dessert Archives - Page 53 of 57

Polka Dotted Chocolate Pecan Brownie Tart with Chocolate Ganache

5|11|2013

Do you know what is the hardest part of photographing your favourite food? Protecting your lenses and camera from getting food stained. Because every other minute you are picking up the food and eating it. What a ridiculous thing to do but can I I tell you, its easier said than done!

I am so in love with this brownie tart. Let me explain why! Unlike a tart, there is no shortcrust pastry or any other pastry involved in this. It’s a brownie recipe that bakes beautifully inside a tart pan. The secret ingredient that makes it so luscious and fudgy is cream cheese. And the little polka dots you notice on the top are nothing but chocolate ganache. So basically after the brownie bakes, you make little pockets inside it with the back of a wooden spoon and fill it up with ganache. If that was not all, the brownie is studded with crunchy toasted pecans giving every mouthful a nutty sensation.

Chocolate lovers, I highly recommend this recipe for you. Even though it looks fancy, the recipe is pretty much like any other brownie with the exception of the ganache. You can always leave that step and just make the brownie tart though I really wish you don’t. It makes the whole thing so much more delicious and a treat for the eyes…totally worth the effort!
The theme of our Chocolate Party this month is Pecans so my Chocolate Pecan Dessert is dedicated to this favourite party of mine. Do check out the other creations at the bottom of the post.

I read this recently “Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don’t need an appointment.” ~ Catherine Aitken.
Well, in that case this is the Father of all therapies.
I already feel rejuvenated! But I’m still going for one more little bite..

Polka Dotted Chocolate Pecan Brownie Tart with Chocolate Ganache (adapted with variation from Joy of Baking)
Serves 8-10

Chocolate Pecan Brownie Tart
1 cup Pecans toasted, (1/2 cup chopped and 1/2 cup whole)
200 g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
85 g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
45 g (about 1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
250 g (about 11/4 cup Castor Sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
85 g regular cream cheese (do not use low fat varieties)
65 g (about 1/2 cup) plain flour
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Ganache
60 g semisweet/dark chocolate, roughly chopped
80 ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 9 inch (23 cm fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and then line the bottom of the pan with baking paper.
In a large heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chopped chocolate. Remove from heat when the chocolate has melted. Beat in the cocoa and sugar into the chocolate mixture until incorporated. I used a hand mixer. If you are doing it by hand, use a whisk. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the cream cheese until small pieces remain. Add the flour, salt and chopped pecans.

Place the tart pan onto a large baking sheet to catch drips (if any). Pour the batter into the tart pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Decorate with whole toasted pecans leaving space in between for the ganache filled holes that will be added later. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the batter has set and a tooth pick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove the tart from the oven and let cool inside the tart pan for 15 minutes. While the tart is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. Place the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, over medium heat bring the cream to just a boil. Remove from heat and add to the chopped chocolate. Alernately, you can heat the cream in the microwave in a microwave safe cup and add the chopped chocolate to it. Allow to stand undisturbed for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Keep aside.

With the end of a lighly greased wooden spoon make holes onto the top of the brownie. Then with a small spoon fill the holes with the ganache (take little quantities at a time as the holes fill up quickly and might overflow onto the brownie tart). Let the tart cool completely and then cover and refrigerate. Refrigeration helps to set the ganache and blend the flavours so it is best to make the tart a day in advance.
The tart will keep in the refrigerator for about two to three weeks.

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Chocolate Hazelnut and Pear Crumble

27|10|2013

As it turns out, I have had an overdose of pumpkin and pumpkin recipes lately. I really need a break and so I am turning to my favourite crumble for comfort. Don’t get me wrong, I have a few pumpkin posts lined up for you but at the moment I am a bit tired of this yellow-orange thing. Maybe it has to do with all the roasting and pureeing I have done this week..seriously I have never seen or handled so much pumpkin in my life. All I need now is CHOCOLATE!

This is an easy recipe. If you love chocolate, you should give this a try. I love the way pears take on flavours and pair so very well with chocolate. So, there is chocolate in the fruit and in the crumble topping. I have left little chunks of chocolate in the crumble so you can get little morsels of choclatey heaven when you bite into the crunchy topping. The fruit has a hint of spice, so that complements the bittersweet chocolate as well.

This crumble is based on a somewhat similar recipe I had seen in a magazine called Recipes+. If you are in a hurry, you can use canned pears instead of fresh ones.

Chocolate Hazelnut and Pear Crumble
Serves 4

4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into 2 cm pieces
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp mixed spice
30 g dark chocolate (for the fruit)
2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
100 g butter, chilled and chopped
100g hazelnuts, toasted, skins removed and chopped
80 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (for topping)

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Lightly grease 4 ramekins or oven proof bowls and place on a baking tray.
Combine pear, lemon juice and spice in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a plastic food wrap. Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until pears are tender. Stand fruit mixture for 1 minute. Add in the 30 g dark chocolate and stir.
Divide pear mixture equally among the prepared ramekins.

Place flour and sugar in a bowl. Rub in butter to make crumbs. Stir in the hazelnuts and chocolate. Sprinkle hazelnut mixture over the pear mixture in the ramekins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Apple and Cinnamon Beignets with Cinnamon Sugar and Butterscotch Sauce

17|09|2013

For as long as I can remember, I have associated rains with comfort food. And comfort for me means warm, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, deep-fried, with a hint of spice…that kind of food. The category of food that best fits this kind of craving would be fritters, beignets or pakoras as they are called in India. And, that’s not all! You did know about my little sweet tooth, didn’t you..? So, I next visualise the deep-fried fritters tossed in sugar and spice and then drizzled with honey or some kind of a rich sauce and then served with ice cream on the side. Oh…why am I so obsessed with sweet things!

Apples and bananas are fruits that I generally have at home. So when the craving struck, I was instantly chopping, mixing, frying, humming to myself…while the rain flooded my balcony and my mind with memories. I chose to make a choux batter as I love the way they turn out..puffed up, airy, crunchy little beignets. They tend to be lighter than a normal fritter. If it helps to make you feel a bit less guilty about eating this, you do give your arm a little workout when you whisk vigorously while blending the ingredients together.

I also made 4 eclairs out of the batter before mixing in the apples. They were puffing up in the oven while I was frying the beignets. I ate several before I was convinced to remove a few for photographs. It was comforting indeed watching the rain with a plate of these addictive little pastry puffs and thinking about flavour pairings for the eclairs. What did I tell you! I am so very…TOTALLY obsessed with desserts!

Apple and Cinnamon Beignets with Cinnamon Sugar and Butterscotch Sauce (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Yields 18 small Beignets

1 granny smith or any tart-sweet apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
vegetable oil for frying

For the choux batter
60g butter, chopped
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup plain flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butterscotch Sauce: Use this recipe.

Make the cinnamon sugar: Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Make choux pastry: Combine butter and 2/3 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until butter has melted and mixture just starts to boil. Reduce heat to low. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture comes away from side of pan and forms a ball. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Using a wooden spoon, gradually beat in eggs until well combined and dough is glossy. Stir in apple and cinnamon.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Drop 1 level tablespoon mixture into pan. Repeat, making 6 fritters. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beignets to cinnamon sugar. Toss to coat. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve drizzled with butterscotch sauce and with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Gluten Free Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk and Pecan Torte

3|09|2013

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Some of you on the other side of the hemisphere had a long one. I wish ours was as long but nevertheless it was a fantastic one. We celebrated Father’s day here in Australia on Sunday. Since my little ones are getting better at keeping secrets we had quite a few surprises planned for Daddy this time. And I was relieved that none of them were given away, innocently.. like the previous years. Between a fancy home cooked breakfast and dinner we planned lunch outside so I wouldn’t end up spending the entire day in the kitchen. But the highlight of the day was this Gluten Free Torte.

My husband is not too much into desserts but a chocolate indulgence here and there doesn’t hurt. So I was not surprised when he chose this Torte out of the options I gave him. Well, if you ask me ANYBODY would. A flourless, butterless cake with bits and chunks of bittersweet chocolate and pecans with the perfect moist gooey texture. It takes a lot on your part to resist the temptation of eating spoonfuls of batter before it goes into the oven and even worse when the Torte is cooling down. I can say with absolute certainty that this is the best thing I have ever baked in my life. My family loved it.

The Torte is actually quite light despite the chocolate overload in it. Needless to say, a good quality chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter ( I used Lindt 70% Cocoa) makes all the difference in this recipe. This is such a beautiful dessert whether you are serving it for a dinner party or for a special celebration. Taste aside, what I love the most about this Torte is the way it looks. So rustic…with specs of dark chocolate held together be a delicious meringue. And this is why you don’t need any fancy decoration to go with it even for a birthday party. Whipped cream contrasts the bittersweet flavour perfectly so a dollop of it or simply some swirls on the Torte is enough. Dust a little cocoa powder and there you have it.

Chocolate indulgence..the guilt free way (that’s what the best ‘Daddy’ in the world likes to call it)!

Linking up with the September Chocolate Party.
Bring your favorite chocolate dessert to Roxana’s home baking #chocolateparty and win amazing prizes from OXO, Calphalon, Keurig, Imperial Sugar, Honey Ridge Farms and Land O Lakes® Butter

Gluten Free Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk and Pecan Torte (adapted with variation from Fine Cooking)
Serves 8-10

100 g (about 1 cup) pecans/walnuts, or any nut of your choice (I used pecans and walnuts. As I was running short of the exact amount of pecans, I added some walnuts)
125 g (about 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp ) sugar
250 g good quality bittersweet chocolate (70% to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 medium orange (optional)
1/8 tsp. salt
7 egg whites (from large eggs), about 1 cup
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 8-inch springform pan.

Pulse the pecans/walnuts with 1 Tbsp of the sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape the nuts into another bowl. Use a paper towel to wipe excess oil from the sides of the processor bowl, add the chocolate with 1 Tbsp. sugar, and pulse until it forms crumbs ranging in size from coarse meal to 1/4-inch bits. Add the chocolate to the nuts, along with the orange zest, if using, and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a large clean, dry bowl at medium speed until the egg whites are creamy white and soft peaks are formed when the beaters are lifted. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating at medium-high speed until the egg whites are glossy and stiff but not dry.

Pour half of the chocolate mixture over the egg whites and fold in with a large rubber spatula until nearly incorporated. Repeat with the remaining chocolate mixture, folding just until evenly incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the Torte is puffed and golden brown on top and springs back when gently pressed with your fingers; a toothpick inserted in the center should come out moist and possibly stained with melted chocolate, but not coated with raw batter. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Slide a thin knife or a small metal spatula around the sides of the Torte to release it from the pan. Remove the pan sides and transfer the cake to a serving platter.

Serve slices with a dollop or swirl of whipped cream.