Meringues with an Enjoyable Chocolate Surprise

Lately, Pinterest has become my go-to source for all sorts of inspiration - from organizing my kitchen to planning the lunch and dessert for my brother's wedding shower to quotes that make me giggle and general crafty diy to tempting food.  When I stumbled upon these Raspberry Meringues, I was in love.  They were so beautifully crafted.  But even more tantalizing was the piece of chocolate inside.  How clever!

Darla at Bakingdom wrote a wonderful recipe for the meringues - if you don't have a stand-by favorite, be sure to check hers out!  Simply line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, add a piece of chocolate, and pipe out a kiss on top!  Couldn't be easier.

To make mine dairy free, I used some of Enjoy Life's semi-sweet chocolate Mega Chunks the company recently sent me.  I am not one to keep it small when creating desserts, and meringues are no exception.  The larger size of the chocolate chunks was perfect for my meringues formed with the 1M decorating tip from Wilton.  My biggest problem was keeping the chocolate on the cookie sheet - I unfortunately kept observing the "one for the recipe, two for my belly" rule...  I have had my fair share of semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips and Enjoy Life's are some of the best.  Knowing that they are also gluten and dairy free (and top 8 allergen free and vegan and all that good stuff) is especially comforting - I have not found any other chocolate chip labeled even dairy free.  Who knows what the other companies do to make sure that pesky milk chocolate is not co-mingling with my semi-sweet or dark chocolate!  It is always a gamble with other chips, well, they don't list that milk is an ingredient so I should be okay, right?  Right?  *crickets*

Each bite into these meringues were delicious.  Not only did I get the usual egg/sugar mixture, but the addition of the chocolate was such a sweet surprise.  I never would have thought to combine pieces of chocolate into my meringues, but I'm glad I did!  This is an excellent recipe with a superior piece of Enjoy Life chocolate waiting inside.  This recipe is a keeper - it may even make an appearance at my brother's upcoming wedding shower - their colors are brown and pink!  I'll just need to get my hands on some raspberry extract before then...

Pour open bag of Enjoy Life Mega Chunks. Consume a few.

 Evenly space out the chocolate chips.

 Separate the egg yolks from egg whites.

 Put your Kitchen Aid to work! 

(Not pictured because this part got a little too messy) Add the 1M tip to a piping bag.  Add the meringue.  Make beautiful drops directly on the chocolate. 

Impatiently wait for the meringues to cook (1 hour 40 minutes) before quickly photographing them before gobbling them up.

If you have leftover chocolate (and didn't eat most of the bag like I did...sometimes I have no shame...), the mega chunks are great as a dairy-free ganache!  1 part soy milk, 2.5 parts chocolate heated up in a pot over low heat. Perfect for drizzling on fruit!

Homemade Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Two of my friends recently bought me an ice cream maker and I have been experimenting with different recipes since none of the included recipes in the booklet that came with the machine used non-dairy milks. There are some fruit sorbet recipes without any dairy, but that's all in due time. First things first. I need to make a solid chocolate ice cream recipe to satisfy my cravings.

Coconut milk tends to be creamier than rice or soy milk, so it naturally lends itself towards making delicious frozen desserts. I used Aroy-D coconut milk (regular) and the rest of the ingredients were normal brand name items. Helpful hint: coconut milk is typically 25% to 50% cheaper at an Asian market than a big box supermarket. If you are planning on making lots of coconut milk ice cream and are on a budget, it is worth the trip to your nearest store!

Michelle's Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

2 19oz cans of coconut milk

3/4 c cocoa powder

1 T vanilla

2/3 c sugar

1/2 c packed brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together with a small handheld mixer until smooth. Put in a 2 quart ice cream maker. Turn on and let mix for 20-25 minutes until desired consistency is reached. Serve. Makes approximately 6-8 servings.

How easy is that? This recipe is gfdf (gluten free dairy free), gfcf (gluten free casein free), and free of the top eight allergens without being free of flavor!!

And here's my suggestion for maximizing this treat: buy small plastic containers that are freezer safe. Portion out the ice cream ahead of time so you can free up space in the freezer AND have a variety of flavors on hand AND prevent the need to take the entire carton of ice cream out to thaw a little bit before you can handle it! (Or am I the only one that needs to let dairy free ice cream sit out on the counter for 10 minutes before I can even pretend to scoop the ice cream into a bowl?) I made the above recipe and portioned out 4 servings and then threw a handful of chopped raspberries in the mixer and let it go for another few minutes. After I portioned the remainder of the coconut milk ice cream out, I placed a whole raspberry on top so I could easily see which flavor I grabbed. Feel free to get creative! Use this recipe as a base and throw in some additional flavors! And comment with what you added!

Sorry folks without ice cream makers - I only tried this recipe with the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker. The only time I made ice cream without my new toy, it involved rock salt, rolling ice cream and rock salt in cans on the floor, and watching Angel at a friend's house after school. It was fifty times more complicated than the new fangled machines (which cost less than $70 on Amazon)!

I Scream, You Scream

I feel like such a kid again.

A few weeks ago while visiting my mom, we headed to the grocery store and she told me to choose an ice cream to keep in the freezer at her house. I eyed the wide selection of dairy free desserts, apparently for too long, because it prompted my mom to tell me to get whatever I wanted. I saw chocolate brownie "ice cream", smiled, and looked at the ingredients. Dairy free does not mean wheat free. Ultimately, I settled (more like got excited over another fun flavor combination) for a chocolate peanut butter swirl option. The ice cream never even made it to the freezer when we got home as I helped myself to an over generous serving.

The July meeting for the Chicago chapter of the Gluten Intolerance Group in the South Loop was a dairy free ice cream social...complete with ice cream cones! We had two gluten free cone options (which were on sale at Whole Foods - still kicking myself for not buying them) - cake or sugar - or plastic bowls. There were four different varieties offered, but when I heard chocolate chip cookie dough, my emotions were a cross between a swear-word string of excitement and giggling with my eyes wide open. I have never been so excited to eat a particular food before. I had my coconut milk ice cream with its certified gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough in a sugar cone and felt like I was transported to summers in my childhood. Truly, this was a little bit of heaven on earth and I normally hold back from exclaiming praise like this. But this ice cream is GOOD. You must try it - whether or not you are gluten and/or dairy free. The ice cream is so creamy and the cookie dough has just the perfect texture. (Don't worry - I got seconds.)

So imagine my childlike excitement during an otherwise very adult, routine shopping trip

to the local Dominick's to buy groceries for dinner lead me past their dairy free ice cream (for two reasons: I watch sale prices on their gluten and dairy free products and it was almost 100 degrees and a stroll through the freezer section felt good) and their ice cream was on sale (win!) and they had the So Delicious chocolate chip cookie dough! The regular price was $5.59, down to their new low price of $4.99 but only $3.59 with your Dominick's Card! (Through July 26, price found at the Dominick's on Foster and Sheridan in Chicago. Hurry, because I'm probably going to stock up on their ice cream before the sale ends.)

I went home, scooped myself a big bowl of unmatched perfection, and sat on my porch with my feet up, cooling off in the most delicious way possible.

What more can I say? Life is great!

So Delicious's Purely Decadent's coconut milk cookie dough non-dairy frozen dessert contains coconuts and soy. It is a vegan product.