chocolate covered marshmallows

Another post about David Lebovitz...I think I mentioned his marshmallows last winter as well. If you've never had homemade marshmallows, you seriously need to try them. They are so much better than those rubbery store bought ones (though those little guys toast up very nicely), and a breeze to make in an afternoon.

For an added twist, I did some chocolate covered marshmallows as well this year! My first attempt at tempering chocolate wasn't a total disaster, though I admit it wasn't a total success either. Tempering chocolate is a pretty exact science, here are some resources:

Cooking for Engineers
David Lebovitz (of course)

Once I tempered my chocolate, I dunked the marshmallows in a few at a time until well coated, then put them on a rack to fully dry. These sure make a nice gift!

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Stollen

When it comes to desserts, David Lebovitz is someone I trust unconditionally. His blog is good, his information great, and recipes phenomenal. Last time I was looking around his site, I saw his recipe for stollen and just had to make it. And hey, 'tis the season, as they say. Mine turned out deliciously and look surprisingly just like his.

I looked around for other stollen recipes but they all seemed to use candied fruits (more like a fruitcake) and that just wasn't appealing. Then I was going to blend recipes, but they used varying ingredient amounts with different yields. In the end, I basically followed his recipe, so I'll just link it here. Of the slight changes I made:

• Substitute Grand Marnier for the rum to soak the fruits
• Omit the candied ginger (due to its extreme price) and citrus peel (due to its apparant unavailability at grocery stores around here)

My only complain is not knowing when the bread is done cooking. Sure, he suggests using a digital thermometer, but come on, it's bread! Mine ended up being slightly overcooked I think, but delicious none the less. The recipe makes four loaves which makes it great for gift giving!

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david lebovitz--revisited

Winter is almost here--


It's been perfect hot chocolate drinking weather...I was out taking pictures this afternoon and needed to warm up. Enter David Lebovitz and his fantastic chocolate recipes. I enjoyed a nice hot cup of hot chocolate (made with soymilk and Ghiradelli's) with marshmallows, and later in the afternoon, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.


I recently read some new information (new to me anyway) about the proper care of butter in making cookies, from using it at the right temperature to creaming it properly. I was curious and anxious to bake cookies with my new found knowledge.

The cookies ended up pretty flat which I'm not used to, but the flavor is great. I especially love the chocolate chip to dough ratio. The outside is slightly crisp, but the inside is nice and chewy. I will probably make them again just to see if the flatness is due to the recipe or execution. Looking at the ones Heidi made, though, I'm thinking it's on my end...perhaps that butter article wasn't so good after all.

Don't they look tasty?

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a long overdue intro to david lebovitz

I discovered David Lebovitz' blog last week...and oh how dangerous it is! I know I've heard about him countless places around the internet, but never actually took the time to visit his site. I instantly bookmarked a ton of recipes upon visiting his recipes page and honestly wish I had done so long ago. So far, I've had the Parisian hot chocolate, marshmallows, and cheesecake brownies, all of which are fantastic.


I really want to talk about the brownies today. I thought I had an amazing recipe with Jamie Oliver's fifteen brownies...I might have been mistaken. These brownies have that wonderfully fudgy texture paired with the sweet and tangy cream cheese. Honestly, I couldn't decide which was better even if I had them side by side. Nor would I want to!


As for the marshmallows and hot chocolate, I couldn't recommend them more! The hot chocolate tastes like a delicious, creamy, melted chocolate bar (which is basically what it is). If you go all out and make it with fancy chocolate, you wouldn't dare plop a marshmallow on top; save the marshmallows for other hot chocolate mixes or "lesser" chocolate...I personally used a half a king size Hershey bar (purchased super cheap at Grocery Outlet). A half batch of these marshallows do make quite a bit so I wouldn't recommend making more than that unless you plan on using them for something else (I've got my eye on some rocky road!).

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