Sure, I probably could have asked friends for guidance on stout since I don't drink beer or any of its derivatives, but then my head would have been swimming with the intricacies of the types of stout and what they taste like. Fortunately, Trader Joe's made it easy and I went for the only stout that said, "buy me." The chocolate stout. Contrary to Wikipedia's definition of chocolate stout merely being named that way for the rich dark brown color of the brew, the Young's Double Chocolate Stout I used contains dark chocolate and chocolate malt.
The cupcakes taste fine although they do have a slight alcoholic twist. I have a lot of cream cheese sour cream frosting leftover. Maybe I'll use the other half of the bottle to make a chocolate stout cake, but I probably don't have enough stout if the recipe calls for more than a cup.
Ingredients/Directions:
(bowl #1) Whisk together:
1 cup chocolate stout
1 cup milk*
3/4 c. organic sour cream
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 eggs (add one at a time)
(bowl #2) Sift together:
2 1/2 c. unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c. organic cane sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder
(bowl #3) The frosting (blend until smooth):
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Enough powdered sugar for sweetness
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you're going to use those paper cupcake liners, use two instead of one.
Recipe edits: The original recipe called for 2 cups sugar, but I dropped it by 1/2 a cup because the cocoa I used was Ghirardelli's sweet ground cocoa powder. I didn't have milk, so I used 1/2 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup soy milk. On the frosting, I didn't measure the powdered sugar. I may have used three handfuls. What can I say.. I was baking after slogging through a 12-hour workday. I just wanted to eat something sweet and chocolatey for dinner.
Lemony lemon bars
So, I started with this basic recipe, and ended up with a more-tangy-than-sweet product in the end. Lemon drop makers would be proud to eat this creation. Juice and grated rind of 5 lemons might just be overkill and needs to be washed down with a cup of mildly hot tea. Alas, I took no pics of the process, but it has less than 1-hour prep/cook time.
Ingredient/method adaptations:
Crust: 1 1/2 sticks of butter (instead of 2 sticks); sifted unbleached white flour and powdered sugar together, then added melted butter and mixed by hand.
The filling: juice of 5 small lemons, grated rind of 5 lemons, 1 1/2 cups granulated organic sugar (instead of 2 cups), 4 eggs. Blended with a hand mixer.
I cut the bars after they cooled, then dusted the batch with sifted powdered sugar before taking them into work. The crust is definitely tasty. The filling is a wee bit too tart for me and needs less lemon juice
Ingredient/method adaptations:
Crust: 1 1/2 sticks of butter (instead of 2 sticks); sifted unbleached white flour and powdered sugar together, then added melted butter and mixed by hand.
The filling: juice of 5 small lemons, grated rind of 5 lemons, 1 1/2 cups granulated organic sugar (instead of 2 cups), 4 eggs. Blended with a hand mixer.
I cut the bars after they cooled, then dusted the batch with sifted powdered sugar before taking them into work. The crust is definitely tasty. The filling is a wee bit too tart for me and needs less lemon juice
Food gathering, asian style
Sunday I went to the Ranch 99 in Arcadia to pick up items missing from my pantry. I must say that using a grocery list is a good way to not spend too much and to keep yourself focused on specific dishes you want to create. I only deviated by a half dozen items that weren't on my list. I don't buy these all the time. With each trip and usually my shopping list will have an entry that just says "fish", and whatever is picked up is whatever looks the freshest.
Shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) and fresh ginger are two ingredients that I can't not have in my pantry. This trip was prompted by a lack of dried shitake mushrooms.
The list: shitake mushrooms, fresh ($3/lb) and dried ($2.50-$3.00 per package) freshly beheaded shrimp ($4/lb, on sale) fresh whole fish ($2-3/fish, tilapia, striped bass, or trout) 2-lb packs of frozen shelled clams ($5/each, never on sale but cheaper than restaurants) vegetables (on choy, bok choy, napa cabage, green onion) garlic and ginger (slightly cheaper but fresher) lite soy sauce ($3/litre) 2-3 pkg spicy Shimun ramen (I use the spice packet in other dishes) dried udon noodles red rice wine dried seaweed (kombu, wakame, or other variety, for soups) 1/2 gallon soy milk tofu (fried, soft, or hard) taro root (peeled & packaged) A Chinese supermarket that services a local population of 100k+ residents is usually a good benchmark for prices of what to expect for the usual items. The aforementioned prices reflect what's available in southern California.
Two noticeably particular things happened on this shopping trip. As I was headed to the checkout line, my shopping cart looked awfully familiar.. like it had the same composition of food stuffs my folks have when they go Chinese grocery store shopping. And, other shoppers moved away from the line I was in because they simply didn't want to wait that long for me to check out. I didn't buy that much, really! My bill came to about $50. I see good eats ahead for this week. Mmm..
The list: shitake mushrooms, fresh ($3/lb) and dried ($2.50-$3.00 per package) freshly beheaded shrimp ($4/lb, on sale) fresh whole fish ($2-3/fish, tilapia, striped bass, or trout) 2-lb packs of frozen shelled clams ($5/each, never on sale but cheaper than restaurants) vegetables (on choy, bok choy, napa cabage, green onion) garlic and ginger (slightly cheaper but fresher) lite soy sauce ($3/litre) 2-3 pkg spicy Shimun ramen (I use the spice packet in other dishes) dried udon noodles red rice wine dried seaweed (kombu, wakame, or other variety, for soups) 1/2 gallon soy milk tofu (fried, soft, or hard) taro root (peeled & packaged) A Chinese supermarket that services a local population of 100k+ residents is usually a good benchmark for prices of what to expect for the usual items. The aforementioned prices reflect what's available in southern California.
Two noticeably particular things happened on this shopping trip. As I was headed to the checkout line, my shopping cart looked awfully familiar.. like it had the same composition of food stuffs my folks have when they go Chinese grocery store shopping. And, other shoppers moved away from the line I was in because they simply didn't want to wait that long for me to check out. I didn't buy that much, really! My bill came to about $50. I see good eats ahead for this week. Mmm..
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I hate nuts in cookies. Nuts just don't belong in cookies, breads, or cakes. If I really wanted texture, I'd add more chocolate or oatmeal. I found that slaying a block of chocolate with a hammer and 1" blade chisel was very therapeutic during this recipe adventure.
In this batch, three types of chocolate were used: Ghirardelli dark chocolate, organic unsweetened cocoa, and a dark European chocolate.
1/2 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. organic cane sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. unbleached white flour
1/4 c. organic cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 c. dark chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven oven to 375 degrees.
Bowl #1: Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together.
Bowl #2: Cream butter, sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well.Mix dry with wet, until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Line baking pan with parchment paper and drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about an inch apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
In this batch, three types of chocolate were used: Ghirardelli dark chocolate, organic unsweetened cocoa, and a dark European chocolate.
1/2 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. organic cane sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. unbleached white flour
1/4 c. organic cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 c. dark chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven oven to 375 degrees.
Bowl #1: Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together.
Bowl #2: Cream butter, sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well.Mix dry with wet, until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Line baking pan with parchment paper and drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about an inch apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
Chocolate Bundt Cake
I'd taken a few liberties with the basic bundt cake recipe for lack of ingredients in my pantry. I didn't have heavy cream nor buttermilk, so substitutions were used to some degree of success. This produces a dense, yet moist chocolate cake. I used Dutch-processed (contains alkali) cocoa; it doesn't make much of a difference in taste.
2 1/4 c. unbleached white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp allspice (optional)
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp instant coffee (or decaf)
3/4 c. hot water
1 1/2 c. organic cane sugar
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 large egg whites1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup soft tofu (optional, or use 1/2 c. buttermilk)
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. Mixing bowl #1: sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and allspice
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup: whisk together cocoa, instant coffee, and hot water until blended; set aside.
4. Mixing bowl #2: Blend on low speed--sugar, oil, egg whites, and whole egg. Increase speed to high; beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; beat in cocoa mixture, chocolate, and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until combined, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen cake from side of pan; invert onto wire rack. Cool completely.
6. Serve with chocolate rum sauce.
2 1/4 c. unbleached white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp allspice (optional)
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp instant coffee (or decaf)
3/4 c. hot water
1 1/2 c. organic cane sugar
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 large egg whites1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup soft tofu (optional, or use 1/2 c. buttermilk)
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. Mixing bowl #1: sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and allspice
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup: whisk together cocoa, instant coffee, and hot water until blended; set aside.
4. Mixing bowl #2: Blend on low speed--sugar, oil, egg whites, and whole egg. Increase speed to high; beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; beat in cocoa mixture, chocolate, and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until combined, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen cake from side of pan; invert onto wire rack. Cool completely.
6. Serve with chocolate rum sauce.
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