Is Chocolate an Aphrodisiac?

                I love chocolate! It makes me feel happy and great, sweet and loveable. There is no food that makes me happier. I’m actually not sure anything makes me as happy as chocolate does; I really, really love it.

                There is a lot of myth and fact when it comes to this subject, but I just don’t care. I love chocolate and it loves me and I love anyone that gives it to me. Scientist can’t always be right.

And this leads me to my next topic…….

How can some people not like chocolate?

                I used to wonder if chocolate haters were really human. When chocolate is used to advertise almost every holiday it is hard to imagine there are people out there that just don’t like it. I love chocolate so much I just could not understand, so I looked in to it and found a few reasons for this poor disorder.

               

Disclaimer: This does not include allergies, because I’m pretty sure if they could eat it they would love it too.

1. Genetics- Maybe it’s your family’s fault. If you find you come from a long        line of chocolate haters you  should try and seek a chocolate lover for          marriage to hopefully fix this problem. Everyone should love chocolate.

2. Experience- I totally understand the experience thing. I for one have            trouble with beans thanks to my brother and some awful experience I          have blocked out of my brain. My only suggestion to you, you poor soul        is that you work hard to find you chocolate love. It’s in there; you just            got to eat a lot.

3. Culture- If you run with a bad crowd they are bound to wear off on you.         FIND NEW FRIENDS!

4. Gender- Of course we all know women love chocolate more than men,          but really I just think men tone it down so they don’t have to fight a                women over chocolate. Men you will lose.

5. Texture- Chocolate can come in many textures. You can drink it, eat it,          lick it, and chew it. It comes soft, hard, creamy, crunchy, smooth, thick          (mouth coating), and sticky. You got hot, cold, frozen, and room temp. If        you don’t like one just try another.

6. Taste- This one I’m a little lost on. There are 2 and a half chocolate                flavors; dark, milk, and white (the half). If you don’t like the normal                choices you can always find something else. Now a day’s there is                  no flavor combination to weird. Everything goes with chocolate; you just      have to find what goes with you. 

Sweet Stuff

Sweet Clothes!

    Sometimes I like to dress as sweet as I like to eat and think; won't you come and dress like me.

     

 

Can you hide veggies in your desserts?

                

              Maybe you really like vegetables or you’re just on some crazy health kick and think that most desserts are evil. Or even better, maybe you need to trick your kids in to eating more vegetables, but can you do it?

               
              Of course you can! You can do anything you want to do, including hide things in desserts. If people use to hide files for prisoner’s to use to escape in cakes, then you can learn to hide veggies in there too. It is way easier.

              We all know the typical vegetable pastries: carrot cake, zucchini bread, sweet potato pie, but we can get more veggies in there than that. Michael Laiskonis, creative director at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, said

"Incorporating vegetables in dessert recipes is more about creating a flavorful dish and realizing that vegetables have various functionalities rather than using a particular one for 'shock value' alone." 

    Some vegetables cook in similar ways to fruits like eggplant to apples and pears and some can also be substitutes for high-fat ingredients such as avocados for fat in ice creams, gelato and mousse.

                The Unexpected Evolution of Dessert

http://www.ift.org/food-technology/past-issues/2012/november/features/the-unexpected-evolution-of-dessert.aspx

***

Here are a couple neat recipes I found on my journey into veggie sweets

Melanzane al Cioccolato

This recipe originated in the monastery of Tramonti in the mountains above the Amalfi Coast town of Maiori. During the Middle Ages, the monks dipped their eggplant in a liqueur mixed with herbs, spices and sugar. When chocolate was brought to Europe from the New World in the 16th century, the Amalfi people started dipping their eggplant in chocolate. Today the tradition continues with delicate this melanzane al cioccolato.

2 to 3  small eggplants
12  ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, melted
4  tablespoons of coarsely chopped pignoli nuts
6  tablespoons of candied orange peel

- Slice the eggplant very thin.

- Drag each piece through flour and egg 

- And deep fry until golden brown.

- Drain and let cool.

- While the eggplant is cooling, slowly melt          the chocolate in double-boiler.

- Mix in the nuts and orange.

- Layer the eggplant in a medium size baking platter.

- After the first layer is made, continue layering by alternating eggplant with chocolate.

"The combination of chocolate, eggplant, orange and pignoli nuts will surprise you!"

Compliments of  http://cooking-vacations.com/

Sweet Tomato Cake with Olive Oil & Cinnamon

http://www.lovefoodeat.com

1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1tsp cinnamon

A pinch of salt

¾ cup white/brown sugar

1 cup chopped tomatoes

½ cup olive oil

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

- Blanch the tomatoes, skin them and deseed them.

- Chop them finely. 
    - Make sure you drain most of the water from it.

         *Too much water might make your cake too soft.*

- Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl.

- And all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl mix well.

- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. 
    - Mix till combined. 
         *Don’t over mix or beat it.*  

- Spoon into a greased pan. I used a 9 ½ inch round pan.

- Bake at 190°C for 25 to 30 minutes  
       *Insert toothpick, if it comes out clean it's done!*

Enjoy!

How do you prepare the fresh strawberries and keep them from making the cake soggy?

Fresh Strawberry's and Cake    

So you want to make a layered cake with strawberries, but you always have the standard problems: 

• The strawberries make the cake soggy
• the layers don’t stay together when sliced 
• or the cake tends to slide apart over night.

                   What do you do?

• Wash them with the hulls still intact and pat them dry with a paper towel.

• Let them sit on the paper towels for a little while to let any of the excess juices get absorbed.

• Dry them very well.

• Dusted the strawberries with sugar the night before - this too will create syrup and cause them to release more juices 

• To help keep the cake from getting soggy from the fruit, brush some melted jam or jelly of the same flavor or a nice compliment over the top of the layers that are to receive the fruit.

• Melt the jam in the microwave and spread on with a pastry brush

• Pipe in some pastry cream or whipped cream around the edges to form a little dam and keeps the fruit INSIDE the layers and keeps it from not seeping out of the edges.

• And my # 1 suggestion is --- Try and wait to assemble the cake till right before serving

***

I have pulled out a Cake recipe that i feel might be a good choice:

2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Line bottom with a round of parchment paper, then butter parchment.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer at low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing after each addition until just combined.

Spread batter in cake pan, smoothing top. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Discard paper and re-invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mascarpone-Filled-Cake-with-Sherried-Berries-242873

And a Cream Cheese Pastry Cream that i think might be an even better choice:

• 1 cup milk
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 ½ tbsp corn starch
• 6 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Combine ¾ cup of the milk and 3 tablespoon of the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk the remaining ¼ cup milk into the yolk mixture. Remove the milk mixture from the heat and add a little of the hot milk to the yolk mixture to warm it, whisking constantly to keep the yolks from cooking. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour.

Return the custard to the stove and bring it to a boil, whisking constantly. Let the custard cook for 1-2 minutes until it thickens. Add the cream cheese and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Using a fine sieve; strain the mixture into a clean bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

Beat the heavy cream over medium speed until soft peaks form. Whisk the pastry cream until smooth and fold in the whipped cream until combined.

Read More http://lateliervi.blogspot.com/2009/03/blueberry-kumquat-cream-cheese-tarts.html

Good Luck! 

(And send me cake!)

Super Sweet Stuff **Warning PG-13**

   How to Ice a Cake PG Style

Happy Side Note

I want Dim Sum!!!