Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Before it got super ridiculously hot, I was doing crazy things, like baking. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, since cleaning up after baking can be soooooooo time consuming. But when I found this recipe for Mexican spiced chocolate cookies, I was intrigued. Plus, it was another opportunity to use my shiny red mixer.

When I read through the recipe, I was dismayed that it didn’t actually call for Mexican chocolate. Come on, brown people aren’t the only ones that use cayenne and chili powder! No, what this really needed was authentic Mexican chocolate, the kind my mom used to make us hot chocolate with when I was little. Chocolate Ibarra, to be exact. The octagonally-shaped cylindrical package was a staple in our house like Nestle Quik probably was for my school mates (though we indulged in Nestle Quik too). There’s a comfort in my memories of that steaming cup of chocolate.

But because this is not unsweetend chocolate, I had to cut back on the sugar too (by half—though I probably could have done without it completely). I also had to double the spices because a quarter teaspoon of cayenne is child’s play. Even with that modification, they spice factor still wasn’t up to my expectations. More spices!! You can't call something "spicy" if it isn't, indeed, spicy!

This also didn’t need the additional chocolate chips, but walnuts would’ve been nice. Or spiced cacahuetes (peanuts). It was a bit of chocolate overload. Not that that is a bad thing...

The recipe calls for an entire stick of butter, so the cookies are exceptionally chewy. If you’re calorie-conscious, this isn’t the recipe for you. I suppose you could cut back, but not being a baker I’m not sure exactly how that would impact the final product. Other than giving you a slightly more brittle cookie. Diet cookies? Ick.

Finally, the cookies should be finished with a bit of sea salt. The G+F taste testers agreed the salted cookies were superior to the non-salted version. Plus, they just look prettier!

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Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

by August-20-2012

Adapted from Cooking Channel's Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies, with real Mexican chocolate. 

Ingredients

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 4 ounces Chocolate Ibarra or other Mexican chocolate (available in the ethnic aisle or a Latino supermarket)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• medium coarse grain sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, whisking until glossy and smooth. Alternatively, the butter and chocolate can be melted in the microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl) in 25-second increments, whisking between each interval. Cool the chocolate mixture to room temperature.3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and eggs on low speed until well combined. Pour in the cooled chocolate and continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.4. In another bowl sift together the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper). Add this to the chocolate batter and mix on low speed until just combined and no visible flour remains.5. Working in two batches, scoop 12 balls of dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoon size) onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie (they will spread greatly). Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, for approximately 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. The cookies should be puffy and still fairly soft when removed from the oven.6. Immediately slide the the parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool just a bit before serving, 5 to 10 minutes, then finish with a sprinkling of sea salt. Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to three days.

Details

Prep time: 20 minutesCook time: 15 minutesTotal time: 35 minutesYield: 2 dozen (24 cookies)

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake. Two words that delight the senses and make the mouth water. What's better than chocolate cake? Chocolate cake with wine in it!

Unless, of course, you don't like chocolate. Or wine. But that's too crazy to contemplate.

A friend recommended this recipe from Smitten Kitchen saying it was pretty easy. I'm not a baker, at all. But I had a delicious bottle of Cabernet Franc. So very tasty, this wine. And you know what they say about cooking with wine...

If you don't know how difficult it was to leave a 2005 Domaine de Château Gaillard Saumur Cab Franc untouched, your life is semi-charmed. First of all, I was stuck in bed with alcohol-unfriendly sickies. Then I somehow convinced myself that I needed to make the cake with this particular wine, so even once I was better, I still couldn't savor it. Because somehow I'd had the inhuman willpower when I first opened the bottle to save the exact 3/4 cup needed for this recipe. Who am I?

This wine is truly fantastic. I have had many red wines and this was quite near the top of all the delectable red-hued intoxicants that have passed through these lips. I'm fantasizing about it right now as I write this.

That said, I shouldn't have wasted it on a cake. Remember how I'm not a baker? Why I tested a recipe with a bottle of wine that costs more than two dollars is beyond me. I blame the codeine-induced haze I was living in. Deb suggests that the cake comes out of the oven "shiny and smooth, like a puddle of chocolate." It sounds pretty. Mine didn't look like that. It looked like the exact opposite of that.

Don't get me wrong, it tastes good. I ate a piece for breakfast. Then another. Then I put whipped cream and powdered sugar on it and took pictures for you. Then I ate that piece too. And also the other piece you won't see pictures of, but that has cranberry sauce all over it. Yeah, 4 pieces. Then I called some friends and asked them to come eat the rest before I ended up drunk for breakfast.

You shouldn't drink alone, right? You also shouldn't stuff your face with alcohol-infused chocolate cake alone either.

Because sharing is caring. Especially when it's a Cab Franc.

Fighting Like a Girl: Ghirardelli & Vino at District Wine

On Sunday, my very dear friend Oakley Boren hosted a very lovely wine and chocolate party at the very sexy Long Beach wine bar, District Wine. It was very fun. And quite delicious.

Sponsored by Ghirardelli Chocolate, the Intense Dark Pairing was in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For every code entered at their website, Ghirardelli will donate $1 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

So we ate chocolate and drank wine to fight boobie cancer! We were also joined by a breast cancer survivor Melissa Keyes, who shared her story with us. Cancer didn't run in her family, she found it during a routine breast exam. It was a sobering reminder: ladies, check your boobies!!

Host Oakley, owners Mark & Angela, and cancer-kicker Melissa

There were three different chocolates:

• 60% Evening Dream paired with the Frogmore Creek Iced Riesling from Tasmania
• 72% Twilight Delight paired with the Taft Street Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley
• 86% Midnight Reverie paired with the Layer Cake Malbec from Argentina

All of it intense. All of it marvelous. Mark and Angela know their vino and my favorite wines. I'm a big fan of both Zinfandels and Malbecs, but this time my taste buds favored the Riesling. I tend to stay away from sweet wines, but those Tasmanians and their devils put out a nice white.

We had choices of food bits, like dried apricots (great with the Riesling), parmesan and water crackers (made to eat especially with the Malbec), and marshmallows like I've never tasted (that went with EVERYTHING). Turns out they're called Plush Puffs and available at Fresh & Easy. Add these to your shopping list!

As a finishing touch we indulged in a the Toffee Interlude Dark Chocolate with caramelized almonds, with which we had the choice between an Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout or the Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port from Portugal. I opted for the wine (I'm not one for dark, bitter beer). A nice end to a delightful afternoon.

I was also lucky enough to win a raffle prize of a tasting kit and three large bars of various Intense Dark chocolates. Expect to see future chocolate-flavored posts. Mmm, chocolate. And if you'd like to win your own tasting treasure trove, check out this post on Oakley's blog. You have till Saturday to enter to win!

As a side note, on Sundays District Wine also has a bottomless mimosa special for a mere $9. There is also cool abstract art on the walls, and yummy appetizers on the menu. Like pineapple and gorgonzola flatbread with balsamic vinegar. Or prosciutto bon bons. Fellow chocolate and wine lover Tina Cruz claims they're better than sex. I only wish I'd ordered them!

Know what's also better than sex? Not having cancer. So don't forget to do those monthly exams!!

Thanks to Oakley, District Wine and Ghirardelli for a relaxed afternoon. We should all spend more Sundays like this.

Wordless Wednesday: 75% Cacao from Los Rios

Chocolate: The Exhibition at Muzeo

Chocolate. They say enough of it causes the same chemical reaction as being in love. No wonder there are so many choco-holics.

Last week, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the sweet treat that is Chocolate: The Exhibition. Developed by The Field Museum in Chicago, it opened on Saturday at the Muzeo in Anaheim and traces the origin of chocolate from the rain forests of Central America to the fun-sized sugar-laden candy bars we give to children on Halloween.

The exhibit opens in the rain forest of the Mayan empire 1,500 years ago, progresses into its use as currency in pre-Hispanic Mexico, then moves east to Europe where sugar was introduced and turned chocolate into the "mass-produced world commodity" we know it as today.

A kid-friendly setup, it even has a mock Aztec store where kids can budget their cacao beans to buy tomatoes and peppers.

Out near the gift shop, there's a chocolate bar where one can taste 99% pure dark chocolate—but only if you agree to have your reaction video-recorded. Having never been a fan of dark chocolate (I prefer my cancer-killing flavonoids from red wine), I figured it couldn't be that bad, right?

Oh. Wow.

You'll have to try it for yourself.

The chocolate tasting bar also has other single-origin varieties from Ecuador, the "homeland of the unique 'Arriba' beans." Ranging from 67% to 85% cacao solids, I was surprised that the 85% was actually my favorite. Go figure. I'd always been a milk chocolate kind of girl. But I came home with a little bag (seen above) of 3 different types: 67% from El Oro region, and two of 75% from Manabi and Los Rios. Interestingly enough, I preferred the Los Rios chocolate over its coastal cousin. It's a bit sweeter to the Manabi's hint of spice.

The exhibit runs through September 11, 2011. There are even special events on select Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer, including a Chocolate & Bubbles Happy Hour (presented by The Catch Restaurant on Friday, July 15) and a The Chocolate Day Spa featuring spa services and wine (Friday, July 29).

The museum was nice enough to give away some buy-one-get-one free tickets. Admission for adults is $13, so take a friend and it's only $6.50 each! First 3 people to comment can have them. You must be able to get to Anaheim before the exhibit closes and agree to be added to their mailing list.

For more information, check www.muzeo.org.

Chocolate Hummus?

Yes, chocolate hummus. It sounds weird, kind of disgusting, but it turned out to be quite yummy. Like pudding.

It started with a quest to find a savory chocolate recipe to use at the chocolate SNTK. When I finally found it, I couldn't wait for the test kitchen. I had to do it right away, by myself.

There is nothing difficult about this. You stick all the ingredients in a blender, mush them together (it's a technical term) and you get a thick, slightly lumpy concoction. Eat it with cookies!

Chocolate Hummus
adapted from Spark People

1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp water

Puree in blender. Serve with cookies or as a crazy dipping sauce for celery.

Makes 4 servings. Or one giant serving if you're really hungry and decide to eat it all in one sitting. (Not that I did this. I swear!)

Saturday Night Test Kitchen: Chocolate

For the first official [Saturday Night] Test Kitchen, the theme was chocolate. 

The menu:
- Chocolate with Peppers
- Chocolate with Scallops
- Chocolate with Profiteroles

The challenge: not getting chocolate all over the place. It's such a pain to clean up. (Spoiler: it got all over the place. Fail.)

The three judges were close friends who I trusted not to lie to me avoid hurting my feelings. Because what was the point if I couldn't get a real critique?