Medrich - Chocolate Holidays: Unforgettable Desserts for Every Season

chocolate holidays

unforgettable desserts for every season

alice medrich

photography

michael lamotte

New York

to lucy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a cookbook is a challenge and a joy, every single time. Many of my accomplices are previous offenders! Warm thanks once again to my assistant, Maya Klein, for her creative mind, hard work, and friendship. And at Warner Books, thanks for making it happen for the fourth time. As always, I am grateful beyond words to Susan Derescky for her copyediting. Thanks again to photographer Michael Lamotte at Michael Lamotte Studio for fabulous photos and to stylist Sara Slavin for the clarity of her vision. Thanks, finally, to a great agent, Jane Dystel.

recipe list

introduction

I began this book with the idea of creating a collection of simple, elegant dessertsall made with chocolatefor each holiday on the calendar. But I quickly found excuses for more desserts. What about birthdays, graduations, picnics, luncheons, tea, and dinner parties? Official holidays punctuate the year like a festive centerpiece, but no one should wait for a date to indulge in chocolate. Eating chocolate is, after all, a celebration all its own. So I have included recipes that honor the influence of the seasonsfor any occasionas well as hallowed holiday favorites.

Chocolate is a year-round passion for me, and I eat it every single day. But my taste for this exalted food is not the same in winter as in spring; My appetite is tempered by the mood and color of the seasons. Fortunately, chocolate is infinitely adaptive: dramatic, seductive, and playful.

Excess may be the stuff of chocolate fantasies, but restraint is sometimes the secret ingredient. It takes only a slick of chocolate glaze to add glory to an autumn tart rich with honey and walnuts; just a lacing of chopped chocolate to dress up a fruit-filled Christmas stollen. A little burst of chocolate sauce in a hot crepe with bananas is more seductive than a chocolate blintz with chocolate filling. Too much chocolate simply destroys the essence of pecan pie. And there is no chocolate variation that could dethrone my mothers Thanksgiving apple pie.

Even in California, where seasons are subtle, I long for robust flavors at the very first scent of fall. With the approach of Rosh Hashanah, Halloween, and Thanksgiving I want juicy pears, plump figs, hot ginger, and warm spices. I crave slow-cooked main dishes, toasted nuts, tart apples, and almost anything caramelized for dessert. The nutty sweetness of a Honey Walnut Tart is accented perfectly with chocolate glaze, and the welcome surprise of Chocolate-Dipped Caramel Apples puts a new (and sumptuous) twist on a Halloween favorite.

Winter is a grand excuse to abandon restraint in favor of the richest, deepest, and darkest chocolate of all, warming and sensual. The chill in the air invites excessrecipes that celebrate chocolate purely for chocolates sake add to the glow of Christmas and the allure of Valentines Day. In the dead of winter, nothing is more sublime than the intense and relentless wave of bittersweet, found in my best Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles, Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Hot Chocolate Souffls. Here, deep, dark chocolate reigns supreme with minimal sugar and no distraction, save for the odd dollop of cream or necklace of raspberries to make it even more intense by contrast.

Spring demands change, a lightening influence, a playful demeanor, a little humor. Easter baskets, ice cream Easter eggs, and trompe loeil mushrooms fill that bill. And why not brownies for Passover? In spring, even a die-hard lover of bittersweet might stray to explore the nuances of white chocolate. I lavish extra attention on white chocolate here, because it is ordinarily my least favorite. If you share my prejudice, set it aside and taste white chocolate again. It is subtle in spring with a touch of lemon in my White ChocolateLemon Cheesecake. It is divine in summer, infused with fresh mint and spooned over ripe strawberries, paired with coffee meringues in Strawberry Mocha Meringues, or in stunning Mini Blackberry Caramel Cheesecakes.

Summer holidays are few, but on and after the Fourth of July, we picnic, barbecue, mark birthdays, and get married outdoors. In sultry weather, chocolate does not leap first to mind, but its perfect to tantalize lethargic taste buds with seductive contrast: hot and cold, crisp and creamy, tart and rich. I always enjoy the subtleties of chocolate and summer berries and fruits. And not-so-subtle-Boardwalk Bananas prove that chocolate can be a temptress even when the atmosphere is steamy.

When I owned a bakery many years ago, I could produce a masterpiece in no time by simply strolling through the kitchen collecting components. Now I am more conscious of the home cooks time, space, and ingredients; I keep it simple. I wont compromise on flavor, texture, or ingredients: Excellent chocolate, fresh dairy products, sipping-quality liquors, fresh fruits, and nuts are still my essential ingredients. But I want fewer stepsand variety. A bche de nol that takes less than an hour belongs in any dessert makers arsenal, and simple-but-superb chocolate truffles are my salvation all yearas holiday gifts or after-dinner sweets. I also like recipes that young cooks can enjoy: a rustic-looking Easter basket made of chocolate-coated pretzels or a giant prehistoric-looking dinosaur Easter egg for kids of every age. Meanwhile, I treasure a fast-as-lightning fudge layer cake recipe for spur-of-the-moment celebrations, and a great chocolate sauce to drizzle over ice cream or recruit for fondue. Do-ahead chocolate souffls take only minutes to make and are elegant as can be. Meringues, which keep for weeks, are an instant summer dessert kit.

When I cook at home for any occasion, dessert must look divine, but not necessarily as though it stepped out of a fancy patisserie. Occasionally, I pull out the stops with a little spun sugar or gold leaflots of fun and simpler than you thinkbut most of the desserts in this collection speak for themselves, with an elegant simplicity. Among them, you will find recipes to make again and again, on holidays and every day. I wish you the great pleasure of serving desserts that elicit sighs and moans, or even reverent silence, no matter what the season. Bon apptit.

details make a difference

I have watched enough good cooks in their own kitchens to know that dessert making, working with chocolate, and baking in particular are different from general cooking. Small, simple, but nonintuitive details can significantly alter results. Unlike the cook, the baker cannot usually taste and adjust or taste and repair as he or she bakes a cake. Knowing which details make the difference can set you free to be as creative and playful as you like, without sorry surprises.

READY SET GO: MISE EN PLACE

Mise en place is a lovely-sounding French phrase meaning put into place or set up. Have you seen TV chefs with all their ingredients measured out in little dishes before the cooking begins? Thats mise en place! You might think, If I had someone to set out all my ingredients, cooking would be easy. And you would be right.