Dark Chocolate, Walnut, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies

Nothing says an interminable winter like making cookies. Here we are, almost halfway through March, and there's still about 4 feet of snow outside my window. Thanks again, polar vortex. But it does allow multiple consoling sessions via chocolate. And hey, if it just so happens to be chocolate mixed with salt, all wrapped up in a cookie, well, so much the better. You will not want for chocolate in this recipe. Oh, no sir. This is not a recipe where you hunt for the chocolate in your chocolate chip cookies. It will smack you upside the head with how much chocolate there is. As is only right.

And don't let that whole "smoked sea salt" thing scare you off. Regular old sea salt would obviously work just fine here. I just happened to have an entire handy jar of the smoked stuff, a culinary Christmas gift from many years past. And finally, after years of randomly sprinkling it on meats and whatnot, I finally had a recipe that called specifically for it. Sure, certain other substitutions were made (such as walnuts for pistachios). But the salt? Such deliciousness. But again, I repeat, if you don't happen to have a jar full of the stuff, regular ol' sea salt will certainly do the trick. Maybe it's ok if spring never comes, if I get to eat these cookies forever.

Yield: About 24 cookies if you make them small. I'm a big cookie person, so the recipe made about 15 for me.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts and/or pecans, coarsely chopped

smoked salt for topping

Method

Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg and beat in for about 1 minute. Add vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the mixture all at once to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just incorporated. Finally mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Dollop or scoop cookie dough by the 2 tablespoonful onto prepared baking tins. Leave about 2 inches of room between each cookie. Sprinkle generously with smoked sea salt.

Bake cookies for 22 minutes, or until just golden brown. 

 Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will last, well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days

Dark Chocolate-Cherry Ganache Bars

I'm always on the lookout for new "bar" recipes. I enjoy bars more than brownies (a bold statement, I know), but usually just because bars tend to be a bit more complex than brownies. There are "layers" to bars, more bits and pieces to experiment and fiddle about with.
And they tend not to invoke the almighty kerfuffle that brownies do. You know the one. Cake-like brownies versus fudge-like brownies. Wars have been fought over less.

Bars circumvent this debate entirely because there are literally no limits to their potential.

These, for example, have a nice cocoa-rich shortbread base, an absolute no-no on the brownie front. They also feature (as you can tell from the photo) thick top layer of pure dark chocolate ganache. Now, I suppose that puts them on the "fudge" side of things, but really, that's over-simplifying. Ganache is a horse of an entirely different color, a little bit more delicate than your standard fudge-y brownie.

But, like any fudge brownie, they are dense. I mean, dense. Cutting these into anything resembling brownie shapes would send most people into diabetic shock. For the sake of your audience, cut these as small as you dare. Slivers, even. Trust me, you'll get enough chocolate to last you a lifetime.

Time: 1 hour, plus chilling time

Ingredients

150 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

90 grams confectioners’ sugar (about 3/4 cup)

26 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons dark cherry jam (to be fair, raspberry or strawberry would probably work just as well here)

340 grams bittersweet (dark) chocolate, at least 62 percent, chopped (12 ounces)

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons kirsch, rum, brandy or other spirit

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel, for sprinkling.

Method
1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and fine sea salt. Pulse in the butter and vanilla until the mixture just comes together into a smooth mass. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment or wax paper. Press the dough into the pan. Prick all over with a fork. Chill for at least 20 minutes and up to 3 days.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the shortbread until firm to the touch and just beginning to pull away from the sides, 35 to 40 minutes.

3. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes on a wire rack. Brush jam over shortbread’s surface and let cool thoroughly.

4. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the kirsch. Spread over shortbread. Sprinkle fleur de sel on. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill until firm. Slice and serve.

Yield: 18 bars.

Chocolate Earl Grey Truffles

And thus concludes the tripartite truffle adventure. Earl grey also seems to be a flavor popping up everywhere these days and I wanted to try my hand at getting the tea flavor into chocolate.

Well, that part turned out to be amazingly easy.  Just infuse cream with earl grey leaves and leave to steep for about 5 minutes (if you can make tea, you can make these). When combined with the chocolated, it gave it a wonderfully subtle earl grey flavor. Total thumbs up from me.
The only issue with this recipe is that it didn't call for the truffles to be coated with another layer of melted chocolate as the previous two truffle recipes. This left the truffles resembling fudge rather than truffles. Now, this was not a flavor problem in the least. But, it did make the process of eating the truffles a bit of a sticky mess. I eventually decided to go ahead and dip these chocolates in another layer of chocolate, leaving them with this nice hard shell, making them much easier to eat. Either way though, they are delicious! And oh so refined.

Ingredients

2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and softened
2 teaspoons loose Earl Grey tea leaves
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped + 12 oz for outer coating (optional)
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Method

Bring cream and butter to a boil in a small heavy saucepan and stir in tea leaves. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely grind chocolate in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Pour cream through a fine-mesh sieve onto chocolate, pressing on and discarding tea leaves, then whisk until smooth. Chill ganache, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.

Spoon level teaspoons of ganache onto a baking sheet. Put cocoa in a bowl, then dust your palms lightly with it. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball (wash your hands and redust as they become sticky). Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa and turn to coat. Transfer as coated to an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper.

Optional Extra External Chocolate Coat: 

Line 13x9x2-inch baking sheet with foil. Place remaining 12 ounces chocolate in medium metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is melted and smooth and thermometer inserted into chocolate registers 115°F. Remove bowl from over water. Working quickly, submerge 1 truffle in melted chocolate. Using fork, lift out truffle and tap fork against side of bowl to allow excess coating to drip off. Transfer truffle to prepared sheet.

Truffles can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, or 1 month ahead and frozen in an airtight container.

Caramel-Dark Chocolate Truffles with Fleur de Sel (or Hawaiian Pink Salt)

 

Another truffle recipe. Well, I was on a truffle roll. Everywhere you turn these days, there seems to be another version of caramel/fleur de sel recipes. I actually hadn't tried one, but found these online (again, via Bon Appetit) and they looked delicious enough to try. And since I was already in a truffle-y mood, why not? I was not, however, about to go out hunting for the magical mystical fleur de sel that the recipe advocated. I had kosher salt, sea salt, flavored salt, and even Hawaiian pink salt (a gift from a friend) in my cupboard. I was not about to go out and buy yet another version of salt for truffles. 

Although I was curious as to what the big deal was with the product all of a sudden. It seems everywhere chefs are advocating using it instead of regular salt but for all my searching, I'm still not sure why. Apparently, it is supposed to have a more delicate flavor than regular sea salt (and the fact that it is "hand harvested" always goes a long way for gourmet products) but I haven't found anywhere that says you can't substitute a regular sea salt for any recipe that calls for it.

So hey, if you have it, by all means, go ahead and use it. I used the pink sea salt just because I thought it looked nice. And they still tasted delicious.  

Ingredients 

20 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, divided
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel (or sea salt or, for me, Hawaiian pink sea salt)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Additional fleur de sel (or whatever salt you're using)

Method

Place 8 ounces chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is smooth (This part can be tricky. For help with this, see my note for Gingerbread Truffles). Remove chocolate from over water.

Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Increase heat; boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides and swirling pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Stir over very low heat until caramel is smooth. Mix caramel and 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel into melted chocolate. Chill until truffle filling is firm, at least 3 hours.

Place cocoa in bowl. Using 1 tablespoon truffle filling for each truffle, roll into balls, then roll in cocoa. Arrange on baking sheet. Cover; chill overnight.

Line 13x9x2-inch baking sheet with foil. Place remaining 12 ounces chocolate in medium metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is melted and smooth and thermometer inserted into chocolate registers 115°F. Remove bowl from over water. Working quickly, submerge 1 truffle in melted chocolate. Using fork, lift out truffle and tap fork against side of bowl to allow excess coating to drip off. Transfer truffle to prepared sheet.

Repeat with remaining truffles. Sprinkle truffles lightly with additional fleur de sel. Let stand until coating sets, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Gingerbread Truffles

 

 We may be a bit past the time of year for gingerbread. But hey, things that are rich, delicious, and covered with chocolate never go out of season. Behold: gingerbread truffles. I'm not a huge huge fan of gingerbread by itself but these truffles, well, they take all the potential dryness and bread-iness of usual gingerbread and, well, make it exponentially better. By taking out the bread and adding chocolate. 

And who can argue with that?

The original recipe (from Bon Appetit, December 2005) called for half of these to be dunked in semi-sweet chocolate but as I'm a sucker for white chocolate (and I was making other kinds of semi-sweet truffles), I decided to go all white chocolate for this recipe. And I was pleased with my decision. Very pleased. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup whipping cream
10 whole allspice
10 whole cloves
1 tablespoon mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

7 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

7 ounces plus 12 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger plus additional for garnish

Method

Bring first 7 ingredients just to boil in heavy medium saucepan; remove from heat and let steep 1 hour.
Combine 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate and 7 ounces white chocolate in large metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water; stir until chocolate is melted and smooth (see chef's note at bottom for help with this). Remove bowl from over water. Strain cream mixture into chocolate; stir to blend. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger. Chill filling until firm, at least 3 hours.

Line baking sheet with parchment. Using 1-inch melon baller, scoop filling and roll between palms to form balls. Place on parchment. Chill truffles at least 2 hours.

Line another baking sheet with parchment. Place 12 ounces white chocolate in another medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Cool until thermometer inserted into chocolate registers 100°F. Hold 1 truffle between thumb and index finger; dip halfway into white chocolate. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining truffles. If desired, press small pieces of crystallized ginger atop truffles. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)

Chef's Note: Now, truffles are the latest "hip" make-it-yourself gift and, as a "hip gift-giver" myself, I admit, these work well. They look impressive and well, who doesn't like truffles? There is a trick to working with chocolate though. When double-boiling/melting the chocolate, you run the risk of having the chocolate separate on you, making it go all glossy and nasty. It won't fridge right, and it'll make it impossible to work the ganache into balls. If this does happen, never fear! If you see your chocolate start to separate, throw a dash (only a dash!) of hot/boiling water into the melting chocolate. The chocolate will come right back together and you can get on with your ganache making in safety. This happens to me almost every time I make anything with chocolate and without this trick, I would have given up chocolate long ago.