Beer marshmallows

I'll admit it. I don't care for beer. If you know me at all, this shouldn't come as a shock, but I thought I'd share it with the rest of you. I've tried a number of types, and have yet to find one that does not produce squinched up yuck face. However, setting that fact aside, when I heard about marshmallows made with beer, then covering them with chocolate and crushed pretzels, I had an instant case of "I gotta try this."

makes one 9 x 13 pan of marshmallows, cut however you desire

3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (I used the generic store brand, each packet containing ¼ oz.)
1 cup cold, flat beer, divided in two
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate morsels
2 cups milk chocolate morsels
hard sourdough pretzels

To flatten the beer, take the cap off the bottle and leave open overnight. If you don’t have the time to do that, pour beer into a bowl and whisk vigorously to remove some carbonation. Either one works, just make sure it is cold.

Oil a 9 x 13 baking pan (I used a good bit of cooking spray with flour in it) and sprinkle on powdered sugar to cover and coat and then set aside. 

{As much powdered sugar as you think you need, use more. I used quite a bit (seen the image below) and it wasn't enough to allow the marshmallows to easily remove from the dish. They came out, they just needed to be forcefully removed, after cutting them in the dish.}

In the bowl of your electric mixer (a whisk attachment is best), pour 1/2 cup cold beer and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. I gently mixed with a spoon once, then let sit while you make the sugar mixture.

In a medium pot combine sugar, remaining beer, syrup and salt. Heat over low heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and let sugar come to a boil. It will bubbly up so keep yours eye on it so it does not overflow. {I used a 2 quart pot and it boiled over, so keep in mind you will want a large-ish pot} Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees F (measure with a candy thermometer). The mixture will appear to be a lightish brown color depending on the beer you use – don’t worry, the marshmallows will still be white.

Once mixture is at 240 degrees F, turn off heat and gently pour it in the mixer over the gelatin with the mixer on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It should grow in size and be white and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes in, add the egg whites to a separate bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. I used a hand mixer to do this. If you don’t have a hand mixer, you  will have to remove the whisk attachment, clean it (it will be a sticky mess), add a new bowl to the mixer, beat egg whites {if you don’t have a second mixer, I would suggest making friends with someone who will let you borrow theirs}. Once stiff peaks are formed, add egg whites and vanilla extract to the sugar/gelatin mixture and beat until just combined.

Pour the marshmallow mix into the 9 x 13 pan. It will be incredibly sticky so be careful . You might not be able to get it all out of the bowl, but get as much as you can, {spraying a spatula with non-stick spray helps a lot at this stage} and smooth. Dust powdered sugar on top and let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours {if it is humid on the day you make these, don't be alarmed if it takes longer}.

Once firm, turn the pan upside down on a cutting board to release marshmallow rectangle. {Note: mine did not easily turn out onto the cutting board. I cut them, then pulled them out individually (quite sticky) so use a lot of powdered sugar.} Cut them into pieces of whatever size you like. 

Melt milk and dark chocolate chips separately (I melted the chocolate in 30 second increments in the microwave and stirring between each increment) in two bowls. Crush hard sourdough pretzels. Using a fork, toothpick or fondue pick, coat marshmallows in chocolate then sprinkle with or roll in pretzel crumbs. Once coated, before sprinkling, place the marshmallows on either wax or parchment paper. Trust me, you will want to do this.

Another option (that I did not try) is to drizzle them with salted caramel. Let sit them at room temperature until chocolate hardens {I did not let mine sit out to harden, as today was an especially humid day and that would take longer than I was willing to wait (yes, I was impatient to try these), so I transfered the wax paper onto baking sheets and placed them in the refrigerator for an hour or so to fully harden}. The marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks! {Putting these in the refrigerator turned the chocolate into a hard shell, which I really enjoy.}

If you are feeling generous, you can share these with other people, but that is entirely up to you.

It may have been the chocolate that I used, but I found the dark chocolate (Ghiradelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chips) worked much better than the Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips and the Tollhouse semi-sweet chips. The dark chocolate was smoother and coated the marshmallows evenly. I started off with just the two Chiradelli chips, but later added some of the semi-sweet chips to the milk chocolate to try to even it out. When trying the marshmallow on it's own, before coating it, I could detect a faint beer flavoring. After coating them, the prevailing flavor is the chocolate. Even still, I'm glad I made these with the beer.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Salted caramel drenched chocolate chip loaf cake

Salted. Caramel. Drenched. Chocolate. Chip. Loaf. Cake. I'm sorry. This dessert is amazing enough that the description needed to be accentuated.

I found this recipe on this blog and was very excited to make it. I mean, come on, it has chocolate and caramel, together. I've never made caramel before, so this was an adventure.

Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.

Add the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blend until smooth. 

Scrape down the sides and process again while streaming in boiling water.. Remove lid and fold in chocolate chips.

Scrape and pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan and put into the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle. 

Let cake cool, then poke holes throughout the top with a fork or knife. Press all the way down into the cake so the caramel sauce can sink in.

Salty Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sea salt, crushed until fine

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over low heat without stirring until sugar dissolves.

Increase the heat to medium-high, allowing the mixture to come to a boil. This will take about 5-7 minutes, and you can occasionally swirl the pan to stir.

Once a golden amber color, remove heat and add cream, vanilla and salt – it will bubble up. Turn heat back down to low and stir continuously until mixture is smooth.

Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 2-4 hours where it will thicken.
Once cool, drizzle over chocolate cake, making sure to hit all of the poked holes so the caramel sinks down in. 

Serve with additional caramel.

One thing I found was, while I used what I consider a typical sized loaf pan, the batter, when poured in, came to the top of the loaf pan, with very little room left. I could, and probably should, have poured this into two loaf pans or used some other type baking dish. But I didn't.

So, I poured the entire contents into the one pan and was quite grateful for the baking pan underneath the loaf pan, as much of it ran over. Also, because the pan was so full, it took longer to fully bake. As it was, I took it out before it was fully baked to avoid burning the top of the loaf.

Also, being a not so patient person, I took the loaf out of the pan before I should have. I would suggest waiting for about an hour before removing it from the pan. Certainly poke the holes into the loaf before removing it, but I would place it on a large platter before pouring the caramel sauce onto it.

One last suggestion would be to sprinkle sea salt on top of the loaf after pouring the caramel over it.

Enjoy!

The next step

I am so excited to share that this summer I will be moving from Kansas to Austin, TX to attend culinary school at the Art Institute of Austin. While I had the option to study Culinary Arts, I chose to study (big surprise here) Baking & Pastry. My classes begin mid-August and my expected graduation is set for the fall of 2012. This is so quick because the required general educations classes are luckily being fulfilled by credits from my bachelors degree. I'm not sure what exactly I will do upon graduation, but stay tuned here for what I'm doing while in school.


Happy dance!

Chocolate Thumb-print Cookies

After having a somewhat salty dinner, I was craving something sweet for dessert. So I pulled out my trusty cookie book and found a recipe where I already had all the ingredients. So chocolate thumb-print cookies were made.

This is a very easy recipe, with only a few steps and a short bake time. The recipe goes as follows:

1/2 cup unsalted (sweet) butter, at room temperature

1/2 (generous) cup light brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 (generous) cup rolled oats

5-6 tbsp chocolate spread (I used Nutella)

Preheat the oven to 350*F and grease a large baking sheet. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy.

Add the egg, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and oats and mix until well blended. 

{The image shows a spatula, but I mixed this with a hand mixer}

Using your hads, roll spoonfuls of the mixture into balls. Place the balls on the baking sheet, spacing them well apart to allow room for spreading out. Flatten slightly.

Dip a thumb in flour and press into the center of each cookie to make an indent. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Leave for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Spoon a little chocolate spread into the center of each cookie.

Sit back and enjoy your cookies.

Coffee Butter Cream Brownies

Every now and then you find a recipe you cannot wait to try. One of the blogs I subscribe to, Crustabakes, posted about a brownie. Not just any brownie, but one with a coffee cream frosting, then topped with a chocolate ganache. This little brownie seemed like a little slice of heaven. So, I decided, with my co-workers enthusiastic encouragement, to make this over my lunch break.

I melted butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.

Setting the chocolate aside, I combined sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

I then stirred the chocolate into the egg/sugar mixture.

I set the chocolate mixture aside and combined flour and baking soda and then gradually stirred that into the chocolate.

I poured that into a greased 8 inch square pan and baked it until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean.

For the frosting I mixed instant coffee with whipping cream until the coffee was dissolved.

I combined confectioners sugar with softened butter until light and fluffy.

I then mixed in the coffee mixture until well blended.

I set the frosting aside and combined chocolate with heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Once the ganache is fully mixed, I set it aside to cool.

After the brownies have fully cooled, I spread the coffee cream frosting on top, then poured the ganache over it and spread it out evenly.

I allowed the brownies to set for about 30 minutes, or until the ganache had set. Be sure to refrigerate the leftovers (if any).

Chocolate macaroons

Yesterday I made chocolate macaroons. I've never made a macaroon before, nor can I recall ever having one prior to the ones I made yesterday. That said, I'm not sure how they are supposed to turn out. I think they are supposed to be light and fluffy, but mine were flat and chewy. Despite that, I really enjoy the flavor of these cookies. I got the recipe from my Cookie and Biscuit Bible, referenced here.


The recipe calls for:


2 oz semisweet chocolate
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup super-fine sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
confectioner's sugar for dusting


Preheat the oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water.

In a clean, grease-free mixing bowl, whisk the eggs whites until they form soft peaks. 

Gently fold in the sugar, vanilla, and almond extract, the ground almonds, along with the cooled melted chocolate.

The mixture should just hold it's shape. If it's too soft, chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Place mounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture, spaced well apart, on the prepared baking sheets, and flatten slightly. Brush each ball with a little water and sift over a thin layer of confectioners sugar.

Bake the macaroons for 20-25 minutes until just firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

As I said, mine are flatter than I believe is normal, but I still enjoy the flavor of them. I used my stand mixer to beat the egg whites, so I was difficult for me to tell when to stop mixing them, so it is entirely possible that I over mixed them. It is also possible that when folding in the ingredients into the egg whites, I over mixed them, and flattened the egg whites in the process.

I hope you give these a shot, because I still really enjoy how they turned out.

Amazing chocolate chip cookies

This past Tuesday (4/26) one of the blogs I follow, Simply Life, posted a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate and when added to a cookie, it makes it even better, because then it is portable. I've seen a lot of recipes for chocolate chip/chunk cookies and many of them seem very similar. However, this cookie, titled The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies really is wonderful. It doesn't call for your average cookie ingredients (cake and bread flour, sea salt...), and it needs to refrigerate for 24-36 hours before baking. This cookie takes time. However, they are worth it.


I wish I had picture of the mixing process, but the dough was very light and airy and, quite frankly, got all over my hands. So, I didn't bother with the camera while mixing up the dough. You will want a large mixing bowl and you will need to use the paddle attachment for your mixer, not the whisk. Once everything is blended together, the dough will need to be refrigerated. I chose to not store the dough in the mixing bowl, but rather turned it out onto wrap and bundled it up in it. I had press and seal, but I'm sure cling wrap will work just fine.

After the dough has set in the refrigerator for the required amount of time (it can refrigerate for up to 72 hours), you are to use an ice cream scoop to place the dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. A side note, I discovered parchment paper this year and it makes even the cheapest, crummiest cookie sheets work like a charm.

After scooping out the cookie dough onto the sheet, sprinkle them with sea salt. Most of these I baked at home and I used the sea salt. However, I took a bit of the dough over to my parent's house and used kosher salt, and that works just as well.

Bake them until they are golden brown, letting them sit for 10 minutes before either serving or storing in an air tight container. I let them sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks.

This yielded me a bunch of cookies (I'm sorry, I didn't actually count them. It all depends on how big you scoop them.) I can tell you it fills a 9x13 baking pan and I had some left that didn't fit.

Sadly, they had to be consumed. Quality control and all. The recipe calls for chocolate that is at least 60% cacao baking chocolate and, while I had the option to use the grocery store generic chocolate, I splurged and got the Ghirardelli chocolate. I found the sea salt on top of the cookie gave it a nice contrast to the sweet cookie and it paired very well with the bittersweet chocolate.

Yes, this recipe has a bunch of steps and calls for ingredients you might not normally stock. However, I found they were definitely worth it.