Flourless Chocolate-Orange Pudding-Cake: Emily Stashower

Today I welcome a Facebook friend who shares my love of gardening, photography and baking, among other things. I 'met' Emily Stashhower on Facebook through another garden lover. Little did I know at the time that we would have so much in common -- both friends and relatives, as well as interests. What a small world! I just love the Internet!

Emily Stashower is an amateur nature enthusiast, blogger and mother of twins. After a career in healthcare and numerous community organizations, her current endeavor, her blog www.rootsinreality.com, was started on a lark to combine a love of gardening, writing, photography, nature and an inability to meet deadlines. The blog notes that "sometimes an empty nest is just a nest without a bird. Other times, it's a middle aged suburban woman rediscovering interests and cultivating passions."

EMILY STASHOWER:

In September, 1990, the New York Times (in some section or another) published many recipes for “puddings.” 

Foolishly, I tried one out – Chocolate-Orange Pudding. I figured it would be something eaten with a spoon and in texture, resemble other puddings; one of my favorite desserts. The combination of flavors drew me to this particular selection but, in the decades since that first attempt, I’ve learned a great deal about this specific “pudding.”

First of all, it’s not what I consider a pudding. It’s a dense, flourless cake that could be eaten with a spoon but truth is, a fork will take care of the job just fine.

Second, though many puddings are cooked, few are cooked and then taken out of the “form” so it stands on its own (don’t let your mind wander to flans . . .).

Last, even if it is a “real” pudding, it’s best served as a dense, moist cake accompanied by ice cream or a whipped topping (or another decadent drizzling of taste across the slab of chocolate orange goo).

The recipe has a lot of advantages; once you have the ingredients, all you need is a food processor, a microwave safe dish and microwave. The “pudding” can be partially cooked, then frozen, and reheated in the microwave to warm it up and finish the cooking time. The dessert can be served hot or cold (I prefer hot) and is appropriate for any time of the year. However, I notice a flurry of requests for this recipe when it is Passover because it’s made without flour (but it is dairy, and I’ve not played around with it to make it parve).

The recipe below can be doubled – just make it in a soufflé dish with a larger diameter. The pudding will rise and make a mess of your microwave but when the chocolate settles, I can guarantee you – you’ll be thrilled and in a chocolate orange frenzy.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE-ORANGE CAKE aka as Pudding (which it's not)

Ingredients
Vegetable oil for greasing bowl
1 cup slivered almonds
zest of 1 medium orange
1 cup packed light brown sugar
16 ounces semi sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 teaspoon baking soda
16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
6 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Triple Sec (I use vanilla & orange extract)

Steps
• Grease a 3 quart soufflé dish or non metal bowl with vegetable oil
• Place almonds in food processor and process until finely chopped. Add orange zest & sugar, processing until finely chopped. Then add the chocolate, baking soda and butter – process until smooth.
• Add eggs, cream and Triple Sec and process until combined. Pour into the prepared dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. All microwaves are different so the rule of thumb is to cook until it slightly pulls away from the sides of the dish but it will be jiggly. Instructions say “cook at 100% power in a 650-700 watt oven for 12 minutes. Prick the plastic to release steam.
• Uncover and allow to stand, covered with a plate for 10 – 20 minutes
• Unmold and serve.

The recipe does qualitfy the pudding as a “rich cake” but personally I don’t think the reverse could ever be true. A pudding it is not.

A thin slice is plenty but the recipe as above serves at least 12.

Hope you try it out and enjoy!

Cookie Making Tips: National Cookie Day

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber

Today is National Cookie Day, and with the Holidays coming up, I'm all about Cookie Making. I've seen some wonderful new recipes and decorating on the Internet this season. Be sure and do a few searches to expand your Cookie Repertoire! You can never have too many cookie recipes!

Today, I thought I'd post a few Cookie Tips I've gleaned from Gourmet Magazine, Sunset, All Recipes and making cookies for so many years! Love to hear any tips you have.

COOKIE MAKING TIPS

1. For me the most important 'rule' (this is not a tip) is to make sure you Chill the Dough. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Put the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours or put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. While you're working, if the dough becomes soft, just pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes.

2. Use the Correct Ingredients. If you haven't made the recipe before, follow it exactly and measure the ingredients carefully. You can always experiment later.

3. Up for debate: Some say that you should always roll out your dough between sheets of Wax Paper, not Parchment, because wax paper peels easily off the top of the dough. If you do this, you can then cut out the cookies and they'll peel right off the bottom sheet. And, yet, some people swear by parchment. Give them both a try and see what you think. And, my friend Pattie swears by using a silpat.

3. Add Salt and Leavening to Butter and Sugar Mixture. If you really want your salt and leavening well distributed throughout the dough, beat it in with the butter and sugar.

4. Fats are major to the spread of a cookie. Generally speaking, fat equals flat, crispy cookies while less fat equals higher, cake-like cookies. Speaking of fats: Whipped spreads are not suitable for baking. Use butter, margarine or shortening (Crisco).

5. Sugars: White sugar makes a crisper cookie than brown sugar or honey. Cookies made from brown sugar absorb moisture after baking, so they stay chewy. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes contain both brown and white sugars.
 How to keep brown sugar soft? Put a piece of white bread in the container. The white bread won’t get moldy (trust me), and you’ll always have soft brown sugar. I put the brown sugar in its own plastic container with the bread. Sometimes I use marshmallows.. it looks better, too.

6. Mixing: Proper mixing is important. Some recipes have a creaming step in which the fat and sugars are beaten together until light-colored and fluffy. Other cookies require a sandy texture, so the fat is cut into the flour. Over-mixing can incorporate too much air into the dough, resulting in flat, overly spread-out cookies. Follow the recipe instructions.

7. Temperature: Unless specified, ingredients should be at room temperature before mixing. Yes, Virginia, take the butter out the night before. For cut cookies, chill the cookie dough before baking. The cookies will hold their shape better. For drop cookies, you can keep them at room temperature before baking; the spoonfuls of dough will spread and flatten out.

8. Equipment and Baking: Not surprising to anyone who bakes, different baking sheets and ovens produce different results. I use rimmed baking sheets (jellyroll pans) for cookies rather than thin flat sheet pans. Instead of greasing each baking sheet, I use parchment for easy cookie removal and clean-up. Some of my friends use a silipat liner.

Love to hear other tips! Please comment!

National Fritter Day: Chocolate Fritters

I'm a huge fan of Fritters, of any kind. Well, I'm happy with just about anything that's fried. I heard a chef on Chopped say, "I'm from Kentucky. If I don't know what an ingredient is, I fry it." Love that motto!

So today is National Fritter Day. According to Wikipedia, a fritter is "any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. Although very similar to a doughnut, a fritter differs in the fact that it requires some base ingredient beyond the dough it is cooked with." Want to know more? Read about Fritters from Renee Shelton at The Pastry Sampler.

Here's a very easy Chocolate Fritter Recipe from Brookelynne26 on Food.com. There are many chocolate fritter recipes out there, but I'm all about fast and easy. The quality of the fritters will differ according to the chocolate you use. But you knew that, right?

Helpful Tip from Brookelynne26: Make sure the chocolate pieces are completely covered with the dough so none of the chocolate leaks into the oil.

About oil. If you're not using oil all the time, be sure and check it before using it in this or any recipe. Some oils become rancid quickly, and you certainly don't want to spoil your delicious fritters. My theory is to replace oil regularly if you're not using it. If it's not opened, it will last longer, but still be sure and check!

Happy Fritter Day! What kind are you making?

EASY CHOCOLATE FRITTERS

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon sweet butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
fresh oil (for deep frying)
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/2 inch chunks and refrigerated
confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
1 Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together into mixing bowl. Add egg, butter, and milk, and mix until smooth.
2 Slowly heat 3 inches oil to 340°F.
3 Dip chocolate into batter, coating each piece completely. Fry fritters, a few at a time in the hot oil until golden brown, about 1- 2 minutes. Drain each batch on paper towels, then transfer to a warm serving platter and dust with confectioner's sugar.

Two-Tone Chocolate Pie: Retro Ad & Recipe

Today is National Pie Day, as if you haven't had enough pie over the past weekend! Here's a Retro Ad & Recipe from Baker's Chocolate (1939) for:

Two-Tone Chocolate Pie
Made to Order for the Men in Your Life!