It's cold and the turrón wraps itself in some colored marzipan to celebrate the trip.
Tomorrow I'll be back at Oporto... :)




Chocolate and hazelnut turrón

Serves 10:
400 g hazelnut praliné
400 g dark chocolate
200 g hazelnut, finely chopped

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Add the hazelnut praliné.
Let it cool down to 26-28ºC (tempering).
Add the hazelnuts.
Pour this mixture into lined moulds and place something heavy on top, or make a roll with the parchment paper, keeping the turrón tightly wrapped.
Reserve at room temperature until thick.
Cut as desired.
Decorate with marzipan.


Marzipan:

1 kg almond, powdered
500 g icing sugar
1 kg sugar
450 g corn syrup
350 g water

In a mixer combine well the icing sugar with the powdered almond.
Prepare a syrup with sugar, corn syrup and water until 114-117ºC.
Gently pour the syrup into the almond mixture while mixing.
Grind until desired.

Marzipan may be colored with food coloring.

Labels: chocolate, christmas, hazelnut, recipes, turron

Someone opens an orange in silence, at the entrance
to fabled nights.
He plunges his thumbs down to where the orange
is rapidly thinking, where it grows, annihilates itself, and then
is born again. Someone is peeling a pear, eating
a bunch of grapes, devoting himself
to fruit. And I fashion a sharp-witted song
so as to understand.
I lean over busy hands, mouths,
tongues that devour their way through attention.
I would like to know how the fable of the nights
grows like this. How silence
swells, or is transformed with things. I write
a song in order to be intelligent about fruit
on the tongue, through subtle channels, unto
a dark emotion.

Herberto Helder, Teoria sentada, 1977



Candied orange peel

Oranges
250 ml water
220 g sugar

Cut the oranges in quarters and remove all the pulp.
Cut the orange peels in 6-8mm witdth stripes.
Place the orange peels in a pan of cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Drain.
Repeat this process three times, using fresh cold water each time, to remove some of the bitter flavor from the pith.
Set aside.
Bring the water and sugar to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Reduce to a very low simmer, add the peesa, and poach until translucent (about 1 hour).

To dry the peels, drain them and spread on a wire rack set on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Allow to dry and crystallize overnight at room temperature. Or place the peels on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a 140ºC convection oven for 1 1/2 hour.

Toss the peels in granulated sugar or dip them in tempered chocolate.

* Lemon, lime or grapefruit may be used in place of the orange peels.


Based on a Culinary Institute of America recipe

Labels: candied, chocolate, culinary institute of america, orange, orangette, recipes

Stretches, rolls, unfolds in chocolate...




Chocolate tagliatelle with chocolate sauce

Serves 4:

200g wheat flour + flour
2g salt
2-3 eggs
40g icing sugar
50g powdered cocoa

3 l water (to cook the tagliatelle)
20g butter
50g icing sugar to sprinkle

Sieve the flour with salt to a bowl. Set aside.
Whisk the eggs.
Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into the whisked eggs and combine well.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour and work by hand into a smooth paste.
Leave in the fridge for 90 minutes wrapped tightly in wrap film.
Gently flour the work surface and cut the dough in 3 pieces.
Stretch the dough with the rolling pin until very thin.
Spread more flour on the stretched dough and roll it tightly.
Cut 5mm wide ribbons from the rolled dough and unfold them onto a gently floured dry cloth, for 30 minutes.
Heat the water in a saucepan and boil the tagliatelle for a few minutes (as soon as they come up they are ready).
Dry the pasta in a large colander.
Sautée with butter and sprinkle with icing sugar.


Chocolate sauce:

Makes 500 ml:

130 g 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
250 ml water
70 g icing sugar
125 ml double cream


Combine well all the ingredients and bring to boil in medium heat stirring constantly.
Reduce to low heat and cook until creamy and it stays at the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.

You could also let it cool down at room temperature, strring occasionally.
You can keep it in the refrigerator for two weeks on an hermetic container.
To serve, place it in a double boiler, stirring occasionally.


Source: Pierre Hermé

Labels: chocolate, dark chocolate, pasta, pierre hermé, recipes, tagliatelle

When I've started "flagrante delícia" I had no idea about all this things worked and I didn't realize immediately the extreme importance of pictures in a world where we also "eat with the eyes".

Later I was forced to do some work on my blog and some of the first posts were left in "stand-by" waiting for the light that could make them live again.

So I go back to flagrantedelicia's first recipe and recover the black and white film from my premiere:
- Lights, camera, action!... here we go for the mousse remake!




Dark chocolate mousse

Serves 4:

170 g. 70% dark chocolate ( Valrhona, Green & Black's, Lindt…)
80 ml cream
1 egg yolk
4 egg whites
20 g. de caster sugar


Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Bring the cream to boil and set aside.
Remove chocolate from the bain-marie and add the cream stirring constantly until smooth.
Fold in the egg yolk and stir.
Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form and add the sugar slowly.
When the chocolate is at 40ºC, gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites with a tongue.
Fold in the remaining egg whites.
Refrigerate at least for one hour.
(It's very importante to use 70% chocolate).


White chocolate mousse

Serves 4:

67,5 ml + 500 ml cream
67,5 ml milk
25 g sugar
300 g white chocolate, finely chopped
3 egg yolks
1,5 gelatin sheets

Bring the 67,5 g. of cream to boil with milk and sugar.
Pour this mixture into the egg yolks stirring constantly.
Bring this mixture to 85ºC in a bain-marie, strirring constantly.
Let it cool down until 25ºC.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Add the chocolate and gelatin (previously hydrated).
Stir well.
Whip the remaining cream (firm but not stiff).
Gently fold in 1/3 of the cream and then the remaining cream.
Refrigerate.

To combine together both mousses, use immediately.
Decorate with white rose's petals and a chocolate drop.

Labels: chocolate, mousse, recipes, white chocolate

I make a cocoa's bed and lay chocolate's sheets over.
With a good night kiss, I put cream and lemon to sleep.





Lemon and chocolate pie

Serves 6:

Crust:
175 g wheat flour
25 g cocoa
25 g icing sugar
125 g cold butter, diced
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
75 g 60% dark chocolate, grated


Combine together dry ingredients.
Add butter and blend.
Add egg yolk and water.
Wrap tightly and refrigerate (1 hour).
Roll out the dough (5mm thick).
Transfer the rolled dough to a 23 cms diameter pan.
Dock the bootom of the crust to prevent it from bubbling up, cover with wrap film and refrigerate for 2 hours (minimum) or overnight.
Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Take out the foil and bake for 5 minutes more.
Remove from oven and spread the grated chocolate.
Let it cool down.

Filling:

3 lemons (fine zest and 150 ml of sieved juice)
150 g sugar
4 large eggs
150 ml double cream
Icing sugar to sprinkle

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC.
Mix together the juice, zest and sugar, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.
Add the eggs and cream while stirring until creamy.
Pour the filling over the crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Remove from oven and let it cool down before unmould.
Serve chilled.

You can sprinkle with icing sugar before serving, I don't think it's necessary.

Labels: chocolate, lemon, pie, recipes

"Eat your chocolates, little girl;
Eat your chocolates! Believe me, there are no metaphysics in the world other than chocolates;
Believe me, all the religions together do not teach more than the candy-shop.
Eat, dirty girl, eat!"


Fernando Pessoa, Tabacaria




Chocolate pudding cake

250g milk chocolate
225g butter
90g sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp self-rising flour
Icing sugar to sprinkle
Cream to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and line a 23 cms diameter pan with parchment paper.
Prepare a larger pan for a bain-marie.
Melt chocolate with butter and sugar on a double boiler. Set aside.
Whisk the eggs for 1 minute and add the flour stirring constantly.
Add the chocolate and keep stirring.
Pour the mixture into the pan and the pan into the larger pan with water (2 cms height)
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let it cool down completely before unmold.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with cream or an ice cream quenelle.

Labels: cakes, chocolate, recipes

What could be more perfect than a marble cake than a marble cake over a marble stone... ?!...

That's how I've spent my afternoon, on an unstoppable search on stone shops looking four the yin yang of our background, that looks lost in the middle of so many and so expensive samples!!!
The effort is always rewarded and our cause was embraced by a super employee that have offered all the choices...

More perfect than a marble cake over a marble stone, only a marble cake over a marble stone and a smile...

Thanks to everyone who takes their jobs as seriously as we do! :)




Marble cake

Serves 8-10:

125 g soft butter
200 g sugar
4 eggs
100 ml whole milk
200 g self-rising flour
140 g chocolate

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease a 23 cms cake tin and sprinkle with flour.
Beat the butter and sugar together until white and light.
Add the egg yolks while mixing, then the milk.
Fold through the flour and whipped egg whites.
Divide the mixture between two bowls.
Melt the chocolate and pour into the mixture in one of the bowls.
Take 2 spoons and use them to dollop the chocolate and the plain cake mixes into the tin alternately.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Top with chantilly and melted chocolate.


Chantilly

200 ml cream, chilled
25 g icing sugar
vanilla sugar

Whip the cream.
Add sugar and whip until stiff.

Labels: cakes, chocolate, recipes

Heat becomes heavy and the dark sky blends itself with the landscape's pale green...
We ran home: our petit Trianon and a wet sprinkled summer.




Trianons

Makes 30:

Vanilla dough:
150 g butter
100 g icing sugar
½ g vanilla extract
2 g salt
50 g egg
50 g almonds, powdered
250 g wheat flour, sieved

Cream butter and sugar until smooth.
Add vanilla, salt, egg, almond and finally the flour.
Roll out the dough on parchment paper.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.


Chocolate dough:
150 g butter
100 g icing sugar
2 g salt
50 g egg
30 g almonds, powdered
250 g wheat flour, sieved
25 g cocoa

Cream butter and sugar until smooth.
Add salt, egg, almond and finally the flour sieved with the cocoa.
Roll out the dough on parchment paper.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.


Assembling:
Roll out the doughs until 7 mm thick.
Cut rectangles of dough (30x4 cms).
Put one chocolate rectangle over one vanilla rectangle brushing with egg yolk between layers.
Repeat this process 3 times.
Refrigerat for 1 hour.
Cut 5-7mm thick slices.

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Place in a lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.



Suggestion: With the remaining dough I've put together 2 layers and rolled to make a cilinder. I've refrigerated and sliced it as the trianons.

Labels: chocolate, cookies, recipes, vanilla

And because a picture is worth a thousand words...




Chocolate crust:

To a 20-23 cms diameter pan:

15 g cocoa
125 g flour
36 g icing sugar
75 g cold butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cold water

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Combine together dry ingredients.
Add butter and blend.
Add egg yolk and water.
Wrap tightly and refrigerate (30 minutes).
Roll out the dough (5mm thick).
Transfer the rolled dough to the pan.
Dock the bootom of the crust to prevent it from bubbling up.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.



Caramel and lemon filling:

150 g sugar
180 ml cream
30 ml lemon juice
1/4 lemon zest
20 g cornstarch
5 egg yolks
90 ml water

Prepare a caramel with the sugar.
Add the warm cream and stir gently until completely blended.
Add cornstarch (dissolved in water), lemon juice and zest.
Bring to medium heat to thicken.
Remove from heat, stir to cool down and add whisked egg yolks.

Meringue:

4 egg whites
250 g sugar
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until stiff peaks form.


Pre-heat the oven to 150ºC.
Fill the crust with the caramel and lemon mixture and top with meringue.
Bake until meringue is dry.

Labels: caramel, chocolate, lemon, meringue, pie, recipes

Labels: cakes, chocolate, recipes

"O prazer de nos elogiarmos a nós próprios..."*

Fernando Pessoa, O Livro do Desassossego


... Today I celebrate!!


*["free" translation: "The self-appraisal's pleasure..."]

Sachertorte

Serves 10-12:

200 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
125 g butter
8 egg yolks
10 egg whites
16 g vanilla sugar
120 g caster sugar
125 g wheat flour
200 g apricot jam
100 g apricots, diced

Prepare the cake the day before:

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Grease a pan (28 cms diameter).
Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler.
In a pan melt the butter in low heat.
Add the butter to the chocolate stirring gently.
Add the egg yolks stirring constantly.
Whip the egg whites and the sugars until the mixture form firm peaks (meringue).
Seive the flour.
Add 1/3 of the meringue to the chocolate mixture.
Gradually and gently fold the flour.
Add the remaining meringue.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake for 40 minutes
Let cake cool a few minutes then carefully remove onto a cake plate and set aside for one day.

Chocolate glaze

Chocolate sauce:

50 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
100 ml water
30 g caster sugar
50 ml heavy cream

Chocolate icing:

100 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
160 ml cream
40 g de butter, softened

Start with the chocolate sauce:

In a pan bring to boil in low heat the chocolate, sugar and cream.
Stir constantly until it gets creamy
Remove from heat and set aside.

To make the chocolate icing:

Bring the cream to boil.
Pour the cream over the chocolate, stirring gently in an outward movement.
Let it cool down for a couple of minutes and add the softened butter, stirring as less as possible.

Fold the chocolate sauce into the icing.

Carefully cut the cake twice making three layers.
Whisk the jam and bring to boil.
Spread the jam between layers and add the apricot.
While the glaze is still slightly warm glaze the cake by gently pouring and spreading on the top and sides.
Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Keep the cake for 2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Serve with semi whipped cream, chocolate glaze, apricot jam and chocolate.

Note: I had an hard time trying to figure out the english terms for "chocolate sauce" and "chocolate icing" (frosting?)... If this doesn't sounds correct please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. Thank you!

Labels: apricot, chocolate, glaze, recipes, sachertorte

A spirals' coreography cheers the small meringue discs.
At the oven's compass, chocolate comes for a solo.
Dacquoise stands up between the ganache and the play ends with an hungry standing ovation…




Hazelnut Dacquoise with chocolate


To make 22 meringue circles:

215 g skinned hazelnuts: 80 g in small pieces + 135 g powdered
150 g Icing sugar
5 egg whites
50 g extrafine sugar
Icing sugar to sprinkle


Pre-heat the oven to 170º C.
Combine icing sugar with the powdered nuts and seive.
Whip the egg whites and add sugar until the whites form firm peaks.
Slowly fold the nut mixture into the whites with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.
Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Pipe the meringue on the prepared pan into spirals starting at the center of each circle (12 cms diameter).
Sprinkle the hazelnuts in small pieces over the meringue circles.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and wait 10 minutes. Repeat this process and wait 10 minutes more.
Bake the dacquoises until they're golden and firm (20 minutes).
Cool on racks.



Chocolate ganache

To make 320 g:
150 g butter
160 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
110 ml whole milk

Soften the butter with a fork until it gets creamy. Set aside.
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
Bring the milk to boil over medium heat.
Slowly pour the milk over the chocolate and gently stir in circles.
When the mixture is below 60ºC add the butter.
Stir gently and as little as possible to keep the soft texture.
Let it cool until it gets a creamy texture.
Transfer the ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip.


To assemble:

Place one meringue circle hazelnuts-up and make small ganache balls next to the edge. Top with another meringue circle.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Labels: chocolate, dacquoise, hazelnuts, meringue, recipes