WHITE CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE: White After Labor Day!

White after Labor Day? Yes, when it's White Chocolate Angel Food Cake. Here's a great recipe from Godiva Chocolate. This is perfect for those warm early Fall days.

White Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and Fresh Berries

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature (about 11 to 12 large eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Ivory Chocolate, grated or finely chopped

Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Berries:
1 cup fresh red raspberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
White chocolate curls 

Make The Cake:
Position oven rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to 350°F.
Sift together confectioners sugar, cake flour, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Place egg whites in clean, dry bowl of electric mixer. Beat egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar in steady stream, beating just until whites are thick and form slightly stiff peaks. (Do not over-beat)
Gently fold in 1/3 of sifted dry ingredients over whites just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in remaining dry ingredients with vanilla and grated white chocolate in two additional batches.
Gently pour batter into ungreased 10" angel food or tube pan, spreading evenly. Tap gently on counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake 35 minutes or until top is firm and springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan on a large bottle (such as wine bottle or olive oil bottle) and cool completely.
To remove cake from pan, run long knife or thin metal spatula around outside edge of cake and gently remove side portion of pan. Then, run knife around inside of center tube, loosen bottom of cake with long knife or thin metal spatula and remove cake from remaining portion of pan. Place on cake plate; cover with plastic wrap if not serving immediately.

Make Whipped Cream:
Combine heavy cream and granulated sugar in a medium, chilled bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until soft peaks form; whisk in vanilla.
Place sweetened whipping cream in refrigerator until ready to serve cake, up to 2 hours.
Combine berries in a medium bowl and toss lightly.

Assembly:
Cut cake with serrated knife using a sawing motion. Serve with sweetened whipped cream and berry mixture. Garnish with white chocolate curls.

King Louie's Banana Boats: Perfect for Labor Day Weekend

Who doesn't love bananas? Well, my grandmother, but that's another story. She never saw one before coming to this country, and she never ate one in her life. 

Anyway, the weather here looks like it will be warm and beautiful for Labor Day, so I thought I'd post this fun recipe for King Louie's Banana Boats from one of my 'Theme" Cookbooks: Cooking with Mickey and Friends by Pat Baird. You'll "go ape" over these. Perfect for the Barbecue -- or oven. They're fun to make with the kids.

Since we barbecue all year round, I often make these on the grill, but you can just as easily follow the directions and make them in the toaster oven.

And, as Mickey reminds us, Bananas are a good source of potassium and carbohydrates. Use a good dark chocolate (broken up) or high quality dark chocolate chips, and you're adding antioxidants. You can make your own marshmallows, too, or not :-) You'll love King Louie's Banana Boats. You'll want to make more than one!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Today is National Macadamia Nut Day, and what could be more perfect that Chocolate Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. These cookies are chewy, and since the nuts are slightly salted, they really complement the chocolate! I use two kinds of chocolate chips, but you also use white chocolate chips. Macadamia Nuts remind me of Hawaii, so if you want to make these cookies more 'Hawaiian," add some dried coconut to the batter, too. Yum!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies 

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp espresso powder
1 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 cup roasted and salted macadamia nuts, chopped
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Dried Coconut (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In large bowl, beat butter (with hand mixer or standing mixer) until light and fluffy. Add in brown sugar and granulated. Beat until well combined.
Add in egg and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Add in salt, espresso powder, and baking soda; mix until combined.
In separate bowl, mix flour and cocoa powder together. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing until combined.
Add in macadamia nuts, and chocolate chips (and dried coconut, if you'd like). Mix until combined.
With medium cookie scoop, scoop dough and spread evenly on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake 15-16 minutes.
These cookies are fudgy.

CHOCOLATE CHIP ORANGE SCONES: Afternoon Tea Day!

Summer Afternoon (Tea in the Garden): Theo van Rysselberghe, 1901

There are few hours in life more agreeable
Than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
--Henry James

As a tea drinker, I can definitely confirm that I love a cuppa and a scone around 4  p.m. So for today's post, I want to celebrate the Birthday of Anna Bedford, Creator of Afternoon Tea. Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, inadvertently invented Afternoon Tea in 1840. At that time, the main meal of the day shifted from midday (luncheon) to evening. English high society didn’t dine until 8 p.m. Anna needed something to tide her over, so she ordered tea with brown bread to be brought to her room around 4 p.m. Initially this meal was brought surreptiously, but after awhile she began to invite her friends to join her, and “afternoon tea” expanded, both in what was served and the number of friends who partook. When Anna Bedford returned to London, she continued her afternoon teas, and soon Afternoon Tea became the rage of the elite. In addition to brown bread and small sandwiches, there were sweets and special “tea cakes.” The custom spread and tea rooms and tea gardens opened to serve tea to all classes. 

Afternoon Tea is not the same as High Tea. Afternoon Tea is a lighter meal, and scones are almost always served. I love clotted cream with my scones, and luckily, fresh clotted cream is readily available at my market. I enjoy 'plain' scones, but these Chocolate Chip Orange Scones are delicious! Make some for your afternoon tea today!

Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar

Victorian postcard: Afternoon Tea

1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and grated (keep cold until ready)
1 -1/3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup miniature dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons orange juice (1 large orange and zest from 2 oranges)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or smear with butter.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
With pastry blender or large fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can also do this with your hands.
Put in freezer for 5 minutes.
Take out of freezer and add cream, chocolate chips, orange juice and orange zest.
Mix together.
Turn out dough on floured surface. Pat or roll into 9 inch circle about 3/4 inch thick.
With 2 1/2 inch fluted biscuit cutter, cut out about 12 scones, pushing dough scraps together for last few, if necessary.
Transfer scones to baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until golden-brown, about 10-12 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Serve with clotted cream and jam.