Chocolate Espresso Cake w/ Raspberry Sauce

My daughter Lori, an outstanding attorney in New Jersey is also a fabulous cook and very gracious hostess. Since she grew up in a household that was passionate about chocolate, she has a very special palate for exceptional chocolate desserts. I asked Lori to share her favorite chocolate recipe with the readers of our blog. The following is Lori’s favorite that she originally received from Epicurious.com:

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CAKE WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

SAUCE
3 10-ounce packages frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed

CAKE
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, diced
1 cup freshly brewed espresso or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 cup water
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
8 large eggs, beaten to blend
Fresh raspberries

FOR SAUCE:
Working in batches, puree raspberries and syrup in processor. Strain puree into medium bowl. Chill. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

FOR CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line bottom of 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with parchment. Place all chocolate in large bowl. Bring butter, espresso and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add to chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk in eggs.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake until center of cake is set and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour. Remove pan from water. Chill cake overnight.

Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Using oven mitts as aid, hold pan bottom over low heat for 15 seconds, warming slightly to release cake. Place platter over pan. Hold pan and platter together tightly and invert. Lift off cake pan; peel off parchment.
Serve with sauce and fresh berries.

Lori added her own commentary to the recipe: “This is one of my favorite recipes that I have made numerous times. It's decadent and any topping can be substituted...the raspberry is awesome, but I have also used caramel drizzled on top. Delish!!”

If you want to make a special dessert, try the above recipe. Lori knows her chocolate and if this is one of her favorites, I promise that you will be thrilled and fulfilled. Let me know how you enjoyed this recipe.
Bernie

the CIA even likes chocolate

Eight hundred pounds of dark, milk and white chocolate have been sculpted into a piece of abstract art called "Detritus," now on display in the lobby of the Marriott Continuing Education Center at the CIA. Chef Peter Greweling, professor in baking and pastry arts at the CIA, assembled the sculpture over the weekend of March 29-30 with the help of students and fellow faculty members. He began work on the various components last December. The artwork features eight-foot I-beams, broken pieces of concrete, pipes and wires, all made of tempered chocolate donated by the Guittard Chocolate Co. The wooden spools on which the chocolate sits and the police tape around the piece complement the tone and spirit of the artwork.

The debris and wreckage in "Detritus" evoke images of the fallen World Trade Center. Greweling said that is not specifically what the piece is about, but "those images are in our collective consciousness, so I don't doubt it played into the development of this work." How long the piece remains on display is dependent on the weather. Once the temperatures get too warm, it will have to be removed. Afterward, the chocolate will be reformed into smaller showpieces and possibly another piece of art of similar scope.

Who said there's nothing sweet in the government?

Chocolate Buckeyes

I’m often asked two questions. What is my best selling chocolate and which of my chocolates do I personally like the best? Today I’m going to tell you about my best selling chocolate.

Being an Ohio company and located in the shadow of Ohio State University its probably not surprising that the Chocolate Buckeye is our largest individual selling chocolate. The Chocolate Buckeye is actually a rendition of the nut from the Buckeye Tree, which is the official tree of Ohio. The Chocolate Buckeye is formed to resemble this nut. The actual tree nut is not edible and is poisonous. Some people, including OSU coaches, believe that carrying a buckeye in your pocket brings good luck. Brutus Buckeye is the mascot of Ohio State University and the OSU mascot is revered at athletic events. Ohioans take their Buckeyes very seriously.

Making Chocolate Buckeyes at home is a tradition in the Columbus area. Everyone has their own recipe, but I think that our Chocolate Buckeyes are the best in Ohio. Here is our recipe (reformulated for small batches):

1# of unsalted butter (softened)
2# of creamy peanut butter (blend with the softened butter)
2# of confectioners sugar (add to the blended peanut butter in small amounts until it is thoroughly blended together
Use a scooper to make balls and roll by hand to make them round and firm
Chill the peanut butter balls at a low temperature (you can freeze them, but don’t dip them in chocolate at a freezing temperature) and dip them in chocolate (in future blogs, I will cover good chocolate making procedures and techniques) with a toothpick.
Leave some of the peanut butter mixture showing on top.

If you think that you have a better recipe, let us know what it is. GO BUCKS!!

Bernie

Does Chocolate Make You Feel Better?

Does biting into a creamy, sweet bar of chocolate put you in a better mood? Frost & Sullivan has said it has the ability to stimulate neurotransmitters and help induce a good mood.

Market analysts at the firm said chocolate has now elevated itself to becoming a "psycho-active" food. I knew that stuff made me feel sooo good.

Frost & Sullivan said that research has found the answer to chocolates feel good factor. It contains anandamide like ice-creams and other positive neurotransmitters such as oleolethanolamine and N-linoleoylethanolamine, caffeine and theobromine. All these chemicals have been determined to have active psychological effects.

Chocolate is also rich in tryptophan, an essential amino acid which is connected with the production of the mood-modulating neurotransmitter serotonin.

Chocolate also contains the amino acid gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) that is said to reduce anxiety.

Already firms are making headway with mood boosting chocolate. Ezaki Glico has launched a stress-reducing "Mental Balance Chocolate GABA." The product's first year sales surpassed all forecasts.

In 2002, the Scottish ice-cream maker Mackie's launched a mood-enhancing low calorie ice cream flavoured with the essence of a native Alaskan orchid, which claims to make people happy.

In November 2006, Nestlé announced an investment of around $4 million a year over a five year period, for research into the relationship between nutrition and the brain, Frost & Sullivan gave as examples.

An estimated 10 to 20 percent of Americans experience a seasonal change in their mood each year, particularly during the winter months, according to a survey in December, commissioned by manufacturer Pharmavite and undertaken by Harris Interactive.

In response they turn to food to help cheer them up, Harris Interactive found.

For me, chocolate blueberry clusters can instantly change my mood. As a matter of fact, just thinking of them makes the corners of my mouth turn up.

Welcome Chocolate Lovers

My name is Bernie and I own a couple of chocolate stores in Columbus Ohio called The Chocolate Octopus. The Chocolate Octopus has been using our unique recipes and creating the best tasting chocolates since 1982.

I thought I would make a blog highlighting great chocolate sites and recipes just for all us chocolate lovers. If you have any recipes that you would like to share, please feel free to email them to me.

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Since this is our first post, I figured it was most appropriate to begin with the history of chocolate.

The History of Chocolate

The story of chocolate, as far back as we know it, begins with the discovery of America. Until 1492, the Old World knew nothing at all about the delicious and stimulating flavor that was to become the favorite of millions.

The Court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella got its first look at the principal ingredient of chocolate when Columbus returned in triumph from America and laid before the Spanish throne a treasure trove of many strange and wonderful things. Among these were a few dark brown beans that looked like almonds and cocoa beans, today's source of all our chocolate and cocoa. Imagine the look on their faces - we send this dude across the world to find cool stuff and all he brings back are BEANS?!

The King and Queen never dreamed how important cocoa beans could be, and it remained for Hernando Cortez, the great Spanish explorer, to grasp the commercial possibilities of the New World offerings.

During his conquest of Mexico, Cortez found the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans in the preparation of the royal drink of the realm, "chocolatl", meaning warm liquid. In 1519, Emperor Montezuma, who reportedly drank 50 or more portions daily, served chocolatl to his Spanish guests in great golden goblets, treating it like a food for the gods. I love chocolate in my espresso - but if I ever get to the point where I'm buying 50 a day, just go ahead and put me out of my misery.

For all its regal importance, however, Montezuma's chocolatl was very bitter, and the Spaniards did not find it to their taste. To make the concoction more agreeable to Europeans, Cortez and his countrymen conceived of the idea of sweetening it with cane sugar.

While they took chocolatl back to Spain, the idea found favor and the drink underwent several more changes with newly discovered spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla. Ultimately, someone decided the drink would taste better if served hot.

With that said, chocolate was basically originated in a drink. Little did all these folks know how much better it could get....


Chocolate Spreads to Europe

Spanish monks, who had been consigned to process the cocoa beans, finally let the secret out. It did not take long before chocolate was acclaimed throughout Europe as a delicious, health-giving food. For a while it reigned as the drink at the fashionable Court of France. Chocolate drinking spread across the Channel to Great Britain, and in 1657 the first of many famous English Chocolate Houses appeared.

The hand methods of manufacture used by small shops gave way in time to the mass production of chocolate. The transition was hastened by the advent of a perfected steam engine which mechanized the cocoa grinding process. By 1730, chocolate had dropped in price from three dollars or more per pound to within the financial reach of all. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 reduced the prices even further and helped to improve the the quality of the beverage by squeezing out part of the cocoa butter, the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans. From then on, drinking chocolate had more of the smooth consistency and the pleasing flavor it has today.

The 19th Century marked two more revolutionary developments in the history of chocolate. In 1847, an English company introduced solid "eating chocolate" through the development of fondant chocolate, a smooth and velvety variety that has almost completely replaced the old coarse grained chocolate which formerly dominated the world market. The second development occurred in 1876 in Vevey, Switzerland, when Daniel Peter devised a way of adding milk to the chocolate, creating the product we enjoy today known as milk chocolate. Who loves Danny??? Let me see your hands!