Thursday, February 11, 2010

Rolled in Gold

Yes, indeed, fashion week is upon us. Time to eat sweets!


Chloe Cakes by Personal Chef Jennifer Lynn Pelka
Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberries, Cream, and Silver Dust

On Monday evening, Lisa Salzer of Lulu Frost hosted a pre-Fashion Week party launching her new collection of gold and silver ombre jewelry. Held within the luxe confines of author Lesley M. M. Blume’s home, the event was well attended by a crowd of fashionable editors, writers, and designers and each guest was loaned a few pieces to wear throughout this week’s fashion shows. If you’re at the tents, keep an eye out for the refreshed vintage pieces on the elegant necks and wrists of the likes of Jenna Lyons, Lauren Goodman, Alexis Bryan Morgan, Amanda Hearst, Dalia Oberlander, Julia Erdman, Serena Merriman, Annie Churchill Albert, and Elisabeth Saint Amand. Even Fashion Week founder Fern Mallis stopped in and took home a few pieces. Additional, abundant, fashion coverage from Elle, GuestofaGuest, Hanuk, Paper, and Stylist.


Lulu Frost Founder Lisa Salzer and Hostess Lesley M. M. Blume


Gold and silver ombre necklace by Lulu Frost

Personal Chef Jennifer Lynn Pelka created gold and silver cupcakes and mini-desserts to match the collection, cleverly presented on Blume’s heirloom silver trays alongside the jewelry. Miss Pelka provided us with a detailed account of the gilded offerings, and clued us into her recipe and styling techniques for the Ferrero Rocher-inspired chocolate brownie bon-bons.



Jennifer Lynn Pelka and Lesley M. M. Blume

More silver and gold inspiration by Lulu Frost
...

Daphne Cakes
Milk Chocolate Cakes with Dulce de Leche


Trixie Treats
Cornflake Crispy Cakes with Dark Chocolate and Gold Dust


Priscilla Cakes
Gold Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing, Orange-Elderflower Glaze, and Golden Sprinkes


Sadie Cakes
Chocolate Brownies with Nutella Buttercream and Gold-rolled Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts

Recipe:
Sadie Cakes:
Chocolate Brownies with Nutella Buttercream and Gold-rolled Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts
Makes 36






For the Chocolate Brownies
36 gold waxed mini-muffin baking liners (if unwaxed, spray each with cooking spray)
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¾ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated white sugar
4 eggs

Nutella Glaze
¼ cup Nutella

Nutella Buttercream
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
½ tsp fine grade fleur de sel
½ cup Nutella
French star pastry tip and pastry bag, Set for $7.05 from Amazon.com

Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts
½ cup whole hazelnuts
6 oz high quality dark chocolate, such as 61%+ Valrhona Dark Chocolate
Edible gold luster dust, $2.95 from Amazon.com

...

To Make the Bite-size Chocolate Brownies
(Brownie recipe adapted from Gourmet, December 1999)

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line mini-muffin tins with liners.

Melt butter and chocolate in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until smooth. Whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt. Remove pan from heat and whisk in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated, and stir in flour mixture just until blended.

Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling cups to top, and bake in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

To Glaze with Nutella
After the cupcakes have cooled, glaze the top of each with a thin layer of Nutella using a pastry spreader or cake spatula.

For the Nutella Buttercream
Using a hand mixer, cream the butter, powdered sugar, and fleur de sel until smooth and slightly stiffened. Fold in the Nutella until fully incorporated.

Fit a pastry bag with a French star pastry tip. Fill the pastry bag with buttercream and refrigerate for 30 minutes until the buttercream is set and pipes out cleanly.

Pipe a swirl of buttercream onto each Nutella-glazed mini-brownie.

For the Gold-rolled Chocolate Dipped Hazelnuts
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Toast hazelnuts for 10 minutes, tossing once to . Remove from heat and allow to cool. Rub the hazelnuts between the palms of your hands to remove the shells.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave. Toss hazelnuts with melted chocolate until evenly coated. Remove hazelnuts from chocolate one by one, and place on a baking sheet or plate, spaced so they do not touch. Refrigerate until completely hardened, roughly 10 minutes. Remove chocolate dipped hazelnuts from cookie sheet or plate. If any of the hazelnuts are not completely covered in chocolate, dip them again in the chocolate and refrigerate again until hardened. Place the hazelnuts in a low, flat bowl. Sprinkle with a small amount of gold dust (a little goes a long way) and shimmy the hazelnuts around until they are evenly coated.

Nestle a gold-rolled chocolate covered hazelnut on top of each Nutella buttercream covered mini chocolate brownie.

Serve to the loving squeals of your admiring guests!





Jenna Lyons, Lisa Salzer, Lauren Goodman
...


Amanda Hearst, Dalia Oberlander, Lisa Salzer, Annie Churchill Albert

Share This!