With Valentine's Day fast-approaching, we asked Nokomis students and staff to share their favorite sweet treats.
Cathy Beaudry (RSU 19 Adult Ed) shared Pots du Chocolate and says, "We usually have them on Christmas Eve with peppermint whipped cream, but they would make a lovely Valentine's dessert as well."
9 ounces high-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons granulated sugar (add an extra tablespoon if using bitter chocolate)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
Directions
Place the chocolate in a blender. Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes.
Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender. Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Divide the chocolate mixture among ramekins or small cups and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar with a mixer or in the blender until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pots de creme with whipped cream.
Rande Sargent (Nokomis Class of 2024) shares a recipe for delicious vegan lemon poppy seed muffins!
Ingredients:
Muffins-
- 1 cup of soymilk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups of all-Purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp of poppy seeds
- 2/3 a cup of all-natural granulated sugars (because typical refined/table sugar is in fact not vegan! Who wudda thunk!)
- 1/4 a cup and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
- The zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 1tsp vanilla extract
Glaze-
- 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar
- 2-3 tsp of lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line your tin with muffin cups
2. Combine your milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for 10 min to curdle into your buttercream
3. While the buttercream is curdling, combine the following ingredients (your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds) and set aside
4. In a larger bowl, mix these ingredients (your sugar, oil, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and zest)
5. Once your buttermilk is curled, wisk in your buttermilk to your 2nd round of ingredients. Once combined, then add your 1st round (your "dry") Add gently until mixed
6. Pour the mixture about 3/4 the way into each muffin cup and bake for 18-20 minutes until you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out dry
7. While the muffins are baking, in a separate bowl mix together your powdered sugar and lemon juice. Depending on your taste, you may need more lemon to get the right texture
8. Once the muffins are out of the oven dollop about 1 tbsp on each muffin before setting it aside to cool
9. This recipe makes 12 muffins
10. Serve with a tea of choice (I choose chai) for optimal muffin consumption :D
Tips and Tricks:
- Let the muffins cool for about 10min before taking them out of the tin and placing them on a cooling rack. It will help curve the chance of your muffins falling apart
- Put your glaze over your muffins while they are still warm, so it melts over the muffin
- Do not overmix your batter. Too much mixing can cause more gluten to develop which can lead to a gummy-esk, undesirable texture.
- If you do not have access to powdered sugar, you can make your own by blending granulated sugar in your standard kitchen blender