February offers the perfect excuse for experimenting with decadent chocolate recipes. Whether you’re sharing sweets with your Valentine or just treating yourself, these desserts let you indulge a chocolate passion or fall in love with chocolate for the first time.
Photo by Gina Moore
PECAN CHOCOLATE FUDGE
MAKES 32 SQUARES
2 cups dark chocolate
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups chopped pecans
½ teaspoon cardamom or cinnamon
Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch pan with foil. In a heat-proof medium bowl, combine chocolate, milk and butter, and cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl over a saucepan filled halfway with water (water should not touch bottom of the bowl). Put pan over medium heat, and let chocolate melt 15–20 minutes. Stir until smooth.
Add vanilla extract, 1 cup of the pecans and cardamom, and stir until smooth. Spoon into a foil-lined pan, and spread evenly with a spatula. Top with remaining pecans, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Lift foil out of the pan, and peel the foil away from the hardened fudge. Cut into 1-inch squares, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
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Recipe tip
Secrets to success with melting chocolate – When working with chocolate, avoid any and all contact with water.
- Use clean, dry dishes.
- Make sure the bottom of the melting bowl doesn’t touch the water beneath it.
- Be careful, when removing plastic wrap, not to let water condensation fall into the melting chocolate.
When melting chocolate with butter, make sure the butter is at room temperature and not frozen. Melting chocolate with frozen butter introduces water to the chocolate, and water causes chocolate to seize (clump severely). If that happens, the best you can do is throw away the destroyed chocolate-and-butter mixture and start over.
For more advice on melting chocolate, watch this how-to video from Chef Belinda.
TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
Photo by Karen Hermann
MAKES 32 COOKIES
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1½ sticks unsalted butter
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips (more if needed)
½ cup semisweet chocolate mini morsels (more if needed)
Preheat oven to 325 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl or on a separate sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a heat-proof medium bowl, combine 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips and chopped unsweetened chocolate, and cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl over a saucepan filled halfway with water (water should not touch bottom of the bowl). Put pan over medium heat, and let chocolate melt 15–20 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let come to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Scrape down bowl again. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and beat until thoroughly combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, portion dough onto baking sheets, 6–8 scoops per sheet. Bake 18–20 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking time. Remove and cool on pans for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and cool thoroughly. Repeat until all dough is baked.
Using same melting method as above, melt white chocolate chips. Dip cooled cookies in white chocolate, and sprinkle with chocolate mini morsels while white chocolate is still wet. Place on wire racks, and allow white chocolate to set. Store in airtight container with parchment paper between layers.
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Recipe tip
Secrets to success with melting chocolate – When working with chocolate, avoid any and all contact with water.
- Use clean, dry dishes.
- Make sure the bottom of the melting bowl doesn’t touch the water beneath it.
- Be careful, when removing plastic wrap, not to let water condensation fall into the melting chocolate.
When melting chocolate with butter, make sure the butter is at room temperature and not frozen. Melting chocolate with frozen butter introduces water to the chocolate, and water causes chocolate to seize (clump severely). If that happens, the best you can do is throw away the destroyed chocolate-and-butter mixture and start over.
For more advice on melting chocolate, watch this how-to video from Chef Belinda.
CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE
Photo by Gina Moore
MAKES 12–16 SERVINGS
1½ cups chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1½ cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 6-ounce packages fresh raspberries
1 cup raspberry jelly or jam
Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend cookie crumbs, melted butter and 2 tablespoons sugar, and press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 5 minutes; let cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract, and beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed, and gently stir in 1 cup raspberries. Pour into prepared springform pan. Place cheesecake pan inside a larger pan, and add one inch of water to the larger pan. (This prevents the cheesecake from cracking on the top while baking.) Set pan in oven, and bake 60–70 minutes or until center is barely set. Turn off oven, and leave pan in oven 1 hour with door ajar. Remove from oven, and cool completely. Cover and chill at least 8 hours in refrigerator.
Remove cheesecake from refrigerator, remove sides of pan and place cheesecake on serving dish. Top with remaining raspberries. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, heat raspberry jelly until melted. Let cool slightly, and pour over raspberries.
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Recipe tip
How to prevent your cheesecake from sinking in the middle or cracking – First, wrap the springform pan—sides and bottom—with foil so water cannot seep into the pan. Then place the wrapped springform pan inside a larger pan that contains enough water to rise 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Baking your cheesecake this way will produce a perfectly smooth cheesecake every time.
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
Photo by Gina Moore
MAKES 10–12 SERVINGS
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup orange liqueur or orange juice
6 eggs
Powdered sugar or whipped cream for garnish
Preheat oven to 325 F. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and butter the sides.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, add sugar and water, and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Immediately add butter and chocolate chips, and let melt for 2 minutes. Whisk in liqueur or juice, then add eggs, one at a time. Do not overmix; that will allow air holes to form in the cake. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place pan inside a roasting pan, and add warm water about a half-inch high.
Bake in the water bath 40–45 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely in pan on wire rack. Invert onto a serving platter, and garnish with powdered sugar or whipped cream.
_____
Recipe tip
Secrets to success with melting chocolate – When working with chocolate, avoid any and all contact with water.
- Use clean, dry dishes.
- Make sure the bottom of the melting bowl doesn’t touch the water beneath it.
- Be careful, when removing plastic wrap, not to let water condensation fall into the melting chocolate.
- When melting chocolate with butter, make sure the butter is at room temperature and not frozen. Melting chocolate with frozen butter introduces water to the chocolate, and water causes chocolate to seize (clump severely). If that happens, the best you can do is throw away the destroyed chocolate-and-butter mixture and start over.
For more advice on melting chocolate, watch this how-to video from Chef Belinda.
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BELINDA SMITH-SULLIVAN is a chef and food writer who lives in Trenton, where she is a member of Aiken Electric Cooperative. She has a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University and is certified in wine studies from the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif. Her articles have been published in several regional magazines and in her blog, “The Flying Foodie.”