I make a chocolate torte, a takeoff from what was originally in a Hershey’s cookbook but made even more decadent, that has become my signature dessert and part of my children’s childhood memories.
And I have a daughter who now is terribly allergic to anything dairy. Not lactose intolerant but truly allergic. She’s adjusted pretty well, but she misses that torte.
Saturday, Michelle came home from Whole Foods with a can of high-fat coconut milk–she figured the low fat version wasn’t going to cut it. (True!) I use super-heavy manufacturing cream in my ganache that I cover my cakes with; could one make a ganache with this?
So she gave it a go and melted the chocolate into it. It tasted like a Mounds bar gone to heaven. Then she added vanilla, which covered up the coconut somewhat. I can just hear my dad, who emphatically does not care for coconut, exclaiming, Well, thank GOODNESS. Heh.
I got a note last night from our friend Paul. His daughters had doorbell-ditched nectarines from their tree at our door last week; I’d returned the favor a few days later by knocking on their door and handing his wife one of my tortes (my version). Paul was emailing to ask about it and about the chocolate, and wondered whether we kept some bars of that Trader Joe’s chocolate on hand as a staple, then? And just which of their bars did I use?
I had to think about it, and the answer was yes. I do always have at least one of their Pound Plus Bittersweets on hand so I can easily pull together a pair of tortes (I always make two) as the need arises.
As for Michelle, though, I’d have to say, hum a few bars and she’ll fake it.