Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, you may be scrambling to think of the perfect date night, or rather, dreading the thought of finding an available dinner reservation later than 5:30. Why not change things up a little and have a Stay-In Date Night? Keep things low-key, maybe get some fresh flowers for the kitchen, cook with your favorite music playing, and pop open a favorite bottle of Prosecco..or two! Save room for this decadent dessert that you thankfully can make in advance. It is simple to make, yet easy to impress with. Pot de Crème ("pot of cream") is a traditional French custard. Super silky, dark chocolate, creamy heaven.

Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème
(For about 2 ramekins)

4 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
4 egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place ramekins in a baking dish.

2. Place the milk, cream, and sugar in a pot over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. When mixture is hot, stir in chocolate.

3.  In another bowl, whisk your yolks together. Gradually add about half of the hot mixture to the yolks, whisking quickly. Whisk the yolk mixture back to the pot of milk and stir for a few minutes, then remove from heat.

4. Transfer the finished mixture to the blender and mix until smooth.

5. Fill the ramekins with the custard, not entirely to the top. Carefully pour hot water in the baking dish to cover the bottoms of the ramekins to bake in a water bath. Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and carefully place baking dish in the oven. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the custard is just set in the center. Remove ramekins from the water bath to cool. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Serve chilled with fresh whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Chewy Fudgey Brownie Cookies

When you can't decide between a cookie or brownie....this is the best of both worlds.

The original recipe called for all purpose flour but I used coconut flour instead, making this an awesome delicious gluten-free option.

8 oz. of chopped semisweet or dark chocolate
3 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (or coconut flour if available)
1/4 tsp baking powder
6 oz. dark chocolate chips

1. Melt butter and chocolate over double-boiler
2. Meanwhile, in stand mixer with whisk attachment, mix eggs and sugar on medium speed until pale and thick.
3. Add vanilla and salt, then add chocolate mixture.
4. Fold in flour and baking powder, then chips. Chill in fridge for about an hour, then scoop on parchment-lined tray by Tbsp. amount, placing a few inches away from one another. Bake for about 11 min at 350.

~BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHUNK~

A classic favorite! I always make chocolate chip cookies using the "creamed-butter' method but wanted to try a new approach by browning the butter. This produces better flavor and a chewier cookie....yes please!!!

( For about 24 cookies)
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
14 TBSP. unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 325, line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

2. Whisk flour and baking soda together; set aside.

3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and swirl pan constantly, cooking until it's a dark brown color and has a nutty aroma. Transfer to a large bowl.

4. Add both sugars,salt, and vanilla t melted butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the egg and yolk, whisking to combine until smooth. Let mixture sit for 3 minutes.

5.Whisk for about 30 seconds more, then incorporate flour mixture just to combine and add chocolate.

6. Scoop dough into desired size (I rolled balls and weighed them at about 40 grams each) and drop 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

7. Bake for about 7 min, then rotate pan and bake about 7 min, more or until the edges are set and the center still looks soft. Cookies should look puffy and have a crackly surface when you take them out.

~FLAN~

On a recent lazy day, I decided to visit my boyfriend Vartan and surprise him with his favorite dessert! He loves Flan and always says that if I ever want to make something for him, it can be that. It's a pretty simple, classic Spanish Custard, that, when inverted onto a serving platter, is covered with a glossy layer of caramel sauce. It's not the most glamorous dessert, and not always my first choice but I like to think I have good reason to make it for my favorite guy, and here's why:

We were only dating for less than a month when I left to study abroad in Barcelona. I will never forgot the most amazing week when he came to visit me. We fell in love with everything about Barcelona, from the art to the eclectic tapas bars/ Spanish desserts and I like to think of it as the place where we fell for each other. So I guess making Flan has more meaning than I once thought it to be!

If done right, Flan has a tender, creamy texture, shouldn't taste too eggy, and has a firm enough structure so it can unmold onto a platter without collapsing into a mess. The main thing is to bake the custard in a water bath because it needs even, gentle heat for baking. Otherwise, it will over bake and produce a rubbery texture and look scrambled inside. And definitely add a small amount of orange zest! A little goes a long way here, and gives the custard a refreshing flavor profile. A lot of recipes I looked it didn't call for it, but I know it was common in Barcelona, especially when made by my host-family!

Classic Flan (serves 6-8)

1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs and 3 yolks
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
1 (14 oz. ) can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. grated orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place a dish towel in the bottom of a large baking dish and put a 9 inch round cake pan on the towel.

2. In  a small saucepan, combine the sugar and a small amount of water to make a wet-sand consistency. Bring to a boil and cook-do not stir- until the color has a faint golden color. Reduce the heat and continue to cook until caramel is a dark amber color.

3. Pour caramel into the cake pan. Allow to cool. It will harden but this is ok.

4. Whisk eggs and yolks together with milk and sweetened condensed milk, and then add the orange zest. Pour the mixture into the cake pan.

5. Place baking dish with cake pan into the oven and carefully pour hot water into the baking dish so it reaches about halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for about 30-40 min, depending on your oven. It should look just barely set in the center. Carefully remove from the water bath and allow to cool at room temp. for 2 hours, then wrap well in plastic and chill in fridge for another several hours.

6. To unmold, take a knife and carefully run along the edges of the cake pan. Take your serving platter, invert over cake pan, and then flip it quickly onto platter.

 

 

Southern Red Velvet

My sister comes home this week from a semester abroad in South Africa. She is so adventurous! I'm making this occasion extra special with her favorite cake, Red Velvet. I used this recipe for the delicious filling, but frosted the cake with the classic cream cheese frosting.

The Cake (batter divided among 4 separate 8 in. cake pans)

2 3/4 cups cake flour

1/2 cup unsweetend cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

 3 tbsp red food coloring

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

 1. Preheat oven to 350. Whisk flour and the next 4 ingredients together and set aside in bowl. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar until blended and fluffy.

2. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add food coloring and vanilla ON LOW SPEED so the red doesn't splatter everywhere on your expensive kitchen chairs (oops).

3.  On low speed, alternate between flour mixture and buttermilk (start and end with flour mixture). Divide batter evenly among cake pans-I always weigh each pan with the right amount of batter to ensure each layer is the same size.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate, then bake for another 12 minutes. Let cool completly then remove from pans to cool on wire rack. When completly cooled, assemble layers with coconut filling. I use an ice cream scoop (about 3 scoops for each layer). Freeze at this point (wrap in plastic wrap) then allow to thaw and frost when you are almost ready to serve.

 The Frosting

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted Butter, softened

3 bars (8 0z. each) of Cream Cheese, Softened

3 cups 10x Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

In stand mixer paddle butter and cream cheese until completly blended and smooth. Add powdered sugar, then vanilla, careful not to overmix at this point.

Special tip:

Freezing cake ahead of time before frosting and serving ensures you will have a more tender, moist crumb. Also, it will be much easier to decorate a cake pulled from the freezer than one you just assembled. So if possible, bake your cake layers, let cool, and after assembling layers with filling, wrap tightly in plastic and freeze at least overnight or up to 1 month.

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