rocher plates with dried fruit by paul.a.young

This is a recipe I wanted to do from the first day I received as gift the book "Adventures with Chocolate" by paul.a.young; but as many recipes in the list of the things to do even this one always slipped to another day, until I saw it inthe blog of Stefania and finally decided to do it for a Sunday lunch.

 For about 12 large pieces

(in brackets the doses that I used to make 1/5 more)

• 250g dried fruit of your choice, coarsely chopped  (350)
• 100g raisins or other dehydrated fruit (140)
• 300g dark chocolate (420) Ecuador 57% (or at your choice) tempered*

Put the dried fruit on a baking tray in cold oven and bring the temperature to 180°. When the oven is hot, cook for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to obtain an homogeneous roasting. Let cool completely. Mix 200g (250) of dried fruit with dehydrated fruit with the tempered chocolate stirring as quickly as the chocolate allows in this phase. Spread the mixture on a pan lined with a parchment paper and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Flatten with a rolling pin until you obtain the desired thickness. Let cool the chocolate but before it completely hardens lift the top sheet and sprinkle the rest of dried fruit and cut into squares or in the shape and size you prefer. 

It keeps up  to 2 months...but it does not last even 2 days.

* In his book paul.a.young also explains the ways of manually tempering chocolate, here I report the one that for method and time is faster and easier (you should not pour the chocolate on the working plan). You have to stir solid chocolate into molten chocolate to "inoculate" in it crystals. Take 2/3 of the total chocolate, melt it in a double boiler or microwave until it reaches the temperature of 55° (this is the correct temperature to melt the fats, the sugars and the crystals crystals contained in the chocolate). If you melt chocolate on a double boiler, the bowl should not touch the water but must be suspended  and the water should never boil. If you melt the chocolate in a microwave put it at the highest temperature for 25-30 seconds, stir it gently and put it again in the microwave so as to control the temperature each time. When the chocolate is at 55° pour the remaining chocolate and stir vigorously until it will be completely melted and wait until the temperature  reaches. 27°-28°. The chocolate must be then gently warmed to working temperature, 31°-32°.  

cheese cake with chocolate and goat cheese with strawberries compote

Falls under the general rules saying that "Tea is a ritual a moment of relax a form of detachment from..." I must admit and be honest that I really like the tea when I have cold and I'm not well then it is the only thing that satisfies me and I'm looking for immediately; preferring red fruits tea I so  decided to go with this cheese cake with white chocolate and fresh...red fruits: the first time I ate this it was love at first bite because to me this is the Perfect Match!

chocolate biscuits with cocoa beans (paul.a.young recipe)

With this recipe I take part to the contest julskitchen-se-tu-fossi-una-ricetta. (if you were a recipe, which recipe would you be?)

So if I was a recipe, I would ... I would be some chocolate biscuits. But not any chocolate biscuits, it's not accident that I've chosen a paul.a.young's recipe, one of the most famous chocolatier in the world.

paul.a.young

I would be these biscuits because I do very like chocolate in all its forms and creations. It's that taste, among different sweet things, that I even unconsciously seek, when I need something sweet to eat; and it satisfies me even in small quantity.

muffins with muscovado sugar (paul.a.young's recipe)

How cold! This morning I went to Villa Ada for my running session, and it was really cold, but I went on because yesterday I cooked the muffins and also tasted them... However I found this recipe in the book of chocolate of Paul.a.Young (great English maitre chocolatier) and my son said after having tasted them "it's for those who love dark chocolate" and the older one "but there's salt in there?" like real gourmets! Yes indeed there is! "But how do you think of, mom?"   Well I learned from Paul.a.young, the typical English fine chocolatier who said: Today is used to add a pinch of sea salt to chocolate, because a small amount of salt balancese the sugar content in it, intensifying the natural flavour of chocolate." That's why! Wouldn't you too like to delight youself in front of his shop window in London, day after day!?!

Serve 12 muffin

• 110 g baking flour
• 65 g unsweetened cocoa powder of the highest quality
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 185 gr. butter
• 225 g brown sugar
• 85 ml cream
• 2 eggs
• for 50 g white chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

1. Put the flour, salt, cocoa and the softened butter in the mixer at low speed and work until the dogh does not assume the consistency of bread crumbs. Add sugar and mix well.

2. Fill a pitcher with 85ml (something less wold be better) of water add the cream and eggs and blend well, add the liquid to the mixture and work till you earn a soft dough.

3. Use paper cups or baking paper crumpled into the molds and fill with the dough to 3/4. Bake for about 25 minutes. Leave them some minutes.

4. Melt white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (water should not reach the boiling point), let cool for about 15 minutes. Use a sac-à-poche, drill a hole and decorate as desired.

With this recipe I participate to the contest

of the blog cuisine d'ici et d'ailleurs