OK, that’s dramatic. It has been three months since my last post though, which might be a new personal record of negligence (*sobs quietly into pillow*), but I’M BACK! It feels so good to be posting a recipe again after taking some time off to get settled into my new program. This first semester at Juilliard Historical Performance, aside from being completely surreal , has FLOWN by. Between performances, lessons, gigs, being a hashtagpracticehermit, academic courses, and life in general, I’ve been a busy bee. In the last few weeks alone, my HP friends and I have performed on the radio, played for a live-streamed master class, finished a series of concerts in Boston and NYC, and are now gearing up for our tour to Holland (!) in a few weeks. I can’t believe that, at least for now, this is the new normal.
sum•mer (n): the existential struggle between wanting to be in shape and wanting to shove ALL THE FOOD INTO YOUR FACE
You know the feeling. Summertime finally hits, and you’re ready to hit the beach and show off that bod you’ve been working on. But two weeks in, you’ve had a few too many margs and entirely too many s’mores and then you realize you haven’t even hit the vacation part of your summer vacation yet and you’re like “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN” and then you end up eating more s’mores and it’s all just kind of a mess.
I know this feeling well. A week ago, I got back from spending over two weeks in San Francisco (um, hi, TONS of amazing food) at the American Bach Soloists Academy. It was a wonderful experience, but I definitely ate WAY too much. As in, I literally ate ice cream every day. And I mean literally, literally.
“I received free samples of siggi’s yogurt mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by siggi’s yogurt and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”
We’re less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, and each year, this season brings up a ton of family memories for me. For whatever reason, the thought of shoveling all manner of carbs into my face whilst making dinner-table-inappropriate jokes with my cousins at the kids table (which I know I’m going to be at for ~10 more years at least, and am totally fine with) just screams NOSTALGIA… Ya know? It’s a natural human instinct. But for me, these memories can come flooding in at LITERALLY any given moment once November hits. Take for example, the other day, while I was buying a bag of persimmons.
When I was a kid and I used to go over to my grandparents’ house, my grandma and I would draw pictures together. One day we were drawing various fruits and veggies, putting faces on them, and giving them names. All the usual suspects were there: Broccoli Rob (GET IT?!), Tommy Tomato, Apple Anne, etc. But then I said to my grandma, “What about PERSIMMON PATRICK?” She looked at me surprised and slightly impressed, like, do you actually even know what a persimmon IS, seven-year-old Sarah? No, Grandma. No I did not.
In fact, I didn’t know what a persimmon was until college. I found one in the grocery store and tried it thinking it was going to be like a tomato. I was so deliciously, delightfully, beautifully wrong – persimmons are sweet, juicy, and just taste like autumn. Sorry that’s not more eloquent.
Donuts are my kryptonite. There are very few things in this world that make me forget that I have self control, and donuts are pretty much all of them.
I usually avoid them for this reason, but while on Spring break earlier this month visiting my cousins in North Carolina, I decided to treat myself to a toasted amaretto donut. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. And in those few, all-too-short minutes of edible bliss, I fell head-over-heels. Of course, the honeymoon was short lived, because I came sugar-crashing back to reality almost instantly. But it was worth it.
So, I know I just gave you a dessert recipe. I know.
I also know that I outlined my unpopular opinion on Valentine’s Day in last week’s post, and now it would appear that I have made you heart-shaped chocolates. But I feel like that’s OK, because Valentine’s Day is over. I’m a weird kind of stubborn sometimes… Also, the only ice cube trays I own are those heart-shaped ones from Ikea. So, there’s that. But you should totally make these next time you have a date over, because they’ll probably fall for you immediately (if they haven’t already).
And I know you may be a bit chocolate-d out from all the chocolate you may have consumed since last Saturday. But for me, there is no such thing as “chocolate-d out,” and I don’t think I’m alone. So I am honoring this month’s Recipe Redux theme, “Favorite Chocolate Matches,” with a super easy, delicious truffle recipe.
Amidst this extremely busy (and freezing) week, simple was the best way to go. I had been planning some kind of cocoa chili, but then earlier this week I made cinnamon chili instead, because I was 100% hungry and only about 60% adventurous. Such is the life of a grad student.
And so this morning, on the morning OF this post’s due date, I still did not have a recipe. Oops. Although, in the true nature of the challenge (which was to find a way to use leftover chocolate), I used two other leftover household staples to make these little nuggets of heaven – peanut butter and dates. So many of my favorite candies boast the peanut butter-caramel-chocolate trifecta, and dates are a perfect healthy way to simulate the texture and flavor of caramel.
I made these before heading off to see a student, popped them in the freezer, and they were perfectly set by the time I got home. Then, I had just enough time to pop them out of the mold and photograph them before I went out to rehearsal. If that’s not proof that these are low-maintenance, I don’t know what is. And I’m kind of high-maintenance. But these honestly taste super fancy, so nobody will have to know your secret 😉
Combine mashed dates with a pinch or two of sea salt. Combine and set aside.*
Spoon a small amount of dark chocolate into each section of a silicone ice tray or mold. Using the back of a teaspoon, spread the chocolate to thinly coat the bottom layer of each section. This layer should still be thick enough that you can’t see any of the tray through the chocolate.
Place in freezer to set bottom layer, about 5 minutes.
Fill each mold about 2/3 of the way up with mashed dates.
Fill the rest of each mold evenly to the top with peanut butter.
Thinly spread the rest of the chocolate on top of each candy (i.e. don’t cover the whole surface of the tray/mold with chocolate).
Return to freezer until set, about 1 hour.
Notes
*If necessary to help with mashing, microwave the dates first for about 20-30 seconds.
