Bittersweet Decadence Cookies

With the holidays just around the corner, I'm even more in the mood to bake! So I wanted to share another of my favorite recipes from Alice Medrich's cookbook Bittersweet with you. These cookies are to die for (if you like chocolate)!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

8oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups pecans, chopped into large pieces

6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks (or you can use store bought chocolate chips)

Process:

Preheat oven to 350oF. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper

Chop the chocolate

In a small bowl, mix the flower, baking powder, and salt together thoroughly. Set aside

Place 8oz of coarsely chopped chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from saucepan and set aside (keep water simmering for use in a further step). 

In another heatproof bowl whist the eggs, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly. Set the bowl over the simmering water and stir the mixture until it is lukewarm. 

Stir the eggs into the warm chocolate mixture.

Stir in the flour mixture

Stir in the chopped pecans and 6oz of chocolate

Scoop slightly rounded tbsp of batter onto the cookie sheets, placing them about 1.5 inches apart.

Bake for 12-14 minutes. The surface of the cookies will look dry but the center is still gooey. Place on cooling rack and let cool completely.

And enjoy! 

Warm Mocha Tart

This past Wednesday, I decided to have a "me" day. I indulged in activities that I enjoy and generally had a girly day. One of the things I did was bake. Using chocolate of course! So I thought I'd share my creation with you. I found the recipe in the book Bittersweet by Alice Medrich. It was given to me as a gift by my chocoholic friend and I love it. There are some amazing recipes in it. This recipe asks for a 91/2 inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. 

It is worth investing in one of these (can find one for $10-15) if you plan on making this often as it makes it easy to remove the tart once its baked. Otherwise just make it in whatever round pan you have. The first piece will probably be difficult to remove but you should be ok after that. So lets begin:

Ingredients for the crust:

8tbs (1 stick) unsalted, melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the filling:

3 tbs unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup heavy cream
11/4 tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350oF

Mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl to make the crust. Add the flour and mix till well blended. The dough may seem too soft but this is fine. Press it evenly and thinly onto the bottom and sides of the pan

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown

In the meantime start to make the filling. Place the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the mixture is blended, smooth and begins to simmer around the edges. Remove from heat and stir in the instant espresso or coffee powder and vanilla. 

Just before the crust is ready, whisk the egg thoroughly into the hot choclate mixture. Pour the filling into the hot crust.

Place the pan into the over and turn the oven off (yes, off). Leave the tart in the over till it quivers like Jell-O. The recipe says this will take 10 to 12 minutes but I've found that it needs more like 20 minutes. 

Let cool on a rack and serve at room temperature. 

Yummmm

The coffee flavor is pretty mild in this tart so its great for those who don't particularly like coffee. Enjoy!