Stovetop method: Place chopped chocolate pieces or chocolate chips in the dry top of a double boiler with hot water in the pan beneath. If you don’t have a double boiler, create your own by placing a dry, heatproof glass or metal bowl over a saucepan with hot water in it. The fit between your larger bowl and smaller saucepan beneath it should be snug and not loose. WARNING: The water you use should be hot but not boiling or simmering; neither should it be touching the container holding the chocolate. While your white chocolate melts, stir constantly with a dry rubber spatula. Remove from the heat as soon as the chocolate is melted. Do not allow it to scorch!
Clare’s Golden Gingerbread-Maple Muffins with Warm Holiday-Spice Glaze To bring the taste of home-baked holiday spices to her coffeehouse customers, Clare created these light, moist, gingery muffins for the Village Blend’s pastry case. You’ll notice there is no sugar in the muffin part of this recipe. The sweetness comes from the pure maple syrup, which is an important ingredient to get right. Pure maple syrup is not the same thing as “pancake syrup.” Pancake syrup is usually just maple-flavored corn syrup. Be sure to use real maple syrup for this recipe or the texture of your muffins will be dry instead of moist and buttery, and the taste will be less appealing, too. When in doubt, check the label. As Clare puts it: “Pure maple syrup will list only one ingredient—maple syrup!”
Makes 12 muffins
1 cup raisins
2 extra large eggs, room temperature
1 cup pure maple syrup (do not substitute pancake syrup)
1 tablespoon molasses (unsulphured, not blackstrap)
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup milk
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon allspice (see note)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Step 1—Make the batter: First, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place your raisins in a bowl and cover with hot tap water for 15 minutes to plump. Drain the water and set the raisins aside. Using a whisk or electric mixer, whip up the (room temperature) eggs for two minutes, until they double in volume, then beat in real maple syrup, molasses, sour cream, milk, and melted butter. In a second bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, allspice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Now blend your dry ingredients into your wet ones, fold in raisins, and mix the batter just enough until blended (do not overmix at this stage or your muffins will be tough).
Step 2—Bake the muffins: Spray the tops of your standard muffin pans with a nonstick cooking spray to prevent big muffin tops from sticking. Line 12 muffin cups with paper or foil liners. Fill each cup with the thick batter. (You may think there’s too much batter for 12 standard muffin cups, but it’s the right amount.) Don’t be afraid to heap the batter high, dividing it evenly among the cups until all the batter is used up. Filling the cups this much will create big, coffeehouse-style muffin tops. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes at 350ºF.
They’re done when a wooden skewer or knife inserted in the center of a test muffin comes out clean.
Step 3—Dust or glaze: Muffin tops will spread out during baking and fuse together. Use a knife to carefully separate them. Then remove the muffins from the pan as soon as they are cool enough to handle (about 5 minutes). Do not leave the muffins in the hot pan to cool or the bottoms will steam and become tough! You can pretty up these muffins with a light dusting of powdered sugar (shake the sugar through a fine-mesh sieve) or you can glaze the tops with the Warm Holiday-Spice Glaze below. Let cool completely before glazing.
Warm Holiday-Spice Glaze 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon allspice
1¼ cup powdered sugar
Warm pure maple syrup, butter, water, and allspice in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter melts. Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Keep stirring and heating, simmering for a few minutes, until mixture is smoothly blended. This is a thin glaze that will appear almost transparent on the muffins. Using a pastry brush, generously coat the top of your cooled muffins while the glaze is still warm. If glaze hardens up in pan, reheat and stir. Serve glazed muffins immediately or let the glaze cool first. Glaze will harden in 20 to 30 minutes.
NOTE: Sure, it sounds like a combination of spices, but allspice is actually one spice that mimics the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Because the cost of buying spices can be pricey—especially ground cloves—allspice is not only a delicious alternative, it’s a clever way to keep your holiday baking within your budget. The pea-sized allspice berry comes from the evergreen pimiento tree, by the way. Although the tree is grown in the West Indies and South America, Dexter’s island of Jamaica provides most of the world’s supply!
Clare’s “Bar-ista” Special Macaroons As Clare noted in one of her old In the Kitchen with Clare columns: Your basic coconut macaroon is simply a cookie made with lots of flaked coconut that’s mixed into a paste and baked. One way to do this is with sweetened condensed milk and egg whites. Another way is to combine a 14-ounce package of sweetened flaked coconut (5cups) with cup granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons flour, 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Fold in 4 egg whites that have been lightly beaten with a fork and mix well. Create cookies by packing the coconut batter into the rounded tablespoon (from your measuring spoon set) and dropping onto a cookie sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper or well greased to prevent sticking. Using your fingers, mold each cookie into a little pyramid. The triangular shape actually helps the cookie to brown on the outside for a slightly crispy bite while remaining soft and chewy on the inside. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges of cookie are golden brown. Do not over bake or inside won’t give you the proper chewy consistency. (Makes about 30 cookies.)
Clare’s “Bar-ista Special” Macaroon recipe puts the basic macaroon on top of a bar cookie that’s quick and easy to make and sell out of the coffeehouse pastry case.
Makes 16 bars or 36 bite-sized squares
For the cookie crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 egg yolks, room temperature (save whites for topping)
