Recipes

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate

Aztec Chocolate I wrote an article for the Irish Times (should be in the Dec. 5th issue) about chocolate, and as part of my research I found out that until the 1830s, chocolate was only a beverage. This got me thinking about doing more variations on the hot chocolates we serve in the shops, and it seemed to me the first place to start was with an homage to Montezuma, the Aztec king of chocolate.

Myth has it that he drank 50 cups of chocolate a day, using golden goblets that were not re-used. He considered chocolate to be a great aphrodisiac, and would always down a goblet or two before visiting his concubines.

Jalapeno PepperChocolate, for the Aztecs and for the Mayans before them, contained spices including hot chilli peppers. This was echoed in the movie Chocolate.

In any case, here’s my recipe. I think it’s a great holiday drink, especially on a cold night!

Murphys Aztec Hot Chocolate Recipe

200 g chocolate (good quality 70%)
800 ml milk
60 gm sugar (4 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Very small pinch dried jalapeno (about 1/16th teasp)

Melting Chocolate1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave.
2. Heat the milk, sugar, and spices together to about 45C and whisk to make sure the spices are dispersed and the sugar is dissolved.
3. Strain to remove the chilli pepper.
4. Add the warmed milk to the melted chocolate in small parts, mixing all the time, to create a smooth emulsion.
5. Warm to drinking temperature (55C).
6. Garnish with grated chocolate and/or whipped cream and enjoy!

Six servings.

Notes:
1. The quality will really depend on the quality of chocolate that you use. I suggest Valrhona, Callebaut, or Lindt dark chocolate.
2. The amount of sugar will vary depending on the chocolate. Obviously you can add more if you want it sweeter. Adding less won’t necessarily make it more “chocolate-y” as the taste buds need some sweetness to bring out the flavour of the chocolate.
3. Beware of the jalapeno. Taste the milk as it’s cooking, and strain it if it’s getting too spicy. It should warm you, not burn you!

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Rum Raisin Ice Cream (Risí­ní­) Recipe

Rum Raisin Ice Cream Closeup This time of year, as the weather gets colder, I tend to like ice cream flavours that are a bit deeper and a bit warmer. The alcohol in rum raisin will make the ice cream feel less cold on the palate, and I think it’s a perfect flavour to serve coming into winter. So here’s the recipe…

Murphys Rum Raisin (Risí­ní­) Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Raisins soaked in rum1 cup Sugar

5 Egg Yolks

1 3/8 Cups Cream

1 1/8 Cups Milk

1/3 Cup dark Rum

3/4 Cup Raisins or Sultanas

What to do:

  1. Combine the rum and the raisins the night before. Cover and let soak. 
  2. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
  3. Bring the milk to a simmer.
  4. Remove from the heat.
  5. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
  6. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat.
  7. Stir until the custard thickens (around 60C).
  8. Allow the custard to cool to refrigeration temperature.
  9. Mix in the cream, beating for one minute.
  10. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.
  11. Add the rum and the raisins once the ice cream has become reasonable solid, then continue freezing until ready.

Rum Raisin Ice Cream6 Servings

Notes: 1. It is important to soak the raisins in the rum. Otherwise, the raisins will become icy in the ice cream.

2. If you want to cut the soaking process a bit, you can prick the raisins with a pin or needle so that the rum will get inside faster…

3. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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Fudge in Black and White

Black and White Fudge With Wiebke our baker out on maternity leave, I decided to vary things up slightly for the Dingle shop. I’ve always been a big fan of fudge, so I decided to try a combination fudge with dark and white chocolate. It came out very well, and here’s a recipe if you want to try it!

You will need a thermometer. The temperatures are very important!

Kieran’s Fudge Recipe

Ingredients:

1000 gmFudge caster sugar

500 ml cream

120 gm 70% chocolate

120 gm white chocolate

80 gm butter

What to Do 

  1. Take half the sugar, half the cream and half the butter and combine with the dark chocolate in a good, thick-bottomed pan (it shouldn’t be too small, or it’s more likely it will burn).
  2. Melt over low heat, stirring until chocolate and sugar are dissolved.
  3. Cease stirring, increase the heat, and bring the temperature to 115C.
  4. Place the pan in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process (you can use your sink, half-filled with water).
  5. Cool until 80C. Beat with wooden spoon until fudge lightens in colour and becomes more solid.
  6. Pour into baking tray and cool until the fudge sets.
  7. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients and the white chocolate.
  8. Cut and serve.

(Note: I put in some of the Valrhona craquantes into the white chocolate fudge just before pouring it into the pan and gave it a quick stir. The chocolate melted, and that’s what gives it the marbled effect…)

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Meringues

Meringue with Raspberry Sorbet I wrote here about ice cream cakes, and I’ve been playing with a meringue base for them. We have excess egg whites from making our ice cream, so it makes sense. Besides, it would make the ice cream cakes gluten-free.

Meringues are not hard to make, and they are a great treat. Whether on their own or as a nest for another dessert (as in with the raspberry sorbet in the photo above), they are a real crowd-pleaser. I like them with a little hint of lemon.

Murphys Meringues Recipe

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites

300gm (1.5 cup) sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon juice

What to Do

  1. MeringuePreheat the oven to 140C.
  2. Butter a large baking sheet.
  3. Beat the egg whites (if using an electric mixer, do this at medium speed rather than high speed, which will take a bit longer but give the meringues more strength) until fairly stiff.
  4. Beat in the sugar in a slow stream, and then add the vanilla and lemon, mixing all the time.
  5. Beat until very stiff and shiny.
  6. Using two spoons, place on the baking sheet. It should make 10 large meringues, so divide accordingly.
  7. You can shape them as you wish!
  8. Bake for 45 minutes.
  9. Cool on wire racks.

Note: If you want to make nests, the easiest way is with a piping bag. Start in the centre, work out in a tight spiral, then build up the sides… 

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Pear and Ginger Zabaglione

Zabaglione One of my favourite desserts is zabaglione, a rich Italian custard, made with Marsala wine. It’s complex, not too sweet, and packs a nice alcohol punch. I’ve had a bad cold the past few days, but today I felt recovered enough to pull out the pans and treat myself.

Pear and Ginger Zabaglione

Ingredients:

2 poached pears (see here)

5 egg yolks

100 g sugar

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

200 ml dry Marsala wine

Mixing custardWhat to Do:

1. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar until they turn pale yellow.

2. Add the Marsala wine, beating all the time.

3. Add the ginger.

4. Transfer to a double boiler (I used a metal bowl over a pan of water).

5. Continue whisking the mixture until the volume doubles and coats the back of a spoon.

Zabaglione6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

7. To serve, distribute the custard among 4 bowls and top with the poached pears.

Serves 4

Note: This dessert works well with many different fruits – strawberries, peaches, etc. Have fun and experiment.

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Blackberry and Apple Ice Cream

Blackberry Ice Cream It’s wonderful heading into autumn, because it brings up a whole new interesting set of flavour possibilities.

My last post was about blackberries, and yesterday I had occasion to wander around my back garden for the first time in ages.

Apple

There, on the little apple trees planted by my landlady, were the most beautiful and tasty apples.

It didn’t take much to put apple and blackberry together – those two fruits are made for each other, and I immediately went making ice cream… 

If you have access to both fruits, here’s a recipe that yields a very cream dessert…

Murphys Blackberry and Apple Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar 

5 Egg Yolks 

1 3/8 Cups Cream

1 1/8 Cups Milk

Juice of half a lemon 

1 Apple

1 Blackberry Coulis Recipe

What to do:

  1. Make the blackberry coulis (recipe here)
  2. Peel and core the apple, and blend together with the lemon juice and coulis as soon as you have strained the latter (it’s more liquid when hot, which will make things easier). Refrigerate until cool.
  3. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. 
  4. Bring the milk to a simmer. Remove from the heat.
  5. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
  6. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. 
  7. Stir until the custard thickens (around 60C).
  8. Allow the custard to cool.
  9. Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Do not over-whip!
  10. Fold in the custard and blackberry-apple coulis.
  11. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.

Blackberry Ice Cream Plate12 Servings

Notes: 1. You can add a bit of cinnamon or vanilla if it’s to your taste.

2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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Blackberry Coulis

Blackberries The blackberry season in Dingle hasn’t been great. I don’t know if the last month has been too wet, but so many of the prime picking areas are less than inspiring.

However, there are blackberries to be had, and one great thing to do with them is to make a blackberry coulis. This is basically a sauce that you can serve with desserts, and it’s wonderful over ice cream.

Murphys Blackberry Coulis Recipe

Ingredients: 

250 g fresh blackberries

25 g sugar

25 ml lemon juice

What to do:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan.

Blackberry Coulis

2. Cover and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure it doesn’t dry out (the moisture from the berries should prevent this).

3. Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree.

4. Pass through a sieve, using a spoon or spatula to force through everything but the seeds.

That’s it!

Note: I served it over vanilla ice cream (see photo right), and it’s a tasty dessert. I got the tower shape simply from cutting away the cardboard from one of our mini tubs and inverting the ice cream…

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Peach Melba

Peach Melba w Cream At the suggestion of one of our good customers, I played around a bit with Peach Melba over the weekend in the odd hours I had out of the shop.

Invented in the 1890s by the French chef Escoffier, who was working at the Savoy in London, Peach Melba was a dish made for an Australian opera diva – Nellie Melba. It consists of poached peaches, vanilla ice cream, and a sauce made from raspberries and redcurrants, although it’s usually just made with raspberry sauce.

I don’t know if it will make an appearance in our shops, as I would be loath to use canned peaches, and it would be hard to keep poached peaches around the place.

You never know…

If you want to try it, here’s what I did:

Peach Melba1. Peel and cut up some fresh, ripe peaches (allow a full peach per person), drop them into boiling water with a few tablespoons of sugar and leave for two or three minutes (I don’t like to give them an over-cooked taste). Strain and allow to cool.

2. Puree 50g of raspberries, 25ml water, a teaspoon sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice per person. Bring to a boil in a small saucepan, then pass through a sieve and allow to cool completely.  

3. Put the peaches in a dish, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and drizzle liberally with the raspberry sauce.

4. I added some cream and garnished with fresh red currants in honour of the famous French chef…

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