Week 3 - Time for Some Snacks

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

Hot chocolate was a favored drink of the Mayans, though it was quite different than the drink we know today. For starters it contained no milk; It was brewed with water, and it was a bitter drink due to its extremely high chocolate content. Most of us would likely prefer the hot chocolate we're used to today. But hot chocolate alone simply isn't enough. We need something to go with it...but what?

Share a recipe for your favorite food to go with hot chocolate below, or email it to ravenclawevent @ gmail.com (no spaces) to get a piece of this week’s password for the Treasure Hunt, and, of course, earn yourself 10 beans (+5 beans if it is handed in before the 29th of July).

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Well, there is no 'cooking' in an oven involved, but this process needs to be done precisely to obtain the most delicious of the flavours ...

Obtain some fresh picked blueberries, remove stems, and put in container and freeze them. When they are frozen through and through, they are ready to prepare! (This might take a few days, so don't plan on eating them this way immediately.)

Obtain some very nice thick cream. Not milk, not half & half, but cream (with no chemical additives...). Just CREAM.

Pour some frozen blueberries into a bowl. Shake it slightly (not stirred) to level them out. Pour the cream into the bowl, so it settles between all of the berries. Fill to just below the tops of the berries.

This freezes the cream and starts a thawing process of the berries. Cover and sit on counter for 2-3 hours. When the cream has thawed out around the edges (you can tip the bowl and the cream flows freely a berry's width in from the edge) it's time to eat!

You may let it thaw to where just the center 'ball' of blueberries is still frozen - depending on your own preferences.

The freezing has an effect of changing the flavour of the berries from something really nice to something decadently wonderful. That, added to the flavour and richness of the cream, makes this a dish to rival the finest of ice creams.

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[Silas Hipolito Crist]

First we need to make pancakes. I usually use this recept from the internet:
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Then is the turn for strawberries and other kind of berries; actually it is not even important. I also add some sliced bananas.
After the pancakes are made I put berries with bananas on the pancake and then it is te turn for hot chocolate. It is very simple and very very good.

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[Zen McGregor]

I really do like hot chocolate. I like cocoa as well. But nothing goes better with the two than pan-fried banana split! I am a terrible chef and even I am able to make it, it is super simple.

Melt some chocolate and add water and a bit of milk to give the sauce some texture. Just cut your bananas in half and dip them in sugar. That will give them the nice texture and some crunch. Melt some butter in a pan and fry the sugar side of the bananas. Afterwards, then the bananas get coated in chopped peanuts. Serve the warm bananas with some vanilla ice cream and drizzle it with your chocolate sauce. Then throw a few extra peanuts on top! Don't forget your hot chocolate!

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[Elena Galatas]

I don't generally eat any kind of food with my hot chocolate, unless you can count marshmallows or candy canes as food and not sweet snacks, but I do love hot chocolate in general. That being said, I've never had hot chocolate from scratch. Usually, I just go to Dunkin Donuts and buy myself a regular hot chocolate or a white hot chocolate or I get a packet of Swiss Miss and make it that way.

That being said, I decided to find myself a recipe for hot chocolate from scratch. I haven't had a chance to actually make this yet, but you can bet I'm going to be making it very soon.

The recipe I found is for White Hot Chocolate made by Paula Deen. The fact that this is her recipe makes me a bit nervous, but I'll try it regardless.

The ingredients for the recipe are as follows:
1 cup white chocolate chips (I've bought both Ghirardelli and Nestle chips in preparation)
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The directions are fairly simple to follow. You combine white chocolate chips and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously until the white chocolate chips have completely melted, then stir in the half-and-half and vanilla extract. Stir occasionally until the drink is heated thoroughly. Then pour the drink into mugs and serve! There is also an optional choice to add a dollop of vanilla whipped topping and a mint leaf, but I like having the traditional hot chocolate by itself.

There's also a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis that I want to try, but I think I'll save that for actual winter months.

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[Arianna Stonewater]

I really like Mexican Hot Chocolate (kinda like regular hot chocolate, except spicy!) so the best snack to go with this is churros!!

For Churro Coating:
-1 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For Churro:
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter
-2 tablespoons sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
-1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
-2 large eggs
-1 1/4 cup water
-1 to 2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying

1. Mix the ground cinnamon and sugar for the coating first, and have it ready to go in a plate with a lip or shallow bowl (the whole churro needs to be able to fit in it!)
2. In a medium pot over moderate heat, whisk together the butter, sugar, salt, and 1 1/4 cups water. Stir until butter is melted.
3. Remove from heat and add the flour, stir until it's fully mixed (make sure you don't have any pockets of flour!)
4. Return to heat and stir for about a min, until the dough is smooth and sticky!
5. Remove from heat, cover the pot, and let rest for 15min
6. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and stir in completely before added the second.
7. Put the dough into a pastry bag with a star tip (i like using the 1/2 inch tip)
8. In a large pot, heat about 3" of vegetable oil to about 375*F.
9. VERY GENTLY pipe 4" ribbons of dough directly into the oil (you can tear with your fingers or use a knife to cut the batter at the end of the tip. You can usually fit 3-6 churros in a pot at a time depending on the size of your pot
10. Fry the churros for about 2min each (until they're golden brown and cooked in the center), occasionally turning them
11. Using tongs, take the churros out, pat them with a paper towel to remove excess oil, and immediately put them in the cinnamon-sugar coating.
12. Turn to coat the whole churro
13. Serve with your hot chocolate!!

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[Prof. Will Lestrange]

Since the Mayan hot chocolate is a bitter drink without milk, I'd want to prepare something that features both sweetness and milk to go with it! Churros were already mentioned, but one could always borrow a page from Argentina and make alfajores, which are essentially cookie sandwiches stuffed with a caramel filling known as "dulce de leche".

Looking up recipes for alfajores on the Muggle Internet, I found the following as one of the easier recipes to make the dish.

INGREDIENT LIST:
- 1 1/2 cups (200g/7 oz.) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/8 cups (300g/10.5 oz.) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 3/4 sticks (200g/7 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g/5.3 oz.) granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest , optional
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 350 g (12 oz.) dulce de leche, for filling
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded or desiccated coconut , for rolling

RECIPE:
1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract just until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Do not overmix or the cookies will turn out tough.

3. Form the dough into a ball, then flatten slightly to form a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firm enough to roll. (If you don’t want to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month, then thaw it overnight in the fridge.)

4. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface (or between 2 pieces of parchment paper), roll the dough to a 1/8 or 1/4-inch (3-5mm) thickness. Cut out into rounds using a 2-inch (5cm) fluted or round cookie cutter, and place the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

5. If at any point the dough becomes too warm, place it back into the fridge for a few minutes. Re-roll the remaining scraps and repeat. Place sheets with cookies in the freezer or fridge for at least 15 minutes, until firm, so that they will be less prone to spreading.

6. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies appear golden brown at the edges. Allow cookies to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Spread the bottom half of the cookies with dulce de leche (about a teaspoon). Sandwich together with remaining cookies, pressing slightly so that the caramel oozes out the sides. Roll the sides in shredded coconut.

8. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, leave on the counter, still covered, or overnight in the fridge.

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[Prof. Sky Alton]

I always like my hot chocolate with a bit of a kick to cut through the sweetness. Sometimes I’ll add chili powder to it and other times I’ll just eat it with something that has a lot of spice. One of my favourite accompaniments is gingerbread, the soft and sometimes chewy German kind (lebkuchen).

Usually someone who knows what they’re doing makes them for me but a random recipe I found calls for …
440g plain flour, 120g brown sugar, 100g butter, 250g honey, 2 eggs and then teaspoons of various ground spices according to your taste (though obviously plenty of ginger).

Heat the butter, sugar and honey gently until they combine. While you’re doing that, add everything else to a large bowl. Once the hot ingredients have melted together, add them to the mixture and combine it all (stirring and generally bashing it into submission) until it forms a dough.

Leave to cool before rolling out and cutting into the shape of your choice (the recipe says you can add more flour or cool it further if it’s too sticky). Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees C.

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[Bull J. Johnson]

Usually I'm like Elena, where I only drink hot chocolate with marshmallows.

However, one thing that sounds good with hot chocolate is s'mores. This is how you do that.

1. Toast Marshmallows.

2. Put on top of two graham crackers.

3. Add a lightly melted chocolate on top.

4. Eat and Enjoy.

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