Category

FREE Red Mango Frozen Yogurt

Saturday, May 17, 2008

12 noon - 6 pm

1827 India St, SD, CA 92101

619.239.1227

Ben & Jerry’s FREE Cone Day

Tuesday April 29, 2008

UTC, Horton Plaza, and Seaport Village

http://benandjerrys.com/

—–or—–

Baskin Robbins’ 31 Cent Scoop Night

Wednesday April 30, 2008

5 pm - 10 pm

* 2.5oz scoops are 31 cents plus tax where applicable. Limit 10 scoops per person, per purchase.

http://baskinrobbins.com/Promotion/31cent.aspx

By Dave

I found this recipe in an old issue of Cuisine at Home. The look of it caught my eye so I thought I’d give it a shot. The recipe looked a little complicated, but it was easier than I thought.

Bavarian Chocolate Cream Horns

Ingredients for horns:
8 sugar cones
2 sheets frozen puff pastry (17.5 oz box)
1 egg
1 t water
1/2 C turbinado (raw) sugar

Ingredients for cream:
2 C whole milk
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C corn starch
1/4 t kosher salt
2 eggs
2 T unsalted butter
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1 C heavy cream
2 T powdered sugar

Recipe for horns:
Set out the puff pastry to defrost an hour or two before getting started. In the meantime, wrap the cones in foil and coat with nonstick spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Once the pastry sheets are thawed, cut them into 1/2″ strips and wrap them around the cone molds from the bottom up. Be sure to overlap the strips as you go. When you finish with one strip, overlap the ends by at least 1/2″ otherwise a gap will open up when the pastry cooks and expands. Whisk the egg and 1 t of water together and lightly brush the mixture onto the horns. Roll the horns in the raw sugar, coating well. Place the cones on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the cones to a rack to cool. Let the cones cool completely before filling otherwise the cream will melt.

Recipe for cream:
With the method of your choice, melt the semisweet chocolate and set aside for later. If you want your cream to be vanilla rather than chocolate, just leave the chocolate out of the recipe. Heat the whole milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Then whisk in half the hot milk and then return this mixture back into the saucepan with the hot milk. Continue cooking over medium heat, whisking often until thickened. Boil 1 minute to eliminate the starchy taste and to thicken further. Keep whisking as it thicken further. Add the butter and 1/2 t vanilla, stirring until the butter is melted. Stir in the melted semisweet chocolate. Transfer to a bowl, then place the bowl in an ice bath to cool. Stir until the pastry cream reaches room temperature, about 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, whip the cream, powdered sugar, and 1 t vanilla until medium peaks form. Fold whipped cream into the cooled pastry cream just until incorporated. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes. Transfer the cream into a piping bag and pipe into the horns.

I did make a couple of mistakes along the way, but nothing catastrophic. The first was when I took the cones out to cool. When I took them out I left them on the baking sheet to cool. The problem that I came across was that the melted sugar that pooled around the cones solidified and stuck to the cones. Another mistake was iin making the milk mixture in the saucepan. You have to constantly whisk the mixture, otherwise it burns on the bottom and you end up with burnt bits in the cream.

For toppings, you can make a chocolate glaze and hazelnut topping to drizzle on the top of the cones. I didn’t try this part of the recipe, but I plan to in the future.

Chocolate Glaze

Melt 2 oz of semisweet chocolate in a small saucepan with 2 T sugar and 2 T water. Simmer over medium-low heat until it coats the back of a spatula, about 10 minutes. Off heat, whisk in 1 T unsalted butter. Drizzle onto cream horns while warm.

Hazelnut Topping

Toast 1/2 C skinned, chopped hazelnuts in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until golden. Add 2 T sugar and 1 T unsalted butter. Stir until butter is melted and sugar adheres to the nuts. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet to cool.

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s “Cakes, Cookies, Pies, & Tarts”

Just had to post this recipe. Idon’t like to cook/bake anything for others unless I like a lot it myself and I LIKE IT! Originally, I wanted to try this dessert because the picture in the recipe book caught my eye. Who knew that the taste and the texture would be just as good. Sweet and chocolatey. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. 3 ingredients, easy to make, tastes great. What more could you want? This is definitely one of my new favorites!

Marbled Chocolate Meringues
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 egg whites
1 C sugar

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a saucepan, bring 1-2 inches water to a simmer. Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally. Set aside and let cool slightly. In another heatproof bowl, combine egg whites and sugar over simmering water and whisk until mixture is hot, 4-5 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and mixture is lukewarm, 4-5 minutes. Drizzle melted chocolate over egg white mixture, folding in with a rubber spatula until just marbled. With a soup spoon, drop batter in large mounds spaced 1 1/2-2 inches apart on prepare baking sheets. Bake until crisp outside and still chewy inside, 25-40 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack and let cool completely before removing cookies from parchment. Store in an airtight container.

I did hit a few snags, but I still think it’s an easy recipe. My first screw up was that I left the egg whites on the heat a few minutes too long. When I put them in the mixer, it smelled like I was mixing hard boiled eggs. I ended up tossing that batch and making a new one. My other screw up was not as major, but it’s still something I want to fix. I wasn’t happy with the look of the marbling. I overmixed the chocolate and the egg whitesand, as a result, my meringues came out a little too uniform in color. Definitely not as eye-pleasing as I had hoped. I’m also thinking about using a piping bag next time to make the shape something more than just a blob.

-Dave

http://www.chilis.com/

Strawberry Wave Cheesecake - lots of cheesecake

Seven Layers of Chocolate - the best part is the “secret” 7th layer of chocolate invisible to the eye… chocolate chips between layers of white chocolate

Dutch Apple Caramel Cheesecake - very little cheesecake, but lots of pieces of apple

Choose 1 for $2.49 or all 3 for $5.49