New Beginnings

It has been a very long time since I have written on my blog, but I would like to share some exciting news!! I am officially the new photographer and writer for the Beanilla.com blog. I am excited to begin this venture with them and hope that loyal readers will transition with me to the Beanilla blog. I love the products that they offer and the quality is superb!

Follow me on over www.beanilla.com/blog

Bake Sale Cookies

I am the type of person who will do anything for you if I care for you, love you or admire you as a person. I also have a tendency to say "yes to" and offer my talents too many people and projects at the same time. I know it is one of my flaws and I have tried to say no in the past but ultimately I feel guilty that I couldn't make the time to accommodate just one more favor.

So.....when my daughter's teacher sent out an s.o.s email requesting bake-goods and pastries for a fundraiser can you guess what happened?! Yep, I emailed her back and said "yes, I can provide 10 boxes of beautifully packaged and labeled pastries for your sale." She responded with "thank you so very much, we need them Thursday morning." Yikes, only 3 days to make 10 boxes various pastries! I finished them up last night, baked, attractively wrapped with vintage flowers and ribbon and sent them off this morning.

Inside one of the boxes was a favorite recipe of mine, courtesy of Mr. Alton Brown. It is all that a chocolate chip cookie should be; moist, chewy, and just as good three days from now as the day they were baked.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

Link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html

Show Your Love All Year Long

My husband and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day. It is not because we do not want to celebrate how much we love each other, we simply believe that you should show your partner how much you love them each and every day. So, in celebration of everyday being a day to show your significant other how much you love them I present you with mocha creme brulee.

Creme Brulee is simple to make, decadent to eat and the perfect way to surprise the love of your life when they least expect it!

Mocha Creme Brulee

Serves 4

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup 1/2 and 1/2

1 whole vanilla bean

1 tbsp. crushed coffee beans

1/4 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat heavy cream, half/half, vanilla bean and coffee beans to a simmer. Simmer on low 10 minutes. Add cocoa powder to hot mixture and whisk to incorporate. Strain mixture into a bowl to seperate vanilla bean and coffee beans from the custard.

Place egg yolks and sugar in bowl and whisk until thicken and light yellow in color.

Add a small amount of hot cream mixture to egg mixture, whisking while pouring. Pour remaining cream mixture into tempered egg mixture, whisking while pouring in a steady stream.

Divide creme brulee into 4 ramekins and place in 8x8 cake pan. Place into preheated 325 degree oven, fill pan with hot water halfway up the ramekins. ( this is called a water bath and will keep your custard smooth and creamy)

Bake 35-40 minutes until set in the middle.

Chill creme brulee once cooled in the fridge. Before serving sprinkle with granulated sugar and use your kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. If you do not own a kitchen torch simply put under broiler in your oven for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Remove and chill.

Chocolate Molten Cake

Every once in a while I spend a little time deleting and reviewing photos I have cataloged in LightRoom. For anyone who is an avid photographer and has photo editing software you know what I am talking about! Right now I have 8000 photographs that need to be deleted, edited or cataloged into a specific area, a very daunting task.

As I was reviewing the photos last night I noticed a favorite photo of mine that had not graced the pages of SJgourmet yet. A simple, scrumptious dessert perfect for entertaining.

Chocolate molten cake is a simple chocolate cake that when baked the center remains liquid. As your guests cut into the cake a river of soft chocolate oozes from the center. Dramatic and delicious!

The cake batter can be made ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator, however the actual cake needs to be baked and then served immediately. The chocolate in the center will begin to solidify once it cools, losing the dramatic effect you were trying to achieve!

Chocolate Molten Cake

Serves 8

8 oz. dark chocolate ( I prefer valhrona)

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

Lightly butter and flour 6 individual ramekins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop chocolate into small pieces. Melt chocolate using a bowl set over a pot of boiling water. (Do not let water touch the bottom of the bowl or the chocolate will burn!) Add sugar to chocolate and slowly stir until melted and combined. Beat the eggs slightly in a small bowl. Add a small amount of the chocolate mixture to the egg. This is called tempering, it will keep your egg from scrambling when it is added to the chocolate mixture. Remove the chocolate mixture from the boiling water.

Add egg/chocolate mixture to the melted chocolate. Stir to combine.

Slowly add flour, stiring to bring the mixture together.

Divide mixture among 6 prepared ramekins, bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool 2-3 minutes and serve immediately.

* I love Vosges Ice Cream, it is unique and delicious. I paired the cake with some fresh raspberries and Vosges Naga ( coconut-curry). http://www.vosges.com/