Frozen Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 can of crushed pineapple in its own juice (about 20 ounces)
16 oz bag of miniature marshmallows
1 pint whipping cream
½ C sugar

Directions:
Chop cranberries in a food processor or blender. Mix with sugar and put in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix pineapple and marshmallows.

Refrigerate both bowls for an hour.

After the hour is up, whip cream until it’s nice and fluffy. Mix in the contents of both bowls. Pour everything into a 9×13 pan. Freeze.

Remove from freezer about 30 minutes before serving. It is supposed to be served partially frozen.

So I wanted these bars, but wanted to make them slightly more healthy. Or maybe I should say I wanted them to be a little less of a health risk…

Here’s the modified recipe, with ground oatmeal in place of some of the graham crackers:

3/4 cup ground/shredded oatmeal (Use a food processor. Just pulverize whole oats.)
1 and 1/4 cup ground graham crackers (Food processor again. I used one package of crackers. The recipe called for 2 cups, but I was subbing in some oatmeal.)
1 cup melted margarine
2 cups powdered sugar (Due to guilt, I used scant cups of sugar. Might have saved a single calorie.)
1 cup peanut butter (I am pretty sure I had at least a 1/4 cup extra)

Mix all the above and press into a 9 by 9 oblong pan.

Melt 1 cup 63 percent (or higher) cocoa chocolate chips in the microwave. If you want this icing to remain somewhat soft, add 2 tablespoons peanut butter and mix thoroughly. Without the peanut butter the chips will harden nicely. Spread on top of the peanut bars. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into bars. Best eaten with unsweetened tea.

3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups flour

Cream sugar and margarine. Add flour and mix well. Spread in a 9 by 9 inch greased pan (think pie crust). Bake at 350 until just golden brown about 12 minutes.

Mix:

2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup (or more) chopped pecans
1 cup of 60% (semi-sweet) chocolate chips

After mixing, spread on top of the crust and bake about 20 minutes at 350.

If you *really* need these to be more decadent, make an orange-lemon frosting and drizzle on top:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon melted margarine, 1 and a half tablespoons orange juice and 1/2 tsp of lemon.

But really, they are pretty good without the icing on top!!!

It seems to be related to melting the butter and sugar before mixing into the other ingredients. I’ve melted the butter before and even melted the chocolate. But sugar gets hotter and stays hotter. In this case, it allows the chocolate chips to melt into a wonderful gooey substance.

I found the recipe here thanks to my sister-in-law, Kelly. I tried the recipe with and without chocolate chips. I decided I liked the recipe better with the chips in. In the end, the only thing I changed is that I don’t put in espresso powder. I’ve used espresso powder before and sometimes it makes the dish taste like coffee, other times it adds a nice unidentifiable bottom richness (such as can be found in tiramisu). However by and large, I just don’t need those bottom notes where chocolate is concerned.

Here is the recipe cut in half for baking in a small toaster oven:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/8th cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt butter and sugar in pan or in the microwave—get hot enough to melt chocolate chips–some of the sugar will be dissolved in the butter, but it won’t be boiling. While the sugar heats, crack the 2 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, baking powder and vanilla till smooth. This is a little stickier than it sounds.

Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Make sure your toaster oven is preheated to 350. Put the brownies in an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. During the last ten, you might want to turn the oven down to 325 depending on your heating elements! Cool and cut. They are very, very good brownies. Not gooey, but incredibly moist.

I highly recommend them.

I haven’t tried any of the products for sale at the King Arthur Flour site, but I was intrigued. They have great pictures and some other intriguing recipes.

As pudding goes, it was okay. A little…well, it was just pudding. It wasn’t really smooth and creamy, it was more gelatin than that. So from a texture standpoint, it was just okay. Taste was pretty good, nothing to complain about there. I would definitely have preferred more chocolate flavor (ie a darker chocolate) but that was probably my own fault for starting with an unknown.

For pie, I also tried this French Silk Recipe that I obtained from the very helpful MuttonChops over at BookSpotCentral

French Silk Pie
9″ baked pastry shell (the oreo crumb shell is good for this)
3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
1 and 1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon of cocoa
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
Add cocoa after creaming butter & sugar, mix
Add eggs mixing 3-5 minutes after each
Add vanilla
Spoon into shell; chill 2 hrs; top with whipped cream

The French Silk is the fastest and the easiest. For taste? I’d stick with the Mousse Pie Recipe I told you about the other day. It’s a bit more work to make, but it was the lightest, fluffiest and best tasting. When I’m in a hurry, I’d make the French Silk, because it really is a close second. I might try substituting some of the butter with whipped cream to fluff it some. I might even end up using all cream. The beaten eggs do fluff it up some, but I thought the overall consistency of the mousse was the best and the most elegant.

Mind, the one that has the most nutrition would be the pudding.

Here’s a link to the original Scharffen Berger page where I found it.  As I’ve mentioned before, I use the Scharffen Berger cocoa for hot chocolate and cooking.  It’s a wonderfully rich cocoa and perfect for baking and drinking.  This recipe was my first try using their 62 percent chocolate bars (it was a freebie sample, but it was good so I wouldn’t hesitate to order more!)

Here is the recipe, reproduced for those that want to check it out without following the link.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE/62%

Ingredients:

* 8 oz. Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao Semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cup water, divided use
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 3 large egg yolks
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, whipped
* Method:

1. In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160*F (70*C), about 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes.

5. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

I wasn’t certain why I had to get the eggs to 160 degrees. I’m not sure if that was a kill possible salmonella or if getting the temperature right keeps the chocolate from setting up.  I know other recipes complained about how difficult it was to keep the chocolate from seizing.

This mousse was light and fluffy–melt in your mouth, delicious!!!  I highly recommend it.   I’ll be trying their pudding recipe soon.

Have you noticed that grocery stores (including Wal-Mart) are starting to carry better chocolates? Instead of just low-end Hersey’s there’s the high-end Hersey bars. Even better, there’s Lindt chocolate and some very nice Ghiradeli bars. I didn’t like Ghirardelli all that much the first time I tried them years and years ago. I drank their cocoa because it was one of the few decent ones on the grocery shelves–easy to obtain. Several years ago the internet made it possible for me to order from anywhere and I’ve tried a number of cocoas:

Scharffen-Berger: This is a lovely cocoa, especially for cooking. Very rich, non-dutched, deep cocoa. My favorite recipe for this cocoa is: Chocolate Buttermilk cake with chocolate buttermilk icing. Be prepared to swoon.

Guittard - I believe they supply chocolate to See’s Candies (My all-time favorite store candies). They also have some dynamite chocolate bars for baking or making your own chocolate. They have single region chocolates and mixed. Quite a selection to choose from. Single region chocolates have really unique notes. Many have what I describe as “fruity” notes–a blackcherry or an undefinable fruitiness that just…melts into your sense.

They also sell a wonderful dutched cocoa that is very similar to the more expensive French and quite well-known Valrhona cocoa. I have a cup of Guittard cocoa almost every morning.

What are your favorite chocolates? Where do you get your chocolate fix?

Me, I usually order the cocoa in bulk from www.Chocosphere.com. I enjoy the Ghirardelli bars from my local grocery story. The Citris Sunset has tiny bits of orange scattered throughout a luscious dark-chocolate; the Toffee Interlude is perfect for just a bit of crunch and when you want that extra sweetness; And their Twilight Delight is a wonderful 72 percent creamy chocolate bar with a hint of fruitiness that is all about chocolate’s deep base flavor. All of these bars are just dynamite. Expensive too. But really, really satisfy that chocolate craving.

I like the Lindt bars too, but they’ve gone up in price recently, so I don’t buy them nearly as often. Hersey’s has some new “fine” chocolates out as well, but I haven’t tried them.

Here’s my favorite chocolate recipe book:  Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate: Alice Medrich, Deborah Jones (Photographer)

Cream together:

1 cup margarine
3/4 cup regular sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

Add and stir well:

1 egg (high altitude needs two)

Add and stir:

1 cup flour (high altitude needs 1 tsp baking soda at this time and an extra two tablespoons of flour)

Add:

2 3/4 cups oatmeal (2.5 cups for for gooier cookies)

Stir and then add:

1 to 2 tsp vanilla (I like 2 tsp, which is unusual for cookies)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or more if you prefer)

Stir everything well and chill for two hours. Form one and a half inch balls and flatten with a fork on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.

Whew.  That’s so healthy, I think I’ll go have myself a big fat BLT!!! 

When making mint icing from fresh mint, it is going to have a lighter mint flavor than if you use extract. It’s quite subtle and delicate; a top-note to the chocolate.

To make fresh-mint chocolate icing, you need to prep the night before:

Cut three or four fresh sprigs of mint, wash, pat dry with a paper towel and then discard the stems, saving the leaves. I use about ten leaves.

Chop the leaves or fold and crush them a bit.
Place the leaves in a very small container with about 4 tablespoons of buttermilk.
Leave the mint in the buttermilk at least overnight in the refrigerator. The fat in the buttermilk will soak up the mint oils. The longer you soak and the more leaves you soak, the stronger the mint flavor will be.

The next day, when you are ready to make the chocolate icing, strain the buttermilk from the mint into a saucepan. You need about two tablespoons of buttermilk, which will make plenty of icing to cover an 8 to 9 inch brownie or cake pan. Discard the rest of the buttermilk or use it all if you want to double this recipe.

Add to the saucepan:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Heat over low heat, stirring until all butter is melted and the chocolate is mixed in well. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar until icing is desired consistency (about 16 oz of sugar makes a pretty standard icing. Less sugar creates a nice drizzle.)

Use the icing on brownies, on cakes or cookies. You can make a layer of mint icing without the chocolate by leaving out the cocoa. I’ve seen recipes that do the layer without the cocoa and use green food coloring. You can then layer another layer of chocolate icing on top for effect.

Another great icing is orange/cocoa. Substitute minced orange peeling in place of the mint (about a tablespoon). You’ll need more buttermilk when you soak the orange peelings because the peeling soaks up a bit of the moisture. Orange/chocolate icing is a great treat, especially on shortbread or sugar cookies!

Mix in bowl:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup partially melted (very soft) butter or margarine

Whip in:
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Set aside:
3/4 cup chopped almonds
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (or 1/3 cup chocolate chips)

Spray a non-stick cooking spray into a 9 inch loaf pan. Pour half the mix into it. Sprinkle half the chopped almonds and two tablespoons cocoa powder (or chocolate chips) across the top. Pour remaining mix into the loaf pan and spread across the top. Sprinkle remaining cocoa powder and almonds across the top.

Bake at 350 for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness.