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: Tiramisu from Emile Mettenbrink

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 Emile Mettenbrink, 4th-year violinist in the New World Symphony. Emile was the winner in the “Miscellaneous” category with her Tiramisu. We are honored that she is sharing this recipe with us! She got it from her a very special source, who refused to share the recipe for a very long time. 

We asked Emile a few questions about this recipe:

Where did you get the recipe? I got the recipe from my boyfriend Fabrizio’s grandmother.  He’s Italian and I had to beg.

Does this particular recipe have any special or sentimental meaning to you?  It is a bit sentimental because it means a lot to be accepted into the kitchen of an Italian grandmother.  Also because it is Fabrizio’s favorite dessert that he refuses to order at restaurants because it is never as good as his grandmother’s.

Would you change anything if you baked this again? Or is there something you’d like to try differently?  I finally got the egg beating part right this time, so I’m gonna say no.  It’s all about the eggs and the mascarpone.

What was your overall favorite dish at the bake-off?  I love Emma’s scones, but I had a hard time this year deciding between that and Chris Davis’ cornbread.

And here’s the coveted Tiramisu recipe. This is the best tiramisu I’ve ever tasted, and Tiramisu is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. Note, the measurements are not standard American measurements, so you’re going to have to do some research if you plan on making it! 

GRANDMA’S TIRAMISU

5 eggs separated, you will need both parts.
10 large spoons of sugar
500 grams of Mascarpone,
Savoiardi cookies, or ladyfingers (I recommend trying to find Savoiardi — it’s worth it)
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Espresso
Brandy (optional)
A square or rectangular glass cake dish. (Like one you would use for Lasagna)

PREPARATION
–Prepare enough espresso to use for dipping (I use my moka express that serves 2 and I make 3 pots) and put that aside to cool in a dish you can dip the savoiardi into comfortably. (add brandy to this if you so desire)
–Separate your eggs into 2 mixing bowls and set aside the whites bowl for later.
–Beat the reds of the eggs and the 10 spoons of sugar until it is smooth and very light yellow in color (almost white)
–Add the Mascarpone to the mixture and mix gently until smooth again.
–In the whites bowl, now beat the egg-whites until they are white, fluffy (to the point that you can turn the bowl upside-down and the mixture stays put. (This takes longer than you think, but it will happen and you can check your progress by shaking the bowl a bit to see if the mixture giggles.)
–Add your fluff to your cheese mixture and fold it in until smooth again.
–Grab you glass dish, your cookies, your espresso, and your cocoa.
–One by one, dip your cookies quickly into the espresso (don’t allow them to soak) and place them side by side in the dish until the bottom is covered.
–Pour/Spread a thick layer of your cheese mixture on top of the dipped cookies
–Sprinkle a delicate layer of cocoa on top of this. (I use a sifter for even results)
–Repeat, placing the cookies in an opposite direction as the previous layer.
–Depending on the size of your dish, I do 2 dishes, 2 layers per dish.
–Place the finished product in the refrigerator and let it set for at least 4 hours (overnight is better)