What Einstein Told His Cook by Robert L. Wolke Read Free Book Online Page B

cocoa by placing the measured ingredients into a sieve set over a bowl; push and rub with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula. Mix the sugar and cocoa together with a spatula.
 
     
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and salt. Add the sugar-cocoa mixture all at once and mix until almost blended. Beat in as much of the coffee as needed to make a smooth, spreadable frosting.
 
     
    MAKES 1¾ CUPS OR ENOUGH TO FROST 18 CUPCAKES GENEROUSLY
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    THE UN-CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE
     
    Is white chocolate caffeine-free?
     
    Y es. It’s also chocolate-free.
    White chocolate is simply the fat from the cacao bean (the cocoa butter) mixed with milk solids and sugar. It contains none of those wonderful, though inauspiciously brown, cocoa-bean solids that give chocolate its unique character and rich flavor. If you choose a white-chocolate–topped dessert to avoid chocolate’s caffeine, bear in mind that cocoa butter is a highly saturated fat. You can’t win ’em all.
    To add insult to perjury, some so-called white-chocolate confections aren’t even made with cacao fat; they’re made with hydrogenated vegetable oils. Be sure to read the ingredient list on the label.
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    Chocolate Turns Pale
     
    White Chocolate Bars
     
I f chocolate can be white, what’s to stop us from making white brownies? When made chewy with coconut and crunchy with nuts, these bars will tempt any chocoholic in spite of their pale color.
     
     
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
½ cup sweetened, flaked coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
10 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts Confectioners’ sugar
     
     
1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Spray a 9-by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray.
 
     
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well incorporated, then the coconut and vanilla, and blend. Stir in the flour mixture, and mix with a wooden spoon until all patches of white disappear. Stir in the chopped chocolate and nuts until evenly dispersed. It will have the texture of a heavy cookie dough.
 
     
3. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan. Push the dough completely into the corners and level the surface with a spatula. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the center is set, the top is golden, and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into bars 2 by 3 inches. The bars will keep several days at room temperature, or freeze them.
 
     
    MAKES ABOUT 18 BARS
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    HOW SWEET THEY ARE!
     
    Those little envelopes of artificial sweeteners on restaurant tables: What’s different about the different brands?
     
    I never use them myself because I don’t view the 15 calories in a teaspoonful of sugar as a serious threat to my existence. But artificial sweeteners are a boon to diabetics and others who want to limit their intake of real sugar.
    Artificial sweeteners, also called sugar substitutes, must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed in the United States. The four that are currently approved for a variety of food uses are aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose. Others are being evaluated. Aspartame is a nutritive sweetener, meaning that it supplies the body with energy in the form of calories, while the others are non-nutritive, that is, devoid of calories.
    Aspartame , which is 100 to 200 times sweeter than sucrose, is the main ingredient in NutraSweet and Equal. It is a combination of two proteins, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and therefore contains the same four calories per gram as any