Homemade Hot Cocoa – Our fave winter treat

The story goes like this: One blustery winter day, we were craving a nice evening with a movie and some hot cocoa, but had run out of hot cocoa mix and didn’t feel like going to the store just for hot cocoa mix. Then I thought, “Hey, I bet we can just make it from scratch”. So, with some baking cocoa, sugar, milk, love, and a little help from google, I made hot cocoa from scratch. The result was absolutely shocking. Did you know that hot cocoa from scratch is pretty much the most amazing thing ever?? Well, it is. The rich and creamy and chocolaty taste can’t hold a candle to that instant stuff.  And now you can make it for yourself. Here’s the recipe!

Homemade Hot Cocoa:

1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cups sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup hot tap water
4 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, stir together the cocoa, sugar, salt and water. Bring to a boil, stirring often, being careful not to burn. Add the milk and heat to just boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into cups. Put on your sweatsuit. Turn on a good movie (such as You’ve Got Mail or Love, Actually). Wrap yourself up in a blanket. Drink the cocoa. Say “mmmmmmmm”.

Once you try this stuff, you’ll never go back, I promise.

Featured Recipe: French Silk Pie from Jordan Allen

This week we are featuring the five winners of the 2009 New World Symphony Bake-Off, which took place on Sunday. We asked each winner to answer a few questions and share their recipes (if they so choose).

Today’s featured baker is Jordan Allen, 1st-year cellist in the New World Symphony.  Jordan was the only person to enter FOUR items into the bake-off. And all four were amazing. Fudge, Poppy Cake, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, and of course, his French Silk Pie. His French Silk Pie won him the “Golden Spoon” in the “Pies & Tarts” category. 

We asked Jordan a few questions about this recipe:

Where did you get the recipe? I got this recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook New Edition.  It’s a great standard cookbook for your kitchen, I highly recommend it!

Does this particular recipe have any special or sentimental meaning to you?  This recipe does have some sentimental meaning.  When I was young, my grandma and mom always used to make delicious pies for gatherings, and I loved how food could bring people together.  I love making this French Silk Pie for people close to me in my life.  Yummo!

Would you change anything if you baked this again? Or is there something you’d like to try differently? I don’t think I would change anything about the actual pie, although I might experiment with decorating it a little differently.  This time I used dark chocolate shavings….perhaps next time I’ll aim for chocolate curls.

What was your overall favorite dish at the bake-off? Overall favorite dish?  Too many goodies to choose from!  :)

And here’s the recipe! 

FRENCH SILK PIE

For the crust:
1 1/3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of Crisco or other vegetable shortening
dash of salt
cold water (approx. 2-4 tablespoons depending on dryness of flour)
 
Blend the first three ingredients for the crust until the dough resembles small pea particles.  Add the water until the dough just sticks together (note:  do not add too much water).  Flour a flat surface and roll out the dough so that it fits into your 9″ pie plate.  If you don’t want to roll out the dough right away, you can refrigerate it before rolling in out.  After the crust is placed in the pie plate, poke a few holes in the bottom and on the sides with a fork.  Bake the crust in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let the crust cool completely. 

For the pie:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
3/4 cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product (such as Egg Beaters — this eliminates the risk of salmonella from raw eggs)

 In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla and chocolate (note:  melt the chocolate over a double-boiler and let it cool completely, but do not let it firm up again).  Gradually beat in the egg on high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Pour the filling into your baked and cooled pie crust.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but no more than 24 hours.  

For the whipped cream:
Beat 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Make sure that your beaters and bowl have been chilled, as this allows the whipped cream to reach a desired thickness faster.  Spread the whipped cream on top of the chocolate filled pie and decorate with chocolate shavings or chocolate curls.  Enjoy!  

Featured Recipe: White Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake Bars from Lindsay Bohl

This week we are featuring the five winners of the 2009 New World Symphony Bake-Off, which took place on Sunday. We asked each winner to answer a few questions and share their recipes (if they so choose).

Our first featured baker is Lindsay Bohl, 2nd-year violist in the New World Symphony. Lindsay was the winner in the “Cookies & Bars” category with her White Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake Bars. They were super delicious. Sweet, but subtle, and the hint of lime that goes a long way. The oreo cookie crust is the cherry on top of the sundae!

We asked Lindsay a few questions about this recipe:

Where did you get the recipe? I got this recipe from epicurious.com. I love anything with lime which is why I tried it.

Does this particular recipe have any special or sentimental meaning to you? Obviously since I got it off the internet, it has no sentimental meaning to me, although it might now since it lead me to the coveted golden spoon.

Would you change anything if you baked this again? Or is there something you’d like to try differently? When I made this the first time, I used Lindt white chocolate with coconut. For the bake-off, I used plain white chocolate. I think that the coconut chocolate gave it a delicious hint of coconut and added a bit more complexity. I fed it to several tasters and even the ones who weren’t coconut fans liked it. I think if I were to do it again, I would probably go with the coconut.

What was your overall favorite dish at the bake-off? My favorite dish at the bake-off was Rachel’s white-chocolate raspberry cheescake. And I don’t even like white chocolate!

(On a side note – Rachel’s cheesecake was, as they say, “to die for”. And her cake decorating skills are right up there with the pros. I wish I had a better photo of it, but you can kind of see it here.)

Well, here’s the recipe!

White Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake Bars
7 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped, plus white chocolate curls (optional garnish)
27 chocolate sandwich cookies (about 11 ounces)
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
Lime slices or lime twists (for garnish)

Line 8x8x2-inch square baking pan with foil, extending over all sides. Stir chopped white chocolate in small metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Finely grind cookies in processor. Add 2 tablespoons melted white chocolate and blend until mixture clumps together. Firmly press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Chill while making filling.

Beat whipping cream in medium bowl until peaks form. Beat cream cheese, sugar, lime juice, and lime peel in large bowl until smooth. Beat in remaining melted white chocolate. Fold in whipped cream in 2 additions; spread over prepared crust. Chill until filling is slightly firm, at least 2 hours. Using foil as aid, lift cheesecake out of pan. Cut into 9 bars. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired, and lime slices or twists.

Some things Lindsay did differently:

1) In addition to the white chocolate in the crust, I also added about 3 tablespoons of butter to make it stick better. Otherwise I think it would be too crumbly.
2)I added an extra tablespoon of lime juice and about an extra 1/2 tablespoon of lime zest to make it more limey.  I personally think it would not have been enough lime without the extra.