Chocolate eggs, deconstructed

While browsing Reddit the other day, I came across a link to this post, by the exceptionally talented (or should I say 'egg-ceptionally'?) Steph, a food blogger from Sydney. I couldn't wait to try it out, and make my own chocolate cheesecake eggs for a party tomorrow. Since I didn't know where to buy hollow chocolate eggs on short notice, I decided to buy a dozen Cadbury eggs, cut them open, and hollow them out.

Here's what I learned: this does not work. You can't cut the top off smoothly without causing the entire egg to collapse. Or if you do manage, you will find that the filling is pretty much an integral part of the not-so-hollow-as-it-first-appeared egg. So...I decided to deconstruct it.

And that brings us to today's post - Deconstructed 'fried egg' cheesecake tartlets.

Here's what you need:
For filling -
8 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Not for filling -
7 graham cracker tartlets (alas, this is all that it makes. Feel free to double the recipe though!)
apricot jam (I used Smucker's Spreadable Fruit)

Put all the filling stuff in a bowl and beat it with an electric mixer until it is uniformly smooth. It should taste like no-bake cheesecake (because that's what it is!). Fill the tartlet shells. Use an ice cream spoon or other very small teaspoon to make a round scooped depression in the center of each tartlet. Put a small dollop of jam in that depression, so that they look like eggs, sunny side up. See how easy that was? It takes ten minutes, tops, and tastes delicious! Next year I plan to buy chocolate shells and try Steph's version, but in the meantime, I'm pretty pleased with the way these turned out. It just goes to show, there are no mistakes in cooking that you can't turn into something great. Happy Easter, everyone!

Let Them Eat Cake

My dad's birthday was this past week, and I have to say that I think the cake I made for the occasion turned out pretty well! It's very rich, with a chocolate ganache-type frosting. I think this photo does a good job of illustrating its chocolaty excellence, even if it also highlights my less than stellar decorating abilities. While I aim for decorating perfection, the ultimate goal is to have it disappear so fast you don't have time to look, right?

Chocolate Truffle Torte

For cake:
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup flour
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 oz. hazelnuts, finely chopped and toasted (if you live in Pennsylvania, some people call these filberts)
chocolate chips

For frosting:
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease bottoms and sides of 2 round cake pans (if you use disposable cake pans, the cakes come out very easily, which is nice).

Melt chocolate chips and margarine in heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cool 5 minutes. Stir in flour until smooth. Stir in egg yolks until well blended.

Beat egg whites in large bowl with mixer on high speed til foamy. Beat in sugar gradually until soft peaks form. Fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Fold in toasted hazelnuts. Spread in pans.

Bake 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen, then take out of pans. Cool completely.

Prepare frosting by heating chocolate chips and margarine in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted; remove from heat. Stir in cream. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes until it achieves the texture of frosting. If you haven't made frosting before, try picking up a bit of it on your knife. If it drips off, it's still not ready. If it is too thick, and you think you couldn't spread it on anything to save your life, without ending up with more cake on your knife than icing on the top of the cake, then throw it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so (not in the metal pan!) until it is spreadable.

Ice the bottom layer. Top with other layer and frost top and sides of cake with remaining filling. Drizzle with any leftover filling and garnish with chocolate chips.