Mocha Fudgesicles

Your lives probably haven't been inculcated with The Simpsons like mine has. I'm not just talking about watching the show (the golden years anyway), though that is a part of it. I'm talking about Simpsons quotes flying all over the place whenever your family gets together, about playing Simpsons Themed games and reading Simpsons themed books. About marking the mood/tenor/hilarity/tragedy of a situation with the quote perfectly befitting the occasion. Does that seem insane to you?

Then you might not have fun eating dinner with my family.

Once, in college, my friend's sister's boyfriend's roommate had heard of my epic Simpsons knowledge (yeah, it was pretty renowned) and challenged me to a trivia contest. Guess who won?

I trounced him. It wasn't even close. I was almost embarrassed for him.

Almost.

So it stands to reason that any mention of fudgesicles is accompanied by a Simpsons reference. In fact, I can't think about fudgesicles without quoting this line, from Millhouse to Bart:

"You said there'd be fudgicles, Bart. Where's the fudgicles?"

"First of all, it's 'fudge-Sicle.'" 

So I bring you these fudgesicles, which have only been called fudgicles in my household. They are smooth and pudding-y, enjoyed by children and adults alike. The Mosher version of the recipe simply involves omitting the espresso powder. For the purposes of the blog, I made a regular batch and a Mosher batch. I know I didn't have to--who's going to call me on it?--but . . . confession: I am a Mormon who loves the smell/flavor/idea of coffee. How's that for flirting with the enemy, eh?

But despite my dark little secret, I think I liked these better without the espresso powder. The coffee flavor seemed to overpower the cocoa, in my opinion. If I were to make them mocha again, I'll probably halve the espresso powder. 

The base fudgicle, though--definitely worth repeating.

Mocha Fudgesicles (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 Tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder*
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c heavy cream
• 2 3/4 c whole milk

Cooking Directions

1. Put the butter in a large heatproof bowl and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, flour, and cornstarch. Add the egg and cream and whisk until combined.
3. Place the saucepan over medium heat and slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. After the mixture boils, continue to cook, whisking, for another 2 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the butter. Whisk vigorously for 1 minute to cool slightly. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes, whisk vigorously for 1 minute, then pour into ice pop molds. Freeze until hard, about 6 hours. Release the pops from the mold by quickly running hot water along the plastic surface of the mold (be sure not to let the water touch the pops), then pull the pops out of the mold.

*Espresso powder can be omitted.

Vanilla Bean Affogato

I've been sitting on this post for a while because I haven't quite figured out how to present it. Which is funny because this is barely even a recipe. It only has three ingredients, and one of them is ice cream. One of them is vanilla bean. And one of them is espresso. And it's the espresso that has caused me so much consternation.

"But how can espresso cause consternation?" you ask.

Though I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the three of you who read this blog are LDS and already know the answer to this question, just in case anyone wandered into this blog and doesn't know what I'm talking about, I will elaborate:

As a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I follow the health and dietary guidelines that we recognize as one of God's commandments, the Word of Wisdom. More information can be found by following this link and looking under "Word of Wisdom," about 2/3 of the way down:

God's Commandments | Mormon.org

Part of the Word of Wisdom states that we should not drink alcohol, coffee, or tea. Hence, espresso consternation. 

And while avoiding alcohol, coffee, or tea is almost never more difficult than just saying, "no thanks," there is an entire chapter of Baked that my Word of Wisdom restrictions rendered useless. Of the nine drinks included in the chapter, eight of them have alcohol, coffee, tea, or a combination. 

Blah, blah, blah. 

I'm tired of talking, so here's my point:

Rather than completely ignoring an entire chapter, I have decided to adapt the recipes in a Word-of-Wisdom-friendly way. 

As such, I have been trying to come with a pithy, clever way to label my modified recipes as Mormon kosher. My best idea so far is WoWed. As in Word of Wisdom, eh? Eh? I like that it's simple and to-the-point, but it feels kind of lame. Joel suggested Counterfit, since getting rid of the coffee and alcohol is a healthier option. I think my husband is a funny, witty fellow, but this wasn't doing much for me since a baked goods blog isn't really about being fit in any way. 

That's all we got. 

So, a GIVEAWAY!

Comment on this post with your own clever way to label these adjusted recipes, or just vote for which of Joel or my ideas you like better (Joel: Counterfit, Ami: WoWed), and you will be entered to win one of these babies:

Official Baked NYC box mix! The deliciousness of the Baked Bakery in your own home! With minimal effort! And you can choose from several different options--check them all out here. I'll even let you choose which one you want, though it will be subject to availability. 

Full disclosure: no one is sponsoring this giveaway except me. Also, none of the box mixes are of recipes included in the book, except for the Sour Cream Coffee Cake and the Deep Dark Chocolate Brownie. 

Now, on to the recipe. The affogato was a lovely, simple dessert. I want some right now. I will include the printed recipe and then my adjusted recipe separately. 

Vanilla Bean Affogato (printable recipe)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission. Ingredients 1 pint premium vanilla ice cream 1 vanilla bean 1/2 c freshly brewed hot espresso Directions Divide the ice cream among three bowls or glasses. Put them back in the freezer while you prep the espresso. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and, using the tip of the knife, scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the hot espresso. Stir gently. Slowly pour the espresso mixture over the ice cream. Serve immediately. Vanilla Bean Affogato-adjusted (printable recipe) adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  Ingredients 1 pint premium vanilla ice cream 1 vanilla bean 1/2 c very hot water 2 heaping tsp Pero Instant Natural Beverage Directions Divide the ice cream among three bowls or glasses. Put them back in the freezer while you prep the remaining ingredients. Stir Pero into the hot water until dissolved.  Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and, using the tip of the knife, scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the hot Pero. Stir gently. Slowly pour the Pero mixture over the ice cream. Serve immediately.