Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova

If you're looking for an impressive dessert that's a little something different, look no further. I have made one of Nigella's dessert recipes before, but wasn't 100% pleased with the results. This time, I could not have been happier. This Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova was rich and sweet, yet light and fruity. An amazing treat that works for any occasion.

I made this for my in-laws' tenth wedding anniversary. There were seven of us and we ended up with one giant piece left over - this would easily serve ten if you cut it properly.

Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova
adapted from Nigella Lawson

For the Meringue

6 large egg whites
2 c. superfine sugar  (**see note**)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped


For the Topping

2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. superfine sugar
2 c. sliced strawberries 
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate

**Please note: I don't have superfine sugar in my pantry and I wasn't about to buy any. You don't need to either. Put regular old granulated sugar in your food processor or blender and whir for about 30 seconds (until it's super fine).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Use a pencil to trace a 9-inch- cake tin on the paper. Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks.




Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. 

Sift the cocoa into the bowl, then add the vinegar and chopped chocolate over the egg whites.

Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Plop the meringue into the center of the parchment circle. Yummy!

Shape the meringue into a disc using a butterknife or offset spatula.

Lick the spatula clean. Mmmm hmmmm!

Place in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and cook for 60-75 minutes.

When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.(This is word-for-word Nigella's direction - I love it!)

Open the oven door, turn off the oven, and let the meringue cool completely.

Move the meringue onto your serving plate.

Whip the cream and vanilla until soft peaks start to form. Add the sugar and whip to combine.

Spread the whipped cream on the meringue and top with the strawberries. My lovely sister-in-law Leah is allergic to strawberries, so I left a section of the pavlova free for her.

Use a vegetable peeler to shave curls of chocolate over the pavlova.

Happy Anniversary to two of my favorite people!

HamJam 2010

Great times were had by all at HamJam 2010, a fantastic party thrown by the amazing parents of my friend Kris. He and his wife Rachael invited Andrew and I up for the combo pig roast / jam sesh in Michigan, and we were so happy we were able to make it up there. I tagged this post "holidays" because HamJam is a day I'd be happy to celebrate every year!

It was so fun hanging out with all our new friends. Here are some shots of the day:

Rachael with her adorable son Dru

Andrew and I, ready to eat some more!

Party!!! Kris is in the foreground, wearing a green shirt and playing guitar

Now for some fabulous food!

The chefs preparing to do battle

Grandpa checking the sitch

So many sauce options! I went with the Voodoo Vinegar (far left)

My plate - tri-tip, pork sandwich, corn casserole, mac & cheese, cheesy potatoes, baked beans...hollerrr!

Andrew's plate - a lot more tri-tip, pork sammy, corn casserole, green bean casserole, baked beans

I didn't get pictures of dessert, but if I can get the secret recipe for Blueberry Delight and permission to publish, I wouldn't be surprised if that recipe goes viral in 2 hours. It's that amazing.

The beautiful, fun-loving, incomparable Wollets

Kellie - whose amazing photographic talents I've spread liberally throughout this post!

We had such a wonderful weekend - Kris, Rachael, and their families were so welcoming and made us feel a part of the group. The food was spectacular, the music was wonderful, and the company was even better. Happy HamJam!

Happy Easter!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful for the past week, so I put off making my Easter dessert until the last minute.  I'm glad I did, because I ended up also making a birthday cake for Andrew's Aunt Sammy. 

When I saw the recipe for Nigella's Fairy Cakes on "Once Upon a Plate", I knew I had to try them.  My one issue with the recipe was that Mari didn't explain how to get the cupcakes flat and iced as perfectly as hers were.  I winged it and they came out okay.  Mari's icing must have been much thicker than mine, because my cupcakes soaked up a lot of the liquid and were not as perfectly smooth as hers were.  The blue ones came out best, and they were all delicious, so no one really minded.

I added 3/4 cup cocoa powder to one batch of the Fairy Cake recipe and baked it in an 8" cake pan.  Then, using an idea I saw on the back of the Easter M&M's bag, I cut the cake in half and turned it into a butterfly.  I used Mari's easy buttercream recipe, tinted it pink, and decorated with sprinkles and M&M's.  I used candied citrus peel as antennae.  Sammy was really happy with her cake, and it tasted fantastic!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles

When I was a kid, my mom required me to eat breakfast every day before leaving for school.  It's a habit I've pretty much kept up, and it's rare that I skip the morning meal.  On Valentine's Day, I wanted to make something out of the ordinary for breakfast.  Since our weekend breakfasts typically involve bacon, eggs, and toast, I thought waffles would fit the bill.

I have this Cuisinart waffle maker, and the recipe I'll share with you came with it.  If you already have a Cuisinart waffle maker, you've got this recipe, but if you don't...well yay!  You can make Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles too!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles
adapted from Cuisinart

2 c. AP flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2/3 c. skim milk
1 medium banana, mashed
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 c. chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Combine all ingredients.  Preheat your waffle maker and cook the waffles according to manufacturer instructions. 

I found that I needed to grease my waffle maker between each waffle.  I also needed to keep the waffles cooking for a bit longer than the red and green lights told me to.  In the end though, I ended up with 9 delicious waffles (one more than Cuisinart said I'd get!).  We ate one each, and I froze the rest in a gallon-size zip-top bag with a piece of wax paper between each waffle.  When you want to eat them, you can just put them into the toaster oven straight from the freezer, just like an Eggo.  Only a million times better!

The Ugliest Cake Ever

It started out innocently enough.  I decided at the last minute that I wanted to bake my husband a birthday cake.  No big deal, right?  Well, then some stipulations were made.  I had just made a chocolate-peanut butter dessert three days ago, so I wanted to avoid that combo, which happens to be Andrew's favorite.  It had to be cake (I don't know why!) so I didn't make gingerbread men (his second favorite).  And it had to be something I had in my pantry, since it was snowing like crazy and I didn't want to go to the store, and it was already the day of his birthday when I decided to make the cake.  Let's just say...all these stipulations?  They're the stuff disasters are made of.

I had a Triple Fudge cake mix, so I decided to start there.  After searching around on the Betty Crocker website for a while, I found this recipe.  A layer of cake, then fudge, then more cake?  Yes please!  The only difference I made was that I forgot to reserve one cup of the crumbly cake mix, instead mixing it all together with the applesauce and eggs.  This worked out okay, though if I had created the crumbly layer, I wouldn't have tried to make a layered cake, and none of the following would have happened.

I cut the cake in half while it was still in the 13x9.  My intention was to stack it on a cake stand and make a square layered cake.  When I put the first half on the cake stand, it was a little too large, and it broke.  For some inexplicable reason, I tried the other half, and wouldn't you know, being the same size as the first half, it broke too.  So there I was with four broken pieces of a cake that I had just made.

After some consideration, I opted to cut the two larger pieces into circles, and the two smaller pieces into half circles.  I stacked the three circles on top of one another, then made this icing and poured it over the top.  It was delicious...but ugly.  Like, really ugly.  This is definitely the most hideous cake I have ever made.

I will totally understand if one of you submits this to Cake Wrecks.  Luckily, the cake was delicious, the frosting was yummy, and we ate almost all of it.  I saved the off-cuts from the circles for snacking!  Anyway, the reason I showed you all this cake is because I promised when I started this blog I would share my disasters.  There haven't been too many lately, save for putting my fingers through the electric mixer, but this was too horrifying not to share!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Happy Friday!

I've never done a "wrap-up" post, but I thought I'd give it a try.  Today is Friday, two days before Valentine's Day, four days before my husband's birthday, five days before my birthday, and seven days before my mommy comes to visit!  Lots of exciting things happening in the next week for us!

I will try to post regularly over the next week - I have a lot of delicious things to share, from panini to pasta, plus a fish chowder that will knock your socks off!

In the meantime, here's what I'm up to.  Tonight, we'll be watching the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  I love the Olympics - the athleticism, the national pride, watching the whole world come together on the Olympic stage - it's certainly an eventful two weeks!  I think it's pretty neat that the symbol you see above is Ilaanaq - the Inuit word for friend.  For dinner tonight, I'm attempting Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon - wish me luck!

On Valentine's Day, Andrew and I always spend the evening at home.  Rather than fighting the crowds and paying inflated restaurant prices, we make a nice meal and cuddle on the couch with a glass of wine.  Last year, I made a beautiful spread for Valentine's Day, and I'm planning something similar this year.  I typically don't set the table with candles and centerpieces, but for V-Day, I'll make an exception.

 

For dinner I'll be making Chicken Piccata and Garbage Bag Caesar Salad.  Not too fancy, but definitely delicious!

Earlier in the week, I made these fantastic Banana Carrot Walnut Muffins again, and they are just as good as I remembered them.  This is a great way to use up old bananas (or old carrots!) before they go bad.  Last time I made these, I mentioned that the muffins could have been bigger.  This time, I made a double batch and filled the muffin cups much higher.  I got a total of 22 big muffins from the double batch, when last time, I got 18 very small muffins from the single batch.  The good news is, one muffin is definitely enough for breakfast.  The bad news is, Andrew really likes these and has eaten 3 muffins a day since I made them.  Time to throw the rest in the freezer! 

Hope you enjoyed this little synopsis of my week!  I'll do my best to post more delicious recipes and marginally decent photos as soon as I can.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

So, World Nutella Day is today, February 5, and in order to assist you in celebrating this illustrious holiday, I present to you a slammin' chocolate cupcake recipe from my friend Samantha (who brought us this and this) and an AMAZING Nutella frosting.  If you've never had Nutella, stop reading this, go to the store, and report back once you've bought some.  I'll wait.

Got it?  Good.  Let's move on.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Start with one box of chocolate cake mix.

Using the measurements on the cake mix box as your guide, make the following changes:

-Replace the oil with melted butter
-Replace the water with chocolate milk
-Add one box instant chocolate pudding.

Line muffin pans with paper liners, fill, and bake according to box directions.  I was able to get 16 large and 12 mini muffins out of this recipe.  When they are finished baking, remove to racks to cool.


In the meantime, prepare your frosting and learn more about World Nutella Day from its creators - here and here.


Nutella Frosting
from The Unrepentant Carbivore

1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. Nutella
5 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. heavy cream

Combine first five ingredients in the bowl of your KA mixer (or use a handheld electric mixer) and beat until ingredients are fully combined and mixture is fluffy.  Add the cream and beat until it is fully incorporated and the batter is "light and smooth".

Frost the cupcakes and immediately bring at least a dozen to the neighbor's house, as I did.  Otherwise, you will end up eating them all, and nobody wants to get sick on World Nutella Day, right?

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things!

Julie Andrews might have been happy with doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles, but me, I like food.  And things having to do with food.  I got a bunch of great foodie Christmas gifts this year, some that I asked for, some that were surprises, and I wanted to share my haul with the blogosphere.

A staple in my family is panettone, an Italian bread/cake that's made with dried fruits.  If you buy it in the grocery store or at a department store, you often pay upwards of $8 a loaf for it.  But if you buy it at the Christmas Tree Shops, you can get it for half that price...which of course, means you can get two!

My sister Jenna picked out a beautiful granite cutting board for Andrew and I.  It's found a place of honor next to the stove, and I love that I can quickly chop ingredients, rest a hot pot or a dirty spoon, or toss a steaming hot noodle on it to cool quickly. 

Andrew got me two awesome Silpats, fresh from France (well, via Amazon)!  I am so excited to use them for baking - talk about a great gift!  Nonnie found Madagascar vanilla beans - I was on the last one of my stash, so that was perfect timing!

Here's a collection of some of my other favorite gifts.  The white bottle with the yellow label is Lemon Verbena Sugar from the Village Herb Shop.  I'm looking forward to making sugar cookies with lemon zest and this sugar in them.  The gold labeled bottle (sorry about that crazy reflection, by the way!) is full of whole nutmegs that Nonnie and my mom found for my stocking.  You can see those vanilla bean vials again - hey, I'm pretty psyched about them, you can't blame me for posting two photos, can you? 

The "herb-savor" is a great product that I spotted in Real Simple magazine.  You can buy it from prepara - Ann got one for me and one for herself because she thought it was so cool.  She was right - it rocks!  It's an upright container that fits into a base which has a water well.  You change out the water the way you would with fresh flowers, and it keeps your herbs fresh, watered, and protected.  I've been storing flat leaf parsley in it; so far we're at seven days, and it still looks as fresh as the day I brought it home.

Though this isn't truly a "foodie" gift, I was thrilled to receive these stacking bins from SunCast (looks like Home Depot has the best price right now).  I love that you can open each bin while they're stacked on top of one another, and the bright primary colors are cheerful and fun.  Ann got these for us and we put them to use immediately.  Our town doesn't do pick-up recycling, but having grown up in the Northeast, recycling is a no-brainer for us.  We save our recyclables and bring them to a recycling center every few weeks, so this is a great way to keep them organized.

Since this post is titled "My Favorite Things", I feel the need to add a couple pet photos.

Finn reminds you to bundle up - we do live in the Snow Belt, after all!

 

 

And Evin says, "take these ornaments down, it's JANUARY!"

Did you get foodie gifts for the holidays?  What was your favorite new "toy"?  Anything still on your wish list?

New Year, New Look!

 Last year, our New Year's Eve plans were ruined by a snowstorm, but we managed to have an amazing time with fantastic food.  If you're still deciding on tonight's menu, try our last minute New Year's feast that rang in 2009.

Planning to make resolutions?  I'm going to be trying monthly goals again - this is a great way to set achievable goals and actually see results.  By giving yourself just 30 days, you don't lose track of your resolutions and you won't make excuses to push them off.  More on my January goals after the new year!

In celebration of 2010, I've decided to switch up the layout of my blog a bit.  I've been wanting a new background and banner, and I thought that the new year was the perfect time to pick one.  Hope you like the changes!


Happy New Year!

Christmas Cookies: Ginger Cookies

In an attempt to share with you all the Christmas treats I made, I present to you, my cookie plate!

Included on the plate are pizzelle, brown sugar "slice & bake" cookies, chocolate dipped Oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, coconut macaroons (store bought by my mommy!), chocolate covered pretzel rods, homemade marshmallows, and ginger cookies.

I hesitate to call these gingersnaps, as the recipe does, because these cookies are not crispy.  They stay soft and chewy, and actually continue to soften with time.  After about a week, they started to head toward mushy.  Luckily, there were only four left (out of the 170+ that the recipe yields!) so I didn't feel too bad.

I know the holiday has passed, but these cookies are delicious and not particularly seasonal, so I thought I'd post the recipe with some photos so you can save this one in your files for anytime you need a non-chocolate cookie recipe (though of course, I'll show you how to make it chocolatey!).


Ginger Cookies
recipe courtesy of Grandma Haas

2 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses
4 c. AP flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt


Combine flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a medium sized bowl, set aside.


Mix sugar and oil well.  I used my KitchenAid mixer, but you could also blend with a hand mixer if you prefer.  Add eggs one at a time, beat well to incorporate.  Stir in the molasses.


Add the dry ingredients in batches - I usually do 2-3 additions.  Mix well.  If you are using a KA mixer, you may want to take the bowl off the stand and mix by hand with a spoon - I found that the molasses settled to the bottom and didn't mix completely into the batter.

Shape dough into 3/4" balls, roll in sugar, and place balls at least 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  I have very dark baking sheets, so I baked at 325 for 8 minutes.  I would recommend doing a small trial run with the first batch to make sure your oven temp and timing are perfect. 

Yields 14-1/2 dozen cookies.


The ginger cookies are in the tall pile on the upper left:

If desired, melt dark chocolate candy melts or chocolate chips in the microwave - 60 seconds on defrost, stir, then 30 seconds on defrost.  Continue microwaving in 30 second increments on defrost, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted.  Dip half the cookie into the chocolate, then set on wax paper to cool.  The original recipe recommends using a mix of white chocolate and shortening, but because I have a major aversion to the latter, you'll never see me combining it with chocolate!


Here are the gift boxes and bags and trays I made for Christmas.  It was a TON of work, but I had a great time doing it!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you are happy, healthy, and eating delicious food!  Happy Holidays!

Christmas Cookies: Brown Sugar "Slice & Bake"

I adore the blog "The Way the Cookie Crumbles".  Bridget, the author, is a fantastic photographer, a wonderful baker, and I love her writing style.  I rarely make recipes from her blog, for two reasons:  first, she is a much more accomplished baker than I am, and a lot of her recipes are difficult.  Second, her dinner posts are often extremely similar to things I have made or am planning to make, so I don't copy her recipe.  However, I read her blog often, and when I see something I think I can handle, like these Slice & Bake Brown Sugar Cookies, I bookmark it right away!

I'm not going to repost the full recipe with all the steps here - Bridget has very clear instructions on her blog, so feel free to check it out.

As you can see, my striped cookies didn't come out as cute as hers, but I think my spirals are much prettier, so I guess it's a wash!  As far as all the steps go, I considered posting photos, but I followed Bridget to the letter, and everything I would have photographed looks exactly the same as it does on her site.  I will definitely be saving this recipe and making these cookies again and again!

Christmas Cookies: Pizelle

Last year, I made Christmas cookies as gifts, and this year I'm continuing the tradition.  Though I made eight different types of cookies last year, the only one I posted was Gingerbread.  This year, I'm repeating several of the same cookies I made last Christmas.  Some of these recipes are ones that my mom and I always made together, and living 600 miles apart, it's a nice way to feel close to my family during the holidays.

Today I made pizzelle, a traditional Italian cookie that requires a special press.  This is the one I own, and I love it.  For about $40, you can make pizzelle for years to come.  Once you master the recipe and use of the machine, you can make cannoli shells, ice cream cones, waffle bowls, and more using the basic recipe.

Here's my pizzelle maker:

I use the "Classic Pizzelle" recipe that came with my Cuisinart Pizzelle Press and double it, which yields 60-70 cookies.

Classic Pizzelle
from Cuisinart

3-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
6 large eggs
1-1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp. vanilla extract

Sift flour and baking powder together in a small bowl, set aside.

Combine eggs and sugar (I use my KA mixer for this) for about one minute.  Slowly pour melted butter and vanilla into bowl of running mixer until combined.  Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. 

Follow the directions for preheating and baking using your pizzelle press.  Cool on a rack, dust with powdered sugar just before serving.  I like to add candies to the tray for color.

If you wish to shape your pizzelle, you need to do it as soon as they come off the press.  Once they start to cool, attempting to bend or shape them will only break the cookies.  These are an Italian favorite, and a staple of Christmas Eve in my family.  If you choose to purchase a pizzelle press, I know your family will be thrilled to make them a part of their holiday tradition too!

 

Veteran's Day

I just wanted to take a moment today to say thank you to all of our troops stationed overseas and around the world.  Thank you for giving everything you have to protect our freedoms.  Happy Veteran's Day.

Please consider adopting a US soldier today.

Happy Belated Halloween

So this post is a couple days late, but I thought our Halloween costumes were too funny not to post.  Andrew is an avid fly-fisherman, so for a Halloween party we went to this year, he dressed as a fish and I dressed as a fisherwoman.

With a lot of help from Nonnie, we made Andrew's costume.

I wore a pair of waders, fishing boots, my bathing suit top, and a fishing vest. 

Here we are in all our fishy glory!

He's definitely the best thing I've ever caught!  ;)

And a fun picture from the party:

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!