Semisweet Chocolate Bars with Blueberries

[pokershaman]

[Not so much a recipe as laboratory notes]

This is my first experiment in working with chocolate. I've been curious about cooking with chocolate for some time, and put off by the knowledge that an arcane procedure called "tempering" is needed to get chocolate to solidify properly.

I decided to get off the stick and find out more. I read various Internet resources about chocolate-making. I was very strongly encouraged by my friends when I expressed interest in chocolate-making. When the Baker's Catalogue was having a sale, my partner wild_irises suggested that I pick out chocolate-making supplies. I ordered a fancy silicone spatula with an embedded thermometer, and three pounds of Barry Callebaut semisweet chocolate chunks.

So this afternoon I had some free time alone in the kitchen, so I decided to give it a go. I improvised a double boiler out of a stainless steel bowl that fit snugly into a small Farberware saucepan. I put some water into the saucepan and brought it to a boil. I filled the bowl with (estimated) 1/3 lb. of chocolate chunks - about three handfuls (note that I have big hands).

I took the boiling water off the burner and fit the bowl into it. I noticed right away that it fit a little less snugly, sliding down far enough that the bottom of the bowl touched the water. Whoops! That's something the advice givers tell you not to let happen! I immediately took the bowl out and began to work at it with the thermometer spatula. The chocolate was already melting at the bottom where it touched the bowl. I kept at it for a while, poured off some of the hot water, and tried again. The water was cooler. It still touched the bottom of the bowl, and again I removed the bowl. This time I kept working it until the chocolate was all melted. The thermometer never indicated a temperature higher than about 85°F. I don't think it was well-enough immersed in the liquid chocolate to get a good temperature reading.

Next, in lieu of a marble slab, I took a Pyrex baking dish and turned it upside down. On top of this I laid some parchment paper. I poured about 2/3 of the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and worked it with a rubber spatula (not the one with the thermometer) and my silicone dough scraper. I spread it out and folded it over itself again and again, pausing occasionally to scrape chocolate off my implements back into the mass. I noticed eventually that some of the chocolate, especially attached to my implements, was solidifying. I mixed it together and mixed it once more into the steel bowl. I brought the water in the saucepan back the heat for a few moments, then heated the bowl and its contents once more. I was quickly able to stir it into a thick liquid again.

I had noticed as I was getting the semisolid mass of chocolate back into the bowl that a thin layer of chocolate had cooled sufficiently on the parchment paper as to easily peel and flake off. I was able to recover much of the chocolate that had adhered to the paper in this way and stir it into the molten chocolate. This meant, though, that cooled chocolate would easily peel off of the parchment paper.

I put a fresh piece of parchment paper on my "slab," and poured every last bit of chocolate that I could scrape out of the bowl. I smoothed it out into what I hoped was a uniform thickness, about 1/4", and then took out the dried blueberries (the Kirkland brand from Costco) and dropped them into the chocolate. In order to make some lines along which the cooled chocolate would break, I laid some skewers across the top of the chocolate and pressed them in slightly. I transferred the parchment paper to a wire cooling rack.



I then let the chocolate cool, for roughly half an hour. It was now solid, and I could break it apart. I had to saw with breadknife to separate a couple of the pieces. I was successful, evidently, either in tempering the chocolate or allowing it to preserve its temper through the melting process. I now have some edible and tasty, if crudely shaped chocolate bars.



Lessons learned:

• I definitely need to get a better double boiler setup. Either that or master the art of using a microwave oven to melt chocolate, which many of my Internet informants recommend.


• Handling liquid chocolate is tedious and tricky


• I probably want a real marble slab


• I probably need to work with a larger quantity of chocolate for my fancy thermometer spatula to be useful

I also need more ideas about what to do with chocolate while I am learning how to handle and manipulate it.

Berry Explosion Pie

[aquinasprime]

I'm new to the omnomnom community. I am a physician by trade, a baker by hobby and an occasional sous chef to my husband in our home kitchen.

I decided to experiment today with a new pie recipe that I made up on the fly. My husband isn't much of a cake person, so this is his birthday pie which he named Berry Explosion upon tasting the filling.

( Read more... )

[Cooking] [Food] Kaiserschmarrn

[karohemd]

After the fish and meat indulgence over the last two evenings, I fancied some traditional grub so made a pan of Kaiserschmarrn. It was very yummy.
I had run out of fresh fruit so I had those wonderful cherries in cherry liqueur I'd found at the local greengrocer on the side. Rather strong but oh so yummy.

In Austria or Bavaria you'd eat it as a main meal but it would just work as well as a dessert (obviously in a smaller portion).

( Bigger and recipe )