how to make the perfect smore in a woodfire beehive oven

here is my divine recipe for the perfect smore using chocovic maragda chocolate. enjoy!

if you cannot see the video, please click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJTY7J6WZNE

tortona chocolate cookies

here is something you may want to make for your sweetheart...
photo spencer weiner, article noelle carter - la times

Total time: 35 minutes, plus chilling and cooling time for the dough
Servings: 2 dozen cookies

Note: Adapted from chef Elena Guerrero-Berman of Massimo's Delectables. Be careful not to grind the nuts to a fine powder or flour; the nuts should have some texture (you will see small bits in the cookies when they are baked). A food processor will work best for grinding the nuts.

2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar1 cup ground hazelnuts
1 cup ground almonds
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups pastry flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl periodically.
2. Gently fold the ground hazelnuts into the butter mixture until evenly combined, then fold in the ground almonds thoroughly.
3. Stir in the vanilla. Gently add the flour, 1 cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Slowly add the cocoa until combined. The dough will be very thick at this point, and you should easily be able to roll a small amount into a ball.
4. Shape the dough into a flat disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough at least two hours, but preferably overnight.
5. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll the dough to one-half-inch thickness between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap (this keeps the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and alleviates the need for flouring). Cut hearts or other-shaped cookies approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies until puffed slightly and set on top, about 15 minutes. Rotate the cookies halfway through for even heating and coloring.
6. Remove the cookies, still on their sheets, to a rack to cool completely before serving (they're fragile just out of the oven and will crumble if moved while still warm).

Each cookie: 317 calories; 4 grams protein; 35 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 20 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 40 mg. cholesterol; 3 mg. sodium.

cholive: the cholive

brewing, manufacturing, frommage... who knew milwaukee would throw us a curve with chocolate? with a ganache center covered by a hard chocolate barrel, the chocolate olive is to accompany your favorite libation. a skewer easily pokes through the cholive for the perfect garnish - - - i like the way this drinking town thinks.

no olives were harmed in the making of the cholive.

i created a black russian with grills for my cholive… the recipe follows...


2 parts vodka
1 part kahlua
put into an ice filled shaker
shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, pour
dust with gold leaf and add a cholive

gary danko: recipe... vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache, coconut ice cream and warm caramel sauce

belinda leong, gary danko's pastry chef, is the mastermind behind this dessert and she is absolutely fabulous for sending us this recipe (basically, a power chick's version of the girl scout's samoa cookies) .


here is the recipe divided into six parts:
vanilla shortbread
chocolate coconut disk
caramel sauce
bittersweet chocolate ganache
coconut ice cream
assembly

if you would like the full pdf version of this recipe, please click here...

as you will see by the pictures accompanying the recipes, i made this at home. this was not difficult to make since i cheated just a tad by buying coconut ice cream and using bernard callebaut caramel.

aside: here are some photos of the gary danko kitchen...


(the cinnamon toast crunch is a staff snack)

gary danko: vanilla shortbread

320 g. (1 and 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
320 g. (1 cup and 6 tablespoons) butter, room temp
110 g. (7) egg yolks
450 g. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
30 g. (7 teaspons) baking powder


cream the butter and sugar together.

add the egg yolks one at a time.

sift the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture.

paddle just until incorporated.

chill for at least 4 hours.

spray and sugar 12 ringmolds. roll the dough i/8" thick in ring molds that are the same size. *if they are not baked in ringmolds, they will spread. bake in a preheated oven at 350 until golden (you will have to watch them)

**since i did not have that many ring molds, i baked them in muffin tins... use 1/8 cup measure... the one pictured uses 1/4 cups and they were a bit too big.

this is part one of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

gary danko: chocolate coconut disk

• 52% chocolate couverture [you can use 4 left over bars of chocolate]


• toasted desicated coconut [you can toast coconut by placing it in a pot and stirring until golden brown over moderately high heat]

temper chocolate and spread onto an acetate sheet [melt the chocolate by creating a double boiler (one pot of chocolate into a pot of boiling water) then pour a thin layer of melted chocolate onto wax paper].

sprinkle the toasted coconut over the chocolate.

use a round cutter to cut the disks. remove from the acetate when set.

this is part two of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

gary danko: caramel sauce

4 c. granulated sugar
3 tb. light corn syrup
2 ¼ c. heavy cream
1 vanilla bean

caramelize the sugar and corn syrup to 320 degrees. step back from the pot and add the cream and vanilla to the sugar. whisk together until smooth.

[there was minor cheating using the bernard callebaut caramel sauce]

this is part three of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

gary danko: bittersweet chocolate ganache

2 ¼ c. heavy cream
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 lb. 4 oz. 52% chocolate
4 oz. 70% chocolate
4 ½ oz. butter, room temp. [stick of butter]


[i used callebaut and askinosie - not sure about my final measurements - the askinosie chips (70% san jose del tambo sipping chocolate) kept disappearing since they were a bit on the addictive side].


scald the cream and sugar.

place both chocolates into a stainless steel bowl. pour the hot cream and sugar mixture over the chocolates.

let it sit for about a minute,

then whisk gently to emulsify. *try not to whisk vigorously because you want to avoid air bubbles.

when the mixture is emulsified, add the butter and incorporate gently with a rubber spatula.

when the mixture is emulsified, shiny and smooth,

then pour onto a flat ¼ sheet pan. chill in the refrigerator until set.

this is part four of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

gary danko: coconut ice cream

4 ½ c. heavy cream
2 ¼ c. milk
1 ½ c. toasted desicated coconut
1 vanilla bean
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
15 egg yolks
1 tsp. kosher salt

bring the cream, milk and coconut to a boil. cover the pot with plastic wrap and infuse for 30 minutes. combine the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl. when the milk/cream/coconut mixture is ready, temper it into the egg yolks and sugar. pour the mixture back into the pot and cook until 165 degrees. strain the mixture and cool in a water bath. chill overnight and the next day, freeze in the ice cream machine.

[or get mcconnell's island coconut ice cream]


this is part five of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

gary danko: assemblage

place a vanilla shortbread disk on a plate.

use a ring cutter and torch to cut the ganache into a round. use the torch to flame the sides of the ring cutter to remove ganache [you may avoid this altogether by just cutting the ganache with the circular cutter then romoving it with a large flat spatula].

place the ganache on top of the shortbread.

sprinkle some toasted coconut onto the ganache. this will prevent the ice cream from sliding sround.

scoop the ice cream and

place a chocolate coconut disk on top.



[in front of your guests,] pour the warm caramel sauce slowly onto disk, waiting for the suace to melt the disk.


this is part six of six for the vanilla shortbread with bittersweet chocolate ganache recipe

bosco: chocolate syrup

i was feeling a bit nostalgic and i fell into a bosco chocolate syrup mood. I found this great retromercial with dick van dyke and some very odd clowns...

bosco was developed by a new jersey physician using only natural cocoa and it has been around since 1928. countless mom's mixed bosco with milk for their children arriving home from school and alfred hitchcock used bosco chocolate syrup as fake blood in the psycho shower scene.

if your market does not carry bosco, you can get bosco from their online store! also check out the most adorable vintage t's!

5 minute bosco chocolate cake recipe...

if you need a quick chocolate cake fix, this is for you

preheat the oven to 350 degrees

put four eggs in a bowl and whisk

in a separate bowl, combine a bottle of bosco (22 ounces) with a stick of butter and mix well.

put the bosco mixture with the eggs, add 1 cup of sugar, and sift in 1 cup of flour. mix well.

pour in a greased and floured lasagna pan and bake for 20 minutes... the cake is finished when the center is bouncy.

stab the cake several times.



add 1/4 cup of your favorite liqueur (i used vermeer chocolate liqueur) to 2 cups of powdered sugar - mix well. pour over hot cake.

cut the cake in four even pieces, stack, and serve.

golden gopher: german chocolate cake cocktail

my fiance met me after my meeting downtown and we walked over to the golden gopher for cocktails.

dave, our mixologist and a musician, made us the most fabulous mint julep's (something quite hard to find in LA). after the julep's, we decided to have a german chocolate cake cocktail for dessert - - - a formidable pièce de résistance. here is the recipe:

german chocolate cake cocktail

fill a shaker with ice and add equal parts absolut citron and frangelico.


shake, shake, shake...


prepare a sugar rimmed glass. dust a slice of lemon with sugar and garnish glass with the lemon.


strain ice and pour.


drink instructions: try not to get too much sugar in your mouth and sip the cocktail. after your initial sip, gently bite into the lemon garnish. how bizarre...it really does taste just like german chocolate cake.