Black and White Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Desserts – what are they?
Desserts are the last course of a meal. It is usually sweet, but can be strong, in the case of cheeses. The word dessert is commonly used in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and France. In the UK, and some other commonwealth countries it is called: afters, sweet, or pudding.
Before sugar became cheap and readily available, fruits and nuts used to be eaten for desserts. There are many types of desserts.

Here is this week’s recipe:

Black and White Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

1/2 cup white chocolate pieces
1/2 cup milk chocolate pieces
20 whole fresh strawberries, rinsed, patted dry, stems left on

1. Place white chocolate pieces in a small heavy saucepan; melt slowly over low heat. Cool slightly and transfer to a small deep bowl.
2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Holding onto the stem end, dip strawberries one at a time in the white chocolate three-quarters of the way up to the stem. Place apart on wax paper and refrigerate for about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slowly melt milk chocolate in a small heavy saucepan. Remove strawberries from the refrigerator and dip in the milk chocolate, leaving part of the white chocolate showing. Return to the refrigerator to chill. Serve chilled.

Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate pudding

Did you know…
Cocoa is actually good for the body, but don’t eat the sweet ones you find in the stores. The sugar and fact counteract the goodness in the cocoa.
Do not eat too much cocoa though… like everything, too much cocoa is no good for you.
This week’s recipe:

Chocolate Pudding

2 Cups whipping cream

1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup cream

3/4 Cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon. vanilla extract

5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

9 egg yolks

Heat oven to 300°F. Combine whipping cream, half-and-half, sugar and vanilla in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat just to a simmer; remove pan from heat. Add chocolate; stir to melt completely.

Whisk in egg yolks one at a time until blended. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer. Divide pudding among eight 6-ounce custard cups; place in a deep baking pan and place in oven. Fill pan with enough scalding-hot water to come halfway up sides of custard cups. Cover with foil.

Bake puddings until set, 50 minutes. Allow puddings to cool in the pan 10 minutes. Remove from water bath; cool. Cover with plastic or foil, refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

brownies with cocoa recipe

Why do we use recipes?

Simply put, most people in modern society don’t have time to experiment while cooking. Also, a lot of ways of cooking have been established. A recipe is a sure-fire way of ensuring something works. You can always tweak the recipe later to suit your taste.

Recipes also have an added advantage of being time tested. The best recipes, and the ones that work have been kept over the years. For time restricted individuals, recipes with minimal preparation and cooking time are good.

This week’s recipe:

Brownies made with Cocoa

Yield: 24 servings

Ingredients

¾ cup butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt (optional)
3 oz (100 g) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C).
2. Line a 13 x 9 in (33 x 23 cm) cake tin with grease proof or other non-stick paper and grease the tin.
3. Melt the butter.
4. Beat eggs with sugar, and add vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt (optional) and melted butter.
5. Add chopped nuts.
6. Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 20-30 minutes.
7. Cool the cake. Dust with powdered sugar or glace with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Variations

1. Instead of all-purpose flour + baking powder you may use self-raising flour.