Mexican Icebox Cake

 I bought a little 6 pack of these Patron Cafe XO, and they are delicious! 

Easily 10 servings in an 8" springform.  Very rich!

 Our neighborhood supper club meets monthly except for the summer.  The menu is put together by a member of the steering committee and this month, they wanted to do a test dinner.  Sounds delicious to me!  I was in charge of making the dessert.  The original recipe can be found on Epicurious, here.  Of course, in true SweetiePetitti fashion I just couldn't leave well enough alone.  If you read the reviews, you will see I was simply following a lot of advice!  I am giving you the recipe as I made it.

A note on vanilla.  I always use the Neilsen-Massey, and you will find most professionals prefer it.  I have given out many recipes and heard complaints how it just doesn't taste like mine.  It is always the vanilla.  Anyone who says there is no difference has never done a taste test.  I have, no comparison.  The vanilla paste is a thicker vanilla with flecks of real vanilla beans.  It is great in whipped cream, ice cream or even vanilla buttercream.  Anywhere you can see those tell tale flecks, it is a great choice!

Accept nothing less than the very best!

Mexican Icebox Cake

2, 7 ounce packages of Italian Ladyfingers also called Savoiardi (like a hard cookie)
2 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 block cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 miniature Hershey's milk chocolate bars, grated

Measure and cut the ladyfingers so they stand on the flat end around the perimeter of the springform pan with the rounded side facing out.  Brush the inside of each generously with Patron XO Cafe tequila or Tia Maria or even just cold coffee.  Using your small ends and whole cookies, fill the bottom of the springform pan with a layer of ladyfingers, and again, generously brush with your liqueur or coffee.  I believe the next time I make this I will grind cookies and add melted butter to make a true bottom crust.

This does require a little patience!

Stir 3/4 cup whipping cream, unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir until the mixture is smooth, remove from heat and cool to room temp.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the powdered sugar, cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste until smooth and blended.  Beat in cooled chocolate mixture and set aside.

In a clean bowl, Beat the remaining 2 cups whipping cream, 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar cinnamon and last teaspoon vanilla paste. Beat until the cream forms stiff peaks.  I folded both mixtures into one another.

You can faintly see the vanilla bean specks.

Spread half of the mixture onto the bottom crust.  Place a layer of ladyfingers, and brush generously with the liqueur or coffee.  Then top with remaining filling.  Using a peeler, shave curls off the chocolate bars and top the cake with them.

you should eat those chunky pieces...

leftovers from s'mores!

Cover loosely (I use a shower cap!) and chill at least 4 hours, but overnight is fine too.  To serve, pop off the sides of the springform, and slice at about 2 ladyfingers width.  It's very rich!  So, what are you waiting for?  Get in there and cook!

The Gift of Food

So my last post was gifts for the cook.  These are food gifts for the cook and the baker.  Sometimes people just hedge on spending that extra money for something better quality or cool to have.  So here are a few ideas.  Things I certainly enjoy.

If you read my blog, ever, you know that this is the only vanilla I use.  Nothing else tastes like it, and although it is a little pricier, it is worth every penny.  The vanilla paste is a wonderful treat for someone who makes their own ice cream, meringues, whipped cream...It is basically all those little vanilla bean specks in a sugar based suspension.  It keeps a long time, much longer than vanilla beans, which tend to dry out.  It really eliminates scraping the bean, and there is no waste.

Seasoning your food is paramount.  Maldon sea salt crumbles perfectly on your salads and meat.  And tellicherry pepper is all I would ever put in my grinder.  I never believed there was a difference, but there is.  Truffle and Salt is an expensive addition to a pantry, but nothing tastes as decadent as truffle.  It is amazing sprinkled on pasta, potatoes, even popcorn.  Finally, the tin of Potlatch Seasoning.  We sell out of it often, and for good reason.  It is terrific on salmon, but also makes a yummy sour cream based chip dip and season your chicken with it before you make chicken salad and wow...whole new level of flavor!

My dad buys Hot Rocks in bulk.  We all get them.  It is a chunky salt and pepper mixture with a little lemon in there as well.  It is so good on a steak!  The little jar on the right comes from the St. Helena Olive Oil Company.  It is a darling package with some great herbs inside.  Just add a great olive oil and dip your bread.  I also sprinkle it on pasta.

The baker in your life will thankyou for any of these. Instant espresso powder enhances anything chocolate, but also can bring a great coffee flavor to baked goods without adding any additional liquid.  This is my favorite brand.  Some are very bitter, almost burnt tasting.  The Pernigotti cocoa is something I talk about frequently, it just beats anything from the grocer.  Lyle's Golden Syrup is delicious and beats out corn syrup every time.  And local honey is a gift everyone would love.  Honey has many benefits, and local honey is shown to help with seasonal allergies.  I also love that I support a local bee keeper.

I have sung the praises of Captain Rodney before.  These are usually found in a specialty store, and are fun additions for the holidays.

If your food lover doesn't have a Trader Joe's and you do, here are some suggestions.  I stock up when we go to Nashville.  The nut selection is vast, and priced very well.  Almond meal, raw almonds, sliced almonds, pistachios (out of the shell) and macadamias are some of my favorites.  The white balsamic is my everyday vinegar, I buy 4 bottles at a time.  The peanut butter cups?  Delicious.  I bought them in August and they have been in hiding for 3 months.  I treat myself to one every week or so.  They also usually have some good special chocolate things for the holidays.  I just love this store.  Wish we had one in Memphis....hint hint hint.

So certainly there are lots of other great food items, but this is a good start.  A change from the classic olive oil, bottle of wine or Christmas candy route.  So head and out and make your food lover happy.  You may reap the rewards of your gift as well!  So what are you waiting for?  Shop, and maybe someone else will cook!

The Cobbler's Kids Brownies

You know the saying, "The cobbler's kids have no shoes". He was too busy with his real customers. We all know a good cobbler would do a little bartering and get his kids shoes. Maybe not custom made for them, but shoes, none the less. My family lives this saying. The food blogger mom, who makes hundreds of cookies, but is sometimes too tired to cook real food, or, gasp, has no sweets in the house for them. What? No rejects? Not one cookie in the freezer, (which holds hundreds), can be given to a sugar craving family member? Well, no. Get over it. I have a million cookbooks, bake something. I admit, I usually have a box of Duncan Hines on hand for these types of melt downs, but I was unarmed when Mr. Sad Face started rummaging (that chaos in the pantry is my order!), looking for brownie mix. I diverted his man-handling my numerous types of flour, by agreeing to bake him brownies.

If there was a Duncan Hines lurking in the pantry, anyone in my family would just bake them up. I usually do a little doctoring, adding sour cream, chocolate chips, nuts whatever is on hand. But I had no easy mix today. So naturally, when I grabbed the box of Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Wafers, I knew I would never actually follow their recipe on the back of the box. If I baked the Guittard brownie recipe with orange zest, cranberries and almonds, I would be a happy baker. My family would feel betrayed. There are a few things I am not allowed to "fancy up". There are links to some of my favorite ingredients that you may not be familiar with, things I like to use and write about. So here's what I did.

Cobbler's Brownies (adapted from E. Guittard)
1 1# box E. Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Wafers
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup buttermilk
4 large eggs, room temperature
1⅓ cups sugar
1 Tablespoon Trablit
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla paste
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup pecans (I love Landgraf Pecans from Oklahoma)

Preheat oven to 325° (I set to 315° because I use convection). Spray a 9X13 pan.
Heat chocolate, butter and buttermilk in double boiler until melted and well mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Add vanilla paste, Trablit and salt. Mix and add melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and mix until combined. Mix in pecans and put into prepared pan and bake about 25-30 minutes. The top will be shiny with a thin crust on it. The soft center will solidify as it cools. Whatever you do, do not over bake these. What a waste of a pound of chocolate that would be! Cool a good 2 hours before cutting. They are delicious cold!You can look at it this way. The cobbler uses only the finest materials (ingredients) for his paying customers to maintain his high standards. So when he breaks down and makes those shoes for his kids(brownies in my case) he uses those top-shelf ingredients. Just so they know, they may feel like they are not the number one priority, but in fact they are the reason for everything we do, including just breathing. So, what are you waiting for? Get in there and bake.

July Daring Baker's Challenge

Yes, I'm still here! The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Now in Memphis, the temperature has dropped to a chilly 82, but the humidity at 10pm last night was 89%. Anyone who loves an egg white like me knows this is no weather to be making marshmallows. And it's sort of a bummer, because I love them. Raw, with Rice Crispies, toasted over a fire, on top of sweet potatoes, I am not choosy. But when it is dripping outside and the sun is shining the little devils get sticky as molasses. So I have opted to make only the Milan Cookies. They look a little like a famous upscale grocery store brand, but as with most things, they taste way better right out of your own oven. There are ways to make variations on this gem, adding mint, almond, rolling the edges in almond, white chocolate filling, really your imagination can go to town. The original recipe calls for orange with the chocolate, but I love dark chocolate and raspberry, and I love Nutella, but sometimes I am a total purist, like today. I chose to use vanilla paste. A wonderful product made by Neilsen Massey, the best name in vanilla to begin with. Vanilla paste is basically all those beans scraped from a pod of vanilla and suspended in a sugar syrup. It gives the bean flecks in vanilla products, and makes these cookies heavenly. I baked on convection, but even still with the humidity, they seemed chewy. So here's the recipe as I followed it. Delicious!

Milan Cookies
Prep Time: 20 min

Inactive Prep Time: 0 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min

Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar

• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla paste

• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
•
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
•
1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

As an afterthought...the flavor of the cookies alone with the vanilla paste was divine. However, I had to leave the cookies in the oven all night (not on) to dry them out. Because of the crazy humidity, it was nearly impossible to get a great crunchy cookie out of this recipe. But we decided you could slather chocolate ganache on Milkbones and they'd be yummy! Happy Baking!
The cookie below is rolled in almond meal....