Dark Chocolate 'Fondue' Ball

• Tempered Dark Chocolate Sphere
• Filled with Salted Almond Crumb
• Spiced Poached Pear
• Citrus Cake
• Vanilla Cream
• Chocolate Filigree
• Warm Caramel Sauce

The idea of this dessert is to have the warm caramel sauce separate, then pour it over the chocolate balls at the table to the chocolate begins to melt, showcasing the filling and creating a chocolate sauce for the plate. 

Citrus Cream Cheese Sauce

Citrus Cream Cheese Sauce
cream cheese
2 oranges, zest and juice
2 limes, zest and juice
1 lemon, zest and juice
salt
white pepper
honey

Blend all ingredients together to form a smooth and cream sauce. It should be thicker than whipping cream but thinner than mayonnaise if that makes sense. Basically it is easily spreadable but not pourable. Adjust seasonings to make it as sweet, salty, spicy, or citrusy as you wish! Goes great both on fish dishes and desserts!

Poached Bass with Beans, Potatoes, and Citrus Cream Cheese

• Striped Bass poached in court bouillon (white wine, fish stock, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, herbs and spices)
• Pan-sauteed yellow string beans and green broad beans
• Baby red potatoes roasted in garlic, thyme, parsley, paprika, and olive oil
• Citrus cream cheese sauce
• Purple basil

Citrus Pound Cake

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Citrus Pound Cake with a citrus syrup, lightly spiced whipped cream, and lemon curd. 
Citrus Pound Cake = flavored with lemon, lime, and orange
Citrus Syrup = reduction of orange juice and lime juice with sugar
Lightly Spiced Whipped Cream = flavored with ginger and nutmeg
Lemon Curd
Lime Twist
Fresh Mint Leaf

Sweet Citrus Spice Syrup

Sweet Citrus Spice Syrup
1/2 cup honey
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 Tablespoon jallab syrup
2 teaspoons rosewater
2 teaspoons orange blossom water
juice and zest of one large orange
juice and zest of one large lemon
juice and zest of two small limes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
4 Cardamom pods
2 whole star anise
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
3 fresh figs, halved

Combine all in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for thirty minutes or so until syrup is reduced and slightly thickened, it should not thickly coat a spoon but should begin to stick to a spoon, as it will thicken much more upon cooling. Remove from heat and strain syrup through a fine chinoise. Set aside to cool.

The original purpose for this syrup was to brush over baklava immediately after they are removed from the oven to give baklava its characteristic crisp texture and sticky sweet flavor. For this purpose, the syrup should basically be honey/maple syrup consistency. Molasses consistency is slightly too thick, anything thinner is too runny. It should be easily brushed on the delicate fillo/phyllo pastry without running off. It can be reheated gently or cooled longer in order to reach the right consistency.

This syrup could be used for a variety of other purposes as well. It has so much flavor - citrus, spice, and sweet, and is one of those rare occasions I created a great sweet item without chocolate or even caramel. Try this syrup (in a slightly thinner state) for soaking spongecakes, as a glaze for cookies to decorate them, to poach or bake figs, as a glaze for coffee cake, as a base glaze for meat or fish, etc. It will keep for ages in the refrigerator.
Don't be daunted by the long list of ingredients either - most of them are common spices or fruits, and the specialty ingredients are not too difficult to find and will keep for a long time, but if you can't find one of them, leave it out and sub some more of another flavor if desired.

New Year's Ollie Bollen

I know I featured these last year as well, but the occasion for Ollie Bollen only comes around once a year, so I figured I would share them again! Besides, this is only our third year making them, and every year we are improving more and more and discovering different techniques that work better. Just as a brief recap, Ollie Bollen are deep fried Dutch fritters, literally translated as "oil balls", but commonly referred to as Dutch doughnuts. They are traditionally made and enjoyed once a year on New Year's Eve, and any leftovers (which doesn't always happen) are enjoyed for breakfast the next morning with a steaming cup of coffee. Ollie Bollen are best eaten fresh of course, but they do reheat fairly well the next day in the toaster oven. And of course, you cannot have Ollie Bollen that have not been sprinkled (or more commonly, drowned) in a layer of icing sugar.
My father is always the master of the Ollie Bollen dough and deep fryer at our house. This is likely because he grew up in the Dutch household and was already familiar with the process. I believe he uses a recipe that is a combination of a modern recipe we found in one of our breads cookbooks, and his mother's old recipe. Ollie Bollen are okay plain, but they taste better with some chopped apples or raisins and the best with both. We also tried chopped, mixed glazed fruit (leftover from Christmas), which was good but a tad sticky and messy in the deep-fryer. We have even tried adding miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips, but be advised that this turns the oil a little messy, so if you really want chocolate Ollie Bollen, wait until the end of the batch. They are quite tasty though!

Ollie-Bollen

Ollie-Bollen are deep-fried Dutch fritters traditionally made on New Year's Eve. There are several different spelling variations of the name, including Olie Bollen, Oliebollen and Oliebol, but they all refer to these delicious Dutch doughnuts. The literal translation of Ollie-Bollen is "oil balls" as they are deep fried. This doesn't make them sound very appealing, but they really are good, and don't turn out very greasy at all. Although they are referred to as doughnuts, Ollie-Bollen are closer in taste and texture to little fritters. They are made from a yeast dough enriched with flour, eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla. They are usually flavored with something too, commonly apples, raisins, citrus zest, or combinations of these; although we have also successfully made plain ones, a bit bland, but nothing a pile of icing sugar can't fix!  Ollie-Bollen  are dropped by teaspoons into hot oil and fried just until crispy and golden. Then they are drained and dunked in as much icing sugar as possible. It isn't considered Ollie-Bollen unless you can inhale icing sugar while biting into a fritter.

My father's family used to always make Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve, and we recently began continuing the tradition. The leftovers are commonly eaten for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee. Ollie-Bollen are said to have originally been in eaten in the Netherlands by Germanic tribes during the Yule period.

Ollie-Bollen are not particularly difficult to make, but they do take some practice, and you must be familiar with a deep fryer to make them. Although they can be fried in a pot of hot oil on the stove, this can be dangerous and is not recommended. Ollie-Bollen dough also requires some rising time, so plan ahead. You may find some fritters close to Ollie-Bollen in coffee shops, especially in Europe, but homemade are much better. Ollie-Bollen are nice and crisp on the outside and tender and flaky on the inside. They also have a nice flavor and a sweet coating. There is nothing like a fresh Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve!