Gift to Myself

My favorite holiday aside from my birthday (though my birthday is not really a holiday but I like to think it is ☺) is Christmas. People are much nicer, much generous and the weather is great hardly ever rains and the sun isn't scorching hot, what's not to like? ☺  I specially love shopping gifts for my love ones and of course for myself, months before I try to save up my money so that when Christmas season shopping spree!

I was planning to buy an iPad but then I read that by Q1 2011 there would be a newer model so I decided to just wait for it. Panasonic GF-2 is second on my list but it will be out by guess when Q1 2011 too! Huh!!! I have to wait few more months to get these and I cannot decide which one I like best!

While waiting for my little babies to arrive, I console myself with a bunch of books! I got these during my recent trip to Hong Kong with my family. We spent our Christmas vacation there I know these are bulky and very heavy having to lugged them around to get them back home but hey C'est la vie! I'm so happy I did ☺

Muddy Mississippi Cake

Thank God for the invention of Internet! I was streaming Martha Stewart's previous show and was fortunate enough to stumble upon the episode where Matt Lewis was doing a demo for a Mississippi Mud Pie from his and Renato Poliafito new book entitled Baked Explorations. I'm on pins and needles waiting for this to be available here. I had their Baked book before the tragic flood, I still haven't got the change to replace that copy. I've been meaning to do that just waiting for the right timing meaning, the four letter word that makes my retail heart pitter patter, "SALE" of course! Why pay for something in full price when I can get it during sale? Though I have to be very patient with all the waiting. Sometimes I cannot help myself I buy at full price when I really really want the book.

Back to the topic on hand, the Mississippi Mud Pie aka Muddy Mississippi Cake. Unlike Martha who haven't tried Mississippi Pies before, I love them, I mean, what's not to love, the version,I ate had the crisp chocolate cookie crust then a layer of chocolate ice cream and a hefty blanket of whipped cream. This version though is more complicated than the ice cream type Mississippi Pie but was definitely worth all the effort and the dirty dishes.

 

This recipe has dozens of steps which can be a bit daunting but don't let that intimidate and stop you from making this heavenly creation. For the crust, I used up 3 rolls of chocolate centered Oreo cookies, 2 and a half rolls will do. But of course the baker has the priviledge of eating the leftover ingredient, which are excellent with a glass of cold milk. My only gripe is that the flourless chocolate layer called for coffee and on the show Matt said it would enhance the chocolate flavor and you wouldn't taste the coffee flavor but following the recipe as is, you will definitely taste the coffee in it. So coffee haters, take notice. I believe you can omit the coffee if you don't care for it. The chocolate pudding is so smooth and silky and very chocolatey that I could have grabbed a bowl and eat it as is. The billowy whipped cream that crowns the dark rich cake gives a nice palate cleanser and ready your tastebud for another overwhelming chocolate experience. I topped it off with a scattering of Christmas Non pareils for a festive holiday look and a a generous chocolate curls sits on top of the white bed of cream. How can this not taste good? With all that ingrefients that was put into it, I bet it would taste divine and I would probably do this again.

You can print out the recipe from here.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies

During one of my visit to one of my favorite cookery store, I found pounds of sugar free chocolates! I couldn't wait to use it, but you know life gets in the way and it took me weeks before finally getting a chance to enjoy it. With time on my hands and lots of nuts and chocolates that needed to be consumed before it gets bad. I made my favorite comfort food which is a Chocolate Chunk Cookies, what's good about this version is aside from the use of whole wheat flour, I also used Splenda instead of regular granulated and brown sugar. The recipe is from this awesome looking cookbook by Kim Boyce called Good to the Grain. Kim's recipe uses regular sugars, feel free to do so as well. Its just that from time to time, I like experimenting with Splenda, they don't often turn out the way I like it, however I learned from past experiences so I didn't encounter any problems making these. 

The whole wheat flour gave this cookie a bite, it's like eating oatmeal cookies without actually using oats. As you can see from the picture both the pecans and the chocolate was chopped chunky style, I could say I made it so, but the truth is I was a wee bit lazy and heck who doesn't love a chunks in their cookies, right? These taste awesome without feeling guilty afterwards.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

Whisk the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars. Once they are creamy, add the eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine.

Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix. Finally, add the chopped chocolate and just stir to incorporate.

Scoop balls of dough that are approximately 3 tablespoons worth. I used a quarter cup scoop to make it easy. These are big cookies, so six per sheet is plenty. Bake for 16-20 minutes, rotating the pans so that they each spend half the bake time on top and half the time on the bottom.

When the baking time is up, remove the cookies from the sheets and let them cool.