Monday, March 4, 2013

Cherries and Assorted Berries

There are some cherries on my sweater and an excess of berries in my fridge! Today I wore the following cherry sweater from Old Navy, which is a bit cheeky, but lots of fun. The colors of the the coral cherries and the neutral background of the sweater will be a perfect pair for many items in my wardrobe this season. For example, I am pairing it today with this no. 2 pencil skirt in "Vibrant Coral" from the J. Crew factory and a polka dot chambray shirt which is from Old Navy.

Below you will some incredible berry and chocolate pairings which I made for dessert. I am going to make a lovely French wild mushroom and cream sauce chicken dish for dinner tonight and I thought these desserts would be just right afterwards.





I've always wanted to try Scharffen Berger chocolate because it is used by my all time favorite chef, Jacques Pepin and featured on his cooking shows. A few weeks ago my local grocery store was doing a massive clear out of numerous items in order to rearrange the store, and I found two bars of Scharffen Berger on sale at 50% off. So I bought both bars with the intent of making something decadent.


I decided to do a simple classic recipe that I learned from watching Jacques. Actually it really isn't a recipe at all since most of what you do is simply melt chocolate! I am not sure what to call these chocolate treats, so I just call them "Pepin Cups" after the chef.  



As Jacques would say during the opening sequence of his show Essential Pepin, "Here's how I made it." (It's better when you hear the very heavy French accent!) First, melt chocolate. I always make a "double broiler" by placing the bowl with chocolate in it over a pot of boiling, steaming water. You have to get a bowl that will rest securely on the pot without falling in. The rationale for the boiler is to prevent the scorching of the chocolate which is often caused by directly heating or microwaving it. Second, once the chocolate is melted pour it into cupcake paper. Last, decorate the chocolate with your choice of berries and nuts. I used raspberries and pistachios as they are one of my favorite "flavor combinations."


I also made some chocolate covered strawberries and raspberry clusters (not shown) with the chocolate. You can pay a lot at Godiva for these goodies, but it is more fun to make them at home. I have some first hand experience with the exorbitant prices at Godiva. For our college graduation my friend and I bought two chocolate covered strawberry as a treat from Godiva and they were about $15 apiece or something crazy like that. We were afraid to eat them because they seemed to be almost worth their weight in gold! The Scharffen Berger isn't cheap, but you can certainly save some money doing it yourself.

Last, my overall review of the Scharffen Berger chocolate is that it is very delicious, but perhaps not worth the hefty price. Typically I use Ghiradelli chocolate for recipes. It seems to hit a "sweet spot" so to speak in regards to balancing taste with price. Yes, it is still expensive, but it does taste better than Bakers and Hershey brand chocolate.

Regardless, chocolate is still chocolate and let's be honest, it's all pretty tasty!

4 comments:

  1. I adore the mix of prints and the color pairings! Your outfit is fun but still put-together and wearable!

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    1. Thank you Lisa! I am trying to mix it up a little more with pattern and print.

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  2. ohhhh now i want some dessert! your outfit is really fun for spring, katie!

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    1. Thank you Laura! The dessert was yummy. We have some left over for tonight too!

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