Oh boy was this ever so tasty! This chocolate torte has just the right amount of pomegranate flavor, which just accents the chocolate perfectly. Who knew the two would taste so well together? I sure had no idea!

Here’s what you will need:

For the cake

• 4 Tbs of unsalted butter,cut into 4 piece. You will also need more for coating the baking pan
• 6oz of bittersweet chocolate (I used unsweetened and added sugar to it, because it was all I had)
• 3 large eggs,yolks and whites separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup of flour

For the pomegranate jelly

• 1 pink lady or braeburn apple
• 1-1/2 cups of pure pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs of sugar
• 12 fresh or frozen cranberries (I did not add these..apparently it’s impossible to find them in the middle of March!)

For the Glaze

• 6oz of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 Tbs of unsalted butter,cut into 6 pieces
• 1 Tbs of honey or light corn syrup
• pinch of table salt

First you need to line the bottom of your pan (9×2 inch) with parchment paper and grease the sides pretty well with butter. Position your rack in the center of your oven and place it at 350°F.

Next chop up your chocolate,except for 2 ounces. Go ahead an finely grate up that 2 oz and set it aside for later.

In a double boiler melt your butter, chocolate and 3 Tbs of water. Stir often and when everything is melted, set it aside.

While you’re waiting for the chocolate to melt, have one  of these. I am addicted..seriously..some one help me over here!

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar and salt until the yolks thicken. They will also appear lighter in color. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed to soft peaks, about 2 minutes. With the motor running, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating to stiff peaks, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Now whisk the warm chocolate and flour into the yolk mixture.

With a rubber spatula, fold a quarter of the egg whites into the mix. Add the rest of the egg white and the 2 Tbs of grated chocolate and fold together.

Pour the batter into your prepped pan and spread it evenly. Bake it for roughly 25 minutes, or until a toothpick close to the center comes out smudged with just a few crumbs sticking to it.

Cool the cake on the rack, in the pan, for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are up, run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Invert the cake to another cooling rack and let it cool completely. If your cake is crusty on the outside and cracks a little, don’t worry..it’s normal!

Grate enough of the apple to make 3/4 cup (I used more, since I lacked cranberries). In a medium saucepan bring the pomegranate juice, apple,cranberries and sugar to  a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes. The jelly should be slightly thick and the apple should soften. Uncover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally at first and then more often towards the end, or until the liquid has evaporated. To be honest, mine didn’t thicken like it was supposed to…so I cheated and added a Tb of corn starch to thicken it up. Shh!

Press the mixture through a small mesh strainer until you extracted all the juice from the pulp. You can discard the pulp.

Yummy yummy jelly! Go ahead and take a small taste…it’s heavenly!

Before spreading the jelly on, transfer it to cardboard circle or tart pan. It makes it so much easier to transfer! Brush away any crumbs from the top before adding the jelly. Scrap the jelly on top of the cake and spread it evenly on the surface. Now let the cake set for 1 hour.

Now it’s time to make the glaze. Place the chocolate, butter, honey and salt in a heatproof bowl and set it in a skillet of barely simmering water. This is a better way to melt chocolate, in my opinion. I think it just works better and faster than a double boiler. Gently stir the mixture until everything is melted and it is smooth. Remove it from heat and add 2 Tbs of cool water. Now cool it to room temperature without stirring it.

Now set the cake back on a cooling rack with something underneath it to catch the chocolate. It’s better than cleaning up chocolate when you are done. Rewarm the glaze to 90°F in a skillet of barely simmering water. The glaze should have the consistency of thick, pourable cream. Scrape all the glaze on top of the cake and spread it all over the top and the sides. To keep it looking nice and shiny, try to use as few strokes as possible. Let the cake sit on the rack for10 more minutes before transferring it to a cake plate. Let this cake set for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Don’t mind that bright blinding white! It’s just the picture trying to draw you in to get you to bake this. It was delicious and yummy! This isn’t the best recipe for beginning bakers or people who are short on time. There is a lot of work that goes into it, but it’s worth it! A must for any chocolate and/or pomegranate fan!

Let me start off by saying if Heaven was a cookie, it would be a French macaron.

These cookies were so delightful that I kept them all for myself. Usually I share them with co-workers (to keep myself from eating them all) but I had to be greedy with these. They can be a bit time consuming and very precise, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying this awesome treat! Having a stand mixer is a life saver with this recipe too!

Here’s what you will need. It is recommended to weight everything instead of measuring it out, but I lack a kitchen scale. So until I get one (Ahem..are you reading this, hun?) I will be using my measuring cups. It also helps to have a stand mixer and a food processor for this recipe.

• • • • • 90 gr egg whites at room temperature(About 3 egg whites..I used 3 and it was good). Make sure the egg whites have been prepped at least 48 hours in advanced and can be used up to 5 days in advance
        • 25 gr to 50 gr (2 TB to 1/4 cup) granulated sugar (basic white sugar)
        • 200 gr (1.5 cups + 2 TB) powdered sugar
        • 110 gr almonds (3/4 cup. Use whatever almonds you like, as long as they don’t have the “skin” on them. I used slivered.)
        • Pipping bags
        • #807 0r #809 decorating tip
        • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
        • 8oz of chocolate morsels ( I used dark chocolate, but any is ok too!)
        • Gel/powdered food coloring, if desired

Place your powdered sugar and almonds in a food processor. Time to get grindin’! Set your food processor on “pulse” mode until they are finely ground. If you are anything like me, you might be doing this step 2-3 times.

Now it’s time to sift. Sift the flour-like mix a couple of times until everything is good and fine. If you still find big pieces of almonds, or you have a lot that will not sift, take it back to the food processor for another round. I sifted my mix 3 times, for your information.

This is where the stand mixer becomes very handy. If people were half as efficient as my stand mixer, the world would be a better place.

Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam. Your foam should resemble soap foam.

Slowly add your sugar as the eggs beat, making it a glossy meringue. Keep an eye on them though, because more than likely you will not need a lot of sugar. All in all I think I only used 6 tablespoons. You know you have it right when it resembles shaving cream and stiff peaks form.

Now add the almond/powdered sugar mix to the meringue and fold it quickly to just mix everything up. It should only take you 50 strokes at the most to have it right. Start folding real quickly at first and then slow down. Half way into mixing add your food coloring. DO NOT use a water based food coloring. Powdered is preferred, but gel will work fine too.  This is one of the most crucial parts of this recipe.

Take your spatula and run it across the batter and count to 10. If it takes almost all 10 seconds to fold back to it’s original shape, you know you are good to go.

What a gorgeous color and anyone who says otherwise is..well..entitled to their own opinion!

Fill the pastry bag and pipe small rounds that are about 1.5 inches in diameter onto parchment paper. Now just let them sit there and look pretty for 30 minutes to an hour. This will cause the rounds to harden. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. When it is ready, bake the shells for 18-20 minutes.

And this is the result! See how the bottoms have “feet”? If your macarons have those, you know you did pretty darn good for your first try. If they do not, keep in mind these babies are rather hard to make. Now you need to have self control and try not to eat the shells before you fill them. It is well worth the wait,  trust me on this!

Ganache…how I can not say enough about this heavenly concoction.

Heat the cream in a small pot, but just before boiling!

Place your chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the cream over.

Wait a few seconds and then stir like a mad woman until smooth (maybe a mad man, do any men even read this?!).

Let the ganache cool for a moment, and then spread a small amount of the chocolaty goodness on the bottom of a macaron.

Sandwich another macaron on top of it!

Ta da, you are now done! You also officially made a French macaron. Now you get the joy of explaining what these are to people (no one I talked to ever heard of a French macaron). Also make sure you pay attention to the confused look on their faces when you explain there are no coconut in them.

I got this recipe from Bakerella. If you have not seen her baking blog yet you need to. She is one of my inspirations and her blog is AMAZING!

I know I told you all that my first baking post would be with french macaroons…well, I lied! I just cannot wait till Saturday to bake something. I must bake on my day’s off of work or I will go crazy. Yes, go crazy…my fiance knows exactly what this “craziness” is. Don’t worry though, those macaroons WILL get made and WILL get in my stomach. I need them in my life!

So let’s get started people!

Today I made chocolate crinkles, a sure thing recipe that everyone loves. I have made these several times before and everyone raves about them. People are also surprised when they learn how easy they are to make. People are also surprised at how their pants stop fitting after they get a copy of the recipe.

Here’s what you will need

• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, softened (I am a butter gal myself)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 oz of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 cup of all-purpose baking flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of powdered (confectioner’s) sugar.

Measure your sugar into a large mixing bowl

Next add the butter, cooled melted chocolate and vanilla extract.

Mix it all up! Make sure everything is mixed together real good

Stir in your eggs, one at a time

Stir in your flour, baking powder and salt

Now you have to refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.

I swear that box of girl scout cookies on the top rack is not mine. You know how it isn’t mine? I ate all my girl scout cookies within 2 days.

Now set the oven at 350 degrees. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls into the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and roll around until it is covered completely

Roll the dough into a ball

Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet and place on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for between 10-12 minutes or until the middle of the cookie doesn’t indent much when pressed.

Immediately after you take the cookies out of the oven, transfer them to wire racks to cool.

See? That wasn’t so bad. The most painful part is waiting those 3 hours for the dough to chill. Usually you can find me trying to sneak a taste of the dough somewhere around that time. I had self restraint today though, so I’m pretty darn proud of  myself.

Go, go now and bake these!