CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TARTE: Raspberry Tart Day!

So many raspberries this season, and so many recipes. Here's yet another for Raspberry Tart Day. Raspberry Tart day is not to be confused with Raspberry Cream Pie Day! I favor Driscoll's Berries, especially since I can find them in the market year round. I live in California, so that's pretty easy. Driscoll's Berries are always sweet and fresh. I love raspberries!

So in honor of the day, here's a recipe for a Chocolate Raspberry Tarte (or Tart)! This recipe is adapted from the Art and Soul of Baking cookbook. Of course, I make a chocolate crust! The crust in this recipe is not the usual one I make from chocolate cookie wafers. This one is made using cocoa powder, and you'll taste the difference. Of course, use only the best ingredients -- the very best cocoa. The original recipe calls for making 15 tiny tartlettes, but you can also make one big tart (or a pie, if you only have a pie pan). A tart is usually made in a shallow fluted pan, usually with a removal bottom -- a tart pan. Tarts rarely have an upper crust.

For the jam at the end, I use Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves, one of my favorites. Of course, if you make your own raspberry or strawberry jam, you'll want to use that!

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TART!

Ingredients
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened DARK cocoa powder
3/4 cup raspberry jam (or strawberry)
4 ounces dark chocolate (65-75% cacao), chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
6 ounces fresh raspberries
1/2 tsp water
powdered sugar

Directions
Beat butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Use spatula to scrape down bowl and beat another minute if there are lumps of butter. Add egg yolk, beat well, and scrape down sides.
Add flour and cocoa powder. Beat on low speed until dough comes together (but still has small to medium clumps) and looks moist with dark uniform color. Scrape down bowl. Use spatula to incorporate anything not mixed in.
Put dough in tart pan with removable bottom (or pie pan, if that's all you have). Press dough evenly along bottom and up sides of pan. (as with any pie dough, if it isn't working for you, stick it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes)
Use knife to cut off dough that is above top of pan (save left over dough for repairs). Put dough filled tart pan in fridge for 30 minutes. 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in lower third. Place dough filled pan on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and use any leftover dough to repair cracks. Bake another 8 minutes.
Remove tart pan to cooling rack and use rounded side of a spoon to press center down and make more room for filling. Let cool completely (in fridge, if you have to).
Put aside Tbsp of jam in small bowl. Spoon rest of jam to cover bottom of tart crust.
Put chocolate in heatproof bowl. Put heavy cream in small saucepan. Heat cream until it just starts to boil, then pour over chocolate. Begin whisking to blend completely and melt all chocolate. Pour ganache into crust.
Refrigerate tart for 1 hour or until filling is firm. Remove from fridge and arrange raspberries on top of tart.
Mix reserved Tbsp of jam with 1/2 tsp of water and heat in microwave for about 15 seconds. Brush jam mixture onto tops of arranged raspberries (just a little to make them shiny).
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Optional: Sift with powdered sugar before serving.

S'MORES SWIRL BUNDT CAKE: National S'mores Day!

Summertime and the Living is Easy. Summertime is all about S'mores, so it's not surprising that today is National S'mores Day! Celebrate by making this twist on S'mores: S'mores Swirl Bundt Cake. I found this recipe in an old issue of Country Living Magazine. S'mores Swirl Bundt Cake is easy to make and the final product is delicious. I've adapted this recipe by reducing the sugar in the cake because I thought it was a bit too sweet.

S'MORES SWIRL BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients 
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 
2 1/4 tsp baking powder 
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 
1 - 1 1/4 cup sugar 
4 large eggs, at room temperature 
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract 
3/4 cup whole milk 

Nonstick baking spray, for pan 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted 

1/2 cup fine graham cracker crumbs (from about 2 1/2 crackers) 

Chocolate sauce, crushed graham crackers, and mini-marshmallows, for serving 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the middle position. Coat a 10 - to 12-cup Nordic Ware Bundt pan with baking spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. 

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Transfer half the batter to second bowl. Add cocoa; stir until fully incorporated. Fold graham crumbs into remaining batter. 

Transfer batters to separate plastic zip-top or pastry bags. Cut a 3/4-inch opening in one corner of each bag. Pipe alternating batters into grooves of prepared pan. Squeeze remaining batter in piles on top, alternating colors, then swirl with a butter knife. 

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack to cool. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with graham crackers and mini-marshmallows.

S'MORES GRAVENSTEIN APPLES: Gravenstein Apple Fair

I'm a big fan of Gravenstein Apples. We have thirteen trees, but every year our abundant crop has begun to be harvested methodically by our golden retrievers. Luckily, we are always able to buy a flat in Sebastopol. Gravenstein apples are my favorites--tart and juicy. Unfortunately they don't have a long shelf life, so you probably won't find them in your market, but if you do, you'll be thrilled with the taste! They're great in pies, applesauce, and cakes, not to mention just for eating! This weekend is the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California. Everything Gravenstein and more!

Gravenstein Apples have been a large part of  Sonoma County history since the late 1800s when Nathaniel Griffith with the advice of Luther Burbank cultivated the Gravenstein Apple for commercial use. Nathaniel Griffith was born in Iowa in 1850 and at 24 moved West. He came to California in 1883 and bought 78 acres on Laguna Road. Griffith experimented with many kinds of apples but settled on the Gravenstein. The Gravenstein reportedly originated in Germany in the gardens of the Duke Augustenberg, Castle Graefenstein, Schleswig-Holstein.

Gravenstein apple trees once covered acres of Sonoma County, but many of those apple orchards have been replaced with vineyards. Gravensteins have been declared a Heritage food, giving the apples a much needed boost in the marketplace. The trees were discovered in 1797 but didn’t really become popular until the late 1800s when Nathaniel Griffith began cultivating them for commercial use. Over time, the variety’s use spread in the western U.S., but it was also a favorite in Nova Scotia, Canada and other cool-temperate areas. Losing these apples would be an agricultural tragedy, and I hope it doesn't happen.

Gravensteins are a late summer treat not to be missed. 

S'mores Gravenstein Apples

Ingredients 
6 large Gravenstein Apples 
6 strong pointed bamboo sticks (or Wilton Caramel Apple Branch sticks)
1 (10.5-oz) bag miniature marshmallows
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces chocolate, chopped  (or chocolate chips)
1 cup ground graham crackers

Directions
Wash and dry apples. Remove stems and skewer each apple with stick; set aside.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Melt butter in saucepan and cook over low heat until melted. Add marshmallows and stir until melted.
Dip each apple in melted marshmallows mixture and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Place in fridge.
In meantime, melt chocolate. Put chocolate in saucepan over saucepan over simmering water. Stir until smooth.
Put ground graham crackers in bowl. Remove apples from fridge and dip apple into melted chocolate (about 2/3 way up) rotating to coat evenly.
Immediately dip chocolate-covered apple into ground graham crackers, and coat on all sides.
Repeat for all apples.
Put apples back on lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tip: Twist off apple stem. If skewer is blunt, sharpen with kitchen knife on on end (make diagonal cut). Push firmly into apple. If juice leaks out, blot with paper towel before dipping.

Want to get fancy? Serve on a bed of chocolate chips, crushed grahams, and mini-marshmallows.

ROOT BEER FLOAT CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE: National Root Beer Float Day!

Today is National Root Beer Float Day!

So what exactly is a Root Beer Float? A Root Beer Float is made from Root Beer and vanilla ice cream. To make a 'traditional' root beer float, add the root beer to a tall chilled glass, leaving a bit of room in top. Then slowly add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the glass. Drizzle a small amount of root beer on top, and it will turn to foam. You might want to put a plate under the glass, because when the ice cream begins 'to float,' it sometimes bubbles over! Sometimes people just mix the two together, but I like the float-y way. A Root Beer Float is traditionally made with vanilla ice cream, but you can also make a Rootbeer Float with Chocolate Ice Cream--then it would be called either a brown cow or a black cow, depending on where you live. Each region in the U.S. has its own names. No surprise there!

But maybe you want to do something even more special than making an ice cream float to celebrate the day, but still maintain the root beer float flavor. And, you want to include lots of chocolate. I'm a huge fan of bundt cakes. They're easy and pretty! This recipe from the BrownEyedBaker is perfect. There's chocolate in both the Bundt Cake and the Frosting. Make the frosting and ice the cake! The frosting, itself, tastes like a root beer float! Lick the bowl!

Root Beer Float Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients
2 cups root beer (not diet root beer)
1 cup DARK unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter pan and dust with flour, shaking out excess flour; set aside.
In medium saucepan, heat root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until butter melts. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together.
In small bowl, whisk eggs until just beaten, then whisk into cooled cocoa mixture until just combined. Fold flour mixture into cocoa mixture. Do not overbeat. Lumpy is fine!
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking, until sharp knife inserted into cake comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool. Loosen sides of cake from pan and turn onto rack.

Root Beer Float Fudge Frosting

Ingredients
2 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp salt
¼ cup root beer
2/3 cup DARK unsweetened cocoa powder
2 -1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Put all ingredients in food processor. Pulse in short bursts until frosting is shiny and satiny, scraping sides of food processor a few times. (You can always use hand mixer or standing mixer)
Using spatula, spread frosting over cake in a thick layer. Let frosting set before serving.