Friday Faves – Nutmeg Nanny makes Chocolate Almond Pastry

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday Faves – Nutmeg Nanny makes Chocolate Almond Pastry

Whew – sorry this is getting posted so late in the day. Blogger decided to take the evening off last night and didn’t come back up until recently. Today is a beautiful day in Boston and I’m very excited that it’s Friday! How about you? Today’s Friday Fav is a Nutmeg Nanny. I love that blog name! Freshly ground nutmeg is one of my favorite ingredients ever. Brandy makes all sorts of tasty treats andhas participated in my Operation Baking Gals teams and Bloggers Bake for Hope. If you haven’t seen her blog, definitely check it out.

Hello! I’m Brandy from the food blog Nutmeg Nanny. I’m a small town girl who left the corn fields of Ohio for the beautiful landscape of the Hudson Valley region of New York. My life was not always about cooking and baking but over the past ten years I have started exploring my foodie side. I use my blog to share my sweet treats and sometimes savory dishes. I’m not a fan of intimidating food so I like to keep my recipes simple…but delicious!

Do you ever have a night where all you want is something sweet? I tend to have those nights almost every night. It’s an addiction….I’m sure of it. Well, sometimes on those nights I just don’t have the energy to whip up a batch of cookies or cake. Luckily, I recently found a delicious quick dessert treat. I can now have my sweet chocolate fix in barely no time at all! It’s perfectly delicious cut into wedges and even better topped with ice cream. Then again, whats not better topped with ice cream?

This recipe uses store bought puff pastry, chocolate morsels, sea salt and almonds. Ingredients I always have sitting in my pantry. The most important thing to remember when using puff pastry is to keep it cold. If it’s not cold it will not properly puff…and that would be sad and not so delicious. The added sea salt is optional but I’m a big fan of the salty and sweet combo…how about you?

Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Almond Pastries

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry - thawed
1 large egg - lightly beaten for egg wash
Turbinado sugar - for sprinkling
1 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (Or use morsels)
Best-quality honey - for drizzling
2 tablespoons whole almonds - toasted and coarsely chopped
Sea salt - for sprinkling (Optional)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Trim edges if needed to form a 10-inch square, and fold each edge in to form a 1-inch crust. Prick middle of dough all over with a fork. Brush edges with egg
wash, and sprinkle with sugar. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Transfer baking sheet to oven, and bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and cover center evenly with chocolate. Drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with salt. Return to oven, and bake until chocolate melts, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds,and cut into 4 squares. Serve with ice cream if desired, and drizzle with more honey.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Dessert, Other

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17 Responses to “Friday Faves – The Small Boston Kitchen makes Cranberry Risotto Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms”

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Lauren — January 7, 2011 at 1:13 pm

I’m not a huge mushroom fan, but the cranberry risotto sounds absolutely fantastic! Thanks for the idea, Katie :).
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Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 7, 2011 at 2:51 pm

What a great recipe Katie!
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Daisy — January 7, 2011 at 3:02 pm

I am in awe of your description of mushrooms. that recipe is awesome and so is the idea to cook them in butter and red wine! if non mushroom lovers are not converted after this post, there is no help for them!!
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Erica — January 7, 2011 at 3:29 pm

This comment has been removed by the author.
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Jennifer — January 7, 2011 at 3:29 pm

I am a huge mushroom lover. This recipe sounds wonderful!
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In and Around Town — January 7, 2011 at 3:33 pm

I am a HUGE fan of mushrooms, I put them in everything! This will probably be dinner tonight!
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Sarah from 20somethingcupcakes — January 7, 2011 at 3:55 pm

I’m definitely with you in the first camp, though I will tell you – I’ve converted the boyfriend into a semi-mushroom lover, so maybe there is a person who lies a bit in between after all! This looks heavenly.
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Smitten Sugar — January 7, 2011 at 5:05 pm

I am definitely not a mushroom lover but this recipe looks amazing!
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Megan — January 7, 2011 at 5:48 pm

Katie can make these for me anytime! Great recipe and great guest post!
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Josie — January 7, 2011 at 7:00 pm

OMG this combines so many of my favorite things into one dish! I’ve already added it to next week’s menu. Thanks so much for introducing me to a fun new blog!
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Melissa — January 7, 2011 at 8:28 pm

I’m on the verge of being a mushroom lover – when raw the texture creeps me out but I’ve discovered I love the flavor and like them when cooked. I would love to eat this dish!
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kitchenmisfit — January 7, 2011 at 11:58 pm

It is bad that I thought the sneak peak picture looked like mashed potatoes? That can only mean the risotto must be extra creamy!
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kitchenmisfit — January 7, 2011 at 11:59 pm

It is bad that I thought the sneak peak picture looked like mashed potatoes? I think that just means this risotto must be extra creamy!
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The Small Boston Kitchen — January 8, 2011 at 4:28 pm

Thanks Jen for including me in your Friday Faves and for saying such nice things about my writing! This dish was fun to make and was really good on a cold winter night. Thanks all for the comments! Even those from the mushroom haters 🙂
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Maris (In Good Taste) — January 8, 2011 at 7:34 pm

Aren’t portobello mushrooms the best? So many different things you can do with them!
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John at BOS — January 9, 2011 at 2:14 am

What more Can I say, a combination of my favorite ingredients… Mushroom and risotto! It’s nice to see a lot of mushroom recipe’s this past few days.
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Kerstin — January 10, 2011 at 5:03 am

What a creative recipe, I love it! Definitely the perfect way to kick off your cool Friday Favs feature 🙂