chocolate cake for the soul

Pastoral care takes many forms.  Today, this is what it looked like as I met with a teenager in my church, chatted with her about friends, prom dresses and life goals and helped her write Prayers of the People for Sunday.  And we ate this amazing chocolate cake.  And homemade creamy hummus with crunchy grilled bread.

In other news...I start Zumba classes tomorrow.  :)

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

chocolate, vegetable, miracle

I know what you're thinking: "Zucchini (or courgette as some folks say) and chocolate?  Lilrevchef, you must be confused.  Zucchini: that's a vegetable.  Therefore, it has no place with chocolate!" (Did anyone see The Next Food Network Star this season?  Chocolate-dipped asparagus made an appearance. *shudder*)

I hear ya, people.  But when my friend Emily mentioned baking chocolate chip cookies with zucchini in them, I was intrigued.  Zucchini chocolate chip cookies.  Hmm.  That's just a hop, skip and a jump away from sweet zucchini bread, right?  The recipe is originally from Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Mineral and you can find it here.   I'll walk you through it, though, with plenty of pictures for you people who are as visual as I am.

You need to finely grate a zucchini, until you have a cup.  I'm going to be honest with you: it doesn't look lovely.  It actually gets a bit gooey and slimy (words you may prefer not to hear in a cookie recipe).  But, trust me, it makes super moist, soft cookies.  And you don't taste the zucchini a bit.

Start with a big bowl and beat one egg (room temperature for baking).

Add in 1 stick (4 oz) of butter, also softened at room temperature.

Add in 1/2 cup light brown sugar and 1/3 cup of honey.

Lastly, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

Whisk together until everything's incorporated.

Grab a second (smaller) bowl and put 1/2 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.

Add 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Use a fork to blend it all together.

Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and mix well.

Toss in that 1 cup of grated zucchini/courgette and 12 ounces of chocolate chips, stirring together.

Drop spoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and flatten a bit on top.  Bake in a preheated 350ºF/176ºC for 20 minutes.  Barbara's recipe says 10-15 minutes, but mine took 20.  So, of course, adjust as needed for your oven.  They don't get a lot of color on them, but will just begin to brown at the edges.

It made 3 dozen cookies for me (though the recipe says only 2).

Let cool on a cookie rack.

They're SO tasty.  And I like to think good for you (at least better than regular cookies).  You certainly see the zucchini in them (which I don't mind) but you don't taste it.

The zucchini gives these cookies a moist, cakey texture and the hint of cinnamon and nutmeg adds an interesting depth.  And the chocolate, well, it does its thing and makes them divine.  Who knew veggies and chocolate got along so well?  Though, I don't think I'll be making chocolate asparagus anytime soon!

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

nutella brownie heaven

Nutella.  That rockstar chocolate hazelnut spread that is delectable on toast, on brownies (see below) or, let's be honest, just on a spoon.  Is there anything better?    I'm gonna walk you through an amazing brownie recipe that's slathered with that spreadable heaven and topped with toasted, fragrant hazelnuts.  Go ahead, indulge your chocolate craving...

This recipe makes about 16 smallish brownies (they're so rich that small's okay, I promise).  Here's what ya need to make these chocolatey squares of goodness:

5 ounces (150 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons (15 grams) cocoa powder

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purposeflour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (125 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips (they call these "optional": I do not!)

Here's some of what ya need.  This is the chocolate I used (and I went ahead and put all 6 ounces in the brownies).

(It even has cute little mountain goats on it.)

Finely chop that fantastic chocolate.

Now, you're going to set up a double boiler, which is a foolproof way to melt chocolate.  If you get chocolate too hot, it will separate on you.  Not good.  So you just boil water in a pan and put a stainless bowl on top of it, being sure that the water doesn't touch the bowl.

Melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring all the while.  This will only take a couple of minutes.

It's done melting when it's glossy and liquid.  Immediately remove from the heat.

Add 2 T cocoa power...

...and one cup of sugar, stirring well to mix together.

Next, add three eggaroos and 1 t of vanilla.

Whisk well to incorporate it all together.

Almost done!  Add 3/4 cup flour and a pinch of salt.  Stir just to incorporate and add in chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 8 inch square pan and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F/180 degrees C oven and bake for about 35 minutes (that's how long it took me) until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a bit of clumps on it.  They're meant to be gooey brownies, so you don't want them to dry out.

While they're baking, hydrate, y'all.  If you're in Texas like me, it's ridiculously hot and baking in the middle of summer's hard work, so drink lots of water!

They look amazing, no?  But just you wait, 'enri 'iggens, just you wait! (If you don't get this reference, you should know that I love Audrey Hepburn.  If you're still confused, you need to get a little more Audrey in your life!)

Spread a layer of nutella on top and scatter toasted hazelnuts on top.  Get ready for hazelnut-chocolate heaven!

Bon appetit!

lilrevchef