Spicy Sorbet and Goodbye for Now!

I have some really good news, some mildly bad news, and some ridiculously delicious sorbet to share with you today...

Let's start with the good news - in two days, I'll be going to Tokyo where I'll be living for two months to intern at a TV station! Wooohooo!! I'm going to eat so much sushi that I may actually turn into a fish! A cute fish. A salmon, probably. But not for eating.

The mildly bad news is that I won't have a kitchen to bake in while I'm in Japan! Sadface... This means that while I'll probably do a few blog updates about the amazing food in Japan, this blog won't see any of my own baking projects until August.

Sorry to all the people who love desserts... but I promise I will make up for it by sharing some of the amazing Japanese foodage I encounter! And I'll still post my May Daring Baker's challenge on the post date - I've already baked my challenge and set blogger to post it at the appropriate time. Go me!

And now for some deliciousness!!!

It started because I wanted to make something delicious for my mom for mother's day. I ran through a lot of options... and shot down all of them because not only is my mom pretty picky about desserts, she's also lactose intolerant and a health freak. Then I remembered having seen the same thing on multiple blogs a while back - a few people all raving about dark chocolate sorbet. And when I say raving, I mean raving - Joy the Baker even said she wanted to bathe in hers! And then I thought about the sweet things that I know my mom really loves, and realized that two of her favorite things ever are any kind of fresh fruit and good dark chocolate.

So I went and bought a ton of fresh fruit, and then raided our chocolate stash to find that my mom hadn't touched the bar of spicy chili and cinnamon dark chocolate that I had bought last time I was in town. She proceeded to tell me that I should use it in the sorbet... so I said, "OK!" and the result was magic. I used regular dark chocolate for 3/4 of the chocolate called for in the recipe, and replaced the other 1/4 with the spicy stuff. I ended up with a sorbet that didn't taste spicy, or hot, but that was pleasantly warm. If warm isn't a term that makes sense to you when talking about sorbet... then just trust me that it was perfection. Everything I thought it would be and more. My mom even went so far as to say, "there's nothing better than this!" as she was licking the removable part of the ice cream maker! She especially loved the complexity I got from mixing two different chocolates, and I loved it too!

Here is the recipe I used - its a David Lebovitz recipe and I found it on Chocolate & Zucchini.


Spicy Dark Chocolate Sorbet


1 cup plus 2 tbsp water
1/3 cup packed cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped*
3/4 oz chili and cinnamon spicy dark chocolate, finely chopped*
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
fresh fruit (I used blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and kiwis)
*you can change the ratio of chocolates for a sorbet that is more or less spicy, or you can just use 3 oz of the same chocolate. have fun!


Whisk together the water, cocoa powder, and sugar in a saucepan.
Heat the mixture while continuing to whisk.
Once it comes to a boil, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate.
Add the vanilla and salt.
Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Let cool, and then refrigerate until chilled.
Whisk the mixture once more right before using, and then churn using your ice cream maker.
Once the sorbet is ready, serve with the fresh fruit and enjoy!
=)




And with that, Allison's kitchen says "Bye for now, and I'll see you again in August!"


But don't worry, I'll still be around, even if my kitchen isn't. And don't forget to check back on May 28th for my Daring Baker's challenge!

Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Kiwi... Best Breakfast Ever.

The best grocery shopping days are always the ones when I find good kiwi.  Yesterday was one of those days.  =)

Usually, when I come home with kiwi, I eat some of it right away straight with a spoon.  Sooo delicious.  And then for the next few days I'll have toast for breakfast, and I'll top the toast with nutella and kiwi slices.  It's an amazing way to start the day... and kiwi is healthy, right?

Yesterday I needed to bake cupcakes for my actors (I'm a film student, so I don't pay them with money haha), and I saw the kiwis, and I thought, "hey, if it's good on toast, it can be awesome on a cupcake!"  And it was.  Except I didn't have any nutella (because I thought I did when I was at the store and then once I got back I realized I was out and didn't have time to go back.... argh).  So I just added a ton of frangelico to everything, and I think it worked pretty well!

These are chocolate hazelnut cupcakes, topped with whipped milk chocolate hazelnut ganache, and kiwis.

For the cupcakes:

(adapted from this recipe)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup frangelico liqueur

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in one mixing bowl. Combine the milk, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and liqueur in another bowl.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the milk mixture into it.  Mix until combined.  

Pour the batter into lined muffin tins, filling the cups 3/4 of the way.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean and the tops spring back when touched.  

Makes about 25 cupcakes.

For the ganache:

1 cup chopped chocolate  (I used about 3/4 milk and 1/4 bittersweet)

1 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp frangelico liqueur

Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to simmer.  Pour over the chopped chocolate.  Wait for a few minutes, and then whisk the mixture until it is smooth.  Mix in the frangelico.  Cover and chill until set.  This takes a long time, but I put mine in the freezer since I was in a hurry.  So, in the freezer, it took about 2 hours.  

Once it is set, whip it until it is light and fluffy.  Immediately spoon, pipe, or spread over cooled cupcakes.

Slice up some kiwi and put it on top, and it's ready to eat!  YAY!