Chocolate butter~ nutted or not

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¾ cup Packed, high quality Dutch-
Process cocoa
1 cup Sugar
¼ teaspoon Salt
½ cup Hot water
¾ cup High-quality unsalted butter
At room temperature
½ each To 1 tsp. vanilla extract or
To taste
⅛ teaspoon Almond extract
1 cup Toasted and coarsely chopped
Walnuts or toasted, skinned
And coarsely chopped hazel-
Nuts (optional)

Directions

Combine the cocoa, sugar and salt in the top pan of a double boiler (or use a heatproof bowl that can be placed over a saucepan, containing simmering water). Stir the mixture with a whisk until it is thoroughly mixed, then mix in the hot water thoroughly. Set the pan over simmering water and stir the contents until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is hot, about 3 minutes. Remove the top from the base and set it aside; cool the contents to lukewarm.

Cream the butter together with the vanilla and the almond extracts in the small bowl of an electric mixer, or use a food processor to beat the butter with the flavorings just until it is light. With the motor of the machine running, gradually add the lukewarm chocolate mixture, continuing to beat just until everything is well combined. Let the chocolate butter cool completely, stirring or whisking it occasionally to lighten its texture. Add the nuts, if you're making the nutted version; then scrape the chocolate butter into a clean, dry storage jar, cover it tightly and refrigerate it. Makes about 2½ cups with nuts or 1

¾ cups without nuts.

Note: This wonderful recipe was copied from The Old Farmer's Almanac Good Cook's Companion magazine referring to the recipes creator, Helen Witty's recipe from her book "A Little of What You Fancy (Workman, 1997). She describes chocolate butter as "a luxurious spread/sauce/confection that keeps up to six weeks in the refrigerator unless you devour it first; warmed as a sauce, spread as a cake or cookie filling, or rolled into instant truffles". How could anyone pass up this recipe? Converted to Meal-Master by Kountry Cook (Vicki Phillips)

Come visit my recipe collection webpage: The Kountry Kitchen - Cookin' With Kountry Cook (Vicki Phillips)

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