last call for deep, dark chocolate

We are not quite in the season where it is too warm to stomach rich desserts and all you want to do is grab that blue freeze pop from a nearby child's hand and suck it down for yourself.  There is still room for dense shortbread, caramel, chocolate and playing nice with toddlers.  When my Aunt Potty (please don't question the nicknames in this family) put in a request for "something chocolate" way back at Easter I knew I needed something that would satisfy after the already filling dinner but not loom overwhelmingly large like a cake.  I was tired of cute and had already distributed my Cottontails anyway.  I went to my unassuming and refined baking pan: the tart.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

from Saveur
Yield: 8-12 servings (depending on your appetite, this thing is rich!)

INGREDIENTS
crust
1 1⁄2 C all-purpose flour
1⁄4 C plus 1 T dutch-process unsweetened
cocoa powder (if you don't live near the beloved Wegmans, Whole Foods or a cute little one-off market like we have, I would suggest Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa)
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
10 T unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 C plus 2 T confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

caramel
1 1⁄2 C sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
6 T water
6 T unsalted butter
6 T heavy cream
1 T crème fraîche (oh my lord, same as the cocoa, just use sour cream, it will be FINE)

ganache
1⁄2 C heavy cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt for garnish (or in my case, chocolate-covered strawberries, the kids I know aren't really into grey sea salt, wonder why?)

DIRECTIONS
crust 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.
3. Transfer dough to a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

caramel
1. In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 T water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook, gently swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and start to turn color. Increase the heat to high and boil until the syrup turns a deep amber color, 4 to 5 minutes. Watch carefully, as it can burn quickly.
3. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and while wearing oven mitts CAREFULLY whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth.  Remove pan from heat a Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.

ganache
1. Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat.
2. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth.
3. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt (or dip those delish strawberries in some extra ganache!), slice, and serve chilled.

SERVES 8-12

Nutrition (based on 1/12 of tart): 426cal, 26g fat, 136mg sod, 51g carb, 35g sugar, 1g fiber, 3g protein

satisfactory will have to do

During my attendance at Mott Road Elementary, the grading system was reevaluated and instead of receiving A's and B's, we were given O's (outstanding), S's (satisfactory) and U's (UNsatisfactory).  Ick.  An "O+" just makes me think of blood typing, not a stellar report card.  I also feel that there is a huge leap from being an outstanding student to being a satisfactory one.  The word satisfactory is just plain lame.  Who says that?  It's like trying to let someone down gently, but everyone involved knows that you may as well rip off that band-aid instead of gradually pulling out each hair with it.  I always felt a huge letdown when an S crept its way onto my report card (usually in the "behavior" section, my mouth is just too big to be kept closed), the word left me feeling as blah and vague as its definition. Yet, here I am about to share what I feel is a "satisfactory" recipe.

It is rare to find a food that you love and not be able to hunt down a recipe on the 'nets.  There is a certain treat that has me poring over the shreds of its existence, a few photos and ingredient list, while trying to figure out how to replicate it.  These butterscotch bars by Whimsy and Spice have me on the hunt.  I am happy with my trial outcome but I want to work on it more to achieve what I feel it can truly be.  I could patronize their shop and order some (which I believe I will have to do to truly understand the bars' consistency and ingredient meshing) but I just love experimenting and feeling that accomplishment when you know you have your "a-ha!" moment.   Hopefully these will reappear in the future and earn the "outstanding" mark they deserve.

Butterscotch Chocolate Layer Bars

Yield: 32 bars

INGREDIENTS
graham cracker layer
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C butter, melted

brownie layer (adapted from Southern Living® Incredible Cookies' Brownie Cookies)
1/4 C unsalted butter, melted
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 1/2 oz bitter sweet or semisweet chocolate
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs (or 1/2 C liquid egg sub)
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

butterscotch layer
14oz can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free, doesn't seem to have an affect one way or the other)
2 T unsalted butter
3/4 C butterscotch morsels

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan with foil.
1. Mix graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 C melted butter together.  Press into bottom of pan.  Bake for 12- 15 min.
2. While graham layer is baking, melt the other 1/4 C of butter, unsweetened chocolate and 4 1/2 oz. bitter sweet chocolate in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds) or over the stove until contents are completely mixed.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at medium speed while gradually adding dry ingredients to mixture until fully combined.
5. Add in chocolate mixture and beat well.  Press brownie mixture over graham layer.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. While brownie layer is baking, pour the condensed milk into a saucepan on medium heat.  Add butter and stir continuously until thickened and turning amber in color, about 10 minutes.
8. Stir in butterscotch morsels until melted.  Spread the butterscotch mixture over the base and let cool before cutting. 

Nutrition: 162 cal, 8g fat, 64mg sod, 22g carb, 16g sugar, 1g fiber, 2g protein

red celery to me, tasty treat to others

Growing up I had issues with fruit pie.  Cooked fruit had a weird texture that made my mouth quiver and my stomach churn.  I assume it was my subconscious freaking out by having something healthy show up in a dessert.  What, no fluffy meringue?  No gooey custard?  If it was disguised under a heaping mound of vanilla bean ice cream, I suppose I would slug it down.  Fortunately (or unfortunately for the waistline), my tastebuds' preferences expanded and pie made a nice home in my gut.  Especially the super sweet ones: cherry, berry, peach- yum.

Then certain people made their way into my life and began expounding upon the wonders of the rhubarb plant.  I'll eat it doused in sugar, but I suppose I would eat a napkin if it were as well.   This "red celery" and its terrible tartness befuddled me.  Again I thought of compromise and decided I would stretch myself to slather the rhubarb in its usual strawberry counterpart but my compromise was turned down flat.  The demand was made that no strawberries be added to boost the sweetness of this tart plant.  "Ick, this dessertcannot exist," I thought as I searched for "rhubarb pie."  Well, gee, what hasn't been attempted yet?

Now that rhubarb is inching its way back into the grocery market and the plant in my backyard is reaching for the light, I suppose it is appropriate to post this recipe.  I would say feel free to add the berries but this is actually intriguing as a rhubarb-only pie.  Especially with some vanilla bean on top...

Rhubarb Pie

from Sweet Fine Day
Yield: 8 slices

INGREDIENTS

Pie dough for an 8 to 10-inch two crust pie (I used the Perfect Pie Crust recipe from Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey)
6 C rhubarb, washed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 C sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
1. Roll half of the pie dough to 1/8-inch thickness.  Press into the bottom of an 8 to 10 inch pie pan.
2. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour into the pie.
3. Roll the remaining dough and lay on top. Crimp the edges to seal, and make five small cuts in the top with a small knife.
4. Bake for 1 hour, until the crust is golden. Cool completely before slicing, serve with ice cream if desired.