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I’ve only been cooking for a relatively short time, but I’m learning quickly that I love making sweet things. Baked things, chocolate covered things, melty things rolled in crunchy things.
Last weekend, I awoke with a craving for something new, something I hadn’t tried before. And my favorite foodie blog totally delivered… Coconut Milk Brigadeiros!
The name’s great, but what on earth is a brigadeiro, you ask? It’s a little, Brazilian, melty, coconut milk confection rolled in yummy things like toasted coconut, crushed nuts, & my dear friend, chocolate. They’re wildly simple to make and even more wildly delicious. Seriously…
Start out with a 1/2 cup of coconut milk – and not that watery Taste of Thai business if you have a choice.
I love s’mores. Who doesn’t, really? But I do not like camping, so the opportunities to indulge in said chocolatey, mashmallowy treats shrinks significantly. Until now that is! Through my digital stalking of a number of prominent food bloggers, I came across a recipe that is so inherently perfect, so attainable, I was ashamed that I hadn’t thought of it before… s’mores pie!
…
S’MORES PIE, FOR PETE’S SAKE!
Yes, I was mildly excited, so I decided to give it a shot as a welcome-to-SF treat for my little brother when he visited last month. I had the chocolate and the sugar and the candy thermometer. Everything was going well until I went renegade and made a crumbly almond meal crust and put it all into my tart pan. Oh, lord. My proportions were a little wrong, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. I steamed right ahead, working diligently until it came time for the marshmallows… I used the raw natural cane sugar I keep in the house, which, while delicious, will not yield pure white marshmallows – so I ended up with a beigey syrupy mess! And I neglected to consider one minor detail… I had no hand mixer and marshmallows are practically impossible to make by hand! I gave it a valiant effort, but ended up with a very weird situation. It was tasty enough, but I wasn’t satisfied so I vowed to give it a second go!
Flash forward a couple weeks to when my ego had mended, I had received a hand mixer as a wildly thoughtful gift from an old NYC friend, and my talented SF pal invited us over for a mini dinner party of slow-cooked brisket and greens. A-ha, I thought, what a perfect opportunity to try that damned s’mores pie again! And this time, I was going to do it right.
Started out with a handful of graham crackers…
After the Spiced Pecans and Spicy Popcorn, I figured I wanted to make something sweet and lovely. I was already preparing oranges for my magical tart, so what better way to be super economical than to use the leftover orange peels to make Orangettes!
This was my maiden candy-making experience and I encountered a few snags along the way, but it really was fun in the long run! Now I want to make candy out of everything!
Started out with a couple of giant Navel oranges and cut the tops and bottoms off each one…
Still working through L.A. piccies, but I just couldn’t wait to share process piccies of the chocolate cream pie I made last night!
I was feeling a little under the weather (travelling usually does that to me), so I spent much of the day laying around on the couch, watching movies. Of course, I ended up watching Julie & Julia again and was immediately entranced with the chocolate cream pie the awful Julie character made. So entranced, that I ran over to Safeway, bought a delicious 4 oz bar of Ghiradelli 100% cacao and set to making the following:
Let’s back up a bit… how did this glorious slice of chocolatey perfection come to be?
