Fig and Balsamic Vinegar Truffles

This recipe will make you look like an experienced chocolatier, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s because Soma’s expert palate works double-time for you here, combining figs and balsamic vinegar with deep chocolatey flavor to create an interesting juxtaposition. They recommend using open-mouth figs from Iran, but any good-quality dried figs will work. They also recommend using their 70 percent chocolate from Camino Verde, Ecuador. However, any good-quality craft chocolate that isn’t too fruity or acidic will do the trick as well. Last but not least, keep a quick reading thermometer handy. “Making chocolates,” says Cynthia, “is all about the right temperature.”

Makes approximately 4 dozen truffles

Ingredients

3 ounces dried figs 
5 ounces 35% cream 
16 ounces dark 70% chocolate, finely chopped into small pieces
4 teaspoons honey 
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter 
1.5 ounces aged balsamic vinegar 
1 cup cocoa powder

Ganache

1. Keep butter out at room temperature for approximately 1 hour to soften.

2. Soak dried figs in warm water for 30 minutes until soft, drain off water. 

3. Puree the figs or chop as finely as you can. Set aside.

4. In a stainless steel bowl combine the cream, 5 ounces of the dark chocolate, and the honey.

5. Heat a pot of water to a gentle boil and set the stainless steel bowl with the ingredients on top of the pot.

6. Whisk ingredients together until they come together as a shiny and emulsified ganache. When the temperature of the mixture is at 104°F take it off the heat.

7. Cool slightly to 95°F and whisk in soft unsalted butter and fig balsamic vinegar. Taste-test the ganache and add more vinegar if needed.

8. Stir in all the fig paste from step 3.

9. Cool at room temperature for a few hours until slightly stiff and pipeable (like cake icing.)

10. Use a piping bag and a star-shaped piping tip to make little fig-shaped portions. If you do not have a piping bag, you can instead spoon little mounds into cloud-like shapes or form into small balls (approximately 2 teaspoons each).

11. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

Finishing

1. Put 1 cup of cocoa powder in a bowl.

2. Gently melt the remainder of dark chocolate (11 ounces) in a stainless steel bowl on top of a pot of gently boiling water. The chocolate should be melted to 105°F. Once it reaches that temperature, take the bowl off the heat.

3. Take an ice cream scoop or deep spoon and coat it in the chocolate, then turn it upside down to remove excess chocolate. Place truffles one at a time in the center of the scoop, rolling them around to make sure they are completely coated in the chocolate. Then immediately place into the cocoa powder. Shake and move the bowl to ensure the truffle is entirely coated. (You can use disposable gloves for this part or a dipping fork.)

4. Remove the truffles and place in a sieve to remove the excess cocoa powder. Do not shake the sieve, or the truffles will fall apart.

5. Plate for serving. These are best served within a couple days, but they will last in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Take them out of the fridge an hour or so before serving to ensure that they’re room temperature when eaten.

Single-Origin Chocolate Brownies

One of my favorite things about Dandelion Chocolate is that at their storefront, they offer fantastic baked goods that still highlight the high-quality chocolate. For example, in these brownies, you can taste the flavor notes of the particular single-origin chocolate used to make them, whether that's a cherry-berry flavor in chocolate from Madagascar or a sense of smoke in chocolate from Papua New Guinea. At the store they serve a flight of three brownie bites so you can taste the differences as you snack, and I highly recommend adding a flight to your next chocolate tasting party. But don't worry if you only have time to make one batch: They turn out pretty delectable one at a time too.

Makes 24 very rich brownies

Ingredients

1 cup chopped 70% single origin chocolate
12 Tbs. cubed butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup 70% chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

2. Melt chocolate and butter in a medium-sized bowl over a pan of simmering water.

3. In a second bowl, whisk the vanilla, eggs, and sugar. Once combined, add to the chocolate mixture.

4. Fold in the flour and salt.

5. Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Pour onto parchment or silicon-lined sheet tray (11 x 8 inches).

7. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, turning the sheet tray halfway through baking.

Cornmeal Bread With Sesame, Pumpkin, and Cocoa Nibs

For centuries chocolate was a savory treat. The ancient Mesoamericans combined it with ingredients like cornmeal, chiles, and even achiote. This recipe from bread baker Rhonda Crosson (Epicerie Boulud, formerly Bouchon) honors that tradition, similar to how Taza honors the drinking-chocolate tradition with its new take on Mexican-style chocolate. The recipe uses historical elements in a new form: a hearty bread with plenty of chew that marries a Sicilian dough with the complexity of a mole and a deep yellow color from the durum flour. This one is more complicated than most recipes on Chocolate Noise, but the result is worth the effort!

THE DAY BEFORE

Corn-Cacao-Seed Mash

50 g stone-ground cornmeal

2 cups water

25 g cocoa nibs, cracked

40 g pumpkin seeds, toasted and cracked

25 g sesame seeds, toasted

50 g hot water

1. Mix cornmeal and water, raise to boil.

2. Cook 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Drain and refrigerate overnight. Should yield 150 to 200 g cooked mash.

4. Meanwhile mix cocoa nibs, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and water and leave at room temperature overnight.

5. In the morning, incorporate the cocoa and seed mixture into the cooked mash.

Poolish(yeasted pre-ferment)

150 g cool water

1 g instant yeast

150 g all-purpose flour

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water.

2. Incorporate flour into the water-yeast mix until smooth.

3. Cover loosely and allow to ferment at room temperature overnight.

THE DAY OF

Soaked Raisins

130 g raisins

hot water

1. Cover the raisins with hot water for 10 minutes.

2. Drain and gently squeeze out excess water.

3. Reserve.

Bread Dough

420 g durum flour

250 g water

16 g salt

3 g instant yeast

300 g Poolish (see recipe above)

Corn-cacao-seed mash (see recipe above)

Soaked raisins (see recipe above)

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Add the durum flour, water, salt, instant yeast, and Poolish to the bowl of a stand mixer. Incorporate ingredients on slow speed until homogenous. Increase speed to medium and mix until a moderately strong dough is formed. You should be able to “pull a window.”

3. Return mixer to slow speed and incorporate the corn-cacao-seed mixture and the soaked raisins until evenly incorporated.

4. Put into a bowl, cover, and allow to ferment for 45 minutes.

5. After 45 minutes, turn the mixture. Do not aggressively punch or degas. Allow to ferment 45 minutes longer.

6. Shape into two batards and place on a greased baking sheet.

7. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the sheet 180 degrees in the oven.

8. Bake for 15 more minutes or until the loaves are rich and brown.

9. Cool for at least 45 minutes, then enjoy!

Dark Chocolate and Coffee Ice Cream

One of my favorite parts about Askinosie Chocolate is their amazing collaboration bars, especially with Intelligentsia Coffee, another pioneer of direct trade. This ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams marries chocolate and coffee together perfectly, and it's kind of like a deconstructed (and then reconstructed) version of the Askinosie-Intelligentsia bar. Use Askinosie and Intelligentsia products for the most intense result (and the collaboration bar in place of regular dark chocolate for something truly unique), or substitute your favorite chocolate and coffee.

Makes a generous 1 quart

Ingredients

Chocolate Syrup

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup brewed coffee

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (55% to 70% cacao), finely chopped

Ice Cream Base

2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1. For the chocolate syrup, combine the cocoa, coffee, and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir the syrup until smooth. Set aside.

2. For the ice cream base: Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, warm chocolate syrup, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

3. Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

4. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, for about 30 minutes.

5. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of an ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Excerpted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2014.  Photographs by Stacy Newgent

Water-Based Drinking Chocolate

You might have heard that water and chocolate don’t mix, but this simple recipe from Cacao, in Portland, (featured in my book!) proves that old adage wrong. Flavor notes come alive when you melt chocolate and drink it, leaping from subtlety to center stage on your tongue. Using water instead of milk or cream intensifies the experience without introducing any other tastes. Alternatively, if you chill the drinking chocolate in the refrigerator, the mixture turns into a nice, creamy vegan chocolate pudding. I like to use single-origin bars in this recipe!

Serves 1

Ingredients

4.25 ounces 68% to 75% dark chocolate

.75 cups water

Instructions

1. Heat water in covered small pan to boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Cover and let sit for 30 to 45 seconds.

2. Whisk gently and scrape bottom of pan with rubber spatula to make sure chocolate isn’t stuck to bottom of pan. Put pan back on the burner (turned off) and let rest for 2 to 3 minutes to melt the chocolate.

3. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two to emulsify completely. Check consistency by sheeting the mixture on the back of a clean spoon. If it is lumpy, keep mixing. If it is smooth, you are finished. Don’t confuse the clumps with bubbles: Small air bubbles are ok!

4. Serve immediately or let cool until desired temperature (should still be above room temperature). The flavors and texture will evolve as it cools and rests.