Sponge Candy

This light and airy candy is one of my personal favorites. I grew up eating the Cadbury Crunchie (made in Britain) and the Nestle Violet Crumble (made in Australia.) Sometimes called "Honeycomb" or "Seafoam," this candy is a slighly caramelized sugar mixture lightened into a foam by the incorporation of baking soda. The taste has a distinct flavor of caramel and honey and the texture is crispy and delicate and melts in your mouth like cotton candy. I can't tell you how many different recipes I have tried and failed. With one version, I actually shattered the 9x13 pan after the candy had hardened. The recipe below is a combination of several recipes and a much needed online tutorial. It will yield you approximately 4 dozen pieces. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. Definitely make sure the gelatin and baking soda are fully mixed in or you'll have some pieces that taste more like baking soda than candy.
2. Once you've poured the sponge candy into the pan, be very careful not to disturb it as too much motion will cause it to collapse.
3. If you live in a humid climate, protect the candy while cooling by covering the top of the pan to make it airtight.
4. Covering the pieces in chocolate does more than just add a great layer of taste. It also protects the candy from humidity, thus preserving the airy texture.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 tsp Gelatin, unflavored
1 Tbs cold water
3 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
2 Tbs baking soda, sifted
3 cups dark chocolate, melted and tempered for dipping

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix the gelatin into the cold water in a small bowl or cup, then set aside.















2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a 2.5 quart saucepan.





























3. Bring to a boil, insert thermometer and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 310 F.















4. Remove from the heat and allow to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
5. Whisk the gelatin into the hot sugar, ensuring that it is incorporated completely.















6. Whisk the baking soda into the mixture, stirring vigorously to thoroughly incorporate.















7. Return the batch to the heat for 30 seconds, continuously whisking.















8. Pour immediately into a 9 inch springform pan.















9. Leave undisturbed to cool at room temperature at least 2 hours or overnight.
10. Remove the springform pan and using a sharp chef's knife or by hand, break into desired size pieces.





























11. Dip into chocolate as desired.

Chocolate Ricotta Pudding with Strawberry Coulis

This Giada DeLaurentiis inspired recipe is a classic Italian dessert combining the wonderful flavors of ricotta, chocolate, orange, almond and cinnamon in a smooth, creamy pudding, topped by a very easy to make strawberry sauce. I loved the presentation on this one as you can get very creative with the sauce as well as using a fresh strawberry for garnish. The recipe below yields 6 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. You will really want to make sure your ricotta mixture is blended thoroughly or your final product will be grainy in texture.
2. This can be made a few days in advance and kept refrigerated making it perfect for a dinner party dessert.

INGREDIENTS
Sauce
2 cups fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Pudding
Butter, for greasing cups
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 pounds fresh whole milk ricotta cheese, dried
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS
Sauce
1. Blend the strawberries and sugar in a food processor until smooth.

















2. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Cover and refrigerate.


















Pudding
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Lightly butter 6 (6-ounce) custard cups then arrange the cups in a large roasting pan.
3. Melt the chocolate over very low heat, then set aside.

















4. Blend the ricotta, 1/4 cup of sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, almond extract, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until very smooth.

















5. Blend in the melted chocolate.

















6. Transfer the ricotta mixture to a large bowl.

















7. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites in another large bowl with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
8. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Continue beating until semi-firm peaks form.
































9. Fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.

















10. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cups.

















11. Fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the custard cups.

















12. Bake until the pudding puffs slightly but the centers are still creamy, about 25 minutes.
13. Allow puddings to cool slightly before removing from water bath.

















14. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

Assembly
1. Run a knife around the sides of the puddings to loosen. Invert the puddings onto plates.

















2. Drizzle the strawberry sauce around the puddings and serve.

Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies

These cookies have become our family favorites, especially during the holidays. The combination of the silver dragées, the sweet Meyer lemon frosting and the very slight hint of ricotta is craveable. They're pretty easy to make and even more fun to eat, especially if you make the mini's (my favorite). The recipe below yields 4 dozen regular or 7-8 dozen mini's. Enjoy!

HELPS
1. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too wet. The best dough is still slightly wet but not so wet that it sticks to your finger when forming the cookies.
2. Dragées may be hard to find. These are those small edible silver balls that you used to be able to buy from any supermarket. Because they contain trace amounts of metal, I think many stores have stopped selling them, however most specialty cooking stores still sell them.
3. If you don't have Meyer lemons, it's ok to use the more commo Eureka lemons, found in most supermarkets. However, if you can find Meyer lemons, these are preferred as they are more aromatic and sweeter. For a very informative blogpost about Meyer lemons, click here.

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
15 oz whole-milk Ricotta cheese
½ teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoons freshly grated Meyer lemon zest
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3-4 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
Silver Dragées

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment papers
2. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl; cream together until light and fluffy





















3. Add eggs, Ricotta, lemon extract, zest and juice; blend well





















4. Add 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt; blend to combine

















5. Add remaining flour in two parts, blending to combine between each, until a dough forms

















6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart (rounded teaspoon for mini’s) on baking sheets
































7. Bake until cookie edges are very light golden, about 12-15 minutes (10 for mini’s)
8. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to wire cooling rack

















9. While cookies cool, prepare glaze by creaming together butter and sugar





















10. Continue to mix, gradually adding juice until desired consistency

















11. Decorate cooled cookies, adding dragées before icing sets

Gourmet Cake Bites

For my recent birthday, my daughter gave me the book, "101 Gourmet Cake Bites" by Wendy Paul. Never having heard of a cake bite, I tried two of the recipes for her birthday. I'm wondering now if that's why she gave me the book! Cake bites, for those of you like me who had never tried them before, are simply a rounded ball of cake-like texture mixed with various flavorings, covered in melted chocolate. These did not disappoint and reminded me very much of the Hostess Ding Dongs I used to eat as a kid, minus the cream filling. The recipe below comes from this book and is the "Cookies and Cream" version. I made them small enough to yield 4 dozen. You may want to make more as they go very quickly! Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS

1. The chocolate buttercream recipe shown below makes twice as much as you need. Use the extra for your next batch or top an actual cake with it. Or, eat it right out of the bowl like I did.

2. I have found that buying already tempered chocolate is well worth the price. Buying non-tempered chocolate and trying to temper it yourself takes skill and time that sometimes you just don't have. Basically, tempered chocolate hardens quickly with a nice smooth sheen. Non tempered chocolate won't harden without help from a refrigerator and often leaves a dull sheen which is not as appetizing, plus it will melt at room temperature again whereas tempered chocolate will not.

INGREDIENTS

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbs butter, room temperature

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/3 cup cocoa, sifted

3 Tbs heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Tempered chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, milk and vanilla. Batter will be thick.

2. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

3. Bake at 350 F for 25-28 minutes or until cake springs back lightly when touched.

4. Remove from oven and cool completely.

5. While cooling, beat butter in a large mixing bowl for about 30 seconds.

6. Add sugar, cocoa, cream and vanilla.

7. Slowly beat together, increasing in speed until frosting is creamy. Add more cream if needed.

8. Set this chocolate buttercream mixture aside

9. Crumble cake into small, even pieces, placing crumbs in a large bowl.

10. Add 1 1/2 cups of buttercream and cookies.

11. Using the back of a spoon, mix ingredients together until a thick dough consistency forms.

12. Shape into evenly sized cake bites and cool 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.

13. Melt tempered chocolate on very low heat until smooth

14. Carefully dip cake bites into mixture, coating evenly and then topping with extra cookie crumbs.