Invited to a chocolate party next week. What shall I bring? Admission is chocolate, store-bought or homemade.
Suggestions?
I am not a fan of too much chocolate, but my husband is. So when I make a chocolate cake, I put a caramel frosting on it. Chocolate for him, caramel for me. This is the frosting I make. Paraphrased from Cooks Illustrated. This is for a layer cake.
8 tablespoons butter (16 tablespoons)
7 ounces light brown sugar (14 ounces)
4 tablespoons milk (8 tablespoons)
8 ounces confectioners sugar (16 ounces)
Melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar and bring to a boil
Boil it for 2 minutes. It should be getting thicker. Take it off the heat and add the milk.
Once you have mixed it in, bring it back to a boil. Then let is cool until it’s warm.
Make sure to sift the confectioner’s sugar to eliminate lumps in the frosting. Mix in the confectioner’s sugar. Then frost the cake. This icing dries hard.
The cake can be stored at room temperature for up the 3 days. The icing dries hard.
Fun! Are you comfortable tempering chocolate or are you looking for a baked good to make? Or just something to buy that this group hasn’t tried before? Too bad I can’t mention my website 
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Or truffles, since they’re so easy to make.
I keep waffling! I have a recipe for a three-chocolate mousse (one layer raspberry and milk, one layer hazelnut and white, one layer dark) – I thought about truffles – I thought about doing one of those showstopper chocolate spheres that you melt with warm creme anglaise… I even thought about doing a traditional buche with mousse filling and covered in ganache (diabetic coma to follow…)
It’s about an hour’s drive, so while it’s not a big deal this time of year, I do have to keep temperatures and travel in the back of my mind.
But no, storebought just isn’t my style…! LOL
(can you PM me your website?)
Mousse cake would travel OK if left in the pan and unmolded onsite, or frozen and allowed to thaw in a cooler on the drive. But it could be hard to cut into small tasting pieces. If you do truffles, depends on the audience of course, but maybe do a couple of flavors that aren’t seen so frequently - I really like rosemary with dark chocolate, lavender can be good too. Or makrut/kaffir lime leaf, or Fernet Branca. I’m one of those people who thinks chocolate goes with just about everything if you balance your flavors right. Truffles, bonbons or even a bark with interesting inclusions would be easier for people to just have a small bite of, so as much fun as those showstoppers might be to make, a big dessert might be too much. People think they can eat a ton of chocolate, but many hit the wall surprisingly quickly.
Another chocolatier I recommend is Kate Weiser in Texas. She only ships overnight or second day air, so shipping is pricey, but she has some interesting flavors. I got a box recently and enjoyed the truffle honey and grapefruit cashew bonbons. Check out Kate’s website, plus Christopher Elbow, Gem Chocolates, Vosges and Beta 5 for flavor inspiration.
Hey, lingua, that looks great, and the reviews are really positive. A few people said it was just another chocolate cream pie recipe, though. How would you describe it? Thanks.
Hey, Sunshine, have you been to your party yet? I’m going to one in a couple of weeks so I’d be interested in hearing what you made and how it turned out.
It is really, really, really great. My man (who’s the baker at casa lingua) made it for a party once, and it was inhaled within minutes.
Hope that helps '-)
Thanks, that helps a lot. I was going to make epi’s inside-out German chocolate cake, which is also really great, but I think it will be easier for people to take just a sliver of the pie. There are so many fabulous things to try at this annual party that it’s good to have something decadent that can be cut into small servings.
Hey!
Here are a few items that I put in my virtual “project” folder that I thought might be interesting. Haven’t tried any of them yet but maybe one will catch your fancy!
Pretty simple but I like the rustic presentation!
I like the layering of this one and the texture variation
Impressive presentation (the layering!) plus I like the chocolate/sour cream combination.
Chocolate and stout! Chocolate and chocolate stout? What’s not to love!
Chocolate whiskey cake! Intriguing!
Just look at the gloss! I like shiny glossy intense chocolate tarts and for me that’s the ideal look for it. Salt is a good idea for contrast!
Pear and chocolate, a classic combination. You add chai to this and you have my attention. Plus the presentation is superb!
https://nancyhobakes.com/2014/03/31/chai-chocolate-pear-tart/
Another variation on the shiny glossy intense chocolate tart. I’ll try them one day and then I’ll assemble the parts I prefer in a huge chocolate tart voltron.
http://kitchentigress.blogspot.ca/2010/06/chocolate-tart.html
Flat, flourless, probably very intense. Very pretty presentation and I like the concept of dense chocolate.
Again, another flat flourless intense chocolate cake.
Chocolate and peanut butter fondant cake. Just look at flowing gooey unctuousness!
So. Bummer. The folks I was supposed to go with have had other (legitimate) obligations arise, leaving me the only soul going to a party an hour away at which I will know just one person.
So probably not going to this party, but my boss is a chocolate fiend, so I think I may work my way through these for her benefit!! (a little apple-polishing never hurt anyone – and I’m sure the rest of the office will benefit, too!)
