Terrific Truffles with Tahini!

Truffles! And these are special, and that's not only because they're delicious, but it's because how Rachel Riggs makes them! Rachel stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her recipe for chocolate truffles, in the new cookbook In Good Health. Rachel tailored this cookbook for those with food sensitivities and chronic illness. As for the truffles, they are filled with good ingredients, like 100-percent dark chocolate, tahini and maple syrup, which allows these desserts to be somewhat blood sugar friendly. Try them out, and find out why they're so special!

Therapy, In the Form of Food

 

Yes, it's true.  Food can be a comfort in some trying times, and it's been well-documented that a good meal can lift one's spirits. Cookbook authors Lisa Lucas and Debrianna Mancini, who wrote That Time We Ate Our Feelings, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about their work and some delicious desserts that helped pull them through some less than ideal episodes. Among them, the Queen For a Day Three Layer Chocolate Mousse cake. It's a triple layer mousse based dessert that combines dark chocolate, along with semi-sweet chocolate chips and whipped cream. How sweet it is!

1st Layer

• ▢6 tablespoon butter cubed
• ▢7 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
• ▢¾ teaspoon espresso powder
• ▢1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢4 eggs
• ▢⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢⅓ cup packed brown sugar I used dark

2nd layer:

• ▢2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢5 tablespoon hot water
• ▢7 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
• ▢1.5 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• ▢1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢⅛ teaspoon salt

3rd Layer

• ¾ teaspoon powdered gelatin
• ▢1 tablespoon water
• ▢6 oz white chocolate chopped
• ▢1.5 cup cold heavy whipping cream

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter a 9" round springform pan. Set aside.
• Separate egg yolks and whites. Set aside.
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate, butter and espresso powder, whisking until smooth. Cool slightly for 5 minutes.
• Add egg yolks and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.
• In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whip egg whites with salt for 30 seconds, or until frothy. Add half of the brown sugar, sprinkling it over the frothy whites. When the sugar is well mixed in, add the remaining half. Whip until soft peaks form. It can take from 1 to 3 minutes. Keep checking your peaks.
• Whisk in ⅓ of whipped whites to chocolate mixture. Do not whisk vigorously. Be gentle. Whisk just until the mixture lightens in color. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the rest of whites, until no streaks remain.
• Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Smooth the top out.
• Bake the cake for 15 to 18 minutes (center should spring back when gently pressed ).
• Leave the cake in the springform and cool completely, at least 1 hour. It will collapse. You can cover cooled cake and refrigerate overnight.

Second layer:

• In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder and hot water. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Cool 3 to 5 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whip cream, sugar and salt at medium speed. Whip for 30 seconds. It should slightly thicken. Increase the speed to high and whip the cream until soft peaks form. It should happen quite fast ( 20 to 30 seconds ) so do not walk away. Set aside.
• Whisk cocoa powder mixture with melted chocolate until smooth. At first it will look like your chocolate seized but keep whisking. It will come back together and be smooth.
• With whisk, fold in ⅓ of the whipped cream into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream, until no streaks remain. It is important or the mousse won't set right.
• Spoon the mousse over cooled cake layer. Tap the form on your countertop 3 times to get rid of any air bubbles. Smooth the top with a spatula. Wipe the inside of the pan with a paper towel from any mousse smudges. Refrigerate the cake for at least 15 minutes so the mousse can set.

Third Layer:

• Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Quickly stir with a small spoon. Set aside.
• Place white chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat up only ½ cup of cream until boiling. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved.
• Pour the cream and gelatin mixture over white chocolate. Let sit for 20 to 30 seconds, then whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Stir occasionally. It should slightly thicken.
• Whip the remaining cream at medium speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 15 to 20 seconds.
• With whisk, fold in ⅓ of the whipped cream to chocolate mixture. Do not whisk vigorously. Gently, until all smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the rest of the whipped cream into your chocolate mixture, until no streaks remain.
• Spoon the white chocolate mousse over the semi-sweet chocolate mousse. Smooth the top out.
• Chill the cake for at least 2,5 hours.
• When ready to serve, run the knife around the cake in the pan. Remove sides of the springform.
• For clean cuts, use dental floss or warm but dry knife.
• Decorate slices with chocolate curls. Serve.

A Delicious Dessert That's Easy

It sounds very fancy. A dark chocolate gnoche tart with cardamom and a Graham Cracker crust sprinkled with cocoa. To top it all off, it's decorated with raspberries. Yep, that sounds pretty complex, but the authors of the new cookbook A Couple Cooks, promise it's anything but! Sonja and Alex Overhiser stopped by Tonia's Kitchen  to talk about his delicious dessert and how simple it is to make. Both told Tonia it's essentially chocolate and cream melted together for a delicious combination. To make it really fancy, but still very easy, finish it with edible gold dust! You'll be golden to anyone who tries this!

A Perfect Cake for the 4th!

 

This cake doesn't need a special occasion, but you might want to save it for one! We're talking about Chocolate Amaretto Cake! Hungry yet? Amanda Cushman, who wrote the cookbook Simple Real Food, told Tonia's Kitchen that there's two ways to describe this cake, chocolate and almonds. She told Tonia it's a dense cake that uses egg whites to help it rise, but the combination of the nuts and cocoa                      give it a special flavor that just screams: DESSERT!

Amaretto Cake

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups Amaretti cookies

4 ounces semi sweet chocolate

8 Tb. unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

5 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup flour

1 Tb. Almond, orange, coffee liqueur or vanilla

confectioner’s sugar, garnish

Procedure

1. Heat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch spring form pan.

2. Grind the amaretti cookies and chocolate in a blender or processor until it is a fine powder. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer, add the yolks one at a time. Beat for 4 minutes.

4. Gradually add the flour and the chocolate mixture, beating after each addition. Add the liqueur and mix.

5. Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Lighten the amaretti mixture with about a third of the egg whites. Fold in the remaining whites. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.

6. Allow the cake to cool and remove sides. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar through a sieve. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired

Beer Brownies

There's no question that another great Irish tradition consists of adding delicious Guinness Beer to a cake batter, in order to make Chocolate Guinness Cake. That's a favorite enjoyed all over the world. But why limit this to cake? Amy Traverso, who's the senior food editor at Yankee Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her recipe for Chocolate Stout Brownies. Amy told Tonia it took her 8 tries to get this right, but now she's passing along what to do. And interestingly, Amy says the Guinness takes on a gingerbread flavor when added to a batter, which is a delicious surprise!

Yield:

12 to 16 servings

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Guinness or other stout
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Take a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and cut 2 lengths of parchment paper to fit in the pan but long enough to hang over the sides by a few inches. Lay them in the pan, one in each direction, so they cover the bottom.

In a 3- or 4-quart pot over medium heat, melt the butter with the stout and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder. Add the sugar and whisk until smooth. (Each addition will lower the temperature of the batter.) Whisk in the eggs.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir with a spatula until smooth and evenly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the brownies are set in the center and beginning to pull away from the sides, 30 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan and then transfer to a rack or plate to cool completely.

Food as Therapy

Yes, it's true.  Food can be a comfort in some trying times, and it's been well-documented that a good meal can lift one's spirits. Cookbook authors Lisa Lucas and Debrianna Mancini, who wrote That Time We Ate Our Feelings, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about their work and some delicious desserts that helped pull them through some less than ideal episodes. Among them, the Queen For a Day Three Layer Chocolate Mousse cake. It's a triple layer mousse based dessert that combines dark chocolate, along with semi-sweet chocolate chips and whipped cream. How sweet it is!

1st Layer

• ▢6 tablespoon butter cubed
• ▢7 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
• ▢¾ teaspoon espresso powder
• ▢1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢4 eggs
• ▢⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢⅓ cup packed brown sugar I used dark

2nd layer:

• ▢2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢5 tablespoon hot water
• ▢7 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
• ▢1.5 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• ▢1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢⅛ teaspoon salt

3rd Layer

• ¾ teaspoon powdered gelatin
• ▢1 tablespoon water
• ▢6 oz white chocolate chopped
• ▢1.5 cup cold heavy whipping cream

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter a 9" round springform pan. Set aside.
• Separate egg yolks and whites. Set aside.
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate, butter and espresso powder, whisking until smooth. Cool slightly for 5 minutes.
• Add egg yolks and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.
• In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whip egg whites with salt for 30 seconds, or until frothy. Add half of the brown sugar, sprinkling it over the frothy whites. When the sugar is well mixed in, add the remaining half. Whip until soft peaks form. It can take from 1 to 3 minutes. Keep checking your peaks.
• Whisk in ⅓ of whipped whites to chocolate mixture. Do not whisk vigorously. Be gentle. Whisk just until the mixture lightens in color. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the rest of whites, until no streaks remain.
• Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Smooth the top out.
• Bake the cake for 15 to 18 minutes (center should spring back when gently pressed ).
• Leave the cake in the springform and cool completely, at least 1 hour. It will collapse. You can cover cooled cake and refrigerate overnight.

Second layer:

• In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder and hot water. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Cool 3 to 5 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whip cream, sugar and salt at medium speed. Whip for 30 seconds. It should slightly thicken. Increase the speed to high and whip the cream until soft peaks form. It should happen quite fast ( 20 to 30 seconds ) so do not walk away. Set aside.
• Whisk cocoa powder mixture with melted chocolate until smooth. At first it will look like your chocolate seized but keep whisking. It will come back together and be smooth.
• With whisk, fold in ⅓ of the whipped cream into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream, until no streaks remain. It is important or the mousse won't set right.
• Spoon the mousse over cooled cake layer. Tap the form on your countertop 3 times to get rid of any air bubbles. Smooth the top with a spatula. Wipe the inside of the pan with a paper towel from any mousse smudges. Refrigerate the cake for at least 15 minutes so the mousse can set.

Third Layer:

• Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Quickly stir with a small spoon. Set aside.
• Place white chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat up only ½ cup of cream until boiling. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved.
• Pour the cream and gelatin mixture over white chocolate. Let sit for 20 to 30 seconds, then whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Stir occasionally. It should slightly thicken.
• Whip the remaining cream at medium speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 15 to 20 seconds.
• With whisk, fold in ⅓ of the whipped cream to chocolate mixture. Do not whisk vigorously. Gently, until all smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the rest of the whipped cream into your chocolate mixture, until no streaks remain.
• Spoon the white chocolate mousse over the semi-sweet chocolate mousse. Smooth the top out.
• Chill the cake for at least 2,5 hours.
• When ready to serve, run the knife around the cake in the pan. Remove sides of the springform.
• For clean cuts, use dental floss or warm but dry knife.
• Decorate slices with chocolate curls. Serve.