Chocolate Caramel Breads Food

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 glass pan with non-stick spray.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Use 2 forks or a pastry cutter to combine, until mixture is crumbly. Press into bottom of 8x8 pan.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining 1/3 cup butter. Add in 1/4 cup brown sugar and stir. Bring to a boil, then boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour over crust.
• Bake for 15 minutes. (Do not over bake or you will have toffee bars! ;)
• Remove from oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of caramel and swirl gently with a knife. Let cool completely. Cut into bars and ENJOY!!

CARAMEL CHOCOLATE SHORTBREADS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving about a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Spread the coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet and set aside.
• Beat the butter, vanilla and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix on low until just incorporated. Beat in the flour in 2 batches to make a smooth dough.
• Lightly flour your hands and press the dough into the prepared baking pan. Bake the shortbread until the edges are firm and the top is dry, 28 to 30 minutes. Top the shortbread with the caramels in an even layer. Return to the oven along with the baking sheet of coconut and cook, tossing the coconut once, until the caramels are melted and the coconut is golden, about 10 minutes.
• Spray the back of a spoon with cooking spray and use it to spread the caramel all over the shortbread. Sprinkle with the chocolate and let sit until the chips are melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Using the foil overhang as handles, lift the shortbread out of the pan and cut into 12 pieces.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and flour the parchment paper.
• Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Beat sugar and shortening together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in buttermilk and water. Add flour mixture slowly, beating on low speed until batter is smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Place pans on a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Invert cakes carefully onto serving plates.
• Combine caramels, milk, and butter in a saucepan over low heat; cook, stirring frequently, until caramels are melted, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 3 minutes.
• Sprinkle 1/2 of the pecan pieces and chocolate chips over 1 cake layer, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Pour 1/4 of the caramel on top. Place second cake layer on top. Sprinkle remaining pecans and chocolate chips over the cake. Pour remaining caramel on top, allowing some to drizzle down the sides.

SOFT CHOCOLATE CARAMELS

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stir the sugar and corn syrup together until the sugar is completely moistened. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until it turns a very light caramel color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and very slowly pour the cream into the hot sugar (be careful-it will bubble up) and stir to combine. Return the mixture to medium-low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer inserted in the pot reads 238 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and butter until smooth. Pour the mixture into a greased 8-by-8 inch square baking dish. Allow to cool completely (at least 2 hours) before cutting into 1-inch squares.
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.
• From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make at Home, by Jacques Torres.

CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place bread in an even layer in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake the bread pieces for 5 minutes or until bread is slightly crispy.
• In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, Bolthouse Chocolate Protein Plus, sugars, and vanilla. Once mixed, pour over bread, pressing down on the bread to soak up the chocolate mixture.
• Drizzle melted butter over the top of the mixture.
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean (or the internal temperature is 160°F).
• In a medium bowl, mix together confectioners' sugar and Bolthouse Salted Caramel Latte until smooth.
• Pour over bread and serve warm.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING WITH KAHLUA CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 12 ramekins or a large gratin dish. Dust with granulated sugar.
• Bread Pudding: Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the 1/2 cup sugar. Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat until steamy but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolates, salt, vanilla, nutmeg, and Kahlua. Stir to mix. While whisking, pour over the egg yolks/sugar mixture. Gently fold in the bread cubes. Transfer the pudding mixture to ramekins (filled just up to the top) and put on a baking sheet, or use a gratin pan. Bake until nicely browned and set, about 30 minutes (for ramekins) and 45 minutes for gratin pan.
• Kahlua Caramel Sauce: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water and cream of tartar in a small saucepan. DO NOT STIR. Bring to a boil and cook until the caramel browns. When the caramel is medium brown, remove from heat and carefully add 1 cup of cream and simmer. Add Kahlua.
• To serve: Ladle a layer of sauce onto each plate and unmold the ramekin and put the pudding on top of the sauce; or if in a gratin pan, place a large spoonful of bread pudding on top. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

CHOCOLATE & SALTED CARAMEL WAFFLE BREAD & BUTTER PUDDING

Steps:

• Fill a large pan with a few centimetres of water and set over a medium heat. Set a large heatproof bowl over the pan - it should sit on top without touching the water. Break the chocolate into the bowl, then tip in the cream, milk, butter, caster sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Reduce the heat to low, and stir the mixture until everything has melted together and is glossy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• Spread the caramel over the base of a baking dish (ours was 30 x 22cm), then sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Cut the waffles in half diagonally, then arrange over the caramel in overlapping rows.
• Pour the egg yolks into the warm chocolate mixture, mixing well as you do until all of the egg is fully incorporated. Carefully pour the chocolate custard over the waffles, ensuring they're fully covered. Leave to soak for at least 1 hr, or cover and chill overnight.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and uncover the dish if it has been chilled. Bake the pudding for 30 mins until the custard is set with a slight wobble in the centre. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then dust lightly with icing sugar, if you like, and scoop into bowls to serve.

SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE TART WITH CANDIED PEANUTS

Steps:

• Add graham crackers, sugar, and pinch of salt to a food processors and pulse until crumbly. Slowly add butter and vanilla extract and continue to pulse until texture resembles wet sand. Add to a tart pan and press against the sides and bottom, ensuring crust is evenly distributed throughout the pan. Place in the freezer.
• Add sugar to a large sauce pan over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has melted. Reduce heat to low and add butter. Stir until melted and then add heavy cream. Caramel will break apart but whisk continuously. If needed, increase heat to medium until mixture comes back together and is smooth then remove from heat.
• Add salt and peanuts and fold together. Allow caramel to cool for about 10-15 minutes then pour on top of graham cracker crust and place back into the freezer.
• Make the chocolate ganache layer by adding heavy cream to a sauce pan over low heat. Do not boil. Warm for about 2-3 minutes, then add dark chocolate chips. Whisk together until chocolate has melted and remove from the heat. Pour on top of the caramel layer and place into the refrigerator. Allow tart to set for 2-3 hours.
• Optional step: To make the meringue, use a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment and add egg whites. Beat on medium until eggs become frothy/bubbly, then add sugar very very slowly until stiff peaks form. Continue whisking and add vanilla extract and cream of tartar or white vinegar. Place into a piping bag and pipe on top of tart.
• Chop up peanuts and garnish on top of the tart.