Things I think I know...

and the Envelope please...

2008-12-13T20:30:29Z

I decided that I would pick seven winners this year. There were 63 entries, so you had better than one in ten odds.
The fine pseudo random integer generator at Random.org chose:

incyr
entelein
@Andrhia
@AOWWaterborn
jadesfire55
soi
retrovertigo

Comments are screened, so you can leave your address here, or e-mail it to me. My username AT gmail. I hope to mail them out on Tuesday.

4th Chocolate Lottery

2008-12-09T16:24:33Z

Yes friends, it's that time. I have completed my holiday candy making, and as usual I will be giving you a chance to try it out for yourselves! Rules are below, but first take a look at what's at stake...

Ginger-Crunch
A square chocolate; the ganache is mixed with crushed up ginger caramel. Dipped in milk chocolate. (Callebaut)

Raspberry-Wasabi Pâte de Fruit
A square chocolate; a layer of chocolate ganache, and a layer of raspberry pâte de fruit, with a pinch of wasabi. Dipped in Valrhona Manjari dark chocolate.

S'Mores Bite
Homemade marshmallow squares fixed atop homemade graham crackers, then dipped in semi-sweet chocolate (mix of Valrhona and Callebaut)

Salted Caramel
Molded chocolate (Valrhona Manjari), filled with a white chocolate salted caramel. Two photos, outside and cracked open.

1. Entry is free. Just leave a comment, or send me a message on Twitter.

2. If you win, I'll need your address so that I can mail the chocolates to you.

3. I must know you. That is, you must be on my friend's list, or on my Twitter list (or I know you in person). Please don't send your friends to enter, and if you overheard about this and just now start following me, you'll have to wait until next year.

4. Winners will be picked using a random number generator. I haven't decided how many winners there will be, but at least four.

5. I am willing this year to ship to Canada, but not overseas. It's expensive, these are food, and I can't elect for a slow shipping option.

6. If you are already going to get a box (I give them to family and some local friends), you can't get another box by entering. The point of this is lottery is so that more people can try these out. You're free to enter, just in case you aren't already on my gift list.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

2008-12-08T01:36:15Z

(Breaking the norm, I have made this post public so that my friends on Twitter without LJ accounts can read this recipe.)

So many people started talking about Starbuck's Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (SCHC) this fall, that I decided I had to try it for myself, and attempt to recreate the recipe. I have a lot of experience in working with chocolate, and I spent a lot of time working with caramel this calendar year, so it seemed like a great project for my time.

My goal was to create as simple/easy a recipe as possible, one that would be easy to replicate by any of you that want to try. It isn't exactly what you'll find at Starbuck's, but it's very tasty still. A little less sweet, but you can crank it up by adding more caramel. There is a lot of text here, because I added many notes--but this isn't that hard to do yourself!

I had two possible approaches: making a "salted butter caramel sauce", or a "caramel sauce" with the salt added directly the to drink. I went the latter route, as the former has a distinctly different taste, is tricker, and Starbuck's added the salt directly to the drink as well.

Makes 2 8 oz. servings (for more servings, increase the hot chocolate ingredients, but there is no need to make more caramel sauce)

*Hot Chocolate Ingredients:

1/3 cup finely chopped milk chocolate
1/3 cup finely chopped semisweet/dark chocolate
2 cups milk/light cream (I used milk here, but often use a mix for normal hot chocolate)
several pinches of fleur de sel or coarse sea salt
whipped cream

First we'll make the caramel sauce, then the whole drink:

**Caramel Sauce Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 Tbs. light corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream

Equipment:

heavy bottomed sauce pan (one with high sides, you will need them)
candy thermometer (optional, but very helpful)
metal (not plastic) spoon
squirt bottle (optional)

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, heat your thermometer under hot tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to the side of the pan, making sure that the bulb is completely submerged. Try not to let it rest on the bottom of the pan. Let the mixture sit without stirring at all! It will simply cook for 5-10 minutes.

When the mixture reaches 230 degrees, reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to color gradually. As the temperature approaches 300 degrees the color will start to turn to amber (this may happen quickly). At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly--if you have spots of the sugar mixture that aren't coloring evenly. When the caramel reaches 330-340 degrees, it will reach a deep amber color.

Remove from heat and immediately add the cream. Be careful, as it will bubble up ferociously. You will get sections of hardened caramel, so after the bubbling subsides, return the pot to medium heat and stir gently, until the sauce melts together. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once cooled, you can store the sauce in a squirt bottle (like the generic ketchup bottles in restaurants), or a reguler plastic container. Keeps in the refrigerator for a week, or should be fine in the freezer for a month.

Hot Chocolate

Combine the chocolate and milk in a small pot and heat on medium to simmer. Stir occasionally to combine as the chocolate melts. If you have a Mexican Molinillo, feel free to use it.

In each of two warm mugs, add 1 Tbs of the caramel to the bottom, and swirl/stir it to coat the bottom and sides. Carefully add the hot chocolate to the mugs, and add a generous pinch of sea salt. Top with whipped cream. If you are using the squirt bottle, you can also decorate the whipped cream with a bit more caramel!

*I naturally recommend that you use high quality chocolate here, as it will strongly influence the flavor. If you prefer, you can use all milk or all dark chocolate, but a mix offers an excellent balance. If you have a food processor, you can use it to grind your chocolate (10-15 seconds), which is a lot less work. I keep a tub of ground chocolate ready all the time!

**This makes plenty of sauce. You should be able to cut all the ingredients exactly in half, however this will give you less room for error while cooking the caramel, so I suggest a full batch on your first attempt, if you haven't made caramel before.