Chocolate Cereal: National Cereal Day

I'm not going to say that Chocolate Cereal is healthy, but since you'll probably add some milk, you'll be getting your calcium. It beats grabbing a candy bar for breakfast, but probably not by much. Nevertheless, since today is National Cereal Day, I thought I'd list some of the Chocolate Cereals that have hit the supermarket shelves over the years. None of these were in the cereal snackpacks I had as a kid. Have any favorites? Leave a comment.

Want to make something yourself? Check out my recipe for Chocolate Granola. There are also some healthy chocolate granolas on the market. Or you can make Chocolate Oatmeal with Chocolate Chips.

Post Cocoa Pebbles. O.K. you may remember this one because it is a cereal tie-in with the Flintstones.

Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies. Rice Krispies has all kinds of fruity flavors, but this one is for Chocolate Fans. Snap, Crackle & Pop and full of cocoa!

General Mills Cocoa Puffs: Chocolate Flavor Frosted Corn Puffs.

General Mills Count Chocula. Love this chocolate themed Monster cereal. This cereal actually incorporates marshmallow bits with wagon wheel shapes and coats it all in chocolate.

General Mills Reese's Puffs: What can I say? Candy for breakfast. Not sure this is still made, but when it was, yum!

Ralston  (General Mills) Cookie Crisp: Cereal is made up of little cookies. You can easily make this at home. Miniature chocolate chips, anyone?

Kellogg's Smorz: Combination of graham cracker, chocolate & marshmallow. A classic, if not empty calorie, S'mores Cereal. Oh, and I'm a stickler for spelling, so what were they thinking?

Quaker Cap'n Crunch's Oops! Choco Donuts: Never tried these, but I've heard their similar to Dunkin' Donuts in flavor.

General Mills Chocolate Chex: Standard whole grain cereal with the addition of chocolate.

Kellogg's Cocoa Hoots: Basically Chocolate flavored Cherios.

Post Chocolate Honeycomb: "sweetned corn and oat cereal with artificial chocolate flavoriing"

Special K Chocolatey Delight: "Crunchy rice and wheat flakes with chocolatey pieces"

Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites Chocolate. Billed as excellent for fiber.


Thanks to Gunaxin.com and CandyAddict for reminding me of some of these Chocolate cereals.

Sugared Chocolate Beignets for Mardi Gras

Oh to be in the Big Easy for Mardi Gras! Unfortunately that's not happening for me, so the next best thing is to prepare a Mardi Gras feast. Rice and Beans, jumbalaya? gumbo? Maybe. But definitely something Chocolate!

Coffee with Chicory is so New Orleans, and you'll want to make David Guas & Raquel Pelzel's fabulous recipe for Chocolate Cupped Cakes with Coffee & Chicory.

What goes with Coffee with Chicory? Well, Beignets, of course, and they should definitely be Chocolate! Might not find these chocolate ones at Cafe du Monde, but they could be on your breakfast table. These Sugared Chocolate Beignets are easy to make, and so delicious. Beignets are usually fried in vegetable oil (cottonseed oil at Cafe du Monde), but this recipe calls for baking (healthier and easier).  Recipe is from Sunset's Best Recipes of 2010.

SUGARED CHOCOLATE BEIGNETS
Time: 1 hour, plus freezing time. These doughnuts can be prepared ahead, requiring only a quick baking once your guests arrive.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 sheets (17 oz. total) cold thawed puff pastry dough
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar

Preparation
1. Combine corn syrup and cream in a microwave-safe container. Heat in 30-second intervals until boiling. Put chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream on top. Stir chocolate until smooth, then chill, stirring often, until firm, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each pastry dough sheet into a 12-in. square. Cut each square into 16 smaller squares and transfer to a baking sheet.

3. In a bowl, lightly whisk egg and 1 tbsp. water to blend, then brush over pastry squares. Spoon about 1 tsp. chocolate into the center of each square. Fold 1 corner of each square over to meet the opposite corner, forming a triangle. Press edges to seal. Use a 2 1/2-in. round cutter to trim corners of triangle and form a shape that resembles a three-quarter moon. Wrap trays with plastic wrap and freeze at least 1 hour and up to 1 week. (To save space, after 30 minutes of freezing, put pastries in resealable plastic bags in freezer.)

4. Preheat oven to 400°. Bake pastries, switching pan positions once, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Put sugar in a bowl and turn beignets in sugar to coat. Serve immediately.

Photo: Annabelle Breakey: Styling: Karen Shinto

Chocolate Absinthe

Today is National Absinthe Day. Absinthe is a strong herbal liqueur distilled with a large number of herbs like anise, licorice, hyssop, veronica, fennel, lemon balm, angelica and wormwood (the flavor of anise and/or licorice, at least in contemporary forms of the liquor, tends to predominate).  

Wormwood, the one that's gained the most notoriety, is Artemisia absinthum, an herb that grows wild in Europe and has been cultivated in the United States as well. Much of the liquor's legendary effect is due to its extremely high alcohol content, ranging from 50% to 75% (usually around 60%), plus the contribution of the various herbs. It has been assumed by many that the so-called "active ingredient" in absinthe is wormwood, although that is apparently not really the case.

The drink was referred to in France as "La Fée Verte", or The Green Fairy, which is a reference to its dazzling green color (depending on the brand). The color usually came from the chlorophyll content of the herbs used in the distillation process; however, some disreputable manufacturers added toxic chemicals to produce both the green color and the louche (or clouding) effect that in reputable brands was caused by the precipitation of the essential oils of the herbs. It is quite probable that the bad reputation absinthe developed was due to these low-grade and perhaps quite poisonous version of the real thing.

Absinthe was very popular in fin-de-siècle Paris, with Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Verlaine, Alfred Jarry and Oscar Wilde among its most famous imbibers. 

Two good websites for Absinthe: La Fee Verte  & The Wormwood Society

Artemisia Collection makes a Chocolate Absinthe which is cocoa mixed with the aroma of Sicilian oranges and red hot peppers from Calabria blended with Wormwood. This Hot Spicy Chocolate Artemisia Absinthe gives the drinker a sweet and unique sensation.

Nunu Chocolates' Absinthe Delight is one of the most popular flavors from Nunu Chocolates. The anise flavor holds its own with the dark chocolate! A very 'addictive' treat!  Want to make your own absinthe truffles? Food Curated has a great post with the recipe for Nunu Chocolates' Absinthe Liquor Ganache. Yum!

CutoutandKeep has a fabulous recipe for Flaming Chocolate Absinthe Cake. You might need to convert the ingredients, but that's easy enough. Great step by step instructions! Absinthe Cakes are traditional Birthday Cakes in New Orleans and France...well, for some people! Why not make it Chocolate.

Absinthe Cake Photo: CutoutandKeep

Chocolate Almond Coffee Cake

As I've mentioned many times, food associations and products usually have recipes on their site. California Almonds (Almond Board of California) has many great recipes, but this is my favorite recipe on their site. I love coffee cake, and there are so many varieties.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND COFFEE CAKE

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (115°F)
1/2 cup warm milk
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup almond paste
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup roasted almonds, finely chopped

Preparation
Cream butter with 1/4 cup sugar and salt. Dissolve yeast in warm water, add a pinch of sugar; let stand until bubbly. Add milk, yeast, eggs and flour to creamed mixture; mix well. Cover and let rise in warm place 2 hours or until mixture doubles.

Meanwhile, combine almond paste, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa and almond extract; set aside. Generously butter an 8-cup tube mold; sprinkle with almonds and 1 Tbs. sugar. Stir dough down and place 1/3 into prepared mold, building up around tube. Sprinkle with half of almond paste mixture. Repeat, ending with dough. Seal edges of dough to pans with floured hands. Bake at 400°F, 40 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

Photo: Almond Board of California