle decorations are simple as well, elegantly giving one a subtle clue as to what is waiting to be tasted inside.

Most importantly, what really impresses are the ganaches. Their texture is incredibly smooth & silky, & the freshest fruits & spices create flavorful combinations that play well with the Valrhona couverture & base (Manjari, I believe, the tangy & fruity notes lending themselves best to the fruit & spicy pepper offerings, like the espelette, banana, & passionfruit, in my opinion). The flavors are full & intense, but nicely balanced as they hit different places on your tongue & blend well with the rich chocolate counterpoints.

The woman behind the counter, not Chloé this time but a very knowledgeable chocolate enthusiast nonetheless, was wonderful, spending a lot of time with us & sharing information & a few samples. We left with a selection to take home, as well as gifts for friends, our last piece savored this past Sunday evening. We need to start planning our next trip up north...

visit here

sweet natured

 

These exquisite creations are not only astoundingly beautiful, but delicious as well.

Inspired by the world around them, Andie Moore & Jason of Andie's Specialty Sweets dream up & craft these jaw-dropping delights, using as much thought in choosing their ingredients as in their designs. If the results didn't sound so scrumptious, I'm sure I'd find it difficult to bite into them, they're so lovely.

Andie & Jason's inspiration doesn't stop at the natural world; sweet edible buttons & candy gears, as well as scrabble tiles & jewelry designs are all part of their artful repertoire.

Be sure to check out their shop

feeling bleu

I foresee many renditions of mendiants in my future; the possibilities are endless, & as pleasing to the eye as they are to the taste buds. Yesterday I was inspired by a combination of lavender, honey almonds, fleur de sel & blueberry: perfume-y, astringent, sweet & crisp. I find myself obsessively dreaming up new combinations...

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mmmendiants

Mendiants are traditional French chocolates, usually made around the Christmas holidays, decorated with dried fruits & nuts representing four monastic orders: Franciscans (figs), Augustins (hazelnuts), Carmelites (almonds) & Dominicans (raisins). One need not approach these with a denominational or religious bent; beautiful as well as delicious, they are a simple way to explore endless flavor, color & texture combinations, as well as a great way to create lovely gifts & favors.

My latest rendition starts with a bittersweet chocolate medallion, studded with dried Turkish fig, homegrown fresh rosemary sprigs, fleur de sel, & pecans candied with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, creating a delectable combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, bitter/astringent & nutty. It's all I can do not to eat the whole batch...

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chocolates & cheer

This past weekend I spent some time in my kitchen, making festive bittersweet chocolates with champagne, topped off with fancy little marbled chocolate tiles; & milk chocolate porter filled chocolates with a dusting of French cocoa powder.

Happy Valentines Day!

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holiday sweets

This holiday season was all about caramel: butter, sugar & salty/smoky/bitter flavors – what could be better? May your holidays be sweet!

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happy weekend

This weekend is a benefit for our local Hospice organization that features a runway show of New England fashion designers, & a lavish spread of desserts & hors d'oeuvres by local chefs & purveyors. I am contributing an extra-dark chocolate terrine seasoned with Irish Whiskey & served with dried apricots. Should be a fun & festive time - photos to follow!

scrumptious

Lovely vignette; such lush textures, shapes & colors. Chocolates like bijoux.

from here

thanks, sweets

I have some people I'd like to thank for kind deeds, so what better way to show appreciation than with a couple of different filled chocolates? Grazie!

laced up

Had a productive & enjoyable weekend hiking, seeing friends & catching up at a lovely baby shower, gardening & doing home projects; spent a sunny afternoon in a vibrant little nearby town that has lately been going through an artistic renaissance, exploring the streets & shops, & drinking espresso while browsing books & grazing on delicious, local food. I'm now feeling refreshed & ready to roll up my sleeves & get back to work...

Today some good pals & old workmates came by for coffee & to fête some recent changes in our lives, so I wanted to make a special treat to help celebrate. The Essence of Chocolate, a book chock full of fantastic chocolate recipes from the files of Sharffenberger chocolates, a most thoughtful gift from one of the friends whom we were celebrating, provided the inspiration. I love lace cookies, but had never attempted them before, & since I can never seem to follow a recipe rote, made a few substitutions which I believe worked out just fine. Crisp & chewy lace cookies with a drizzle of bittersweet chocolate are about the best thing I can think of to share with friends over coffee, while sitting in a spring yard bursting with new green. Cheers!

lace cookies
adapted from The Essence of Chocolate

1/2 cup sifted pastry flour
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/3 cup sweet butter, melted & slightly cooled
2 Tbsp whole milk plain yogurt or heavy cream  I used whole milk yogurt since I always have some on hand, & didn't want to run to a shop
2 Tbsp dark amber maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp dark rum
2+ oz. bittersweet chocolate, the darker/higher the cocoa content the better, melted

heat oven to 375ºF
line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt & oats. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, yogurt or cream, maple syrup, vanilla & rum. Stir until well combined & smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients while stirring until well combined.

Drop 1 tsp of batter in rows on each baking sheet, making sure they are well-spaced since they will spread considerably. I did six per sheet, alternating between two in a row, then one positioned in the center of the next row, then two, then one.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through so they bake evenly.

Let the cookies cool before attempting to remove them, as they are quite delicate.

Melt the chocolate in a doubler boiler on low heat just before using.

When all of the cookies had cooled, I placed them as close together as possible on a sheet of wax paper, & drizzled 72% dark chocolate over the top. Since it was rather warm outside (hooray!), I popped them in the refrigerator to set & await the hungry crowd.

holy chuao

Coming home from Montréal without first making a stop at St-Viateur bagels (or two or three) & my favorite chocolate shops would be unthinkable. We have been following Chocolats Geneviéve Grandbois for several years now, a small artisanal chocolatier located in the Mile End neighborhood who specializes in filled chocolates with simple, elegant & well thought out flavored ganaches.

the artiste, immersed in her medium
photo by Stéphane Najman

Both the presentation & flavor are superb; Grandbois uses molds & design transfers to create bonbons that are as beautiful as they are delicious. The mold approach works well in other ways, too, in that each piece is a consistent size, the centers are enrobed in a perfect thickness of well-tempered chocolate that has a wonderful snap as you bite into it & the ratio of couverture to the fillings is a good balance so you can really taste the chocolates used in both the coatings & ganaches.

Grandbois packages her chocolates in chic, reusable tins, of which I have collected, ahem, a few over the years. I brought back 3 this time to refill, starting with some of our tried & true favorites from her Les Classiques collection, a group of 8 flavors she consistently offers along with a ninth choice that changes regularly according to the chocolatier's whims.

Grandbois has in recent years started exploring single-source chocolates from the most revered Criollo-growing regions in South & Central America, as well as single-source beans from African plantations. Last time we were in town we sampled four different offerings from Cuba, Madagascar, Venezuela & Peru, each morsel offering up an intense & varied taste experience with her expertly-made pure ganaches. This time, much to my joy, she offered a suite of four chocolates all made with the legendary Chuao beans from Venezuela, purportedly the finest in the world, a distinction I would not dispute. In a word, they were fantastic. My favorite was the pure ganache, where the deep coffee & almond notes swam around happily on my tongue, with a punch of ripe banana somewhere in the middle. The other flavors she chose to pair with the prized chocolate (white truffle oil, Monte Cristo cigar leaves, aged balsamic vinegar) all did a good job of bringing out different notes & deepening the experience.

We tasted these chocolates first, & then went on to enjoy some of our favorites from the Classiques collection (gianduja, maple syrup, saffron, olive oil), & while they are excellent, when put up against the Chuao Collection tasted less complex & very sweet.

I think Geneviéve Grandbois is a most thoughtful & skilled chocolatier, & definitely worth exploring. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

spring in my step

It's been a busy week, as my lack of posts may have indicated. Tying up some loose ends from a design/marketing job & preparing to take on a new one, while working on honing my chocolate skills has kept me quite pre-occupied, though exhilarated. 

The sap is running & with a deep, sweet vintage 2011 maple syrup I whipped up a batch of  mud season caramels - practice & hone, & indulge some friends in the meantime. Oh, what a life I lead!

in the name of love

Happy, happy Valentine's Day to you all! 

Xocolatl truffles & dark chocolate bonbons with a blood orange & prosecco ganache to help celebrate the day.

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happy weekend

As I watch the events in Egypt unfold, first with bated breath mixed with hope & no small sense of anxiety, then with jubilation, I am simultaneously concocting some sweet & celebratory filled chocolates for the Monday holiday. Sending out thoughts of love & harmony worldwide...

sweets for the new year

As I watch the newly fallen foot of snow blow wildly across the yard, I'm packaging up a couple of different filled chocolates to help ring in the new year. This year's fare was kept simple: balsamic, fig & port wine conserves folded into a dark chocolate ganache dipped in bittersweet chocolate, & a blackstrap molasses caramel enrobed in dark chocolate with a smattering of French sea salt. The packaging was simple as well: deli style kraft paper boxes & chinese takeout containers, tied up with twine & wrapped in a simple white band.

May your year be sweet!

blackstrap molasses caramels
adapted from an 1881 (no kidding) recipe from the New York Times, enigmatically signed "Fanny"

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing baking dish
5 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 cup whole milk
1 cup blackstrap molasses
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 tsp French sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

butter an 8x8 baking dish & set aside. combine the butter, chocolate, milk, molasses & sugar in a pan & cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 248º on a candy thermometer, stirring frequently so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. this took at least 40 minutes for me - slow is the way to go.

wearing an oven mitt so you don't get spattered with hot caramel, remove the pan from heat & add the vanilla to the hot mixture. give it a quick mix, then pour it into the buttered baking dish.

after they had cooled to room temperature, I cut it into small squares with a warm, sharp knife. since I planned to dip the caramels in chocolate, I put them back in an airtight container in a cool spot until ready to dunk, nicely separated on wax paper since they are extremely sticky little buggers that cement themselves to their neighbors given half a chance. after dipping in bittersweet chocolate, sprinkle  with a tad of sea salt - I find the saltiness to be a fantastic counterpoint to the sweet molasses, giving it a deep licorice-y character.

ladies who dine

This month the fare was festive, & although the weather an unwelcoming wintry mix of snow, rain & sleet, a few intrepid ladies made the trek into town with a wonderful array of delicious appetizers & small bites.

We had a cozy time grazing & sipping prosecco in our friend's snug & stylish home, getting a tour of the loveliest nursery I've ever laid eyes on (to be occupied any day now by a sweet baby girl), & helping a couple of friends decide which tropical oceanside locale would be their destination for a winter getaway (yes, I'm jealous!).

It being that time of year, I made a couple of loaves of a holiday stand-by: a deep, dark chocolate pâté. Happy holidays - enjoy!

classic chocolate pâté

14 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
5 Tbsp sweet cream butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
6-8 Tbsp dark rum or 4 Tbsp cognac  I prefer cognac

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the heavy cream & butter until smooth & glossy. Sift in the sugar slowly & stir in until fully incorporated. Remove from heat & let cool slightly; fold chocolate mixture into the eggs & stir to mix well. Stir in rum or cognac.

Pour into a small loaf pan that has been buttered & lined with wax paper. Freeze until set. Serve at room temperature with fresh whipped cream, shortbreads & dried &/or fresh fruit. Refrigerate remainder for up to 1 week.

celebrating chocolate

Today is National Chocolate Day in the U.S., although some sources would beg to differ, naming October 28th, December 28th or 29th as the official holiday. There is even an American Chocolate Week in March, if one day is not enough for you.

last year's holiday fare, via Brattleboro Cooks

this year's Valentine's Day edition, rosewater fleur de sel caramels enrobed in dark chocolate

Every day is Chocolate Day in my book, & I have been happily experimenting with chocolate making for years now. I concentrate mostly on filled chocolates, since I find the myriad possibilities for flavoring ganaches to be most exciting & satisfying.

That said, I can not go to a family celebration without making a chocolate mousse for my niece, her favorite dessert in my repertoire, or to other friends' celebrations without a rich chocolate pâté, flavored with rum, a smokey whiskey or cognac & served with shortbread toasts.

And then, of course, there are chocolate truffles & filled chocolates.

my niece's favorite chocolate mousse

During the winter holidays I roll up my sleeves & make packages of 4 or 5 different flavored chocolates for friends & family. Last year's offerings included dark chocolate with our own homegrown mint ganache, another with black tea, a milk chocolate with coconut milk & spicy madras curry, & a white chocolate with saffron & honey.

In previous years Earl Grey tea ganaches, Vermont maple & cognac ganaches, chai tea ganaches, fleur de sel caramels, & Mexican coffee ganaches made with organic Mexican coffee beans, cayenne & cinnamon, as well as traditional deep, dark chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa powder, have found their way into the bellies of my favorite people.

It is important to me that I use organic, local butter & cream for the ganaches, as well as organic ingredients to flavor them, using homegrown & local whenever possible. The most important ingredient, of course, is the chocolate, & I use the finest I can find in my immediate area, such as Valhrona & El Rey, for the couverture.

I was thrilled when a fabulous woman, Jennifer, profiled me on her local cooking blog, which features a wide variety of fantastic foods made by local talent, including my favorite recipe for chocolate mousse. Her impressive daughter contributed a recipe for scrumptious chocolate mint brownies, definitely worth checking out for your Chocolate Day celebrations!

Voilá, xxx dark chocolate mousse:

chocolate mousse

3 oz. semisweet chocolate
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 Tbsp. cognac or your liqueur of choice
2 Tbsp. brewed coffee
4 eggs
1 cup whipping cream

Separate the eggs and set aside.

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Melt chocolate with the brandy and coffee in a double boiler over low heat until it is smooth, glossy, and lump-free. Remove from heat and whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate.

Whip the cream until it holds a soft shape.

Heat the egg whites until they are barely warm by swirling the bowl above a burner/gas flame. Beat them until they hold soft peaks. Stir about a quarter of them into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest. Fold in the whipped cream.

Pour into individual serving bowls, or into a large serving bowl. Chill and serve with fresh whipped cream, cookies and/or fruit.

adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere