Chocolate in Boston: JP Licks Ice Cream

Although the frozen yogurt may be what personally draws me to JP Licks, others are more impressed by their more decadent treats, like these ice cream cakes prominently displayed at the entrance.

Others are content with the ice cream itself. The friend who humored me at Teuscher and Hotel Chocolat was also with me for the JP Licks visit, and was uninterested in the frozen yogurt. She instead selected two ice cream flavors to sample: El Diablo and Mint Chocolate Lace.

The El Diablo, which she was kind enough to share with me, was chocolate based with cinnamon and cayenne pepper added in. She noted that the cayenne was more noticeable than the cinnamon, and stuck around far longer as part of the aftertaste. She shared some with me, and while I did detect a spicy cinnamon note, I agreed that the cayenne flavor stuck around longer. Both spices were complimentary to a creamy, well-balanced dark chocolate flavor. Clearly a winner all-around.

The Mint Chocolate Lace was a mint-based ice cream with ribbons of chocolate incorporated. In this ice cream, which my friend also generously let me sample, the mint base is far more prominent than the chocolate, and there is a strong mint aftertaste. The chocolate flavor is subtly delivered via small flecks of chocolate that crunch just a tad and then melt in your mouth. It was a nice, cool compliment to the fiery El Diablo flavor. Though the ice cream was richer than the frozen yogurt I got for myself, nostalgia will always lead me to select the frozen yogurt.

And then steal tastes of the ice cream from my friends. It works, OK?

Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

October 26 is National Pumpkin Day! I've posted many chocolate pumpkin recipes over the years. Try Chocolate Pumpkin Bark or Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake or Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Here's a simple  delicious recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies that I've adapted from a recipe from Libby's Pumpkin. My mother's name is Libby, so I always love using Libby Pumpkin in recipes. "Libby, Libby, Libby, on the Label, Label, Label" FYI: These brownies are more cakelike than a chewy brownie. With that in mind, enjoy!

Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon DARK unsweetened Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup broken dark chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)

Directions
1. PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. COMBINE pumpkin, sugar, egg, egg whites and oil in large mixer bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Add flour, baking powder, cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, salt and nutmeg.
3. Beat on low speed until batter is smooth. Stir in morsels. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
4. BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares.

Here's a link to another Pumpkin Brownie Recipe on The District Chocoholic that also uses Libby's Pumpkin, but these seemed to be even more chocolate-y.

Do you have a favorite Chocolate Pumpkin recipe? Leave a comment.

Chocolate in Boston: JP Licks Frozen Yogurt

One institution known to college students throughout Boston is JP Licks, which serves up delicious ice cream and frozen yogurt.

True story: For the first three years I lived there, I only ate the frozen yogurt and didn’t realize they also had hard-packed ice cream. My excuses are that first, the ice cream is hidden behind a tiled counter while the soft serve frozen yogurt dispensers were prominently on display, and that second, everybody I went with always got frozen yogurt. They always have eight flavors anyway, no need to stray. On this visit, I got some nutrasweet-sweetened fat free chocolate frozen yogurt.

Although I remember a smooth, fluffy frozen yogurt, this particular batch was just a tad icy. Fortunately, there was a strong chocolate flavor, with a note of creaminess to compliment it, that wasn’t overwhelmed by sweetness. At 15 calories an ounce, it’s still a wonderful treat that you can burn off on the walk to and from the store.

Halloween and Peanut Butter - Yay!!

I love peanut butter.  I love Halloween.  I was so excited when the Halloween candy starting hitting the shelves.  I kept going back to all my favorite candy haunts (heh, heh, heh - get it, haunts?) looking for the new, the exciting, the different.  And was so disappointed this year.

Sure there were the usual miniature candy bars, but that's the same every year.  We need new, exciting candy - simple pleasures to take our minds off foreclosure rates and unemployment figures.

At least Nestle made a Butterfinger pumpkin:

I like the design - a bit creepy and a bit friendly all at once.  Pretty impressive.

This guy is chocolate with Butterfinger pieces mixed in.  It's okay.  I prefer the mini Butterfingers taste.  Nestle's chocolate isn't as good as their Butterfinger filling.  I'd really like this if it were all Butterfinger filling.  I don't think it would hold together very well, but damn, it would be good!  And it would be orange.  Nestle candy makers - read my blog and make us a Butterfinger (no chocolate) pumpkin!  Crunchy!  Peanut buttery!  Yum!

This is new fall packing for the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins.  I'm still bitter they didn't make the mini ones this year.  But I still think these are the best peanut butter treats on the market.  They still have the old Halloween themed purple packaging from last year (you can see it in last year's post if you really care that much).  Maybe this is so they can keep the Reese's pumpkins on the shelf a little longer - making them a fall treat?  These could stay out through Thanksgiving.

I think we should be giving thanks for these all year long!

This is the only Russell Stover candy I bought this year.  I didn't see anything else new and I hate Russell Stover anyway.  I think they own Whitman's so the marshmallow candy corn was one of theirs too.  I did like it.  But I still hate Russell Stover.  Not as much as the Naked Cowboy, but close.

I was intrigued by this because the wrapper says it's solid peanut butter and it's flat as a pancake.  I wanted to see what it was:

Reese's next to Russell Stover:

My soul mate:

You have got to be kidding!  Why even bother with this? 

No creaminess, the peanut butter taste is too sugary and fake.  It's just a travesty.  Gross.  See why I hate Russell Stover?

I reviewed these last year, but they are so random and weird, I threw them in again this year:

Palmer's Creepy Peepers peanut butter filled eyeballs.  Made with the world's cheapest chocolate but at least they have decent peanut butter filling.  I like the peanut butter but that chocolate is just so waxy and bad.  But they are creepy (in a good Halloweeny way) and the packaging is a riot - "Eye love it, You'll Love it!"  "Another eye-catching idea from Palmer"  Campy!!  Love it!

These are another of my favorites - Hallowscream Caramel Balls from Harry and David:

Oh yes, babies - that is peanut butter wrapped around that caramel center.  These are the best EVAH!  Totally addictive, totally great.  Very peanut buttery and the mix of textures - crunchy candy coating, creamy peanut butter, chewy caramel - genius!!!!!  Get thee to a Harry and David and grab some of these - they are sooooo good!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I'm having fun!!!  I love Halloween and getting to see all the cute kiddies in their costumes!  And what better excuse for a middle aged woman to be stalking the candy aisle? 

Hope you're doing some fun things this week!  I'm gving my "Motivation by Chocolate" session for the hospital staff at Roanoke-Chowan  Hospital.  How much fun are we going to have?    Join in the fun - take some candy to work, wear a costume, or visit a corn maze or haunted house.  Life is short - celebrate!

Vampire's Elixir from Skyy Vodka

Halloween is fast approaching, and here's a great and easy Vampire Drink that includes white chocolate liqueur!

"I vant to drink your blood!"


Vampire’s Elixir From Skyy 

Ingredients
Strawberry Syrup
1.5 oz. SKYY Infusions Raspberry
.75 oz. White Chocolate Liqueur
1 oz. Half and Half

Directions
1. Dress strawberry syrup on the inside and rim of a chilled martini glass.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into martini glass. Garnish with vampire teeth.

Photo: Yum Sugar 

Chocolate in Boston: Flour Bakery and Cafe

One new addition to Cambridge since I last visited is a branch of Flour Bakery and Café, which boasts a full lunch menu in addition to baked goods.

This branch is a mere block away from the lab I worked in as an undergrad, and I remain ambiguous about whether or not it would have been good for it to have been there. Pros: Great lunch available nearby, and tasty baked goods of all varieties available all day.

Cons: My wallet and waistline would probably have suffered. In order to determine if the tastiness would have been worth this impact on my finances and figure, I picked up a couple of cookies.

The box is simple and functional. No fluff. Inside, though, was a cookie that was just a bit fluffy: the Valrhona Double Chocolate Chip Cookie.

This cookie was not a dense cookie; rather, it was soft and airy with a little crunch at the edges. The walnuts within the cookie were ground to the perfect size such that there was a bit of crunch scattered throughout the cookie without any large chunks overwhelming the chocolate. Each bite had a bit of walnut in it, and also had some dark chocolate chunks, which were soft and will melt in your mouth (or on your fingers) immediately. Between the chocolate dough and the chocolate chunks, the chocolate flavor came through strongly, and the use of high-quality Valrhona dark chocolate was evident. Since the owner, Joanne Chang, has a cookbook out now, I may have to check it out to see if this recipe is included. I need to recreate these, or at least try to do so.

I also picked up a Valrhona Chocolate Chip Cookie for my friend Matt, who gave me a place to stay for the weekend.

He said it was delicious and appreciated the quality of the chocolate. Since he enjoyed it so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to sample a bite myself, but I trust that it was quite good. If just for these two cookies alone, regular visits to Flour would have been in order back in my days in Cambridge. It might become a regular destination on my Boston trips.

Halloween Chocolate Candy

Some of my favorite Chocolate Candy for Halloween and do it yourself Spooky Boo Candy Pops

Moonstruck Chocolate Company. Give a Hoot!  Fabulous Owl Truffles.  In addition, they have bats (including a fabulous Blood Orange Bat), pumpkins (pumpkin truffles), creepy cat truffles, and a Halloween Truffle Collection that includes a bat, spider, pumpkin, monster head and eyeball.

Recchiuti

Halloween Motif Box, 8 pieces; 4 ounces
A spooky cast of characters is back for Halloween 2010! Four different hand-illustrated images on their signature Burnt Caramel truffles. Available October 8th through 31st only. Try them before they vanish.


Compartes Chocolatier Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles. Dark chocolate truffles infused with their  sinful blend of Mexican hot chocolate spices - including cayenne and cinnamon. Adorned with Mexican "day of the dead" skulls

Choclatique.  Boo Box Halloween Chocolate Truffles. Eyes.  Choclatique blends a dose of yummy ectoplasm with a heaping helping of premium chocolate in our new Boo Box. The Ghosts' Eyes Tell Their Flavors: Chill-Worthy Cherry, Abominable Apple, Strawberry Blob, Bernie's Bones, Gruesome Grape, Boo Berry, Slimy Lime, and Chocolaty Goo.

 
Godiva. Chocolate Skulls Lollipops, Milk Chocolate Bat Lollipop and Ghosts





Want to make your own?  Try these molds and the following recipe from Wilton. You can buy these molds online or at your favorite crafts store or culinary store.



Help yourself to the ghost or bat candy pop of your choice.  Delicious candy in dark cocoa, light cocoa and orange make these inviting pops come to life. Set them on you dessert table for everyone to enjoy and serve themselves.

Wilton Spooky Boo Candy Pops 

Tools:
Spooky Ghost Lollipop Candy Mold (Wilton Spooky Boo Candy Pops) or any Halloween Themed Lollipop Candy Mold
Bats and Spiders Candy Mold
8 in. Lollipop Sticks
Decorator Brush Set
Parchment Triangles
Disposable Decorating Bags
Lollipop and Treat Stand

Ingredients:

Orange Candy Melts®
Dark Cocoa Candy Melts®
Light Cocoa Candy Melts®
White Candy Melts®
Primary Candy Colors Set
Garden Candy Color Set

Instructions
1. Melt Candy Melts according to package directions; add candy color if desired.
2. Fill ghost and bat candy molds with melted candy; tap mold to remove any air bubbles.
3. If using the ghost lollipop mold, position sticks in mold; rotate sticks to thoroughly cover with candy so they remain securely in place.
4. Refrigerate until firm. Carefully pop out candies. Attach lollipop sticks to bat candies with additional melted candy.
5. With brush, parchment bag or decorator bag filled with melted candy, add eyes and other facial features to candies.
6. Position lollipops in stand if desired.

What are some of your favorites?