CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE: National Angel Food Cake Day!

Today is National Angel Food Cake Day. In case you were worried that there would be no chocolate, I have a go-to recipe for Chocolate Angel Food Cake. Recipe from Martha Stewart! This cake is light and airy and delicious... truly angelic!

Angel food cake is a cake made with a lot of egg whites and usually no shortening or leavening agent. It has the consistency of a sponge cake.

From WhatsCookingAmerica.net comes this piece of information about Angel Food Cake: 

Angel Food Cake is also known as ice cream cake (a Pennsylvania Dutch wedding cake). And, because there are an abundance of cake molds in southeastern Pennsylvania, one of the major producer of cake molds, angel food cake may have originated there in the 1800s. Some other historians think that the first angel food cakes were baked by African slaves in the South because making this cake required a strong beating arm and lots of labor to whip the air into the whites (pre-egg-beaters 1865). Angel Food cakes are also a traditional African-American favorite at funerals. You decide, but whatever the origin, you'll love this cake!

CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
Scant 1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 ounce dark chocolate, grated (about 1/2 cup)
12 large egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in center.
Sift together onto piece of parchment paper: 3/4 cup sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add grated chocolate; set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. With machine running, add remaining 3/4 cup sugar in slow steady stream, beating until fully incorporated and stiff glossy peaks form. Add vanilla and almond extracts; beat to combine.

Remove from mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, gently but thoroughly, folding into egg-white mixture until fully combined. Pour into nonstick angel food cake pan. Tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake until cake springs back when depressed with finger, 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool, inverted, 1 hour before removing pan.

BLUE CHEESE TRUFFLES: Moldy Cheese Day!

October 9 is Moldy Cheese Day. Don't you just love the name Moldy Cheese Day? Perfect for October! 

For me, Moldy Cheese means Blue Cheese. O.K. I know there are a lot of other moldy cheeses out there, but give me a good Stilton or Gorgonzola any day. So in honor of Moldy Cheese Day, I'm making Blue Cheese Truffles. Simple and delicious.

Scroll down for an easy recipe for Blue Cheese Truffles (I'd call them Moldy Cheese Truffles, but I fear no one will eat them).

No time or inclination to make your own? There are several Chocolate companies that offer fabulous Smokey Blue Cheese Truffles. I really like Lillie Belle Farms from Southern Oregon. I've tasted them at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, and they're delicious. Organic milk chocolate, Rogue Creamery's smoked blue cheese and toasted almonds. It's an awesome combination.

My other favorite blue cheese truffles are Bissinger's Chocolate-Covered Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese Wine Grape. They're a great combination of sweet and savory. I'm a sucker for chocolate and cheese, and local Point Reyes Original Blue is one of my favorite blues. Add a wine grape to that, and I'm in heaven.
 
But, of course, you can make your own Blue Cheese (Moldy Cheese) Truffles! This recipe is adapted from Harold McGee's Cookbook On Food and Cooking. Remember that the taste will change depending on the chocolate and cheese you choose! Choose a mild blue cheese to start.

BLUE CHEESE TRUFFLES

FILLING
2 ounces Blue Cheese, room temperature
1 Tbsp superfine sugar
2 ounces Dark chocolate (70% cacao), finely chopped

COATING
6 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao), finely chopped

Make sure the cheese is at room temperature.

In mixing bowl, combine cheese and sugar and mix until sugar dissolves.
Melt filling chocolate in top of a double boiler (or saucepan over saucepan) over simmering water.

Use 2 ounces for blue cheese fillings. Make sure cheese is at room temperature and very soft. If it is too firm, microwave very briefly to soften.

Combine melted chocolate, superfine sugar, and cheese and work together with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula until the mixture is homogeneous. (This may be easier if you add a few drops of water or a little butter.) If mixture is too soft to shape, refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes.

Roll portions of mixture into 1/2-inch balls and refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes.
Melt and temper coating chocolate. Dip cheese balls in tempered chocolate, letting excess drain off. Allow to set at room temperature. Keep in cool place and serve on same day.

Note: Cheese will resume fermentation if left at room temperature, so this is one case where truffles should be refrigerated if kept for more than a day. Place on a sheet or tray and wrap snugly in waxed paper, then plastic wrap, before refrigerating. Allow to warm to room temperature before unwrapping.

National Fluffernutter Day: Chocolate Fluffernutter Sandwich

I post about Fluffernutter Sandwiches most every year, because I meet people who don't know what a Fluffernutter Sandwich is, and I feel I should enlighten them. LOL. The Fluffernutter sandwich—a classic New England treat-- is made with white bread, peanut butter, and Marshmallow Fluff. 

Today is National Fluffernutter Day. Fluffernutter sandwiches must contain Marshmallow Fluff. I always have a jar in my pantry. 

Marshmallow Fluff is not just any marshmallow crème. Fluff has been manufactured by Durkee-Mower of Lynn, Massachusetts since 1920, and is the preferred brand of the northeast. This gooey, spreadable, marshmallow-infused confection is used in countless recipes and found in a variety of baked goods—from Whoopie Pies and Rice Krispies Treats to chocolate fudge and beyond.

And beyond that lies the best concoction of all: the Fluffernutter sandwich—a classic New England treat made with white bread, peanut butter, and Fluff.

History of Marshmallow Fluff:

A sweet marshmallow-like spread called Marshmallow Creme was invented in 1917 by Archibald Query in Somerville, Massachusetts. In 1913 during World War I, Emma and Amory Curtis of Melrose, Massachusetts invented Snowflake Marshmallow Creme and published a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, which is the earliest known example of a Fluffernutter. Query sold his recipe for Marshmallow Creme to Durkee-Mower, Inc in 1920, who renamed it Marshmallow Fluff. Over 100 years later they continue to sell it under that name today.

It was in 1960 that the term Fluffernutter was created by an advertising agency for Durkee-Mower in an attempt to effectively market the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. See the 1960s ad and jingle explaining the recipe below. How Retro!

So if the Fluffernutter sandwich is a classic New England treat made with white bread, peanut butter, and Marshmallow Fluff, it can only be better if you add chocolate. And, for me, press the sandwich in a panini press! 

Want to make your own Marshmallow Fluff? https://livforcake.com/homemade-marshmallow-fluff/

Chocolate Fluffernutter Sandwich:

Chopped dark chocolate, Marshmallow Fluff, Chunky peanut butter, soft good white bread - pressed hot in a panini press!

Have a Chocolate Fluffernutter Sandwich today!  

Starbucks CopyCat Oreo Frappucino: Frappé Day

Today is Frappé Day. Most of us have a frappé of one kind or another in our lifetime.

A frappé is an iced beverage that has been shaken, blended, or beaten to produce a foamy cold blended drink, often with whipped cream and toppings. Ice can be added before or after beating the coffee and adding other ingredients such as sugar, milk, vanilla, and sweet sauces. It really depends on what you are shaking or blending it in - a shaker, frappe maker, or blender. According to one source, an ice-crushing blender is better than a shaker for blending a frappe. Traditionally frappés are made with coffee, but you can make other frappé drinks with tea, juice, or hot chocolate.

The word Frappé comes from the French word Frapper - which means to slap, knock, or beat. Cold coffee drinks named "café frappé" go back to the 19th century.

Which leads me to the Italian term: Frappuccino. In the last few years, I've had numerous types of Frappuccinos at Starbucks, most with chocolate. Here's a recipe for Starbucks' Oreo Frappuccino I found on StarbucksSecretMenu.net There are several 'Starbucks" secret menu recipes that you can order at Starbucks (you may need to know the recipe), but you can also make this at home. As always use the very best chocolate.

Starbucks CopyCat Oreo Frappucino

Ingredients
8 ounces whole milk
1 cup ice
2 scoops vanilla bean ice cream
2 Tbsp semisweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp mocha syrup or chocolate syrup
1 Oreo
Whipped cream, for garnish
Crushed Oreos, for garnish

Directions
In a blender add milk, ice, vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate chips, mocha syrup, and an Oreo.
Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass, and garnish with whipped cream and crushed Oreos.