My Favorite Recipes

With my nieces, nephews and kids in college, this cookie has been a huge hit as a part of my annual Christmas gift of a cookie of the month club.  Its great with coffee, or makes a great simple desert for a good Italian meal.  This is base on Gale Gand’s biscotti recipe.  She adds hazelnuts, but generally my friends and family prefer it without the nuts.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1/3 cup blanched whole almonds, toasted
  
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small chunks with a heavy knife
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
  
• 2 tablespoons almond liqueur (recommended: Amaretto)
• Up to 4 tablespoons water

Procedure

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together. Transfer 1/2 cup of the mixture to a food processor. Add the toasted almonds and grind until fine and powdery, about 45 seconds. Add to the dry ingredients. Add the chopped chocolate and mix.

Whisk the eggs, extracts, and almond liqueur together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix. The dough may seem dry, but it will come together as you work it. If the dough doesn’t come together, add water. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Wet your hands and roll each piece of dough into a flattened log about 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1-inch high.

Transfer the logs to the pan, leaving at least 3 inches between the logs (they will spread during baking). Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to ensure even baking.

Let cool 30 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Wipe off the sheet pan and grease it again.

Using a serrated knife, cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices, discarding the ends. Arrange the slices cut side up on the sheet pan. Bake until toasted, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open, and let cool completely in the oven to set the chocolate.

Anything rich with chocolate is always a show stopper at a dinner party. This rich cake is only made richer by pouring a velvety chocolate ganache over this rich cake. This is our go to desert for our wine food pairing that we donate for charity. Its paired with either a great desert wine, or taste it with a great Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 bar (10oz) Scharffen Berger 70% bittersweet chocolate
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/8 cup brown sugar
• 3/8 cup cake flour
• 3 Tbl finely grated toasted almonds
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Butter the sides and bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch spring form pan.  Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper and flour the pan.

Melt the butter in a double boiler. Chop the chocolate into coarse pieces and add to the butter. It should not get much hotter than 115 degrees F. Set aside.

Separate the eggs and beat the sugars into the egg yolks until just mixed. While the chocolate is still warm, whisk the egg mixture into it, then stir in the flour and the almonds. If the combined mixture has cooled, warm it over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is barely warm.

Warm the egg whites slightly by swirling them in a bowl above a gas flame or over hot water (the whites will beat to a greater volume when warmed). Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until they look creamy and form rounded peaks. Spread the egg whites over the chocolate mixture and fold them together quickly without deflating the whites.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is completely set around the sides, but still has a soft and creamy circle, about 6 inches across, in the center. The cake will rise and crack around the edge and separate from the softer center. The center should wiggle just slightly when you shake the pan gently.

Cool thoroughly in the pan.

To serve the cake, turn it out, peel the paper off the bottom, and drizzle with chocolate glaze (see note) or sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. The cake keeps very well, if not iced, for three or four days. Do not refrigerate or freeze, just cover the pan with foil until ready to use.

Note

• 8 ounces Scharffen Berger 62% semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sweet butter

Heat the chocolate, cream, and butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir gently until the mixture is completely melted and smooth.  Use lukewarm as a pourable glaze or let stand until thick enough to spread like frosting.  If using as ganache, chill in refrigerator to desired consistency.

This is a recipe that I took from the Barefoot Contessa, not my favorite TV chef, but a lot good cooks from my wife’s family really love her cookbooks. This brownie recipe makes a full half sheet pan of deep, dark, rich fudge like brownies. I first made this recipe for a cookie of the month club gift that I gave my nephew and niece when they were in college. Now another group are in college and the same brownie recipe is part of a new subscription to the cookie of the month club.

The real key to this recipe is to make sure you refrigerate the brownies.  This process solidifies the chocolate, and just turns the brownies into brown squares of chocolate heaven.

Ingredients

• 1 lb unsalted butter
• 1 lb plus two cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 6 eggs
• 3 Tbl instant espresso powder
• 2 Tbl vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour, divided
• 1 Tbl baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 13×18 sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of the chocolate chips, and the bitter chocolate in a bowl over simmering hot water (double boiler).  Cool slightly.  Stir together the eggs, espresso, vanilla and sugar.  Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the cooled chocolate mixture.  Toss the 2 cups of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat.  then add to the chocolate batter.   Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a tester just comes out clean.  Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the counter to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough.  Do not overbake!

Cool on the counter, then refrigerate for a  couple hours.  Cut and enjoy  or send to your favorite college student.