Cocoa

Have you been eating twice as much chocolate now that studies have shown conclusively that this miraculous bean is actually good for you? It’s certainly more appealing than gulping down a $7 wheatgrass shot with the rest of the aerobics squad at the health-food store. Here, then, is BabyCakes NYC’s ode to cocoa: A tried-and-true chocolate-worshiping recipe with crunchy edges and a soft, chewy center that will put you in antioxidant overdrive. Bonus tip: If you add minced fresh mint to the dough, the cookies taste just like Girl Scout Thin Mints! So here’s to putting those overachieving little nerdlettes out of business. (Oh, relax. Love, love you gals!)

This building block in the pastry kitchen can’t really stand on its own, yet so many desserts depend on it. Use this intense sauce as a layer in a parfait, as a chocolate fondue, as plate decoration, and—of course—on ice cream.

A chocolate pastry cream lightened with meringue, this crème chiboust is an elegant topping for a bowl of warm roasted berries. When I make this to finish Meyer Lemon Tarts (page 121), I freeze it and cut it into disks.

When I was a young cook, every restaurant I worked in used a tuile to present ice cream. The tuiles kept the ice cream from sliding around on the plate; but while they were pretty, they didn’t impart any flavor. So I started making crumbles and streusels to set underneath ice creams. They have the added bonus of reinforcing flavors and adding texture. I lay quenelles of ice cream on a pile of these intense chocolate crumbs, but you could easily sprinkle the crumble over a scoop of ice cream.

This recipe came from Maya Eyler, a cook who worked for me at Daniel. I don’t remember the story behind it, but I think it was a family recipe—which makes sense. It’s an old-style cake, using mayonnaise to ensure moistness. I make it as a sheet cake and use it as a component in several desserts. Baked in a cake pan for a little longer and layered with ganache or frosting, it could become a birthday cake, though.

Because this pastry is good at maintaining its shape and withstanding humidity, it’s the dough I turn to for blind-baking. It’s ideal for tarts with custard or light pastry cream fillings—or even Chocolate Crème Chiboust (see page 263). Sometimes I roll this pastry out flat, bake it until crisp, and then process it to use as a crumble under ice cream.

This recipe works for chocolate tart crusts, chocolate sugar cookies, and as a cheesecake base. You can keep a batch in the freezer to be ready for any dessert challenge that arises. Although the method given below is safer in terms of overmixing, if you are in a rush, toss all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times until you get a smooth dough.

The French named this dessert cream after a castle in the town of Chantilly, a culinary hot spot in the 1800s. If you love whipped cream and chocolate, you’ll appreciate this long-lasting, perfect marriage. This recipe makes enough icing for 2 generous coats on a cake and decorations.

This is my favorite fudge cake. It is light, but also buttery, chocolaty, soft, and moist. Its texture is strong enough to hold up to buttercream, which can drag a lesser cake down. This cake goes with each of the four icings presented in this chapter.

Blending Fair Trade coffee with Fair Trade cocoa allows us to support those who serve the world coffee and chocolate. It also helps us celebrate the classic European flavor combination of coffee and chocolate, mixed here as you might find them in an Italian café, with tangy mascarpone cheese and lemon. To make the cookie crumbs for the crust, see the recipe for Chocolate Sugar Dough (page 132) or buy plain cookies (like Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chessman). Toss about twenty cookies of either type in the blender, pulse two or three times, and you will have dark chocolate cookie crumbs. You’ll need a cheesecake or springform pan, and most grocery store versions of this work fine. When the cake is baked and chilled, release the latch, slice, and serve. Be sure to clean your knife with a warm wet towel for each slice.

Like chocolate, the chile peppers that give chili its name and flavor come from Mexico. By assembling the many ingredients below and allowing them to cook together over low heat, you can easily imagine earlier versions of this Mexican stew (despite a few modern concessions). The cocoa powder adds depth and earthiness to the spicy indigenous flavors. This is a big batch and serves 15 people. You can also freeze it.

Authentic, fiery mole sauces from the southern region of Mexico take days to prepare. This is a relatively quick version of the chunky, spicy, and chocolatey, mole negro or “black sauce.” To experience the full flavors of peppers, native spices, and fresh chocolate, book a culinary vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico, the Land of Seven Moles, where you can explore a district known as the Trail of Chocolate. In the meantime, get fresh ingredients from your local farmers’ market. You can substitute jalepeños for the poblano chiles, but the dark dried ancho and mulato chiles are important to bring the sauce to its characteristic deep chocolate brown. This will make a large batch of sauce designed to thin and use for a meal, then freeze and thaw as needed.

No apologies here. These are dense and decadent. You’ll want to use a strong dark chocolate—something that stands up to the richness of great butter, fresh eggs, and a lot of sugar.

This rich cocoa warms the heart and soul like no other. After you’ve served the cocoa, the leftover amount makes a good base for chilly chocolate milk the next day. Store it in the refrigerator and just splash in cold, fresh milk to lighten it up.

Handmade caramel is sophisticated and soothingly sweet, especially when combined with the bold flavors of artisan chocolate. You can also dip these bonbons in tempered chocolate before you dust them to create chocolate caramel truffles.

You’ll be happy to eat veggies for dessert when you taste these cakelike brownies. Zucchini is the surprise ingredient.

A rich pool of fudge sauce works its way to the bottom of this decadent-tasting cake as it bakes. This dessert is best when served warm but is excellent even at room temperature.

Gina: When I’m hanging with my girlfriends and we want something strong and sweet, this smooth, sexy cocktail, flavored with chocolate, coffee, and banana, does the trick. A splash of espresso gives us the fuel to stay awake for another round.

Gina: Red Velvet Cake is beloved throughout the South. It’s sweet and moist, with a deep-crimson hue that comes from the addition of red food coloring to the cake batter. In the old days, folks used beets or red cabbage to dye their cakes! Red Velvet is a buttermilk cake, which is one of the reasons it’s so moist; there’s also cocoa in the batter, which is one of the reasons it’s popular with children (that, and the traditional cream-cheese frosting). It’s red and white, but it tastes black and white, and it’s always a stunner when you cut into one. Making someone a layer cake is an investment. It takes time, hon. But it’s also a beautiful, loving gesture, and nicer than any present you can buy. This sexy cake is easier than you might think to assemble, and the results are sure to steal the show at any party.

Tartufi made with homemade chocolate ice cream are delicious. You can make your life simpler by substituting store-bought ice cream and proceeding to form and coat the tartufi as described below.

The texture of the chocolate-amaretto custard is very delicate, so be sure to slice the pears very thin, so you can eat the dessert with a spoon.