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Filtering by Tag: cherry

black forest chocolate cookies + an old favorite

Andrea

Happy holidays, friends! Wow, they sure snuck up quickly this year. Brian and I are staying home in Charlottesville after having traveled to see family in Florida for Thanksgiving, and I truly thought that there would be all kinds of time for baking and hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows in the last few weeks. But here we are, days away, and I've baked exactly two kinds of cookies and drunk exactly zero cups of cocoa. To be clear, I use the term 'baked' loosely...one of them requires no heat whatsoever. I may feel that I've failed as a holiday baking goddess this year, but the presents are wrapped and shipped, the tree is up and trimmed, and Christmas music plays from my computer the majority of the time. And, as of tomorrow evening, I'll be unplugging for 4 full days to hang out with my honey.  I. Can't. Wait.  That right there is what the holidays are about; cherishing those you love and taking time just to be.  But, having a few cookies laying around never hurts either.  :)

All things merry to you and yours!!!  xoxo.

Brian is originally from Michigan, making the chocolate + cherry combination dear to his heart and stomach. I am always looking for recipes that combine the two, and this one from Baked in New York is quite perfect.  The dough is very sticky and fudge-like, and the resulting cookies are super-moist and chewy.  The dried cherries provide the perfect burst of tartness to counter the rich chocolate.  I realized as I typed up the recipe that I completely left out the brown sugar, but the cookies were still delicious.  In fact I think I like them better than what they should have been, as I really can't imagine them being any sweeter than the version I made.  

Black Forest Chocolate Cookies
makes 24 large cookies, or 48 small (1 tbsp scoop)

accidentally modified from Baked

Ingredients
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 16oz dark chocolate (60 to 72% cocoa), coarsely chopped
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1-¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup dried cherries (we used tart cherries straight from Michigan)
Method
  1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.
  2. In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the dark chocolate and butter.  Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth.  Set aside to cool.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugars on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until just combined.  Scrape down the bowl and beat again for 10 seconds.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds.  Do not over mix.
  6. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and dried cherries.  The dough will look very loose, but it will harden in the refrigerator.  Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
  7. Preheat oven to 375℉.
  8. Spread two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a 1 tbsp scoop or a spoon, place dough in rounded mounds on sheets, about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops of the cookies are beginning to crack. Let cool on sheet for 10 minutes and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Speaking of Michigan (Brian's home state), this cookie comes from his Nana, and has been a staple since he was a little boy. I think that this may be his very favorite cookie recipe. I get the best reaction from him when I make a batch, way better than any layer cake I labor over for a full day. They take 10 minutes to whip up, another 20 to harden, and you're done. So simple. Plus, we always have the ingredients needed to pull these treats together, so they are perfect for last-minute guests or a holiday pot luck.

I tried once, years ago, to make these cookies healthier by substituting out the butter, using less sugar, etc.  Big mistake.  Just keep them as are and enjoy.

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup peanut butter (go for the non-natural stuff…like Jif or Peter Pan)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-½ cups instant oatmeal
Method
  1. Combine cocoa, sugar, butter, and milk in a medium-size sauce pan over medium heat.  Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
  2. Add peanut butter, vanilla, and oatmeal to pan and stir to combine well.
  3. Spoon onto waxed paper in 1 tbsp lumps (a small ice cream scoop works well for this) and let sit until the cookies are set.
  4. Store in a sealed container for 3 days.

categories cookies
tags baked, black forest, cherry, chocolate, christmas, cookies, dessert, holiday, no bake, sugar

truly, I do

Andrea

The mosquitoes are out in full force, covering my skin with pink welts each time I venture into our overgrown garden. My hair frizzes to twice its volume as soon as I consider stepping outside. I can’t walk down the block without tiny beads of sweat popping up on the back of my neck, yet my office is frigid enough to require a sweater. Spring seems to have moved on early this year, leaving in her wake an abrasive and demanding Summer.

But, despite all of this personal discomfort, I love this time of year. Truly, I do.

I love the thunderstorms that sweep in like clockwork each afternoon, lending the sky an ominous tone and the air an electric buzz. I love the booths at the farmer’s market, the tables full of greens and berries and cucumbers and beets. I love that the water is warm enough to take the dogs swimming at the reservoir, and that those trips are the perfect opportunity for a picnic. I love drinking Moscow Mules on the back deck while watching fireflies glow in the trees, and the smell of sun screen and citronella and bug spray made sweeter by the intoxicating aroma of freshly-mown grass and trampled mint.

Those are all compelling arguments, I know, but what I love most about this Almost-Summer time of year is the local Virginia fruit. Those few days where I find myself wandering between tidy rows of strawberries, or ducking under tree branches dripping with both rainwater and cherries, are worth every welt on my itchy legs. Filling our basket with blueberries and melons at Charlottesville's City Market makes the sweltering heat just bearable as we make our way between stalls. And folding homegrown raspberries into whipped buttercream...oh my. There aren't many discomforts that fresh raspberry buttercream can't fix.

But today, let's focus on those cherries. Ten-year-old Andrea would probably tell you that they are her favorite fruit...ever...for their appearance at the grocery store was always perfectly timed with the end of school and the beginning of Summer vacation. My momma, a teacher and just as excited for the break, would plan day trips to Florida’s fresh water springs for my friends and me. A bag full of sweet cherries was always packed as part of our lunch. After a few hours of swimming and snorkeling and sharks’ tooth hunting the dark-skinned globes would come out of the cooler, icy cold and immediately covered in tiny beads of condensation.

We’d find a spot in the grass, out of the shade of our claimed pavilion. The spring water was frigid, and the sun felt good on our skin as we spread a blanket and chose our places for the competition that was sure to follow. Small hands reached into the Ziplock bag, pulling out handfuls of tangled fruit to place in cross-legged laps. One-by-one, plucked from the mass by rubbery stems, the cherries were popped into eager mouths.  Rolled around and around the tongue, the pit was picked clean before being spat from juice-stained lips across the sun-soaked lawn.

Oh, summer.

I won't deny that my adult days have seen the occasional cherry-pit-spitting contest.  Yes, I do that.  But 28-year-old Andrea has also learned how to bake and how to make jam, and that cherries pair well with savory partners as well as sweet.  Take this dish, for instance, a variation on the classic tomato and basil bread salad.  In it, sweet cherries are paired with the tang of  balsamic vinegar and spicy arugula, all held together by a base of crisped bread and a topping of creamy chevre.  It is a very adult meal, a lovely, rustic dinner for two on the back deck that is complimented nicely by an effervescent vinho verde.

Just be sure to save some of those whole cherries for dessert...you never know when your inner child will demand a little friendly competition.

Bread Salad with Cherries, Arugula and Goat Cheese

from A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg makes 4 first-course servings, or a meal for 2 Ingredients
  • 6 oz rustic bread, preferably a day old (I used a whole wheat baguette)
  • olive oil
  • 1/2 pound cherries, halved and pitted (I used sweet cherries, and a cherry pitter was SO handy)
  • 1/8 tsp pressed or crushed garlic
  • balsamic vinegar
  • salt
  • arugula
  • fresh chevre, coarsely crumbled
  • black pepper
Method
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Trim crust from bread, and discard the crust.  Tear the bread into rough, bite-size pieces (you should have about 4 cups, total).  Dump the bread onto a rimmed baking sheet, and drizzle it with olive oil.  Toss to coat. Bake until crispy and golden in spots, shaking the pan once, 8 to 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, put about one-third of the cherries in a small bowl and mash them lightly with a fork to release their juices.
  4. When the bread is nicely toasted, turn it into a large bowl. While it is still hot, add the crushed garlic and toss well.  Set the bowl aside to cool for a minute or two, then add all of the cherries, both mashed and halved, and toss. Add 2 tsp balsamic vinegar and toss again. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch or two of salt and toss again.
  5. Taste, and adjust the vinegar, oil and salt as needed.  The bread and cherries should taste good on their own. When you're satisfied with the flavor, add about 2 handfuls of arugula and toss one last time.  Finish with a generous amount of crumbled goat cheese and a few grinds of the pepper mill, and serve.
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categories local, salad
tags arugula, bread, cherry, chevre, local, salad, spring valley orchard

holiday gift boxes

Andrea

Hello bloggies!  Thank you for all of the lovely comments about my cranberry apple holiday pie...it was a big hit at the office holiday party last night!  This was my first time using all butter in the crust instead of a combination of butter and lard (I just can't bring myself to buy a tub of lard anymore, even if it does produce a heavenly crust!!!).  It tasted great, but the bottom of the pie was really hard to cut.  Any ideas why?  Would it be the difference in using just butter and no lard?  Maybe I should have bought a veggie oil shortening to substitute instead... Any suggestions you have are much appreciated!  :)  I read a great article in the NY Times Dining & Wine section about the importance of butter in baking, if anybody is interested the article is here.  I'm dying to try this recipe that they provided too! We had an awesome dinner over at my boss' house last night.  Salmon, green beans, risotto and a beautiful salad.  I don't have any pictures as it was a small gathering and neither my boss nor co-worker know about the blog.  That's going to be a theme in this post, I've been running around like a crazy woman and haven't had time for meal pictures.  Don't worry though, I'll make up for it with holiday treat photos!  :)  Other than dinner last night and a lovely breakfast at our friend Amy's house this morning you wouldn't be interested in my eats these last couple of days anyway, especially since my breakfast yesterday consisted of marshmallows, hot cocoa, and more marshmallows!  :) The hubb and I were really busy yesterday making boxes for our friends and co-workers.  I decided a week or so ago that I wanted to do something really simple for everybody, so picked out a couple of recipes from Good Things Catered and  A Kitchen Story.  These two ladies have some awesome recipes to share, so be sure to check out their blogs!  Of course, the gift boxes wound up being far from simple but we had a great time working on them together. We started with marshmallows Saturday night.  Katie's recipe is perfect, I didn't change a thing.  A note of warning if you want to double the recipe (which I did), still make the recipe in individual batches.  One batch will completely fill your mixing bowl by the time it is done, so you'd never have enough room for two. m7 marsh-3 Make sure to be quick with getting the marshmallow goo from your mixer to the pan and smoothing it out, it starts to harden pretty quickly.  After we had our batches settled in their pans (we made 2, one vanilla flavored and the other peppermint), we let them sit overnight to set.  In the morning, I released the marshmallow from the pan to cut it into little 'mallows. m1 I tried several different methods of cutting, and didn't have any knives that worked for me.  The hubb suggested that I use my stainless steel scraper, and it was perfect.  The key is to push the blade straight down through the marshmallow, don't pull it through like you would cut a cake.  The 'mallow is just too sticky and it deforms if you try to pull a cutting utensil through. m6 They turned out beautifully, and are so amazingly good.  You've never had a marshmallow if you've only had the store-bought variety...these are 100 times better. m2 m4 m5 After cutting the marshmallows (and eating quite a few!) we moved on to dark chocolate bark with cherries and walnuts.  Four batches of bark.  I've never made bark before so I followed Kristin's recipe exactly, the only thing I changed was my method of melting the chocolate.  We used a double boiler on the stove top rather than the microwave. b1 The chopped cherries, walnuts and crystalized ginger were perfect compliments to the dark chocolate. b2 The chocolate-y goodness spread out nicely on the sheet pan, but at this point I was still skeptical of how the bark would turn out.  I was worried that when we cut it into individual pieces it would shatter into much smaller pieces than I was hoping for. b33 But it came out perfectly.  I was shocked at how easy it was to cut and how nicely it sliced into small pieces.  And the flavors are amazing together, not too sweet. b4 We also made hot cocoa with Katie's recipe, although I was in such a rush at that point that I wasn't taking any pictures.  Nothing too exciting though...other than the vanilla sugar.  It turns out vanilla sugar is pretty hard to find in Charlottesville, especially in the quantity that I needed (16 cups, I made 4 batches of cocoa).  And the small amounts you can find are expensive, I found out why when I bought vanilla beans to make my own vanilla sugar.  The beans are $5 each!!!  I bought 4, and then read after the fact that Katie recommends 1 bean per 2 cups of sugar, so I actually needed 8.  That coupled with the fact that you really need 1-2 weeks for the vanilla flavor to seep into the sugar and I only had 6 days before needing to make my cocoa means that my hot cocoa mix isn't nearly as vanilla-y as it should be. I'll definitely be trying this recipe again next year and will follow it properly because I think it has the potential to be amazing. We packed all of our goodies up in recyclable packaging - brown paper boxes, shredded paper grocery bags and paper ribbon.  I had to use cellophane baggies for the marshmallows and bark because I couldn't think of anything else that would be as pretty... box-3 box1 box2 box4 box51 This was so fun.  I love doing projects like this with my hubb.  It probably took us two full days with all of the candy making, shopping for ingredients + materials and assembly of the boxes, but it was so worth it.  We've had great reactions from our friends and had such a great time putting the gifts together! Ok lovelies, I'm off to another holiday party tonight, this one is for the hubb's office.  And tomorrow morning, at a VERY EARLY 5am, we are loading the car up with luggage, presents and dogs for our 13 hour drive to FLORIDA!!!  YAY!   Have a fabulous evening...  :)
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categories baking
tags bark, cherry, chocolate, cocoa, gifts, holiday, marshmallows, walnut