Holiday Dessert Culture from Home Cooks to Food Network: The Best of 2011

OK, so after the holiday sparkle of happy family and friend and work parties, wrapping gifts galore and joyously opening packages, decorating trees and doors and planning the dinner menus, it’s time to get to what really counts this time of year:  the desserts.

Seriously, what does Santa yearn for at every stop after delivering the presents?

Cookies and candy and hot chocolate, of course. 

It’s not a news flash he doesn’t come down too many chimneys anymore. Given the stacked and tiered, toppling plates of goodies he savors over the holidays, Santa will be forgiven for waddling through his holiday rounds more often than wriggling down an ever-increasingly narrow portal.

Fashion alert: that red suit covers more than a few extra gingerbread fantasies.

And what about all those vision of sugar plum fairies dancing in our heads?

Simply put, desserts are what distinguish this holiday from all the other commemorative calendar days. 

Independence Day may have its BBQ and fireworks and Easter its ham and crayola-shaded eggs and Thanksgiving its turkey and stuffing, but nothing, anywhere, beats the Holidays for the variety and volume of sweet confections.

Think about it.

Even the most intrepid bakers set about making boatloads of treats to share. 

It’s like tomatoes in August.  There are just not enough folks to give away the bounty to.

From cookie tins stuffed to the can’t-get-the-lid-to-stay-clamped with cream cheese wreaths and sugar cookies morphed into trees, candy canes and snowmen, to toffee, chocolate rum ball cake or candy to fruitcakes and stollen and Noelle de Bouche to Panettone and strufili honey balls, to chocolate covered pretzels and Oreos® there is an abundance of riches that makes every table at every gathering groan with delight. 

Who needs a centerpiece when all eyes are on the come-hither artful composition that is a collage of pastry, candy, cake, pie, bread, tarts, puddings, and mousses?

Laduree and its dreamy macarons

Two Little Red Hens cupcakes -- sumptuous, delectable flowers

The fashionable optics for those dreamy, sherbet-colored macarons—especially Laduree at 864 Madison Avenue between 70^th & 71^st. Street (http://www.laduree.fr/en/maisons/monde-details#135) and the relentless pursuit of all things cupcake -- only add to the magic of the spiffing holiday confections. Love Billy’s Bakery (184 9^th Avenue) www.billysbakerynyc.com and Two Little Red Hens, 1652 2^nd Avenue, www.twolittleredhens.com 

 The choices at every party and post dinner celebration are deliciously dizzying.

The science of baking and pastry making can be intimidating and astonishing.

But it seems most home bakers just jump in with both mixing blades spinning, starting with traditional family recipes handed down over the generations and tweaked, perhaps unwittingly, or then again, with a fierce determination to correct Nonni’s Old World recipe voyage to Brooklyn, or the room temperature differential, e.g. indoor climate change from Paris in the 1950’s to Manhattan in the “naughts.”

This reporter enjoyed a few too many goodies so far this season – and a couple of new discoveries too.

Lee Sims Homemade Chocolates

A few favorite dessert creations included cream cheese cookies stuffed with peppermint, Noel de Bouche, Sickles Market Panettone Glassato from Italy’s Pasticceri Filippi http://sicklesmarket.com/, Lee Sims Chocolates (can’t but love the tag line: “Candy Making As An Art.”) “Owned and managed by the fourth generation of the same family” The homemade boutique chocolate, milk and dark, is some of the best around and a nice discovery: www.leesimschocolates.com  

The next best thing to receiving and eating the desserts is a dessert cookbook. Can’t wait to try out the recipes in this gift: Just Mini Desserts, Quick and Easy mini dessert recipes for Casual Entertaining by Robert Zollweg http://retail.libbey.com/Products/Desserts/Just-Mini-Desserts-Recipe-Book 

A sure fire route to dessert success is Amanda Hesser’s, The Essential New York Times Cookbook and her latest, Food52 Cookbook: 140 Winning Recipes from Exceptional Home Cooks http://tiny.cc/etdyd

For 52 weeks, Amanda and Merrill Stubs, co author, asked home cooks to submit their favorite recipes, then Amanda and Merrill prepared their choices for best recipes, then offered their selections for their web site and blog readers to vote on, compiled from the home cooks submissions.  Double Chocolate Expresso Cookies and Chocolate Bundt Cake are temptation enough to get this cooking experience.      

Another sweet discovery was home cook, Joanne Morehead’s 7 Layer Bars – one mouthpop of these complex-nuanced goodies and “dessert culture addict” doesn’t seem too fierce a club membership to have.

When asked how she came about this nutty, chocolaty, sweet treat (testing the theory that perhaps it came by way of culinary angels) Joanne generously wrote her witty, love-filled  story behind the 7 Layer Bars, making the whole experience all the more tantalizing:

 … About 10 years ago, a friend made these and gave me the recipe. I started making them and discovered that the graham cracker crumbs stuck to the pan so I started using parchment paper, which made all the difference. Also, they were hard to cut at room temp do I started refrigerating them so that they are firm and don't squish under the pressure of the knife. The original recipe called for 12 oz of graham cracker crumbs, 4 tbs of butter and 1 cup each of the nuts, chips and coconut. Over the years, I added more to my taste -- which anyone can do according to what they like. I bring them on Thanksgiving to my Mother-in-law's house and she doesn't put them out with the rest of the desserts but hides them as soon as I hand them over. It's become a joke in the family. One by one they ask about the bars and start looking around to my Mother-in-law's dismay!

Joanne Morehead’s 7 LAYER BARS

6 TBS UNSALTED BUTTER CUT INTO PATS (USE STICK BUTTER)

14 oz  GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS

1 CUP BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS

1 1/2  CUPS CHOCOLATE CHIPS

2 CUPS SWEETENED COCONUT

1 1/2 CUP CHOPPED PECANS (I USE PECANS, BUT YOU CAN ALSO USE WALNUTS) PUT IN PLASTIC BAG AND CRUSH WITH MALLET UNTIL YOU LIKE THE SIZE OF THE NUTS)

1 CAN (14 OZ) SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES THEN LOWER TO 325 WHEN OVEN IS HOT AND YOU PUT IN THE PAN.

USE A 9” SQUARE PAN.  LINE PAN WITH PARCHMENT PAPER, BOTTOM AND SIDES! DO NOT SKIP THE PARCHMENT PAPER OR YOU WILL BE SORRY.  ARRANGE THE PATS OF BUTTER IN PAN AND BAKE IN OVEN UNTIL MELTED; REMOVE PAN AND LAYER INGREDIENTS AS FOLLOW: GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS – PUSH CRUMBS INTO BUTTER UNTIL THE LAYER IS STUCK TO BUTTER UNIFORMLY. ADD COCONUT, BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS, CHOCOLATE CHIPS, PECANS; PUSH EACH LAYER DOWN INTO THE PREVIOUS ONE. I USE RUBBER GLOVES TO DO THIS BECAUSE I’M TIRED OF BURNING MY WRISTS! THEN POUR/DRIBBLE CONDENSED MILK IN A THIN LAYER ONTO THE TOP UNTIL ENTIRE PAN IS COVERED.

BAKE FOR 1/2 HOUR.  COOL IN PAN ON RACK AND THEN IN REFRIGERATOR UNTIL VERY FIRM.  (THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER TO CUT INTO SQUARES.) TURN PAN OVER AND PEEL PARCHMENT PAPER FROM BOTTOM. (THANK YOU MARTHA STEWART) THEN CUT INTO SQUARES. NOW WATCH YOUR WAISTLINE GROW!

PS:  BUY 2 CANS OF SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK BECAUSE YOU GET TWO BATCHES FROM A BOX OF GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS, CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND BUTTER SCOTCH CHIPS. 

THERE IS ALWAYS EXTRA COCONUT SO YOU CAN GO NUTS WITH THAT.  I BUY THE PECANS AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS FROM COSTCO, SO I ALWAYS HAVE EXTRA TO PLAY AROUND WITH.  UNFORTUNATELY, YOU BARELY GET ENOUGH BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS TO MAKE TWO BATCHES SO SMACK ANY HANDS THAT TRY TO EAT THEM WHILE YOU’RE BAKING!

Extraordinary Desserts from Hamptons and Long Island Homegrown Cookbook  (available 2012)

http://www.amazon.com/Hamptons-Long-Island-Homegrown-Cookbook/dp/0760337578

Cuvée Bistro & Bar, Greenporter Hotel

Chef Deborah Pittorino

326 Front Street, Greenport, NY

http://greenporterhotel.com/restaurant

Farm Stand Strawberry Rhubarb Tartelettes

Serves 8

Crust:

3/4 c. plain flour

pinch of salt

3 oz. unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp. cold water

1 1/2 oz. caster sugar

Sift the flour and salt into a pile on a cold work surface, and make a well in the center. Add the butter, egg yolks, water, and sugar to the well, and use the fingertips of one hand to work them together into a rough paste. The mixture should resemble scrambled eggs.

Gradually work in the flour with your fingertips to bind the mixture into smooth dough. Press together lightly, and form into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for about 30 minutes before use.

Filling:

2 c. fresh strawberries, sliced and divided

4 tbsp. cassis
2 c. fresh rhubarb, diced

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. rose syrup

Hull and slice the berries. Irregular pieces work best, as they look better than a bunch of nearly identical slices. Mash a few of the berries, if you wish, and toss them with the remaining berries in a large bowl. Add the cassis on top of the berries, and stir gently to coat them. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Combine the rhubarb, sugar, and lemon zest in a large nonreactive saucepan. Let stand for 20 minutes. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, until the rhubarb is tender but still holds its shape (5 to 8 minutes).

Meanwhile, stir the cornstarch and rose syrup in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into the simmering fruit. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is clear and very thick (about 1 minute). Transfer to a bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate until chilled.

Strawberry-Balsamic Gastrique:

3/4 c. superfine sugar

3/4 c. hot water

1 c. strawberries, halved, hulled, and puréed

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

In a medium saucepan, stir the sugar into the hot water until dissolved. Add the strawberries, and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Next, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until thickened (about 30 minutes). Let the gastrique cool, then strain it into a jar, cover, and refrigerate.

Assembling the tarts: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Divide the dough into eight balls. Roll out each ball to fill the tart pans. Remove excess dough from edges, reserving it for the lattice work. Divide the filling into eight sections and fill each pan. Be careful not to overfill, or it will spill out during baking. With the excess dough, create a lattice on top of the pie. Brush the lattice with melted butter, as it will prevent burning and give each tart a golden color.

Bake the tarts for 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is a golden color and the juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack. Allow the tarts to reach room temperature before serving. Serve each tart with some vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of the Strawberry-Balsamic Gastrique.

The Lake House

Chef Matt Connors

240 West Main Street, Bay Shore, NY  www.thelakehouserest.com

Warm Berry Cobbler with Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

Serves 4-6

Cobbler Filling:

1 pt. strawberries, stemmed and quartered

1 pt. blueberries

1 tbsp. fresh mint leaves, sliced

1/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

Mix all of the ingredients in bowl, and marinate for 1 hour or more.

Cobbler Topping:

3 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

12 tbsp. cold butter, diced

1 1/3 c. heavy cream

Place all of the ingredients except the cream in a food processor, and blend for 30 seconds. Add the cream, and blend until the mixture forms a ball. Chill for at least 1 hour. Roll into golf-ball size balls and flatten into disks with the palm of your hand.

To Finish Cobbler:

heavy cream

raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the fruit mixture in 6-oz. ramekins. Top each ramekin with one disk of topping. Brush with a little heavy cream, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling and golden.

Ice Cream:

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

7/8 c. (or 14 tbsp.) sugar

1/2 c. loosely packed lemon verbena leaves

6 egg yolks

Combine the milk and cream, and add half of the sugar to the mixture along with the verbena leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Whisk together the eggs and the remaining sugar. Slowly add the simmered milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking. When everything is together, add it back to the milk pot and simmer, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain through a sieve and cool completely. Freeze according to ice cream machine directions.

Too delicious Warm Berry Cobbler, The Lake House

Had enough desserts?  Hardly.

The Food Network Names its Best 10 Dessert Recipes of 2011:

The Top-Ten picks include Pumpkin Cheesecake, Southern Red Velvet Cake (two different iterations made the list—cake and cupcakes!) and Peach Cobbler.

http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2011/12/26/best-dessert-recipes-2011/

(Personally love the reader comment about using eggnog in the bread pudding recipe.)

Curiously, there’s always room for dessert… Enjoy the sweet days of holiday confections.  May it last till Valentine’s Day chocolate celebrations of love greet the sweet tooth fairy.

Marissa's Holiday Rum Balls!

Here are Marissa's Amazing Rum Balls.  Maybe we can tease the recipe from her.... 

American Chocolate Week

American Chocolate Week

March 21 through March 25

Seriously?  Isn’t every week chocolate week?

No need to ask any chocolate lover twice for a reason to indulge and celebrate the food of the gods.

Bring on the heavenly, storied, melt-in-your mouth confection.

Aphrodisiac or health food? Who cares! 

A Cliff Notes dip into the history of chocolate reminds us chocolate is truly a Native American treat.

The Mayans of Central American cultivated the seeds of the cacao tree.  The warring Aztecs conquered tribes and demanded restoration and payment in cocoa.  Aztecs believed wisdom and power came from eating cocoa “fruit” and that the tree was stolen from paradise.

The Native Americans, by and large, drank their chocolate thick and unsweetened.

It was bitter by our standards.

But the early Spanish explorers saw the value of the cacao: it was used as monetary exchange and currency among the peoples and nations of American cultures.

It was also shockingly, temptingly, delicious.  Heaven and stars in the mouth.

Once the exotic, American chocolate discovery landed in the royal circles and upper crust European gentry of Europe, they couldn’t resist having their cooking staff add sugar to sweeten the chocolate.

Fast forward more than a few centuries and head Downtown to Kee Chocolatier on Thompson and Spring Street in New York’s SoHo or Midtown (inside HSBC) and the center of the universe is yet again where chocolate reigns supreme. 

No less authorities than The New York Times hailed Kee’s as “Hands down, the best chocolates in New York. Maybe the World.” And Martha Stewart reported: “One taste and you’ll be over the moon.”  Zagats perennially votes Kee the best chocolatier in New York.

Proprietor and chocolatier goddess, Kee Ling Tong, presides over her chocolate kingdom, albeit small at 350 square feet, she is not unlike the early Aztecs with regard to a dedication to purity.

The shop is simple and unadorned. No pretense.

There are just two glass cases.

One is filled like a Cartier jewel box, tiered with the variety of balled and intricate-shaped bon bons; nestled in carefully stacked Collections.

The other is a flat-topped case showcasing the petite, colorful macaroons, with chocolate-dipped fruit such as apple and orange and lemon peels, along with macadamia nuts dipped in chocolate.

Subtly, this makes the focus on the chocolates all the more pronounced.

One might think they stepped into a place of transition.  And in a matter of speaking, that is not so off the mark. 

The chocolates are so in demand, the contents of the cases are replenished at least a dozen times a day.

Constant change.  Always fresh.

And the concept of transition and change is also a metaphor for the alchemy Kee orchestrates phasing the chocolate from a pure block to the one of a kind, exquisite chocolate recipes she creates.

Kee inserts her handmade, locally-sourced fillings. After cooling, she hand breaks the molds in order to retain the thin, pure shell that "snaps" when one bites into the chocolate bon bon. 

Then the team rolls the outer flavors and herbs:  

While enjoying a successful Wall Street career at JP Morgan and Bear Stearns, this native New Yorker was stubbornly determined to follow her passion.

She enrolled in professional training at The French Culinary Institute. 

She claims she wasn’t exactly the best student at thinning and making chocolate.  Hard to believe!  Maybe because she was going to make chocolate in a new, special way all along…

In 2002, upon graduation, she found the space at 80 Thompson Street. “It drew me in” she says. 

It served as both retail and production space until she got the space across the hall three years ago where the production is now.

Kee doesn’t have far to go for work. She lives upstairs. 

“I can roll out of bed and work my 12-14 hour days.” She jokes.  

Here she is with her sales associate: Josie.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, Kee found her calling.

“I like making tiny, pretty, intricate things,” she says, in case staring at the exquisite, mesmerizing confections reflecting through the glass left any doubt.

 

Key to her distinctive art are a few elements:

• All the chocolates are hand made daily at her shop: she mixes the chocolates, makes the molds. She adds no sugar to the chocolate
• All the filling recipes are her own creation, (“I never looked at a recipe and I don’t share,” she said.  She uses top-quality, local ingredients – herbs and fruits – from Chinatown and NY Greenmarkets.
• The “crack” or “snap” one senses biting into the ultra thin shell is critical
• Good, pure chocolate has its own shine (and not an oil-based sheen)
• Clean finish; no after taste

Kee has 48 flavors in her eclectic chocolate portfolio, with about 35 in the case at any one time.  Four are white chocolate, including Green Tea, Almond, and Pistachio.  

Gleefully, one can select from bon bons filled honey, jasmine, ginger and saffron; coated with chile, white and dark sesame; a dark chocolate ganache; Black Rose with dark chocolate truffle with black tea infused with rose petals; Blended Peppercorn with four different peppercorns with dark chocolate ganache; Elderflower – dark chocolate ganache with elderflower and Coconut with dark chocolate truffles coated with toasted coconut.

Kee offers four seasonal fillings, two in the spring: pineapple lychee and mango green and two for the winter: honey kumquat and yuzu.

According to Kee, her best seller is the crème brulee.  It sells out early too.

She just added a new flavor: Lotus Flower, a gift from a friend who had traveled to Vietnam.  Kee waved her magic wonder wand and next thing you know – a new exotic Kee chocolate creation.

Kee makes 22 flavors of the glamorous macaroons including key lime, shiso, green tea with jasmine, rosewater lychee, kaffir lime and truffle oil. 

Looking ahead, she is considering making pate te fois, or jelly-coated fruit with sugar.  Another eye candy treat for sure!

In fact, it’s hopeless. Just a taste, renders one under the spell of Kee’s magical chocolate spell.

Kee tempers all her chocolate, makes her molds and “eyeballs” the ingredient measurements for the fillings. There are no exact or precise renderings. It’s all Kee’s artisanal culinary talent. 

At the same time, she says it’s all “A learning process” -- from the making of the chocolate to the business management.  

Kee is a hands-on, artisanal chocolatier, dedicated to the highest quality hand made chocolate who is front and center for her customers, (“How are the twins?” she asks of a customer”) to her staff, Josie and international clients, (“I’ll do my best” she confirms to a London caller.)

There is no finer example of American Chocolate, than Kee Chocolatier

www.keeschocolates.com

to see a full listing of the divine, exquisite specialties.

Seeing Red in A Dinner Menu

Seeing Red in a Dinner Menu

Not surprisingly, many cooks – home and restaurant -- were heart-fully throbbing a red-themed menu for Valentine’s Day. 

It’s fun to purposefully seek a way to put a menu together. 

So with cheer and love, put on those rose-colored glasses and look to recreate a rosy food look.

Red is the language of love.  Red-hot sparks February.  It may be the shortest month but it’s really long on holidays and parties.

From Lunar New Year to Valentines Day, Black History Month to Fashion Week and the tantalizing tail end of Restaurant Week.

If you are pulsing red, think about a dinner menu that starts with homemade tomato soup. 

At this time of year? 

If you didn’t pack away the tomatoes, you have to rely on the artisanal food makers from the Greenmarket like these Garden State geniuses who took the vine-picked red, juicy Jersey tomatoes, cooked and prepared: seasoned with parmesan cheese and canned or specifically jarred for winter time table treats.   Even the pooch was excited! 

For the entrée menu, think red, juicy rib-eye steak.  Shop Whole Foods (www.wholefoods.com) or local greenmarket’s offerings. 

Season with fresh grown or fresh from the market herbs and spices: ground chile peppers, cumin seed, and pink peppercorns.

How glamorous and romantic to add a pretty-in-pink taste and visual to culinary cuisine? 

As per Amanda and Merrill

(www.food52.com) who recommend searing the meat on both sides and then add in beef broth and cook for a few more minutes.  

Add a lipstick-red, seasonal vegetable: Swiss Chard.

An easy to make and delicious recipe can be found in Melissa Clarke’s sassy, unique and utterly captivating cookbook, “In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite” Recipes and stories About the Food You Love…  www.melissaclark.net 

Basically, you cut the red stalks or stems from their leafy green tops.  Put a bit of olive oil in a pan with fresh garlic and some shallots.  Then put the red stalks, sliced coin-sized into the pan.  Cook until tender.  Meanwhile, roll the green, red-veined tops into a log and cut along the roll into quarter or half inch slices.  Did I hear you say “chiffonade?!”

Add to the red swiss chard in the pan and add a few squirts of anchovy paste for natural, tasty salt flavor.

There are red apples and red beets that are versatile and healthy and delicious!  

You can add to the menu with some petite red bliss potatoes.  Steam the small garnet jewels or slice and pan fry with garlic and olive oil. 

Also, it’s a great time to secure seasonal fresh mushrooms: oysters and shitake.  Wash and slice and cook in a pan with garlic and olive oil, adding in white, cannelloni beans.

Add in the love potion red wine – Valipocella is an amore Italian love choice to better complement and bring out the rich red taste of the meal. 

For dessert, there are the red cherry pie popsicles. They are so cute and seem to smile back at you.  Make or buy pie crusts, cut into rounds with a glass, fill the center with a teaspoon of cherry preserve filling – Solo is a good choice – since 1895!  www.solofoods.com 

Brush the round and cherry top with some milk.  Then insert the lollipop sticks purchased from craft stores: www   or use coffee stirrers doubled up.  Use two to a pie pop and insert into the cherry-filled round.  Place top round on cherry pie filling and brush with a tad more milk.  Fork close the edges around the pie pop.  Sprinkle with red sugar. Bake for about 10 or 15 minutes or until golden.

A fun and happy way to finish off a red-hot dinner.   Everyone can lickety-split their pie pops while mingling or mixing/mushing with ice cream.

Oh, well there is the dark side to contemplate: CHOCOLATE. 

What did you cook and enjoy for February=Food?

Cheers Darlings!