san francisco

the view from alcatraz. the morning fog that covers not only the city, but the redwood forests that continue from washington down the coast. the magazine, gift, & floral selection at birch in hayes valley. the new orleans iced coffee from blue bottle.
those hills--dang. finally getting to explore the mission-- an iced latte from four barrel coffee. a new food journal from pot + pantry. the bizarre garden and taxidermy emporium that is paxton gate. paper goodies from voyager, located next to four barrel. finally getting to my cookbook favorite, tartine, for the best pan au chocolat ever. period. anything and everything from the slanted door, but especially the imperial rolls, the papaya salad, the caramelized tiger prawns. my favorite bakery for cookies and little sweets, miette, located in the the ferry terminal building and its packed farmers' market on saturdays. the summer collection from heath ceramics--bright coral and tan.




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Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Living in Seattle, coffee is everywhere. I take it for granted that there is a coffee shop on every third block. I'm often surprised when I visit other cities and all that's there is a starbucks. In my neighborhood, I counted, there are about 13 coffee shops, in a 6 block radius. when i visited new york city this last spring, i went on a jog for blocks and blocks trying to find a coffee shop, and ending up running for quite a while. I was shocked: no decent coffee on every other block? What is this world coming to? I eventually found a coffee, so all was well in the end.




But it's fair to say that there is quite a coffee culture here, and I've definitely been sucked into it. I started drinking coffee was I was 11, which wasn't unusual in my class at all. My addiction has only grown stronger since then, until the point that I tried a sludge cup: drip coffee with shots in it. Any self-respecting-Seattlite-coffee-addict drinks drip coffee strong. Very strong. However, I overestimated my caffeine tolerance and tried a triple-shot sludge cup before an exam. Let's just say I was a little jittery and didn't get much sleep that night, even though I had the drink at 8:00 AM.



I've recently been coffee-sober for 2 weeks, which is a new record, as I often can't go a day without it.

Mocha Cupcakes

4.25 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter; softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coffee extract (only if you have it, not crucial if you don't)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350F.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until melted. Remove from water and let cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. On low speed, add the melted chocolate until incorporated. On medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture has changed to a slightly lighter color. Mix in the yogurt until completely blended. Dissolve espresso powder into water and pour into batter. Mix on low speed just until smooth. Line a muffin tin with paper cups and spray the whole pan with vegetable oil [to prevent sticking]. Fill each cup almost to the top. Bake regular sized cupcakes for aprox. 14 minutes, minis for 10 (depending on your oven.)

Peppermint Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Couple drops peppermint oil (to taste)
couple drops spearmint oil (to taste)
Sprinkles

In a stand mixer, beat softened butter and powdered sugar, then salt, and mix thoroughly. Add in lemon oil and mix. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle!

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Espresso Chocolate Cheesecake

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts. The last couple of weeks have been pretty tough at school. There isn't a lot of time for baking when there's homework to do, friends to see, going to the gym, etc. But now I'm on winter break, so there should be more time for holiday baking. We just got together our holiday cookie bags, so hopefully I can get a couple shots of those up soon.




We had a holiday party at my house for my mom's work group; I was asked to do a chocolate dessert. I hadn't made a cheesecake in a while, and I wanted to do something creamy. I've always thought coffee or espresso flavored cheesecakes were just the best. I'm definitely a fan of the plain with graham cracker crust, but it's not terribly exciting. I haven't made anything chocolaty in a while, so this was the perfect chance. Also, I don't have a ton of occasions where I get to make one big dessert for a lot of people, which was exciting.



I also got to use one of my favorite techniques: chocolate transfers. I think this technique adds a lot to the dessert's visual tastiness, without over-decorating it or making it look cheesy, in the style of grocery store cakes.

I hope everyone is baking and having a happy holidays!

Chocolate Cookie Crust

9 oz chocolate shortbread-type cookie
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients in a food processor until a coarse meal. Using fingers or a spoon, press into an even layer on the bottom of a 10" spring form pan, and however high up the sides you wish. Refrigerate while making the filling.

Filling

4- 8oz packages of cream cheese (organic, if you like), room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Kahlua
2 tablespoons light molasses
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a stand mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and soft. Add sugar until thoroughly combined. Beat in eggs one at a time, then the flour.

In a small bowl, mix together the vanilla extract, Kahlua, molasses, and instant espresso powder until everything is dissolved.

Pour into the chilled crust, and smooth out using a spatula.

Bake for around 40 minutes, but watch carefully after about 30 minutes. There should be cracks on the surface, and wiggle a little in the center when it is done.

Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes before removing from the pan, running a knife around the edges first. It will have sunk down a fair amount. Let cool for 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream
4 oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat cream until steam rises off it. Pour over chocolate and let sit without stirring for 2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is melted.

Assembly

Place cooled cheesecake back in its pan, and line the pan sides with acetate. Snap the pan closed. Pour ganache on top, and let drizzle down the sides if there is space between the cheesecake and the acetate.

Place in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Bars

The Seattle weather is finally back. It's overcast and cold. My favorite. This last Friday was the last day of my 5 week art program. I'm said to say goodbye to some of the amazing people I met, and it was overall a great experience. My class' work will be up at the Seattle Art Museum starting in September or October, so you should take a look. There are some really talented young artists in the class. I will get a more specific date soon. Now that I have more time, I will try and make up for the dwindling number of posts that went up this last month. I figured a good place to start would ice cream sandwiches. I wanted to do something less like a sandwich, so I did a layer of brownie on the bottom, coffee ice cream layered on top of that, and covered in a dark chocolate shell. I've made something similar to this in the past, but I changed one big thing: the coffee flavor. So often in coffee ice cream, I feel like I'm only getting a little taste of coffee, with some cream. I wanted this ice cream to scream, "This is coffee ice cream!". I think I got a nice flavor in the end, and these are a great summer treat. The days are getting colder, so make them while you can.

Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter
5 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate; chopped
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a square cake pan with walls, flour the sides. Line with parchment, leaving a 2" overhang on the long side of the pan. Grease and flour the parchment. Spray sheet-pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment, spray parchment. Melt butter and chocolate in a double broiler. When melted, set aside and let cool to room temp. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and sugar until mixture is thick and lemon-colored. Next, add the vanilla. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Sift flour and fold gently into batter, mixing just till blended. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for about 12 minutes, depending on your oven. Allow brownies to cool in pan for 20 minutes before taking out of pan.


Coffee Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons coffee extract
2 cups heavy cream

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until steam begins to rise from the surface.

In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt until blended. Gradually add 1/2 the hot milk, whisking constantly until fully incorporated. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it, do not allow the custard to boil.

Whisk the instant espresso powder into the cream until dissolved. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set into cream and stir in the vanilla and the coffee extract. Refrigerate until cold [at least 2 hours]

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.



Chocolate Coating
6.5 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between until melted. Stir in vegetable oil thoroughly. Let cool

Assembly

Once the brownies are cool, use a knife to loosen the edges from the pan, and remove from cake pan. Place back inside cake pan. Once ice cream has gone through the ice cream maker, spread evenly on top of brownies in cake pan. Freeze overnight.

When the ice cream has hardened, make the chocolate coating. Take the cake pan out of the freezer and remove brownie/ice cream onto a cutting board. Cut into even squares, then return to freezer for 15 minutes. Prepare a pan lined with parchment and a cooling rack resting on top. Place ice cream bars on the cooling rack and ladle chocolate coating on top of bars. Top with crushed almonds if desired.
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