The Perks of Perfect Percolation…

… or how I learned to brew the perfect cup of coffee.

Java, Joe, Brew, Sludge.  Call it what you will; coffee is integral to the social proprieties of many cultures.  It is a concoction that provides the lubricant to many an interaction.  In our own family, it was a ” right of passage” signaling (with the addition of cream and sugar) that one was becoming an adult, after which coffee became a thing of beauty–something to always look for in its best presentation.

Yes, coffee snobs are we–it “ain’t purty” yet alas, it is what it is.  Anything less would be ordinary and a diminishment.  With that said, below are the steps to making your own perk perfect:

1. INVEST IN A BURR COFFEE GRINDER.   It’s amazing what a difference that one thing makes.  When you grind coffee you increase the surface area of the coffee bean that is exposed to air hastening the release of the oils that give it its rich flavor. Grind coffee right before you use it.
   

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2. Buy Good Coffee.  The better coffee you start with the better beverage you end with. Chocolaterie Stam has a full line of European style and flavored coffees roasted by an artisanal Iowa roaster.  They roast in small batches and ship weekly to our stores ensuring that the freshest coffee possible is each Chocolaterie Stam location.
3. KEEP YOUR DRIP COFFEE MAKER AND COFFEE POT CLEAN.  Coffee oils cling to everything and once they’re deposited they start growing rancid.  Wash out your pot and filter basket every time you make a fresh pot and clean your coffee maker once a week. Descale it once a month. And do remember to clean the shower heads up under where the filter basket goes
4. USE ENOUGH COFFEE   The biggest mistake that people make when making coffee in a drip coffee maker is using too little coffee.  You should use a full tablespoon of ground coffee for every 8 ounces of water.  Measure it out the first few times and you’ll be surprised how much coffee that actually is.
   

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5. USE FRESH, COLD WATER.  Some people recommend using distilled water with all the minerals and impurities removed.  Frankly, distilled water is good for your machine, but it makes flat tasting coffee. If your tap water is good for drinking, it will make good coffee.  If it’s not, use a water filter or use spring water.
6. AVOID THE TEMPTATION TO USE THE BREW PAUSE.  The first cups or so of coffee will carry most of the coffee flavor.  If you pour that off and return the pot to fill the rest of the way, the first cup of coffee will be very strong, and the rest of the post very weak. Practice patience, grasshopper.
7. TAKE THE COFFEE OFF THE WARMING PLATE WHEN IT’S DONE BREWING. Coffee left on the warmer plate will continue to “cook”.  Instead, pour any coffee that’s left over into a thermal pot, preferably one with a vacuum seal.
8. THE RIGHT MUG. Great coffee comes from great mugs. Don’t forget it.
   

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Do you Crackle, Kladdkaka, or Hagelslag?

(L to R) Crackle, Kladdkaka, and Hagelslag

It occurs to us, at Chocolaterie Stam that, because we are of Dutch origin, we may enjoy common foods differently than our American friends do.  Don’t get us wrong, we loooooove (six o’s!) a good American apple pie, yet shouldn’t we stop to consider how the rest of the world loves their chocolate?

The Aussies eat crackles, and the Swedes love their kladdkaka…

Aussie Crackle
Easy to make, the Australian crackle is often a sweet treat associated with children’s parties, along with “fairy bread”.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tbsp. Chocolaterie Stam baking cocoa powder
• ¾ cup coconut oil (available at most gourmet and health food markets)
• ½ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• ½ tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 cups rice crispies

Directions:

1. Sift the cocoa and confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Whisk together gently.
2. To melt the coconut oil, immerse the jar in hot water for a few minutes. Measure out ¾ of a cup and whisk it into the cocoa and sugar until mixture is smooth.
3. Whisk in the shredded coconut, salt and then the rice crispies.
4. Spoon into cupcake holders and refrigerate.

Yields: 12 chocolate crackles

Swedish Kladdkaka
Known in Sweden as kladdkaka, or chocolate sticky cake, is another way that the world enjoys chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cake or all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 4 Tbsp. Chocolaterie Stam baking cocoa
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla sugar (or substitute 1 tsp. vanilla extract)

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly butter a round 8” or 9” springform or cake pan.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar. Gradually mix in the flour and salt.

Stir cocoa and vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract) into melted butter until well-combined. Add cocoa-butter mixture to batter, stirring well until any lumps are removed.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Cook in 350º oven for 25 minutes. Check for doneness; the edges of the cake should be crisp but the center still moist and sticky (Tip: A good test is to insert a toothpick first into the cake’s edge: it should come out clean. Then, insert it into the center of the cake. It should come out smeared with gooey, melting chocolate). Do not overcook (but if you do, you’ll have stellar brownies as a compensation prize!).

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings, for people with restraint.

 

Dutch Hagelslag

The Dutch love their chocolate “hagelslag” or chocolate hail.  No need to use a recipe, just put the purchased sprinkles on buttered bread and enjoy.

Is this the first you’ve heard of chocolate kladdkaka, crackle or hagelslag?  What other international ways do you know of eating chocolate?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Chocolate can be good for you!

Many agree that chocolate is good for one’s health, but can chocolate help curb global warming?  A small experiment in Eastern Brazil sows the seeds of a big reward perhaps helping to preserve the rainforest canopy.  It is called Cabruca farming.

Cabruca farming takes virgin rainforest and thins a few trees from the canopy leaving holes and letting in dappled sunlight.   After thinning the understory is planted with cacao trees — the source of chocolate. The pods contain the magical beans that Aztecs counted like gold. The cultivated cacao trees grow just a bit higher than a man can reach, and rainforest trees tower over them like something out of a Roald Dahl book—some round like lollipops, some flat like a plate.

And here’s the climate connection. Rainforest trees and plants store massive amounts of carbon — keeping it from getting into the air as carbon dioxide.  There’s a lot less rainforest than there once was. There used to be 330 million acres of rainforest in eastern Brazil, called the Mata Atlantica. Settlers arrived hundreds of years ago and began destroying the forest for the wood, and to create fields for pasture and crops. Only 7 percent of the Mata Atlantica remains, and destruction is still going on. Every time a tree is burned, its stored carbon is released. As more carbon is released into the air, the planet gets warmer.

Here’s a recent documentary reporting the process.

So if you don’t believe that chocolate may good for you, consider Cabruca farming and its potential to curb global warming.  The very least we will have more chocolate!

 

Chocolate for Breakfast

We like chocolate. You like chocolate. But…chocolate for breakfast? You bet your biscuits! We love a good pain du chocolat—a crisp and creamy confection created by the French out of croissant dough and dark chocolate. It never fails to tantalize our tongue when we bite into the surface of the crunchy pastry and have the warm chocolate “break” fast on our senses.  MMMMMM…

Then there is Nutella. Throughout history there have been great duos—Fred and Ginger or Romeo and Juliet to name some—but Nutella, that great mélange of hazelnuts and chocolate on sourdough toast is a fierce duet.  YUMMMM…

All in all, chocolate is not the only thing we will eat for breakfast, but it is our happy go-to when we need the morning intake.

Do you like chocolate for breakfast? Leave a comment and let us know!

Bar in a Jar

I adapted a recipe from an old campfire cookbook for this Christmas season using ingredients from Chocolaterie Stam.  Stam Dark Chocolate Drops and chopped Stam Stroopwafels became the gooey basis for an updated classic version of S’mores.  I called them Sta’mores and the replacement of the graham cracker contingent with Chocolaterie Stam stroopwafels was an easy and delicious personalization.

And, of course it has marshmallows and Stam Dark Chocolate Drops.  This holiday, we decided to feature this in our corporate stores as a cookie in a Mason jar. Our chocolate production elves have been busy filling quart jars with the ingredients to make this humble and kid-friendly concoction.  So easy, that all one does is spray a non-stick baking pan with cooking spray, dump the jar’s contents into the pan, and add ¼ cup of melted butter, stir until coated.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 or 15 minutes.

If you want to fill your own Mason jar, I’ve included the recipe below:

Sta’mores in a Jar

In one quart jar layer in the following order

1 ½ cups Stam Stroopwafels, chopped
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows
1 ½ cups Stam dark chocolate drops

The volume may seem to be more than the jar can take however by sliding a dinner knife down the sides you  and lightly packing on the top you will be able to close the jar and place the decorative square and hangtag.

Here’s the recipe to finish to baking the Sta’mores

Chocolaterie Stam Sta’mores Bars
A campfire classic but with a Stam Twist  

Servings: 12 squares
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 12 min

Ingredients:

Sta’mores in a Jar

1 ½ cups Stam Stroopwafels, chopped
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows
1 ½ cups Stam dark chocolate drops
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Prepare a 9” square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Mix chopped Chocolaterie Stam Stroopwafel cookies, miniature marshmallows, Chocolaterie Stam dark chocolate drops, and brown sugar along with ¼ cup melted butter into the prepared baking dish and press firmly. Bake for 12 minutes at 350º F. Remove from oven and cool completely. Cut in to bars.