dark chocolate – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

16-5: Sacher Torte

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods August 30, 2021August 30, 2021all-purpose flour, almonds, apricots, Austrian, blanched, butter, cakes, chocolate, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, favorites, folded, gift ideas, glazed, granulated sugar, holiday baking, jam/jelly/preserves, melted, meringue, nuts, party food, pastry, peeled, springform pan, stiff peaks, Thanksgiving, torte, untested, vegetarian, Viennese

It always takes me a minute to “catch up” on these, so if you’re keeping track (don’t), we’re now up to Thanksgiving of last year (2020) with 16-5: Sacher Torte. Sachertorte is a real thing, and Simply Delicious actually has a pretty decent take on it.

The Wikipedia link above gives a pretty close approximation of the origin story Simply Delicious mentions on their card above, so they’re hitting near the mark. Sometimes the best Simply Delicious recipes are the ones they DON’T make up for themselves.

Side note: My dad ended up LOVING this one (and he’s been eating the dishes from this book for 30+ years), so it comes highly recommended.

16-49: Chocolate-Glazed Raspberry Tart

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 24, 2020December 28, 2020all-purpose flour, butter, cakes, chilled, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Eve, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, dough, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, food processor, fruit, garnish, glazed, granulated sugar, layers, melted, parchment paper, party food, powdered sugar, raspberries, revisited, semisweet, stiff peaks, tart, TGV 2019, Thanksgiving, vanilla extract, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream, XMAS 08

I had a goal to finish all the ones I cooked in 2019 by the end of 2020…not sure if I’ll meet that goal (EDIT: I did!), but here’s one more from last year: 16-49: Chocolate-Glazed Raspberry Tart. Not only is this from last Thanksgiving (along with 6-42: Turkey Pot Roast and 17-15: Cream Puffs), but I also made a version of it as part of a fancy Christmas dinner 12 years ago (XMAS 08) as well. Since today is Christmas Eve, I think it’s a good day to tell you about it.

When I made this back in ’08, I made 6 individual tarts instead of one big one–I was afraid it would look weird once I cut it, so I thought individual servings would look better. I had been watching a LOT of Top Chef at that point (and still do, but that’s the ONLY cooking show I’ll watch).

Since I had a few of the same guests attending as that Christmas dinner back in ’08 (and the same number), I decided to make the same modification this time. Usually I will reverse modifications when I recook recipes I’ve already done to try to honor the “original” recipe, but this time I decided to stick with it.

15-41: Pear Halves with Chocolate Topping

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 14, 2020November 14, 2020boiled, bread crumbs, brown sugar, chilled, chocolate, cold desserts, dark chocolate, dessert, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, fruit, ginger, grated, layers, pears, poached, rye bread, semisweet, simmered, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream

I often wonder when I “evaluate” these recipes if I’m biased in my ratings/attitude towards them because of my own personal feelings about their contents. If I don’t personally like pears, does that unfairly impact my review of 15-41: Pear Halves with Chocolate Topping? Probably. Just a thought.

I’m not a huge pear fan, so if you haven’t figured it out by now, pear halves with weird chocolate bread topping wasn’t my jam. But if months of quarantine have you curious about weird desserts from the 80s, read on.

17-15: Cream Puffs

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods October 14, 2020December 24, 2020all-purpose flour, butter, chocolate, choux, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, dough, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, filling, French, gift ideas, glazed, melted, party food, pastry, pastry bag, pastry cream, profiteroles, pudding, TGV 2019, Thanksgiving, vanilla bean, vegetarian, whipping cream

Looking to impress? Or maybe you’ve been watching a lot of those baking shows while on lockdown and you think you’re ready for some of the “tougher” stuff. Well, here’s a good one for you to test your skills.

I made 17-15: Cream Puffs for Thanksgiving last year (TGV 2019), but haven’t written about it until now. Cream puffs feature pâte à choux, which is the puffy, airy dough that you also find in éclairs. We made profiteroles when I worked at a restaurant a few years ago, and it’s essentially the same thing.

Simply Delicious suggests you can fill your cream puffs with vanilla or whipped cream–the most traditional ones also feature pastry cream (crème pâtissière).

The ones we served at the restaurant I worked at were filled with house-made, hand-scooped ice cream that were (sometimes) baked and (often) assembled by yours truly and then drizzled with a chocolate glaze like these. It was one of those trendy gastro-brew pubs that made the beer onsite and had many beardy/tattooed gentlemen working there, so you can imagine the rest of the menu and atmosphere. At least we served most of it on a normal plate. #wewantplates

15-23: Kiwi Mousse in Chocolate Cups

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 17, 2020February 17, 2020almonds, baking cups, brushed, butter, chilled, chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate cups, chopped, cold desserts, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, filling, frozen, garnish, gluten-free, kiwis, MD2019, melted, Mother's Day, mousse, nuts, powdered sugar, sliced, strawberries, toasted, untested, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream

15-23: Kiwi Mousse in Chocolate Cups is the final recipe from last year’s Mother’s Day (MD2019) AND the final recipe from this kitchen, which was the backdrop for this project for 5 of its 6 years (at the time of this writing) of existence. I made this in tandem with 15-10: Frozen Raspberry Desserts, since they both make use of chocolate cups and frozen fillings.

These ones didn’t turn out quite as well as their raspberry counterparts, but they made a nice contrast and provided some variety. Along with these two chocolate cup desserts, I also made 15-17: Summery Cantaloupe as part of my dessert offerings for Mother’s Day.

15-37: Elegant Strawberries

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 22, 2018July 30, 2020chilled, chocolate, chocolate chips, coated, coconut, cold desserts, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, easy, egg-free, fail, fairly inexpensive, frozen, fruit, gift ideas, glazed, gluten-free, grated, MD2018, melted, Mother's Day, orange juice, oranges, powdered sugar, semisweet, sprinkles, strawberries, untested, Valentine's Day, vegetarian, wax paper

Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s the final dish from Mother’s Day this year–only 6 months after the fact. Better later than never, I suppose.

You can find the other dishes I made for this year’s Mother’s Day under the tag MD2018 (there’s also last year’s MD2017). If you’re interested in a Simply Delicious Thanksgiving feast I did a few years ago, check out TGV 2016.

My mom always loves dipped strawberries, so I thought these would be a nice alternative to the mail-order/delivery ones you see all over the place around the holidays. Since I was also making 16-10: Strawberry Shortcake, it ended up being a very strawberry-heavy Mother’s Day. 🍓🍓

16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 7, 2018July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, at work, baked goods, butter, chilled, chocolate, custard, dark chocolate, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, lemon peel, lemons, macadamia nuts, meringue, milk, nuts, party food, pi day, pie crust, pies, semisweet, sliced, toasted, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

A few months ago, we celebrated Pi Day in my office. Most of the pies were store-bought, but I decided to flip through Simply Delicious and see if there was anything worth contributing. I decided on 16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie–everyone likes chocolate, and we had had a mishap with the lemon meringue pie on the way back from the store while preparing the day before.

If you’re not familiar with Pi Day, it takes place on March 14th, which when written as a numeric date is 3-14 (at least in the U.S. it is–some countries reverse the order). Pi (the mathematical constant represented by the Greek letter π) is usually rounded up to 3.14, so March 14th is celebrated with actual pies (and a bit of math) as a play-on-words. 😂

No one really needs an excuse to eat pie, but “It’s a math joke” is certainly an acceptable one.

17-23: Mocha Éclairs

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 2, 2017September 5, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, boiled, brunch, butter, chilled, chocolate, choux, coffee, cored, cornstarch, creamy, crispy, custard, dark chocolate, dessert, dough, éclairs, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, filling, folded, French, gift ideas, glazed, granulated sugar, hard, icing, lactose-free, MD2017, melted, milk, mocha, Mother's Day, party food, pastry, pastry bag, pastry cream, piped, powdered sugar, profiteroles, salt, Silpat, sliced, slit, stiff peaks, temper, untested, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream

As part of my Mother’s Day brunch this year (MD2017), I wanted to push my limits by attempting some of the hardest pastry recipes in the book. I tested my skills not only with 17-44: Homemade Danish Pastries, but with this recipe as well, 17-23: Mocha Éclairs. My mom always referred to éclairs as something that challenged her when she was learning to cook and bake, and that a well-executed one was something that really impressed her. With that in mind, I knew this recipe was a must-do.

I may have to make a few adjustments to Simply Delicious‘ version of the recipe–first of all, there’s no chocolate listed anywhere in this recipe, and it’s advertised as “mocha”, which is coffee AND chocolate. We may have to do something about this “slicing the tops off” idea as well.

17-44: Homemade Danish Pastries

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 29, 2017September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, applesauce, baked goods, breakfast, brunch, butter, cake yeast, chilled, chocolate, creamy, custard, Danish, dark chocolate, dollop, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, flaky, folded, glazed, granulated sugar, layers, MD2017, melted, milk, Mother's Day, party food, pastry, powdered sugar, proofed, pudding, puff pastry, salt, sliced, untested, vegetarian, yeast

Strap in ladies and gents, this one’s a long one. As part of my Mother’s Day brunch this year (MD2017), I thought I’d raise the bar and attempt some of the harder ones in the book–nothing impresses your mother like showing her you can cook (and bake). My mom LOVES pastries, so I made her 17-44: Homemade Danish Pastries to nosh on while I worked on trying to serve up 5-4: Eggs Benedict. Luckily, these turned out better than my hollandaise sauce attempt did.

Obviously, mine look a bit different than what’s pictured on their card–we’ll get into all the decisions and pitfalls that led to that being the case after the jump.

16-14: Orange-Almond Cake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 14, 2017July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, almond paste, almonds, baked goods, bundt, butter, cake pan, cakes, chilled, chocolate, citrus, creamed, dark chocolate, dessert, double boiler, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, frozen, fruit, garnish, glazed, grated, individual, juiced, loaf pan, melted, nuts, orange juice, oranges, party food, sliced, snacks, toasted, vegetarian, whipping cream, zested

No, this isn’t a repeat of 16-47: Orange-Almond Pie–at least, not exactly. 16-14: Orange-Almond Cake uses almond paste while the pie version used almond meal (flour). This one also includes dark chocolate, which ALWAYS goes well with almond and orange flavors. 🍫

In the interest of not eating the whole cake at once (which is possible with something like this), I’m going to bake 12 individual cakes instead with a mini-Bundt pan that I have. That way, I can make them all, wrap and freeze them so that we can pull out a portioned piece for dessert without the temptation of eating the whole thing.

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