Red Velvet Truffles

Red velvet cake. Colorful chocolate candy. In bite-sized truffle form. Need I say more?



This post has been sitting in my queue forever. I made these adorable little balls of joy back in May for my friend Shelby's birthday party (hi Shelby!), and they disappeared instantly. Combining the cake with the frosting makes a creamy, genuinely truffle-like mouthfeel (side note: I can't decide if I love or hate the word mouthfeel. Trying it on for size here. Thoughts?).

I'm still trying to understand the mechanics of candy melts and chocolate bark. I had a hard time getting the coating to look smooth and clean (hence the preschool-like splatters to cover up the messiness). Does anyone have any tips or hints on working with candy melts? I'd love to hear them.

Red Velvet Truffles
Adapted from Bakerella
Printable Recipe
Makes 25-50, depending on size

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) or candy melts in the color(s) of your choice
Wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Chive Fantail Rolls

It's been a while since I've made a recipe from my Foodie To-Do List (over there on the right sidebar). My friend Anne had us over for dinner last week, and when I offered to bring something bready, these fun-looking came to mind.



While my favorite pastime is still watching dough rise, making this recipe was fun for other reasons too. The rolling, slicing, stacking, and more slicing to achieve the multi-layer pull-apart effect was cathartic in a way only bread baking can be, and the addition of heaps of yogurt and olive oil made for a novel dough-working experience. Feel free to substitute other herbs for chives; I think rosemary would be particularly divine.

Chive Fantail Rolls
Adapted from The Kitchn
Makes 24 rolls
Printable Recipe

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (warm to the touch, but not hot)
2 tablespoons sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups bread flour
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cup yogurt
1 cup chives, finely chopped
1 cup olive oil, divided

1. Whisk together the yeast, warm water, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it stand until the mixture looks foamy and bubbled up on top — about 5 minutes. (If the mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.)

2. Stir the flour, salt, yogurt, chives, and 3/4 cup olive oil into the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or the stand mixer paddle just until a soft dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth (or turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes). The dough will still look and feel slightly shaggy from the oil; it won't have the perfectly smooth, taut feel of a more traditional yeast dough.

3. Form dough into a ball and coat lightly with olive oil. Turn it over in the bowl and cover the bowl with a towel. Let rise until doubled — 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

4. Oil the wells of two muffin tins lightly with olive oil and have them ready. Punch down the dough separate it into four equal pieces with a bench scraper. Keep the rest of the dough covered with a towel while you roll out one of the pieces into a long, thin rectangle (about 12 inches by 18 inches). Brush the dough lightly with olive oil. Cut the dough crossways into 12 equal strips. Stack the strips, oiled side up, into a tall stack. (It is helpful to prop the stack against the rolling pin while doing this!) Cut the stack into 6 pieces. Turn each piece on its side, so the cut layers face up, and place in a prepared muffin cup. Separate the layers slightly so they fan outward. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

5. Cover the muffin tins with a kitchen towel and let the rolls rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills cups, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls until barely golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

One night early last week, we rolled into our new hometown in the middle of the night, and we were ravenous. In my exhausted fog at the grocery store after an all-day drive, all I could see were the gorgeous California cherries.



I've made 3 different sweets with that bag of cherries already, and eaten countless plain, and I'm still working on finishing it. It's like the never-ending bottomless bag of magic. For the Ben & Jerry's fans out there, this recipe is virtually identical to the flavor we all know and love. Peace out!

Homemade Cherry Garcia
From Ben & Jerry's, via The Splendid Table
Printable Recipe
Makes 1 quart

1/4 cup shaved plain dark chocolate
1/4 cup fresh Bing cherries, pitted and quartered
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk

1. Place the shaved chocolate flakes and the cherries in separate bowls. Refrigerate.

2. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl (or use a stand mixer) until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend.

3. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer’s instructions.

4. After the ice cream stiffens (about 2 minutes before it is done), add the chocolate and the cherries, then continue freezing until the ice cream is ready.

Chocolate Fruit Tart

Hello out there! I've missed you so!

This has been one of the longest stretches I've gone without blogging, and I'm beyond happy to be back. It's been so nutty around here that I even forgot about my 2-year blogiversary a couple of weeks ago. We're gradually settling into our new life in the San Francisco Bay Area, and so far it's been nothing short of blissful.



One of the best things about living here is the stunning produce. We didn't have it too badly up in Oregon, but there's nothing quite like California fruit. I took advantage of my new-found loot last week to make a tart for Andy's birthday. He requested chocolate and more chocolate, and the intensity of the pastry cream combined with the shortbread crust packed a powerful chocolatey punch.

I'm so giddy to have my kitchen back and a whole new foodie world at my fingertips. Thanks for bearing with me during this time of transition!

Chocolate Fruit Tart
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
Printable Recipe

For the Chocolate Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch, sifted
Pinch of salt
7 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into bits, at room temperature

For the Chocolate Shortbread Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) very cold or frozen unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Fresh fruit for topping

Make the Chocolate Pastry Cream:
1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until thick and well-blended. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm the yolks so they don't curdle-- then, still whisking, add the remainder of the milk in a steady stream.

3. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly, and thoroughly, bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1-2 minutes, then remove pan from the heat.

4. Whisk in the melted chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate until cold.

Make the Chocolate Shortbread Crust:
5. Put the flour, cocoa, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in-- you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.

6. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses-- about 10 seconds each-- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change-- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

7. Press the dough into a buttered 9-inch fluted tart pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer.

8. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 33 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

9. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and allow to cool completely to room temperature.

10. Once the tart is cool, remove outer ring of the pan and place on a serving dish. Fill crust with the chilled chocolate pastry cream (if it's difficult to work with, let it sit for a few minutes at room temperature to take the chill off) and smooth the cream.

11. Top with fresh seasonal fruits and berries. Enjoy!

Strawberry Raspberry Galette

Forgive the long string of berry-related posts. This is my 3rd summer blogging and I'm pretty sure I've done the same thing every summer.

I made my final trip to the Lane County Farmers Market last Saturday. That place has been the highlight of my weekends during the season, and it's one of the things I'll miss the very most about living in Oregon. I wandered around with my camera, some cash, and a starry look in my eyes. And as usual, I was magnetically drawn to the berries.



I wound up getting a mixed flat of strawberries, cherries, and raspberries. We're eating most of the fruit on its own (is anything better, really?), but I had to do some baking with it too. I chose a galette, a rustic fruit tart. Much more my style than pie, to tell you the truth.



I eyeballed the amount of fruit, so feel free to play around with proportions, or even different fruits if you'd like. Also, I have a really hard time with the transporting-pie-crust-with-a-rolling-pin thing, so I used an unrimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and rolled the crust out directly on the baking sheet. A bit unorthodox, but it worked really well for me. I recommend it if you have a crust relocation phobia too.

Strawberry Raspberry Galette
Crust adapted from Pinch My Salt
Printable recipe

1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup strawberries
1 tsp sugar, or to taste (optional), for sweetening the berries
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg
Turbinado sugar (optional)
Vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Toss berries with sugar (if using) in a mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Put flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the largest butter pieces are the size of peas. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing to mix. If you don’t have a food processor, put the flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and toss with the flour mixture. With your fingertips, quickly rub the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs and there are still some small chunks of butter left. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing and tossing with a wooden spoon. When the mixture just starts to clump together, continue to the next step.

3. Pour the flour/butter mixture onto a floured counter or board and press into disc shape.

4. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a large circle, making sure to add a bit of flour on top and underneath the dough occasionally to prevent it from sticking. Roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thick. The circle doesn’t have to be perfect and if the dough starts splitting and tearing, patch it together as best you can.

5. Now gently wrap the dough around the rolling pin and transfer it to the sheet pan. Try to unwrap the dough so that it is somewhat centered on the pan. The pastry circle will overlap the sides of the pan by quite a bit, that’s what you want. Place the fruit in the center, leaving quite a bit of room around the edges.

6. Fold the edges of the pastry over the berries sealing any holes that appear along the edges as you go. You want to seal the holes and cracks so that the juices don’t escape while it’s baking. The pastry shouldn’t cover the berries completely in the center, and should look rustic and irregular.

7. Beat the egg with a splash of water and lightly brush the pastry with it. Sprinkle turbinado sugar (or regular sugar if you don't have turbinado) over the whole thing. Bake for about 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

Summer Veggie Salsa

As much as I adore summer fruit, summer veggies make my heart melt too.



This salsa has been my mom's go-to summer party dish for as long as I can remember, from a cookbook by family friend Diane Worthington. It's a bit time-consuming (be prepared to make best friends with your knife if you're not already), but worth it in a meditative kind of way. This is the kind of dish that lets the veggies speak for themselves, and makes me so excited to move back to California next week. Light, fresh, and oh-so-summery!

This salsa could easily be served on its own as a salad, or as a topping for grilled chicken, fish, or steak. Use your imagination!

Side note: As always, I've left out the [abhorrent] cilantro. That green cilantro-looking stuff in the photo is Italian flat-leaf parsley. If you're a fan of cilantro, knock yourself out. Just don't try to serve me any!

Summer Veggie Salsa
Adapted from The California Cook by Diane Rossen Worthington
Printable Recipe
Serves a crowd

1 lb tomatoes (I used cherry heirloom), diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
1 medium orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 lg. carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup corn kernels (about 1 medium ear)
2 T finely chopped cilantro (optional)
2 T finely chopped Italian parsley
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 medium avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Garnish: extra cilantro or parsley leaves

1. Combine all the ingredients except the avocado in a medium mixing bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (but no longer than 4 hours)

2. Just before serving, add the avocado and adjust seasoning if necessary. Garnish with cilantro or parsley leaves and serve with fresh tortilla chips.