I could watch this lady forever if there were enough Youtube videos. I went to sleep an hour and a half later last night due to this woman.

(Nigella Lawson’s Sweet & Salty Chocolate Bark)

After watching possibly all of the Youtube videos on her (I’ve probably watched them all at least three times), I decided I’d make her sweet & salty chocolate bark. She uses salted peanuts, but since we didn’t have any peanuts I tweaked her recipe ever so slightly and added the best secret ingredient ever…

Fleur de Sel!! Well, it’s not very secret since there’s been this whole new fad of salty caramel or salty chocolate, and many times they’ll use Fleur de Sel. For those of you unfamiliar with Fleur de Sel, you’re probably wondering, what makes this so much more awesome than my average sea salt? Well, let me tell you…

Translated as “Flower of Salt” from French, it’s hand harvested from the top layer of the salt before the whole thing sinks to the bottom of large salt pans.  Fleur de Sel contains more mineral complexity than table salt and hold less residual moisture (making it less likely to dissolve when sprinkled on moist foods). It’s best used when sprinkled upon serving.

While the traditional Fleur de Sel is harvested from the coast of Brittany in France, mine’s a faux version, having been harvested from the Atlantic. The benefit? A $5 (or more) reduction from the price tag. A jar tinier than this will run for $12 compared to the one which I got for $8.

So this morning, after rummaging through my pantry, I realized that I had a a lot of walnuts. Like… a ton. There were bagfuls and bagfuls. You’d think we’d use them but we don’t. I also found some Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and some good ol’ Toll House semi sweet chocolate chips.

Chocolate bark isn’t rocket science. As Nigella said in her video, “I am essentially making chocolate out of chocolate.” You literally melt the chocolate + butter, add in the nuts, spread the chocolate gloop over a baking sheet, sprinkle some salt and stick it into the fridge. Takes five minutes. That’s quicker than your average 7.5 minute shower.

The greatest thing about making your own bark is that you can customize how sweet you want the chocolate to be. While the bittersweet chocolate chips I used were 60% cacao, it’s definitely possible to go higher, especially if you can snag some 80% chocolate slabs at your local Whole Foods. However, I blended some semi sweet since I figured most people still like their sugar.

In today’s case, I wrapped the baking sheet with some tin foil and plopped it into the garage where it was probably 40 degrees F. After two hours, the chocolate hardened up beautifully. It takes another two minutes to pop the slab out of the baking sheet, cut into rough squares, and stow them away in a box.

Hello coworkers- you’ll be helping me eat these!

Five Minute Salty & Nutty Dark Chocolate Bark
Inspired by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup walnuts (or any other of your favorite nut)
• Sprinkling of Fleur de Sel (if you must, you can use table salt)

Method:

In a saucepan, on low heat, melt all of the chocolate along with the butter. You’ll want to keep an eye on this as you don’t want to overheat the chocolate (which will result in a solidifying mess. If that’s the case, you can add more butter). Stir to make sure the chocolate and butter gently melt into a lovely, thick gloop. Make sure that the pot and the spatula that you use is completely dry. Water particles will separate the chocolate, also resulting in a solidifying mess (and there is no way to correct this one).

After, mix in the cup of walnuts and gently turn the chocolate to fully coat the nuts. After, spread the gloop onto a baking sheet and smooth out with a spatula. Generously sprinkle some Fleur de Sel and stick it into the fridge.

When done, it will look like the photo above. The chocolate should easily slide out of the baking sheet with some prodding from a thin flipper utensil thingy (what are those called again?). Cut into squares and make sure you keep these in a decently cool area so they don’t melt all over.

As a note- the reason why I used butter with the chocolate bark is for easier spreading. You can definitely get away without the butter, but it also provides a silky, rich depth which the chocolate itself cannot. And as Nigella said, these are a treat. Even she wouldn’t eat these everyday!

You should also check out:

• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• Blueberry + strawberry muffins (with crumble topping!)
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)
• Strawberry sorbet

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Picture 1 of 6

Drizzling the ganache

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

According to Wikipedia…

Dobos torte (/’doboʃ/, Hungarian: dobostorta, Slovak: doboška) is a famous Hungarian cake, famous also in Slovakia, invented by and named after a well-known Hungarian confectioner, József C. Dobos (1847-1924) in 1884. It is a five-layer sponge cake, layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with thin caramel slices. The sides of the cake are sometimes coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts or almonds but the original cake is without coat, since it was a slice of a big cake.

Even though I don’t remember seeing this in Budapest when I went to Hungary this past spring, I was really excited for this challenge. I’ve never attempted a cake past 2 layers and the chocolate buttercream sounded heavenly. The cake came out lovely, seven layers and all, although I had intended on making two petite dobos tortes, but ended up making them a bit too petite. Oh wells, as long as it tastes good.

I modified the recipe by leaving out the caramel topping. I wanted to keep it sweet and simple, and decided that a ganache would work just fine. The whole torte took only about 10 minutes to bake (using 2 racks and 3 cookie sheets), although it took much longer to make. I’m pretty sure I upped my muscle mass while beating those eggs. I need to get an electrical mixer soon…

The following recipe is taken directly from the Daring Baker’s Challenge.

Dobos Torte with Chocolate Ganache

Equipment

• 2 baking sheets
• 9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
• mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
• a sieve
• a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
• a small saucepan
• a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
• metal offset spatula
• sharp knife
• a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
• piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

• Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
• Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
• Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
• Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
• 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping (not shown in pictures above)

• 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
• 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
• 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Chocolate Ganache (optional)

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips

Finishing touches

• a 7” cardboard round
• 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
• ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1. Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2. Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)
3. Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner’s (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don’t have a mixer.)
4. In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner’s (icing) sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5. Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned.
6. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment.
7. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8″ springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1. Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3. Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5. When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:

1. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2. Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3. The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn’t just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Directions for chocolate ganache

For this option, you don’t have to worry about the top layer and all because the ganache will cover any mistakes!

1. In a double broiler, heat both the cream and the chocolate.
2. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Then drizzle over the torte. A tip is to place the torte on a wire rack.

Assembling the Dobos

1. Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2. Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3. Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4. Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

You should also check out:

• Five minute salty & nutty dark chocolate bark
• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• Blueberry + strawberry muffins (with crumble topping!)
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)

Suki: “You made ice cream???”

Me: “Yes.”

Suki: “What kind is it?”

Me: “You’re going to have to guess… It’s a surprise”

Vikki: “Will it be obvious?”

Me: “Well it’s two flavors that couldn’t go better together.”

Suki: “OH MY GOD. IS IT CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER?!?!?”

10 minutes later…

Suki scoops as much as she can out of the ice cream canister and starts drinking the melted remnants…

No need to say more- the ice cream has a strong undertone of chocolate with explosions of peanut butter.  Small chunks of peanut butter are thrown into the mix that truly make this an ice cream worthy of any peanut butter lover. David Lebovitz, you are a genius.

Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup smooth peanut butter

*The original recipe calls for 2 cups of half and half. Since I only had heavy cream, I used that and thinned it out with milk.

Recipe:

1. Whisk together the cream, milk, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up).  Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.
2. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Peanut Butter Chunks

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Recipe:

Mix together the peanut butter and sugar in a small bowl.  Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap.  Pinch off small pieces of the peanut butter mixture, about ½ teaspoon each, and drop them onto the dinner plate.  Once you’ve used all of the mixture, freeze the chunks.

Mixing them in: Fold the Peanut Butter Chunks into 1 quart of ice cream as you remove it from the machine.

Storage: Peanut Butter Patties can be stored in the freezer, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.

Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Thank you to Dinner and Dessert for sharing this recipe!

You should also check out:

• Five minute salty & nutty dark chocolate bark
• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• Blueberry + strawberry muffins (with crumble topping!)
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)

For awhile, I’ve been finding the same recipes on the same day all over different blogs. The one thread they had in common was “Daring Bakers.” When I Googled it, I realized that I was looking at the results of a monthly “challenge” where bakers get together and bake a specific recipe. What I love about Daring Bakers is the way each baker interprets the recipe. There are always unique and creative variations on the particular recipe given. This month, I finally decided to participate.

This month’s challenge was to create a flourless Chocolate Valentino Cake. I never baked flourless cake and the only time I’d eaten one was in Hobart, Tasmania. That recipe was chock full of nuts, but it had an indescribable chocolate intensity since the cake was so dense. From that experience, I knew that I wanted to create a smaller type of cake.

There are only three ingredients for this recipe- chocolate, butter, and eggs, which makes it so wonderfully easy to bake. Notice how there’s no sugar. That means that the type of chocolate you use will directly reflect the taste of the cake. So if you want a sweet cake, use milk chocolate, less sweet, use dark chocolate, and so forth.

The recipe also calls to be served with homemade ice cream. On the day that I was baking, I didn’t have time to make ice cream, not having an ice cream maker and all so I bought some heavy cream, whipped it up and added a bit of sugar and cocoa. Instead of directly spreading the whipping on the cake, I dipped the cake into the whipping.

But then a few days later, I did have time to make some ice cream. So while it’s not pictured with the cake, the ice cream is definitely a better side to serve, rather than the whipped topping. I ended up making Stracciatella, and the recipe can be found here. You don’t even need an ice cream maker!

I halved the original recipe, so the following makes two 4 x 4 inch cakes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (226 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup (half stick) plus 1 tablespoon (163 grams total) of unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs separated

Recipe:

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
10. Cool cake for 10 minutes.

Side Notes:

• If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

You should also check out:

• Five minute salty & nutty dark chocolate bark
• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• Blueberry + strawberry muffins (with crumble topping!)
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)

Oh Philly, there is indeed something that you do better than New York City, and that’s your Naked Chocolate Cafe. Perhaps you just got lucky, that Tom Block (co-founder of Thomas’s Sweets) decided on you rather than the buzzing Big Apple. Luckily, Megabus showed us mercy by blessing us with $2 rides to and from Philly from New York City.

This past weekend, I went to Philly for an Alpha Kappa Psi convention. I got there a bit early so I decided to call up Clement, who is currently on exchange at Penn from University of New South Wales in Sydney, to catch up for a bit. We met on 34th and Chestnut. Literally one minute later, I found myself gaping through the windows of Naked Chocolate Bar, my eyes glazing over all of the glorious chocolate.

“Have you been here yet?!” I demanded

“No. I saved this place just for you!” he replied.

The place is quite small for its popularity and there were probably six or seven tables, which were all filled. We asked one girl if she minded sharing a table and that bloosemed into an hour’s worth of conversation. It was such a great atmosphere to kick back, relax, and meet some new people.

But getting onto the hot chocolate and the food. I had a difficult time deciding between the Aztec and the Hawaiian, but eventually decided on the Hawaiian because I’d never seen it on a menu before. Plus, I was intrigued that the Hawaiian listed sea-salt as one of its ingredients. When I ordered, the lady asked me if I knew what European hot chocolate was because that’s how it’s served. European hot chocolate is thick, rich, and dense. None of that watery-powder rubbish that we are so used to.

When our orders came out, I felt like I was back in Europe again. Gone were the tall glasses of syrupy hot chocolate. Instead, it was served in a tiny expresso sized cup with a generous portion of whipped cream (caramel drizzeled all over), a chip, and a spoon. The chocolate was so thick that you had to use the spoon. It took about 40 minutes to actually drink it!

I have to admit that I wasn’t too fond of the sea salt. In the beginning, it was an interesting contrast to the sweetness but by the time I got to the end of the cup, most of the salt had settled on the bottom. If I go again, I’d probably order the Aztec, which is a bit spicy but cinnamony too.

We also ordered the peanut-butter cupcake. The cake itself is chocolate and the frosting is peanut butter flavored. Nothing too special, but it was delicious all the same.

So, until I visit Penn again, I’ve found a thick hot chocolate recipe that’ll have to do… for now.

Ingredients:

• 2  teaspoons  cornstarch
• 4  cups  milk, divided
• 2  (3.5-oz.) dark chocolate bars (at least 70% cacao), chopped
• 1/3  cup  honey
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Recipe:

1. Whisk together cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk until smooth.
2. Cook remaining 3 1/2 cups milk in a large, nonaluminum saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around edge of saucepan (about 4 minutes; do not boil). Whisk in chocolate, honey, vanilla extract, and salt until blended and smooth. Whisk in cornstarch mixture.
3. Bring milk mixture to a light boil, whisking frequently (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat. Let cool slightly. (Mixture will thicken as it cools.) Serve immediately with Marshmallow Whipped Cream, if desired.

If you’re a bit adventurous, try out Aztec Hot Chocolate.

Ingredients:

Naked Chocolate Cafe
1317 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA
215.735.7310

You should also check out:

• Five minute salty & nutty dark chocolate bark
• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• Blueberry + strawberry muffins (with crumble topping!)
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)