Sunday Randomness #264 : Store display of chocolate chips Sept. 2022

Guittard chips-how I love you!  But there's something about this display that bothers the OCD part of my nature...  More about Guittard at: https://www.guittard.com/   

Pink Cherry cloud-like cookies with small dark chocolate kisses

  Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies (adapted from Plattertalk.com, Thanks!)

1 cup butter, softened ( I usually cut down the butter but used the full amount for this recipe)
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
 2 TBSP maraschino cherry juice
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 drops red food coloring (optional but I put it in to get the light pink color)
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
scant 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 to 3/4 cup coarsely chopped maraschino cherries
1 12 oz bag of large semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream butter, powdered sugar, and salt.  Blend in cherry juice, extracts, and food coloring.  Stir in baking soda and flour.  Then gently add chopped cherries.  Shape into 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet- 1 inch apart. The dough should hold together.  Add a splash of milk if needed.  It shouldn't be crumbly but it also shouldn't be sticky.   It was a bit like soft play-doh.  The video on plattertalk was very useful to see the consistency.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are just light brown (you'll have to use a spatula to carefully check the bottom of a few cookies-I recommend baking a small first batch and then more as you work out the timing)  Immediately press 2 or 3 chips onto the top of each cookie.  Let sit on baking sheet for 2-5 minutes then move to cooling rack.

A cake in cookie form: German Chocolate Cake as Cookies

Recipe adapted from Sunny's German Chocolate Cake Cookies from Food Network. 

German Chocolate Cake Cookies  (with some adaptations for high-altitude)

1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup butter flavored shortening (not pictured)
3/4 cup white sugar (granulated)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
 pinch salt ( I omitted the salt since the butter was salted) (not pictured)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars. Blend in vanilla and eggs. In a separate container sift together flour, cocoa, soda, and salt (if using).  Blend flour mixture into creamed mixture just until mixed.  Stir in chips, coconut and pecans.  It should be a thick, slightly sticky dough. I formed golf-ball-sized chunks and put 12 per large cookie sheet because they spread as they bake.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes.  I needed the 10 minutes and cooked them until the tops were dry but they still looked underdone.  Let cool for several minutes on the cookie sheet or they'll fall apart when you try to put them on a cooling rack.  These were gooey and rich right out of the oven and soft and chewy a couple of days later but I don't think they'd store well or mail well because they were somewhat crumbly.  The flavor is incredible. 

Author #117: Melissa Stewart substantiates the symbiosis in forests with cocoa trees

Intricately paced from chocolate to cocoa pods to leaves and roots, No Monkeys, No Chocolate traces the path to an abundant harvest of cocoa beans as we meet the many different characters who each play a integral part in helping a cocoa tree to be the most productive it can be.  By contrast, on typical cocoa farms, the conditions result in "fewer than five percent of all cocoa flowers (producing) pods" as opposed to the more natural cocoa tree forest approach as presented in the book where the cocoa trees give a much higher yield of cocoa beans.

Matt Ford wrote an article for CNN titled:  "Chocolate's bitter sweet relationship with the rainforest" that discusses the plight of rainforest grown cocoa beans vs those grown on cleared land as mono-cultures.  Help support some local producers of bean to bar or brew chocolate:

• http://www.criobru.com/
• http://www.amanochocolate.com/
• http://www.mezzochocolate.com/ 
• http://www.eatchocolateconspiracy.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/SolsticeChocolate
• http://millcreekcacao.com/
• and Ruth Kendrick's gourmet chocolate site: http://chocolot.com/

Sunday Randomness #29 BYU Fudge

Pralines and Cream Fudge-caramel, pecans and white fudge

Italian Cream Fudge-swirls of milk chocolate fudge with a browned sugar type fudge

German Chocolate Fudge-milk chocolate fudge with a coconut topping

pecans, caramel, white fudge and dark chocolate fudge

same as fudge above-don't remember the name-it was the fudge of the day

Milk chocolate fudge with walnuts

side view of walnut/milk chocolate fudge

Available in these flavors and more at the BYU bookstore in Provo, UT.    ( We bought the fudge for our own delicious consumption and were not paid, compensated or otherwise given any incentive to write the post other than our opinion that the BYU bookstore has great fudge.)

Recent adventures with cake

Chocolate cake from cake mix with homemade marshmallow frosting and red and blue sugar crystals for the Fourth of July. Made through a collaborative effort from multiple family members. (Mom cake, Jessica frosting, Sarah decorating sprinkles.)


Jessica made a pound cake base and then buttercream frosting and marshmallow fondant for the sun and ribbon cakes. She colored the fondant a light green with color assistance from Sarah. She then proceeded to frost and decorate the cakes and took the sun cake to a young womans activity. Find the marshmallow fondant recipe (yum-edible fondant!) at: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm
I think Peggy Weaver was one of the first to post this recipe with instructions. Reasoning?, because now one finds many copycats. But go back about four or five years ago and it was hard to find a homemade cake fondant recipe. Most sites recommended buying a certain commercial brand which really lacked in both the taste and workability categories.

After some searching I was pleased to again find Peggy's recipe which is easy to use and actually tastes edible. Now Jessica is learning about cake decorating with fondant, along with hundreds if not thousands of others, through the magic of sharing knowledge via the internet. Thank you Peggy!

And here's Eva's entry: She picked out the chocolate sheet cake from the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook the first night we had the book. The very next day she helped make the cake and frosting. I was surprised at how much she knew about cooking. She even washed most of the dishes afterward!


All three styles and kinds of cake were delicious in their own right and fun to make and decorate!

Author 30: Roald Dahl

Two of our favorite books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Maybe insects and spiders are easier to understand when they're big and talking and they're eating peach instead of other foods that would be unappetizing to humans. Even chocolate production and consumption (with other candies by association) should be treated with respect and moderation. Mr.Dahl had definitive views on workers rights and just compensation, extending those views to non-traditional employees.


Among the books by Mr.Dahl that have received movie treatment are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr.Fox, Matilda, and The Witches to just name a few. Official site at: www.roalddahl.com

May The Chocolate Not Be With You......

Yes, it was time once again for book group at my house. I did not make any treats with real chocolate. Instead I chose confections with autumn colors. Starting at the top left of the picture and going clockwise:

• the orange and white creamsicle fudge,
  
• a bowl of Merckens Marquis chocolate buttons (as a concession to the chocoholics)
  
• a pan with fudgy caramels and a few cut caramels in front of the pan
  
• the red paper plate with pineapple jellies
  
• next is a sample of the green take home treat bag with a piece of each homemade candy
• peanut brittle in the rectangle container (on top of blue lid)
• square glass dish with the few remaining pieces of penouche (which I think was the favorite)
• and finally a bowl of Brach's Autumn Mix of candy corn, Indian corn, and mellowcreme pumpkins.

So I actually showed some restraint in only make five different kinds of candies but I enjoyed making them and I think people enjoyed eating them. Oh, the book we discussed was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. For next month we will be reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.