Daring Bakers & Happy 40th Birthday Chez Panisse!

I am back but still so tired, it took me a week to get over the jet lag so I felt a little overwhelmed to post anything.  Two months of absence took a toll at my house and garden so I am slowly getting back to a routine and it feels good to be back.  Having missed two past daring baker challenges while in Venice, I had planned to participate to the daring bakers' August challenge which was to make candy, both chocolate and not.  I even purchased strawberries to make some paté de fruit, but after reading the recipe I realized i needed liquid pectin so I decided to give up.  I still wanted to make something with chocolate and since last weekend the restaurant Chez Panisse celebrated its 40th year in business, I made these little chocolate candy I learned to make when I was doing an internship in their pastry department.  They are called nut jobs (don't you love the name?).

The daring bakers were challenged to temper chocolate among other things.  I thought I knew how to temper chocolate, but after following the instruction to the letter, I learned that I was always heating it too much (note to self: always use a thermometer when tempering chocolate), so this time the chocolate turned out perfect and it didn't bloom at all.  Can you see the shine on the chocolate?

Excuse the random pictures, this was taken at dawn, from my bedroom window.

 

I learned an incredible amount while working at Chez Panisse.  The recipes there are simple but amazing, and they are so generous and willing to share them.  The techniques they use are impeccable, and I came home with lots of tricks and knowledge.  One fundamental thing I learned is how to handle fruit.  I was there in the spring and part of summer so I had the pleasure to work with berries and stone fruit.  Now when I pick a peach to check it for ripeness I always think of Mia Ponce, whose knowledge and patience were invaluable.  Read more about this amazing restaurant from one of its past chefs, David Lebovitz, here and here.

Same place, the clouds reflection in the water

Nut Jobs
adapted from Chez Panisse

3.5 oz sliced almonds, toasted
1 oz other nuts, toasted ( I used pistachios)
6 oz bittersweet chocolate
6 oz semisweet chocolate

Melt and temper the chocolate (see the daring baker instructions).  Add the nuts and spread onto a 1/4 sheet pan lined with plastic wrap (spread to 3/4 of the pan, otherwise they will be too thin).  Let set in the refrigerator before cutting it into pieces.  Store in an airtight container.

Daring Bakers-Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. She chose Gluten Free (or not) Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars!

I started making the bars the same day the challenge was supposed to be revealed, another one of those time management mistakes I am known for, I blame it to my creative brain. Knowing that I had the whole day, I figured I could finish on time. But...I didn't count for the fact that I am not in possession of a camera (that's why I haven't posted much lately), and I hit a block when I realized that I didn't have the custard powder needed in the middle layer (note to self: read the recipe instructions before starting the process). I just assumed we were going to make everything from scratch, boy was I wrong. I knew this was going to be a problem since I have a revulsion for using anything that comes assembled in a box. Call me old fashioned, or stubborn, but I couldn't use a pudding mix so I first considered making my own custard, but since I wouldn't know what the consistency was, I quickly dropped that idea. Looking at other creations, especially Simona's, I thought of giving the bar a spin, after all, that's the whole point of the challenge, isn't it? Turning the bar into an ice cream sandwich was cool, I have the cookies, I have the chocolate, all I needed was vanilla ice cream and a camera...easy, right?

Lauren challenged us to make a gluten free bar, which I applaud her for. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a sweet rice flour where I live, only white rice flour and since I didn't know whether it would work I decided to use regular all purpose flour for the graham crackers. The recipe comes from Nancy Silverton's recipe from Sweets from La Brea Bakery, found at 101cookbooks. I suspect this is the same recipe we used at a restaurant I worked at 2 years ago since DMG, the pastry chef I was working with, worked at Nancy's restaurant for a while. When I started mixing the dough everything felt really familiar. I cooked the cookies like we did at the restaurant, in a big layer and I cut them when almost set since they have the tendency of losing their shape, and turn into UFOs. I also figured that I needed the crumbs for the bottom layer so shape wasn't important.

Before I realized the problem with the middle layer I had already assembled the bottom layer, so I just froze it, added the vanilla ice cream on top, froze the two layers, cut them in squares, and then dipped them in melted chocolate. They were really yummy, not really bar like, and I am considering making them at the restaurant where I will start working at in April.

For the recipe and to see photos of some of the creations click here.

Thanks to Lauren for this challenge, and to Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, the creators of the Daring Bakers' challenge.

Chocolate Ice Cream and Cocoa Nib Tuiles

Judging by the mess above, this recipe wins the prize for messiest. However, it also wins a prize for being so chocolaty delicious.

I have had this recipe for a while but never tried it before. H, a very sweet person, recently asked me to make chocolate ice cream and I couldn't resist. The recipe comes from Chez Panisse, and I got it when I was a pastry intern in the summer of 2006. Chez Panisse is one of those restaurants that believe in sharing, customers can request a copy of any recipe and they will kindly oblige. Armed with this knowledge I am publishing this recipe without asking their permission.

I scaled down the recipe by a third, since I had the exact amount of yolks from a butter cream I made the previous weekend. If I had read the recipe more closely though, I would have noticed that, even after scaling, it still makes 4 quarts of ice cream base. OUCH! Once I started though, I decided to keep going so I would have chocolate ice cream for ever. Nothing wrong with that!

One of the reasons for the extreme mess and copious amount of pots, bowls and utensils used, was the breaking of the ganache. I followed their method of melting the chocolate with the cream, but maybe I mixed it too early and broke the ganache. I was about to pass out from hyperventilating when I saw those 10.5 precious ounces of Scharffen-Berger chocolate reduced to a horrible separated mess. My pastry senses came back and I was able to bring the ganache back together in a mixer by emulsifying it by adding some cold cream. PHEW!

Mess aside, this is an amazing ice cream, not too sweet and intensely chocolaty. Worth the effort.

Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted by Chez Panisse

1 3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cup cream
2 1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
2 cups sugar

10.5 oz. bitter chocolate
1 c cream

14 yolks
2 3/4 cup cream
2 3/4 cup milk

Put cocoa in a pan, add the cream to make a paste. Add the milk, the sugar, and salt and bring to a boil (mix the bottom constantly to prevent scorching). In the meantime, heat the cream to a boil and then pour onto chopped chocolate, wait 5 minutes and then slowly whisk them together, and set aside. When the cocoa mixture is hot, slowly pour it onto the yolks to temper them. If the mixture is very hot the yolks will custard, otherwise transfer the liquid onto a clean pan and heat it up stirring continuously, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (when your finger leaves a clear line through the custard on the spoon it's ready). Slowly stir the warm custard into the melted chocolate and whisk well. Slowly add the last amounts of cream and milk to the custard. Strain well and chill. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.

Cocoa Nib Cups
Courtesy of Pastry Chef DMG

3 oz sugar
1 oz glucose
3 oz butter
1 oz milk
6 oz cocoa nibs
1 oz flour

Partially grind the cocoa nibs, just enough to have some dust and slightly smaller nibs. Melt the butter, sugar and glucose in a heavy saucepan. Add the milk and whisk well. Add the flour and the nibs. Refrigerate until firm. Spoon onto a silpat, leaving space a lot of space since they expand quite a bit. Bake at 325F until firm. Let cool slightly until they can lifted without braking. Make cups or tuiles using the back of a muffin pan or rolling pin. If not using glucose, substitute corn syrup and decrease the milk by a teaspoon. Makes 12-16 cups depending on the size.

San Francisco Chocolate Salon

Today I went to Fort Mason to check out the third annual San Francisco International Salon. It was advertised as 30,000 square feet of chocolate, wine, and confections so I knew something good had to come out of it.

Over 50 artisans were displaying and selling their wonderful products, it was hard to decide where to start. I had checked out the program and I knew that there were few people I was interested in meeting who were going to be there. I first went to see what the The Gourmet Chocophile Challenge was about, and I volunteered to be among 11 other testers to compete for the grand prize of a free Gourmet Tour. Andrea Nadel, founder of Gourmet Walks, was hosting what I was hoping would be a fun challenge. We were first given 6 chocolates to taste, and we had to guess whether it was dark or milk chocolate (easy), what was the exact percentage (not so easy), and what turned out to be the hardest part...guess the ingredients. Some ingredients were obvious like cinnamon, blueberries, pumpkin seed and chili pepper, but others were totally unrecognizable, like cheese or mushrooms (I thought the mushroom's taste was coffee!). I got one of the highest scores so I stayed for the second round which consisted of tasting 3 single origin chocolates and guess the percentage, the country of origin, and the maker (close to impossible). I only scored one point (!) so I didn't get a chance to stay for the third and final round. It was fun though, but harder than I thought, and a great learning experience because I got to taste a wonderful chocolate from Madagascar, and loved it! The flavor was complex and very aromatic, I wish I had written down the name. I hope the country doesn't destroy itself, but will slowly recover and find the pride in its treasures.

It was time to walk around and hit some of the tables. I saw a very interesting mix of vendors, including a Willy Wonka wannabe, and another nice gentleman who clearly believes that chocolate is aphrodisiac. Among the most unusual products I saw, there were some beauty products including a baby cleanser. There was some chocolate inspired art as well, like this wonderful photograph by April Banks.



Anita Chu was talking about her book Field Guide to Cookies so I went to listen to her presentation. It was nice to see in person the talented creator of Dessert First, one of my favorite baking blogs. Anita has a new candy book that is coming out soon, I can't wait to see it.

The most interesting chocolates where the ones that were fair trade, and single origin. I definitely have to learn more about all of this, especially of the countries that produce chocolate, what an immense variety of flavors.

By the time I went around two times I had probably ingested close to half a pound of chocolate, and I was feeling it. I decided to leave but first I stopped to say hi to Celia Sack of Omnivore, a small bookstore in San Francisco that specializes in hard to find cookbooks (I will visit it again because on my first visit I didn't get a chance to talk to Celia and savor it completely). On my way out I stopped at one of the best looking tables, set up by Neococoa, and I couldn't believe my fortune when I noticed the venerable Alice Medrich chatting with Neococoa's owner. I introduced myself to the person I consider the Bay Area Chocolate Guru and asked her if I could write about her recipes in this forum. Alice Medrich was very gracious and gave me permission to publish her recipes on my blog, so expect some of her recipes soon!

I am sure there were many vendors I missed, but the ones I truly enjoyed were:


Socola creates beautiful and delicious chocolate confections and is located in Oakland.

Poco Dolce makes very simply yet delicious chocolate tiles sprinkled with sea salt, an heavenly combination.

Chopita makes infused cocoa nibs and just introduced a hybrid chocolate/cocoa nib bar that is really flavorful and innovative.

Amano had a chocolate from Venezuela that has a smoky flavor that was very interesting.

TCHO has an interesting way to promote its chocolate, through a colorful flavor wheel.


Neococoa wins for taste and look, I would want to eat more of their delicious almond butter and smoked salt truffles.

It was a very pleasant visit and it gave me lots of food for thoughts, pun intended.