Choco bunnies

Have you seen Holly's cute bunnies @ 504 main ? When I did, something immediately popped into my head... chocolate bunnies. Off to the kitchen. This is what I came up with. My bunnies  are made with Reese's peanut butter cup eggs , semi sweet chocolate and marzipan. I made 3 but the third one got eaten before I could take a picture. Something about having little people in the house that like peanut butter too much.

Ooops :)

Extreme measures

So after being  stuck home for almost 3 weeks (before and after surgery) I was looking forward to being back in the office, see human beings and stuff. You know... cabin fever. Except that didn't happen. My daughter got sick on sunday night (double ear infection). No school, no daycare. Ugh. After days of being cooped up with said sick child, I needed something extreme to help with the frustration, even more so after the pharmacy epic. Something involving chocolate. Here is my recipe for outrageously chocolaty, hooey gooey, "will make your troubles go away" brownie goodness:

Ingredients:

4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 stick of butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbs baking powder

1 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup white/milk chocolate chips

Preparation of the batter:

Melt the chocolate and butter - allow to cool

Mix the eggs and sugar

Add the chocolate and butter to the eggs and sugar mixture making sure it is all smooth

Add the vanilla extract

Mix the baking powder and flour

Add to the baking powder and flour to the mix

Once it is all combined, add the chocolate chip and chopped pecans at the last minute

Baking:

Pour into a greased (or parchment paper lined) brownie pan, no thicker than 1 inch

Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 30 to 35 min (more 30 with convection ovens)

Be careful not to overbake (if your poke test comes back clean .. it's too cooked)

While the brownie is baking it will rise quite a bit but will go back down when it cools

Enjoying:

Why this brownie is so awesome? Well it has a crunchy outer shell but the inside is totally gooey, melty and wonderfully chocolaty without being overly sweet. 

The sublte flavor of pecan enhances the chocolate and adds some texture.

Somehow one bite tends to make your drary day seem infinitely better, so  small piece goes a long way.

What I've been up to this week

My studio has been very neglected this week. I only visited to wrap and label presents - no crafts. Instead, I want into baking overdrive. 15 dozens of sugar cookies, 250 chocolate Grand Marnier truffles, various other creations for Christmas parties. 

Hard to resist all that chocolate

Lots and lots of cookies

Fist batch of royal icing decorated cookies

Second batch - Making progress with the technique 

I'm glad I am taking some vacation time starting Monday evening to rest up. This time of the year is always a bit stressful. There is so much to think of. The days were stretching from 6AM until 1 or 2AM.  The list kept being scary so I ended up crossing a couple of items off to keep my sanity:

- Christmas cards - done 

- Handmade gifts - done - removed from present list : the play tent 

- Handmade ornaments - done  - removed from the list : bunting and garlands

- Holiday baking - done - removed from the list : gingerbread

- Photo album - Postponed 

- Holiday shopping - Mostly done - I have 2 more days next week to finish since I refuse to brave the weekend crowds at the mall

Still on the list: 

- Plan Christmas eve menu and grocery shopping for the family visiting

- Cook and bake some more

Unexpected items: 

- Straighten up the family room that is cluttered due to the water heater almost disaster

- Paint the baseboard that my hubby suddenly decided to replace (I'm still wondering about this one...)

Added item: 

- Take a long hot tub or 2 since the new water heater provides unlimited hot water on demand

- My letter to Santa : can I have time for a nap please ?

How's your Christmas list coming along ? 

Cookie cuteness

My first batch of sugar cookies was a learning experience. It was my first time using royal icing and it helped me figure out a few things that made my second batch that much better. Feast your eyes, I wish you could taste them too because they are pretty good :

Overview of the loot

Christmas tree with their ornaments

Very sweet candy canes

Adorable teddy bears

Would be glow-in-the-dark gingerbread men

Disco stars

And those melt your heart snowmen

And this cookie parade would not be complete without the lovely 

and lovingly made cookies M&M decorated by Little Bug for her teacher and daycare nanny

They are the sweetest!!

PS: I found a gold mine of information on Bridget's absolutely awesome blog : Bake at 350. Her cookies are almost too gorgeous to eat

PPS: If you think I have too many baking sheets you are wrong. It turns out I need few more

Icing perspectives

This is the view of my car this Monday morning

Just a light dusting ... more to come by the end of the week

And this is the view in my kitchen that evening

Lots and lots of cookies

Ready for some icing action

And all prettied up

Not much sewing or crafting this week ...

The Candy Kitchen is OPEN

Twice a year (Christmas and Easter), my kitchen gets transformed into a chocolate factory. Chocolate galore ensues. Ganache, dipping chocolate, drizzles ... a complete overload. And that's not counting other seasonal goodies that involve yet more chocolate: Cookies, bark, chocolate Buche (Yule log). Every Christmas a couple hundred of chocolate truffles are fabricated and distributed to family, friends, neighbors and work colleagues. Flavor of the year : Grand Marnier. 

Warning

Be careful watching the following pictures

it could induce uncontrolled drooling, lip smacking 
and chocolate cravings

My beloved Artisan Mixer is busy all year but has been working overtime lately 

The ganache has cooled - time for some whipping action!

Oh so creamy and fluffy

Ready for the fridge

my friends Wilbur, Valrhona, Villars and Ghirardelli are called to action

Ready for the dipping

Ohh pretty gold cups

First batch ready - 75 little bites of heavenly sin

2 more batches to dip

You can now resume your normal activities

Cookie disaster prevention

This is a special post for LeeAnn who had some trouble making my googly eyed cookies. So sorry about the disaster LeeAnn. I hope you had a nice glass of wine afterwards.

Here is my cookie disaster prevention plan for you:

First the sugar cookie dough
This is the recipe I have been using for years and yes it's in metrics. After 8 years in the US I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around using other units.
- 500g butter
- 500g sugar
- 5g salt
- 4 eggs
- 10 g of baking powder
Soften the butter and add the sugar, salt, and eggs - make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed
At this stage I usually add some vanilla extract and lemon extract but almond, orange, cinnamon.. or a combination of them work great too.
Sift the flour and mix in the baking powder
Add the flour rapidly avoid mixing the dough too long
Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling it
I usually prepare the dough the night before baking it: I measure the ingredients, little bug pours them in the mixing bowl  and we taste together and she knows we are baking the next day.

Using white chocolate/candy drops for baking
The trick is to bake at a lower temperature than you usually would (210C rather than 240C) and setting the baking sheets about 1/3 from the bottom of the oven. In my convection oven, baking takes about 7-8 minutes per sheet. Very important detail : ALWAYS PUT THE TIMER ON there is only a minute between perfect and caramelized and about another minute to carbonized.

About chocolate piping
Only melt half the chocolate you are going to be using, then add slowly the rest of the chocolate in small chunks. The chocolate should be cool not warm when piping.

If all else fails, back to a glass of wine!!  XOXOX

Googly eyes pumpkin cookies

Use pre-made sugar cookie dough or make your own.

Put in your mixer bowl and add to taste cinnamon and orange extract and a few drops of food coloring (red and yellow) to make the dough orange. I tend to go easy on the color but you can add more for a more intense color.

Chilling the dough will make rolling easier

Roll the dough about 1/4" thick

Time to enroll your favorite little helper

Use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter

Use while candy melts or white chocolate melts for the eyes

She loved placing the candies for the eyes

You have to push them in the dough a little

Bake

We're almost there...

Time to pipe some chocolate to finish the faces

And her favorite part ...

They also make cute party favors

Update : 

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