The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever

 Everyone needs that go to sessert recipe for te  holidays.It's usally cookies or pie however don;t discount a good cake one. Nothing says dream dessert than a chocolate cake, layered with a richy creamy frosting,Luckily there;s a recipe out there that fills the bill.

Master cake and pastry baker and regular contributor Claire Saffitz gave the recipe along with useful advice in yestrday's New York Times Food section,. Her cake is moist, dense and dark. Unlike other chocolate sctach cakes she uses cocoa powder instead of melting chocolate bits . Melted chocolate tends to dry out cake batter.Also bar cocolate or chocolate chips tends to add more sweetness (unless you're using baker's chocolate) She recommends Dutch process which means that the cocoa has been alkalized, neutralizing some of the chocolate's natural acidity.It also gives the cocoa a much more rounded  roasted flavor and a deeper, richer color. Also nix the butter. Add a neutral oil like avocado or vegetable. Oil is liquid at room temperature so an ol based cake has less of a tendency to dry out, Cakes do need a butter fat flavro but se uses creme fraiche or sour cream. This reacts with the baking powder, giving the texture or crumb s light bounciness,

Of course you can use chocolate bars, but in the frosting. This gives the icing a high gloss and shiny , finished look. ms Saffitz opts for a German buttercream which is whipping butter in a pastry cream base for a denser texture. The pudding base calls for cooking four large flour , sugar and milk on a stove top before adding a mix of chopped semisweet chocolate and cocoa powderTwo and aquarter cups of melted butter are added into the cooling mix, Use a mixer for this so you can get a smooth, spreadable glossy icing.Add two tablespoons of vanilla extract last, beat again and then spread on the cake.As for frosting, a good one cupof buttercream should work bwtween the layers. The to[p and sides should onyl have a very thin layer of the frosting on them. You could decorate with shaved chocolate if you want, Anything else would ruin this beautiful cake.

This chocolate cake is the perfect holiday dessert. Its a richer more legant spin on just your average cake. Try it for a show stopping end,

Cinnamon Buns With A Twist

 One of the highlights of a chill fall morning is hot cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. These are perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea. They're also not that hard to bake. 

Regular contributor Claire Saffitz wrote about them and gave the recipe in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday food section. . Hers are a bit different. The twist is the addition of Specaloos, a spicy molasses based snap cookie.It gives it a different taste that makes the buns memorable. She also uses scalded milk which gives the rolls a pillowy texture. This allows specific proteins to denature. Without scalding these same proteins inhabit the development of gluten. You need a lot fo gluten for this . They react with the yeast which produces a light airy texture.  Biting into the  rolls willbe like biting into clouds. She also added a rouxlike mixture of flour and milk called tangzhuong. Thsi is what gives Japanese milk bread and other Asian breads that soft, spongy testure. Use a stand mixer to mix and knead the dough/

As for the cinnamon, mix it with the specaloos to cut back on the earthy spice flavor,. these won;t be so intense flavor.  If you can't find them then add windmill cookies or even graham crackers. Just make sure that all three are pulsed into fine crumbs.Don't add sugar either. These will make the rolls too sweet. The frosting is sweet enough . The dough is rolled out and then thethe filling is added. The rolls are cut with a thread and then baked with aluminum foil over them. This keeps in the moisture. Let cool and then frost with a standard cream cheese frosting.

These are a different cinnamon roll. They are light and tasty with a different texture. Try them on a cool fall day.

Homemade Macarons? Yes Please!

 Macarons are on everyone's wish list. These delightful  little bites  are sweet and airy treats a taste of alomnd mixed with ganache ro buttercream. They're every sugar addicts dream. Unfortunately they can be expensive , costing two and sometimes three times more than the average cookie. Don;'t depair .Macarons can be made at home.

Famed pastry chef and regular contributor Claire Saffitz gave the recipe for chocolate ,pistacchio and raspberry ones in yesterday's new York Times food section.Many home bakers balk at the thought of making them. They can be tempermental at best and even some of the better bakeries have had trouble creating them. There are plusses in baking themat home. One they are very expensive, One cna cost as much as five dollars. You'll be saving a lot of money by creating your won. Also you have more control of the sugar added. Many bakers put in a bit too much sugar which can mask the other flavors.Another asset is that once mastered macarons can be made in a varirty of different flavors with different fillings. Home bakers can go wild with their own creations and have fun using different or unusual ingredients. You do have to be dedicated for baking them. Filled macarons are really a two day process. It stsrtd with almind meal flour, usually King Arthur's is the best choice. Then there are th e egg whites which can be subbed in with aquafaba for vegans and vegetarians,

There are excellent tips included too, The mernigue should be very firm which creates a stable base. Then you mix in your dry ingreidients like almond flour and the confectioners sugar in a folding mtion called macronage. This deflates the meringue which gives the batter a glossy lava liketexture. This will make it settle into flat smooth cirlces on the baking sheet. Keep in mind that if the batter is lumpy it,s been undermixed: if it's pancaking into thin  puddles its been overmixed. as for the flur use an extra fine almond variety.A coarseer grind can lead to cracked shells and oils from almond skins can weaken the meringue. Use gel food coloring. The liquid kind can lead to cracking. You have to have a pastry bag to pipe the shells on a silicon baking mat. The mats will stay perfectly flat resulting in rounder shells. DO NOT use parchment because it tends to wrinkled underneath the macarons, sightly distorting the circles. Let the rounds air until a skin forms on them, Unlike other baked good , macarons should be baked at a low oven 275 degrees Farenheit. This will maintain their round shape. Let them sit overnight before filling them with ganache or buttercream.

Merignues are such tasty treats that they're hard to resist. Make them at home with favorite flavors. They'll be at the ready to satisfy a sweet tooth.

The Surprisingly Easy Baguette

Mention baguettes to home bakers and they flinch. Most think it's a compliicated loaf to create but it really isn't. It has a scant number of ingredients and is not bad to whip up. Once created then it becomes a must bake on any list.

You Tube personalityand regular contributor Claire saffitz  wrote about this delicious bread in today's New York Times food section.french bread is well suited for home baking because they're made with commercial yeast instead of a sourdough starter. This means that there's no task of maintaining a starter and then feeding it as it advances before you can start. The entire ingredient list is simple, It's just flour water, yeast and salt. However the flour quality is important. She recommends the  King Arthur brand which has a ten to twelve protein level (check th elabel for this) King arthir has 11.7Other pluses is that it's widely available and has a bit of barley. This enhances fermentation and flavor. The protein rich flour also facilitates gluten development to trap gas and create those various sized holes. You don't want too many interior holes because they can cause the baguette's shape to misshapen. Apart from the flour  you do need a baking stone and a four by twenty inch wooden baking peel and a thirteen by twenty inch wooden board for sliding them into the oven. You can get these onlien ro have your local plywood store custom cut them for you.

After you have all the equipment start planning your time line. The dough has to rest overnight in the fridge which will improve its' flavor and quality of the crust. doing this gives you some flexibiluty in baking it the next day. Start by making the poolish a type of preferment much like a sourdough starter but made with store bought yeast the morning of the first day. Let it ferment. Then mix the dough in the evening pop in the fridge the next morning and bake. Ms. Saffiz' recipes will yield three loaves. If this is too mch , then refrigerate the dough and bake later. Keep in mind that french bread dough can be sticky and a little soft. This can make for tricky kneading. Ms. Saffitz recommneds using minimal flour and a light touch during shaping. The first  dozen or so baugettes that you'll make may not be bakery perfect but they'll still have that great taste and deliciously chewy texture not to mention that crackly crust. They'll be gone in an instant being sliced and slathered with butter or being turned into yummy sandwiches.

A tasty baguette is easy to create. It's just four ingredients mixed together and baked into a loaf of deicliousness. Try it for a flavorful bite.

 

Candy Treats

 Onr of the best aspects and even gifts of the holidays is hoemmade . As easy as it is to eat, it's tricky to make. Luckily there's help to guide you through in making the three most popular - fudge, caramel and nougat.

Regular contribtur and baking cookbook author , Claire Saffritz wrote about these goodies in yesterday's New York Times Food section.For any of these candies she strongly recommnends a candy thermometer, along with a heavy saucepan that won't cause scorched candy and a kitchen scale for exact measuring. The first and easiest recipe is fudge.Hers is a rich blend of cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips, butter and whole milk. There's also corn syrup and honey along with granulated sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Home confectioners must cook the fudge into "soft ball "phase, meaning the candy forms a soft ball when dropped into water. The mixture should be cooked at 235 degrees Farenheit and stirred constantly. The sugars and cocoas are first  cooked separately  and then combined. .Once the fudge hits the soft ball phase then take it off the heat and poured in a pan lined with parchment paper and cooking spray. It'll keep up to a month.

Caramels start with sugar, cream and butter . Ms. Saffitz also infuses the cream with coffee to counteract all that sweetness.Unlike with the fudge, don't stir the mixture and wash down the saucepan walls with a wet pastry sauce to avoid any crystallization.It's cooked until the hard ball stage which is putting a good drop of the mixture into cold water and seeing to become a hardy chewy ball. The hardest candy to create is nougat. It's an eleaborate mix fo egg whites, sugar and nuts. The pistacchios are toasted first then the egg whites salt and sugar are whipped in a stand mixing bowl (think meringue) After this heat the corn syrup, sugar and water together . Cooked honey is also added in and hotne finally the meringue mixture , This really is a two person venture with one mixing the egg white while the other watches and stirs the syrup. This last is added to the mix and it's beaten until the nougat is voluminous. The nuts are then added and the candy is poured into a parchment paper lined pan to set. Let it set for six hours to overnight before cutting into squares.

There's nothing like the sweet treat of candy as a gift. It's a great present, full of homemade ingredients and careful cooking. Make a batch of fudge , caramel or nougat for your holiday sweetie.

Can Fruitcake Ever Be Updated?

 No one really bakes fruitcake for the holidays. It seems relagated to christmasses pasts along with bubble lights and silvery strands of  tinsel. Suppose, though this centuries old classic could be updated. would people want a slice? Yes.

Regular contributor and author of several dessert books, Claire Saffitz posed this question in yesterday's new York Times Food section.fruitcake has been much maligned over the decades with the former late night host Johhny Carson once joking that there was only one fruitcake in existence  that made the rounds  from family to family. everybody in the States grew up on the English version, which has a spicy , molassses flavor and a rich , tender crumbs thanks to a long aging process.It's basted or "fed" with high proof alcohol and then tightly wrapped for weeks or even months. Homemade and commercially baked ones are studded withh those unnaturally colored red and green  glaceed cherries . Sugared pecans usually formed the roof of this creation, Creating a cake of this way was a way of preserving both fruit and cake in  times when there was no refrigeration. The cakes were also coated in jam and then sealed with royal icing  which also helped with keeping it for months and even years.

Luckily Ms. Saffitz's version skips all that. what she presents is a cake batter that has almond paste in it. Adding this will help with keeping the fruitcake moist for one to two weeks. There is no added liquid , keeping the proportions of sugar and fat high, fostering an environment in which bacteria can't survive.As a bonus the longer the fruitcake sits the better taste it will have. Her fruit selection is wide, Yes, there are cherries but they're dried deep red cherries, not the glaceed kind. There are also dried apricots, cranberries, prunes and currents. They're combined in rum and freshly squeezed orange  and then the mixture is tightly covered in a boel. It's  left to sit out until all the liquid is absorbed. The batter has the aded zing of fresh lemon and orange zest instead of the candied one which is hard to find in the States. There are the usual spices  of ginger all spice and cloves. The finished cake is basted in apricot jam and then an icing made of confectioners sugar,milk, lemon juice and salt is poured on top of it.

Is it time to rethink fruitcake? Yes! This recipe proves that the holiday classic doens't have to be stodgy. It can be zesty and exciting too.

Une Souffle Parfait

 One of the most elegant desserts any home chef can create is the chocolate souffle. It's also the lushest sweet, airy and delciate as it melts against the tongue. Yet it fills home bakers with fear.It shouldn't.it's one of the easiest recipes to make.

Claire Saffitz, author of DessertPerson "Clarkson POtter 2020) and her latest book due out next month, Dessertperson: Recipes and Guidance for baking with Confidence. (Clarkson Potter) gave her spin on it in yesterday;s New Yorlk Times Wednesday Food section. Ms. Saffitz knows desserts. She loves desserts so creating the perfect chocolate souffle is vital to her. She crushes the many myths associated with the recipe, like don't slam the oven door while it's baking. It'll fall. Eat it warm or it will be ruined.However her deconstruction can help many a home baker recreate this French classic. One of the most important steps is stabilize your eggs.The dish requires three egg yolks and five egg whites. You need to understand the last in order to make a good souffle. It;'s the egg whites that are the most important. They're to be whipped and when this is dome air bubbles trap water and retain water.Older eggs provide this and Ms. Saffitz recommneds getting them from the local farmer's market. The eggs have to be cold as well when they're separated and then the whites are left out at room tmperature before beating. The whites have to be beaten into stiff peaks otherwhise there could be puddles.

Another must is buildng your base. Chocolate souffle needs an anchor of sorts This comes in the form of a thin pastry creme thickened with a little flour along with chocolate and cocoa powder. The gluten from the flour adds just enough structure to support the souffle without muting the rich chocolate flavor.Many souffle recipes rely on just the chocolate alone for support. The eggs whites are quickly added other wise the combination of yolk chococlate and milk could cause the whites to collapse. Another must is properly prepping the ramekins. They're first greased with room temperature butter and then coated with sugar to prevent cracking and the batter sticking to the sides while baking.It also acts like a grip for the batter to adhere to. fill the ramekins to the top and then scrape off the top for a perfect even cap, Sprinkle more sugar on top and run a finger along the inner rims wiping away the batter. This will ensure a perfect even rise.How do you know when it's done? Press the souffles centers down with a finger. There should be a certain springiness as the eggs begin to ser. Serve warm from the oven.

Any home baker can create the perfect chocolate souffle. It just takes myth busting and following the recipe ina thoughtful way.. The result is a chocolate fantasty , light airy and delciosuClaire Saffritz, New York Times chocolate souffle. eggsl whipp, ramekinds, butter dugr, flout 

Easy Breads For Rosh Hashana

 One of the highlights of Rosh Hashana, starting next week is the bread. Challah is always a great accompaniment to a holiday dinner. A homemad e loaf even more so. Best of all the dough can also be used for babka too.

Claire Saffitz ,a chef, food writer and You Tube personality wrote about this versatile dough in today's New York Times Food section. Challah is the perfect bread because it's easy to make for beginner bakers as well as being perfect for sweet and savory dishes. It makes for an excellent French toast while being perfect for sandwiches or accompanying soups and salads. How to make a  memorable loaf? Keep Chef Saffitz 's  hints sin mind when creating it. Start with a sponge. You have to mix a lot of yeast into the dough because of the recipe's high sugar low moisture make up. Mix a small amount of flour with water and a small amount of yeast to create a sponge.as it sits the yeasts feed on the starches in the flour and multiply. Thsi makes the mixture active and bubbly, removing the need to add more yeast to the dough. Another important tip - find ingreddient balance. You need to put eleven grams of salt in the dough. This may sound exccessive but it brings out the flavor and strenghtens the gluten network. Then there's the olive oil. There should be one third cup f it.It keeps the bread Pareve as well as giving it a silky feel.It will need a lot of kneading to give it good crust and crumb. How do you know when enough kneading is enough? The window pane test. Take a small ball of dough and stretch it out. The dough iis thoroughly kneaded if you can see light coming through it , 

Of course it's the braid that makes challah what it is. Basically it can be turned into any shape you want. The traditional braid is the most used and the simplest. a pretty one is a smaller braid tucked in a larger one. You can also wrap it around itself to form a circle. This would be a lovely one for any raisin laced challah.Once you perfect a simple braid you can try a French braid . Keep in mind that a light texture is essential for a good challah. Once you've conquored it, then move on to simple sandwich loaves and soudough.Ms. Saffiitz also includes a  cinnamonbabka recipe , redolent with the spice and zinged up with orange zest. The dough is a basic challah one but.a mix of cinnamon, brown sugar orange zest and almond flour. also add a generous pinch - about one hlf teaspoon of Diamond Crystal salt to it . Break up any lumps of brown sugar with your fingertips. Reserve about a quarter of the cup of the mixture to sprinkle over the loaf. The dough is then divided into two pieces. One  rolled out and the cinnamon mix is spread out on one piece while the other is put in the fridge. Chill both babkas in the fridge for anywhere from four to twelve hours. THey're then proofed, washe d in egg and then baked in a 350 degree oven for fortyfive minutes. They're then cooled for ten.

Observe the holiday with good food. This includes a good challah or babka with the meal. They are perfect breads to make for this holiday dinner.

The Golden Unicorn The Home Baked Croissant

 Is there such a treat as the home baked croissant? After all this is one of the hardest and most complicated breads or rolls to make. Surprisingly the answer is yes - and even better home bakers can make chocolate, almond and even ham and cheese ones. You don't have to go to a fancy bakery anymore to get these gems.

Claire Saffitz, a  well known pastry chef who both writes for Bon Appetit and appears on their You Tube channel, pondered this and wrote a very detailed how to. Croissants are tough to create. There's that crisp brittle egg washed crust with layers of flaky , buttery bread underneath.  Keep in mind that the bakery made ones are rolled out by slab rollers in temperature controlled rooms. The dough is laminated quickly meaning  flattening the butter out between rolls of dough  which produces light flaky  uniform crescents. Home bakers can do this but this has to be done by hand, making it slower, harder and much more variable. Chef Saffitz encourages though, stating that once you master the dough you can then master  adding those delicious  fillings like ham and cheese, chocolate and almond. Keep in mind that not only baking croissants is labor intensive it's also time consuming. Most of the active works takes place on the first day. Also the kitchen temp has to be cool. Keep it at seventy-six degrees or lower . Make room  in both the fridge and the freezer for the dough or detrempe as the French call it. All the ingredients must be weighed too. The liquid to flour ratio has to be perfect too or you'll wind up with either too dry or too soggy croissants.

The ingredients are just as important. Look for a high protein flour which can support all that butter as well as being a high gluten flour. Chef Saffitz recommends the classic King Arthur all purpose flour; It has a relatively high protein content of 11. 7 and it contains a small amount of malted barley flour. This last gives the crust a crispier cracklier exterior. Yeast is another important factor. Use fresh or baker's yeast.It is more reliable than active dry yeast however the last is easier to find. Make sure it's alive and it's well before its' expiration date.  You can also proof it by adding warm milk in the base recipe and then adding the yeast to proof that. One of the most important ingredients is the butter. Please use European ones like Plusgras or Kerrygold.It's eighty two percent  butter fat at least  where as American butters top out at that . The high fat content lends to the flavor and also makes the butter more "plastic" or malleable. Kerrygold is the best for this because it maintains a waxy malleable texture while resisting cracking or splitting when its' being rolled inside the dough. Then there's the egg wash. Just go careful with this. Use a mix of the yolk and heavy cream for a glossy bronzed crust and wipe the drips off the baking pan. They can burn while the croissants bake.

Yes you can bake buttery,. crisp croissants at home. It's a labor intensive process but once you get the hang of it , it'll be easy. The result is a golden unicorn with flaky layers and a heavenly rich taste.