I think the first time I made brownies was in high school. My mom has a really good recipe that she got from a friend. The recipe is hand written on a tattered piece of paper and the instructions are pretty vague. When I was a teenager the only thing I had ever baked was sugar cookies at Christmas, so making brownies was a big leap for me. Suffice it to say, this leap didn’t go well. I remember the brownies did not hold their shape and it was easy to mold the under cooked chocolate concoction into balls. The misshaped brownies tasted good, but looked bad. And maybe unsafe as they were under baked. After that I only made brownies from a box. 

In fact, I’m not sure how many times I’ve made brownies since that high school mishap. The answer is probably not many. But I had a craving for chocolate so I decided I to make some brownies. Now, chocolate and strawberries is one of my favorite combinations. I don’t know why but I think chocolate covered strawberries are one of the best (and fanciest) treats. So, wouldn’t brownie covered strawberries be really good?! Even better perhaps?! I was going to try it out so I went to the store to buy some ingredients.

I had some other errands to run so I went to a shop a little further from our flat than usual. I was shopping at the Budgens on Holloway Road. In this store when you’re waiting to pay you get in line and then wait for whichever cashier was next. I was first in the line and ahead of me were two registers – one had a man and one had a woman – both had babies in strollers. Both babies were making general happy baby noises and I remember thinking, “babies are always making some kind of noise.” That sounds crotchety and mean, but I work with children I hear them making noise all the time. But anyway… the man at the register bent down to coo at his baby and I did a double take.

“Oh man, I think that’s Chris O’Dowd!” I thought excitedly to myself.

So I looked a bit longer and I decided it’s definitely Chris O’Dowd. And then I got all tingly, excited and star struck. In my adult life I’ve lived in big cities and had interesting jobs so I’ve had the pleasure of seeing celebrities a number of times before. For example, when I interned at the New York City Police Museum, Katie Couric came to see an exhibit and she and I walked down the stairs together and I asked her how she liked her visit. Also, in my first week at the Science Museum Jason Isaacs came up and asked for directions to the bathroom (and I didn’t know the answer). And for a last example, once I was in a cab in New York and I saw Nick Lachey waiting to cross the street.

But I have never felt so giddy to see a celebrity. I have never wanted to talk to a celebrity so badly. I think I first saw Chris O’Dowd in Bridesmaids but I fell in love with him through the IT Crowd. That show is smart, goofy, lovable, and so memorable. Ryan and I joke about it and quote it all the time. We first watched it right after we moved to London and it was the first British TV show that we got into. For me, I was new to a city and this show was a tiny way for me to participate in British culture.

Anyway, I kept looking at him and then he saw me looking at him and I looked away. It was awkward, but probably that happens to him all the time. Then I was called up to pay for my groceries. I paid, walked out of the store and excitedly texted Ryan. I decided to pretend to be cool and not say anything to Chris O’Dowd because, you know, I can be normal and shop in the same store as a celebrity and let him be normal and not bother him. Then Chris O’Dowd came out of the door after me and he went right and I went left. I went home with my groceries made brownies and watched episodes of the IT Crowd. So, this recipe could be called “brownies with strawberries” or it could be called “the time I stared at Chris O’Dowd while buying groceries.” Sure, it’s not the most dynamic celebrity sighting story but I was really pleased with it.

And you (and anyone you share these brownies with) will be pleased with this recipe. The brownies are fudgy and very chocolaty. Fresh from the oven the strawberries taste like jam but when cooled they add a soft texture and nice fruity burst. Ryan said he thinks it makes the brownies get better each day that passes because the brownies got softer and fudgier. Also, I used my homemade butter to make these so I was really proud of the extra-homemadeness! I chose to use 1/2 milk and 1/2 dark chocolate because I wanted a sweeter, creamy, softer flavor. You can totally use all dark chocolate and then you’ll have that rich bitter flavor associated with dark chocolate.  Do what you like, but definitely make these. They are yummy.

Recipe adapted from Saltedtv.com. Salted TV is an online cooking school with loads of recipes and helpful videos about techniques. It’s awesome, check it out.

Messy level: You can make the batter in ONE BOWL!!! I think the real draw back to baking is often having to use two bowls and that doubles the dishes. Made in one bowl, there’s very little mess and clean up.

Brownies with Strawberries

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

33 mins

Total time

53 mins

 

Serves: 15

Ingredients

• 10 medium strawberries cut in half
• 1 cup/ 113 grams butter
• 5.5 ounces/ 155 grams dark chocolate bar cut into chunks (or chips)
• 5.5 ounces/ 155 grams milk chocolate bar cut into chunks (or chips)
• 1½ cups/ 300 grams sugar
• ½ cup/ 110 grams brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1¼ cups/ 172 grams all-purpose flour
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line a 9x13" baking dish with parchment paper
3. Scatter the cut strawberries across the bottom of the parchment paper. Set dish aside.
4. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. (I used number 3 out of 9 on my settings)
5. Lower the heat and add the dark and milk chocolate chunks. Stir gently until chocolate is melted and combined with the butter.
6. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar, brown sugar and salt. Stir until well mixed in.
7. Now stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Add the eggs one at a time. In between each egg stir and mix until the egg is completely incorporated before adding the next egg.
9. Fold in the cocoa powder and flour. Be gentle and don't over mix. It's ok if there are still a few lumps - if you mix too much you'll have a tough brownie.
10. Pour the batter over the strawberries in your prepared pan. Try to make sure your batter is evenly distributed across the pan.
11. Bake in the oven for 33 min or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out pretty clean.
12. Use the parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan. Let cool slightly then cut and serve.

3.3.3077

The post Brownies with Strawberries appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Back in March, before I went back to DC for my friend Mala’s wedding, I asked Mala if she would get me the largest jar of peanut butter she could find. I asked her in part because my friend Sarah had been impressed by the size of the peanut butter in my cupboard and I told her it was nothing compared to what I could get in the US. Also I asked because Ryan and I wanted some US peanut butter. You know, tastes like home and childhood. 

Mala went to Costco to get me the peanut butter, but in classic oversize American warehouse style she couldn’t just get one jar – she got a two pack. Look how big and gigantic those American jars are compared to what I bought at Tesco?! It’s astounding and overwhelming. I was worried they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase, although thankfully both made it back to London. Now it’s June and we’ve gone through one of those jars. Whether that’s impressive in a good way or a bad way I don’t know, but it’s the truth.

Since March, we’ve been generously eating peanut butter. We’ve had lots of pb&j sandwiches, we’ve put it on apples, and spread it on crepes with Nutella. Then the other day at work I had a craving for the flourless peanut butter cookies I wrote about when we first moved here. It was a controversial choice since it requires one cup of peanut butter – and since we’re on to the second jar it would put a significant dent in our inventory.

However, I kept day dreaming about those cookies. I had to make them. And then day dreaming turned to innovation. I thought, “you know what I love with peanut butter? Pretzels!” Pretzels with peanut butter. It’s probably my favorite snack to have after work. Sometimes right after work and before dinner gets started Ryan and I are famished and need a snack. Pretzels and peanut butter is perfect because it’s filling and the perfect combination of smooth and crunchy.

Then I my day dreaming got even better and I got extra snacky. What makes everything better? And what’s delicious with pretzels? Chocolate! There it was – the trifecta – peanut butter pretzel chocolate cookies. It might be my perfect sweet snack food. The pretzels had crunch and some salt, the dark chocolate is sweet and slightly bitter, and peanut butter is perfection. Most importantly, even with those addition this recipe is crazy easy because you need hardly any other ingredients. I just adapted the flourless cookie recipe to incorporate these add-ins.

I decide to use dark chocolate from a bar because I like the randomness in sizes and it melts really well. I’ve done it with chocolate chips and they work just fine. However, chocolate chips have more stabilizers in them, so even when baked the chips hold their shape. Chocolate cut roughly from the bar creates melty gooey-ness when the cookies come straight from the oven. Use whichever you like, either will be delicious.

Messy level: Everything is made in one bowl! It’s the cleanest recipe and so easy to make. Yes, peanut butter is sticky but it stays in the bowl. And flourless means that the flour doesn’t spill on the floor or fly in the air. So clean people! One tip though, grease your measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring the peanut butter. Do that, and the peanut butter will slide out easily.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

13 mins

Total time

18 mins

 

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼-1/3 cup crushed hard pretzels
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl mix together the peanut butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
4. Stir in the crushed pretzels and dark chocolate until mix throughout
5. Take about 1-2 tablespoons of dough and form into a ball. Put the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Then, flatten the ball slightly.
6. Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until just slightly darker on the edge.
7. Let cool. Then serve, preferably with milk.

3.3.3077

The post Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cookies appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Everyone, I’m so excited! My friend Charlotte is visiting!! She’s in London, ya’ll. She’s the first friend to visit us this year. I’ve taken two days off of work and am so excited to catch up and do some site seeing with her and her husband Craig. I’m going to visit places I haven’t seen before, revisit some old favorites, and hopefully have lots of new stories to share in future Tourist Tuesday posts. So, as you might be able to tell, I’m really excited to have a long weekend off here in London. To celebrate her arrival, I wanted to make something delicious – and I knew Malted Chocolate Nougat would be just the recipe to try. 

Once upon a time Charlotte lived in the UK, and before I moved here she gave me some advice and most importantly, recommendations about foods to try. She recommended Hula Hoops, which are a sort of crazy shaped potato snack. And she recommended Maltesers, which are spherical sweets with a malted honeycomb center and a chocolate cover (sort of like a Whopper, but these are better). Maltesers are the snack I sometimes buy for lunch, they are the treat I send to Charlotte, and they are overall flipping delicious.

And today’s recipe prominently features Maltesers and therefore is the perfect treat to welcome Charlotte to London. If you don’t have Maltesers, use Whoppers or whatever candy equivalent you have. I got this recipe from Sweets Made Simple, a cookbook that not only has interesting recipes for candy (like lime & chili kisses and maple bacon lolly pops) but also for things like fruit leather. The book also makes me believe I can do difficult/scary things like make my own caramel and pour hot sugar syrup without burning myself.

What I’ve learned from this book is that making sweets takes precision – so you are pretty much required to get a candy thermometer. If that puts you off, don’t let it because you can buy one from Amazon for less than a tenner. Also, making sweets can take attention. For a recipe like this you have to be nearby watching to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn and the eggs don’t become over beaten. Finally a stand mixer or a lovely assistant is going to make this recipe less stressful. The mixer needs to be running sometimes while you’re doing something else. Sure, you might be able to keep one eye on the stove and one eye on the mixer, but when you have to work fast that can lead to frustration, mess, and burnt food.

So, this is not a beginner recipe as it requires some kit and some comfort in the kitchen, but it is worth doing. The actual “work” part takes less than 30 minutes and in the end you will have delicious, fluffy, sticky nougat. It’s delicious and sweet, although it does feel like maybe you should visit the dentist afterward.  Partway through making it, this will smell like the most perfect fresh marshmallows, which is wonderful, but in the end it’s denser and chocolatey like nougat. In short, it tastes like malted chocolate but has the texture of the inside of the Three Musketeers bar. With a sprinkling of Maltesers on top, it’s got the perfect amount of crunch.  Sounds glorious, no?

Recipe from Sweets Made Simple cookbook.

Messy level: Technically you don’t use that many dishes so it’s not that messy. However, this is the most important tip I can give you – clean your sugar pan AS SOON AS YOU FINISH, literally while it is still hot. If you let that sugar cool it will be rock hard and stuck. I have one tiny dot of hardened sugar on my mixer and I cannot scrape it off. If you do wait to clean, just put a little water in your pans and then heat them really hot to melt the sugar again. Seriously though, save yourself the work and try to scrape out and clean your sugar pans quickly.

Malted Chocolate Nougat

 

Print

Prep time

8 hours

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

8 hours 30 mins

 

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• vegetable oil
• 400g/14oz/ 2 cups sugar
• 100ml/3½ fl oz/ ¼ cup clear honey
• 210 ml/7oz/ ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons liquid glucose
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled
• 40g/1½ oz/3.5 tablespoons chocolate malt powder
• pinch salt
• 75g/3oz/a big handful of chocolate-coated honeycomb balls like Maltesers or Whoppers

Instructions

1. Prep notes: Before you get started, measure out the egg whites and let them come to room temperature (about 15-20 minutes before starting the rest). Also if you're using a chocolate bar and need to melt it, do this first. Cut the chocolate bar in little pieces. Put in a bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir and continue this until you have completely melted chocolate. Set aside to cool down.
2. Line a 8x8" square tin with tin foil. Lightly brush the bottom with vegetable oil. Then line the bottom with a square of rice or parchment paper.
3. In a large heavy bottomed pan, stir together the sugar, honey, liquid glucose, and cold water. Heat on a medium-low heat to dissolve the sugar.
4. Once the sugar is dissolve put your candy thermometer in the pan. Bring the sugar mixture to boil and allow to bubble until the temperature reaches 125°C/257°F.
5. Meanwhile, while you're waiting for the sugar to come to temperature, put your egg whites in the bowl of a mixer. Turn the mixer on medium-high and whisk until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over beat. If you don't know what stiff peaks looks like, check out these pictures.
6. When the sugar syrup comes to temperature you will have to work quickly. Make sure the mixer is now on low. Take the thermometer out of the pan. Pour half of the sugar syrup from the pan into the egg whites. (This is when it will smell nice)
7. Keep the mixer running and let the egg whites and sugar syrup continue to mix.
8. Return the pan with half the sugar syrup back to the stove. Heat the syrup until it reaches 157°C/315°F. The syrup will become a dark caramel color.
9. Once it come to temperature, slowly pour it into the stand mixer. It will foam up a bit. Turn the mixer up to medium and mix everything for a few minutes (about 3-4 minutes). The mixture will thin down a bit.
10. Now add in the melted chocolate, malt powder, and salt. Mix until incorporated and everything is a nice light brown.
11. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter half of your honeycomb balls over the top. Cut the other half, into halves and press those in around the full honeycomb balls.
12. Cool and leave to set overnight. Have some for breakfast because you deserve it.

3.3.3070

The post Malted Chocolate Nougat appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

On Sunday it’s Easter. But later in the day Mad Men returns with the final episodes of the series. Woot woot! I’m excited to see where the show will go with these final episodes. I can easily see it ending simply with Don Draper sitting in a chair smoking (like in the opening credits) or I can see it going down totally dramatically with big reveals, deaths, and jail. Who knows! Anyway, today’s recipe celebrates the drama, the style, and the boozing of this wonderful show with a twist on Don Draper’s favorite cocktail, the Old Fashioned. 

I think Don Draper is an incredible character. He is charismatic, mysterious, and suave. He’s sexy, smart, and he does whatever the hell he wants. But at the same time, he is such a jerk. He’s sometimes selfish, a drunk, a cheater, and he’s tormented by his past. With all of those traits put together, I’m mesmerized by him. I like him, I hate him, I root for him, and I just can’t stop watching him. I need to know what happens next.

However, before getting to the recipe, I have to say Mad Men is not all about Don. The show is full of memorable moments and the cast has some incredible characters – and the women especially are the best. Betty, while not always likable, is one of my fashion favorites. I love her fit and flare dresses and pearl earrings. I aspire to her style. I especially love that she dressed like a sweet, ladylike housewife when in reality she can be cold and ruthless. Peggy’s transformation over the course of the show has been amazing. She starts off all bright eyed with her bouncy ponytail and now she owns a building, has clawed her way up the corporate ladder, and she doesn’t let anything stand in her way. But my favorite bad ass is Joan. She has curves for days, clear opinions on everything, and doesn’t stand for people’s nonsense. All of them smart and awesome in their own way. I want to be a little bit like all of them and I can’t wait to see what happens to them in the final episodes.

Photo from the Gloss

Anyway, you can’t talk about Mad Men without talking about cocktails. There has been all kinds of noteworthy drinks throughout Mad Men, but Don Draper’s favorite cocktail is an Old Fashioned. This is where liquor aficionados are going to disagree with me, but here’s what I know about an Old Fashioned: it has bourbon or whiskey, bitters, a bit of sugar, an orange slice, a maraschino cherry, and a lemon peel or slice. I decided to take those flavors and turn them into a boozy dark chocolate Old Fashioned Cocktail truffle. For me, this is the perfect way to channel my inner Don Draper while enjoying the show.

In preparing this recipe, I did some research about the differences between bourbon and whiskey – and then which one would most be used in an Old Fashioned, and then on top of that what brand would Don Draper drink. I came up with no conclusive results. I found out Don Draper’s favorite whiskey is Canadian Club – but that it’s not necessarily in an Old Fashioned. I found people saying to use Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, and Maker’s Mark – but then I also found people arguing against each of these liquors. So I asked myself, what would Don Draper do? The answer: whatever he wanted. So I like Jack Daniel’s (because Ryan and I once went to the distillery), so I bought Jack Daniel’s. I’m sorry if that makes you gasp with horror. When you make these, use the type of whiskey or bourbon that you like best.

Fair warning, these truffles are fruitier than an Old Fashioned would be. They taste largely of dark chocolate and orange, with just a hint of cherry flavor, and a finishing kick from the liquor. I used minimal lemon zest in the actual recipe. I just sprinkled a bit in the mix and then put some on my fingers before I rolled the chocolate into balls. This gave it a little bit of a lemony hint without being too much lemon. If you like more lemon then substitute it for some of the orange zest. Like regular cocktails, you can alter this a bit to suit your taste.

So, on Sunday, comb your hair back, put on your 1960’s best, and enjoy the final episodes of Mad Men with this chocolaty treat.

Messy level: Surprisingly messy recipe. Mostly this is easy and straightforward, but when you make the chocolate balls, the chocolate melts in your hand and you will be absolutely covered. There are worse problems than having chocolate covered hands, but it does make it hard to turn on the sink when you want to wash up.

Old Fashioned Cocktail Truffles

 

Print

Prep time

8 hours 30 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

8 hours 45 mins

 

A boozy dark chocolate truffle inspired by the Old Fashioned Cocktail

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 4oz/100g dark chocolate, broken into small chunks
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ¼ cup/50 g butter, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons cherry juice (I used juice from the maraschino cherry jar)
• ½ teaspoon orange zest
• sprinkle lemon zest
• 2-3 tablespoons bourbon or whiskey of your choice
• cocoa powder

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer.
2. Place the chocolate and heavy cream into a heat proof bowl. Pop the bowl on top of the pan with simmering water. Make sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl.
3. Heat the chocolate until melted. Mix until everything is smooth and melted.
4. Remove the bowl from the heat and add in the butter. Stir until it is smooth, shiny, and the butter is melted.
5. Now whisk in the orange zest, cherry juice, liquor and lemon zest. Don't worry about a ton of lemon zest, just grate the lemon a few times over the bowl. Whisk until everything is combined.
6. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a food storage container with a lid. Pop that into the fridge and chill overnight.
7. Once chilled, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Remove the chocolate from the fridge. Using a teaspoon, scoop out bits of chocolate. Use your hands to roll the chocolate into balls. (If you want more lemon flavor, zest some more lemons and rub your hands in it before rolling the chocolate. The lemon oils will get on your hands then onto the chocolate)
9. Place the chocolate balls on the lined baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
10. Sift a bit of cocoa powder into a bowl. Sifting is important to remove big clumps. Roll the chocolate balls into the cocoa.
11. Serve on a plate with napkins in front of the television. Eat - but not too much or you'll be tipsy

3.2.2925

The post Old Fashioned Cocktail Truffles appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

When I first met Ryan, even before we were dating, I learned two fun facts about him. One, he’s a twin. And two, he’s from Hershey, PA. Then he immediately dispelled all myths about those two things. No, he can’t feel his twin’s pain. No, he can’t read his mind. No, it doesn’t always smell like chocolate in Hershey. No, he wasn’t given loads of chocolate when he graduated. (Side note: I didn’t ask those questions aloud, but Ryan’s always been able to read my mind so he must have known my thoughts even then.)

But, Ryan did have some special chocolate knowledge and he introduced me to Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate with Cranberries, Blueberries, and Almonds. I really like that chocolate bar, but I can’t always find it easily (and definitely can’t find it here in the UK). That bar is delicious, and this recipe for dark chocolate bark reminds me of that bar (but this is cheap and you can feel superior for DIY-ing it). For me, this is a wonderful treat because of the combination of flavors and textures. It’s sweet and bitter from the dark chocolate. It’s juicy and tart from the pomegranates. And it’s crunchy from the almonds.

It’s also a great recipe because during the Christmas season there are a lot of opportunities to make sweets – ya know for parties, gifts, and general snacking. This recipe is super easy. It has three ingredients and requires minimal cooking tools or ability. And the best part of it is, this recipe makes nice chocolate, even more amazing. But, please store it in the fridge! Too much handling and it will get a little melty and you’ll have chocolate on your hands. I know, what a burden, you might have to lick chocolate off of your hand. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If you’re not into dark chocolate or the toppings I used, you can adapt the bark to your tasted. You could add dried fruits, pretzels, other nuts, cornflakes. Seriously, I think whatever you want to pair with chocolate you can throw into bark. The only “special” equipment you need is a heat-proof bowl that you can put over a saucepan. I used a glass bowl.

This recipe was inspired by Give Recipe.

Messy level: Just two spoons! You only have three ingredients. And the method is just heating, mixing, and cooling. So easy, neat, and easy to impressive. The messiest part is breaking the chocolate because some of the toppings fall out

Pomegranate and Almond Dark Chocolate Bark

 

Print

Ingredients

• 240g/8oz dark chocolate (about 1.5 bars from the baking section)
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• ¼ cup almonds

Instructions

1. Line a packing sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roughly chop the almonds, set aside.
3. Roughly chop the chocolate. Don't get too worried about this. You just want the chocolate in small-ish pieces so they will melt quickly and evenly. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
4. Put about 1" of water in a small saucepan. Place the heatproof bowl over the saucepan. Is the bottom of the bowl touching the water? If so, remove some water. Set the bowl aside.
5. Heat the water until simmering, then put the bowl back on top of the saucepan. The water as it simmers and boils will melt the chocolate!
6. Stir the chocolate to help along the melting.
7. Once it's completely melted, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the saucepan.
8. Let the chocolate come to room temperature. Then, once it's cooled to room temperature, mix in half of the pomegranate seeds.
9. Pour the chocolate and pomegranates over the prepared baking sheet. Use a knife or spatula to spread the chocolate out to your desired thickness.
10. Sprinkle the remaining pomegranates and chopped almonds over the top of the chocolate. Poke the toppings in at different angles to give a nice look.
11. Put the baking sheet in the fridge and cool for 2 hours, or until hard enough to break into random sharp pieces.

3.2.2925

The post Pomegranate and Almond Dark Chocolate Bark appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Checkout woman (in reference to marshmallow fluff): What do you do with this? Put it on toast? I bought some and I don’t know how to use it.

Me: I’m going to use it for a cake. But, it’s good with a spoon straight from the jar.

Checkout woman says nothing and gives me weird look.

Me: You could also use it to make something like a smore with a digestive biscuit and piece of chocolate.

Checkout woman: Healthy.

And then I felt awkward like I had said something wildly inappropriate (and super American). But here’s the cultural difference part. Her go-to idea for marshmallow fluff was to put it on toast, and that is pretty English. Cheesy toast, beans on toast, boiled egg and soldiers – these are all ways the English use toast. I don’t have that many uses for toast. Obviously you can put it on toast, but I had never considered that before (but maybe I will now). And for me, I felt super American because it never occurred to me that a person wouldn’t know how to use fluff. Also, a spoon seems like a perfectly legit means of eating fluff. And why should a treat be healthy? Smores are an amazing American treat and great when turned into a cake.

For Ryan’s birthday I made Ryan a steak and mashed potato dinner and then we followed it up with this cake.  In making the cake, I did almost set off the smoke alarm. Here’s what happened: I tried to toast the mini marshmallows using the broiler. I put them in the oven and then after about a minute I looked at them and they weren’t even brown yet so I put them back in. I went to melt the marshmallow fluff and checked back in the oven. The marshmallows were puffed up, dark brown, and starting to smoke. I pulled them out, we fanned the smoke, and then threw them out. Oops. Accidents happen.

I had more marshmallows, I didn’t toast them, and the cake cake out really nicely. I lit candles, I sang, he made a wish, then we ate cake. And then we finished the whole cake in three days, because that’s how good smores flavors are. The chocolate cake is very dark and rich, so it’s nice as a loaf because you can indulge without having a huge slice. And the top is all smores with fluff, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers (or in this case digestive biscuits). This cake ticks all the boxes for indulgent dessert because it’s rich, gooey, crunchy, chocolaty, and very sweet.

The cake recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and the idea for the smores part comes from Kraft.

Messy level: This cake is pretty easy to put together, the messy part comes from the decoration. Marshmallow fluff is sticky and gets everywhere, so that’s the messiest bit.

Chocolate Smores Cake

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ of a tub (8oz) marshmallow fluff
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• about 4 digestive biscuits (or 2-3 sheets of graham crackers)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325/165°.
2. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
4. Add the sugars to the butter and beat until fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes.
5. Add the egg and beat well.
6. Then mix in the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together.
8. Slowly add the flour into the wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not over mix.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
11. Remove the cake from its pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon and poke a few holes gently in the top of the cake.
12. Put the marshmallow fluff in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
13. Remove the marshmallow fluff from the microwave and spread over the top of cake. Make sure you fill in the holes so the marshmallow drips into the center of the cake. Use the tip of the knife to encourage some of the fluff to drip tantalizingly down the side.
14. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
15. Use your hands to crush up the biscuits/graham crackers. Crush them into some small crumbs and larger cookie shards. Sprinkle/arrange the cookies over the top of the cake. It should look a little messy but indulgent and amazing.

3.2.2807

The post Chocolate Smores Cake appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

On Saturday night Aaron and Katy (Ryan’s twin brother and his wife) emailed they were going to the hospital. I was jumping up and down in the street with excitement. Then Sunday Ryan and I woke up with an email and a photo of their son Boden! It’s their first kid, and our first nephew. We are an uncle and aunt for the first time!

We were so excited we went straight to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make Boden a celebration birthday cake. I’ve been sort of obsessed with Boden (and spoiling him) since last November. Around Thanksgiving last year we were all getting together and I had a dream that Aaron and Katy were going to announce they were pregnant and that they were going to have a boy named Jeremy. In January, we got a phone call that Katy was pregnant (and I did some jumping up and down in the street). A few months later, we found out the baby was a boy (more jumping). He isn’t named Jeremy, but I can’t win them all.

Ryan came up with the idea of getting the “0” candle. I thought it was so clever!

Anyway, I knew I wanted to make Boden a special cake. A cake that will be Boden’s cake. A cake that in the future, when Boden comes to visit, he will look forward to it and ask for it.  As I told some of my friends, I want to be fun aunt Mariel who always has cake. I’ve been wanting to make ancake with a design on the inside and this seemed like the perfect occasion. After spending a lot of time on the internet searching for a perfect yellow cake recipe (with ingredients I could find in a UK grocery store) I decided to stick with a Victoria Sandwich cake because it is a tasty and versatile.

A Victoria Sandwich is named for Queen Victoria. It’s two layers of yellow sponge cake with raspberry or strawberry jam in the middle. Sometimes there’s cream too, but I’m told that is a 20th century addition. The Victoria Sandwich is often served with tea, but when I went to tea a few weeks ago it wasn’t on the menu. I still haven’t had it outside my own kitchen. I’ll need to get on that. But I made it for myself because I learned about it on my favorite show, the Great British Bake Off, and I’m always eager to try new cakes.

I’m using Mary Berry‘s recipe for Victoria Sandwich. It calls for caster sugar, which in the US is called superfine sugar. In my experience, it isn’t always easy to find super fine sugar in the US. I have read that granulated sugar is finer in the US than in the UK, so if you’re in the US and can’t find superfine sugar then granulated should work just fine. I’m going to post the traditional recipe first and then the checkerboard recipe second. I’ll make it clear when to switch between the two. The frosting recipe in Version #2 comes from BBC Good Food. Enjoy and happy birthday Boden!

Traditional Victoria Sandwich: Version #1

Ingredients:

225g/2 sticks/1 cup butter, softened

225g/1 cup/8 oz caster sugar (superfine sugar), plus extra for sprinkling

225g/2 cups/8 oz self-rising flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 large eggs, room temperature

About 4+ tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam

Directions:

1. One hour before you want to start baking take your butter and eggs out of the fridge. This is important because it helps everything mix together better.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

3. Grease two 8″/20cm cake pans. Line the bottom of the pan with circles of parchment paper. Grease the circles.

4. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Then add the caster sugar, flour, baking powder, and eggs.

5. Using the electric mixer on low, beat for 2 minutes until smooth. The mixture will be soft and fall off the beaters easily. Don’t over beat it! You want the cake to be light and fluffy.

6. Divide the mixtures equally between the prepared tins. Use a knife to smooth out the surface. You can eyeball evenness, but for the checkerboard cake it is best if you can weigh the batter so the cake heights will be even. You can see in Step 8 that I didn’t measure. (If you’re doing the checkerboard cake move below to Version #2)

7. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. It took me 25 minutes. The cakes are ready when they are risen and golden.

8. Cool on a wire rack. Make sure you rest the cakes on their flat sides, because you don’t want the ridges to show in your finished product.

9. Put one cake on a plate, rounded side down. Spread the jam over the flat side of that cake.

10. Then place the other layer on top (flat side down, rounded side up). Sprinkle the top with caster sugar.

11. Cut and serve.

Messy level: This is really quite a clean cake recipe! I think it is because it is so straightforward to make. You put all the ingredients in at once, you bake, then spread the jam. The only messy part is sprinkling the caster sugar at the end. Easy peasy.

Boden’s Birthday Cake – Version #2

Ingredients:

Cake:

Same as above

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 different colors of gel or liquid food coloring

Frosting:

10 oz dark chocolate (I used 2 chocolate bars, and this would work with milk chocolate too)

10 oz heavy cream

(If you need more frosting, just use equal parts chocolate and heavy cream)

Directions:

1. Follow Steps 1-6 above. If using, add in the vanilla extract with the rest of the ingredients.

2. Your batter is now divided into two cake pans. Add one food coloring to each pan. I did one blue and one green. Mix gently! If you over mix your cake will be dense. Add food coloring until you have your desired color (I used a lot).

3. Bake for 20-30 minutes. It took me 25 minutes. The cakes are ready when they are risen and golden.

4. Cool on a wire rack until they are easy to handle. Then put them in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes. Having them chill makes them easier to cut for the checkerboard pattern.

5. Meanwhile, start on the frosting. Cut the chocolate into small pieces.

6. In a medium saucepan heat the heavy cream on low-medium heat. You are heating this until small bubbles start to form along the edge of the cream. Alternatively you can check it by sticking your finger in. If you can hold it there for 3-4 seconds, but longer feels like too much, then it is ready. You just want the cream hot enough to melt your chocolate.

7. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Stir until it is shiny, gorgeous, and well combined.

8. Cool the frosting. You can do this on the counter, but is much faster in the fridge. If you cool for 20 minutes, it will still be a little drippy but you can use this for the inside of the cake. For frosting the outside of the cake let it cool for at least an hour! By then it will be thick and like frosting you buy from the store. Also thick frosting is better for patching up any mistakes you make (and I’ll tell you about mine in a second).

9. Once the cakes are cool put them on the counter. Find two circles that are smaller than the cake. If you have cake cutters that’s great, but I didn’t. I used a small bowl and a cup. What you are going to do is cut out two smaller circles out of your larger cake.

10. Place your larger cake cutter (or bowl) over the center of the cake. I measured, but you can eyeball it. If you’re using a bowl take a knife and cut straight down into the cake (try not to cut diagonal). Then repeat with the smaller cutter (or cup). Now you have six rings of cake. I cracked the large green layer. If this happens to you, don’t worry. Frosting will cure it.

11. Now take one large ring (let’s say blue). Frost the inside edge. Put a medium ring inside (green). Frost the inside edge. Put the small circle inside (blue). The frosting holds the layers together. Don’t worry if it isn’t neat. So you’ve made one layer that looks like a bulls eye.

12. Frost the top of the bulls eye layer.

13. Put the other large ring on top of the first layer. Then repeat step eleven. So you’ll have bulls eye layer (blue, green, blue), then a frosting layer, then the second bulls eye later (green, blue, green).

14. Frost the exterior of the cake. Use the frosting to mend cracks and hide any unevenness in the layers.Frosting will make it all look smooth and beautiful. I recommend frosting the cake on a cutting board or parchment paper, because if you’re like you’ll get frosting all over. Then when the cake is ready you can remove it to a clean plate and it will look best.

15. Decorate as desired (excuse my frosting penmanship).

16. Sing happy birthday! Cut and eat! Look at that sweet checkerboard.

Messy level: This turned out to be an epic mess. I got cake crumbs all over when I was cutting the circles. But the messiest part was the frosting! My hands melted the chocolate as I was cutting it. Then before it cools, the chocolate is so drippy! I got chocolate everywhere when I was making the bulls eye. The counter was 70% covered in chocolate. Ryan came over and looked at the counter and chuckled. I told him that the blog is called cooking is messy for a reason.

The post Boden’s Birthday Cake appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

What’s changed since last time? I had a recipe. I found it in my cookbook Melt by Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord. I decided I’d trust them and their recipe because I loved their chorizo macaroni and cheese. Last time I didn’t have a recipe and I was just winging it. But this time, maybe things would be different. Maybe the flavor combinations would be delicious. Maybe the pasta would redeem itself and not taste so nasty. Maybe I could eat a whole bowl.

And I did eat the whole bowl! And it was pretty good!

One thing that made this version better is that I bought the gluten-full pasta. Last time I accidentally bought gluten-free, and I think that must give the pasta a different flavor. Last time the pasta was gummy and really bitter. This time it had the expected pasta texture and had only a slight bitter hint. Last time, the pasta made the whole apartment smell like delicious chocolate. This time, there was hardly any fragrance. I don’t know exactly why there was a difference, but there definitely was one.

But, what really made this recipe tasty and interesting was the combination of flavors. It has sweetness in the cherries, salty and creaminess from the cheese, and a nice crunch from the arugula and hazelnuts. By the authors’ own admission this recipe is a bit “esoteric,” but I think it was fun to try something a little bit unusual. This recipe is a simple way to spice up the mid-week meal. And to conclude, I’ll just go out on a limb and say it, chocolate pasta is back in my good graces.

This recipe is from the cookbook Melt. I made some adaptations based on the amount of money and time I wanted to spend finding ingredients. Instead of hazelnut oil I used olive oil and I omitted the cocoa nibs.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp maple syrup

3/4 tsp mustard powder

sea salt

ground black pepper

1/2 cup hazelnuts

12 ounces chocolate pasta

5 ounces Bucherondin, roughly broken (I found this easily at Whole Foods, but you can use any soft goat cheese)

1 cup pitted cherries

2 cups whole arugula

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a small bowl (or jar with a little) mix together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Whisk (or shake) until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

3. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the skins darken and blister. The nuts will start to smell nice.

4. While the hazelnuts are roasting, start the pasta. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente.

4. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and wrap them in a dishtowel and leave them to steam for 1 minute. Rub the nuts in the dishtowel to rub the skins off.

5. Roughly chop the nuts and set them aside.

6. When the pasta is done drain it. Arrange portions into separate bowls.

7. Scatter the Bucherondin, cherries, and hazelnuts over the pasta. Mix in the arugula. Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta.

8. Mix and eat!

Messy level: Three spoons. This recipe is messy because pitting cherries is a little annoying, crumbling cheese is sticky, and the hazelnut skins will get everywhere. It’s not such an unruly messy, but I want you to know what you’re getting into.

The post The Return of Chocolate Pasta appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Photo from Bullycomics

Have you ever seen Love Actually? I have. Many times.

Do you know that scene when Juliet (Kiera Knightley) goes to Mark’s (Andrew Lincoln) apartment? She goes there looking to see if he has good video footage of her wedding. When Mark opens the door, she offers him banoffee pie. “What the heck is that?” I’ve thought to myself. So I googled it, and I immediately wanted to have some. And simple as that, I decided to make this pie for myself.

Banoffee pie is banana and toffee pie. Get it? Banana+toffee=banoffe. Doesn’t that sound delicious!?! I really liked this pie. The texture is creamy and silky. It’s cool, delicious, and both indulgent and refreshing.

Also, the technique for this recipe is simple to handle – but what makes this awesome is the transformation some of the ingredients go through. That might sound stupid because all cooking is about transformation. But, I was really blown away how simple things can change. With some heavy beating, cream transforms from a liquid to a semi-solid. I knew whipped cream was cream that was whipped, but I had never made it myself before. But the best transformation was the condensed milk! With heat, it becomes something completely different. It becomes toffee! Look at the pictures below and be impressed.

This recipe is a mix from Nigella Lawson, Brooklyn Limestone, and a graham cracker crust recipe I’ve used before.

Ingredients:

Crust-

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 full cracker strips)

3 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter (plus more if needed)

Filing-

3 large bananas

1 14oz can of condensed milk

2 cups whipped cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

chocolate shavings (or chocolate bar)

Directions:

1. Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. Place the can in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-2.5 hours. Make sure that the can is submerged for the entire time! If you let the water level drop your can will explode and your kitchen will be a scary mess.

2. Once the allotted time has passed, take the pot off the stove. Let the can cool. You’ve just made toffee. How easy, yet impressive, is that?!

2. Preheat oven to 350°.

3. In a food processor, blend the graham crackers until you have fine crumbs.

4. In a medium bowl mix the graham crackers and sugar.

5. Melt the butter in the microwave, then add it to the graham cracker and sugar. Mix until the graham cracker crumbs are all moistened. You want a consistency of slightly wet sand – sand that’s been wet but is drying out. If you need to, you can add more than 4 tbsp of butter.

6. Press the graham cracker crust into your pie plate – bottom, sides and edges. If you want a thick crust use all the mix. I used about 3/4 of the mixture. If you’re not using all of it, set the remainder aside in case you need to do any patchwork later.

7. Put the crust in the oven and bake until it just begins to brown, about 8 minutes.

8. Cut the bananas in slices and layer them on the bottom of the crust.

9. Open the can of toffee. Use a knife to stir the toffee until it is smooth.

10. Pour the toffee over the bananas. If need be, use the knife to smooth any uneven spots.

11. Using an electric mixer beat the whipped cream, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Beat until the texture is thick and whipped.

12. Spread the whipped cream on top of the toffee. Sprinkle chocolate shavings over the top.

13. Put in the fridge and let set for 2 hours.

14. Slice and serve!

Messy level: For a pie, this is actually a really easy and low-mess recipe. The only part that is messy is the graham cracker crust because crumbs get everywhere during assembly. Everything else is really straightforward and there is so little baking to make such a great pie.

The post Banoffee Pie appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

I’ll be honest with you, I got this idea and name from Pinterest about 3 years ago and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s my favorite thing to make during the holidays. This time of year, I want to give presents and contribute to parties but it can get really time consuming and expensive. I love this recipe because it’s quick, inexpensive, and always a crowd-pleaser. In grad school I used to make huge batches of these for my doormen and after the holidays they were always asking for more. The recipe is also great for parties because they are crunchy-sweet-salty bite that you just pop in your mouth. It’s easy to make and eat a ton.

I also love this recipe because there is so much room for variety. You need three ingredients: pretzels, Hershey’s kisses, and m&m’s. But, you can use whatever kiss you like as long as there isn’t something solid in the middle. I’ve only used dark or milk chocolate kisses, but I think you could use hugs, or even the caramel kisses. And the best place for variety is the m&m. I’ve used regular, dark chocolate, coconut, and mint (which is what I used this time). You could also forgo the m&m and use a nut or a candy corn. So simple, yet so many options.

As for choosing pretzels, a circle shapes look the best and gives you the “nose” part of reindeer nose. However, I have only found circle pretzels once. If you find them, that’s awesome. If not, don’t worry this shape is  just not worth the quest. The second best option is the square pretzels, which you’ll see here. And of course, if you can’t find anything else, use the mini regular shaped pretzels. In the end, it’s mostly about taste and less about looks.

Anyway, as you prepare for all your parties and and presents, definitely consider this recipe. Or just make it as a snack for yourself. It’s that yummy and quick.

Ingredients

1 lb bag of pretzels (you won’t use all of it)

1 12 oz bag of Hershey kisses (or get the bigger family bag if you want more)

1 10 oz bag of m&m’s (you want the large bag, not the regular or king size snack bags)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting. On my oven that’s 200°.

2. Dump a bunch of pretzels on a large cookie sheet. Arrange them all so they are in a single layer.

3. Unwrap as many Hershey’s kisses as you have pretzels on your cookie sheet. Look at your huge pile of candy wraps and feel a little guilty about packaging waste.

4. Place the Hershey kisses on top of the pretzels.

5. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 4-6 minutes. The chocolate should glisten when you take it out.

6. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, press the m&m on top of the chocolate. The chocolate is perfectly melted if the m&m meets no resistance and gets nestled in a bed of chocolate. The Hershey kisses needs to be melted more if the m&m can’t press all the way down and your chocolate looks kind of wonky. Look at the picture below. The one on the left (green) isn’t melted enough and the one on the right (white) is perfectly done.

7. Cool in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened. It’s about 30 minutes. You can also eat them while they are a little gooey and warm.

8. Serve and snack!

Messy level: Just one spoon! The only mess I ever make is if I accidentally stick my finger in a melted kiss. The other mess which always makes me feel guilty is the Hershey kiss wrappers. It just looks like a big mess all piled up on the counter.

The post Reindeer Noses appeared first on Cooking is Messy.