Must Love Chocolate

As you know Valentines Day is around the corner. But seriously now, it's a little cheesy and far too commercialized for me to get into the festivities of it all, if you know what I mean. At the same time, NOT doing anything sounds like a relationship in a rut of oldness and boring nights in front of the TV. When I think of love, my thoughts often wander to chocolate, so I declare Valentines Day the official day of cocoa, with a little love on the side.

Can't find a sitter? Not to worry, it's easy to impress with these smooth and rather rich Chocolate Pots de Creme. I think just about anyone can make these! A stemmed glass really brings it up to another level, too. Use good quality dark chocolate, it's Valentines Day, after all!

Chocolate Pots de Creme

Serves 2 - can easily be doubled if you include more than just yourselves for Valentines Dinner!

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3oz (90g) bittersweet chocolate (70%), chopped

garnish:

whipping cream

icing sugar

Heat milk and sugar in a small sauce pan. Stir at all times, milk scorches very quickly.

Lightly beat egg yolks a medium size bowl. While whisking, pour the milk mixture into the egg yolks. Don't stop whisking, unless you want scrambled eggs!

Return everything to the sauce pan. Cook gently, again always stirring, until mixture comes just to a boil. Continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted.

Pour into two ramekins or small glasses. Chill completely before serving - give it a couple of hours, or even overnight.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

To make sweetened whipping cream, add 1 tsp of icing sugar to 1/2 cup of cream and whip until thick.

Baking, not my strength

I (kinda) love to bake. But baking does not love me. I am wondering if it could be that I don't enjoy the process as much as cooking, possibly because my sense of smell is not put into action until the aromas come pouring out of the oven, and I so in turn do not put as much love into what I am doing. Maybe it's because I know I can only eat a small portion of what I am making, not a full plate of it as when I am preparing dinner. But nevertheless, I do try hard not to buy much prepackaged, as I can not get past those long lists of ingredients, with words I would need to google to ever understand.
However, today my fridge is horribly empty and I am trying to hold out on grocery shopping until the weekend. So I pulled myself together and made Cinnamon Buns - not something for the every day, but certainly something I enjoy the end result of! I tried a different recipe, but it didn't bring the best results. I am quite sure this is due to my baking talents, not the recipe, as it is by Williams-Sonoma.
What I wanted to write about today is that I have discovered something that could enhance special breakfasts, such as Christmas, New Years or perhaps a birthday. You may know this already, but I had no clue: The day before a big breakfast, make up your sweet dough for the buns, then - after the dough has risen, punch it down, load it up with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, then roll up and slice into individual cinnamon buns. Place them in your baking pan, then double wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 - 24 hours. Now doesn't that open up possibilities! Just place at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking, and there you have it, fresh, warm cinnamon buns perfectly timed for that special day!


ALSO, for an extra kick of shine and a gorgeous golden hue, brush the cinnamon buns immediately before and after baking with a little milk or half-and-half. You may not even feel the need for icing after this..