This recipe comes almost 4 months in the making. I needed a lot of time and a big celebration to make it for so New Years fit the bill. It’s also my submission for the Scharffen Berger elevated classic recipe contest.

The point of the contest is to take a classic dessert and elevate it with chocolate. My favorite chocolate dessert has always been flourless chocolate cake, which has been made in my family for years with the same recipe. It’s certainly a good recipe, but not the best.

To elevate it, I added a raspberry fudge sauce and topped the whole thing with a coconut milk mousse, all made with Scharffen Berger chocolate. I love the combination of the dense cake with the airy mousse and the tartness of the raspberries between the two sweet layers. Technically it was probably one of the hardest desserts I’ve made; I’ve never successfully separated and tempered yolks before now. Needless to say I was very happy on New Years Eve when the cake turned out as well as I planned.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Fudge Sauce and Coconut Milk Chocolate Mousse

For the cake:

• 4oz room temperature butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 medium room temperature eggs
• 1 9.7oz 70% Scharffen Berger baking chocolate

For the sauce:

• 8oz raspberries
• 2oz 62% Scharffen Berger baking chocolate
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 Tablespoons Scharffen Berger unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tablespoons liquid sweetener

For the mousse:

• 3/4 cup coconut cream*
• 1/4 coconut water*
• 6oz 62% Scharffen Berger chocolate
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

*To get coconut cream, leave a can of coconut milk undisturbed for a week or so. When you open it, the water should have separated from the thicker part, the cream. Just be careful not to mix the two together and you should be able to scrape the cream off the top easily.

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar, adding in eggs one at a time until all of them are incorporated. The batter should be smooth and ribbony.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave.
4. Slowly temper the melted chocolate into the batter until it’s completely mixed in.
5. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and pour the batter in.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake and let it sit undisturbed until it cools to room temperature. It should deflate as it cools. Don’t worry if the top cracks since it will get covered eventually.
8. While the cake cools, make the sauce by bringing all of the ingredients together to a boil in a small sauce pot.
9. Mix the contents of the pot until the chocolate has melted and the sauce is uniform in color.
10. Pour the sauce over the cake. Let it cool completely and then refrigerate to chill.
11. While the sauce sets, make the mousse by bringing to a light boil the coconut cream and water in a sauce pot. Chop the chocolate and add it in, mixing off of the heat until the chocolate has melted.
12. Beat together the 3 egg yolks. Temper them by adding a little of the chocolate coconut mixture in as you beat. Once the yolks have been tempered you can mix them into the pot along with the salt. Keep the pot off of the heat stirring occasionally to prevent fit rom getting a film.
13. Beat the egg whites while sifting in the powdered sugar until light peaks form like you’re making a meringue.
14. Carefully fold the egg whites and chocolate coconut mixture together in a large bowl until it’s all mixed. Be careful not to over-mix the mousse and deflate the egg whites; fold just enough until it’s all the same color.
15. Put the mousse into the refrigerator until it’s set, about 3-4 hours.
16. Once the mousse has set, carefully scoop it on top of the cake. Spread it out into one layer as if it were a frosting. Using a piece of saran wrap to push down for a flat surface is an easy way to do this.
17. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Remove from the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before cutting and eating.

It was a lot of work but completely worth it. Everybody loved the cake. And I think the mousse would be a great and impressive dessert to make on its own for another occasion.

The last time I made raw brownies, I didn’t share the recipe. I wasn’t planning on it this time, either, but these came out so well I felt I’d be holding out if I didn’t share them.

These almonds from Trader Joe’s are incredibly addicting; I’m pretty sure they’re all gone by now. Anything with chocolate and salt and I can’t stop snacking. Why not make some brownies with the same mix-ins?

The almond butter in these brownies make them a little more fudgy and decadent than your typical date bars. You can use any type of nuts you have on hand.

Raw Salted Almond Brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen brownies):

• 16oz pitted dates
• 1/4 cup raw almond butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Method:

1. Put the dates in a food processor and blend until they stick together into a ball of dough. If the dates haven’t come together after a few minutes, add a tablespoon or so of water until they do.
2. Add in the cocoa powder and almond butter and continue blending until they are mixed into the dough.
3. Add in the almonds and sea salt. Pulse until the almonds are broken up into pieces.
4. Turn off the food processor and move the mixture to a different bowl. Work it with your hands until all of the ingredients are well mixed together and the almonds stick in the batter.
5. Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and press with your hands into a square shape roughly 9×9. Cut into 12 pieces. Store in a sealed container at room temperature when not eating.

These are particularly good with some salty peanut butter spread on top as a snack or dessert. Next time I think I’ll use the chocolate covered almonds in the brownie dough assuming I don’t eat them all first again.

Last week I got together with old friends for an annual cookie baking party. Good company, tons of sugar, and frosting—what’s not to love?

For my part I offered to bring peanut butter and make peanut butter cookies. The hostess knows I’m allergic to wheat and when she asked what we could make that was gluten-free, this recipe popped into my mind because of how simple and crowd-pleasing it is; who doesn’t love peanut butter cookies?

…Well, probably people who are allergic to peanut butter, but thankfully no one there was. If you are allergic to peanut butter, you can easily substitute almond butter or sunflower seed butter in these for a similar taste and texture.

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

• 2 cups salted peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl until the dough is thick and sticks to itself.
3. Break about an ounce of dough off and roll it into a ball in between your hands. Place on a non-stick cookie tray and press down lightly with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Repeat with all of the dough.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges begin to darken. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack until the outside has crisped.
5. Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a week.

Mine came out a little flat, probably because I didn’t measure any of the ingredients and only looked at the recipe after the fact. Oh well, they still tasted great, and there was definitely no shortage of cookies that night.

I love it when people request certain desserts for parties because it makes it so much easier to decide what to bring. This year my cousin asked for Christmas Eve that I bring the same dessert I brought last year: Peanut Butter S’mores Bars.

These are absolutely one of my favorites, too. I’ve also been meaning to make them all year because I wanted to take better pictures than the old ones I had for this recipe, so it was an all around win. 

The bars are a layer of peanut butter graham cracker crust with a peanut butter and marshmallow filling topped with soft chocolate ganache. The best thing about them is that they’re no-bake, so you don’t have to turn on your oven to make these; just a microwave will do.

These bars can easily be adjusted for different dietary restrictions. To make them gluten-free, use gluten-free graham crackers. To make them vegan, use vegan graham crackers, vegan marshmallows, a dairy-free margarine and dairy free chocolate chips. I made all of these alterations for this batch and they came out perfectly.

No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow at least 30 minutes for these to harden in the refrigerator)

Ingredients(Makes 16 bars)

For the crust:

• 16 individual graham crackers(not full sheets) OR 8oz graham crackers crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons natural style peanut butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup natural style peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup mini-marshmallows, or 1 cup regular marshmallows cut into bite-sized pieces

For the top:

• 6oz(about 3/4 cup) chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter 

Method:

1. Melt together 3 Tablespoons of butter and 6 Tablespoons of peanut butter until it’s thin and creamy.
2. Break the graham crackers into fine crumbs. Running them through a food process for 30 seconds is the best way to do this.
3. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs. Sift in 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Work the dough until the ingredients have come together and press it into an 8×8 pan in an even layer.
4. Make the filling by melting together 1/3 cup of peanut butter and 2 Tablespoons of butter. Sift in 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture over the crust. Spread it out to cover all parts.
6. Press in the marshmallows on top of the peanut butter layer.
7. Melt together the chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon of butter until it’s smooth and runny.
8. Pour the chocolate on top of the dessert in an even layer. Carefully spread it out to make sure it covers as much of the marshmallows as possible.
9. Put the dessert in the refrigerator to harden. Remove 10 minutes before serving, cut into 16 pieces and serve.

I have a feeling I know what I’ll be making next Christmas Eve.