Blogging by Mail is a care package/secret Santa-type event that Nic (of The Baking Sheet) and I created after serendipituous exchanges of homemade marshmallows and Nutella.

This month, Cathy (of My Little Kitchen) hosted a “Home for the Holidays” BBM. I received my package yesterday from Jennifer (of The Fallen Souffle) in North Carolina, complete with:

• Five-flavor pound cake, from a secret recipe passed down through three generations
• Lemon poppy seed pound cake
• Cranberry biscotti
• Hazelnut coffee
• Homemade strawberry and hot pepper jams

She also gave me a flavor (no pun intended) of her home by packing her paper’s food section, a grocery store classified ad (it’s a miracle that I pay about the same amount for groceries as she does in the South), a handwritten letter detailing her family traditions, and recipes for her famous poppy seed pound cake and biscotti (check the comments section for the recipe). I felt like I had just received a family heirloom.

No offense to Jennifer, but my favorite part was her grandmother’s five-flavor pound cake. It was deliciously moist after two weeks in transit, yet the top had a crispy crust. I was so stricken by the double textures. Upon further investigation, I could see that a sugar syrup must have been poured over the top, as the top half of the loaf was moister and slightly darker than the rest. I think the sugar might have crystalized on top, which is how it got crunchy.

I wolfed down the first slice, not even bothering to analyze the five flavors. I just knew it was good. After a second slice, I definitely tasted coconut, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the other four flavors were. I did not detect citrus, nut extract, anise extract or spices.

I can’t wait to dig into the jams, but right now I’m just trying to stretch out the five-flavor pound cake as much as I can.

Don’t forget to sign up for BBM4: Music Edition, hosted by Food Ninja, by Jan. 10!

Traditionally, cookie swap parties are held shortly before Christmas and allow people to sample a plethora of cookies. Each participant brings several batches of their favorite cookies and distributes them. The more people the better: you can potentially go home with 10 varieties! This month’s Is My Blog Burning, has the same concept, but it’s gone online. If you need holiday baking ideas, check out Jennifer (of The Domestic Goddess) and Alberto’s (of Il Forno) round-up.

I’ve decided to combine a bit of the old with a bit of the new. First is a chewy chocolate chip cookie that has been a family Christmas tradition for a decade. The second cookie is my signature macaroon, enrobed in chocolate.

As I’ve said before, chocolate chip cookies spurred my love for baking. When I was around 12, my mom and I whipped up a recipe that a co-worker had given her. It called for a half-half mixture of butter and vegetable shortening. Our kitchen was sparse and we didn’t have shortening. But we saw the word “vegetable” and figured we could substitute vegetable oil. (I still don’t use vegetable shortening for health, texture and taste reasons.) Because of the oil, the chocolate chips slipped of the dough, which we accepted.

At the time, we also didn’t own baking sheets, so we made our own by cutting up paper grocery bags. To place them in the oven, we slid them off a giant piece of cardboard, much like a cook uses a pizza peel. We didn’t know that cooling racks existed either, so we lined the stove with newspaper and laid the “cookie sheets” on top.

Despite these untraditional techniques, the cookies were delicious. Because they were made with 100% whole wheat flour, they were different from the traditional Toll House variety. But they were good in their own right: chewy, soft and satisfying. We’ve made these year after year for the holidays.

Below is the adapted version (I believe cookies should be 100% butter), and you can use a mixture of flours to lighten the texture (but I can’t tell you the ratio because I want to keep my secrets!).

Chewy Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c chopped toasted nuts (optional)
1 c chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375° F. In a medium bowl, mix the sugars, butter, egg, and vanilla with a wooden spoon until smooth. In a separate bowl, stir the flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture, chocolate chips and nuts to the wet ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 8-9 min, or just until edges begin to brown.

Notes:

I recommend these chocolate chips:
Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value-Outrageous semisweet flavor. At 1.99 for 12 oz., it’s actually cheaper than the brands below and better! It has only the real stuff: cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and soy lecithin (an emulsifier). Chocolate manufacturers often cheat by substituting vegetable or milk fat and vanillin.
Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels-classic semisweet flavor with a bit of an acidic edge (which I like). The chips soften after baking, so they melt right in your mouth when you bite into them.
Mrs. Fields-slightly more multi-faceted flavor than Nestle’s.
Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips-a dependable brand with a smoother flavor than Nestle’s. Despite the fancy name and packaging, they’re at the bottom of the “recommended” list.

Not recommended:
Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips-flat flavor that resembles milk chocolate.
Guittard Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips-they may make gourmet chocolate, but their chocolate chips aren’t as rich as Nestle’s.
Pathmark supermarket brand-an ideal ingredient list (cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and soy lecithin) and cheap price attracted me to the product, but it was waxy and fake tasting.

Chocolate-Covered Macaroons

Although everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, the cookie that most people ask me to make is the French-style macaroon. While the American version consists of coconut and is often dry and mealy, the French version uses ground almonds and has a chewy bite underneath a crisp shell.

My only complaint is that macroons have a short shelf life. I can’t ship my them, lest someone wants to pay for overnight delivery. In my latest attempt to prolong the shelf life, I dipped my macaroons in chocolate (thanks to David Lebovitz’s blog for the idea!). I figured the chocolate would create a barrier to keep the cookies moist.

In my experiment, I ate one cookie a day and studied how the texture degraded over time. Sadly, the cookies still dried out after two days, but fresh chocolate-dipped macaroons are as decadent, if not more addictive, than truffles!

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies

Makes 3 dozen sandwich cookies, about 1 1/2-inches wide

Ingredients
7 ounces blanched almonds (1 1/3 cups whole or 1 2/3 cups slivered)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 to 4 large egg whites
A variety of jams, frosting, lemon curd, caramel sauce, Nutella, fudge sauce or ganache
12 oz. of dark chocolate (chocolate chips are not recommended, as they don’t melt as well)

Equipment
2 cookie sheets, greased, or lined with parchment paper

In a food processor with a steel blade, process the almonds and sugar until the almonds are very fine and the mixture begins to pack together around the sides of the bowl, at least 3 minutes. With the processor on, slowly drizzle only enough of the egg white to form a ball of dough around the blade. Keep the processor on. Add only enough additional egg white so the dough has the consistency of very thick, sticky mashed potatoes and no longer forms a ball.

Pipe or drop rounded teaspoons (equivalent to 2 level teaspoons) 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Gently press down on the top of each cookie to smooth it out. Let the cookies stand for 30 minutes .

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies barely begin to color. Rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom about halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Slide the parchment onto racks. Cool the cookies completely before detaching them.

Spread the filling on the flat side of half of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies.

Drop the cookies into melted tempered chocolate. Couverture, or covering chocolate, is easiest to use because the extra cocoa butter makes the chocolate more fluid. It’s NOT confectionery or compound chocolate, which has vegetable fat and is not as rich. One way to temper is to melt 3/4 of the chocolate (9 oz. in this case) on top of a double boiler and add in small pieces of the reserved chocolate until the mixture registers 88° F on an instant-read thermometer. Use an immersion blender to smooth the mixture and circulate the good crystals. Tempering is done so that the final product has a good gloss and snap. To test the temper, spread some chocolate on the tip of a knife—it should set up within a minute.

If you plan on consuming the cookies right away or don’t mind occasional white streaks in the coating, simply drop the cookies into melted chocolate.

Roll the cookies around until all sides are coated with chocolate, and fish them out with a fork. Place on wax or parchment paper to harden. Consume within two days.

If you have leftover chocolate, grab everything in your cupboard and start dipping! Or, mix with milk to make hot chocolate. Or, pour it onto parchment paper to harden and use for another time.

Cupcakes Take the Cake is a super niche blog.  It doesn’t just specialize in dessert, but it devotes every post to the humble cupcake.  Besides posting pics of every cupcake imaginable, they review several cupcake bakeries and interview cupcake fans.  This blog tipped me off about free cupcakes every Tuesday at the Original Penguin store by Bryant Park.  It is messy to shop for clothing (or pretend to) while gorging on a generously frosted Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcake, but Penguin also offers napkins and excellent customer service.

A couple weeks ago, I met two of Cupcakes Take the Cake’s founders at a party that Susie Felber, a co-worker/comedian/romance novelist’s daughter (all separate "occupations"), threw for her mom.  Small world.

Some conversations led to others, and Nichelle interviewed me for the site!  Check it out!

Caffeine addicts drink coffee every day, while the health-conscious turn to tea or wine.  As for me, my daily drink is hot cocoa.

It’s no secret that cocoa contains more antioxidants than green tea and vegetables:

"Like some other plant foods, chocolate is chock-full of a wide range of antioxidant compounds called polyphenols, including the procyanidins epicatechin and catechin. Fruit, vegetables, wine, and tea have polyphenolic flavonoids as well but, amazingly, polyphenols are found in much higher abundance in chocolate and cocoa. The amount of polyphenols in milk chocolate is equivalent to that of five servings of fruits and vegetables. The following is the measurement of the polyphenol content in 1.25 ounces of cocoa products:

• Milk chocolate 300 mg
• Dark chocolate 700 mg
• Cocoa powder 1,300 mg

Polyphenols are antioxidants that help the body’s cells resist damage from free radicals, which are formed in normal body processes as well as by environmental pollution, poor diet, alcohol and drug use, and smoking. Free radicals can damage cells, thereby causing cancer and accelerated aging of the body systems. Polyphenols in cocoa also minimize the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease such as heart attack and stroke. Reducing the oxidation rate of LDL cholesterol may be just as important as reducing the level of LDL cholesterol. Polyphenols also help inhibit platelet aggregation and activation, meaning they help prevent platelets from clumping together, therefore reducing the risk of arteriosclerosis. Cocoa polyphenols also seem to thin the blood, which slows the rate of coagulation, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke." – "Today" Show Food Editor Phil Lempert

As if women didn’t have enough excuses to eat chocolate, they’re now popping morsels into their mouths and proclaiming, "I’m eating health food!"  But remember, just one ounce of semisweet chocolate has 8 grams of fat, with 5 being saturated (25% of the daily recommended value).  50% of its calories come from fat, and nutritionists recommend a diet of 30% of calories from fat.  Eating too much chocolate can cancel out its health benefits.

Chocolate is a mixture of cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla.  Guess where all the nutrients and flavor come from?  I can in good conscience chug hot cocoa and proclaim it a health drink.

This banana hot cocoa was inspired by a recipe from Jacques Torres.  I swapped the chocolate with cocoa powder, so it’s lower in fat but not in flavor.  Since bananas are naturally sweet, you can also get away with using less processed sugar, and the banana/chocolate flavor is a classic combo.  Plus, bananas make it "arteriosclerotically thick," which is how NY Times writer Ed Levine described City Bakery’s legendary drink.

This drink packs a power punch: calcium and protein from the milk, potassium from the bananas and of course antioxidants from the cocoa.  Save your overripe bananas for this chocolately treat.

Banana Hot Cocoa

Inspired by a recipe from Jacques Torres
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 large overripe banana, mashed with a fork
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups milk

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except milk in a heavy saucepan. Stir in enough milk to make a paste.  Whisk in the remaining milk.  Scald the mixture over a medium-low flame.  Pour into a blender to make the drink smooth and frothy on top.  Pour into cups and enjoy!

If you’re feeling lazy, you can just microwave the mixture for about 3 minutes, or until hot.  You can skip the blender and leave the drink chunky.

Notes: I like my hot cocoa strong, with a 1:1 ratio of cocoa and sugar.  Most hot cocoa recipes call for a 1:2 ratio, so you can increase the sugar to your tastes.

As promised, here’s an extended tour of Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven in Manhattan. Part storefront, part chocolate factory, an outside glance of the building showcases its industrial side.

Can you guess which part’s the inside and which part’s a reflection from the outside?

Large windows allow passersby to spy the inner workings of Jacques’ store. Here, an “oompa loompa,” as he calls his employees, pops the chocolate out of its mold.

Unlike most chocolatiers, Jacques makes his own chocolate from scratch, all the way from bean selection to the roasting, grinding, conching, tempering and molding. (From what I’ve heard, most chocolatiers buy chocolate from somewhere else and then re-melt them into truffles.) In a recent chocolate demo, Jacques said that making chocolate didn’t make sense from a business standpoint. It would be a lot cheaper to outsource the chocolate, but Jacques loves the craft of chocolate so much that he can’t wait to come in every morning and smell the beans that have been conching (a process to smooth the gritty beans) all night.

A chocolate conveyer belt, in which goods are packaged.

Upon entering the store, a large welcome mat and bright red walls whet the visitor’s appetite for chocolate.

Here are more chocolate teasers: a two-foot tall bag of cocoa beans, molinillos (wooden Mexican whisks used to froth hot chocolate) scattered on the wall, and a metate y mano (a stone rolling pin traditionally used to mash cocoa beans into chocolate).

Before modern machinery, chocolate making was literally a hands-on process.

One of Jacques’ biggest draws are his truffles. I don’t know what’s more exciting: the exotic flavors like passion fruit, European peanut butter (hazelnuts and chocolate are a winning combination, as proven by my love for Nutella) and wicked fun (chili), or their $1 price tag! Yes, Jacques’ truffles are cheaper than Godiva’s!

More truffles.

Tower of chocolate bark.

Jacques also has a collection of ever-changing candy. Here, the chocolate-covered Cheerios show off his sense of humor.

In addition to the chocolate, the store has baked goods, including mini-cookies…

…and full-sized pastries if your wasteline can handle them.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven
350 Hudson at King Street (1 block South of Houston)
New York, New York 10014
212.414.2462 phone
212.414.2460 fax

Jacques Torres is my hero. I grew up watching his PBS show, Dessert Circus, where he made whimsical desserts, such as chocolate checkerboards with playing pieces, chocolate cages and croqombouche (a pyramid of cream puffs surrounded by spun sugar). The man can pipe out an entire batch of macaroons in one minute. I’ve made about a thousand macaroons, and it still takes me several minutes to form them.

Even more astonishing than Torres’ skill is his eagerness to share knowledge.  Besides serving as Dean of Pastry Studies at New York’s French Culinary Institute, Torres gives free Saturday demos about once a month at his Chocolate Haven store.

This week, he showed a crowd how to make a chocolate Christmas tree.

First, Torres explained that you must temper chocolate to realign the crystals…

…so it snaps cleanly when you break it.  Untempered chocolate develops white streaks (called bloom) on top, because the solids separated from the fat.  Once hardened, untempered chocolate won’t pull away from molds, so you’ll have to give people your molds along with your truffles, Torres said. His preferred method of tempering is melting chocolate over a double boiler and then adding solid chocolate to the liquid.  Then, use an immersion blender to break up the chocolate bits and circulate the good crystals.  Continue adding solid chocolate until the liquid measures 88F (for dark chocolate) or 86F (for milk and white chocolate).  To test the temper, dab some chocolate on the tip of a knife.  It should set up within one minute.

It’s easiest to keep the chocolate at the correct temperature if you work with a lot of it.  If you only temper one cup of chocolate at a time, it will cool down and harden too quickly…

…which is why Torres tempered about seven pounds of chocolate for the Christmas tree base.  If you have leftover chocolate, pour it in a pan and let it harden.  You will have to re-temper it if you work with it again.  What a pain.  Now I know why chef David Lebovitz hastily dips everything in leftover tempered chocolate.

Note: you only have to temper chocolate if you’re making candy or need a hard, glossy surface.  You do not need to temper chocolate for cake batters, mousse or ice cream.

The hardest part about working with chocolate is staying clean, Torres said. When I’m at home, I lick my fingers rather than wiping them (shh, don’t look).

To make the Christmas tree, temper white chocolate and pour it into a pan so it’s about 1/4-inch thick. Then cut out a stencil out of wax or parchment paper.

Lay the stencil on top of the chocolate and use a paring knife to cut around it. Don’t cut all the way through the chocolate on the first pass, or else it will crack. Just score the chocolate and go over it a couple times. But if your chocolate does crack, it’s okay, because you can always eat your mistakes, Torres said as he showed off his belly.

To make holes in the tree, heat up a metal cutter.

Oops, that was too hot.

Then use the cutter to plop out holes.

Torres made “glue” by putting melted chocolate in a parchment cone.

Torres and his assistant steadied the tree on top of the circular base and “glued” it in place.

Then, he glued truffle “ornaments” into the holes and on the ends of the tree.

Oops, one hole didn’t quite make it.

It was time to use some more fire power.

Next, Torres painted leaves…

…by using a mixture of powdered food coloring and melted cocoa butter.

Lastly, he painted some ornaments.

The finished product, along with a tree that was made earlier. Can you guess which one was prepared beforehand?

No, we did not get to eat the demo, but his staff did pass out samples of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and peanut butter cups. The peanut butter cups were what Reese’s were meant to be: intense peanut flavor without being overpowered by high-fructose corn syrup. The milk chocolate was a little too creamy for me though. I would have preferred it to have the snap of well-tempered chocolate.

Afterwards, I proudly bought a two-pound bag of dark chocolate.  At $6/pound, it’s the best bang for the buck, especially since Torres claimed it was fair trade.  Chances are, non-fair trade chocolate is made through child labor.  I’m not talking about young farmhands helping out their family.  I mean child slavery, in which children are reportedly bought for about $30 and forced to carry bags that are bigger than they are.  But that’s another post.

Torres’ “pistoles” were well-tempered (he practices what he preaches!) and had hints of caramel and coffee flavor.  I’m no expert on tasting chocolate, so excuse my description.  There were no patches of bitterness or acidity, but instead it was almost too neutral.  Of course, the last chocolate I used was Valrhona guanaja, which spoiled my tastes.  Guanaja’s flavors are so multi-faceted that eating it is a cerebral experience.  The taste lingers long after the chocolate is swallowed.  It’s a little bit woodsy and cherry like.

P.S.-If you look at the first picture of Torres and me, he’s wearing different clothes.  That’s because I met him during another demo in the summer.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven
350 Hudson at King Street (1 block South of Houston)
New York, New York 10014
212.414.2462 phone
212.414.2460 fax

Shows/Recipes:
Chocolate with Jacques Torres
Passion for Dessert with Jacques Torres
Blue-Chip Cookies for the NY Times

Books: