SNOW GHOST PIE: 2025 Snow Storm!

Lots of Snow in the U.S. If you're stuck inside this would be a fun pie to make! The recipe is from a Vintage Hershey's Ad for Snow Ghost Pie aka Snow Ghost Cocoa Cream Pie. 

The Ad from Hershey says "Snow Ghost Pie tastes as good today as it did when Granma baked in back in '33." I wasn't around in 33, and I doubt my grandmother would have baked this, but I've made it since. This recipe appeared in the original 1934 Hershey's Cookbook (and the facsimile). There's a story in the Advertisement that you'll want to read.  Not sure if Hershey was doing this as a take-off of the Baker's Chocolate Story Ads with Recipes..

So celebrate the big snow storm of '25 (that's 2025!) with Snow Ghost Pie!

Snow Ghost Cocoa Cream Pie 

Ingredients
1 9-inch baked pastry shell or crumb crust
1/2 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Sweetened whipped cream

Directions
Combine cocoa, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Gradually blend milk into dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until filling boils; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; blend in butter and vanilla. Pour into pie crust. Carefully press plastic wrap directly onto pie filling. Cool; chill 3 to 4 hours.
Garnish with whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD HEARTS: National Shortbread Day!

Today is National Shortbread Day! I love shortbread! The large amount of butter is what makes shortbread short: the term short, when applied to biscuits and pastry, means crumbly, like shortcrust pastry should be. It is the reason why the fat added to biscuits and pastries is called shortening.

The history of shortbread goes back to at least the 12^th century and originally started life as ‘biscuit bread’; biscuits that were made from left-over bread dough that was sometimes sweetened and dried out in the oven to form a hard, dry rusk. Over time the leavening was lost and exchanged for butter, making it an expensive fancy treat that was only bought for celebrations such as Christmas and Hogsmanay (Scottish New Year). There are similar ‘breads’ outside of Scotland such as Shrewsbury cakes and Goosnagh cakes.

So for today's Shortbread Holiday, here's a recipe for Chocolate Shortbread Hearts from Melissa Clark that appeared in the New York Times several years ago. You can make it today for National Shortbread Day or bookmark this recipe for Valentine's Day!

The dough is basic, and you can decorate in so many different ways! I love versatile recipes, don't you? These buttery shortbread cookies are dunked partway in melted chocolate and sprinkled with freeze-dried raspberries. I found some really good freeze-dried raspberries at Trader Joe's, and now always have them in my pantry. You can also use flaky sea salt, chopped pistachios, or coconut to top the dipped chocolate!

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD HEARTS

Tips:
Be sure not to roll the dough thinner than 1/2 inc or the cookies might break. 
Use European-style butter. It's higher in butter fat and the cream was cultured before churned. I use French butter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup salted European-style (or cultured) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 6 ounces dark, milk or white chocolate chips, or use some of each (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried raspberries, lightly crushed 

Directions

1. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.
2. In bowl of electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in yolk, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
3. Once chilled, remove plastic wrap and sandwich dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out into a 1/2-inch-thick slab. Leaving dough between the parchment, place it on a baking sheet or large plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Pull dough from refrigerator, and remove parchment from dough. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out as many hearts as possible. Transfer them to the prepared cookie sheets. Reroll the dough scraps and repeat.
6. Bake cookies for 18 to 23 minutes, until puffed and set, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool completely.
7. In heatproof measuring cup, melt chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between.
8. Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into measuring cup. Place back on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle chocolate with crushed raspberries. Let cool until chocolate is set, then store in an airtight container.

EPIPHANY CAKE: Mary Berry's Chocolate Twelfth Night King Cake!

The Twelve Days of Christmas comes to an end tomorrow with Epiphany. For many centuries this involved a feast, including the King Cake. Whoever found the bean hidden inside was the Lord of Misrule until midnight. 

This version of Twelfth Night King Cake is made from puff pastry and filled with almond and chocolate cream. Serve warm, decorated with a gold paper crown for the Lord or Lady of Misrule to wear for the night. This recipe for King Cake comes from the Queen of Cakes, Mary Berry! And, what's more fitting for a King Cake than Chocolate?

No time to make this? Make a chocolate bundt cake and put a bean or chocolate coin inside.  Use a 'castle' shaped Bundt pan.

MARY BERRY'S CHOCOLATE TWELFTH NIGHT KING CAKE

Makes one large tart: 

Measurements are UK..but you can easily convert to US with an online calculator

Ingredients:

750g ready-made butter puff pastry, chilled 

For the filling 

100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped 
100g unsalted butter, softened 100g caster sugar 
1 large free-range egg, plus 1 yolk, at room temperature 
100g ground almonds 
50g flaked almonds 
 ¼ teaspoon almond extract

100g sugar 
1 ceramic or dried bean  (or chocolate coin! After all, this is a chocolate blog!)
beaten egg, to glaze 
1 baking sheet, lined with baking paper 

Directions:

Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured worktop until slightly thinner than a pound coin. Cut out a round about 24 cm in diameter. Set on the lined baking sheet and cover with clingfilm. Roll out the rest of the pastry in the same way and cut a second round. Set this on top of the clingfilm, then cover the whole lot with clingfilm. Chill while making the filling. 

Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of steaming hot but not boiling water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the hot water). Leave to melt gently. Remove the bowl from the pan. Stir the chocolate until smooth, then leave to cool. 

Beat the butter until creamy with a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Beat in the sugar, then beat thoroughly until the mixture looks pale and fluffy. Beat the egg with the yolk until just combined, then gradually add to the butter mixture a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. When the mixture is very light in colour and texture gently, stir in the ground almonds, flaked almonds and almond extract followed by the cooled chocolate. Cover the bowl and chill for 15 to 20 minutes. 

When ready to assemble uncover the pastry, and remove the top round and clingfilm. Spoon the chocolate filling onto the pastry round on the baking sheet, mounding it slightly in the middle, and leaving a 2 cm border uncovered all around the edge. Push the bean into the filling, not too close to the centre.

Brush the pastry border with beaten egg, then gently lay the second pastry round over the filling. Press the edges firmly together to seal. Holding a small knife blade at right angles to the side of the pastry, ‘knock up’ the edge all around by making small indentations in the pastry. Then scallop the edge by pulling the indentations in at 2 cm intervals with the back of the knife. Brush the top of the pastry very lightly with beaten egg to glaze and chill for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/425F/gas 7

Brush the top a second time with the beaten egg glaze, then score a diamond pattern with the tip of a sharp knife. Make a couple of small steam holes in the centre. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is a golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool slightly before serving. 

TIP: Remember to tell guests to look out for the inedible bean!

Cartoon of the Day: Biscuits