MMP (aka Mississippi Mud Pie)

Some of you IMC peeps might remember this dessert i brought to work a while back.  This dessert is not for the faint of heart.  You must be quite the lover of chocolate.  It begins with a food processor and a 

package of oreos.  I blended till the oreos were supa fine....then you add 5 tablespoons of 'that which makes all things better' (aka butter) and mush everything together.  Then i mushed it all in a springform pan.  If you don't know what a springform pan is or have never even heard of it (which is quite! the shame) check one out here.  

   After baking the crust, en chocolat was added to the pot of melting butter.  Now on the next step, which includes whipping up egg whites, i think some people are scared to do it!  Which, like anything, with a little practice is not so complicated as first thought.  One key thing i like to do is add a dash of cream of tartar.  This will add a pretty gloss to the end result.  So, here i whipped the egg whites till they were foamy. 

 I then added the sugar gradually and whipped until they were at soft peaks (meaning when you lift up the beaters they still droop slightly).   

There are a few other steps like beating the egg yolks and folding the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to make the next layer...a flourless chocolate cake! This also takes some getting used to....because if you don't whip up the egg yolks and egg whites just right it won't turn out. Practice, practice, practice!!! :) 

While that layer is cooling i got started on the chocolate pudding, which is the final layer to this luscious creation (made possible by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the authors of this fabulous book).  Whenever making a flourless cake it        will fall like so:

<--------------------

So do not be frightened!

After the painful waiting for each layer to refrigerate i added the chocolate pudding to the flourless cake....and voila!!  Deliciousness at your fingertips.

Please mind the messiness.  Since I just made this for home i didn't really take care to make it look super professional looking.  But believe me.....it was yUMmy!! I think the key to this recipe and any super chocolatey recipe for that matter is to use quality chocolate. Valrhona chocolate is my current favorite.  Above anything their cocoa is absolutely to die for!!  If i couldn't buy anything else i would still buy their cocoa.  It's that amazing :)  As far as store brands go i do like Ghirardelli chocolate.  Believe me when i say it DOES make a difference.

the first adventure of le casserole bain-marie!!

So....for forever i have been wanting this glorious piece of kitchen equipment.  But somehow the name 'kitchen equipment' just doesn't cut it.  This beautiful stainless steel piece of wonderfulness has been at the tip topity of my list of things to buy.  A pyrex bowl over a pan of simmering water has had to suffice ever since my love of baking was in its infancy.  Then one day (just so happened to be my birthday) i awoke to an ordinary seeming day...who am i kidding...there was something in the air as i left my room.  I walked into the kitchen to find the table filled with fantastical things all for moi!!  And what to my wondering eyes did appear, but that melter of all things chocolate and beyond.....a dOUBle BoiLEr!!!  Never will there be another ring upon my mother's non-stick pans.

 The first recipe to grace my DB was a mississippi mud pie.  The butter was dropped into the top sauce pan and immediately started melting into a beautiful mess.

  Then the greatest of all chocolate (that i have come across) was added and this is what you come up with.  A velvety pot of honestly the most rich, decadent tasting chocolate.  It trumps your store bought chocolate ANY day of the week.  If you ever want to splurge, this is the way to go.  Anyway....back to the DB.

    After letting the chocolate cool before adding it to the rest of the recipe the 'little pot that could' was not needed anymore.  Not that it was forgotten.  It will be used numerous times in its future.  And besides it's Martha Stewart's brand.  It should last forever right?? Mmmmm....let the chocolate start rolling...erm....into my mouth. ;)

The thing that makes eVeRYthiNg better...

Everybody do me a favor.  Open up a stick of Land o' Lakes butter...and just smell the wonderfulness that omits from that wonderful flavor protectant wrapper.  Pure Happiness.  You're welcome :)