MINI GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIE PECAN TARTS: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Here's a great Retro recipe for Mini German Chocolate Brownie Pecan Tarts. This recipe originally appeared in Woman's Day in 1965. Use the very best chocolate and other ingredients for updated flavors! This is a great make-ahead dessert.

Mini German Chocolate Brownie Pecan Tarts

Ingredients
2 refrigerated rolled pie crusts (or make your own)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate  (I use very dark chocolate and cut down on the sugar)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
8 tart pans with removable bottoms

Directions 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place tart pan upside down on piece of paper and draw circle 1 inch larger than the pan; cut out.
Roll each pie crust into 12 1/2-inch circle. Using stencil, cut 4 rounds from each crust, chilling and re-rolling scraps as necessary. Fit rounds into bottom and up sides of tart pans. Cut away any overhanging dough and place pans on baking sheet. Using fork, prick bottoms of crusts, and bake until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Cut 6 tablespoons butter into small pieces and place in microwave-safe bowl. Add chocolate and microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir. Repeat at 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla on high in large bowl until pale, about 3 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture. Reduce speed to medium and add flour mixture, mixing just to combine.

Divide mixture among the tart shells. In medium microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining tablespoon butter. Whisk in corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, remaining 2 eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in  pecans and coconut. Spoon mixture over brownie batter and bake until brownie is cooked and pecan filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let tarts cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies: National Pecan Cookie Day

Pecans and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven! I've posted recipes for Chocolate Pecan Sandies, definitely a pecan cookie, but I thought I'd post a different one today to celebrate National Pecan Cookie Day!

This recipe is adapted from Woman's Day, April 1, 2006. As always, I suggest you use the very best ingredients. I use crumbled toffee in the recipe, and I use 15 ounces of 70% chocolate in place of the original 2 10-oz milk chocolate bars. I also use DARK cocoa. And, an FYI, there are over 1000 varieties of pecans. Whichever you choose, you'll go nuts for this recipe!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PECAN COOKIES

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2⁄3 cup packed light brown sugar
2⁄3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3⁄4 tsp baking soda
3⁄4 tsp salt
2 1⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
2⁄3 cup unsweetened DARK cocoa powder
10 oz English toffee bits
1-1⁄2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
15-oz dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped coarsely (or dark chocolate chips)

Directions
Heat oven to 375°F. Have baking sheets ready.
Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in large bowl with mixer on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in eggs, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add flour and beat on low speed until blended.
Stir in cocoa powder,  English toffee bits, pecans, and chocolate.
Drop rounded tablespoons dough about 1 1⁄2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 9 minutes until edges are golden brown.
Cool on sheet 1 to 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

German Chocolate Brownie Pecan Tarts

Here's a great Retro recipe for Mini-German Chocolate Brownie Pecan Tarts --perfect for Thanksgiving--that originally appeared in Woman's Day in 1965. Use the very best chocolate and other ingredients for updated flavors!

German Chocolate Brownie Pecan Tarts

Ingredients
2 refrigerated rolled pie crusts
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate  (I use very dark chocolate and cut down on the sugar)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
8 tart pans with removable bottoms

Directions 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place tart pan upside down on piece of paper and draw circle 1 inch larger than the pan; cut out.
Roll each pie crust into 12 1/2-inch circle. Using stencil, cut 4 rounds from each crust, chilling and re-rolling scraps as necessary. Fit rounds into  bottom and up sides of tart pans. Cut away any overhanging dough and place pans on baking sheet. Using fork, prick bottoms of crusts, and bake until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Cut 6 tablespoons butter into small pieces and place in microwave-safe bowl. Add chocolate and microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir. Repeat at 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla on high in large bowl until pale, about 3 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture. Reduce speed to medium and add flour mixture, mixing just to combine.

Divide mixture among the tart shells. In medium microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining tablespoon butter. Whisk in corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, remaining 2 eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in  pecans and coconut. Spoon mixture over brownie batter and bake until brownie is cooked and pecan filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let tarts cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Marlow: Retro Ad & Recipe

My friends Janet & Marty are recipe testers for Cook's Illustrated. It got me thinking about some 'new' sources for 'old' recipes, and Cook's fits the bill. I found this recipe (and photo) on their site. It's from Woman's Day Magazine, September 1949 (another great site for retro recipes).

I've never seen White House Evaporated Milk, but any evaporated milk will do. I do remember the A&P. My mother shopped there. Well, there and at the Acme. Remembering all those shopping trips as a child, I must mention that my mother did most of her shopping at Reliables. It was a small Mom & Pop corner grocery store where she would choose her fruits and vegetables, and, occasionally some staples--and they delivered them later the same day. She would then go to the butcher for meat, the chicken store for chicken, the fish store for fish, and the bakery for bread--fresh every day! Kind of the way I shop, today! I think of it as so European, but it's really just full circle back to my mother's generation.

Eggs were delivered twice weekly by the eggman who raised chickens on his farm in New Jersey. As far as milk, well, of course, it was left at the backdoor every morning. Maybe I don't really remember this, maybe I just heard about it from my grandmother who lived with us, but I have images of the milkman coming up the back alley in his horse drawn truck. Probably not, but such a great visual!

Anyway, here's a recipe that can be easily updated for a quick dessert.  Use really good chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, homemade marshmallow or marshmallow creme, whipping cream instead of evaporated milk, and it will be fab. Rotary egg beater? I no longer have one, but I do have a whisk--and, of course, a KitchenAid. Recipe says to freeze with temperature control set at coldest setting! That's pretty funny, too! Anyway, as far as recreating this recipe, in a pinch, use what you have or follow the directions! Easy and quick. A little research on my part turned up several Marlow recipes including strawberries. Must have been a popular dessert in the 40s & 50s. Unfortunately, this will not be 8 cents a serving any more.

CHOCOLATE MARLOW

Chocolate Orange Blossom Cake: National Orange Blossom Day

I have a lot of citrus trees on my property, and they do well because I live in a Mediterranean climate. Most of my trees are in pots, but some are in the ground, and I have oranges and lemons most of the year. There's nothing quite like the smell of orange blossom...except maybe if it's combined with the smell of chocolate!

Today being National Orange Blossom Day, I'm posting the following recipe for Chocolate Orange Blossom Cake, adapted slightly from Woman's Day Magazine (April 2007). It's a combination of both orange and chocolate. The recipe calls for a devil's food cake mix, but you can always make your own devil's food cake and add similar ingredients: the orange extract and extra chocolate. The frosting is a marshmallow cream with orange juice and orange zest. Of course you can make a chocolate orange frosting if you're all about the chocolate.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE BLOSSOM CAKE

Ingredients

Cake
1 box (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup oil
3 large eggs
3 Tbsp orange liqueur or 1 Tbsp orange extract
1 cup mini–semisweet chocolate chips  (or chopped chocolate)

Frosting
2 cups sweet butter, softened
2 jars (7 or 7 1/2 oz) or 1 tub (16 oz) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Crème)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract
1/4 cup grated orange zest (from 3 to 4 oranges)
2 Tbsp orange juice
Garnish: orange slices

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Coat 2: 9 x 2-in. round cake pans with nonstick spray.
2. Cake: Beat cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs and liqueur in a large bowl with mixer on low speed 30 seconds or until blended. Scrape down sides of bowl; beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. Pour into prepared pans.
3. Bake 28 to 32 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in centers of cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes, invert on rack, turn right side up and cool completely.
4. Frosting: Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in marshmallow cream. When well blended, beat in confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, orange zest and juice. Increase speed to high and beat 3 to 4 minutes until fluffy (makes 5 cups).
5. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Decorate with cut orange slices.

Photo: Deborah Ory, Woman's Day