dessert

12 Holiday Food Comas: Peppermint Brownies

- Elspeth Leave a comment

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Everyone has their own list of holiday favorites. Recipes they make every year without fail, whether they’ve been passed down from grandma or discovered in a lonely college dorm room whilst dreaming of a white Christmas. This year I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites, some new ideas I’ve been toying with, and suggestions from friends, so every day for the next 12 I will be posting a new recipe to help everyone enjoy the holidays. Today’s beast: Peppermint Brownies.

While peppermint bark is a staple this time of year, I can never eat very much of it. This is probably a good thing for my blood sugar levels, but December is the one month I feel entitled (yes, entitled) to shove as much food into my mouth as possible without feeling an iota of guilt. It’s my right as an American, a human, and practicing Atheist. And I don’t care that that last bit doesn’t make any sense. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

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What better way to transform a chocolatey peppermint treat than to turn it into a brownie? I can think of nothing superior.

I did not think enough ahead and didn’t put the crushed candy canes on before popping the pan into the oven, but I would definitely suggest it for any followers. The brownies form a bit of a crust, so sprinkling them on after they bake is not really ideal.

Peppermint Bark Brownies

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 Tbsp. butter
3 oz. cream cheese
3oz white chocolate chips, melted and cooled
2 c. sugar
6 eggs
1 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsifted flour
3 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 c crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13×9″ pan, or line with foil. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips & 6 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan.  Set aside. In a standing mixer, cream remaining butter with cream cheese and melted white chocolate; add 2/3 c. sugar and beat well.  Add 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 Tbsp. flour.  Set aside. In the clean mixer, beat 4 eggs till frothy; add 1 1/3 cup sugar & beat again. Add semi sweet chocolate mixture, then add rest of flour with salt & baking powder.  Add peppermint extract and rest of vanilla. In the prepared pan, layer half of semi sweet chocolate mixture, then cream cheese, then rest of chocolate mixture.  Dip knife down into mixture and swirl layers, then sprinkle with crushed candy canes.  Bake for 40 minutes or until barely done. This recipe does much better when it’s a bit wet— when it’s dry it just ain’t right. Nom nom nom!

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Apple Dapple Cake

- Elspeth 2 Comments

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Five years ago I spent 3 months on a farm in Tuscany. It was about as magical as it sounds, times 78 billion trillion million. We drank wine from the farm’s vineyards, ate toasted bread with olive oil straight out of the presses, herded pigs (I did less of that and more of the eating), partied with visitors to the B&B, and generally enjoyed all that Italy has to offer. I wrote down a thousand recipes from the cooks, sort-of perfected the art of the pizza dough toss, and crafted so many delicious pillows of gnocchi goodness that I think I passed out directly into the bowl of potato dough. But the one recipe I come back to most?

Apple Dapple Cake.

Is it Italian? Nope. Is it maybe Italian-American? Not even a little. Is there perhaps a Tuscan twist to it? Please stop, it’s pure-blooded American.

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The owners of the farm made this throughout the autumn months and graciously shared it with the 9 interns me. It’s nothing fancy, but it makes my heart sing with joy and gluttony. Apples, cinnamon, and a brown sugar glaze that will make you dissolve into a puddle of love. It requires no adornment but a humble fork and — perhaps– a sink to catch the stray crumbs as they come flying out off the plate as you snarf yourself into an apple dapple haze.

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The only tweak I made was to the glaze, which would curdle if the fat content from the milk wasn’t just right. Subbed in some cream and kablooie– super fab.

Apple Dapple Cake

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3 eggs
2 c sugar
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
3 c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 c peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples
Glaze
6 T butter
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T heavy cream
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 and generously grease a bundt pan. In standing mixer beat the eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla, then, with mixer running on medium low, slowly stream in the oil. This should take about 1-2 minutes. Definitely don’t dump the oil in all at once, or else it won’t emulsify properly. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in the chopped apples. Pour the batter into the bundt pan, making sure to even it out with a spatula. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a knife comes out with no wet streaks. Place on a cooling rack while you make the glaze.

For the glaze: In a small saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar. Heat on medium low until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the cream, salt, and vanilla and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Poke holes in the cake (while it’s still in the pan) with a chop stick or knife and pour the glaze over the top evenly. Let the cake cool for about 20-30 minutes, invert onto a plate, and serve warm. Then, put your socks back on, because they will have inevitably been blown off by tasty deliciousness.

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Guiltless Vegan Chocolate Mousse

- Elspeth Leave a comment

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Although taking a break from my “Heroes” marathon was a touch painful, I was happy to do it for further work on this recipe. I have been intrigued for some time by the concept of paleo chocolate mousse with no added sugar, but initial attempts did not satisfy me. The base is comprised of only three ingredients– cocoa, coconut milk, and dates– and the flavor of the dates was too strong for me. I wanted more chocolate, more depth of flavor throughout, and a touch of sweetness that didn’t come from the dates.

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I am very happy with the result, which is rich, creamy, a touch coconutty, and very chocolatey. Feel free to experiment a bit with the level of sweetness– cut out the sugar entirely if you’re a purest, or try it with a tablespoon more or less to suit your palate.

Oh and when I say “guiltless”, I mean “doesn’t have any eggs or dairy, so it makes me feel super righteous.”

Guiltless Chocolate Mousse

1 c pitted dates
1 can coconut milk (do not use low fat)
2-4 T powdered sugar or honey
1 t tapioca or potato starch
1/4 c cocoa
1/2 chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 t instant coffee powder
1 vanilla bean or 2 t vanilla extract

Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight. Be careful not to shake the can when you open it and spoon out the top layer of thickened cream. Put into a large bowl and back into the fridge to keep cool. In a food processor, puree the dates until you have a paste, adding some of the coconut water from the can to loosen it up a bit. Pass the pureed dates through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium-sized bowl. Mix in the cocoa, melted chocolate, coffee powder, and seeds from the vanilla bean or the extract. Remove the coconut milk from the fridge and whip with a hand mixer on high until it fluffs a bit. Sift in the powdered sugar and tapioca starch and whip on high. Spoon in the chocolate mixture and continue to beat until fluffy and incorporated. Spoon into serving dishes and chill until ready to eat.

This goes very well by itself, but would also be quite tasty with some shortbread, slathered on a piece of cake (if you’re feeling extra decadent), with shredded coconut and espresso salt, or with some toasted almonds on top.

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