Saturday, May 11, 2013

Chocolate and what ails you



It's Mother's Day weekend so I thought I would introduce a famous writer mom, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal of France, who wrote her daughter for three decades in the 1600s.  When her letters were published, people fell in love with Rabutin-Chantal's advice, her wit and her humor. What a writer! What a woman! What a mother! But I think she was beloved because of this quote:         

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?

Marie knew chocolate is a healing food and a fuel for the imagination! Things haven't changed much over a few centuries.

With my allergies, I was told to stay away from Oreos, Hersheys Kisses and chocolate cake. Sniff.  The withdrawal was horrible. My craft suffered. Man O suffered. But I have found a way to stay sane and keep chocolate on hand, no matter the season. My cherished Southern Living hot fudge sauce recipe became the foundation for my emergency supply.
  
Here are easy steps to making sure you have chocolate on hand. Be sure to have quart size baggies or jars to store the mix in. Listen to Marie. Think like Scarlett. You can always double, triple or quadruple the recipe to have plenty on hand!

Emergency Chocolate Craving Mix:
1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

2 Tablespoons flour (I use potato or tapioca starch to be gluten free)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix well and put in a small plastic bag for the next chocolate emergency.  If doubling or beyond, it is best to mix up the basic recipe multiple times and bag individually. 


Sometimes a girl's gotta have some chocolate - Carrie Underwood


For chocolate sauce:

Put a bag of mix in a small pot.
Add 1 tablespoon butter (or coconut oil).
Gradually add 1 cup boiling water and stir until smooth.
Bring mixture to a boil and boil for two minutes.
Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Serve hot over ice cream or cooled over fruit. Store leftovers in fridge and reheat when needed.

Microwave method: Put ingredients in a 4 cup bowl or measure, stir in boiled water, stirring until smooth. Cook on high for 2 minutes, stopping to stir half way through, making sure to scrape bottom. Add vanilla.  


All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!  ~Charles Schulz


For fudgy gluten-free brownies:

Follow above steps for chocolate sauce.


Let mixture cool to room temp.

Beat in two eggs. 



Mix 1 cup almond or coconut flour with one teaspoon baking powder, then add to other ingredients. (You can also add one cup gluten-free baking mix and omit the baking powder if the mix already includes it.)

Pour in greased 8X8 baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool completely.    

Go forth and enjoy!

 



















13 comments:

  1. Now this is a blog post after me own heart! I make my own chocolate sauce all the time but haven't included the flour. I'm guessing that makes yours thicker. I'll have to try that. And thanks for the gluten-free brownie recipe. I have several friends I can make that for...well, and me of course because I can't resist anything chocolate! (Love your Scarlett O'Hara quote, by the way!) And I've never heard of coconut flour but I'm adding it to my shopping list right now. Happy Saturday!

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    1. Yes, the flour makes the sauce more of a hot fudge consistency. But you can leave it out for a Hershey's syrup look a like. A great way to avoid high fructose corn syrup! And cheaper too.

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  2. Thank you for the recipe, Julie! I prefer to make my own versions of commercial products as much as I can (same reasons as you - to avoid unwanted ingredients and to save money), but I had never seen a chocolate sauce recipe before.

    And of course, it's chocolate. Need we say more?

    I hear it's spring rain time in some parts of the country, but here we have a beautiful, cool sunny morning. I'd love to go hiking, but we're having our wood stove delivered next week and have to get the space ready for it.

    An unintended consequence of buying a wood stove in May - I'm already looking forward to next winter!!!

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  3. I am already looking forward to air-conditioning. But I have wood stove envy.

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  5. This recipe looks great! I'll be bookmarking and making it in the near future.

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    1. Thanks, Nikki. Just don't give it to the grandkidlets before nap time.

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  6. I just never knew that Scarlett loved chocolate! Maybe I'll have to read that book after all!!

    Love this post!!

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    1. Virginia! Do you mean you've never read Gone With the Wind?

      You've seen the movie, at least, haven't you?

      HAVEN'T YOU!?!?

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    2. Jan, surely Virginia is joking! Surely, right?

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  7. Oh, I LOVE the idea of emergency chocolate sauce! I ran out of my jarred fudge sauce a couple of weeks ago right before having a terrible craving. This would have saved me! Thanks, Julie! I'll bookmark this and also print. :)

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