Happy Halloween! Chocolate Red Wine Cake

 This isn't my first foray into the chocolate/booze experience.  The first was this chocolate rum cake-- good, but I didn't rave about it.  I tried these red wine brownies and had a mixed reaction.  I even tried a red wine chocolate cake once before, but was unimpressed.  So why try again?  Because I'm convinced this is a delicious combination-- I just have to find the right mix.  Is it the recipe that makes the difference?  Maybe.  Food & Wine, the source for today's recipe, has a well-deserved reputation.  Review comments on this recipe, however, seem to put great stock in the wine used.  Seems Bordeaux is the prime choice, while Cabernet Sauvignon did not work well.  Not very helpful, since Bordeaux reds are a blend of grapes, one of which is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Not willing to invest a quality wine to what might end up a mediocre bake, I bought a bottle of Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, otherwise known as 2-buck Chuck (now $3.99 Chuck).  Despite its low cost, Charles Shaw wines regularly receive surprisingly good reviews, probably because it's actually drinkable, while other wines at that price point are better reserved for salad dressing.  That said, the wine in the final result was completely undetectable, even in the ganache.  I didn't point out it was a red wine cake when I served it, and no one asked about any subtle flavoring.  It was, however, an amazing chocolate cake!

I was bringing this cake to a Halloween party, so I baked it in my Wilton skull pan, but kept it simple.  (I've used this pan previously here and here.)  No fancy decorations this time.  The original recipe is for a 12-cup Bundt; I halved the recipe and baked it in just the face half of the skull pan.  It would probably work fine in an 8" x 4" loaf pan, or a single 9" round cake pan.  Here's what I used:

1 cup all-purpose flour 

3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)

5/8 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

7/8 cup sugar

1 large egg 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

5/8 cup dry red wine 

Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour a 6-cup pan. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, 4 minutes. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat for 2 minutes longer. Working in two batches, alternately fold in the dry ingredients and the wine, until just incorporated.

 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack; let cool completely. Drizzle or streak the ganache around the sides of the plate and just a little in the center (to help hold the cake in place.) Dust the cake with confectioner's sugar, then place on the plate. Serve with whipped mascarpone cream.

 

Ganache:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons red wine

pinch of salt

Heat the chocolate and butter in a double boiler until melted; stir together.  Add the wine and salt and stir until smooth.

 

Topping
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup (118 grams) chilled heavy or whipping cream
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together until soft peaks form -- don't over whip. 

 

I over baked this cake, and it still turned out great, but I'm frustrated with Wilton-- they included a recipe with the cake pan for a pumpkin cake that requires a long bake time.  I think it must be the moisture in that particular batter requiring that lengthy bake, because I keep over baking the cakes when I use another recipe.  It was nice of Wilton to include the recipe, but guidance for a standard cake recipe would have been more helpful.  I used a thermal cake strip around the pan, which is supposed to help the cake rise more evenly.  I baked it for 65 minutes, and even though it was overdone, it sank in the middle.  The edges were a bit crusty, but the whole thing was delicious.  The pan probably needs only a normal bake time.

 

Conclusion: This was amazing! Semi-sweet, and so good! Rich and moist and chocolatey, made even more so with just a little bit of the ganache -- you don't need a lot.

Recipe:  Chocolate Red Wine Cake via Kristin Donnelly at Food & Wine

Blueberry Muffins IV

Still on the quest for the perfect blueberry muffin, this is attempt number IV....  It is very promising!  (Here are attempts I, II, and III.)  This recipe is very similar to the Maine Blueberry Muffins recipe in II.  That recipe was published in Redbook in 1988, one year after this one.

Compared to the Maine Blueberry Muffins, this recipe uses more blueberries, a little more sugar (which I wanted in the other), buttermilk instead of plain milk (with corresponding baking soda), the addition of vanilla, and slightly more butter.  Curiously, though baked at the same temperature, these are in the oven considerably longer, which did not produce a desirable result.

As with the Maine Blueberry Muffins, I made half the recipe.  For 6 muffins, here's what I used:

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh blueberries
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 400F.  Grease 6 muffin tins.  Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl.  In a small dish, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and melted butter.  Pour this mixture all at once into the dry ingredients.  Quickly stir just to partially blend; add the blueberries.  Carefully fold together just to moisten; the batter will be stiff and lumpy.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins; the cups will be full.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack.  Or, if not using paper liners, tilt each muffin in its tin.  Serve warm.

 

The batter was very thick and rose nicely.  I did watch my oven temperature, but I think it was hotter than it was registering because they still seemed overbaked.  I took the muffins out of the oven a little shy of 25 minutes, but they were quite brown and a little tough on the exterior.  Otherwise, the texture was nice.  Since there's no benefit to a browned crust on these muffins, I'll use the silicone liners next time and/or reduce the oven temperature.  Then again, based on the other recipe, perhaps they just needed less time in the oven.

I made these with salted butter, then threw in another pinch, but they could have used a little more.  (Looking at the Maine recipe, I should just use salted butter and the full salt amount.)

Conclusion:  This might be... the one!  I always liked the Maine Blueberry Muffin recipe, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.  This one comes much closer, although I might try adding a little oil to make them a little more moist.  Also, if possible, I think I could squeeze a little more batter into the tins to produce 5 larger muffins!  I'd like that, as long as they rose up and not out.

Recipe:  Blueberry Muffins via Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book: Recipes from an American Childhood

No-Knead Fruit and Walnut Bread

I've been wanting to remake this No-Knead Chocolate-Cherry Pecan Bread with a few changes, and I'm finally getting to it.  Mostly it is a matter of the mix-ins--- I didn't care for the chocolate at all, and wanted to try some different fruit instead. 

Then there's the question of how much yeast to use--- I went for more than before (because I did have some issue with the rise) but not as much as they recommend.  (See asterisk.)  King Arthur reduced the water content--- wise move, as the dough was extremely wet previously.  I accidentally reduced the amount of salt because I wasn't paying attention.  I changed up the directions a little and am using a Romertopf clay baker rather than a pie pan.  The changes shown now are deviations from the original King Arthur recipe, but some are also deviations from my previous attempt.  Here's what I used:

 3 2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 1¹/₂ cups whole wheat flour
2¹/₂ 1¹/₂ teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast*
1¹/₂ cups cool water
3/4 cup chopped dried tart cherries
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons finely diced, candied lemon peel
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1¹/₂ cups chopped pecans walnuts, toasted

Sometime the day before (and before it gets too late), mix together the flours, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Around 7:00 or 8:00 pm, add the water and stir well to make a very soft dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature overnight, or for at least 12 hours.  In the morning, the dough should be bubbly and puffy.

Before and after its overnight rise

If possible, simply add the fruit and nuts to the bowl and mix to combine.  (A heavy-duty electric mixer with the kneading arm might be useful here.)  Otherwise, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.   Roll out slightly and sprinkle on the fruit and nuts.  Roll up tightly, then knead gently a few times to disperse evenly.  Let it rest 15 minutes, then form it into a ball. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, smooth side down.** Cover and let rise at room temperature about 2 hours, until a slight indentation remains when poked with a finger.

During the last 30 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 450°F and place a bread crock (or a heavy, 4- to 4¹/₂-quart oven-safe pot) in the oven while it heats. When the dough has risen, remove the crock from the oven and turn the dough out of the bowl and into the crock; the smooth side will be facing up**. Shake the crock gently to settle the dough, then cover with the lid and return to the oven. Bake the bread for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake another 30 to 40 minutes, until the bread is deep brown in color and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers about 205°F. Remove the crock from the oven, turn the bread onto a rack, and cool before slicing.

*There was some confusion about the yeast quantity in the original recipe.  It called for only 1/4 teaspoon (and that's all I originally used, total), but the King Arthur blog post made reference to an additional 1/2 teaspoon to be added to the main dough mixture before the second rise.  They now mention that the yeast quantity has been increased from the original, and it's now all added to the soaker.

**Alternatively, you can line the bowl with parchment, and then transfer the dough, parchment and all, into the crock.  Leaving the smooth side down will produce some interesting crenelations on top that become nicely crusty.

 

When I mixed the soaker together, it was the consistency of a normal dough.  (Not surprising, since whole wheat flour is more absorbent than AP.)  I should really stop referring to this as a "soaker", as there's no additional flour added later.  (The idea that it should be a shaggy mixture is what messed me up.)  Thinking it was too dry, I added more water until I got something more porridge-like.  Mistake.  It was impossible to handle.  I added more flour as I tried to knead it, but mostly I ended up handling it as little as possible, and then only with silicone mat and spatula.

There was no way I was going to be able to handle the "loaf" after it had risen, which was necessary, since I was using a Romertopf clay baker that had to be pre-heated.  I greased a piece of parchment paper and fitted it into a 10 x 7 x 2.5" casserole, then sprinkled the bottom with corn meal.  I scraped and rolled the dough off the silicone sheet where I'd mixed in the add-ins, plopped it onto the parchment (it filled the casserole completely after rising), covered it loosely, and let it rise for about 2.5 hours.  (I don't know what I was looking for other than a slight indent when poked.)  

I let the clay baker soak for about 15 minutes, then placed it in the cold oven, lid on, to heat along with the oven for about 30 minutes.  I bought the Romertopf used and it probably could have done with a deep cleansing--- it smoked terribly when I removed it from the hot oven and the bottom was black.  (I suppose at some point they become too saturated with grease?) Here's a video of someone showing how he uses a Romertopf baker for a no-knead recipe, just dumping the soft batter in straight from the bowl.

I remember an issue with fruit on the dough surface getting burned, and recommendations to try to cover it.  Last time I tried poking them deeper, but it didn't work very well.  This time I pulled bits of dough over top of the fruit as best I could before transferring the dough to the clay baker.  (Since the dough was so wet, I didn't have a skin on the surface.)

On its way into the oven

I baked the bread as directed.  It didn't get too dark on top, which is fine with me.  Surprisingly, the bottom was very light.  It burned black for some people, and since I have a bottom burner I usually end up with baked goods darker on the bottom.

Conclusion:  It all worked as well as before.  Nice crunchy crust and chewy interior. I think I like it better without the citrus to maintain a sort of "dark" flavor.  The lack of salt was noticeable -- too bad about that error.  Next time, I think I would be able to fit the dough into my smaller clay roaster, which would give the loaf a better shape, not so flat.

Recipe:  No-Knead Chocolate-Cherry Pecan Bread via King Arthur Baking

Spiced Butter Cookies: snowflakes

 
This is the same recipe I used last November for these fall leaves.  

In fact, it's the same batch -- I saved out two thirds of the dough and froze it so that I had it to use for Christmas cookies.  That quantity of dough yielded about 3 dozen cookies.  (I actually baked only 29 cookies, but after all was said and done,  I realized I still had about 3/4 cup of dough in the refrigerator.)  The recipe is supposed to make 6 dozen, but I didn't roll either batch quite thinly enough for that.

I used a 3-inch cookie cutter and sprinkled the cookies with sparkling sugar before baking.  Based on my experience with the leaves, I watched the bake time carefully and didn't let them get too firm.  I also did not use an insulated baking pan.  They came out perfectly.

Although I still think they taste a lot like graham crackers.

Almond-Cardamom Butter Balls

These are similar to Mexican wedding cookies, not quite as buttery or rich, and not as sweet since they're not covered in sugar.  (I see now I was supposed to sprinkle them with powdered sugar... oops. Oh well. Per the photo in Bon Appétit, they get a very light dusting.)

For a yield of 25 cookies, here's what I used:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1¹/₃ cups powdered sugar, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom*
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped, toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine all ingredients except powdered sugar in food processor. Process until mixture resembles fine meal, using on/off turns, then process continuously until dough begins to gather together. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Space 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet; bake until just firm to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Sift lightly with powdered sugar. Store in airtight container.

*I couldn't taste the cardamom, so I added another 1/2 teaspoon.  Despite grinding my cardamom from seed, it must still simply be too old to be viable, because it was still completely undetectable.

Initially, these tasted strongly of toasted almond, so I recommend toasting the almonds quite lightly so as to not add too much flavor. Curiously, these did not taste like spice cookies.  I really didn't pick up anything besides toasted almond.

Conclusion:   Easy to make, they store well and very are Christmassy.  I'm sure they'd have been even better if the cardamom had been there.

Recipe:  "Almond-Cardamom Butter Balls" via Bon Appétit, January 1989

Brandied Fruit Bars

 

I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get with bar cookies that have some sort of gooey layer.  I took a chance with these... They might be spectacular, or they might be a dismal failure.  They were neither.  Read on.

I'm not sure how well these went over as I never got any feedback.  Perhaps that's telling in and of itself.  I'm afraid most people thought they were chocolate, in which case they would have been in for a surprise.

How many bars this actually makes depends on how well you can get your knife through them.  I originally cut them (with great difficulty) into 25, 1.5" x 1.5" squares.   But they're quite sweet and intense, almost more of a confection, so I later cut each of those squares in half, which made them a bit messy looking.  Here's what I used:

1/2 cup golden and/or dark raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries*
1/3 cup snipped dried tart apricots
1/3 cup brandy or water
1¹/₃ cup all-purpose flour, divided
1¹/₃ cup packed brown sugar divided
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans
powdered sugar

In a small saucepan stir together dried fruit and brandy. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium mixing bowl stir together one cup of the 1 cup flour and 1/3 cup of the brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture into an ungreased 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake about 20 minutes, or until golden.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixture for 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/3 cup flour, the remaining 1 cup brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. Add drained fruit and pecans and stir to mix. Pour the filling over the hot crust, spreading evenly. Bake about 40 minutes more, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (If necessary, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning.) Cool in pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into bars.

*Presumably these are sweetened, dried cranberries-- I think that's the only kind of dried cranberries on the market.

I had a number of problems with these.  First, I pressed the crumb mixture too firmly into the pan and it ended up rock hard-- not the most pleasant bite, and very difficult to cut through.  On top of that, I might have overbaked it slightly; it was in for only 17 minutes, but the temperature has slid up to 375F.  Then I'm pretty sure I overbaked the top part as well, because it was firmly affixed to the edges of the pan and very difficult to get free and to cut through.  Even the filling in the middle of the pan was sticky and firm.  It took a LONG time to get these cut and out!  (Lining the pan with foil so the whole batch could be lifted out in one piece and then cut might be a solution.)  The resultant cookies were sticky and chewy on top, practically crunchy on the bottom.  The saving grace was that it's been raining non-stop and they became more manageable as they absorbed some of the dampness in the air.

There was no distinction of various fruits topping, just one homogeneous taste and texture.  There are similar recipes that are better, so I wouldn't be inclined to try this again.  If I did, it definitely needs fewer raisins and more tart fruits; more or chunkier nuts would add texture and help cut sweetness.  Dark chocolate chips might actually be a good addition to the fruit mixture to provide some contrast.

Conclusion:  Overlooking the texture issue from these being overbaked (and the hassle getting them out of the pan), I'm not sure I liked the flavor. The individual fruits were not distinguishable, rather they tasted like date squares, and the pecans were completely undetectable.  Since the topping was so sweet, I'd reduce the sugar in the base.  These did mellow, soften, and improve over subsequent days. (They keep well.)

Recipe:  "Brandied Cranberry-Apricot Bars" via Better Homes and Gardens "Our Best Holiday Menus", December 2005

Chocolate Peppermint Spritz

 

Spritz are a great cookie when you want a lot in a hurry, and they're dependable for being consistent, thanks to the cookie press.  Chocolate isn't really a part of my Christmas holiday, at least not as a main character, but peppermint brings a festive touch to these chocolate spritz cookies.  The recipe doesn't call for any peppermint in the cookie itself, but I wanted a little mint flavor there and not just in the topping, so I added a little extract to the dough.  While I made the full recipe of the cookie dough, I cut the drizzle quantity in half.  If you want cookies that are richer with chocolate flavor, by all means use the full quantity, but realize that your spritz pattern might get lost in the topping.  Normally I prefer cookies made with salted butter, but in this case the lack of salt might have been a better option.  They didn't taste salty, but they did taste buttery with more umami, which chocolate and peppermint lack in themselves.  Sometimes the absence of umami is okay.

Here's what I used to yield 50 cookies:

1³/₄ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1¹/₂ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract 

1 large egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

 

Drizzle (half original quantity)

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

Crushed candy canes, for decorating

Preheat the oven to 325˚. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the extracts and egg until just combined. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder; reduce mixer speed to medium low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Fit a cookie press with a wreath disk. Press cookies 1 inch apart onto 2 unlined baking sheets. Bake one pan at a time until cookies are crisp and set around the edges, 18 to 22 minutes. Immediately remove the cookies to a rack using an offset spatula and let cool completely. 

Combine the chocolate, heavy cream and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted and smooth, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the peppermint extract; let cool 5 minutes. Transfer the icing to a resealable plastic bag, snip off a corner and drizzle over the cookies. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Let set about 30 minutes.

Usually you need only a few test presses to figure out what the best press quantity is for the dough and design you're using, but for some reason I kept getting irregular quantities. Oddly, I had trouble getting these cookies to press out evenly:  some were too fat, some were too thin.  I don't know what the issue was.  It's easy enough to scrape the defective presses back into the bowl and do it again, but it was getting frustrating.  Otherwise, the cookies came together easily and baked nicely.  (I baked them about 17-18 minutes.) 

I was nervous about the topping, feeling I had to rush it and afraid the chocolate would harden before I got the candy to stick.  I needn't have worried; the ganache stayed soft for a long time.  There's plenty of time to apply both the melted chocolate and the candy.  Sprinkling the candy, however, is easier said than done -- I ended up with a lot on the counters and floor (which I can tell because I keep sticking to it.)  It tended to collect in the hole and had to be picked out.  Again, if I'd known I had plenty of time to fuss with it, it wouldn't have been so nerve wracking.

Conclusion:  These were good, though I'd prefer them more minty; most of the peppermint comes from the candy.  A bit fussy and messy to make, though, so not a recipe that can be knocked out in short order.

Recipe:  Chocolate Peppermint Spritz via Food Network Magazine, December 2019