French Pudding au Chocolat

CHOCOLATE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

My Funny Valentine 

Sweet Comic Valentine 

You Make Me Smile With My Heart 

You're Looks Are Laughable, 

Unphotographable 

Yet You're My Favorite Work Of Art 

Is Your Figure Less Than Greek 

Is Your Mouth A Little Weak 

When You Open It To Speak 

Are You Smart 

Don't Change A Hair For 

Me Not If You Care For Me 

Stay Little Valentine Stay 

Each Day Is Valentine's Day 

- Chet Baker 

“One thing you should know about me,” he declared as I watched him dress, crumpled sheets pulled up to my chin, drunk on love, “you will never receive chocolates from me. I will shower you with gifts, buy you jewelry, fill your arms with flowers, but I will not buy you candy. Chocolate is a vice like cigarettes and alcohol and I will not feed any vice.” And as Valentine’s Day approached he stoutly proclaimed his disdain for this “American holiday, this commercial invention by some ad man or company created for the sake of making a few bucks. And I certainly don’t need someone else to designate one particular day, tell me when and how I should tell you that I love you! I can do that when and how I please!”


Yet that first Valentine’s Day together a single chocolate heart was placed atop my pillow with all the care of a newborn babe. One single chocolate heart filled with a thousand words, words that said “I love you” silently yet louder than if he had screamed them from the rooftops. With that one chocolate heart wrapped in shimmering silver foil he let me know that he understood that this simple gesture meant more to me than his contempt for the signs in shop windows and the ads on TV, the French adaptation of this very American faux holiday. He understood that expectation fluttered underneath my bold claim of agreement with him, my apparent disinterest for this special date, expectation fluttering like a schoolgirl heart as she places that shoebox decorated with pink crepe paper hearts and white doilies on the corner of her desk as she silently utters a prayer.

When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now 

Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine? 

If I'd been out 'til quarter to three, would you let me drive 

Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four? 

You'll be older too 

Ah, and if you say the word, I could stay with you 

- Paul McCartney 

So many Valentine’s Days have come and gone, 27 of them to be exact. 27 years filled with roses and tulips, carnations and peonies, stunning jewels and breathtaking adventure. And chocolates. One time I asked him, after a very long, arduous several months trying to slim down, if he could tell that I had lost weight, if I looked better in my snug skirts, and he looked at me with that look before saying, “You know, you always look the same to me… I see you through eyes of love and you are always perfect.”

Lately, he has been dancing around the apartment making fun of us growing old together. “Maybe I’ll start cultivating the “fat, old pépère look – you know, baggy clothes, crazy hair, slumped over in my armchair saying crazy things, walking Marty in my slippers and pajama pants?” And now I look at this man as he grows older, as his moods and tempers blow hot and cold, from stressed to panicked to gleeful, from utter joy to tempestuous moody and dark; I look at this man who can drive me absolutely nuts or rant and rave and make me feel like a disobedient girl, who can make me laugh so long and so hard that my sides hurt and tears course down my cheeks, who can woo me, whisper in my ear and make me feel so loved and I realize that 64 isn’t that far away anymore.

And my answer would be yes.

FRENCH PUDDING AU CHOCOLAT

Finely ground stale bread or dry wafer-type cookies – plain white bread, Challah, brioche, ladyfingers or digestive biscuits – are used to bind these puddings in place of flour and are a fabulous way to use up stale bread. Unlike the Anglo-saxon/American style of pudding in which chunks of bread soak up custard, the bread and cookies used for a French pudding are undetectable; these puddings are velvety smooth, creamy, incredibly rich and intensely chocolate without the bitter edge. The addition of a bit of cinnamon, ground ginger or espresso, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, rum, cognac, coffee liqueur, there are so many possibilities for these deep, lusciously chocolate puddings. This is a recipe based on one found in Maisons Côté Nos 100 Recettes Tout Chocolat December 2012

5.3 oz (150 g) stale bread and/or plain wafer cookies or digestive biscuits
7 oz (200 g) dark semisweet or bittersweet chocolat 70% cacao
2 2/3 cups (600 ml) milk – I used 2% lowfat
½ cup (100 g) sugar
3 large eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon, optional or replaced by another flavoring
½ tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly butter 10 muffin cups in a muffin tin or silicone mold or ramekins. These puddings will be baked in a bain-marie, so the muffin tin or the ramekins need to sit comfortably inside a larger baking pan that will hold water.

Finely chop the chocolate on a cutting board; place the cookies and/or stale bread in a robot mixer and grind to a fine powder.

Place the milk and sugar in a large saucepan and bring up to the boil over low heat; add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is just melted then stir in the cookie/bread crumbs. Remove from the heat.

Allow the chocolate milk to cool to warm, stirring often. Lightly beat the eggs in a measuring cup or small bowl; once the chocolate mixture has cooled, whisk three or four tablespoons of it into the eggs in a slow stream just to warm the beaten eggs. Pour the eggs into the saucepan of warm chocolate mixture in a slow steady stream while whisking the mixture (we do not want the eggs to cook).

Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the muffin tin/silicone mold or the ramekins. Place these inside the larger baking pan and slide into the preheated oven. Carefully pour very hot tap water from a spouted measuring cup into the pan around the molds until the molds/tin/ramekins are immersed just halfway, being careful to not let any water get on/in the puddings.

Bake in the preheated oven in the water bath (bain-marie) for 25 – 30 minutes until the puddings are set.

Remove the baking pan very carefully from the oven so the water doesn’t slosh and wet the puddings or burn your hands. Very carefully (use oven mitts or a kitchen cloth) lift each pudding or the muffin tin out of the bain-marie water and place on a kitchen towel or cooling rack.

Serve the puddings warm with salted butter caramel sauce, berry coulis, whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. These puddings are incredibly sexy when eaten warm, but are also quite fabulous at room temperature. Chilling will make them very dense and chewy but the flavor is still astonishingly good.

Read more »

Chocolate Prune Bread Redux

BREAD BAKING BUDDIES ROUNDUP

Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; 

and good bread with (chocolate*), greatest of feasts. 

- James Beard (1903 – 1985) (*change is mine) 

The only thing better than a good loaf of bread is sharing that loaf with friends. Now throw chocolate into the mix and just imagine how phenomenal! The greatest feast, indeed. Who hasn’t smeared a slice of white bread with Nutella or split open a hunk of baguette and tucked a few squares of chocolate deep into the soft, dense center? Who wouldn’t choose a pain au chocolat over a simple croissant? And isn’t chocolate bread pudding so much more… comforting than the regular stuff? Go on… admit it.


As soon as I received the new edition of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, I jumped at the chance to be Kitchen of the month for the Bread Baking Babes. I adore all of the Artisan Bread in 5 books, not to mention the blog, and wanted more than anything to share the love, to vaunt the greatness of their baking books and the perfect of their no-knead formula and recipes. For the Bread Baking Babes challenge, I needed one single recipe, something that was unusual enough to make it an intriguing challenge while delicious enough to make everyone want to bake it… and to draw non-Babes, fellow bloggers and bread bakers to want to join in and bake for their Buddy badge.

I combed through the index, flipped through the pages and made a list of several recipes I wanted to try. Too many. I had to choose just one. I decided on the Chocolate Prune Bread. As sweet, as chocolaty as one wanted, prunes could be replaced with dried cherries, blueberries or cranberries. As versatile as any great bread recipe. But I knew that it couldn’t but please everyone. Many were expecting something bordering on cake, but it was most definitely a bread: soft, light and fluffy, tender with barely a hint of sweet except for the bits of chocolate, as much or as little as one desired. The chopped prunes or dried cherries added a burst of flavor, fruity and tart.

Visit my original blog post in which I posted the challenge as well as the recipe and don’t miss out on visiting every single one of the Babe’s blogs to see how they can take one recipe and spin it a dozen different ways. 

The Bread Baking Babes:

Bake My Day – Karen
Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire – Katie
blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth
Feeding my enthusiasms – Elle
girlichef – Heather
Lucullian Delights - Ilva
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies – Natashya
My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna
Notitie Van Lien – Lien

And now, without further ado, here are all great bakers who earned their Buddy badge!

Paola at Le mie ricette con (e senza)

Carola at Sweet and That’s It 

Sandie at Crumbs of Love

Clare at Claire’s Baking Journey

Karen at Karen’s Kitchen Stories 

Renee at Kudo’s Kitchen by Renee 

Ralph at Hungry in San Francisco

Laura at Tiramisu

Barbara at Barbara Bakes

Cathy at Bread Experience

Judy at Judy's Gross Eats














Passionate bakers without blogs or not posted on a their blog:

Lorna Steeves

Louisse Persson

Igusti Ayu Dewi (Elra’s Baking)

Read more »

Chocolate Prune Bread for Bread Baking Babes

ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE FOR THE BABES

The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, 

is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight...

- M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

It has never been a secret that I am a huge fan of Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François’ Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day books. I now own three of them. I adore my cookbooks and have hundreds, but there are very few that I actually cook and bake from regularly, over and over again. And the Artisan Bread in 5 books are definitely among that cherished minority.


My first attempt at yeast bread was a Thanksgiving long ago when I lived one floor up from my brother in that ratty apartment building in Brooklyn. What I thought would be an exciting, glamorous job in the world of art brought me to New York City just after college and happy I was when the apartment above Michael opened up just as I began my own search for living quarters. I moved my meager belongings and my wide-eyed, rather naïve young woman’s dreams into that one bedroom flat. As we both loved to cook and bake, we spent quite a bit of time together preparing meals, cakes and holidays. Our first November as neighbors, that first November of my new life, we decided to prepare a full-fledged traditional Thanksgiving dinner, yet another first for me.

I had absolutely no understanding of yeast and yeast baking. I had no concept of allowing yeast to activate, being patient while dough rose. Needless to say, my breads, no matter how beautiful the braid, no matter how glossy the crust of that Challah, the bread itself was hard and dry. My brother and I laughed heartily together as we sliced and ate the Challah, which we did, of course. Memories are hazy, but I imagine that the following morning, Michael turned that stale Challah into tender, luscious French toast. Or whizzed it in his mixer where it became breadcrumbs or stuffing. Embarrassed and disappointed by my endeavor at making yeast bread, it was years before I attempted it again. Yet my lesson had not been learned, for I once again found myself with rock-hard rolls. Oy. Not a proud moment in my culinary history. Only years later when my sons and I decided to prepare a wonderful, formal Friday night Shabbat meal every week and I began making a Challah each Friday morning, did I slow down and figure it all out.

My very first Challahs and very first yeast breads.

If only I had had a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Seriously. Jeff and Zoë offer a slew of incredible recipes for no-knead bread. Yes, that’s right, no knead. Simply put all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix and allow to rest and rise. Or place the bowl of dough for a slow rise in the refrigerator and pull off balls of dough as needed, shape, allow to rest and rise and pop in the oven. No-knead….no-fail. I have had perfect bread every time. And as you can see, their perfect recipe is now my go-to recipe for Challah and Focaccia.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Maple Challah

Classic Challah

Focaccia Farcita

When Jeff and Zoë sent me a review copy of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I immediately volunteered to be Kitchen of the Month for the Bread Baking Babes. I wanted to share and talk about their new book. And I wanted to select a recipe that was different from what I usually bake in my own kitchen, a new challenge. There are so many new recipes that I want to try – the Pletzel, the Blueberry-Lemon Curd Ring, the Pumpernickel Date and Walnut Bread – but I ended up choosing this wonderful Chocolate Prune Bread.

I loved the bread. The dough itself was stickier, almost cake like, than most bread doughs and, once baked, it is difficult to decide (as I pull off and eat chunk after chunk) whether it is a bread or a dessert, but it is so delicious. Light and fluffy like a bread, the addition of chocolate chips (I made one loaf with and one without and I highly recommend that you do add them) and prunes making this loaf the ideal snack.

January’s Bread Baking Babes recipe is Chocolate Prune Bread from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (revised & updated edition) by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoë François. You too can bake along with us and be a Bread Baking Buddy. Simply bake this Chocolate Prune Bread, blog it – don’t forget to mention being a Bread Baking Buddy and link back to this blog post! Then send me the link (please include your name and your blog’s name) by January 29th to jamieannschler AT gmail DOT com with January Bread Baking Buddy in the subject line and I will add you to the roundup at the end of the month.

For now…. definitely check out if and how the other Babes managed their own Chocolate Prune Bread:

Bake My Day – Karen
Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire – Katie
blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth
Feeding my enthusiasms – Elle
girlichef – Heather
Lucullian Delights - Ilva
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies – Natashya
My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna
Notitie Van Lien – Lien

I want to share this wonderful Chocolate Prune Bread with Susan of Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeastspotting!

To get to know Jeff and Zoë and for more great recipes, visit the Artisan Bread in 5 website.

According to Zoë and Jeff, this bread goes really well with either a glass of milk or… a glass of Armagnac (of course… prunes and Armagnac!). And just think of all the possibilities for this wonderful dough with its tender, fluffy, just chewy crumb and delicate chocolate flavor… use your imagination!

CHOCOLATE BREAD RECIPE (Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread)
Makes two 2-pound loaves. This recipe is easily doubled or halved.

2 ½ cups (565 ml) lukewarm water (100°F or below)
¾ cup (170 ml) vegetable oil
1 Tbs (0.35 oz / 10 g) granulated yeast
1 to 1 ½ Tbs (17 to 25 g) kosher salt – * use less if using fine table salt, more if using coarse salt
1 cup (7 ounces / 200 g) sugar
5 ½ cups (1 pound, 11 ½ ounces / 780 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (3 ounces / 85 g) dark, unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ cups (6 ounces / 170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips - * can omit for the chocolate prune bread

Mixing and storing the dough:

Mix the oil, yeast, salt and sugar with the water in a 6-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and the chocolate chips without kneading, using a spoon or heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). If you are not using the machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle with cold. Refrigerate the container of dough and use over the next 5 days. Beyond the 5 days, freeze the dough in 1-pound (about 450 g) portions in airtight containers for up to 4 weeks. When using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using, then allow the usual rest and rise time.

Chocolate Prune Bread:
Makes one 1 ½ pound loaf

1 ½ pounds (about 680 g – the size of a small cantaloupe) of the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread dough
Softened unsalted butter for greasing the pan
2 ounces (55 g) high-quality bittersweet chocolate - * use 6 ounces (170 g) if you did not add chocolate chips to the original Chocolate Bread Dough
¾ cup chopped pitted prunes
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs water)
¼ cup (50 g) sugar for sprinkling over the top of the bread and preparing the pan

On baking day, generously grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ - inch (22 x 11 ½ cm approx) nonstick loaf pan with butter, sprinkle some sugar evenly over the butter and shake the pan to distribute.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 ½ pound piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a ½ - inch-thick (scant 1 ½ cm) rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent it from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make the dough dry.

Sprinkle the chocolate and chopped prunes over the dough and roll up the dough jelly-roll style to enclose them. Fold the dough over itself several times, turning and pressing it down with the heel of your hand after each turn. This will work the chocolate and prunes into the dough; some may poke through.

With very wet hands (I floured my hands instead), form the dough into a loaf shape and place it into the prepared pan. Allow to rest and rise for 90 minutes, loosely covered with plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). A baking stone is not required and omitting it shortens the preheat.

Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the loaf in the center of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes until firm. Smaller or larger loaves with require adjustments to baking time.

Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool on a rack before slicing and eating.

Read more »

Bûche de Noël – Yule Log

IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store. 

- Dr. Seuss 

Four o’clock in the afternoon and the sky is already darkening towards dusk. Deep into winter, yet Nantes cannot decide what it wants, like a temperamental spoiled woman used to being pampered and coddled. Steely skies and frigid winds morph into a soft breeze and a blaze of sunshine only to flash to rain and glacial, tempestuous winds before you can say “Jack Frost”, before you realize what has happened. Capricious. We are a slave to her moods. We sneak out of the house as the lights outside dim, as the heavens are painted inky black and the streets begin to twinkle and glow in the holiday lights.


Wrapped around each other, we let the cold wind refresh us after staying too long in the warm apartment; wrapped around each other, we bask in the sparkle of the holiday lights and the glow of the holiday spirit, ears straining for the joyous music that seeps out of the shops. Night creeps upon us and we head back home once again to the warmth of inside where we gather together with our sons; the darkness envelops us like a blanket as we sit as a family and debate Christmas. Will we or won’t we? Will the festive, celebratory spirit embrace the household or will Scrooge settle onto the sofa, grab the remote control and grump the holiday away?

And younger son, arms crossed, eyes lowered, harumphs his displeasure. “I thought this was a Jewish home,” he mumbles, obviously not in the Christmas mood. He is a tough nut to crack, hard to pull out of one of his funks, but we are all in a great mood and we know just what to say to get him to crack a smile.

The holiday spirit has won and a menu was settled upon. I dashed to the kitchen and began pulling bags of dried cranberries, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and chestnut cream, flour and eggs from the cupboards and lined them up on the countertop next to my collection of holiday dvds. I was in a festive mood and ready to make cookies, cakes and puddings! Son had offered to bring the apératif, fingerfoods to accompany the chilling bottle of Prosecco in the refrigerator, smoked salmon with herbed crème fraîche on blinis, black olive tapenade on slices of baguette topped with sun-dried tomatoes, wedges of foie gras on dark bread topped with sweet and sour onion compote. Christmas music, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Andrews Sisters, rang out from husband’s ipad which he had kindly set up for me, baking and singing, merry, indeed.

And of course, JP prepared his Christmas Eve masterpiece, an extra special luxury cheese fondue, a heady blend of cheeses, Gruyère, Emmenthal, bleu de Gex and a bit of Roquefort, white wine and kirsch and a touch of garlic.

And I was in charge of dessert.

I had been asked specifically to prepare a traditional bûche de noël, a yule log. Clem was adamant, nothing else would do! My most untraditional son was taken over by the holiday spirit and demanded a veritable bûche. Yet, when he heard that his father wanted nothing more than something light and fruity to follow such a heavy, rich meal as a cheese fondue, exhorted that I make nothing fancier than homey Apple Crisps, son became relentless in his campaign for a bûche, popping up on my Facebook page

Are you trying to escape from your bûche assignment?? 

My favorite Christmas cookie is BÛCHE! And my favorite movie is BACK TO THE BÛCHE!

Well, he was right. I mean…Apple Crisp? For Christmas dinner? Why not a traditional bûche de noël that had been specifically requested and might just very well have been promised? Or a fancy Chocolate Chip Zuccotto or Chocolate Chestnut Charlotte, each dressed to impress? These rich, showy confections veritably scream Christmas… or Noël, as the case may be. What had I been thinking? And so I defied JP’s wishes and logic and I gave into my son’s, the old Christmas Spirit chasing away my nonchalance and practicality. Tis the season for mirth and joy!

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. 

― Charles M. Schulz 

A Bûche de Noël.

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! - Charles Dickens

Follow this link to Plated Stories for our latest posts Frozen, Light and Holiday. All in the seasonal spirit.

AND there are still spaces available at our Plated Stories Workshop being held the last ten days of May in Italy (still time to plan!). The workshop will be dedicated to food writing, food photography and styling, inspiration, ideas and creativity. And there will be fabulous Italian food and visits to many Tuscan cities.

Did you know that I received a wonderful Christmas box from the people at Peeps? Yes, a box full of holiday marshmallow Peeps and I wrote all about it – and how I, after more than 25 years, got a Frenchman with Grinch-like tendencies – to eat and like Peeps! Find it here on Huffington Post!

And in case you missed it, find my story about Rémy Anézo, pigeon breeder extraordinaire, here on Modern Farmer.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, 

and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, 

become a child again at Christmas-time. 

― Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Last year's Bûche de Noël

This year's Bûche de Noël

BÛCHE DE NOËL

Please read through the entire recipe – the genoise, the filling and the frosting – so you can best organize and time each step. The genoise will need time to cool rolled up in a cloth and the cream filling needs a bit of time to chill in the refrigerator before assembling the bûche.

For the Rum Sugar Syrup: 

Scant half cup (100 ml) water
Scant 3/8 cup (80 g) sugar
2 - 3 Tbs rum

Place the water with the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Let boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat. Stir in the rum. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Can be made the day before.

For the Genoise:
This is a magnificent genoise for any jellyroll cake any time of the year. Simple to make.

4 large eggs, separated
½ cup (100 g) sugar
½ tsp vanilla
4/5 cup (100 g) flour
Powdered/confectioner’s sugar and a sifter or sieve

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 15 ½ x 10 ½ x ¾ inch (40 x 27 x 2 cm) jellyroll pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the parchment. Have a clean dishtowel larger than the jellyroll pan as well as a clean flat baking sheet ready.

Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in large mixing bowl and the whites in a very clean medium-sized bowl (I prefer plastic). If you like, add a tiny pinch of salt and 2 drops lemon juice to the whites to help stabilize them. Add the sugar to the yolks and beat with an electric mixer on high until thick, creamy and pale, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

Using very clean beaters, beat the whites until peaks hold and the meringue is thick. Fold the whites into the yolk/sugar mixture gently but firmly using a spatula, a third of the whites at a time, alternating with the flour in two or three additions. Do not over mix/fold but do make sure there are no more clumps of whites visible, no more pockets of flour. 

Spread the batter evenly in the parchment-lined jellyroll pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until puffed, golden and the cake springs back when lightly pressed.

Remove from the oven. Immediately slide the parchment paper and cake together onto the extra large flat baking sheet. Invert the warm jellyroll pan and place on top of the genoise and, holding both the jellyroll pan and the baking sheet firmly together, flip them over and remove the baking sheet; the top of the genoise is now face down while the parchment paper is up. Peel off the parchment paper. Dust a light layer of powdered sugar all over the genoise and then place the clean dishtowel over the genoise. Once again place the clean baking sheet inverted on the dishtowel-covered cake and, holding the baking sheet and the jellyroll pan firmly together, flip. Remove the jellyroll pan.

You should now have the warm genoise topside up on the clean dishtowel on the clean flat baking sheet. Dust the top of the genoise with a light layer of powder sugar and, starting on a short end of the cake, roll the genoise up – gently but as tightly as possible without crushing or breaking the cake - in the towel (the towel will be rolled up with the cake). Allow to cool completely.

For the Chestnut Mascarpone Cream Filling:

½ cup (125 ml) chilled heavy whipping cream
Scant ½ tsp powdered unflavored gelatin + 2 Tbs cold water
½ cup (125 g) fresh mascarpone cheese
Small can (3.5 oz/100 g) crème de marrons (sweetened chestnut cream) *

* If you do not have crème de marrons, you can simply fold in powdered sugar (not too sweet), chocolate hazelnut spread, a splash of rum or orange liqueur or grated chocolate.

Place the 2 tablespoons cold water in a small saucepan; sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water and let sit for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Place the pan over a very low heat to warm the water and melt the gelatin – you want to heat the water for about 5 minutes without allowing it to come to a boil or to boil away: allow the water to heat then, holding the pan just off of the flame/heat, swirling and whisking constantly, allow the bit of water to stay heated for long enough to allow the gelatin to melt. After the 5 minutes, remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes or until barely tepid to the touch.

Beat the heavy cream in a chilled bowl until thick and soft peaks hold. Continue beating as you pour the gelatin water into the heavy cream in a slow stream.

Beat in the mascarpone then the chestnut cream.

Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour to allow the gelatin to add body to the filling.

For the Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting:

2.8 oz (80 g) dark chocolate (70%)
Between 3/8 and ½ cups (100 ml) heavy cream
About 3 Tbs leftover Chestnut Mascarpone Filling or Mascarpone Cheese

Coarsely chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof/Pyrex bowl. Place the cream in a small saucepan and heat just to the boil. Pour the steaming cream over the chocolate, allow to sit for a minute and then stir vigorously with a whisk or spatula until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is homogeanous, smooth and thickening. Mixing/whisking occasionally, allow the chocolate ganache to cool and thicken, placing it in the refrigerator for a bit if needed. Once cooled and thickened (or beginning to thicken – it should not harden) beat it with either leftover filling or mascarpone to lighten, just as much as needed and desired. 

Assemble the Bûche:

When the genoise is completely cool, carefully unroll and slide off the dishtowel and onto a clean sheet of parchment paper or work surface. Brush/dab a generous amount of the Rum Syrup all over the genoise, as much or as little as desired – the more one uses, the stronger the rum flavor will be as it infuses the cake and the moister the genoise will become; use at least half of the syrup if not a bit more. Spread the Chestnut Mascarpone Cream Filling evenly over the genoise; I saved about 3 tablespoons to use for the frosting. Starting at the short end of the genoise (the end rolled up first in the towel to cool), roll up the cake as tightly as possible without pressing or rolling so tightly that the cream oozes out (see the photo of my finished cake to see how mine was rolled). When completely rolled, scrape off any filling that has oozed out. Using a sharp or serrated knife, trim off both ends of the bûche to even out the ends. Very carefully, lift the bûche onto the serving platter, placing the seam side down.

At this point, I covered the bûche and the platter with plastic wrap and refrigerated it for an hour or two (the time it took to prepare dinner) to allow the filling to firm up.

Before serving, spread the Chocolate Frosting all over the bûche and decorate as desired.

Read more »

Chocolate Chestnut Rum Bundt Cake & a Workshop

AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. 

Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try” 

– Dr. Seuss 

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on” 

– Albert Einstein 

Most of my readers know that as much as I love writing, I love teaching writing as well. Inspiring others to write. I have helped create conferences and workshops, spoken and taught. I love the creative energy that sparks, flames and electrifies, that fills a room and overflows when a group of passionate writers and photographers gather, discuss and work. Most of my readers know that Ilva Beretta and I together created the Plated Stories blog as a purely creative endeavor, allowing us a space where we can explore, find new ways to express ourselves, break away from the expectations of what a food blog is.

And now we are excited to announce the creation of the first Plated Stories Workshop! Partnering with Tuscan Muse in Italy, the workshop is part of an extraordinary 10-day experience with Tuscan Muse and will be dedicated to food writing (I will be teaching) and food photography and styling (with the super talented Ilva teaching).

Discover the Plated Stories workshop by clicking over to the Tuscan Muse website. The five days will include intensive, hands-on exercises in both food writing and styling/photography, heady discussion and lively exchange. The workshop will include a cooking class with chef Enrico Casini, photowalks in stunning Tuscany and the city of Pienza, fabulous Italian food and all in a divine and inspiring setting.

Food Photography Indoors & Out!

Boost your writing creativity & hone your skills in a fabulous setting!

The Plated Stories workshop will be held at Le Casacce agriturismo among the olive trees in the heart of the Val d’Orcia. Once the workshop is over, you will take your camera and your imagination and continue on the voyage with Tuscan Muse, discovering the magic of Tuscany.

Plated Stories the blog is all about finding inspiration and tapping into our creativity, pushing ourselves beyond our own limits. This is exactly what we will help you do at Plated Stories the workshop: you will be inspired to take that step beyond and you will learn how to channel your creativity in new ways for your own purpose, be it for your blog, professional work or a hobby.

A great workshop in a convivial, joyous atmosphere!

Take a look at the workshop description and itinerary. Spaces are limited (allowing so much more personal guidance, critique and one-on-one time with both Ilva and I) so sign up/register quick quick! This will surely be a great adventure and we would love for you to join us!

All in Italy!

Take note: The Plated Stories workshop is organized and managed by Tuscan Muse so any questions about the workshop week and organization, travel, location, cost, meals, etc should be addressed to Tuscan Muse (find the link here). Ilva and I are teaching the workshop, so any question about the workshop program itself feel free to leave in a comment below or by emailing us privately at platedstories (at) gmail (dot) com. Also, please let us know if you would like to be put on the Plated Stories email list to receive further information as well as the Plated Stories newsletter by contacting us at platedstories (at) gmail (dot) com

And to celebrate our newest venture, I baked a cake ! I started with my Chocolate Spice Cake with Sour Black Cherries in Syrup and replaced the cherries with sweetened chestnut cream and the vanilla with rum. The result is much lighter and more tender than I expected, a beautiful balance of chocolate and chestnut with a lingering hint of rum. Perfect for breakfast, snack or dessert. 

CHOCOLATE RUM CHESTNUT BUNDT CAKE

Makes one 9-inch (23 cm) Bundt – can also be baked in layers or in a loaf pan but adjust baking time as needed.

7 Tbs (100 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup (200 g) sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 ¾ cup (230 g) flour
3 Tbs (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
7/8 cup (200 ml) milk
2 Tbs rum, cognac, Grand Marnier or Cointreau (or replace with 1 tsp vanilla)
4 Tbs (100 g) crème de marrons (sweetened chestnut cream)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) Bundt pan – (or two 9-inch layer cake pans or one loaf pan). Lightly flour the pan and knock out all the excess. 

Place the softened butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until thick, smooth and doubled in volume. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition to increase the volume of the batter.

Stir or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl. Add the rum to the milk.

Add the dry ingredients to the batter in three additions, alternating with the milk/rum in two, beginning and ending with dry, beating after each addition until well blended.

Beat in the Chestnut Cream. Carefully ladle the batter into the pan and gently smooth the top if needed and place in the preheated oven.

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes (Note: if using layer cake pans or a loaf pan and depending upon your oven, baking times may vary greatly, so begin checking the cake for doneness after 35 minutes.) The cake is done when a tester stuck into the center of the cake comes out clean - or cleanish, with no liquid batter.

Remove from the oven onto cooling racks and allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes before gently shaking the cake lose and turning it out of the baking pan and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Slide the cake onto a serving platter, dust with a bit of cocoa powder and serve. For an elegant dessert, serve the cake with very lightly sweetened whipped cream, rum-spiked whipped cream or ice cream (rum raisin!).

Read more »