DARK CHOCOLATE HONEYCOMB BARK

I hope everyone had a fun and eventful Halloween! Last Saturday, Alex and I went to our good friends’ Halloween party here in Orange County, which we also helped with setting up and decorating. I made a bunch of Halloween treats: homemade peanut butter cups, brown butter toffee cookies, rice krispy treats, salsa, and my forever party go-to, sangria. Sounds like a lot, but the only thing that required baking were the cookies, whereas everything else was more about the prep. All the work was worth it in the end, and all the snacks were definitely appreciated by the tipsy party-goers.

On actual Halloween itself, we decided to stay in and take it easy. We made a delicious dinner of grilled steak with a corn/avocado/lime salad and watched two of our favorite horror films, The Shining and The Witch. While Jack Nicholson was busy losing his mind and breaking through a door with an axe, I was working on today’s recipe.

I don’t usually shop at Whole Foods, mostly due to the prices, but I go every once in a while to try out specialty items that my favorite grocery stores don’t carry. Every time I visit, I always make sure to walk by the fancy chocolate table that has stacks upon stacks of pieces of Valhrona chocolates, cocoa powders, and other interesting products like chocolate féves (the latter which I just might splurge on for an upcoming cookie recipe). Although I feel like Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory when I see this section, all of that happiness dissipates when I look at the prices and see that pretty much everything is $20.99/lb or higher. I usually walk away sad and empty-handed, but a couple of weeks ago I finally caved when I found a small (re: less expensive) piece of dark chocolate bark with honeycomb. I went home, had the bark for dessert, and even though I thought it was delicious, my immediate thought was that I could easily recreate this chocolate at home and save money in the process.

In order to make this bark, you’ll need to make your own honeycomb candy, also known as sponge toffee. With only 6 ingredients (2 of them being water and salt) that are most likely already in your pantry, honeycomb is definitely cheap to make and the whole process only takes about 10 minutes, plus about 30 minutes of cooling. Essentially, honeycomb candy is toffee but with baking soda added which creates bubbles and gives you the honeycomb look. The only tool that is vital to honeycomb candy success is owning a candy thermometer. The toffee needs to reach 300° F, also known as the “hard crack” phase, or else the candy won’t set correctly and you'll end up with a sticky texture. We’re looking for our candy to “shatter” easily.

After the honeycomb is hardened and you’ve shattered it into pieces (a super fun step by the way), it’s all smooth-sailing from there. All that’s left to do is melt a pound of chocolate, spread it over parchment paper, sprinkle with honeycomb pieces, and finish with flaky sea salt (optional). Easy peasy. And I strongly recommend buying the Trader Joe’s One Pound Plus Dark Chocolate bar for this recipe! This massive chocolate bar is only $4.99 for 17.6 ounces of a very high quality of chocolate. Side note: I had Alex do a comparison between my honeycomb bark and the one I bought from Whole Foods, and he genuinely liked my version so much more, and even said that the chocolate in mine was amazing. I win!

I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m giving a candy recipe now that Halloween has come and gone, and I have a perfectly good reason for this! Making a batch of this honeycomb candy would be a perfect host/hostess gift for upcoming Thanksgiving and other holiday parties. It’s much more thoughtful than showing up with a bottle of wine or flowers, plus it’s a treat that anyone can enjoy.

Also, PLEASE GO VOTE ON TUESDAY. Or don’t forget to mail in your ballots! Please please please. I cannot stress enough how important these midterm elections are for us!

Dark Chocolate Honeycomb Bark

Recipe adapted from ZoëBakes

Ingredients for Honeycomb candy (sponge toffee)

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp. honey

• 1/2 cup light corn syrup

• 1/3 cup water

• 1 tbsp. baking soda, sifted (don’t skip this!)

• Pinch of sea salt

Directions for Honeycomb

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it near where you’ll be making the candy.

2. In a large saucepan, add the sugar, honey, corn syrup, and water. Without stirring the ingredients, cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 300° F using a candy thermometer. Take off the heat and whisk in the baking soda. The mixture will be begin to rise quickly, so immediately pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Do not spread it out. Sprinkle on the sea salt.

3. Allow the honeycomb to cool for at least 30 minutes before breaking it up into smaller pieces.

Ingredients for Bark

• 1 pound/16 oz. dark chocolate

• Honeycomb candy

• Flaky sea salt

Directions for Bark

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate until smooth via a microwave or double boiler. Immediately transfer to the baking sheet and spread it out evenly with an offset spatula or butter knife. You can make the bark as thin or thick as you like.

2. While the chocolate is still melted, sprinkle honeycomb candy pieces of all shapes and sizes over the chocolate. Finish with flaky sea salt.

3. Allow the bark to set in the refrigerator until breaking it into pieces.

GLAZED CRANBERRY-ORANGE SCONES

Since starting this blog just over 6 months (!!!) ago, I’ve been patiently waiting to give you a cranberry recipe. My go-to pick for either muffins or scones is almost always cranberry-orange (with blueberry being a very close second) because it’s such a classic combination that works so well in baked goods. But back in April, there were absolutely no cranberries for sale and I knew I would have to wait until at least October to get my hands on a bag of Ocean Spray fresh cranberries.

Last week, I went to Trader Joe’s wishing and hoping it would be cranberry time, but alas, they were nowhere to be found and I was told by an employee that the berries wouldn’t be in stock until a week or so into November. I was pretty bummed about it, but that all changed when I went to Growers Direct: a small grocery store that only sells fresh fruits and veggies. There, they had bags upon bags of beautiful cranberries and I bought three immediately - I will not forget to save and freeze them this year! Moral of the story, your local grocery store may not have cranberries in stock just yet, but with November just around the corner, they’ll be available very, very soon. You can maybe try looking at your city’s farmers market as well.

When it comes to making scones, there are a few tips that I need to give you to succeed:

1) You want to keep the dough as cold as possible. This means none of your ingredients will be room temperature, and actually, I’d prefer that you’d measure out your buttermilk and cut up your butter into its small pieces, and then place them back into the fridge until they’re needed for the recipe. You can even freeze the butter if it’s extra hot in your kitchen the day you bake them. To take this one step further, I also would suggest using frozen cranberries over fresh (and of course, you can use dried cranberries as well if that’s all you can get your hands on at the time). Keeping the dough cold ensures that your scones get the rise that defines these baked goods and it also gives you that flaky and crisp exterior that we all love. I also strongly suggest popping the scones into the freezer for 30 minutes before baking them.

2) It is very important that you refrain from over-mixing the dough. Too much mixing causes your scones to be tough and won’t give you the perfect scone texture. Therefore, I highly suggest not using a food processor or a stand mixer/hand mixer. When I add my wet ingredients to my dry ingredients, I only use a wooden spoon, and then I rely on my hands to do the rest (mixing in the cranberries and rolling out the dough). A lot of professional bakers prefer using their hands to mix scone and biscuit doughs, and I don’t think anyone should shy away from this method.

3) Brush the unbaked scones with liquid and sprinkle with sugar. The liquid can be either buttermilk, heavy cream, or an egg wash, and since we’re using buttermilk in the actual scones themselves, it makes the most sense to use it for the tops as well. This step allows the scones to have a more golden color. As for the sugar, the scones themselves aren’t that sweet so it’s nice to add a bit more sweetness as well as creating a slight crunchy texture. You can use granulated sugar, but I prefer using turbinado sugar. Either works just fine!

And that’s it! I hope baking scones doesn’t sound too overwhelming to you. Just carefully read through the directions before making any moves and you’ll have delicious scones in no time.

P.S. I hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Glazed Cranberry-Orange Scones

Yields 8 scones

Recipe adapted from Epicurious/Bon Appétit

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. salt

• Zest of 1 large orange (save the juice for glaze)

• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2” pieces

• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled, plus more for brushing

• 1 cup cranberries, preferably frozen but fresh works too

• Turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar), for sprinkling on top

For the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

• 2-3 tbsp. fresh orange juice

Directions

1. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk in the orange zest.

2. Add the butter pieces to the mixture by working with your hands or a pastry cutter, and rub the mixture together until it resembles course crumbs. Slowly add the buttermilk, mixing it in by hand or by a wooden spoon. Very carefully, fold in the cranberries.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a couple of times (some cranberries may roll away, but you can just stick them back in). Using your hands or a rolling pin, work the dough into a 1-inch thick circle. Using a sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges and pop them into the freezer for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper Transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each scone. Brush each scone with buttermilk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

5. Bake the scones in the oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the tops are a light golden brown. Let the scones cool for about 15 minutes before adding the glaze.

6. In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice. Drizzle the glaze generously over each scone. Enjoy fresh out of the oven, or store in an airtight container at room temperature.

APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS + HOMEMADE APPLE BUTTER

With today being exactly a month into autumn, and the fact that Halloween is just next week, I’m trying to embrace the season as much as I can. The only problem living in Southern California is that October doesn’t necessarily equate to cold, chilly days, but rather we usually get stuck with 80° or higher days mixed with Santa Ana winds. This combination leaves us with very dry and warm air, and sadly, can lead to pretty bad wildfires. Doesn't sound like the cozy fall days that other parts of the country get to enjoy, does it? (Hello, I’m Debbie Downer!)

I’ve been doing my best to ignore these non-ideal temperatures by partaking in events that are perfect for the season. Last week, my family and I did our annual night out at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights, where the whole theme park is turned into a haven for all things spooky and Halloween-related. And just this past Saturday, I went with a group of friends to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery via Cinespia to watch a screening of the original Halloween to celebrate it’s 40th anniversary. Although both of these days were pretty hot and dry (it reached 90° on Saturday), it still helped me get in the spirit.

Of course, I’ve been taking this sentiment with me to the kitchen. The recipe(s) that I’m providing you with today are ones that define the season - I don’t think you can get more “autumn” than with apple cider doughnuts. These babies are a quintessential autumn treat that people go crazy for at apple picking farms, farmers markets, and of course, doughnut shops (like Sidecar and Blue Star - some local favorites of mine). Unlike the last time I posted a doughnut recipe, these will be fried in vegetable oil and therefore not baked in a doughnut pan. There will be a couple of things you’ll need in order to make a successful batch of these fried doughnuts: 1) a large pot or Dutch oven 2) a kitchen thermometer to keep on eye on the oil temperature and 3) a doughnut cutter. This is the doughnut cutter I used and it worked perfectly.

The day I was frying up these apple cider doughnuts was unfortunately a pretty hot day but I didn’t mind due to the amazing smells it gave my apartment. Although I didn’t have to put a sweater and socks on, I was hugged by the warm spices that define the season (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves) and that at least made me feel like it was a proper autumn day.

Besides giving you a recipe for the doughnuts, I’m also including a recipe for apple butter, which is actually one of the ingredients listed for the doughnuts. You of course have the option to buy store-bought apple butter to save time, but I definitely think making your own apple butter is worth it and will feel like such an accomplishment. Although it is a bit time consuming (the apple butter cooks in the oven for about 3 hours), it is fairly a hands-off process with the most tedious step being to peel the apples. My best advice would be to treat this entire post (apple butter and doughnuts) as a weekend project: make the apple butter early on a Saturday, followed by making the doughnut dough and allowing it to chill in the fridge overnight, and finally frying off the doughnuts on Sunday morning for breakfast. That way, it’s not all too overwhelming and allows you to enjoy each process.

The apple butter recipe yields about 2 cups and since you only need half a cup of it for the doughnuts, you luckily are left with a good amount to enjoy in other ways. Not only can you gift a jar of it to a friend or family member, which they would LOVE, but you can also choose to be selfish and keep it for yourself to spread on toast, waffles, scones, etc. I say to go with the latter option, but hey, I’m only recommending it because you deserve it after all the work you put in it!

Unlike in apple pies or other fruit desserts where there are specific “baking apples” to use, the apples that work best for apple butter are ones that have a softer skin. These varieties include Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Honey Delicious, and McIntosh. Feel free to mix and match - I did a mix of Gala and Fuji.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Makes about 16-18 doughnuts

Recipe adapted slightly from Bon Appétit

Ingredients

• 2 cinnamon sticks (3 inches in size)

• 3 cups apple cider

• 1/2 cup apple butter, store-bought or homemade (see my recipe below)

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• 1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp. cloves

• 1 tsp. kosher salt

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• Vegetable oil, for frying

For cinnamon-sugar topping:

• 1 tbsp. cinnamon

• 1 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. In a large skillet, bring the apple cider and cinnamon sticks to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the liquid reduces to a thick and syrup-y consistency, about 20-30 minutes. There should be about a 1/3 cup of liquid when finished. Scrape into a medium bowl, and whisk in the apple butter, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

2. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, 1 tsp. of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a bowl large enough for a hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one a time, making sure to mix well before adding each one.

4. With the mixer on low, add in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the wet ingredients. Repeat once more, and mix until well incorporated. The dough will be very sticky.

5. Transfer the dough to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet that is generously dusted with flour (use about 1/3 cup). Sprinkle more flour on top of the dough, and with floured hands, gently press out the dough until it is 3/4” thick. Dust once again with flour. Tightly wrap the baking sheet with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

6. Whisk the cinnamon and granulated sugar in a bowl (this will be for the doughnut topping). Set aside.

7. Take the baking sheet out of the fridge, and begin punching out doughnuts using a doughnut cutter. After first batch, gather the scraps and re-roll the dough out gently and punch out more doughnuts. Repeat until you have 16 to 18 doughnuts and doughnut holes.

8. Using a Dutch oven or large pot, heat about 3 inches worth of vegetable oil on medium-high heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees F (you’ll need a kitchen thermometer for this). Working in batches, fry about 3 to 4 doughnuts at a time for 2-3 minutes per side, until they’ve reached a deep golden brown. Once all doughnuts are done, fry the doughnut holes for about 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer each finished doughnut and doughnut hole to a cooling rack (place paper towels underneath to catch any excess oil), allow them to cool for a few minutes, then toss into the cinnamon-sugar mixture while the doughnuts are still warm. Enjoy! Doughnuts are always best when eaten the day they are made, but are okay the 1-2 days after when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Homemade Apple Butter

Makes about 2 cups

Recipe adapted slightly from Food Network Kitchen

Ingredients

• 4 lbs. of assorted apples, peeled and chopped (read above for best apple varieties)

• 2 cups apple cider

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/8 tsp. cloves

• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg

• 1/8 tsp. cardamom

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven or large ovenproof pot, combine the apples, apple cider, brown sugar, and salt and cook on the stovetop over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, partially cover with the lid, and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Removed from heat, and stir in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and spices.

2. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Using an immersion blender (or you can carefully transfer the cooked apples to a blender and work in batches), puree the apples until smooth. Place the Dutch oven or pot into the oven, lid removed, and bake for 2.5 to 3.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, or until the apple butter is a deep amber color. The time it takes depends on what kind of apples you use.

3. Allow the apple butter to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to two/three weeks. Enjoy on toast, scones, waffles, etc. and/or use for the doughnut recipe above!