Books I’m reading

Intro

Making Artisan Chocolates by Andrew Garrison Shotts

Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner

Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Light and Dark by Mort Rosenblum

Essence of Chocolate by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger

In what little time I do have to sit down and enjoy a good read I pick up one (or all) of these new additions to my ever growing library.

Do you notice a theme?

I haven’t made this yet but I think it looks so delicious.

One-Pot Sour Cream Cake

Contributed by Stephanie Hersh

1/2 cup water

2 tbl. cocoa powder

8 tbl. butter (unsalted, cut into cubes)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 large egg

1/4 cup sour cream

whipped cream and chocolate curls to finish

Heat oven to 350* Butter and flour a cupcake pan. This recipe will make 9 cupcakes.

Combine water, cocoa powder and butter in a sauce pan. Gently heat until butter is melted. Whisk to combine then add the sugar. Take pan off of the heat and continue to whisk until smooth. Whisk in flour and baking soda. Add the egg and sour cream – continue to whisk until batter is uniform in color.

Bake 25 – 30 min until cake springs back when gently pressed. Let completely cool. Garnish with whipped cream and curls.

This comes from Essence of Chocolate which is a gorgeous book with an indepth knowledge of chocolate and the interesting story of how Scharffenberger came to be. The photography in this book leaves your mouth watering and the recipes seem simple by nature which leaves the true flavor of the chocolate to emmerge.

I will be able to give a more indepth review when I find the time to really devour these books.