f O O d
CHOCOLATE & VANILLA RECIPES
m eet alice
Right now is a g reat tim e to explore
chocolate and vanilla, says A lice
M edrich, c re a to r o f these recipes.
"T h e chocolates available are b e tte r
tha n e v e r" she says, "a n d th e re are
am azing choices fo r vanilla. It’s like a
golden age fo r desserts.”
To ensure these recipes m ake
th e m o st o f th e classic flavors, A lice
used d iffe re n t fo rm s o f chocolate
and vanilla. "I love to let ingredients
o r flavo rs inspire th e thin gs I make,
and I kno w th a t o fte n th e sim plest
desserts can be th e m o st satisfying,”
says Alice. "T h e fla v o r m ay be
intense in som e recipes, using m o re
tha n one fo rm o f vanilla o r
chocolate, and m o re sub tle in o th ers
acce ntua ting and m ixing w ith th e
o th e r ingredients,” she says.
A lice has been learning, teaching,
and w ritin g a b o u t chocolate and
desserts fo r o ve r
30
years and is
considered a leading a u th o rity on
th e tw o .
m o r e f r o m a l i c e
A lice M e d rich
shares h e r de ssert
kn o w -h o w and
recipes in h e r tw o
m o s t re c e n t books:
Pure D e sse rt
(A rtisa n; $
35
) and
B ittersw eet: R ecipes a n d Tales from
a Life in C h oco la te
(A rtisa n;
35
).
BITTERSWEET AND
SEMISWEET BARS
DUTCH-PROCESS
COCOA POWDER
NATURAL
COCOA
POWDER
PURE VANILLA
EXTRACT
VANILLA
PASTE
VANILLA
BEANS
PURE GROUND
.VANILLA BEAN!
HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE
MANY FORMS OF THESE ICONIC FLAVORS.
c
h
o
c
o
l a
t e
is m ade fro m
cocoa beans th a t g ro w in pods on th e cacao
tre e . The beans are extracted fro m th e pods,
fe rm e n te d , dried, roasted, and processed.
Cocoa nibs
are broken pieces o f hulled
cocoa beans. They are cru n ch y and relatively
b itte r w ith deep chocolate flavor, and are
usually used in cookies o r chocolate candies.
Chocolate liquor
is p u re
Cacao
m ade by
g rin d in g cocoa nibs (w h ic h con sist o f
a lm o s t equal p a rts coco a b u tte r and cocoa
solids) to a paste. O n a b a r o f ch o co la te
cacao percentage indicates th e to ta l a m o u n t
o f ch o co la te liq u o r plus any extra cocoa
b u tte r o r cocoa solids th a t m ig h t be added.
Unsweetened chocolate
is cho colate
liq u o r th a t has been re hardened in to blocks.
v
a
n
i l l a
is an edible seed pod
harvested fro m a specific orchid.
Vanilla
beans
are th e drie d seed pods fro m th e
plant. They develop th e ir characteristic vanilla
fla v o r a fte r m o n th s o f d ryin g and curing.
Pure van illa extract
is m ade by soaking
c h o p p e d van illa beans in alcoh ol and w ater.
T h e e x tra c t fro m d iffe re n t beans— B ourb o n
(also called M adagascar), M exican, o r
T ahitian— has its ow n fla vo r. B ourb o n
van illa is th e m o s t c o m m o n v a rie ty and
gives a classic van illa fla vo r. M exican vanilla
is s m o o th and spicy w ith arom as o f ru m
and caram el. Tahitian van illa is s w e e te r and
fru itie r w ith c h e rry lik e lic o ric e flavo r.
V a n illa flavorin g
is m ade fro m a m ix o f
real van illa and s y n th e tic flavo rings.
Cocoa powder
is m ade by re m o vin g m o st
o f th e cocoa b u tte r fro m th e liq u o r and
pu lverizing it in to a pow der. Tw o type s are
available and b o th are s tro n g and b itte r.
Natural
cocoa p o w d e r has a fru ity , com plex
fla v o r and natural acidity.
D utch-process
cocoa p o w d e r is tre a te d w ith alkalis to
reduce acidity. It has a d a rke r color, b u t
m ild e r flavor. The tw o m ay re act d iffe re n tly
in recipes, and should n o t be su b stituted .
Bittersw eet, sem isw eet,
and
m ilk
cho colates are m ade p rim a rily o f ch o co la te
liq u o r and sugar. T h e h ig h e r th e cacao
percentage, th e s tro n g e r and m o re b itte r
th e fla vo r. Like cocoa p o w d er, d iffe rin g
cacao percentages re a ct d iffe re n tly in
recipes and sho uld n o t be s u b s titu te d if a
spe cific p e rcentage is given.
Im itation van illa
is m ade fro m sy n th e tic
fla v o rin g s th a t im ita te th e fla v o r o f vanilla.
V anilla fla v o rin g and im ita tio n vanilla are
less expensive th a n p u re vanilla e x tra c t b u t
have s lig h tly d iffe re n t, and som e say less
in te n se flavor.
V a n illa paste
is m ade w ith g ro u n d vanilla
beans in a c o rn syru p o r vanilla e xtra ct
base. It has a sw eet, c o n c e n tra te d flavo r.
G round van illa beans
are sim p ly th a t—
fin e ly g ro u n d vanilla beans. It m ay be
labeled as
van illa powder,
b u t tru e vanilla
p o w d e r is w h ite and o fte n sw eetened.
For tip s on using van illa see page 170,
and find A lice’s favorite sources for
chocolate and van illa on page 172.
—BY ERIN SIMPSON
I 6 4 FEBRUARY 2010
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
