Yesterday’s post about Silpat got me thinking about one of my favorite cookies – I call them Choc-o-damias. They have a consistency of a super moist brownie – the chewiness comes from the chopped dates and the Macadamias give it a little crunch – They’re delicious!
use a good quality chocolate
macadamia nuts
beat the sugar and eggs
sift flour, salt and baking powder
melt chocolate with butter
add dry ingredients and the dates, chocolate chips and nuts
chocolate chips
Chewy Choc-o-damias
Chewy Choc -o-damia Cookies
.
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, broken in pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon ground espresso or finely ground dark roast coffee
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup dates, finely chopped, soaked for 15 minutes in 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line your cookie sheet with Silpat.
Melt butter in a non-stick saucepan over low heat, then add the chocolate, stirring until melted. Set aside and allow it to cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl or standing mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until thickened, about 4 minutes. Add the espresso, vanilla and melted chocolate – combine. Add the dry ingredients, macadamia nuts, chocolate chips and the soaked dates. Stir gently until a loose batter is formed.
Scoop heaping teaspoons of batter approximately 1″ apart on the lined cookie sheets. Top with a halved macadamia nut. Bake 7 to 8 minutes, until the tops are shiny. Let them cool on the Silpat.  Gently remove them with a spatula and place on a cooling rack. Cheers!
Our Book Group Holiday Party last night was one of the best ever! The food was over the top delicious and my husband and I were STILL laughing as we returned home, recounting the evening’s antics.
I hit the jackpot with the White Elephant Exchange – having stolen a pair of HAWT, leopard pajamas AND a box of homemade marmalades!
The cheesecake was yummy, BUT I learned something valuable to pass on – DON’T use frozen fruit in the “preserve topping” when you make this – only use fresh berries. I used thawed, frozen (couldn’t find fresh raspberries at the market yesterday) therefore, the topping didn’t set like it should have and it ran – No big deal….the cheesecake was creamy and delicious anyway!
3 packages Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese – softened at room temperature
3 eggs — separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Raspberry Grand Marnier topping:
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 8-ounce jar Raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
In a medium saucepan, over medium low heat, melt the Raspberry preserves, just until smooth – don’t let it boil.  Remove from the heat and stir in the Grand Marnier. If there are seeds in the preserves, use a strainer to strain the preserves into a medium bowl. Fold in the raspberries and mix together.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor, pulverize the graham crackers, sugar and cinnamon. Slowly pour in the melted butter and mix completely. (you might have to open the processor and scrape down the sides to make certain everything mixes properly).  Press the crust into the bottom of a 9-inch Springform pan. (some recipes call for pushing the crust up the side of the pan, I never do — just a preference) Place the Springform pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Remove pan and let it cool.
Reduce heat to 325 degrees.
In your stand mixer, with the “whisk” attachment, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Pour them in a medium bowl and set aside. Return the mixer bowl to the stand and replace the “whisk” attachment with the “paddle” attachment. Add the cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and grated lemon peel and mix thoroughly on medium speed, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and return the beaten egg whites to the bowl and blend into the cream cheese mixture.
Pour the filling into the Springform pan and cover the crust evenly. Place the Springform pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 50 minutes. While the cake is baking prepare the topping.
Remove cake and let it cool completely 2 – 3 hours. Wrap it and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. After the cake has set, pour the raspberry sauce evenly over the top and refrigerate until ready to serve.
I alway leave the cheesecake out for about an hour to soften before serving – it’s creamier when you do. Cheers!
It’s pure coincidence that I’m posting the birthday cake I made for our friend’s birthday the other night, on the very day of my blog’s 3 month birthday!
Here is my recipe for Coconut Cake, which I’ve tweaked a bit over the years, until I’m now happy with it – I use Coco Lopez Piña Colada mix, instead of milk and I beat the egg whites in advance, to create sort of an “angel” cake consistency. I hope you like it – we sure did!
Coconut Cake ingredients
line cake pan with parchment
beat the egg whites
until they form soft peaks
add coconut milk to the batter
return the egg whites and fold in
pour in prepared pans and bake
remove when baked
remove parchment paper
cool on wire rack
frosting ingredients for coconut cake
blend butter, cream cheese and sugar together
add shredded coconut to the frosting
frost the first layer
add second layer and frost
raspberry sauce ingredients
place thawed raspberries in the blender
blend raspberries, sugar and liqueur
strain sauce through a mesh strainer
Coconut Cake
CocoLopez Cake with Raspberry Sauce
Cake
3 cups Cake flour, sifted
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Coconut extract/flavor (in the spice aisle with the other extracts)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon Vegetable or Canola oil
1 cup Coco Lopez Piña Colada mix
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the insides with 2 8-inch round cut-outs of parchment paper. Spray the pans again and dust them thoroughly with flour. Discard the extra flour.
In your stand mixer, with the “whisk” attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Pour them in a medium bowl and set aside. Return the mixer bowl to the stand and replace the “whisk” attachment with the “paddle” attachment. Add the butter, sugar, vanilla and coconut extracts and cream together thoroughly. Add the milk, oil and Coco Lopez. Slowly add the egg yolks and continue to mix. (about 5 minutes total)
In a separate large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until combined (about 1 minute)
Pour equal amounts of the batter into the prepared cake pans and place on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and when a toothpick is inserted, comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool for at least 30 minutes. Turn them upside-down, remove the cakes and peel off the parchment paper. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
On medium-high speed, mix the butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the Coconut and Vanilla extracts. Slowly sift in the powdered sugar and continue to mix until fluffy. Add the shredded coconut and mix until smooth.
Place the first cake on a cake taker or stand and spread the frosting. Add the second cake and frost the top and the sides.  Serve with Raspberry sauce. Cheers!
Raspberry Sauce
1 bag frozen raspberries, thawed completely
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Chambord or Grand Marnier Liqueur
For years, I tried to duplicate this cookie at home, without success. It wasn’t until two years ago, while I was thumbing through one of my favorite cookbooks,”Gourmet,” that I stumbled upon the most perfect recipe for Pignoli Nut Cookies.
Turns out, I was using the wrong Almond Paste – they are very different. So, if you attempt to make these with almond paste from a tube, you won’t get the same result, as with a canned Almond Paste, like Solo.
There are a few other high-quality Almond Pastes on the market, like Mandelin and Love n bake – but once I tried Solo and it worked, I was so happy, I bought a case and have had it stockpiled in my pantry ever since!
As for finding a high-quality Almond Paste – you might have to order it online. I looked everywhere, including Gelson’s and Bristol Farms, to no avail. I found it eventually on Fantes.com, but you can also get them on Amazon and perhaps through the company itself – so I’m including a couple links for you, in case you want to try making these delicious little gems!
If you’re baking cookies for Christmas, these are a unique and elegant choice!
Just a quick tip ~ If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m a huge fan of Silpat baking sheets. I have made this recipe many times, initially using parchment paper, as this recipe instructs. If you have Silpat – use it! It works much better than parchment paper; the cookies slide right off with a spatula using Silpat.
Pignoli Cookies
recipe from “Gourmet” Cookbook
2 8-ounce cans almond paste (not marzipan), coarsely crumbled
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons mild honey
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) pine nuts
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: parchment paper; a stand mixer; a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (optional)
Put racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Pulse almond paste in food processor until broken up into small bits. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt and pulse until finely ground, about 1 minute.
Transfer almond mixer to bowl of mixture, add egg whites and honey and beat at medium-high speed until smooth, about 5 minutes (batter will be very thick).
Spoon half the batter into pastry bag, if using, or a bowl, keeping remaining batter covered with a dampened paper towel. Pipe (or spoon) 1 1/2-inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto lined baking sheets. Gently press half of the pine nuts onto the tops of cookies.
Bake cookies, switching positions of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, 12-15 minutes total. Slide cookies on parchment onto racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining batter and pine nuts on cooled lined baking sheets.
When cookies are cool, peel off parchment.
The cookies keep layered between sheets of wax or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Today is the day we celebrate my husband’s entrance into the world – the day the world became a better place… Don’t get me started, or I’ll be blubbering all over my blog!
One thing I can tell you about my man (that won’t make me cry) is that he loves chocolate. When we go for ice cream, he orders 2 scoops of chocolate, or a chocolate milk shake. When we “diner dine,” he always orders a piece of chocolate cake (as long as it’s not refrigerated.) He also loves comfort food! On Father’s Day or his birthday, I’ll ask “what do you want me to make for you? – anything at all”….he ALWAYS opts for “meatloaf, mashed potatoes and creamed corn” – and a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!
I make one for him every year, but this birthday, I’m making his cake with a chocolate ganache icing and a cream cheese frosting in the middle. I have very limited cake decorating skills and “frosting” with ganache is EASY and a fool-proof way to present an elegant looking cake – that doesn’t look like a second-grader’s science experiment gone awry!
I call this – “My hubby’s Chocolate Birthday Cake, with Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Ganache Icing, topped with Chocolate Truffles, served with Creme Anglaise”
Gee, I hope he likes it!!!
chocolate cake ingredients
add hot coffee to the chcolate
mix well
pour in the pans and bake
Frosting ingredients
whip the frosting
sift in the powdered sugar
frost the first layer
ganache ingredients
add second cake layer and ganache
whisk the cream, chocolate, add rum
time for truffles
creme anglaise ingredients
Truffle ingredients
Chris’s b-day cake
Chocolate Cake
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken in pieces
1 1/2 cups hot, strong coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Grease and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans.
Combine the chocolate in a large bowl with hot coffee. Allow it to stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth.
Into a separate large bowl, sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. In a standing mixer, (or bowl with an hand-held mixer), beat the eggs until somewhat thickened.
Gradually add the oil, buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, and mix well. Add the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until the batter is smooth – about 1 minute.
Pour even amounts of the batter in the prepared pans and bake on middle rack of the oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean
Remove the pans from the oven and cool them completely on a wire cooling rack.
Invert the cakes onto racks. Make sure they are completely cooled before frosting and if you’re covering with Ganache, refrigerate them for about two hours prior, so they are well chilled. This will prevent the ganache from becoming “dull.”
On medium-high speed, mix the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the Vanilla extract. Slowly sift in the powdered sugar and continue to mix until fluffy.
Ganache
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon dark rum
Place the chocolate pieces in a large, stainless steel bowl. In a medium sized saucepan, heat the cream and butter, over medium heat, just until it starts to boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow it to stand for 5 minutes. Whisk it until smooth gradually adding the rum.
Truffles
For the truffles, I used the leftover ganache – ganache is made with the same ingredients. After glazing the cake, just put the leftover ganache in the fridge for an hour or so, until it’s chilled. With a spoon or melon baller, scoop out small balls of the chocolate and roll into small balls – then dip in the topping. I used coconut, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and chopped nuts
Creme Anglaise
1 cup half and half
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 egg yolks
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dark rum
In a saucepan, over medium heat, warm the half and half and split vanilla bean – just to a boil. Remove it from the heat and with a sharp knife, scrape the inside of the bean into the half and half – removing as much as you can. Return the vanilla bean back to the “creme.”
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar. Gradually add the egg mixture to the half and half and return it to medium low heat on the stove and cook until it’s somewhat thick – about 3-5 minutes.  Remove and strain the “angalise” into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.
Assembly
Place the first cake layer on a wire rack (I like to line foil under it to catch the dripping ganache). Frost the top ONLY with the Cream Cheese frosting and place the second cake layer on top.
Spread a thin layer of ganache over top and sides of cake to “seal” in crumbs. Chill the cake for 15 minutes. Spread remaining ganache evenly over top and sides of cake. Top with Truffles!
I don’t know about you, but after I finish a delicious Chinese Chicken Salad (made with Feast From the East Dressing), I like to relax with a hot cup of Green tea and tasty Fortune Cookie ~ perhaps one of those lovely chocolate dipped Fortune cookies they serve at Chin Chin would be nice.
I wrote yesterday about my dear friends and neighbors, Dave and Evelyne. Well, last winter, just before the inauguration, we were sitting around Dave and Evelyne’s kitchen, drinking Cosmos, when they brought out a big bag of chocolate dipped Fortune cookies, from a company here in LA called Chocolate Fortunes. I recognized them right away as the ones Chin Chin serves. When I opened my cookie, the fortune read “Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so Barack could run and our children can fly.”
They were custom fortunes that Chocolate Fortunes had created for the election and subsequent inauguration. As a matter of fact, Dave explained that the owners of Chocolate Fortunes, Marty and Pam Levy, were friends of his and told us that they had been asked to provide 1,500 of these particular fortune cookies for the Pearl Presidential Inaugural Gala.
The next day I found Chocolate Fortunes online and learned that they sell their custom creations to not only an impressive client list, including Chin Chin, the Four Seasons, Bristol Farms, etc – but also to us civilians! My favorite is the “Giant” - it’s a 7-inch Fortune Cookie, double-dipped in dark and white chocolate – with a personal message inside you can ask Chocolate Fortunes to create. What a fun way to say Happy Birthday AND they’ll wrap it nicely and ship it overnight!
I keep bags of the traditional size fortune cookies and almond cookies on hand for dinner parties and those late afternoon espressos. Chocolate Fortunes sells a huge variety of cookies. You name it - dark and white chocolate, peanut butter dipped, strawberry, dark chocolate mint, butterscotch, etc. They create custom cookies for holidays too, in case you’re planning a party!
They’re delicious, unique AND really fun to serve to guests! Check out their site to see their incredible selections and this terrific article the Los Angeles Times wrote about them recently:
A few months ago, we received a dinner invitation from our friends, Richard and Ilona. They’re terrific hosts, with extensive backgrounds in the foodie world. Richard has produced shows for a little network you may have heard of ~ “The Food Network” and Ilona has a blog of her own ~ “My Dinners with Richard and Other Musings” (check it out).
That night for dessert, they served “Joan’s On Third.” Lemon Bars, which came from a recipe the Los Angeles Times had printed. I’ve paid many a visit to “Joan’s,” over the years, but had never tried them ~ there are just soooo many decadent goodies from which to choose that somehow, I overlooked these!
Needless to say, they were delicious. I asked for the recipe, and Richard e-mailed it to me the next day. I ran out and gathered lemons from my tree, then came inside and began mixing all the ingredients together.
I reached for one of my 8″ square casserole dishes (I think at one time, I had 3) and I couldn’t find one! Not even one! They’ve all disappeared and I have no idea where – Maybe they should make casserole dishes with tiny LoJacks installed……
Anyway, I decided to grab one of my 8″ round Springform pans and baked the squares as a round “tart.” I was happy I did. It turned out to be an elegant looking tart/cake and I can’t even express to you, how DIVINE it tastes! I’ve made it several times since and always opt for the Springform pan – even though I’ve replaced my 8″ square baking dish since then.
Whether you opt to bake these as a circle or a square, you’ll love this recipe from “Joan’s on Third” ~ Lemon Bars
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Metric Converter (for my friends across the pond)Â
In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with 1 cup flour and powdered sugar, stirring until the dough comes together. Pat the dough into an 8-inch square pan (or an 8-inch round Springform pan) and bake until golden, about 18 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, baking powder and remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Whisk in the lemon juice and eggs until combined. Pour the custard into the pan over the crust and bake again until it’s set, 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove, cool and dust with powdered sugar. Cheers!
Today is the one month anniversary of my blog here on WordPress. – my first milestone and I decided to mark it by baking my blog a birthday cake! This is one of my favorite cakes…so scrumptious – it’s “BANANAS” man!
It’s Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!
cake ingredients
cream butter, sugar and eggs
add the flour and mashed bananas
pour the batter in cake mold
baked
Frosting ingredients
loosen the cake
whip the butter and cream cheese
sift in the powdered sugar
frosting the cake
Don’t forget it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month Remember to “feel your boobies”
Banana Cake
3 very ripe bananas – mashed
1/2 Cup softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 Cup buttermilk or milk
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 Cup cake flour or all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
In a small bowl, mash the bananas.  Cream together the sugar, butter and vanilla. Mix in the milk. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to blend until thoroughly mixed – scraping the side of the bowl as needed. In a separate large bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Add this to the creamed butter/sugar mixture and blend it until creamy. Add the mashed bananas and blend.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter and flour 2 8″ round cake pans. Shake out the excess flour. Pour the cake batter in and bake on the middle rack for 35-45 minutes – depending on your oven. Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it’s done. Remove the pan and let it cool completely.
If you’ve ever driven to Mammoth Lakes from L.A. on the 395, you know Schat’s Bakery! It’s the bakery/restaurant in Bishop where everyone stops to “refuel”, either on your way to, or on your way back from Mammoth. Their pastrami sandwich is legendary. Their homemade soups are delicious, but they’re best known for their outrageously decadent bakery. The entire restaurant is lined with tall bakery racks, everywhere you turn and the racks are filled with strudels and Sheepherders Bread, coffee cakes, Seven Grain breads, doughnuts, cakes, cookies, jams…
The selection is overwhelming and their breads, pastries and coffee bar are perfection!
My favorite cookie they sell is called the “Butter Brickle”. I would describe it as a sugar cookie, topped with melted pieces of crisp “brittle”. Heavenly! Every time we come back from Mammoth, we stop and I buy 10 packages! I give some to friends and family, but eat the lion’s share myself!
Several month ago, I called Schat’s to order some cookies. I was told their mail order business wasn’t operating anymore and I went into Butter Brickle withdrawal. It’s about a 4 1/2 hour drive from here to Bishop – too far to drive for a cookie, so I got to thinking about what ingredients could be in the cookies and looked up some recipes for making brittle and brickle. I experimented with it and came up with this recipe and added a some rum – just for fun. I think they’re reeeeeally good. But if you’re ever on the 395 going to Mammoth, Lake Tahoe, or Bishop, you must stop at Schat’s and have….anything, it’s all good, but try the Butter Brickle cookies!
BRICKLE:
1/2 cup water
1 Cup granulated sugar
Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray
Add water and sugar to a 5 quart saucepan over medium high heat and dissolve.  Stir constantly until the mixture turns a rich amber brown. Remove from the stove and immediately pour it onto the cookie sheet. Spread it evenly over the cookie sheet with a spatula. Allow it to cool completely (about 45 minutes), then break into pieces. Use the brickle for the cookies, if you have any leftover, you can store them in an airtight container for another time.
COOKIE DOUGH
PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2Â Cup granulated sugar
1/2Â Cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon dark rum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Coat a cookie sheet with vegetable spray, or line it with parchment paper, or silpat.
Cream the butter, vanilla, rum and salt until blended. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cream of tartar and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and combine well. Drop by spoonfuls on the cookie sheet and press the “shards” of brickle on top of the cookie dough.
Bake on the middle rack of your oven 8-10 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove and cool them on a wire rack. Cheers!
VermontOrganics: @alasandy I am looking for a distributor that can pick up at warehouse and put in stores nationally. I need a big distributor.Growing!
StacyNelson: Beautiful SoCal Day! @alasandy http://twitpic.com/17d5h5 - Good Morning World! We're streaming live from Ojai this beautiful Monday morning!
people are talking.....