The Sweet Life in Paris and Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

I just finished reading an extremely entertaining book, The Sweet Life In Paris by David Lebovitz. It was a perfect read for a imaginary summer getaway. Lebovitz does a delicious job at demystifying everything French. He reveals French recipes and his own creations after every segment in the book. I highly recommend it for any foodie!

The author and I have a few things in common. The main thing is chocolate! He includes a lot of different chocolaty recipes, including a certain one that caught my eye: Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes. I approve... they're extremely dense, moist and not to mention, adorable!

7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract (I didn't have any, so I didn't use it. Doubled vanilla instead)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp course salt

Makes one dozen cakes

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the cups of a muffin tin or use muffin cups.

-In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat.

-In another bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the yogurt. eggs, and the extracts.

-In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. 

-Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a few times, then add the melted chocolate, stir until smooth.

-Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they feel barely set in the middle.

-Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving. 

* Preferably, serve with a hot drink and homemade whip cream!

-éclair

Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream

I must have a thing for chocolate and blueberries...! This recipe turned out extremely luscious. I recommend making the cream mixture ahead of time to cool properly, that will help it churn quicker.

8 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
8-16 oz blueberries
2 tbl vanilla extract
8 oz sugar


Mash the blueberries with half the sugar in a bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill while making the rest of the recipe. .

In a bowl, beat and mix together the egg yolks and sugar until thick.  Pour the milk into the mixture of egg yolks and sugar while stirring. Pour the mixture into a pan and heat gently, when the mixture is warm add the cocoa powder stir/whisk till it all dissolves, keep stirring until it thickens. Don't let it boil or else it will curdle. When you can see a film form over the back of your spoon it's time to remove the pan from the heat.

Leave to cool. When cool, stir in the cream followed by the mixture of mashed blueberries and sugar. Transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

If you have leftovers and the ice cream has melted, put it back into the ice cream maker until it reaches a scoop-able consistency. At that point place it into a air tight container and freeze. Doing this will keep the ice cream at an ideal consistency.

Wedding Cake

I just finished my last class for my baking certificate, Wedding Cakes! For our final we had to design and bake a cake start to finish. I made a white cake layered with fresh strawberries and iced with vanilla buttercream decorated with sugared roses. I love it!