Yes, it is finally my week! And with this heat, boy am I glad I picked something that didn't really require much baking.
I love hazelnuts. The taste, the smell... just love everything about it. Toasting the hazelnuts made my house very hot yet very fragrant... and made the heat just that much bearable.
Hazelnut Truffles (page 218-219 from Sweet Melissa's book)
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups of blanched hazelnuts or filberts
14 ounces of best-quality semisweet (58%) chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur (Frangelico)
Instructions:
• Spread the hazelnuts out on a cookie sheet and toast for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl. 
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream to scalding, or until the cream is steaming and tiny bubbles have formed along the edges. Do not boil. Immediately pour over the chocolate to cover. Set aside for 5 minutes.
• Place 1 1/2 cups of hazelnuts in a resealable plastic bag, seal tightly and tap the nuts with a rolling pin until they are finely crushed.
• Whisk the chocolate cream mixture until smooth. Stir in the liqueur and the crushed hazelnuts until blended.
• Refrigerate until the truffle base is firm enough to scoop, at least 2 hours.
Place the remaining 2 cups of hazelnuts in another resealable plastic bag, seal tightly and tap the nuts with the rolling pin until they are finely crushed. Transfer the crushed nuts to a shallow soup bowl.
• Roll each truffle in the chopped hazelnuts to cover.
The truffles are best eaten at room temperature. They keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Now, the changes that I made:
• First, I halved the recipe.
• I used semisweet chips so saved myself some chopping time.
• Instead of hazelnut liqueur, I used hazelnut spread. I really didn't want to buy a whole big bottle of Frangelico just for this, so I used about 1/3 cups of hazelnut spread and incorporated it while I was whisking the chocolate spread when it was still warm.I have to say, these were really, really, unbelievably good. So much like the Ferrer Rocher chocolates that I think I can wrap them up in gold paper and give it away as a gift! I will definitely be making these in the future, as well as trying other flavors.
Sunday, August 16, 2009 |
Category:
chocolate,
hazelnut,
recipe,
sweet melissa sundays
|
This week's SMS recipe is extra special because it was picked by Melissa herself. You can see her post and the recipe at the SMS blog here.I have to say, I've been quite busy lately, thanks to the start of summer classes. In fact, I have a midterm tomorrow and yet I procrastinated by baking today *hangs head in shame*. What can I say... I am just the queen of last minute cramming.I have to say though, that this recipe couldn't have come on a better week (perhaps finals week, but that's besides the point). I whipped up the cookie batter in less than 30 minutes and baking was a breeze. I was too lazy to use my real oven (because when it's not doing it's real job baking, it's acting as storage for my pots and pans, which I have to drag out each time I'm baking) so I used the small toaster oven. Which is also why my cookies are not round but square since they spread in all kinds of directions. But it gives them character and a homemade quality, don't you think? :)
I also did not use toasted almonds as suggested, but added white chocolate, which gave it some sweetness since I used unsweetened chocolate instead of semisweet chocolate. Using unsweetened chocolate gave the cookies a heavenly smell of chocolate without the super sweetness of chocolate chips.
Sunday, June 14, 2009 |
Category:
chocolate,
cookie,
recipe,
sweet melissa sundays
|
So these past two weekends I've been preoccupied and therefore have not been able to partake in the SMS festivities. Apple Turnovers and Granola Breakfast Cookies can be found at the respective linked blogs.What have I been doing? Well, we headed down to DC for a fun-filled (and food-filled) 3 day weekend. Crabs and oysters and other fresh seafood... to be quite honest I was getting a little bit sick of seafood towards the end of the trip and extremely happy to be pit-stopping at Pat's for some Philly cheesesteaks.At Hank's Oyster Bar, we waited a good hour or so f
or our little table for four. It was a good wait though (and anyways, who wants to eat at a restaurant where there is no wait, right?) We had oysters, sablefish, soft-shell crab and a lobster roll. They also had something special, a Bloody Mary & sake oyster shooter. As you can see, there were only 3 'cause I was the only smart one who thought that the 3 combined was not going to be a good idea. Apparently it tasted pretty gross but was, of course, an experience to be had. The oysters were fresh and only $2 each, which is a lot less than we thought it would be. In fact, everything at Hank's was very cheap. We are so used to these outrageously priced restaurants in NYC that once we step out, we forget that the rest of the world eats at normal prices and portions. I highly recommend Hank's, but be forewarned that you should call ahead to put your name on the waitlist.
Hank's Oyster Bar1624 Q Street NWWashington, DC 
Next stop, Maine Avenue Fish Market. I searched high and low on Yelp in order to find the perfect "stall" and I came upon Captain White's Seafood City. This place should be renamed Captain White's Seafood HEAVEN. There were fresh crabs, cooked crabs, raw oysters, cooked fish dishes, shrimp... if it lives in the water, they will have it.We were only interested in the oysters and crabs, so that's the area we went straight to. For a dozen oysters, you paid only $11. That's practically unheard of. We also bought a dozen (which turned out to be 14) large female crabs for $26, and proceeded to the cooking station. We asked for the crabs to be cooked with spice (which is the Old Bay Spice, which is basically synonymous to Maryland-style crabs). There was a long wait; some families bought basket-loads of crabs and other assorted seafood ite
ms to be cooked. I really cannot say anymore because just thinking about it makes my mouth water. They are just really, really good. Go. There. NOW.Captain White's Seafood City
1100 Maine Avenue SW
Washington, DCOn the way home from DC, we stopped at Pat's for some delicious Philly cheesesteaks. Okay, I must confess: I've never even tried Geno's and I already am prejudiced. I just don't like a newcomer coming in and trying to say they're the OG and they're the best. Plus, I don't like how a store needs to use flashy Vegas-like lights to attract attention. If your food is good, it will show. So yes, I'm a Pat's supporter!This past weekend, I made chocolate chip cupcakes with hazelnut buttercream frosting. Now, unfortunately there are no pictures because I had some issues with the piping and therefore, instead of looking like yummy cupcakes, my frosting looked like piles of doodie :(HOWEVER, the frosting was really good, so I'd like to share the recipe that I adapted to fit my needs.
Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting
(This recipe was enough for 12 cupcakes)
1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter at room temperature (3 sticks)
2 tablespoons of milk
9 ounces of hazelnut spread (I used Nutella)
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3 cups (more if needed for consistency) of confectioners' sugar
In a mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add the milk and in batches, the hazelnut spread. While this is mixing, add in the vanilla extract. Once this has all been mixed, add the confectioners' sugar in 3 batches, adjusting so that the frosting is to the consistency that you like. Pipe as per usual.
So I recently joined a baking group called Sweet Melissa Sundays. We base our recipes on a book called The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, which is a bakery based out of our very own Brooklyn. Each Sunday, someone will bake a recipe out of that book until we make it through all of the recipes. My bake date is August 16th, which is still months away, but no worries; I can still bake along with each of the weekly hosts.
This week's recipe was the Honey Biscotti (Melissa calls it the Beescotti) and will be made by Lorelei, which is where the recipe can be found as well. Now, I've made biscottis previously, but this one was new for me. First, I've never baked with honey before, and it was a somewhat frustrating experience that really tests your patience. Waiting for the honey to drip from your measuring spoon is seriously like waiting for a chick to hatch -- NOT FUN, as I am not a patient person by all means. And then there's the whole, I'm not a big fan of almonds thing. I debated left and right but decided to put in chopped almonds anyways (since I was leaving out the candied orange peels and caraway seeds).
The house smelled so wonderful that I think I will have to make these again and again... this is not to say that the biscottis weren't good. They were very good -- not too sweet, honey and almond taste were present but not overwhelming and super satisfying crunch. I did have some issues with the temperatures in the original recipe, so next time I think I will lessen the baking time for the first round of baking and lower the temperature for the second round of baking. With the original baking temp and time, the bottoms of some of the biscottis came out slightly burnt.
Sunday, April 05, 2009 |
Category:
honey biscotti,
recipe,
sweet melissa sundays
|
I love green tea flavored anything and when I purchased green tea cookies from Panya bakery, I knew that I would have to find a recipe to make my own.After much searching, I found the following recipe from Recipezaar and it really closely resembles what I had bought. The tea flavor is very strong, the cookie is not too sweet and there is a slight crunch factor, but after biting into it, it literally melts in your mouth. Simply delightful! I will definitely make this recipe again and again.Ingredients:2 cups bleached all purpose flour1-2 tablespoons of green tea powder1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature1/2 cup powdered sugar (more if you like your cookie sweeter)- Sift the flour, tea powder and salt into a bowl.
- In a mixer bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.
- Add flour mixture to mixer bowl and mix slowly until dough just comes together
- Pull dough together carefully in a log, approximately 2 inches in diameter.
- Wrap dough log and place in freezer for 30 minutes or until dough has firmed to the touch.
- Slice dough into 1/4 inch rounds and place on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet, approximately 1 inch apart
- Bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 16-18 minutes (or until the edges start turning golden)
- Remove cookies immediately and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!!
Thursday, April 02, 2009 |
Category:
cookie,
green tea,
matcha,
recipe
|
