Milk Chocolate Truffles: Ghirardelli LUXE Milk Chocolate Contest

Blogger ate the Ghirardelli LUXE Milk Chocolate contest comments, so I'm extending the contest until October 5. I found the comments, but still thought it best to extend the deadline. All you need to do is make a comment on today's blog or HERE to be entered.

Tell me why you are a Milk Chocolate Fan! Win a coupon for any One Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Bar or Bag. Just comment below on why you are a Milk Chocolate Fan. Winners will be chosen randomly. Contest closes at 5 p.m. October 5.   

Ghirardelli makes baking chocolate, but if you only have a bar or two, here's something easy to make at home.

MILK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Ingredients
1 pound Ghirardelli LUXE MILK chocolate, broken into pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sweet butter
1/2 cup Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder

Method
1. Melt milk chocolate, heavy cream and butter in the top of a double boiler or in a saucepan over another saucepan with simmering water on the bottom. As soon as the mixture is smooth, remove from heat and transfer into bowl or baking dish. Cover chocolate mixture with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
2. Spread cocoa powder on shallow plate.
3. Using melon baller, scoop chocolate and roll into balls between your hands. Then roll the ball of chocolate in the cocoa until well coated. Place truffles on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you finish making all the truffles. Allow truffles to set for about an hour.
4. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Truffles are best served at room temperature.

Lemon Mini Cupcakes: A Day Without Chocolate

The interesting thing about today’s post is not what it is about. It is what it is not about. There is no chocolate in this recipe. Have I lost my mind? Perhaps, but that’s not why today’s post features a lemon-based recipe without any chocolate. It’s because Friday’s post will work in the chocolate. Intrigued? Be sure to come back then. For today, check out the creamy lemon-scented mini cupcakes I whipped up based on inspiration from allrecipes.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ tablespoons grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking power

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups sour cream

The cupcake ingredient list is pretty standard, but I loved the little extras: the sour cream to make the cakes softer and lighter, and the lemon peel to incorporate a hint of lemon without acidifying the cupcakes.

I preheated the oven to 350° F, filled my mini-cupcake pan with liners, and got ready to make some delicious lemon-scented batter. I started out by mixing together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, and then set that aside to get to my favorite part: creaming the butter, adding the sugar, then adding the eggs one at a time and finally stirring the vanilla and lemon peel into this fluffy batter starter.

I resisted pulling up a chair and a spoon, and proceeded to alternate mixing the dry ingredients and sour cream, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. I filled the mini cupcake liners thre quarters of the way to the top, put the pan in the oven for 16 minutes, and was greeted with a pleasing lemon scent and some beautiful cupcakes.

Lemon and chocolate go together so well. On Friday, you’ll see how they go together in this case.

Vosges Bars: Peanut Butter Bonbon

In addition to the caramel toffee, the Vosges boutique’s generous samples also convinced me to purchase the peanut butter bonbon bar. I didn’t need much convincing, since peanut butter and chocolate go pretty well together, but the fact that the dish was sitting there drew my eyes to the display, and to the bar that is sadly not carried in DC stores, to the best of my knowledge.

The bar base is a rich milk chocolate, and the peanut butter is visibly well-blended in an interior layer, not like in a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup (yuck) where it all falls apart.

When you bite in, your teeth pass right through the chocolate and into that thin peanut butter layer, which is so smooth and well-integrated that I wonder if there is a little chocolate or cocoa butter mixed in to make it just a little smoother. If that is not the case, Vosges obviously happened upon the smoothest, richest, peanut butter known to mankind and used it in this bar.

The peanut flavor is enhanced by the two kinds of sea salt on the underside of the bar, which hits the tongue nicely. Though I don’t know enough about sea salt to distinguish between the two types, I do know that there is salt coming from sources other than the peanut butter interior. All of this comes together with exceptionally smooth milk chocolate that is creamy but not too sweet. Since the peanut butter layer is thin and the salt is well-distributed, the milk chocolate is the primary attraction here, which is fine by me. The result is a super-smooth, sweet and salty chocolate creation that I would buy again, and again, and again…if only Vosges had a shop in DC (y’all hear that back in Chicago?).

Ghirardelli LUXE MILK Chocolate Contest: Triple Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

Are you a MILK Chocolate fan? Here's your chance to win a coupon for any One Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Bar or Bag. Just comment below on why you are a Milk Chocolate Fan. Winners will be chosen randomly. Contest closes at 5 p.m. October 5.  You never know, there may be consolation prizes.

In 2009 Ghirardelli created a new line: Ghirardelli LUXE MILK to honor milk chocolate lovers looking for the ultimate chocolate experience. 100% ALL NATURAL ingredients. Ghirardelli controls the entire chocolate-making process, beginning with selecting the best cocoa beans, to its proprietary methods of roasting to intensify chocolate taste, refining for velvety smoothness, and conching extensively to bring out sophisticated, nuanced flavors.
The LUXE MILK Chocolate collection is available in four flavors in 3-ounce bars and as wrapped singles in a bag format. The bars are available in your local grocery store as well as popular retailers such as CVS, Rite Aid, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Borders, or online at www.ghirardelli.com. So enter the contest now!

LUXE MILK Almond – Toasted almonds complement and enhance the flavors of the creamy-sweet milk chocolate base.
LUXE MILK Hazelnut – Lavished throughout this bar, all-natural deep-roasted hazelnuts add crunch and a distinctive, sophisticated flavor.
LUXE MILK – This bar delivers the ultimate premium milk chocolate experience – pure, all-natural milk chocolate with a velvety texture that melts smoothly in your mouth.
LUXE MILK Toffee – This all natural, rich and creamy milk chocolate is perfectly matched with buttery, crunchy toffee bits.  (My favorite!)

Just comment on why you like Milk Chocolate in order to win a coupon good for A Ghirardelli Lux Milk Bar or Bag. Entries chosen randomly.

Want to bake something special with Ghirardelli MILK chocolate? You've got to try this Afternoon Ghirardelli Delight Cheesecake Recipe from Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship winner Judy Olson from Braham, MN at the 2010 Minnesota State Fair. This incredible cheesecake includes all kinds of great Ghirardelli chocolate.

Afternoon Ghirardelli Delight: Triple Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (about 22 cookies)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
4.5 oz Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate, melted
3.5 oz Ghirardelli intense dark evening dream chocolate, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup MILK chocolate crunchy toffee bits, divided
3/4 cup Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Garnish: additional whipping cream; Ghirardelli White Chocolate

Method:
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine cookie crumbs, melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Press onto bottom of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 4 minutes.
Combine cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl; beat until creamy.
Add melted chocolate, eggs and vanilla; beat until well mixed.
Stir in 3/4 cup toffee bits.
Spread cream cheese mixture over crust.
Continue baking for 50-55 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan 1 hour.
Remove from pan; place onto serving plate.
Meanwhile, place chocolate chips in small bowl.
Place whipping cream in small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat (2-3 minutes).
Pour over chocolate chips.
Let stand 5 minutes; stir until smooth.
Cool until mixture falls in ribbons off spoon (about 1 hour).
Spread over top of cheesecake; sprinkle outer rim of cheesecake with 1/4 cup toffee bits.
Cover; refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Garnish with additional whipping cream and drizzle with melted white Ghirardelli chocolate if desired.

Winners of the Ghirardelli LUXE Chocolate: Janet A, Pattie T, Elena Santangelo, and Gerry S

They'll be in the mail shortly.  This was a random selection process. Be sure and check out the next contest. Thanks for participating!

Vosges Bars: Habana

I won’t lie: one thing that drew me to the Vosges Habana bar was the deep purple packaging, which stood out from the white-based packaging used for many of their bars. I love purple, and I love chocolate, so this bar and I found each other in the Vosges boutique.

Packaging isn’t enough to get me to buy chocolate, but promises of Ecuadorian plantain chips and deep milk chocolate mixed together are. I first learned about plantains from a fellow hailing from Nicaragua who lived on the same hall as me in college, and he knew how to make delicious plantain-based creations. The memory of my friend and the purple had me hooked, so this bar came back to DC with me.

Inside the attractive purple packaging is a bar tightly wrapped in foil to keep the flavors pure. Nice touch that you get with all the Vosges bars.

Under that foil wrapper is a smooth-looking milk chocolate, but the plantain chips weren’t evident from visual inspection. I was left to eat it to affirm that plantain bits were, in fact, in there.

I assure you that they were. The experience of the bar, as a whole, was like eating super-silky milk chocolate at the same time as some terra chips. There was some crisp vegetable/fruit starch, some salt, and some creamy milk chocolate. The plantains featured prominently, and were brought out by the sea salt incorporated into the bar. The chocolate, while not overpowered by the plantains, was not front and center. It's a delicious treat that the Tenleytown whole foods has fortunately started carrying recently, and I'll certainly eat it again, but, like many Vosges bars, it's about the whole creation rather than highlighting the chocolate.

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies: National Homemade Cookies Day

October 1 is National Homemade Cookies Day. Every day should be homemade cookie day because there's nothing quite like cookies fresh from the oven! Today I thought would be a great day to make Chocolate Cookies. I've posted a few recipes for Chocolate Cookies over the years. Some of my favorites:  Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies, Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies, Chocolate Cookies in a Jar.

If you've tried those and liked them, you'll LOVE these. The recipe for these Outrageous Chocolate Cookies comes from Martha Stewart. And, they truly are outrageous. The dough isn't like most cookie doughs. It's much more brownie-like. Delicious. Lately I've been using Guittard Chocolate, but you can use whatever you have. Just make sure it's the BEST you have.

Hint: Don't overbake these cookies. They are definitely supposed to be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It's like eating a little bit of Heaven!

OUTRAGEOUS CHOCOLATE COOKIES

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons sweet butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure Madagascar vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

More Vosges Deliciousness: Caramel Toffee

One feature of the Vosges store I visited in Chicago was the quantity and variety of samples available for customers. I’d finalized selecting items for my (embarrassingly large) purchase, but a very inquisitive customer had the chocolate consultants occupied, so I kept myself entertained by snacking on the caramel toffee samples that were out. It was clear that I needed some of this in my life, so I picked up a ¼ pound box and added it to my purchase pile.

The caramel toffee is surrounded by milk chocolate, and covered in walnuts and pecans. You can see why this is appealing just by looking at a piece.

The milk chocolate you see on the outside is very soft, yet the walnuts and pecans covering it are still crunchy, and are obviously perfectly roasted. Inside, the toffee not only has a great salty-sweet flavor, but the texture is perfect. There’s a satisfying crunch, which all good toffee should have, but it’s thin, which prevents it from being so hard that I have to wonder if my dental work will survive the next bite.

(Yes kids, it’s true. If you like chocolate like I do, it’s entirely possible that you will wind up with four crowns and 11 fillings before you turn 30.)

The overall creation is one that pairs everything perfectly. Rich sweet chocolate with slightly salty caramel toffee such that neither dominates. A little crunch from the toffee and nuts contrasts the soft, creamy milk chocolate. Can somebody explain why I only got a quarter pound? I must get more.