Mint Meltaways and Mint Crunchies

I'm going to Tahoe this weekend with a bunch of friends and I'm always encouraged to bring desserts places. These are two of the chocolates that I'm bringing. I also have plans for an apple crisp and a chocolate cake.

Mint Meltaways (recipe from Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner)
37 oz chocolate, melted
11 oz coconut fat, melted
10 drops peppermint oil

Combine chocolate, coconut fat, peppermint oil. When I do it, I like everything to be at 90F, but I still get swirls of untempered chocolate sometimes. I use this temp gun and I melt everything in the microwave at 10-30 second intervals. Recipe calls for a 12"x12" frame, but I used two 9"x9" cake pans lined with parchment. Pour into the pan after everything's mixed and then wait for it to set. Usually overnight. After that, cut it into squares and dredge in powdered sugar. I tend to have problems cutting it without it cracking, especially when it's cold. I've found that scoring it multiple times with a smaller, sharp, thin knife yields better results.

See what I mean about the swirls?

Dredging in powdered sugar

Finished product as recipe describes

But, for those of you who know me, you know I can't do it all by the book all the time. I also dipped some in a mixture of tempered milk / dark chocolate. I use Guittard 64% dark and 38% milk couverture. Hmm, guess they don't sell the 64% online. I get it from a distributer (pacgourmet.com) since I still have a business license (if you know me you also know I tried to make a go at a silly little chocolate business called tomatette).

Mint Crunchies

This is a simple little thing that I started doing with leftover melted chocolate. After I was done melting chocolate to dip the meltaways above, I put a little peppermint oil in the dipping chocolate and threw in some rice krispies - the kind from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods that aren't mostly high fructose corn syrup. Then I spooned out little blobs.

I think these are one of my boyfriend's favorites.

Apple crisp and chocolate cake recipes to come in the next posts...

Happy making!

Comments

Throwing some shade

Ombre Flowers So I wanted to try that new ombre cake frosting trend. I used whip cream here on an eggless chocolate cake I made for a potluck at work (for those egg-free individuals on my team). Everyone was sufficiently impressed. I was a little disappointed at the messiness of the blue/purple end, and I kinda ran out of cream, but it tasted good. Anyway... Eggless Chocolate Cake 2 c sugar 1 3/4 c flour 3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder 1.5 tsp baking powder 1.5 tsp baking soda 1/2 c sunflower oil, organic 1 c whole milk, organic 1 c boiling water 1 tsp salt 3 tbs flax seeds Roses 2 c heavy cream 1/4c sour cream 1 tsp vanilla ½ c powdered sugar food coloring (if desired) Pre-heat oven to 350F. Soak flax seeds in milk for an hour or overnight (or use flax meal). Blend (I used a stick blender). Mix dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients, with boiling water being last. Pour into cake pan (9x13). Bake for 30 min, rotatin...

Chocolate Banana Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these for a potluck. Three people asked me for the recipe. Now you can be part of the three! Ingredients: 3 large ripe bananas, mashed 3 tbs butter 3 tbs oil 2 eggs 1/3 c buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 c sugar 1/2 tsp salt 2 c flour 3/4 c baking soda 1/2 c cocoa powder 2 tbs butter 1/2 c milk chocolate chips (but you can use any kind) Chocolate dipped banana chips and decorating sugar (optional) Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all the first set of ingredients together (all the wet + sugar and salt). Mix in the flour and baking soda. Split the batter in half and add the cocoa powder, 2 tbs butter, and chocolate chips to 1 half. You might have to use a mixer because the cocoa powder gets clumpy. Fill muffin cups with half of each kind of batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins. Cream cheese frosting ingredients: 1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese 5 tbs butter 1 tbs sour cream 1 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste) 1...

Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Cookies

I'd been wanting to try out a recipe with chocolate chunks instead of regular chips and thought I'd give this one a shot. Result: rave reviews from the BBQ I went to at my friend's house. Ingredients (weight not volume) 10.1 oz flour 0.5 oz cornstarch 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 tbs (1.5 sticks) butter 7 oz light brown sugar 3 oz granulated sugar 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can use regular vanilla extract if you want) 9 oz dark and white chocolate chunks (I chopped up a 70% bar and used white chocolate disks 6oz:3oz dark:white - you can use whatever mixture you like, or use chocolate chips) 1/3 c dried cranberries Preheat oven to 350F. Soften butter in the microwave. Beat sugar, egg, vanilla, and butter until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix. Drop about 2 tbs of dough at a time on the cookie sheets, about 2" apart (I used a 1 oz scooper). Bake for 10-12 min, rotating the pan once after 6 minutes until edges are starting to bro...

Stacey Makes It

Search This Blog