'Tis the season for a little indulgence, especially if it's in the name of gift-giving! Here are a few of my favorite chocolate treats to bring to parties and give as treats, all of which just happen to be gluten-free...
Herbs that Combine Well with Chocolate
Peppermint & Other Mints, Vanilla, Lavender, Ginger, Orange Zest, Rose Petals, Tarragon (esp w/white chocolate), Chiles, Coffee, Bay, Star Anise, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Basil, Holy Basil/Tulsi... Let your imagination go wild!Infusing Herbs in Chocolate:
Heat your chocolate recipe, remove from heat and add some flavorful herbs. Let sit 30 minutes or more, (reheat if necessary to liquefy) then strain and proceed with recipe. Be very careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will separate.Simple Chocolate Recipes:
* These recipes use this infusion technique or could be adapted with it.- Lavender Chocolate: Grind one teaspoon of dry lavender flowers to a coarse powder. Melt 3 oz of dark chocolate in a double boiler or carefully in the microwave. Stir in lavender, and spread onto wax paper to make a new bar, let harden.
- Peppermint Brownies: Add one to two tablespoons of dried peppermint leaves to your favorite brownie recipe or mix and prepare as usual. Cut into small brownie pieces (~20 pieces for a box mix makes it around 100 calories per brownie).
- Chocolate Sauce*: Whisk together equal parts real maple syrup and pure cocoa powder, add vanilla extract to taste. Use about 1 tablespoon per serving to drizzle over fruit.
- Coconut Chocolate Fudge*: Melt and mix together equal parts dark chocolate and unrefined coconut oil in a double-boiler. Pour onto a rimmed sheet covered in wax paper, cool in the fridge to harden. You can also sprinkle this with nuts, a dusting of nutmeg or cinnamon, etc. (It will melt if you let it get too warm.)
- Decadent Gorp: Chocolate chips, almonds, and dried cranberries (one small handful is a serving!)
- Herbal Cocoa: Make 6 oz of tea using a chocolate-friendly herb like rose petals, holy basil, peppermint, cinnamon, or star anise. Strain the herbs and then add an all-natural hot cocoa mix to the tea.
Favorite Fancy Chocolate Dessert Recipes
Brigham's Hot Fudge Sauce*
This recipe makes a QUART of hot fudge, so plan to bring it to a party, give some away, or freeze it in smaller containers. It keeps for about a month in the fridge. When cold or room temp, it will be very thick, almost fudge-y, so you'll want to warm it to pour over ice cream or brownies. ( like to just eat it in this semi-solid state by the spoonful, though. Why ruin it with ice cream? You can adapt this recipe by changing the vanilla extract for mint, orange, etc, but I love the original so much I've never done this. Buy the best quality chocolate you can find or afford, your fudge will be much better for it. I've doubled the chocolate and halved the sugar on the original recipe - my adaptation is below. One heaping teaspoon (1/2 oz) has about 50 calories.· 8 oz of quality baking chocolate or equivalent of powdered baking cocoa
· 1/2 lb of confectioner’s sugar
· 1 stick of butter (no substitutions!)
· 1 can (13 1/2 oz) evaporated milk
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan. Alternately add milk and sugar. Stirring, bring to a slow boil (bubbles just around the edge of the pan). Remove from heat, add vanilla, stir. Pour into 1 quart jar or into smaller jars. Keep refrigerated or freeze. (It is NOT shelf stable.)
Chocolate Truffles*
This recipe is adapted from the one at on www.herbcompanion.com. You can find similar recipes by Susan Belsinger in Not Just Desserts and Jerry Traunfeld in The HerbFarm Cookbook.
- 14 ounces high-quality semisweet chocolate chips or finely chopped block chocolate
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Herbs to Infuse: 1 cup loosely packed fresh herbs (ie: peppermint leaves or dried spices), coarsely chopped, or 2-4 tablespoons dried herbs
- 8 ounces premium white or semisweet chocolate, tempered** or melted
- Optional to roll around truffle: About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar or tinted sanding sugar, garnish
Combine cream and coarsely chopped herb leaves (or spice of choice) in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring mixture to scalding point, turn off heat and steep the herb(s) in warm cream about 30 minutes. Strain cream into another nonreactive saucepan to remove herbs. Squeeze herbs over pan to recover any retained cream; discard herbs.
Gently reheat cream to scalding point. Strain hot cream through a fine-meshed sieve directly onto chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. Let mixture sit 1 to 2 minutes before stirring to allow cream to melt chocolate; gently whisk until chocolate and cream have come together and the filling is perfectly smooth. If chocolate does not melt completely, place bowl over barely simmering water, stirring as needed to achieve desired consistency. Pour filling into a small bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight, until mixture is very firm.
To Finish: Using a 11⁄4-inch melon baller, scoop truffle mixture into small (1⁄2-ounce) spheres. Roll spheres between palms to smooth out any lumps or divots. Place a single sphere on a fork and submerge in tempered or melted white or semisweet chocolate. Shake off excess and set truffle on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining spheres. (You can stick a shelf-stable indicator – such as a dried rose petal or piece of crystallized ginger – to the top of the truffle while the chocolate is still warm.) As soon as cookie sheet is filled, set it in refrigerator to allow dipping chocolate to solidify completely. Transfer truffles to an airtight container and store in refrigerator until ready to eat.
Just before serving, remove truffles from refrigerator, trim off any chocolate “feet” with scissors and roll truffles in confectioners’ or sanding sugar, as desired.
**Google “how to temper chocolate easy” for techniques. It’s not necessary, but it will make for a shiny rather than dull finished product.
Peppermint Fudgy Black Bean Brownie Bites (Gluten-Free!)
(with a Raspberry Brownie variation in the description)Hoping to make something a little more virtuous yet still indulgent? These brownies are a riff off the dairy-free, gluten-free recipe found here; however, I've made a lot of adaptations. It's particularly amazing baked as mini cupcakes and topped with ganache. This recipe is easily adapted to other flavors. For example, you can skip the peppermint and top the ganache with a raspberry.
- One 15-ounce can (or 2 cups homemade, slightly overcooked) black beans, drained and rinsed very well
- 4 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons melted butter (or canola oil)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (or maple syrup)
- 1/2+ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (to taste - I use about 1 cup+)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract or 1 tablespoon dry peppermint leaves, optional
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (optional – I like better without)
Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, butter/oil, sugar/syurp, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, peppermint extract/leaves, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth. If using chips, add 1/4 cup of the chips and pulse a few times until the chips are incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan (for brownies, smooth the top with a rubber spatula) and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips, if using.
Bake until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing into squares (if serving as regular brownies) or frosting with ganache.
Traditional Brownies: Bake at 350°F in a lightly oiled 8x8-inch baking pan for 30-35 minutes. Makes 16 brownies (cut into 2-inch squares). Chocolate chips work better in this recipe b/c they have more time to melt.
Mini-Cupcake Brownie Bites: Bake at 350°F in a mini cupcake tin with cupcake papers (or w/o, if it’s well-oiled or nonstick) for approximately 15 minutes. Makes 24 mini cupcakes. Chocolate chips work better in this recipe b/c they have more time to melt, but this is amazing when topped with a bit of ganache.
Ganache: I make ganache by melting down equal parts heavy cream and dark chocolate. Once it cools I scoop it into a ziplock bag, snip an end, and use that as a pastry bag. If you have leftovers, you can just put that bag into another ziplock and store it in the freezer til you need it next.
Freeze It! To really wow guests with fresh-baked desserts, freeze the raw dough in the cupcake tin (using wrappers). Once solid, put them in a freezer bag. When you want to cook them, pop the desired number of frozen cupcakes into your tin.
Chocolate Tea Blends
Chocolate Mint Tea
Delicious like an Andes candy with no sugar at all!- 2 tsp peppermint
- 1 tsp cocoa nibs
- 1/8 – 1/4 vanilla bean, snipped into small pieces (or a squirt of vanilla extract)
Cocoa Coconut Tea
Deliciously rich and reminiscent of a candy bar or cookie - no cream or sugar needed.- 2 tsp toasted shredded coconut (unsweetened)
- 1 tsp cocoa nibs
- 1/8 – 1/4 vanilla bean, snipped into small pieces (or a squirt of vanilla extract)
And, it's lovely weather for a...
Holiday Cocoa Tea
This blend features evergreen needles, mint, and chocolate in a delightful blend that makes it feel like Christmas!- 2 tsp peppermint
- 1 tsp cocoa nibs
- 1 tsp hemlock* needles
- 1 tsp lemon balm
- 1 tsp rose petals
- 1/4 vanilla bean, snipped into small pieces
* Hemlock TREE (a common evergreen in these parts) is totally NOT poisonous and unrelated to the deathly poisonous hemlock wildflowers. Click here to learn more about hemlock needles and how to identify and harvest your own.
Maria runs Wintergreen Botanicals in Allenstown, offering on-site and online classes and herbal health consultations. For more herb-inspired recipes and information about herbs, visit www.WintergreenBotanicals.com. Her first herbal book is due out from Storey Publishing by spring 2016.
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