Tell them to throw some whole roasted hazelnuts in the jar. You’ll have a new record, I give them a couple days max...
Have you tried Patchi? Should be right up your alley.
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Never heard of it, Toby. I'll look it up and if I can find it here in the States I'll order some when the weather gets cooler. (good chocolate can't be shipped in the warmer months).
I totally forgot about Belgian Chocolates. They are la creme de la creme. I imagine they're still that way in Belgium and other parts of Europe but if you can find them here in the States, they're all crap.
Here where it is made we get not only the lesser quality knock offs but also the premium ones like this
http://www.caffarel.com/en/products/...s-spread-cream
It has 40% hazelnuts compared to Nutella's 13%, no palm oil but cocoa butter. It is an old Turin brand, their Gianduiotti traditional hazelnut chocolates (typically triangular section, wrapped in golden foil) are equally addictive...one thing to make me look forward to colder weather!
Nutella is mostly sugar and palm oil, other better quality spreads (unfortunately unlikely to be easily available outside Italy) such as the aforementioned Caffarel or Novi (that actually has 45% hazelnuts) have a flavour better suited to gluttonous grown ups as sugar is further down the ingredient list. Now you are really making me long for a jar, a slice of bread and a glass of cold milk!
Hey - For you dark chocolate lovers, here's a a simple recipe for the best, most decadent mocha chocolate torte you'll have ever tasted ! :
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. good quality dark chocolate broken up into medium-sized pieces - your choice of dark chocolate, but Lindt comes to mind - 80% or more
- 1/2 cup espresso coffee
- 8 oz. butter, preferably unsalted, cut into small pieces
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- some chopped nuts of your choice, if you like nuts in your heavenly torte (optional)
Heat oven to 350 - Grease & flour a 9-inch spring form pan, wrapped with foil around the outside bottom to prevent leakage.
Put the chocolate and espresso in a glass bowl or dish & nuke for approx. 30 seconds or more until smooth and glossy.
Stir until smooth, and add the butter, a few chunks at a time, until the mixture is smooth & glossy.
Then beat in the sugar.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and then slowly pour over the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly.
Pour the batter into the pan.
Bake until the cake is cooked through - about 40 to 50 minutes. (Might still be a bit giggly in the center, but no matter, it`ll firm up on cooling).
Cool for 5 minutes and run a knife around the edges & remove the sides of the spring form pan. Cool completely.
Wrap the cake well in plastic wrap & refrigerate overnite or up to 2 days.
Remove from fridge, unwrap, set on a plate at room temp about an hour before serving. It`s great plain, or with a raspberry sauce, or with whipped cream, or any custard sauce- whatever. Cut into small, thin slices - it`s really rich.
Give it a go, you`ll love this yummy, decadent dessert for any special occasion. It`s so easy to make, you`ll want to make it often. I`ve done this numerous times & all my guests have loved it !!
I know this without them telling me - cause there`s never a crumb let on their plates !
Great topic, Al !
Try the dark chocolate torte recipe I just posted Steve - guaranteed you & your wife will love it.
Oh, and BTW, I tried a number of different blue cheeses since returning from July NADA, but none of them came even close to the taste of that top of the line Rogue blue cheese you so graciously brought for us to try at the show. I must get down to Oregon to get some of that.
And to Ralph (Altum Nut), I think you would like the chocolate torte too - give it a try.
P.S.
No problem substituting regular instant coffee for the espresso in the recipe - just make it a bit stronger than you normally would.
Paul not only does that look look really decadent it also looks very simple. Limited, really good ingredients always bring out the best in each one.
We don’t do dessert often but I thought about giving g this a try for tonight until I saw the “refrigerate overnight part”... It will have to wait...It’s a bit too decadent for a Monday! It will get made though... and when it does I’ll admit it!
I have one to share... This is the Barefoot Contessa’s Outrageous Brownies. It’s by far the best brownie recipe I’ve ever tasted. Again, yes you find coffee on the ingredients list. It just brings out the best flavor in the chocolate. I’ve made these using different combinations of semi and dark chocolate. Milk Chocolate people can play too. I omit the nuts and use a big baking sheet with edges and line it with parchment. Cutting them cold keeps things tidier. I cut them small. These are also killer rich. Great to take for big parties and picnics. My sons college room mates love me. Hope someone else enjoys them as much as my friends and family.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...ecipe3-1916679
Thanks for sharing Paul!
Hey Jenene - if you can get started early enough, it's not essential to do the 'refrigerate overnite' part - just cool it down sufficiently for a time, and then refrigerate for 2-3 hours or more - should be enough for it to set ok.
I've done it without any issue.
Thanks for the brownie recipe - I love Ina Garten's recipes - have you tried her skillet roasted lemon chicken recipe that she makes for hubby Jeffrey every Friday night - absolutely delicious !
BTW folks, the chocolate torte is fabulous served with a simple raspberry sauce - easily made using some seedless raspberry jam - by adding just a bit of water and mixing well to thin out the consistency - heat it a bit in the microwave before spooning a bit of sauce over the torte when serving.
And if using chopped nuts in the recipe (I prefer pecans or walnuts), add these to the finished batter & mix to blend in evenly just before, or after, adding the batter to the spring form pan.
Not wanting to beat a dead horse, but I gotta tell ya - after coffee and reading the newspaper this morning, and with nothing else to do, I baked the mocha chocolate torte (above recipe) for the 3rd time this year - took all of 10 minutes or so to put it all together after first getting all the ingredients organized & in order, then 55 minutes in the oven @ 350 (with chopped pecans) - set it to cool fully for a couple hours & afterwards into the fridge around noon to start setting up - figuring on an overnite session to do that properly.
Had a lovely din-din @ 6:00 p.m., and decided I just "needed" to have a generous sliver off the fairly well set up torte for dessert.
Clothed it with a nice glaze of sweet crabapple glaze mixed with some strawberry sauce, and thought I'd died & gone to heaven.
Wife Linda stopped me from cutting off a second slice to watch my weight.
So tomorrow I'm looking forward to having another slice with a bit of vanilla/caramel ripple ice cream - can't wait.
Just telling you this to remind you how easy this torte is to make, how little time it takes to get it to refrigeration time for setting up, and how very much you & your family/friends will enjoy it.
And it's really so very inexpensive for this high quality, super delish dessert - enough to serve at least 16 persons overall with good sized slices, perhaps up to 20 servings of more slender slicings, and it'll last at least 10 days or more in the fridge without any problem whatsoever.
You must give it a try.
And you know what - I kinda like retirement - you can do whatever the hell you want with your day !
So I do these silly things.
I was blessed to be able to retire early - about 5 years early - and it's been over 15 years now since I started living my life like I wanted to - just me & Linda to answer to - and I've loved almost every day of it -(all except the recent problematic hip replacement surgery time). LOL
Paul that sounds really Delicious! Im going to have to give it or a go.:)
chocolate I cant stand.. Palmers. The junk they put out at Easter. Its just nasty tasting to me.
I do enjoy the high percentage cocao ones 75%,85%,90% are great. Lindt is good but I think when you get to the high percents the differences between brands start to fade.
I usually get "Green and Blacks Organic " or "GHIRARDELLI" here.
Ralph, 2 squares a day? I can't do it. An open bar of chocolate here is an empty wrapper :)
Nutella was a treat here when I was a kid... we couldnt afford it often and it was hard to find. Now its everywhere. I like it by the spoon for a sweet treat and add it to brownie mixes. That and peanut butter by the spoon are vices of mine.
I definitely don't snub my nose at good milk chocolate. I have a weak spot for cadberry milk chocolate. I also really like GHIRARDELLI 60% chocolate chips. These are like milk chocolate with an edge...Nice!
al
We even have a box in our store room for Emergencies. Can't be without Chocolate in this family if there was a natural disaster ! The contents though has way too frequent a turn over.
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