Taste 7: Cherry Almond Orange Chocolove Biscotti

I love baking biscotti, and since he’s been talking about biscotti lately, I thought I’d make one of my biscotti recipes for my seventh taste of how much I care.  But, I better stop snacking on these to be sure he actually gets a taste…

When baking with butter, I like to whip fresh cream into butter rather than use a pre-made stick, so that was the first step of this recipe. If you choose not to do that, start with softened butter. Also, I love chopping up Chocolove chocolate bars for recipes that call for chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. They are a local favorite of mine. For this recipe I used an Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate Chocolove bar.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whipped, fresh butter
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp lemon, orange, or clementine zest
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 3/4 Chocolove bar, chopped (I used Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate for this recipe)
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder (1 tsp if at altitude)
• a little nutmeg
• a little sea salt

Preheat oven to 350.

I like to toast my almonds while the oven is pre-heating, but be careful. One minute too long in that oven and they could easily burn! I usually put a big handful of raw, whole almonds on a baking sheet and put them in the oven right when I turn it on. I check them every few minutes and give them shake or stir. After 7-10 minutes, they should be fragrant and golden brown. Remove them from the oven and pour them onto another tray, or into a bowl. Let them cool before giving them a coarse chop.

Sift the flours, baking powder, nutmeg, and sea salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine your chocolate chunks, chopped almonds, and dried cherries (cherries are definitely optional).

Next, start to cream together the butter and sugar in your mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and lemon or orange zest. When the wet ingredients are well combined, add the chocolate, almonds, and cherries and mix for a few seconds. Finally, slowly add the flour mixture while mixing on slow speed.

When the dough holds together well, remove it from the mixer bowl and form it into an oval-shaped ball with your hands. Then, press it down onto a parchment paper lined baking tray until it is rectangular in shape and 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 15 minutes or so until it is golden brown on the edges and cooked in the center.

Remove it from the oven and let it cool to the touch. Then, transfer it to a cutting board and slice it into 1/2 inch thick pieces.

Turn these on their sides so the inner section faces up and bake another 5 minutes. Remove and flip each piece to double-bake the other side for another 5 minutes. Allow them to cool on wire racks before serving.

Store for one week or more in an airtight container, or eat them all within the first few days as I usually do!  Either way, share with someone you love.

Taste 4: Double Chocolate Chilies and Cherries Chocolove Chunk Cookies

For my fourth way to show him how much I care (about his waistline) I pulled out one of my original recipes I created a couple years ago: Double Chocolate Chilies and Cherries Chocolove Chunk Cookies.  The title is a mouthful because once these babies come out of the oven, you will have a mouthful of cookies all night. Warning: eat responsibly.

Local Boulder-based Chocolove makes a Chilies and Cherries bar and it’s one of my favorites.  I’m known to make spicy brownies (coming up soon in this 14-part series), but wanted to branch out a bit on my chocolate baked goods, so one day I got creative and made up this cookie recipe.  I love it.

Here’s how I made them:

• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate (Ghirardelli sells 10 oz bags of chocolate chips which work well)
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 bars of Chocolove Chilies and Cherries in Dark Chocolate

Start by melting the bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler.

While it is melting, whip the cream into butter in your KitchenAid stand mixer. Then cream together the butter and sugar (evaporated cane juice). Next, add the eggs and mix well.

Slice the cold batter-logs into disks and roll them into ping-pong-sized balls.  Bake them on a parchment lined tray at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  They’ll still feel delicate in the middle when they’re done, so carefully slide them onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

14 Ways in 14 Days- A Taste of How Much I Care, Taste 1

On my first day of giving him a taste of how much I care, I brought us a picnic lunch to share in the park. It was, after all, another gorgeous winter day in Boulder.

I rode my bike to Whole Foods for some in-house roasted turkey breast, a loaf of Udi’s roasted garlic ciabatta, cream cheese, sharp cheddar, and an avocado.  Oh, wait… and a miniature Chocolove milk chocolate bar.  Dessert is important.

I had a plan to make a good, simple sandwich.

I mixed and mashed half an avocado with approximately one tablespoon of both dijon mustard and honey. I sliced the roasted garlic ciabatta into reasonable sandwich sized slices and topped one side with cream cheese and the other with the avocado spread.

It just takes a little turkey, cheddar, and fresh ground black pepper to make a delicious sandwich. Put it together, and don’t forget a bit of chocolate for dessert.

I picked up a mini Chocolove milk chocolate bar as an impulse buy at the Whole Foods checkout. Best impulse buy of the year so far.

Holiday Gifts for my Foodie Family and Friends