Meeting Alice Medrich, the First Lady of Chocolate

Several weeks ago I flew up to San Francisco to hear a talk at Omnivore Books in Noe Valley with my mom. Omnivore Books is a charming cookbook shop with little square footage and yet a surprisingly, deceptively huge cookbook collection. The shop owners regularly invite cookbook authors to host talks in their shop, allowing these authors an opportunity to introduce the crowd to their most recently published cookbook.

This is not the first time I've booked a flight from LA for the sole purpose of hearing a cookbook author speak. It's such a fun afternoon in the City, and a great excuse to visit my parents and see family and friends in the Bay Area. I can't do it all the time, but I must say, this particular weekend was a no-brainer. Alice Medrich, the First Lady of Chocolate, was scheduled to speak about her latest book Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts. I own most of Medrich's cookbooks. So adding her latest to my collection was something I was very interested in doing. And in the process, I got to meet her, chat with her, have her sign my book, and take this photo! Note the garb. My mom and I dressed in our most baking-obsessed clothing for the afternoon. We are baking dorks to the max!

The Making Of: A Happy Go Marni Plate!

Soooooooo, I decided to make a Happy Go Marni heart-shaped plate. I love me some hearts! And a serving plate for my baked goods is always a good idea (you can never have too many). Plus, how cool is it to be able to tell your guests you made this awesome dish?

To make this plate, I went to Color Me Mine in Beverly Hills, a ceramics shop where you select a piece to paint and then they glaze and fire it for you. It's ready for pick-up 3 days later.

To get the Happy Go Marni logo onto the plate, I used the computer in the shop and pulled up my logo, resized it to fit the surface of the plate, and printed it out. I then placed the image over special carbon paper and used a pen to outline the design, pressing hard enough for the lines to appear on the plate. That created the perfect stencil for me to paint on! And the carbon lines disappear when the pottery is fired in the kiln.

Keeping the paint within such an intricate design was not the easiest thing in the world since I couldn't find any paint brushes with a fine enough point. It took a combination of patience, concentration, and letting go of my perfectionism to get the job done. But I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! It was so exciting to return to the shop 3 days after the painting day to see the results of my hard work. I now have a one-of-a-kind piece of art with my name on it. I can't wait to serve blondies on this plate! But as far as making a matching mug? No way, Jose. :)


The Making of the Plate: In Photos
Placing the logo over the carbon paper, and centering it over the plate...

Tracing the design with a pen...

Lots of concentration required! :)

 

And the painting is done! This is what it looks like pre-fired...

3 days later and here it is glazed, fired, and ready for serving!

Stovetop Crispy Corn Flake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

If you are a peanut butter fan, this bar is for you! I can comfortably make that claim because I served it to a bunch of peanut butter lovers and they all had glowing assessments. One said, "I think you need to add this to your regular repertoire." Another said, "I really shouldn't have seconds but I'll make an exception this once! Darn you, Marni!" And another asked, "When is this going up on the blog!?!?!?!?!"

I love that it's a no-bake, stovetop-only bar. Put a couple ingredients in a saucepan, stir corn flakes in, spread the mixture into a foil-lined pan, and cover with melted chocolate and chopped peanuts. The bars never go in the oven. They just chill in the fridge for a few hours. Easy as pie, er, bars! And if you store the leftovers in the fridge (uhhhh, what leftovers?), the corn flakes seem to stay crispy for days! GREAT SUCCESS! GREAT SUCCESS!

Since these corn flake bars remind me a lot of a rice krispy bar, I'm kind of curious to try the exact same recipe using a different cereal next time. Though as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! And these do not need fixing! A+!

Shabbat Note: It would be very easy to make these pareve for Shabbat. Simply use margarine instead of butter and use pareve bittersweet, dark, or semi-sweet chocolate for the top layer.

Stovetop Crispy Corn Flake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Adapted from a recipe by Yvonne Ruperti in Serious Eats
Makes 16 hefty bars

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Pinch salt
4 cups corn flakes, lightly crushed
1/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped and divided (from the 1/3 cup measure, pour into a 1/4 cup measure and leave the remaining nuts in the 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate chips)

Line an 8x8-inch baking pan (or a 9x9-inch but the squares will not be as tall) with foil so that some foil hangs over the edge on two opposite sides (for pulling up the bars later).

In a medium or large saucepan over low-medium heat, melt butter. Add peanut butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, and salt and stir until all melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

Stir in corn flakes, 1/4 cup peanuts, and vanilla until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top with the back of a spoon.

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water (or simply using the microwave), heat chocolate until just melted (if using microwave, be very careful not to burn the chocolate and heat just long enough to warm the chocolate pieces so you can stir them to melt them). Spread chocolate over top of corn flake mixture using offset spatula. Sprinkle with remaining chopped peanuts. Cover and chill until firm, about 2 hours. Remove from pan using the foil overhangs and cut into 2-inch squares. Or if you're like me, cut them into bite size pieces. A little goes a long way!


Step-by-Step in Pictures
In a saucepan, heat together the butter, peanut butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, and salt. Remove from the heat.

Add the corn flakes, 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, and vanilla and stir until everything is combined...

Pour this corn flake filling into the prepared pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the top...

Melt chocolate and spread over the corn flake mixture in the pan...

Sprinkle with the remaining nuts, cover with foil, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours...

Once chilled, slice and serve!