February 2010 - LunaCafe

Fried Banana Split with Mexican Chocolate Sauce & Strawberry Lime Salsa

February 24, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 12 Comments

As I said in the previous post, Caramelized Ancho Chile & Cinnamon Almonds, are you ready for one of the most spectacular desserts I have ever created? It is so indulgent, so bright, so refreshing, so festive, and so sinful (Using fresh strawberries out of season? Have I gone to the dark side?) that it may well be the PERFECT dessert with which to bid winter a grateful farewell. Goodbye freezing rain, mud, ice, and threats of snow. Goodbye short grey days and long dark nights. Have a safe journey to the other side of the globe, and please please please don’t hurry back.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: banana, banana split, Chocolate, chocolate sauce, dessert, kiwi, mango, Strawberries

Caramelized Ancho Chile & Cinnamon Almonds

February 18, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 11 Comments

Caramelized Ancho Chile & Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds Closeup

Are you ready for one of the most spectacular desserts I have ever made? How about Fried Banana Split with Mexican Bittersweet Chocolate Chile Sauce, Strawberry Mint Salsa, and Caramelized Ancho Chile Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds?

I flipped on my first bite of this dessert and on each subsequent bite, until I was left with only an empty plate and a serious thought of licking it. I think this is one dessert that you are going to LOVE!

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: almonds, ancho chile, caramel, caramelized nuts, dessert, pumpkin seeds

Quintessential Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

February 15, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 16 Comments

LunaCafe Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries on Ice Cream

Is there anything better in the world than a scoop of the richest vanilla bean ice cream you can get your hands on and a generous topping of an equally rich dark chocolate sauce? Okay, maybe add a couple of perfect strawberries to that picture. And then, since we’re talking perfection here, how about a small handful of toasted almonds as well?

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts, Valentine's Day Tagged With: bittersweet chocolate, Chocolate, chocolate sauce, dessert

White Chocolate, Cardamom & Coconut Beignet

February 11, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 12 Comments

White Chocolate, Cardamom & Toasted Coconut Beignet on Plate

Whether you call them beignet, zeppoli, bunuelos, crullers, Indian frybread, elephant ears, fritters, funnel cakes, churros, or simply donuts, there is something absolutely magical about freshly fried sweet dough, whether plain, encasing a bit of fruit or chocolate, topped with sugar, or dipped into a creamy, dreamy sauce.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: beignet, cardamom, coconut, deep fried, dessert, donuts, fried dough, fritters, white chocolate, zeppoli

LunaCafe’s Burnt Caramel & Lemon Chevre Brownies

February 6, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 25 Comments

LunaCafe's Caramel & Lemon Chevre Brownies

Folks sometimes ask what inspires my recipes. Such a hard question. Anything and everything is my truthful response. I am almost always thinking about food.

This brownie recipe, for instance, was inspired by the following nearly concurrent events:

•Sampling goat’s milk cajita in a Mexican grocery store in Portland.
•Making cajita myself.
•The All Chocolate! All Month! celebration at LunaCafe.
•Plan to work cajita into a brownie recipe for the celebration.
•A Brownie Throw Down on The Food Network, which the Vermont Brownie Company won with their chevre brownie.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: bittersweet chocolate brownies, brownies, caramel, caramel brownies, chevre brownies, Chocolate, cocoa powder, cookies, dessert, goat's milk cheese brownies

LunaCafe OtherWorldly Silky Fudgy Brownies

February 2, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 30 Comments

LunaCafe OtherWorldly Silky Brownies Stacked

What I really love about baking is that even if you don’t get the exact result you are going for, you sometimes get a nonetheless marvelous different result. That’s what happened with these brownies, which I intended to be the epitome of chewy chocolate YUM.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: bittersweet chocolate brownies, brownies, cookies, dessert, fudgy brownies, light brownies, mousse-like brownies

The Wonderful World of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

February 1, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 58 Comments

With the proliferation of cocoa powders available today, how is a cook to know which is the “best” to use for any particular purpose?

To complicate the selection process, there are three types of cocoa: natural, alkalized (Dutch process) and super alkalized (black or onyx). Often, it doesn’t matter which one you use but when you are baking with chemical leaveners, it does.