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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23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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1

stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!
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2

oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )
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3

Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!
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4

oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

This is ADORABLE!! I love it!
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5

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)
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6

Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Yummmm!!!!!
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7

Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.
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Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Thanks! That’s really helpful.
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Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Yum! Great idea 🙂
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10

Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Awesome idea!
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11

bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

Very creative and it looks great!
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12

The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!
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13

nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

Great idea…they look delicious!
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14

jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂
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15

Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!
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16

Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Very cute looking! I like your idea.
~ingrid
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17

lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!
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18

Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

Cute idea! What a great entry!
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19

thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!
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20

Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

So stinkin’ cute!
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21

Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.
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22

Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox
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23

Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.

Friday Faves – Nutmeg Nanny makes Chocolate Almond Pastry