Chocolate Sorbet #AbramsDinnerParty

As part of the Abrams Dinner Party, I've been getting all of the cookbooks from Abrams Books at no cost to me. Yay, me. Send bookcases.

The most recent book to land with a thud on my doorstep was Ibiza, Land and Sea by Francoise Pialoux.

The subtitle of the book is 100 Sun-Drenched Recipes, so of course I expected a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. And since Ibiza is an island off the coast of Spain, I expected seafood.

There were a couple potato recipes that looked pretty darned good (I kind of love potatoes and had a fresh bag of them waiting to be cooked), then I thought about making a lemon tart (mmm, lemon) or eggplant parmesan.

But then I found myself in the chocolate chapter, and I got stuck there. And then I saw the chocolate sorbet. I knew I had to make it.

This is a freakishly simple recipe with just a few simple ingredients. The result is pretty amazing. It's rich. Almost like a very cold ganache or a super-rich gelato. If I didn't tell you there was no dairy, you might assume it's simply a super-rich ice cream. It's not crazy sweet, but it's sweet enough. But still, you could serve it with something sweet, like the dulce de leche in the book, or maybe a pillow of sweetened whipped cream. But really, it's great on its own, although I really do suggest small servings. It's worth savoring.

Because this has so few ingredients, you'll want to choose a chocolate that you love, because that's what this is going to taste like.

The recipe calls for mineral water, which isn't something I ever have on hand, so I used plain old tap water. Next time I'm at the store, I'll grab some mineral water and see what difference it makes.

Since this book has a European heritage, it's assumed you're going to weigh the ingredients. I'm fine with that, but if you don't have a scale, you'll need to convert the weights to volumes. Some of the ingredients also needed a little translation, like the caster sugar called for in this recipe. I couldn't remember if caster sugar was granulated or powdered sugar, so I asked my cooking buddy Alexa who told me that it was a finely granulated sugar. I went with regular granulated sugar. It was supposed to melt, anyway, so it seemed like it would work.

This stuff is definitely a keeper.

Chocolate Sorbet
From Ibiza, Land and Sea by Francoise Pialoux

120 grams (4 ounces) caster sugar
200 grams (7 ounces) dark chocolate, 53-60% cocoa solids
80 grams (2 1/2 ounces) bitter chocolate powder

In a saucepan, combine the caster sugar (I used regular granulate sugar) with 1/2 liter (2 cups) mineral water. (I used tap water. Yes, I'm a risk taker!)

Heat over a moderate flame, stirring until the sugar has melted.

Now add the chocolate, broken into pieces, and mix. Remove from the heat as soon as the chocolate has melted.

Add the cocoa powder, stir, and allow to cool.

Pour into an ice cream maker or turbine to freeze.

Yup, I did get this book at no cost to me.

Yum

Chocolate Pizza and Peanut Butter Wings

I usually post food reviews over on the gadget and review blog, but I haven't been doing as much cooking as usual, and food is food, so ...

I'll be posting a few reviews here, and maybe even some roundups, if the mood strikes.

The yummies that came to me this time (at no cost to me) were from the Chocolate Pizza Company. No surprise, they make chocolate pizzas, which are large round disks of chocolate covered with fun candies and decorations and stuff.

You can get pizzas with standard greetings, no greetings, or custom greetings. There are a lot of options for candies and decorations, too. I didn't see any pepperoni, but I did see peanut butter cups and white chocolate drizzle.

They sent me a slice of their snowflake pizza, which had white snowflake sprinkles along with red and green coated chocolate candies. That slice was actually a really nice size for me, so I'm glad they didn't send a whole pizza. I mean, a whole pizza would be fun for a family or a party or an office ... but a slice was just enough for me.

The peanut butter wings, on the other hand.

Oh my.

They're rippled potato chips, coated with peanut butter, then dipped in either milk or dark chocolate. Let me say that again.

Oh my.

Where have these things been all my life?

So here's the deal. You buy some for every family member's stockings, and maybe you hang up some stockings for people who don't actually exist. Like, you could hang a stocking for the TV or the refrigerator. Or the cat. Or that spider that's living in the basement.

Then, when everyone is busy with their other presents, you raid the stockings and swipe all the peanut butter wings for yourself. Hide them in a safe place. Eat them when no one is looking. If people notice their wings are missing, you just look innocent and say they flew away.

Or, I don't know, maybe just buy a couple of the big tins and everyone's happy.

Yum

Addictive Salted Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

If you've read this blog at all, you probably know that I belong to a group where we mail cookbooks around in a round-robin style. When I got Half Baked Harvest, I kind of skipped past all the harvesting and landed on these cookies.
Oh. My. Heck.

These are insane. They're best when slightly warm so the caramel is a little soft, but if you make them and let them cool - because eating a whole batch would be kind of crazy - you can still have that soft. center. Just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds before serving to get that soft caramel center.

I made a few other recipes from the book, but this is the one I decided to share on the blog. I don't like to share more than one recipe from a book, although most publishers are fine with up to three recipes without special permission.

This one, though, was worth saving, publishing, and making again.

Addictive Salted Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from Half-Baked Harvest by Tieghan Gerard

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used black cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
24 to 48 milk chocolate caramels (I used Dove candies that were available for Easter. Dark chocolate caramels would also be nice, and a little less sweet.)
Flaky sea salt, for topping

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, bittersweet chocolate, and chocolate chips. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until fully melted and combined. The chocolate will be thick. Remove the pan from the heat and let the chocolate cool slightly. Note: if you're comfortable melting chocolate in your microwave, you can do that here. Melt in short bursts and stir in between. 

In a small bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on high until light and fluffy, which should take 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate, and beat for 1 or 2 minutes more, until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Note: I did this in my stand mixer, using the paddle. 

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Beat until fully combined and smooth, about 3 minutes. The batter should be thick but pourable - don't worry, it will turn into cookie dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. Note: I left mine in the fridge longer, with no ill effect. You just don't want to forget it in there for too long.

Scoop out a scant 2 tablespoons of dough and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Flatten the dough into small disks, about 2 inches in diameter - you can grease your hands with a little oil if this gets messy.

Place a caramel in the center. Scoop out a rounded teaspoon of dough and flatten it into a disk. Place this disk on top of the caramel, pinching the layers of dough together.

Note: I followed the instructions for forming the cookies for the first batch I made, then changed gears and did it in a way that made more sense to me. So feel free to improvise. You want the caramel neatly enclosed by the dough, with the top a little thinner, and you want the cookie somewhat flat. It will spread a little during cooking, but its nice to give it a little help.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until set on the edges. Remove from the oven and sprinkle each cookie with a little flaky salt. Note: in the second batch, I added salt before baking - it seemed easier, and the salt stuck a little better.

Let cool at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet before serving, or place them on a rack to cool completely and rewarm later.

And ... here's a little tease ...

This cake is also from Half Baked Harvest. It's a three-layer chocolate cake filled with chocolate fudge that is drizzled with caramel sauce. It's frosted with caramel frosting, and then drizzled with more caramel. This is NOT an everyday cake that you'd make for a family dinner, but if you want a showstopper for a party or event, this is it.

Yum

Good Day Chocolate

One of the benefit of being a blogger in the Denver/Boulder area is that Sprouts Farmer's Markets hosts events with local businesses, mostly food-related.

Recently, I attended an event at Good Day Chocolate. I said yes, because ... well, chocolate. Even though I wasn't familiar with the company or its products.

Turns out, the chocolate has benefits. Not just the flavor of chocolate or the benefits of chocolate in general, but they add stuff to the chocolate to make it even better.

So ... there's chocolate with added caffeine for an energy boost, chocolate that helps you sleep, chocolate that has calming effects, and chocolate with turmeric.

A new addition to the Good Day roundup is a chocolate with probiotics. And, they pointed out that their probiotics are the ones that actually make it through your stomach acids, so they actually do some good in your gut. Plus, eating a chocolate or three is a lot more pleasant than chugging a weird-tasting grainy drink.

At the event, we had a chance to play with chocolates, like filling molds.

They warned us that this could be messy, but there were no major chocolate disasters. When the company first started, they filled molds like this by hand, and had a lot of rejected chocolates in each batch. But now, it's a lot more sophisticated.

And of course we got to do some sampling. Speaking of samples, we got to take some home, too.

Like this cute holiday gift box. Mmmm. Chocolate gift!

The chocolate comes in little tiny boxes, and they're roundish candy-coated treats that should be eaten sparingly. I mean, there's dosage information on the side of the box. Dosages are probably most important for the caffeine - or at least that's the one I'd be most careful of, since I've cut way back on my coffee intake.

While these have health benefits, they're also very tasty chocolate. But ... they shouldn't go into the candy bowl to be eaten by the handful.

This is one of the most interesting concepts I've seen in a long time. I've tried turmeric smoothies and other ways of ingesting it. While I love a good recipe that uses turmeric (mmm, pickled cauliflower), I'm not all that fond of it in my banana smoothie. In chocolate, however? I couldn't even tell it was in there. Sign me up!

Good Day Chocolate is available at Sprouts (obviously), and I've also seen it at other stores that have a lot of natural/healthy foods. You can also find it on Amazon. Keep in mind that the boxes are small and don't have a lot of chocolates in there, so if you want a week's worth of energy doses, buy enough boxes!

Thanks to Sprouts Farmers Market and Good Day Chocolate for the fun event and the goodies to take home. Mmmmm. Chocolate.

Yum

Wacky Cupcakes #OXOgoodcookies

The Cookies for Kids' Cancer campaign sponsored by OXO is one of my favorite feel-good things every year. Bloggers who participate get a few free products from OXO, but the money goes to charity. How awesome is that?

Maybe you've heard of Wacky Cake. I have a vague memory of bringing home a copy of the recipe and making it at home, which must have been a huge event since my mom never baked anything.

The major selling point that must have convinced my mom to let me make the cake was that it didn't require eggs, a mixing bowl, or a blender. The recipe was mixed by hand and baked in the same pan.

The problem with that recipe was that it was hard to mix the ingredients evenly in a cake pan, without scraping off the butter or shortening that was greasing the pan.

I've seen a lot of wacky cake recipes since then, but I hadn't given it much thought until I ran into yet another recipe in a community cookbook. And then I thought ... hmmm ... I wonder if this would work as cupcakes.

While I was thinking, I also decided to cut the recipe in half, and I made a few other little adjustments as well. Because, what the heck. Might as well have some fun, right?

Wacky cake is normally left unfrosted - maybe just dusted with powdered sugar. But I decided the cupcakes needed frosting, so I made a simple chocolate ganache and used the cool decorating tool that OXO provided to swirl the ganache on top of the cupcakes.

So pretty! So easy! Not messy!

They also sent me a really nice 12-cup muffin pan - looks pretty with a gold-colored finish, right? And they sent silicone baking cups as well. The muffin cups are pure genius, since they have little "ears" on two sides that makes it really easy to get the cupcakes out of the pan.

Wacky Cupcakes
Adapted from Favorite Recipes from Quilters by Louise Stoltzfus

See the "ears" on the muffin cups? Really handy!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place cupcake liners in 12 wells of a muffin pan.

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer at high speed until well blended, about two or three minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the cups - they should be about 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 18-20 minutes, or until the top of the cupcakes spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and remove transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. Here's where those little ears on the cupcake cups really came in handy!

When the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost as desired. Or, if you want to stay true to the original wacky recipe, just dust them with a little powdered sugar.

About the frosting:

For my frosting, I used a basic ganache with 6 ounces of cream, heated to boiling, poured over 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate, broken into chunks.

At this point, you have a ganache that you can pour onto a cake to make a smooth layer of chocolate. But that's not what I wanted.

After the mixture was completely smooth and starting to cool off a bit, I started beating it with my hand mixer until it was thick and fluffy and the color had lightened a bit.

I piped the frosting on the cupcakes. YUM.

NOTE: after seeing someone else post a vegan chocolate dessert recipe, I realized that the cake part of this recipe is vegan. Not that it's trying to be, it just is. It was thought to have been first developed during WWII, when dairy and eggs were rationed. That's why it uses oil. And it works really, really well.

The frosting I made included dairy, so that's not vegan, but that's easy to swap for something else, like a faux-buttercream made with either vegetable oil or a non-dairy butter substitute. Or ganache made using a non-dairy cream (although I've never tried that). Or whatever vegan frosting or icing you like.

OXO sent along some info about the products they sent. Here's what they had to say:

Muffin Pan
The Non-Stick Pro Muffin Pan features a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity. It's made with a ceramic-reinforced, two-layer, commercial-grade coating that provides ultimate non-stick release and is scratch-, stain-, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant.

Baking Cups
https://www.oxo.com/products/cooking-baking/baking-tools/silicone-baking-cups-12-pack
The BPA-free Baking Cups have handy tabs to help remove them from muffin tins without making a thumbprint, and the inside of each Cup is smooth and non-stick to release your treat easily. With a fill line, your cupcakes will be consistent every time.

Baker's Decorating Tool
Our easy-to-use, easy-to-fill Tool is designed to give you complete control while decorating. The unique trigger provides a smooth stream of icing for clean lines, and the comfortable handles ensure a steady grip and protect icing from warm hands.

Yum

Small-Batch Brownies

I really love to bake, but it seems sort of ridiculous to make a whole layer cake just for me. Fortunately, I have wonderful neighbors who are always willing to take in homeless baked goods. Still, a whole layer cake is a lot of cake, even when I have help eating it.

I usually look for recipes that make a single layer, or I cut the recipe in half, which isn't all that much fun when it uses 3 eggs. So, when a publisher offered me a copy of 175 Best Small-Batch Baking Recipes, I knew I had to try it.

Cake for one or two? Count me in. Don't worry, neighbors ... I'll still have plenty of goodies for you!

The first recipe I decided to try was for brownies. I love brownies, and they have the distinct advantage over other baked goods in that I like them when they're chilled, unlike many cakes that are best at room temperature. Storing them in the fridge gives them a longer life, so I can take my time eating them.

I was quite pleased to see that I had six different brownie recipes to choose from, including a white chocolate brownie with cranberries and hazelnuts. I chose a somewhat classic recipe that had nuts. It called for walnuts - which is pretty typical - but I used macadamia nuts, since I recently got some from a friend in Hawaii.

It's good to have friends.

One thing I thought was complete genius in this book was the way they handled pan size. They didn't suggest going out and buying some weird-sized pan to make the small batch in brownies. Instead, they use loaf pans. Wow. I never thought of that! And heavens knows I have enough loaf pans around here.

The recipe I chose made brownies that were a bit soft and cake-like and also a bit fudgy, but I think they would be more dense at sea level.

These don't include any leavening except the air beaten into the batter when the eggs are whisked, and that sort of whipped-in air tends to expand more up here in the mountains than it would where most people live.

The recipe was easy to make - I didn't even need a hand mixer. The ingredients all include metric measurements as well as US, so you can use whichever you prefer, and it also makes it easier if you prefer to weigh your dry ingredients rather than measure.

The recipe includes frosting, but I didn't make that. I prefer my brownies unadorned.

Chocolate Walnut Brownies
Adapted from 175 Best Small-Batch Baking Recipes by Jill Snider

2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used macadamia nuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper (I made a sling that covered the bottom and long sides) and spray with baking spray.

Put the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat on medium heat in 30-second increments, stirring after each heating, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until light and frothy (they might be easier to whisk in a larger bowl, but a medium bowl is all you need to hold the ingredients). Gradually add the sugar while whisking, until the mixture is thick. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add the flour and walnuts and stir them in.

Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees until just set, about 20-25 minutes (mine took a bit longer). Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing using the sling.

Yum

Cholaca Chocolate ice Cream

Thanks to blogger events sponsored by Sprouts (the grocery store, not bean sprouts or anything peculiar like that), I keep finding new products that I absolutely go crazy over. This time around, it's a chocolate product called Cholaca.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Liquid cacao. You have to try this.

This stuff is like liquid happiness. Which, actually, it is, since it boosts seratonin levels, and that's the stuff that makes you happy. Plus, it has theobromine, which boosts energy. After sampling way more Cholaca products than a normal person would consume on a normal day (except maybe for Ira, who runs the company) I was feeling energized and happy. In a good way.

And without the jitters that I sometimes get with coffee. Which is awesome.

The first thing I sampled was a special concoction that Ira had discovered when he went into the kitchen for an afternoon pick-me-up of Cholaca, while a co-worked was grabbing a can of Coke. Ira had the bright idea to pour a little Cholaca into some Coke. He was telling a few of us about this, and when we expressed curiosity (horror? amazement?) he skedaddled off and came back with a can of coke and some Cholaca. So of course we had to try that. It was different, but good.

And that's where the epic chocolate journey started.

This is where it ended. Mmm. Ice cream.
Download this photo as a coloring book page!

So anyway, the main product that Cholaca makes is a liquid cacao that's emulsified with water to make it drinkable. There are three different versions, but the only difference is the sweetness level. The original has just a little coconut sugar. There's a sweet version that has a little more coconut sugar. And there's an unsweetened version. They suggest a 2-ounce shot as an energy booster and happiness maker. Or mix it with some milk and heat it up for a crazy good hot chocolate.

If you've read this blog more than once, you probably know that I don't like coconut. However (mysteriously) coconut sugar is fine. Probably because it's made from the sap and not the fruit. Just like maple syrup is made from maple sap and not ... uh ... some other part of the tree.

So anyway, the next thing we tried was a straight-up shot of Cholaca that was served in a cute little jar. I polished that off in no time. And then we moved on to hot chocolate. Oh heck yeah. The hot chocolate was freaking amazing. And not overly sugary.

And then the chocolate wafers appeared. Wafers! These are intended as baking chocolate and are totally unsweetened. Right now, there are two different types available based on the country of origin, so you can choose Cholaca wafers from Ecuador or from Peru.

Have you ever tasted unsweetened chocolate? It's pretty ... not so good. But I ate a couple wafers while we decorated gingerbread cookies. The wafers were actually very nice, thanks to the high level of cocoa butter that's in them (this is what Ira told me).

By that time I was super-happy and made a demented gingerbread dude with part of his arm eaten by a shark. He got a little smudged during the trip home, but I think it only adds to the appeal.

Download this photo as a coloring book page!

And then we made a sugar scrub using white sugar, coconut sugar, cholaca, olive oil, and coconut oil. At that point, I wanted to just dive in and eat the scrub, coconut and all, but I decided I should behave myself.

And then there were the parting gifts from Cholaca. We each got a bottle of Cholaca (we got to choose between original and sweet) and some of those wafers. And a cute mug. And the jar of sugar scrub (I put mine in a different container when I got it home) and of course we brought home the cookies, too. No, they didn't give us ice cream to take home.

Oh, and if you're wondering how I made ice cream when that bottle of Cholaca seems to be full, it's because I immediately bought MORE of it.

Oh! Those wafers! I've set mine aside to bake with. I have ideas. Ira popped in during the cookie decorating to mention that the wafers might not be a perfect substitute for regular baking chocolate in a recipe because of the high cocoa butter content.

No worries. I think I can handle that.

At some point during the evening, I mentioned that I wanted to put Ira in a bottle and take him home with me. I have no idea what that even means, but his enthusiasm was obvious. He loves his job. He loves chocolate. He wants everyone to get to know the best chocolate in the entire world!!! Yup, he really loves his product. But he talked about it in an engaging way, and not in a pushy way and he spent some time talking about where the cacao is grown and how he's helping the local farmers. It was really interesting, but I was itching use the Cholaca in a recipe.

I had the good sense not to start cooking when I got home (although I was tempted) but it wasn't long before I decided to use some of the liquid Cholaca to make ice cream. The wafers will have to wait a bit, but I already have sooooo many ideas.

Okay, many of the ideas involve me hoarding the wafers and popping them into my mouth on a regular basis. But I might have to make brownies. Or ... something.

But first, Cholaca ice cream.

This is a very creamy ice cream, and not crazy sweet. It's not a super-dark-chocolate ice cream, so if that's what you're looking for, you'll need to add more chocolate in some form. I liked it the way it was, though.

Cholaca Chocolate Ice Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Cholaca original
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix everything together until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. If the mixture isn't super-cold (most of the ingredients should be cold, except that sugar, right?) place it in the refrigerator to get a little chillier.

Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instruction.

Transfer to a storage container and freeze until firm. There is likely to be a little bit that doesn't fit in your container. I suggest you eat that right away. Quality control is very important, you know.

Thanks to Sprouts for sponsoring the event, supplying additional non-Cholaca goodies, and of course thanks to Cholaca for hosting and supplying their products. 

Yum

Chocolate Sables

Let's get this part over first. According to baking nerds on television, "sables" is not pronounced like the furry animals. It's pronounced something like "sah - blays" and probably with a slightly jaunty French accent.

Which makes sense, since this recipe comes from the book French Desserts by Hillary Davis.

This post is part of a group post organized by the newly revised Virtual Potluck and sponsored by Anolon, WÜSTHOF, Paula Deen, Microplane, Gibbs-Smith, and Nielsen-Massey, who provided products to the participating bloggers as well as items for our giveaway.

Yes, I mentioned a giveaway. It's at the bottom of this post, and there's lots of awesome stuff you could win.

If you aren't familiar with Hillary Davis, you can read about her book Cuisine Nicoise on my blot here where I made a recipe for broccoli, and her book Le French Oven where I made some yummy soup here.

But let's talk about sables. If you haven't figured it out yet, they cookies. Yup, chocolate cookies. They're lovely and crisp and not too sweet, but then they're sprinkled with sparkly sugar on top, so if you want them sweeter, you can certainly add more sugar.

I thought it was interesting that these were brushed with an eggwhite wash before sprinkling with sugar. I don't think I've ever done that with cookies. I've eggwashed bread, and it made it shiny, but it was a new idea for cookies.

I love new ideas.

This recipe called for Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, but I didn't happen to have that. I did have three other kinds of cocoa, though, so I used black cocoa. I'm sure these will work just fine with whatever you have. I mean, there's just no way these could be bad.

The cookies were lovely with some eggnog for dessert. Microplane gave us each a cup grater and a spice grater to use in our recipes ... I used them to garnish my eggnog - a whisper of nutmeg and then a little bit of grated chocolate. Because, well ... why not?

The cup grater is particularly interesting. You can set it right on a cup or mugif you want to, but it's really nice for holding it above the mug - which you'd need to if that mug was full. The funnel shape means you can do your grating and get the ingredients right into the mug instead of spilling onto the rim or onto the counter.

ALSO, this would be really great for grating chocolate on top of cupcakes, right?

That little spice grater is ideal for nutmeg. I just love it!

Chocolate Sables

Adapted from French Desserts by Hillary Davis

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa (the recipe called for Hershey's Special Dark, but I didn't have that, so I used black cocoa)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used Nielsen-Massey)

1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Crystallized or turbinado sugar

Sift the flour and cocoa together in a mixing bowl, then add the salt and which together.

Okay, in all honesty, I just piled the flour and cocoa into a bowl and whisked. I didn't sift at all. There were a few tiny lumps in my cocoa, but they broke up easily. If your cocoa is particularly lumpy, you might want to go ahead and sift.

Oh, and I used one of my spiffy new Paula Deen mixing bowls. I love the stripes!

Beat the butter, confectioner's sugar, and granulated sugar with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, scraping down the bowl several times. 

Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

Pour in the flour mixture and mix just until well combined.

Scoop the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, form into a ball, and place another sheet of plastic wrap on top. Use the palms of your hands to flatten it, then use a rolling pin to flatten it to about 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Of course I used my new Anolon cookie sheet. It has a nice silicone grip so it's not as hot to hang onto, but of course I used a mitt when I took it out of the oven.

Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut out round cookies. Since the instructions didn't mention a size, I used a sort of small cutter, because I don't like giant cookies. That way, I can have just one cookie if I'm not too hungry, but two cookies isn't too much, either.

Place the cookies on the baking sheet, brush with the eggwash, and sprinkle with the sugar. Just for the fun of it, I made one batch with the eggwash and one without. The ones with the eggwash were shiny and had sort of a crackled appearance, and the ones without had a more matte finish. They tasted the same, so the difference was mostly appearance.

Bake for 13-15 minutes. The instructions say to bake until crisp, but the were soft while hot and got crisp after cooling a bit. Just make sure they're done.

Let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, then move them to a rack to cool completely. Needless to say, I used the rack that came in the Anolon set.

I haven't used the cake pans yet or the loaf pan that came with the Anolon set yet, but I'm pretty excited about them. The surface is really slippy, so I shouldn't have any trouble with cakes sticking. I used the parchment paper on the baking sheet that this recipe called for, but I think the cookies would have been fine without them.

Besides the fun products I used in making the cookies, I got a few items that didn't quite fit this recipe. The cake knife from WÜSTHOF looks like just the right thing to slice through cake, and the triangular shape will be perfect for lifting slices of cake for serving.

And then I received both lemon and almond extract from Nielsen-Massey. 

I considered using the almond extract in the cookie recipe because almond goes well with chocolate, but then I decided to stick with the vanilla called for. I'm kind of a fiend for vanilla - I buy it in 32-ounce bottles. Yeah, I'm crazy. But that's how much I use.

Want more recipes? 

Go visit the other bloggers participating in this potluck:

• Theresa from Foodhunter's Guide made Plenty of Pears Salted Caramel Loaf Cake
• Milisa from Miss in the Kitchen made Mini Raspberry Croissants 
• Debra Clark from Bowl Me Over made  Fabulous Butter Cake
• Miranda Payne Couse  from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt made Laughing Cow Sugar Cookies

GIVEAWAY

One giveaway winner will receive a copy of French Desserts by Hillary Davis, an Anolon Advanced Bronze 5-piece baking set, a Paula Deen 3-piece mixing bowl set, a WÜSTHOF GOURMET 6-inch Cake Knife, a Microplane Premium Classic Spice Grater and Spice Cup Grater, and Nielsen-Massey almond and lemon extracts.

A second winner will receive a copy of French Desserts by Hillary Davis.

The giveaway is open to residents of the US.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to all of our sponsors for providing products to the participating and for the items for the giveaway! For more information about our sponsors, you can follow them on social media:

Anolon and other Meyer products are sold through PotsandPans.com. Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Anolon is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Microplane is on Facebook and Twitter.
WÜSTHOF is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Gibbs-Smith is the publisher of the cookbook. They are on Facebook and Twitter.
Hillary Davis is on Facebook and Twitter.
Nielsen-Massey is on Facebook and Twitter.

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