As Published by The Georgetown Guide-Cocoa for College Cooking

Cocoa for College Cooking

Culinary Quips

By Elizabeth A. Sabol-Jones

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012

Updated: Friday, January 20, 2012 14:01

Scared of trying a new recipe? Not quite sure how to make a cake without a boxed mix? Unsure of what to do when you get halfway through a recipe and realize that you're missing two key ingredients? All of us have done something similar before, and we might as well admit to our mini-mistakes now. If you want any hope of getting comfortable with cooking and baking, you should consider throwing caution to the wind — or maybe some salt over your shoulder — and accept your previous kitchen mishaps so you can learn to use them to your advantage.
After testing and developing recipes for Nightly Noms over the past two years and cooking in a college environment where my mom's kitchen is not at my disposal, I've experienced plenty of miniature disasters. From not being able to melt chocolate without its seizing up to realizing that you need an 8x8 baking pan when you only have a 12x6 , you are bound to face both large and small cooking conundrums. Each small mishap that I have encountered since my college cooking days commenced, however, has forced me to become resourceful with what I have on hand. I'm not here to tell you how to bake; I'm here to give you some basic knowledge, random tips and fun recipes that will hopefully make you more comfortable in the kitchen and give you the ability to cook properly in a college environment with an improvisational flare.

Cake Poppers

If you're looking to impress your friends, have something delicious and a bit healthy to snack on, and if you don't want to spend a small fortune at Godiva, chocolate-covered fruit is a tasty option. The cool freshness of the fruit mixes with the smooth, rich chocolate to create a delicious substitute to plain fruit salad or a gigantic slice of chocolate cake. Still, chocolate-covered anything is easier said than done. While some may have luck with melting chocolate in the microwave, if you try melting large amounts of chocolate or become careless, you will soon open your microwave door to find that your chocolate has a grainy consistency, which means it has seized up.

Basically, there are two preferred ways to melt chocolate. If you're new to working with the substance, the microwave or a small pot with a bit of butter is your best option.



If you're using the microwave, make sure to start melting in 20-second intervals and then gradually microwave less as you see the chocolate melting. You really only need to melt until about 80 percent of the chips or chunks of chocolate are melted, since at that point the heat from the already-melted chocolate will take care of the rest.

If you're using your stovetop, make sure you keep the heat on low when you first place your pot on the stove.

Disclaimer: If there's one thing you need to know about melting chocolate, it's that water and too much heat are your enemies.

Remember, cooking and baking are as much about exact measurements and gaining control of kitchen chaos as being creative and taking risks. So push yourself to try something new!

Elizabeth Sabol-Jones is a junior in the College. She can be reached at saboljones@thehoya.com. Culinary Quips appears every other Friday in the guide.

How to: Melt Chocolate

1. Use either two pots, or a bowl and a pot, and place the smaller on top of the other. Fill the bottom pot with enough water to maintain a steady boil, but be cautious that the boiling water does not touch the bowl above it.
2. Turn on the flame to low/medium, add part of your chocolate and a bit of butter. The butter helps temper the chocolate while it melts; however, in most cases, butter is not necessary, so you can decide whether to add it.
3. Keep stirring to help distribute heat evenly and continue adding chocolate as the melting process continues.

4. Stir mixture on-and-off until chocolate melts,
remove from heat and either begin dipping fruit or combining with another mixture or batter.



 

Nightly Noms Recipe: Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey Nomsters,

I'm back for more. I know, two posts in one week? It's a bit of a shocker, but with so many blogs out there  I have to give you a a good reason to stay up to date with The Georgetown Foodie. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about cupcakes, but there's a recipe at the end of this post, so it's worth your time!

In the past couple of years the "Cupcake Craze" has taken over bakeries around the country. For DC dwellers, we can barely take a bite out of a baked good without being asked if we've tried a Georgetown Cupcake. For Georgetowners, we like G'twon Cupcakes well enough, but whispers of our devotion to Baked & Wired's Vanilla Chai don't go unnoticed. And then there's the new addition of Sprinkles, which has exponentially increased the amount of lines we must avoid on our cobblestone paths. Same goes for Chicago natives, from Molly's Cupcakes, to the boutique-inspired cupcakes at more, cities are experiencing an influx of cupcake consumers. But how long will the cupcake craze last? Big name publications like WSJ and The Post have been predicting a cupcake cataclysm for the past few months, but with no avail. Our take on the situation? It won't be cupcakes that go out of style (not with the millions of kids that love the individually sized cups of cake and icing) it'll be the fact that cupcake consumers just don't want to shell out $3+ dollars for something we can make ourselves, if we really want to, especially if we're already spending $3 dollars for our latte fix. For those of you who opt for the cupcake fix, keep buying, it's not a sin to enjoy a pricey treat every once in a while; but, if you're looking to take cupcakes to a party or make them for your own, at least consider the value in baking up some of your own tasty treats!

Here's a recipe straight out of the Nightly Noms' test kitchen for some delicious Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting. Of course you don't have to stuff them, but it adds a nice touch!

Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes 

w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour (sifted)
-1 1/4 cup Sugar
-2 Eggs (room temperature if possible)
-8 Tbsp Butter (1 stick, room temperature)
-1/2 tsp Baking Soda (sifted)
-1/4 tsp salt (sifted)
-1/2 cup Graham Cracker Crumbles (sifted, like the Keebler ones used for pie cfrusts)
-1 1/4 tsp Vanilla
-1 cup Milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcake pan with baking cups (or spray with pam, or use saran wrap and rub butter to avoid sticking).


2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Stop to add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

4. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.


5. Reduce the speed to low. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one-third of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

6.Add the graham cracker crumbs, beating (on low speed) just until incorporated.

7. Use a standard-size ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake paper with batter, so that the wells are two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

Ingredients
-4Tbsp Butter (1/2 stick, you can use a full stick if you want a more whipped texture)
-8 oz Cream Cheese (your standard package at the store)
-1 box of Confectioners Sugar (approx 16oz or ~3.75 cups)

Method
1. If you have a mixer or hand mixer, place butter and cream cheese into a bowl and mix on low to medium until incorporated with each other. Add vanilla and mix,

2. Add confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) about a cup at a time and mix into butter/cream cheese mix until the entire box has been mixed in well. Consistency should be light, but not too whipped.
(if you don't have a hand mixer, no worries, that just means a bit more mixing. Make sure you let the butter/cream cheese soften and then used a fork to mix them together. Add vanilla and then start adding confectioners sugar until well incorporated.)

3. Frost the cupcakes, if you want the look that's in the pictures, you can either use a piping bag, OR you can take a large ziploc bag, fill it with the frosting, and cut a hole in one corner.

*if you want your frosting to be a bit firmer as to give the cupcakes a similar appearance as the ones displayed, I would suggest loading your piping bags and them placing them into the fridge for about 20-30mins.

Let us know what you think and be sure to leave a comment :)

Enjoy and keep up the cooking,
-GF