Those Francois Payard Chocolate caramels were wonderful!  However, one can only eat so many and I do mean ONE since Ted doesn’t eat caramel.  I can’t leave the chewy, sweet, creamy confection alone so I have to try to hide it from myself.

Luckily, I came across a recipe in Martha Stewart Living Magazine for Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramels.  Perfect! I had all the ingredients.  This is my version of the recipe for Coconut Thumbprints with CHOCOLATE caramels.

Makes about 40 cookies

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 12 oz. coconut
• 40 Chocolate Caramels from my recipe with Chocolate with Francois FOUND HERE

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar until creamy.   Beat in vanilla.

Gradually add the flour and salt, just beating enough to combine.

Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.

Dip each ball into the beaten egg then roll in coconut.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and put a thumbprint in the middle of each cookie.

Bake at 350 for 19 – 20 minutes.

Place a small caramel in the depression of each cookie immediately after removing from oven (while still hot).  Allow to cool and enjoy.

Chewy, rich and delish!

Hello Dentist! Here I come…. again

What’s the most creative way you’ve used leftover sweets or other treats in a new recipe?

This month Julie chose a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany and I knew I was in trouble.  You see, I just cannot resist caramel or toffee.

There’s not a THING healthy about the candy.  We don’t even use dark chocolate.  Still, that wasn’t going to stop me from trying my hand at making a chewy, creamy caramel at home.  Unfortunately, these sweets turned out so good, I’ll probably be using this recipe over and over again.  My dentist and I are going to get very close in the months to come.

Page 77, a Francois Payard recipe.  Makes about 50 caramels.  *I only varied the recipe slightly.  See Julie’s site for the original version.

• Vegetable cooking spray for pan, parchment and storage
• 8 oz heavy cream
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 6.5 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped
• Fleur de sel (a high quality salt in the spice section of the grocery store)

Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with cooking spray.  Line it with parchment that extends 2” up all sides. Spray the parchment with cooking spray.

Combine cream, corn syrup, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium high heat. *Use a large saucepan because the mixture will bubble up and you don’t want it to bubble over onto your stove.

Stir, with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves.  Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 243 F.

Immediately stir in chocolate until melted and smooth.  Pour into prepared pan and level out to make smooth. Allow to sit at room temperature for one hour.

After one hour, remove the caramel from the pan by grabbing the parchment.  Spray a knife with cooking spray and cut into 1” squares. Top each square with a few grains of fleur de sel and allow to sit at room temperature for 6 hours, uncovered.  This allows moisture to evaporate and helps caramels retain their shape.

Store in an air tight container by lining with parchment, spray with vegetable spray and repeating to separate each layer of caramels.  This will prevent them from sticking to each other.  Storage time is about 2 weeks.

or…you can make little candy wrappers and give them away to your caramel loving cohorts.

These sweets taste chocolaty and creamy.  The texture was just a bit too soft. Maybe I should cook the mixture a little past 243 F to get a more solid caramel?

For a first attempt at making my own caramels, I’m thrilled with the outcome. That is, until I put on 10 lbs from eating them all!

Coming up:  Do something a little different with those chocolate caramels you just make.  A cookie recipe. Watch for it!

Do you like caramel? Toffee?  or are you simply a chocolate lover with nothing added?

Are you a dunker?  If you’re a dunker you have to love biscotti.  It’s the perfect crisp cookie to enjoy dipped dunked in tea or coffee. 

This month’s Francois Payard’s recipe, Chocolate with Francois, was all about crisp, nutty, chocolate biscotti.  Essence of anise in a chocolate nut, twice baked cookie.

It doesn’t get any better.

Makes 18 – 25 biscotti – depending on how large/small you slice them.

• 3 TBS unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• grated zest of one orange
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups flour (more for rolling)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 TBS aniseed
• 1 cup pistachios, toasted (*I used sliced almonds)
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted (*I used walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the butter, sugar, and zest  until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs until well combined.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and aniseed until combined.

Add the flour mix to the butter mix and beat on low speed until half way combined.

Add the nuts and mix until incorporated.

Dust a work surface with flour and form the dough into a 12 inch log, about 2 – 3 inches wide. Use a rolling pin to flatten the top.

Bake for 45 minutes. 

Remove from oven and use a serrated knife to cut the log diagonally into 1/2 inch wide slices. Put the slices back on baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes.  

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for 1 month.

One of the most popular bakeries in Utica makes a delicious biscotti. Their little secret is that they don’t do the second bake for the cookie. We have an older generation in Utica so the softer biscotti is more popular.  It’s easier on the teeth (or lack of)

This month, Francois Payard’s recipe for Spicy Chocolate Pots De Crème, made quite the impression in our house. 

After all that Thanksgiving food, after all that holiday baking, the last thing I wanted to do was another sweet treat that would be too much for us to eat and end up tossed away.  That wasn’t the case. This recipe, although nothing healthy about it, was completely addictive.  One bite led to two bites which led to a third and before we knew it, both our dishes were clean.  They were so clean, we looked at Shane as if he somehow snuck in there and licked the plates clean.   There was no blaming it on the dog.  This dessert is good. It deserves to be eaten. 

Great pick Julie.  Make sure to check out Julies blog for the exact recipe.

A very subtle hint of heat from red pepper coupled with rich sweet chocolate creates a festival of life on your tongue and a silky feel of velvet as it’s longingly savored in your mouth.

Makes 6 servings

• 3 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 7 oz 72% chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 tsp red pepper
• 1 large whole egg
• 3 egg yolks  (*save the whites for a healthy egg white omelet to make up for your “sinful” ways after you enjoy this dessert)
• 2 TBS sugar

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Combine cream and chocolate in a pan over medium low heat and stir frequently until melted and mixed smooth.

Stir in the red pepper.

Whisk together the egg, egg yolks and sugar. Then whisk that mixture into the cream-chocolate mixture and turn into 6 oz  oven proof ramekins.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for one hour. Remove and allow to cool.  Refrigerate for about an hour before allowing this dessert to take you as close to heaven as you want to get while your feet are still on solid ground.

I loved the crisp edges which I’m sure Francois would say “don’t let happen so cover with foil to prevent it and add water to the baking sheet and…” but to each his own.  I LOVED those crispy little chocolaty edges.  Oh YUM!

Easy, fairly quick, but definitely HEAVENLY. 

This is it. The most looked forward to yet dreaded part of marathon training, tapering.  When all your hard work comes to a head, you need to reduce those miles and make every workout count.

There are many schools of thought when it comes to tapering.  One rule is to reduce training by 15% in the third last week before a marathon. Reduce training again by 10% in the 2nd last week.

The theory behind the taper is that the reduction in work will allow complete muscle recovery from months of training.  It will bring back the shock absorbing capacity of the trained muscle groups.

Another school of thought is to reduce by 30% in the 2nd last week of training and only run 30% of the usual weekly total distance in the first four days of the last week before the race.  Miles should amount to 1 1/2 to 3 miles daily in the last three days before the marathon.

As hard as it might be for our minds to grasp this “back off” scenario, scientific studies confirm the performance improvements when an athletes tapers adequately.  The effect is greatest if there is a rapid reduction in training volume in the first few days of the taper.  Also, when doing any training during this time, it should be at high intensity, say approximating a 5K race pace.

In conclusion:  The athletes taper should begin about 10 – 14 days prior to race day (depending on the distance) AND as little training as the mind will allow should be done but done at a high intensity pace.   More on tapering at this really good source: Running Nut

All that being said, and with all the evidence to back it up, tapering is tough. It’s rewarding but it’s mentally tough.

Another Gluten Free Baking endeavor in the Apple Crumbles kitchen…

I used a Wheat Free Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Cake Mix from Bob’s Red Mill.

The directions say this:

I did this:

• 1/2 cup Lighter Bake by Sunsweet

• 1 cup sweet red wine (why? because we had over half a bottle left over and no time to drink it (sad, but true))
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup hot coffee
• 1/3 cup Agave syrup (use honey if you’d rather)
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray two 8” cake pans with baking non stick spray.

In a large bowl, add the cake mix and make a well in the middle. To the “well”, add the red wine and lemon juice and stir to blend.

Add the eggs and mix, by hand for  30 seconds.

Add the hot coffee and the agave syrup (or honey), as well as the vanilla and beat BY HAND for 1 minute.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 32 – 35 minutes.

Allow to cool at least 15 minutes.

Fill with Cannoli cream or your favorite filling.

Top with powdered sugar

or simple chocolate syrup.

The result?  It was light, moist, chocolaty-rich but not too sweet.

The cannoli filling really added pizzazz to this cake but it would easy become a favorite as a simple plain chocolate cake with a little whipped cream or ice cream.

Recommended – Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Cake mix.  Delicious!