Use fine milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate chocolate to bake these muffins from chocolatier Michael Recchiuti.

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April 2008

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Bread Products

Very Chocolate Muffin Recipe

A “Double Chocolate” Recipe Uses Both Milk & Bittersweet Bars

When you make artisan chocolate for a living, like San Francisco chocolatier Michael Recchiuti, not just any chocolate muffin will do. Michael advises that, because the chocolate is the star in this recipe, to spring for the good stuff, like Valrhona or E. Guittard. You can enjoy the muffins as a snack, or at brunch with some crème fraîche or clotted cream instead of normal muffin accompaniments.

Yield: 24 Muffins

Ingredients

• 10 ounces 61% to 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 8 eggs separated, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1-½ cups granulated cane sugar
• 3/5 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, whisk into flour
• 5 ounces 35%-41% milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces 61%-70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins (2-½ inches top diameter and 1-¼ inches deep) with paper liners. Set aside.
3. Place 10 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate and the butter in a stainless bowl over simmering water to melt. Set aside.
4. Put the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in ½ cup of sugar. Place the bowl over simmering water, and whisk until yolks reach about 120°F.
5. Mount the yolks on a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip at high speed until yolks triple in volume. Transfer the yolks into a 3 quart stainless bowl. Set aside.
6. Place the whites in a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed until whites become frothy. Add cream of tartar and increase mixer speed to high. When the whites begin to form soft peaks, add 1 cup of sugar and continue to whip to a shinny firm peak.
7. Using a spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the yolk mixture. Carefully fold in whites and flour in 3 additions.
8. Fold in the milk and the remaining dark chocolate pieces, just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.
9. Using a tablespoon, divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven until the top of the muffins form a crust, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Buy Michael Recchiuti’s Book: Chocolate Obsession   In this beautifully-photographed book, Michael Recchiuti divulges his professional secrets and techniques, allowing home cooks to reproduce his exquisite confections in their own kitchens. Including a complete discussion of chocolate from bean to bar, the book offers detailed instructions for dipped chocolates, truffles and molded chocolates, including Recchiuti's signature ganache flavors: Earl Grey tea, burnt caramel and tarragon with grapefruit. Also featured are recipes for such sinfully delicious treats as Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Truffle Cream Filling, Double Dark Chocolate Soufflés and Rocky Recchiuti Brownies. With more than 60 recipes in all, this book will satisfy even the most obsessive chocolate lovers among us.

Chocolate Obsession, by Michael Recchiuti. 200 pages, $22.05. Click here to purchase.

Recipe © copyright Michael Recchiuti. Additional material Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved.