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

Not easily impressed? Check out O Olive Oil and become a fan!

I first time I ever tried olive oil ice cream, it was on a warm, humid day in July.  In short, it turned out “ehh.” In retrospect, it turned out “ehh” because of the mediocre olive oil I used. It came from Costco.

The second time I tried olive oil ice cream, it was at il Laboratorio del Gelato in the Lower East Side in NYC. I had a bite-sized sample. It punched me in the face with its intensity. In short, I felt like someone squirted a bottle of olive oil into my mouth. It was flavorful and it was intense. It was too intense. How could anyone survive one full scoop?

The third time I tried olive oil ice cream was tonight. In short, it was AWESOME. I finally realized why I didn’t enjoy the past two experiences- it wasn’t the ice cream. It was the olive oil. I just didn’t enjoy the flavors of the two olive oils in the previous experiences. The first was too mild and heavy and the second was just too intense without much complexity.

A few weeks back, eRecipecards held a contest sponsored by O Olive Oil. These days, it seem as if figuring out a way to incorporate a non-traditional ingredient into ice cream will produce a hit despite how badly it may taste. I mean, some things are just not meant to be made into ice cream flavors (ie ketchup). So that was my submission- incorporating olive oil into ice cream. Imagine my surprise when I actually got chosen.

I was a bit skeptical at first, even a bit scared. I was afraid that the olive oil ice cream would once again turn out to be mediocre. But this experience taught me something. In his olive oil recipe, David Lebovitz recommends a good quality, fruity olive oil. Now I truly understand why. Despite having custard base that is nearly identical to the one you’d make for a vanilla ice cream, the flavors from this olive oil ice cream shine from the olive oil itself. The company sent me their O Clementine Olive Oil. You can fully appreciate the craftsmanship from the pressed olives and citrus. The result is a very light and aromatic flavor that screams of orange. And while most homemade ice creams don’t freeze well due to the lack of air control in home ice cream makers, this one freezes delightfully well. There are no ice crystals nor is it difficult to scoop. Instead, the metal hits this soft and creamy texture, guaranteeing a perfect visual scoop.

While the ice cream is perfect by itself, it’s also delicious topped with summer fruits such as strawberry and pears. Marinate the pears in a balsamic dressing and you won’t regret it.

Note: There are few things in life that I’m sure of, and one of them is that I always manage to lose something while on vacation. While marveling the Swiss Alps, I seemed to have parted ways with my Canon Rebel XT but even more heart-breakingly, my new and shiny a 28-75mm f/2.8 lens. I was even more devastated when I lost nearly 500 photos or four days worth within that 8gb memory card. Alas, at least I didn’t lose my passport. And even when I came back home, my strawberries and pears seem to have mysteriously disappeared, or else they would too have appeared in these Instagrams along with O’s awesome White Balsamic Vinegar.

Here’s one of the last breathtaking pictures my Canon took in Zurich. I’m going to miss it.

O clementine olive oil ice cream

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup O Clementine Olive Oil

Method:

In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of the heavy cream along with 1 cup milk. Add in the sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. When the milk, cream, and sugar are just nearly at the boiling point, take the pot off the heat. Begin to temper the egg yolks by ladling large spoonfuls of the mixture into the egg yolks. Whisk quickly to prevent the egg yolks from cooking into scrambled eggs. You want to do this until the egg yolk mixture becomes hot. Then, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat.

Gradually whisk the mixture for a few more minutes on low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the fire and let the mixture cool.

After the mixture returns to room temperature, add in the olive oil, gently stir, and freeze in your ice cream maker. It’s best served when it’s slightly soft, directly from the churning. However, it also freezes quite well given the smoothness from the oils.

You should also check out:

• O Olive Oil and Vinegar
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)
• Strawberry sorbet
• French-pressed coffee ice cream
• Orange creamsicle ice cream

Article first published as Chocolate Coffee & Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes on Technorati.

Let me pose to you a question.

Why is it that people are so willing to pay $3 for an overly sweet and dense cupcake at Magnolia yet balk at Bank of America’s new $5 surcharge on dedit cards?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a BoFa customer and I don’t like it one bit. That’s why I don’t plan on using their debit card (you only get charged if you use it). However, I completely understand their rationale. They recently got slapped with ridiculous regulation that caps fees they can derive from merchants. If you’re not happy about the fee, then I suggest you change banks (but pretty soon most banks will have some sort of similar fee) or you can stash your cash underneath your mattress. They’re not charging you money on your own money; they’re charging you for the convenience of not carrying around cash. You can also write a letter to Messieur Durbin telling him what an idiot he is.

Why am I telling you this? Because I think it’s ridiculous to pay $3 for a cupcake. It’s overpriced and most times, it’s not even that good (don’t get me wrong, sometimes there ARE some pretty darn good cupcakes that are $2.50 and under!) So, I choose to make my own.

A couple of weeks back, I came home to a package on my porch. When I opened it, I got super excited since it had the GODIVA script plastered on the bag. Then, I reached in. It was coffee. I LOVEEEE COFFEE!

Long story short, I wanted to incorporate the Pumpkin Spice flavor into cupcakes! I decided to do this two fold- in the cake part itself (to enhance the chocolate flavor) and then in the frosting.

But first, about the Pumpkin Spice coffee from Godiva…
Honestly, I’m not a big fan. It’s decent but not spectacular. I’m not a big fan of the scent either. However, it actually worked quite well in the recipe.

What I AM a fan of is their Caramel Pecan Bark coffee (a limited edition flavor). I could actually get high off of smelling that. And the taste? It’s delectably caramel-y and sweet. It’s enough to make Mark not want sugar in his coffee. He typically hates coffee because of its bitterness, but didn’t mind this one at all. Overall, this is a great weekend coffee to brew, but it’s not strong enough for my weekday caffeine needs.

Now onto the cupcakes-

I ended up turning the original buttercream frosting into a cream-cheese buttercream frosting simply because I can never get the damn recipe down correctly! It always ends up either too buttery or the consistency is off.  However, I love the consistency that the cream-cheese gives and makes the frosting thick enough to pipe out those gorgeous swirls.

As for the cake itself, make sure you do not omit the sour cream. In my first batch, I had none so I substituted with 1/4 cup of milk. The cupcakes came out decent but where a bit on the dry and dense side. In my second batch, I made sure to get some sour cream and it made all the difference in the world.

Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
Adapted from Paula Deen
(Makes about 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Coffee Cream Filling, recipe follows
• Coffee Buttercream, recipe follows
• Chocolate covered coffee beans, for garnish, optional

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcakes pans with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, pumpkin spice cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, coffee, and eggs and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Then, miix in the sour cream and vanilla.

Spoon the batter evenly into prepared cupcakes cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, for 16 to 18 minutes. Let them cool in pans on wire rack.

Coffee butter cream-cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 8 oz cream cheese (1 package)
• Pumpkin spice for sprinkling

Recipe:

Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature and softened before you start. In a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Then beat in the cream cheese. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth, then beat in the coffee.

After piping/frosting, sprinkle with additional pumpkin spice

This post is part of a Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Godiva Coffee.

You should also check out:

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

Here are some things I recently learned…

1) DVR happens in a box and it’s awesome. Talk about efficiency.  I realize I’m about 5 years late to the game. Well, I don’t watch much TV.

2) Conan O’Brien is funny. Excuse me again for being late onto the scene.

3) Bluetooth in the car is fantastic. I got to experience the phenomenon of someone calling while in a bluetooth enabled car. Again, I’m about 3 years late to the scene.

4) Disciples is pronounced as “di-cye-ples,” not “diss-i-ples.” My bad.

I would like to thank Luis and Jenna for enlightening my puny sized brain.

Moving on, the other day, I had a box of leftover strawberries that were starting to go bad. I also had a box of frozen blueberries (that I had shoved into the freezer after they were about to go bad). So, I decided, with my new handy dandy convection oven that I’d make muffins! It’s one of those “small” convection ovens that enable you to roast a chicken. I won it at a food conference. Go me!

So let’s rewind first. A couple of weeks ago, Mark needed to bake cupcakes for some newspaper event. I decided it’d be the perfect opportunity to finally unwrap the oven from the box. Of course, after we make the batter and all, I realize… THE DAMN CUPCAKE TRAY DOESN’T FIT INTO THE OVEN!! FAIL!!!

Hence when I was at ShopRite and saw those 6-muffin tins on sale, I thought to myself, LET’S GET THESE!

I haven’t made muffins in a long time since it’s such a hassle to fire up my oven. And when it came to it, I decided to stick with this trusty recipe I found a few years back. I actually blogged about these blueberry muffins before (pre-DSLR) but the pictures were quite abysmal. And I figured- blueberry, strawberry… I’ll just mix up the berries. Shouldn’t make a difference!

I whipped up the batter and crumble in no time. I put all of the batter into the trays. Then I insert the tray. Guess what happened? THE TRAY DIDN’T FIT AGAIN! I tried turning it, but the oven door wouldn’t close. In the end, I managed to diagonally insert the tray and lift one side up so that the thing was half elevated. All you hard core bakers are probably shaking your head out there. Luckily, the batter didn’t overflow from the pan and I was able to rotate the tray enough times for it to cook evenly through on all of the muffins.

In the end, everything worked out. We got our muffins. The recipe made six, and in less than 12 hours, there’s just ONE left. This is among the most popular recipes I’ve ever posted on this blog and it’s received rave reviews. I’ll definitely be making these again.

Note- I found that the crumb topping actually comes out a little bit runny. To fix that, I added additional flour (about another 1/3 cup) until the consistency became a crumbly mixture. At this point, there was way more crumble than batter. In such a case, just double the muffin recipe since you’re bound to run out of muffins fast!

You should also check out:

• Five minute salty & nutty dark chocolate bark
• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Chocolate coffee & pumpkin spice cupcakes
• ICE CREAM!!! (and cupcakes!)
• Strawberry sorbet

AHOY!

It’s July! And that means two things. More ice cream and tofu’s birthday!

If you haven’t realized by now, tofu is my best friend, Sabrina. She and I met four years ago as random summer roommates. That summer involved massive amounts of eating out, attending hot dog eating contests, and secretly hiding under tables and grabbing unsuspecting feet. It’s her birthday on July 9. She’s gonna be old. The big TWO-FOUR. Oh vey. I am smelling petroleum in the air.

But onto some exciting news. Scoops and Sprinkles, the ice cream and cupcake blog, has officially launched! Why ice cream? Because it’s all that I ever want to make. Why cupcakes? Because I love how they look and I recently won a convection oven so I can bake! However, do expect more ice cream posts than cupcake posts as in my book ice cream triumphs over cupcakes.

So yeah, you should totally check it out! A blueberry ice cream recipe is up!

You should also check out:

• O clementine olive oil ice cream
• Strawberry sorbet
• French-pressed coffee ice cream
• Orange creamsicle ice cream
• Honey lavender ice cream