Holiday Chocolate pt. 2

Here's the second half of the 2014 holiday dessert list.

July

Here's a fun little treat you can make for 4th of July:

Chocolate-Dipped Rocky Road Ice Cream Bars

August 

The 4th is National Chocolate Chip day, but you can make this dessert for National Aviation day as well:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Marshmallow-stuffed Rice Krispie Treats

September

Someone suggested that this hot chocolate be served on National Native American Day, but it looks like a recipe that would be great during the colder months too:

Mayan Hot Chocolate

October

National Pasta Day is in October. If you make chocolate spaghetti with raspberry puree, it sort of looks like worms wiggling around in blood, which is the perfect dessert to serve on Halloween, don't you think?

Chocolate Pasta with Raspberry Puree

November

Go beyond pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving with this stunning chocolate tart: 

Chocolate Tart

December

This yule log can be used to celebrate the solstice or any other winter holiday:

Buche de Noel

S'mores Bars

I was inspired by a recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything. This recipe isn't for the S'mores bars pictured above, but it's a cool recipe. My recipe is different from the original I saw on The Girl's website in that there are a few added ingredients, and the basic recipe is altered quite a bit. I used less sugar, brown instead of white and brown sugar and altered the amount of dry ingredients. I also substituted chocolate chips for the candy bars, used less fluff, added mini marshmallows on top and added nutmeg and almond meal to the batter. See what you think:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
• pinch ground nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup marshmallow creme
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl,  combine the flour, almond meal, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Mix the dry ingredients into butter mixture and continue mixing at a low speed until incorporated.
3. Divide dough in half and press one half evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the marshmallow fluff evenly over the dough (it's sticky, so you might want to spray a spatula with cooking spray to do this part) and then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the fluff. Place remaining dough in a layer on top of the chocolate. This might not be easy, but you can flatten the dough and place it on top of the chips in sections if you have trouble. It doesn't have to be perfect, but try to make it as even as you can.
4. Bake about 20 minutes, until lightly browned and then add mini marshmallows on top. Bake an additional 10 minutes until the marshmallows are starting to melt and become lightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16 cookie bars.
5. Optional: Drizzle dark chocolate across the tops once the bars are cooled. 

On a slightly different note, I don't know what these are, but they look insanely yummy:

Opera Cake

Opera Cake by  Dalilas Gourmet

From the Food Timeline website, a little history about this beautiful cake:

L'Opera cake/gateau is a 20th century recipe with Ancient roots. Not unlike Tiramasu.

The practice of layering cakes with sweet substances (honey), intoxicating liquors (wine) and accented with nut flavorings (almonds) was a particular favorite of ancient middle-eastern cooks. The Romans adopted/adapted this recipe and took it with them when they conquered Europe. It is no accident that 16th century English cooks created "trifle." Chocolate and coffee were introduced to Europe in the 16th-17th centuries but (due to economics) were not incorporated into recipes until the 19th century. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson (p. 748) sponge cake was also created in the 19th century. Also related to L'Opera gateau are Genoise (almond-flavored sponge with various decorations and fillings) and Savoy (sponge made by beating egg yolks and whites beaten separately). About sponge cake.

"Opera gateau is an elaborate almond sponge cake with a coffee and chocolate filling and icing."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated, [Clarkson Potter:2001] (p. 814)

"A classic for the past twenty years, the Opera was created for those who unabashedly choose chocolate and butter cream over fruit desserts. What makes this low, flat cake more modern than any of its predecessors is its shape (usually square or rectangular), and its undecorated sides that show all the layers. L'Opera is traditionally composed of layers of Biscuit Joconde, an almond sponge, that have been thoroughly soaked with coffee syrup...Some pastry shops decorate the top with the word Opera, written in panach with all the swirls that the French love so much..."
---New French Baker, Sheila Linderman [William Morrow:New York] 1998 (p. 66)

"Opera cake. This is a classic chocolate-coffee cake that I believe was first made in the 1930s for an important French-American reception held at the Paris Opera."
---La Nouvelle Patisserie, Jean-Yves Duperret [Viking:New York] 1988 (p. 155)

Elegant Chocolate Dessert