Bittersweet Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

yellow cake with bittersweet swiss meringue
yellow cake with bittersweet swiss meringue
A perfect frosting!

If you grew up in the United States, you’ve had what’s called American buttercream frosting. You know the stuff; basically, powdered sugar and butter beaten together, with a bit of flavoring and coloring added. We refer to that as lard frosting, because the texture’s reminiscent of lard: heavy and greasy. For years, that was one of our main objections to cake. It had frosting on it, American buttercream frosting, and we just can’t deal with it.

Now that we’re more knowledgeable, we know of Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. It’s exactly what a frosting should be, super smooth, light, not too sweet, and not the least bit greasy or heavy. But, is it difficult to make? Not really. Follow along as we scratch up a batch, and see for yourself.

Continue reading “Bittersweet Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream”

Worth the trouble?

Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 3

cherry chocolate scones
cherry chocolate scones
Where’s that cup of tea to go along?

Okay, we’ve steeped the cherries on day one, made and froze the scone dough on day two. Today is the day of truth and feasting: we’ll bake our scones.

Continue reading “Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 3”

Worth the trouble?

Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 2

cherry chocolate scones
cherry chocolate scones
Where’s that cup of tea to go along?

You’ve steeped the cherries overnight, so let’s just get started on making the scone dough, shall we?

Continue reading “Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 2”

Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 1

cherry chocolate scones
cherry chocolate scones
Where’s that cup of tea to go along?

Here we are right near our volunteer night for the downtown walk in which we take part. It’s easy work, helping people checking in, answering questions, and just trying to help out where we’re needed. But, as with any event in which there are volunteers, sometimes that initial shine wears off, making the work a bit less attractive as you go along. To help with that, we always try to bring a few little treats to the other volunteers for our night. We’re always excited about finding something new to bring, and we hope that people look forward to their volunteer shift. This week we made some scones, but not just any scones.

Continue reading “Chocolate Cherry Scones — Day 1”

Bouchon’s Double Chocolate Chunk and Chip Cookies

double chocolate chuck and chip cookie
double chocolate chuck and chip cookie
Ah, chocolate!

Do you remember years ago when the rumor went around about some department store’s cookie recipe? Something about a patron being charged a huge amount of money after requesting the recipe after tasting the chocolate chip cookie. It seems laughable that people fell for that one. But, to us, what’s most remarkable is that it was quite commonplace to get something to eat in department stores. Now, we aren’t talking fine dining, but we aren’t talking fast food, either. Instead, we’re talking about pretty decent, freshly-made food. Including cookies.

Now, if you’re wondering whether these cookies have some sort of outrageous price tag attached to the recipe, be assured that they do not. While we’ve moved away from department stores baking cookies, we’ve also moved away from the idea of a secret recipe for baked goods. Nowadays, chefs are providing recipes for many, many, of their products, so you can try making them at home.

Continue reading “Bouchon’s Double Chocolate Chunk and Chip Cookies”

Worth the trouble?

Cats’ Tongues Cookies

cats' tongues cookies
cats' tongues cookies
That’s one mess of cats’ tongues.

No, not from cats. No, not for cats either. But shaped to look, vaguely, like the tongue of a cat. We wanted a less sweet, little treat one day, so we decided that we’d try these little cookies. Sure, you can eat them plain, but you can also make sandwich cookies, by spreading a small amount of jam between the layers, and even, if you’re so inclined, dipping one end in chocolate. We were up for that!

Continue reading “Cats’ Tongues Cookies”

Worth the trouble?

Chocolate Pots de Crème

chocolate pots de creme
chocolate pots de creme
Chocolicious!

Okay, has this ever happened to you? You open the refrigerator, take a look inside and see a pint of heavy cream that will be out of date in a few days, and you have no idea how you’re going to use it. Yeah, us, too. One of the hazards of scratchin’, we guess. So, what did you do?

Continue reading “Chocolate Pots de Crème”

Worth the trouble?