Sweet and Dark Chocolate Sorbet with Crystallized Ginger

****** UPDATED**********************September 7, 2009

I have been thinking about this Dark Chocolate Sorbet all weekend. It was calling to me from the past!

Seriously, how can one resist when something so delicious, so easy and so divine calls.

You don't.

You do the 2009 version....with a few added ingredients that make this even more memorable.



Sweet and Dark Chocolate Sorbet with Crystallized Ginger
Adapted from Cuisinart Recipe Booklet: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Sherbets and More!


4 cups water
1-2/3 cup vanilla sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1-1/2 cups unsweetened Ghirardelli cocoa powder
1 whole tablet Ibarra sweet Mexican chocolate, ground to a powder
1/2 cup crystallized ginger
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Combine water and sugars in 3-¾ non reactive (stainless, ceramic or glass) saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the cocoa, the ground Ibarra chocolate and ground chipotle pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and transfer to medium bowl. Stir in vanilla and chill in refrigerator 2 hours.

Stir chilled mixture. Add to freezer bowl of ice cream maker and follow the instructions. With the Cuisinart model, let mix til thickened, about 30 minutes.Add the crystallized ginger and let it mix in thoroughly.

The sorbet has a soft creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer sorbet to airtight container and place in freezer for 2 hours or more. Best done day ahead.

Makes 14 ½ cup servings.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Sweet and Dark Chocolate Sorbet with Crystallized Ginger

Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Groom bought me a present when we got back from vacation.

A faboo Cuisinart ice cream maker. I had plans for this baby.
Big plans.

Then, reality.
Eating right, all things in moderation.

That meant no facey downey in ice cream.

Howsomuchever, no one said one word about a dairy free sorbet.

Dark chocolate is good for you.

It can be a reward.

It can be a part of your life.

It can be your friend.

In moderation.

Welcome to the Dark Chocolate Moderation Plan a la Feeding Groom.

If one wants a treat, have a little bit of dark chocolate.
If one wants a splurge, have a spoonful of this stuff.

Straight from the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet that came with the ice cream maker.
Along with nutritional information.

Moderation is not a bad thing at all.

Dark Chocolate Sorbet
Adapted from Cuisinart Recipe Booklet: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Sherbets and More!

Nutrition Information per ½ cup serving:
Calories 139 (9% from fat) .. Carbs 35g .. Protein 2g .. Fat2g ..SatFat..1g .. Cholesterol 0mg ..Sodium 6mg ..Calcium19mg ..Fiber4g (provided by Cuisinart )

4 cups water
1-2/3 cup vanilla sugar
1/3 cup dark Muscavado brown sugar
2 cups unsweetened Ghirardelli cocoa powder
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Combine water and sugars in 3-¾ non reactive (stainless, ceramic or glass) saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the cocoa and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and transfer to medium bowl. Stir in vanilla and chill in refrigerator 2 hours.

Stir chilled mixture. Add to freezer bowl of ice cream maker and follow the instructions. With the Cuisinart model, let mix til thickened, about 30 minutes.

The sorbet has a soft creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer sorbet to airtight container and place in freezer for 2 hours or more. Best done day ahead.

Makes 14 ½ cup servings.

Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Nashville One Pan Fudge Cake

This recipe comes from the original Junior League of Nashville cookbook called Nashville Seasons.
Originally published in 1964, this is a treasure trove of special Southern recipes.

One Pan Fudge Cake is one of them. Dark, chocolaty, nutty and sweet. Something you should make and keep on the counter top in the kitchen, just in case you need something sweet.

Don’t mess with the ingredients.

Don’t get all chocolate snob on me here.

It says one and one half squares Bakers unsweetened chocolate for a reason.

If you use anything else, you won’t have a One Pan Fudge Cake.

Nashville One Pan Fudge Cake

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1-½ squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
1 pinch salt
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, your choice

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt butter, sugar and chocolate together. Sift flour and baking powder into the melted chocolate mixture. Add eggs vanilla, nuts and salt. Blend and pour into well greased 8x8 baking pan.

Bake for 35 minutes exactly. Cut into squares while hot. Don’t remove from pan until cooled.

Makes 12 pieces.

Nashville One Pan Fudge Cake

Mary Herbert's Three Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

We are still in the celebratory mode here at the beach.

All Groom wanted for his birthday was one of Mary Herbert’s chocolate cakes.

And this one is a winner.

Easy to bake in a kitchen Herbs has never seen before and the end result is one of those cakes we’ll talk about in the years to come.

It’s the kind of cake that gets better with time and smaller with time, because someone’s mother keeps going past it and straightening up the sides. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning snack, midnight snack, come up from the beach because you think no one else will be up in the kitchen eating the cake but they are kind of snack. Or just dessert.

Be prepared. This is a very thin batter but rises to heights unachieved by many cakes. It’s moist, deep chocolate flavor gets better as it ages. It truly is best made a day before you serve it.
If it lasts that long!

Mary Herbert’s Three Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Cake:

2-½ cups all purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1-1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2-¼ tsp baking powder
2-¼ tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1-½ cups whole milk
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp real vanilla extract
1-½ cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease three 9-inch round cake pans. Cut three pieces parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pans, place in pans and spray with vegetable spray, like Pam.

Combine flour, sugar, soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Blend well with electric mixer on low speed. While on low, add eggs one at a time until mixed well. Slowly add milk, oil, vanilla and put mixer on medium and blend well. Put speed on low and add boiling water in slow stream.

When combined, pour into the prepared cake pans and bake 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Cool then remove from the pan. You can wrap these individually in saran wrap and freeze for later use.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/3 cup whole milk
2 tsp real vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt

Place butter and the cocoa powder in large bowl. Blend on low with electric mixer til soft and well combined. That takes about 30 seconds. Stop mixer. Put the confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla, salt in bowl and beat with mixer on low speed til the frosting lightens and is fluffy. Add more milk if it’s too thick and more confectioner’s sugar if too thin.

Makes enough to frost a 3 layer cake.

The cake will serve 16. Or one person, who shall remain nameless, 6 times, and 10 others.

Thanks to Mark for the "rc" decor on top of the cake!

Mary Herbert's Three Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes

There are times that call for serious chocolate.

Birthdays, engagements, funerals, Mondays, 4:00 in the afternoon.
The need for serious chocolate must be addressed.

How to address it?

Well, you could go to the grocery store and get some dark chocolate M&Ms and eat them immediately in the car on the way home from the store, that might solve your problem.

You could buy something decadent in the freezer section..gelato or some Ben and Jerry’s.

Or you could make these cupcakes.

I’ll take door number three, Monty.

I was looking for something to do for my mother’s birthday. Cupcakes are all the rage right now and I thought that would be a good thing to do for dessert.

Easy, can be done ahead and seriously chocolate.

I found it.

Flourless. Excellent. More room for chocolate.

This makes a boatload of cupcakes. I made 12 in the muffin tin and poured the rest in a heart shaped silicone pan and made one big heart shaped “cupcake” for the birthday girl.

Who loves you, Nanny!!!!

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from a Michael Chiarello recipe for Molten Chocolate Cupcakes


8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
One good grind of black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon gray salt


Preheat the oven to 300.

Line the cupcake pan with paper liners and spray the liners with vegetable spray. Break up the chocolate and put it into a bowl.

Combine the butter and cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When the cream mixture comes to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and stir gently to melt the chocolate.In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, mayonnaise, cornstarch, cinnamon, black pepper and salt just until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and gently mix just until combined. (Mixing too much will prevent the eggs from rising in the oven.) Scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter into each mold, it should come about 3/4 of the way up the sides.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 12 cupcakes and 1- 8 inch heart shaped cake or probably 24 cupcakes.

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes

Pots de Creme au Chocolat

Simple. Easy. Deadly. Divine.

All in one dessert.

Make this one when you want to impress, shock, and/or seduce.

Candlelight required.

Enough said.

Pots de Crème au Chocolat

1- 4 ounce bar bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
Splash Grand Marnier

Put chocolate and cream in small heavy saucepan. Heat, stirring, until chocolate melts and starts to boil.

Reduce heat to simmer, and cook, stirring for three minutes exactly. Remove from heat.

Put egg yolks in bowl.

Take small whisk and dip into chocolate then whisk the eggs. Do this several times to warm the egg yolks. Then add chocolate cream mixture in thin stream, beating eggs the entire time. Splash a bit of Grand Marnier into the chocolate and stir.

Pour into four 3-ounce pot de crème pots, or espresso cups. Let cool. Then you can put the tops on the pots, or cover with plastic wrap.

Chill til you’re ready to impress, shock and/or seduce.

Makes 4 servings.

Pots de Creme au Chocolat

Pan de Jerez: A Chocolate Sherry Torte

It had been coming on for a long time. Lurking in the darkness. Slinking along at a slow pace inside closed books. A desire. No, that’s not what it was. It was a need. I needed dark chocolate in a serious manner.

I studied my cookbooks, looking for that perfect recipe to fulfill this need. Venturing into an area I hadn’t explored. The baking area.

It needed to be bittersweet. It needed an intensity. And it needed to be easy.

Enter The Mediterranean Kitchen. Joyce would have the answer.

She did.

Pan de Jerez is also known as a Chocolate Sherry Torte. When you have bittersweet chocolate melting with sweet cream butter and a dry amontillado sherry..your kitchen smells so good. A splash of Amaretto (you know how almonds and sherry and chocolate have loved each other forever) and happiness abounds in the kitchen.

This is better the second day, if it lasts that long.

Pan de Jerez : A Chocolate Sherry Torte
Adapted from The Mediterranean Kitchen by Joyce Goldstein

6-½ ounces bittersweet chocolate
11 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup dry amontillado sherry
2 tbsp amaretto liquor
5 large eggs, separated
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1/3 cup sifted cake flour

Put chocolates, butter, sherry and amaretto in the top of a double boiler. Heat over simmering water stirring frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until it forms a slowly dissolving ribbon on the batter when the beater is lifted. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Continue to beat to medium soft peaks. Stir the cooled chocolate mixture, the vanilla, and salt into the egg yolks. Sift the flour over the batter and add the egg whites and fold just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Butter another piece of parchment paper on both sides and place on top of the batter.

Wrap tightly in foil and place in a larger banking pan. Pour enough hot water into the larger pan to come 3 inches up the side of the loaf pan. Cover all tightly with foil. Bake just until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. 45-50 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove the loaf pan from the water bath and let the cake cool in the pan. Run a knife around the sides of the pan and turn the cake out onto serving platter. Cut into 1 inch sliced and serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8.

Pan de Jerez: A Chocolate Sherry Torte