Chocolate, as many a person will say, is near and dear to my heart. I love it dark, I love it milky, I love it melted over dessert, mixed with hot milk, or right out of the wrapper. There are few kinds of chocolate that I don’t enjoy, and since even WebMD says it’s good for me, who am I to argue? (Ok, ok, so they were talking about dark chocolate by itself, not baked into other things, but now we’re getting technical.) What kind of chocolate do you like?

Chocolate has long been intertwined with human history. Originally it was cultivated by pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Maya and Aztec, who used it as a basic component in a variety of sauces, beverages and even ceremonial rituals. According to The Essence of Chocolate, by John Scharffenberger, Montezuma would order fifty cups of chocolate prepared before he visited his harem. He probably just wanted to make his women happy by sending them chocolate before visiting, but some historians believe that he would go from cup to cup, sipping just the foam from each. Chocolate was thought to be an aphrodisiac and early Mesoamericans never drank it without frothing it first. Why? Because they believed the foam held the true essence of the drink. They would froth their beverages by pouring a combination of chocolate and water from one vessel to another from a height of three or four feet, the churning action resulting in a rich, foamy top. Indeed, this pratice was so popular that archaeologists have found illustrations of it on pottery shards dating back to 750 A.D. Chocolate became popular in Spain shortly after Cortes brought cacao to the Spanish court in 1529, but the Spaniards kept chocolate a closely held secret until 1660. In that year princess Maria Theresa married Louis XIV and brought enormous wooden chests full of cacao with her to France. She also brought a staff of servants whose sole task was to grind the beans on a metate, then use the resulting powder to make chocolate confections.

Chocolate Pull-Apart Kuchen

Monkey bread (also known as Kuchen) is one of my favorite things to bake so you can imagine my delight when I came across a recipe for a chocolate version of it. After making a sweet, yeasted dough you form it into balls, roll them in butter, then roll those in a mixture of ground pecans, chocolate and sugar. The end result is a heavenly smelling sweet bread that is really - really - hard to resist right out of the oven. My husband loved it and we both agree that this kuchen rates right up there with our all-time favorite sugared monkey bread. It’s called “pull-apart kuchen” because pieces literally pop right off when you grab them - no utensils required!

More photos after the jump!
Read the rest of this entry »

// Edit: I thought you might like to know that Sephora.com currently has a 20% off promotion using code FF2006. (Expires 11/26) //

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved ice cream. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry… or when I was feeling indecisive, neapolitan! When I was a kid my parents used to take my brother and I to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Going there was a special treat, and after a huge plate of pasta topped with mizithra cheese I’d always order a serving of spumoni ice cream. Ah, those were the days. What was your favorite ice cream flavor as a child?

Though I still love spumoni, for the past few years my favorite flavor of ice cream has been coconut. I love it’s sweetness and texture, but since I’ve yet to find it at the grocery store my indulgences have been limited to the rare fancy restaurant visit. Even Cold Stone doesn’t serve it, and though one can get a “mock” version by ordering a yummy coconut cream pie combination, it just isn’t the same.

Then my birthday rolled around and the hubby gave me an ice cream maker along with several books on making gourmet ice cream. Joy!! Moments after opening the box I popped the core of the machine into the freezer for it’s 24 hour freezing period, and by the next evening we had ourselves a lusciously flavorful batch of homemade coconut ice cream.

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream

Indeed, this stuff is so good that I skipped my free birthday ice cream at Cold Stone in favor of eating what we’d made at home. (I’d even go so far as to say that this is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.) If you’re a coconut & ice cream fan who has an ice cream maker at home, do give this recipe a go. Next week I’ll be posting a recipe for vanilla ice cream made with rose water. I’m thinking it’ll be an excellent companion to thanksgiving apple pie. :yum:

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream
Tools: cookie sheet, sauce pan, strainer, ice cream maker

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Place in the hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the coconut turns a light brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs with a hand held mixer until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

Combine the half-and-half with the coconut milk in a heavy medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot liquid into the eggs and sugar. Briefly rinse your saucepan and rub dry with paper towel or cloth. Pour the eggs, sugar, etc mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, about five minutes, then stir in the toasted coconut, heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold (about 5 hours) or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours. (We froze ours overnight and had perfect, scoopable ice cream the next evening.)

This delicious recipe is from: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More by Bruce Weinstein. The ice cream was made with a Cuisinart ICE-20 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, and Sorbet Maker.