Chocolate |%blog

Browned Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies

Dec 032012

For the longest time I wanted to bake using browned butter…and did not know what to bake until I thought…why not use the brown of the butter for the chocolate chips cookie? And it was exactly what I did.

I just could not believe the aroma that came from browning the butter…I felt like drinking the melted butter…of course I did not, but the smell was very inviting. It is a very simple recipes, very similar to the recipe of my chocolate chips cookies (well, I did not have brown sugar so used ….) and added an extra step for browning the butter, but let me tell you, well worth the extra pan that I had to wash.

Before I forget, I just added a new page, TRAVEL. There you can find pictures from our recent travels, if you are interested in seeing it…be warned, it is kind of long, so get some popcorn and a drink

Now back to the recipe…

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnut

Method:

Place the butter in a small pan on medium heat. Let the butter melt by stirring frequently, once the butter melts and begins to foam, continue to cook until brown specks start to form. Be careful so you do not burn it. The butter will have a wonderful nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Preheat oven to 3500F degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the browned butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.

Combine dry ingredients to the creamed butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and the walnut.

With the help of two spoons, spoon the dough on to a wax paper, cover cookie sheet or a silicone mate, 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or just until edges are slightly brown.

Makes two dozen cookies.

Did you know that browned butter is “beurre noisette” in French? It means hazelnut butter and it is often used in French pastry production. The process of browning the butter starts with placing the butter in heat until the butter melts and begins to foam. The color will be from a yellow to golden tan to a toasty brown. Brown butter is very versatile and can be used wherever butter is used.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Chocolate Marble Asian Bread

Posted by Juliana 76 Responses »

Apr 162012

This is a very fun and simple bread recipe using the water roux method. The texture of this bread, due to the water roux, is very soft, almost cotton like and the bread stays soft for more than 3 days. It is not very sweet because sugar was not added to the chocolate layers…

My husband was a little disappointed because he expected a sweeter chocolate layer…and he was like “looks like chocolate, but does not taste like it”. Once I explained to him that I used unsweetened cocoa powder, he settled for “Oh! So the chocolate color is just for looks”. Anyway, to boost the flavor you can always spread jam or Nutella.

I used my bread machine, but this simple recipe can be easily done manually. I made them into three mini bread pans; they came out very “cute”.

Ingredients:

Water roux
1/3 cup bread flour
1 cup water

Main dough
2 ½ cup bread flour
2 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon milk powder
2 tablespoon water
1 ½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoon butter

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reach 65oC (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Main dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter, water and cocoa powder.
Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates into the dough.

Divide the dough in approximately 2/3 and 1/3 portions. Remove the small portion and set aside by covering with a plastic film.

Knead the bigger portion until the dough is smooth and elastic. Remove from the machine and set aside in a bowl by covering the dough with a plastic film.

Place back the small portion in the bread machine and add cocoa powder and water as needed and let it knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the chocolate dough and set aside in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough doubles to its original size.

Knock back both dough and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter, cover both dough.

Flatten the chocolate dough into a rectangle shape of approximately 6 x 9 inches and the white dough to 12 x 6 inches. Layer the chocolate rectangle in between the white rectangle. Flatten the rectangle and cut in 2 equal portions. Layer one piece on top of the other and flatten again. Repeat this procedure a couple of times.

Cut the flatten dough into 3 equal pieces. Then again cut into 3 equal strips. Gently roll the strips and place 3 together and make a braid. Place the braided bread in the tins. Cover the tins with plastic film and let them rise in a warm place until the dough has almost tripled its original size.

Meanwhile, preheat oven at 350F. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. Remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If you enjoy this Asian style bread you might want to check on red bean buns or cinnamon rolls.

Have a great week and thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes!

Chocolate Cake Loaded with Chocolate Ganache and Raspberries

Posted by Juliana 71 Responses »

Dec 192011

I love the combination of chocolate and raspberries. As a matter of fact, there is a small local restaurant that makes this kind of cake and my husband when in the area gets me a slice of it…well, after a while I thought that I may be able to make it. After searching for different recipes I decided to come up with my own, by mixing and matching various recipes.

The cake batter that I used is a chocolate chiffon cake, I thought that since the cake will be loaded with chocolate ganache it would be a good idea to use a lighter batter.

I have to admit that the cake turned out to be delicious, pretty (I should be more humble…), rich and loaded with calories, but worth every bite.

This cake has a very festive look therefore ideal for the Season…or if you are like me, everyday is special and can be celebrated, therefore, this cake is good at anytime of the year. Now seriously, I hope you can try this recipe one day

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

5 eggs
¾ cup cake flour
¼ cup chocolate powder
2/3 cup sugar divided in 2 portions
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Method:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, chocolate powder, half of the sugar all the sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients well to make sure they are thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale yellow add the vegetable oil slowly and then the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the mixture turns slightly thick. Pour the egg yolks into the well, mix gently and add the milk. Beat the wet ingredients into the dry until completely smooth.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.

With the mixer running, slowly rain in the remaining 2 tablespoon sugar. Continue to beat the whites until stiff peaks form when the beater is lifted.

Fold the beaten whites into the rest of the batter by gently spoon one-third at the time. Fold in the whites slowly and carefully into the batter using a spatula. Be very gentle as you fold in the whites.

Spoon or gently pour the batter into a ungreased square cake pan. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes at 325F and then 5 minutes at 300F.Insert a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from heat and invert the pan over a couple of inverted glasses by the rim of the pan. Set the pan aside in a quiet place until cooled completely, 1 to 2 hours.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
9 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon brandy (you can omit this)

Method:

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring to a boil point, then pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Stir in the brandy if desired. Let the ganache cool before pouring over the cake.

Cake Assembly

Cut the cake in the middle. Place a layer of raspberry jam and cover with a layer of chocolate ganache. Gently replace the layer of the chocolate cake and cover the cake with more chocolate ganache by pouring from the middle and spreading throughout the cake and the sides.
Decorate with fresh raspberries.
Place the cake in the refrigerator until time to serve.

Curiosity Corner Jan 2013
Did you know that raspberries are considered one of the richest fruit for its antioxidants? Not only rich in Vitamin C but fiber as well.

IT IS THIS TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN…HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A LITTLE WISH FOR YOU…

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great Holiday Season!

Best Chocolate Chips Cookies Ever…and Happy Labor Day!

Posted by Juliana 90 Responses »

Sep 062010

Like most of the recipes for chocolate chips cookies this one is simple and easy.
I’ve tried many recipes and after adjusting for this and that I came up with the one that I like the most…it is soft and slightly chewy, but if you care for a crunchy and crispy style you can bake a little longer and still have a great cookie.

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) softened butter
2 tablespoon granulated sugar (if you prefer less sugar omit this)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnut

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In another large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients to the creamed butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and the walnut.

With the help of two spoons, spoon the dough on to a wax paper cover cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or just until edges are slightly brown.

Makes two dozen cookies.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Black Forest Cake, this is for You Nick!

Posted by Juliana 89 Responses »

Jul 262010

For the longest time I wanted to bake a black forest cake like we used to have in Brazil. Black forest cake is a chocolate cake filled with cherries and whipped cream. After seeing the recipe for chocolate cake using mayonnaise from Louise at Month of Edible Celebrations which uses mayonnaise, I could not wait anymore…I found a really simple recipe for chocolate cake!

I cut in half the chocolate cake recipe with small changes. Instead of layering with cherries and whipped cream, I covered the cake with the mix of cherries and whipped cream, since there were no layers in the cake.

Most of the black forest cake contain some sort of liquor like rum…since my little niece and nephew were going to eat the cake I had the feeling that my sister would not be very happy if the kids suddenly started to behave kind of weird, so I left the liquor aside and only added some of the cherry syrup from the cherries. But if you have the opportunity, moist the cake with a small amount of rum before topping with the cream, it is amazing. Nevertheless, even without the rum, the cake turned out to be delicious, moist and rich in flavor.

By the way, I want to dedicate this post to my little nephew Nicholas…why? Nicholas loves, really loves chocolate and cherries…so this is for you Nick!

Ingredients:

Cake
1 cup all purpose flour
5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup water

Whip Cream Frosting
1 8oz whipping cream
4 table spoon of ultra fine sugar or confectionary sugar

1 small jar of cherries, drain and chopped. Reserve the syrup

Grated semi sweet chocolate, approximately 1/3 cup

Method:

Cake
Mix all the dry ingredients together, except the sugar.
In a bowl add the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract, beat in high speed until light and fluffy. Change to a lower speed and add the mayonnaise. Add the flour mix alternating with the water in 4 parts by finishing with the flour. Pour the batter into a 9 inch pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 30~35 minutes at 350F. Once the cake is done (checked my inserting a toothpick and comes out clean), remove from the oven and let is cool completely in a rack before topping with the whip cream.

Whip Cream Frosting
Place the whipping cream into a bowl (metal preferably to keep it cold) and have it in a ice/water bath. Whip the whipping cream starting wih a low speed, until start to thicken, then increase the speed to a medium~high speed, slowly add the sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks forms. Gently fold in the cherries.

Assembly
Sprinkle the cake with small amount of the cherry syrup. Cover the cake with the cherry/whip cream mix, top it with the grated chocolate and decorate with cherries. Place the cake in the refrigerator until time to serve.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes and Happy 4th of July

Posted by Juliana 83 Responses »

Jul 032010

For the longest time I wanted to make red velvet cake, and after weighing all the pros and cons decided to give a tried. Pros: love the color and taste of the cake; Cons: pictured red stain all over my kitchen. I even thought in bringing home some surgical gloves from the lab to make this cake, but fortunately everything went well, not major catastrophes…I just got very little red stain on my hands. This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes.

Ingredients:

Cake
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoons red food coloring
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Cake
Preheated the oven at 350F.

In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.

Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg beating until a creamy texture. Add ¼ of the flour and mix, then add 1/3 of the buttermilk mix . Continue adding the flour and the buttermilk until all the ingredients are mixed.

Use two teaspoons and carefully scoop the batter into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer the baked cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting
Cream the butter and cream cheese together, until light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and mix and the powdered sugar.

Cover the cooled mini cupcakes.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cupcakes.
Enjoy the Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Curiosity Corner Jan 2013
Did you know that during World War II, beets where used to enhance the color of red velvet cakes? Moreover, the boiled beets also retain the moist of the cake.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Chocolate Chiffon Mini Cupcakes and…I Got an Award!

Posted by Juliana 59 Responses »

Aug 172009

Let’s go for the cupcakes first and then the award.

I made these cupcakes especially for my little nephew Nicholas, since I had prepared some vanilla cupcakes with pineapple frosting and knew that Nick loves chocolate…I could not let him down. Instead of regular cupcake recipe I thought that it would be a good idea to use a lighter batter and frost with marshmallow, which is sweeter… so here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoon chocolate powder
6 tablespoon sugar, divided into half
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

choc-chiffon-cupcake-1

choc-chiffon-cupcake-2

choc-chiffon-cupcake-3

choc-chiffon-cupcake-4

choc-chiffon-cupcake-5

choc-chiffon-cupcake-6

Method:

Preheat oven to 325F, Sift flour, chocolate powder, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Separate the eggs carefully. Add the cream of tart to the egg whites and mix using a clean and dry beater until stiff, add the other half sugar and continue to beat until flip upside down it does not fall.
Add the oil to the egg yolk and beat until the color is a pale yellow, add the other half sugar and continue to beat. Add the water and the vanilla extract, beat until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients and beat for more approximately 2 minutes.
Gently fold the egg whites to the batter using a spatula, make sure that you mix very gently. Pour the batter to the cupcake forms and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Frost the mini cupcakes with ready made marshmallow and garnish with cherry.
Makes 24 mini cupcakes.

choc-chiffon-cupcake-7

Curiosity Corner Jan 2013
Did you know that cocoa in chocolate have potential health benefits? One of the suggested beneficial effects of cocoa or dark chocolate includes the circulatory system. It seems that epicatechin, a substance found in cocoa possess an antioxidant effect.

Now the award…

Since I am fairly new in the blogging affair, when I saw that I got an award from Lisa at Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives….by the way, thank you Lisa, you are an inspiration! I was happy and at the same time scared…and my brain went a million miles per hour: What should I do? How should I copy the logo? To whom should I pass it to? Let me tell you, I went through a very terrifying moments…even afraid to open my blog and had to deal with the award issue…well, I after a good night sleep I decided that I could manage and here I am passing the award.

Before passing the award I have to confess to Sophie at Sophie Foodiefiles that when she gave me a Humane award back in July 2009, I was a little lost and did not know what to do with it…should I pass or just keep it quiet…I am sorry if the award should be passed and got stuck with me.

One more thing…I do not want to be sentimental, but I’d like to thank you all for the support of this past 6 months, it has been incredible what I’ve learned, so only how to mix and match food but facts and stories of your life, sometimes funny sometimes sad, either through words or pictures, it all made me understand and appreciate the personality behind the blogs. It is all so fascinating!

There are so many people that I’d like to pass the award, but I am allowed to only 13 people so I had to struggle again…please go visit their sites and enjoy! And you that got the award, please pass it to 13 other people.

Natasha at 5 Star Foodies
Grace at A Southern Grace
Hannah at Bitter Sweet
Sophia at Burp and Slurp
DoggyBloggy at ChezWhat?
Talita at Chocorango
Lisa at Dandy Sugar
Cassie at Foodie with Little Thyme!
Erica at Itzy’s Kitchen
Teanna at Spork of Foon
Crystal and Amir at The Duo Dishes
Catherine at The Unconfidential Cook
Kim at The Ungormet