Chocolate Raspberry Pillows Food

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY PILLOWS

Steps:

• Thaw pastry sheets at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll into approximately 16" square. Mix egg yolks and water. Brush pastry lightly with egg mixture. Cut pastry sheet into sixteen 4"x4" squares. Place 1 teaspoon chocolate and 1 heaping tbls. raspberries in center of each square. Fold over one corner diagonally to form a triangle and press firmly on both edges to seal. Press down along sealed edges with tines of a fork, and prick once in center. Repeat with remaining pastry sheet, chocolate and raspberries. Brush all with remaining egg mixture.
• Place filled pastries among 3 large ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 15 minute Preheat oven to 375°F
• Bake for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve warm, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.
• Makes 32 pastries.

CHOCOLATE PILLOWS

Steps:

• For sauce, in a small saucepan heat port to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes or until reduced to 1/3 cup. Add 1 tablespoon sugar; cook and stir 1 minute. Add cherries; cook 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and whisk in butter; cover to keep warm.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until temperature reaches 350 degrees F. While oil heats, lightly brush edges of one wonton wrapper with some of the beaten egg. Place 1 piece of chocolate in center atop wonton wrapper. Place another wonton wrapper atop. Press edges to seal.
• Cook filled wontons, one at a time, in hot oil for 1 minute or until golden brown, turning frequently to brown evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Adjust heat as needed to maintain oil temperature. Cool wontons slightly. Sprinkle wontons evenly with sugar.
• Serve wontons with sauce and ice cream. Sprinkle ice cream with grated chocolate and serve with two spoons. Makes 2 servings.
• *TIP: If using zinfandel, increase sugar in sauce to 2 tablespoons.

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE FRENCH MACAROONS

Steps:

• Make macaroons:
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Pulse almonds with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar in a food processor until very finely ground, 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Sift in remaining cup confectioners sugar, stirring to combine.
• Beat egg whites with salt in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add granulated sugar, a little at a time, beating, then increase speed to high and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Add drops of food coloring to reach desired shade and mix at low speed until evenly combined. Stir almond mixture into meringue with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. (Meringue will deflate.)
• Spoon batter into bag, pressing out excess air, and snip off 1 corner of plastic bag to create a 1/4-inch opening. Twist bag firmly just above batter, then pipe peaked mounds of batter (the size of a chocolate kiss) onto lined sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Let cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature until tops are no longer sticky and a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 300°F.
• Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp and edges are just slightly darker, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on sheets on racks, about 30 minutes.
• Make ganache while macaroons bake:
• Melt chocolate with cream in a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. (Bowl should not touch water.) Remove bowl from heat, then add butter and raspberry extract, stirring until butter is melted. Let stand at room temperature until cooled completely and slightly thickened.
• Assemble cookies:
• Carefully peel cookies from parchment (they will be fragile). Sandwich a thin layer of ganache (about 1/2 teaspoon) between flat sides of cookies.

MINI CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY PHYLLO TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the pastry shells: Use a pastry brush to brush one sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Top with another sheet and brush with butter and repeat for a total of 4 layers. Top with the remaining sheet of phyllo but do not brush the top with butter.
• Use the remaining melted butter to brush the insides of 6 cups of a standard 12-cup muffin pan, leaving every other cup empty.
• Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the stack of phyllo sheets into 6 squares, each about 4-by-4 inches. Ease each square into a buttered muffin cup, pressing gently to line the cup and allowing the edges to fold in. Refrigerate while you make the batter.
• For the batter: Microwave the chocolate chips and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl in 20 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until smooth, about 60 seconds. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla and salt. Whisk in the egg until smooth, then whisk the mixture vigorously for 20 seconds. Whisk in the almond flour until combined.
• Divide the batter between the phyllo-lined cups. Place a heaping teaspoon of jam in the center of each cup and swirl with a toothpick. Bake until a clean toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs, 34 to 38 minutes.
• Cool the tarts in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Dust each tart with powdered sugar and top with a few fresh raspberries before serving.