Tag: Roald Dahl

Veruca’s Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels

Posted December 20, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

I LOVE chocolate caramels. I don’t mean caramels with chocolate on top (though those are good too). I’m talking about caramels that have had chocolate mixed into caramel itself as it heats, so you wind up with this dark brown, lusciously chocolaty confection. It’s a weakness of mine, so when I started brainstorming ideas for a Veruca Salt recipe for my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory menu, salted chocolate caramels stuck firmly in my brain.

However, my experience with making chewy caramels is limited…and by “limited,” I mean I’ve never actually done it. I accidentally made soft caramel while making honeycomb candy for the first time several years ago, but I don’t think even that counts, since I’ve never been able to replicate the result.

Rather than try to invent something on the fly, I found a recipe from Taste of Home that looked both simple and reliable. The only change I made was adding a little kosher salt to the top, and OH YOU GUYS IT WAS AMAZING. So chewy, rich, dark, and not-too-sweet. The salt turned out to be the perfect addition, adding just the right level of complexity.

I will DEFINITELY make these again. Soon. Maybe tomorrow. Do I have baking chocolate…I do! I could make these now!

Now is good.

NOTE: This recipe needs to set for at least 5 hours.

Violet Beauregarde’s Blueberry Pie with Chocolate Crust

Posted December 13, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Today we’re continuing our all-chocolate Charlie and the Chocolate Factory menu with a tribute to Violet Beauregarde. As most of you will remember from the book/movie, Violet snatches up an experimental chewing gum from a research room in Wonka’s factory and discovers that it’s designed to taste like an entire meal: tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie. Unfortunately, when the gum starts to taste like the dessert course, Violet starts turning into a giant blueberry! It’s one of the most memorable parts of the whole story, so I knew it had to be in my menu…and like any Wonka recipe, it had to feature chocolate! 😉

This luscious blueberry pie is a combo of two recipes: the filling from Pioneer Woman’s blueberry pie and a chocolate version of the pie crust from my cookbook. Since I knew blueberry pies can be especially liquidy, I added a little lemon juice to the filling to help it thicken better. I also added a bit of salt, just because it seemed odd to me that the recipe didn’t call for it (most fruit pies do). I loved the final flavors. The filling was sweet and juicy with just a hint of tartness, and the crust had a deep, dark chocolaty taste that grounded all the bright notes in the filling. I couldn’t help but decorate the crust (after last month’s decorative pie, I think I’ve found a new hobby), but you can keep it simple you like. Enjoy!

NOTE: This recipe needs to set for at least 4 hours.

Willy Wonka’s Hot Chocolate with Lavender Whipped Cream

Posted December 6, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

First, let’s just be real: hot chocolate is what fresh whipped cream was invented for. It’s the perfect fresh, bright, cool companion to a rich and steamy chocolate drink. So when I decided I was going to do an all-dessert, all-chocolate menu for my new book of the month—Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—I knew I wanted my tribute to Willy Wonka’s hot chocolate river to feature fresh whipped cream.

Not just ANY whipped cream, though. This is Wonka we’re talking about. It needed some pizzazz, something creative and fun to set it apart from all the other whipped creams. Then I remembered Storeroom #54, which the children and their guardians pass during their tour of Wonka’s factory. It is labeled “ALL THE CREAMS” and lists several strange creams, including violet cream. I didn’t have any violet extract, but I DID have lavender buds, which got my brain ticking. I learned while making lavender lemon eclairs that lavender steeps beautifully in cream, so I used that technique to created a lavender whipped cream that had a distinctive but not overpowering flavor. After all, I wanted the hot chocolate to be the star of the show. On a whim, I added a little purple food coloring for whimsy…since you can never have too much whimsy in a Wonka recipe. 😉

The finished cream went on top of a homemade hot chocolate inspired by two of my favorites: the Witch’s Hot Chocolate from my Narnia menu and the Hundred Acre Hot Chocolate from my cookbook. I loved the way the rich, intense chocolate flavor paired with the floral whipped cream. So much so, in fact, that I started wondering what other flavors would make awesome infused creams (Earl Grey! Cinnamon! Mint!). I may just have to start experimenting!

Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake

Posted April 26, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment

There is only one true dessert anyone could ever create for a Matilda menu: Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake! I’ve made my fair share of chocolate cakes in my day, but this one was almost intimidating because it’s just so iconic. It’s practically synonymous with Matilda. I absolutely could NOT get Bruce’s cake wrong. So I hunted high and low for a cake recipe that I new would stand up to the massive dimensions of Bruce’s cake. In the book, it’s 18 inches across, but since that wouldn’t fit in my oven, I went with the size of my largest pan: 10 inches. Still a pretty darn big cake, and one that I wanted to make sure would be stay moist despite having to bake longer than a small cake.

For the actual “cake” part of the cake, I used a recipe I found through Good Housekeeping. It promised to be super rich and moist, which was perfect. What surprised me was that, unlike many intense chocolate cakes I’ve seen, this one didn’t use coffee. I saw a way to sub out part of the buttermilk for regular milk mixed with instant coffee granules, so I made the change. And I’m so glad I did! The cake was that much more chocolatey, and even though you can’t taste the coffee itself, the added depth of flavor helps balance all the sweetness in the cake.

For the frosting, I tried a twist on my own chocolate buttercream. Instead of milk, I used sour cream, which added moisture while making the final product lighter and fluffier than milk would. Plus, I added a bit of cinnamon for a little somethin’ special. The final cake was just what I was looking for: a rich, luxurious chocolate cake with a frosting that matched it for intensity of flavor yet contrasted it with a smooth, light texture.

Of course, a 10-inch, 2-layer cake is too huge for just the Mister and me, so I sent half of it to work with him. It got rave reviews, especially the frosting, so I think it’s safe to say this cake is worthy of Bruce Bogtrotter. Enjoy! 🙂

Miss Honey’s Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread

Posted April 19, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

When Matilda goes to visit her teacher, Miss Honey, she’s served a simple snack of brown bread with margarine and tea. It’s the first time Matilda visits her beloved teacher’s home, and she’s understandably distressed that Miss Honey lives in a bare-bones cottage with little food. However, the thing that stood out to me most wasn’t Miss Honey’s dire living situation; it was her reaction to it. She has no refrigerator or real stove but doesn’t seem to mind. She serves Matilda but eats nothing herself, cheerfully insisting she’s not hungry because she eats a large lunch at school every day.

This seems a little sad at first, as if she’s just putting on a brave face for Matilda’s sake, but when we learn what the cottage represents to her, we realize that it’s truly precious, even with its shortcomings. As she and Matilda have tea, Miss Honey explains that she rented the cottage to get away from her cruel aunt. We get the impression that her freedom is so important to her that her circumstances don’t bother her as much as they might. Deep down, she feels the pain of privation, but her current life is the first step into something better. In this moment, we see that Miss Honey is made of sterner stuff than we might have imagined, and it only makes us love her all the more. And at the end of the book when Miss Honey’s inheritance is finally returned to her, we see her and Matilda having tea—with real butter and jam on their bread!

Miss Honey’s bread is one of my favorite aspects of the book, because it’s used as a symbol of both difficulty and triumph. I knew it would be the perfect side dish for my Matilda menu. The bread in the book isn’t described in much detail (beyond being brown), so I decided to go with something simple and hearty with a touch of honey: this whole wheat honey oatmeal bread from Girl Versus Dough. It’s one of the easier breads I’ve made, and the hint of sweetness made it just right. Serve with butter and tea, and you’re all set! 🙂

Fish and Chips with Homemade Tartar Sauce

Posted April 12, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

Several entrees feature fairly prominently in the book Matilda: Mr. Wormwood’s breakfast, TV dinners, fish and chips, and the school’s sausage and bean lunch. Although the Wormwood family’s TV dinners are the most iconic to the book, they’re technically a full meal and would be pretty time consuming to re-create. Plus, I was much more intrigued by the idea of fish and chips. I’d never made them before, so I was eager to try my hand! And since we observe meatless Fridays at my house, I’m always on the lookout for new meatless recipes to try. 🙂

This particular recipe comes from Tide and Thyme. The beer batter for the fish is easy and flavorful, and the copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce recipe I found on Simplee Thrifty was the perfect condiment. The chips were easily my favorite part—I’m a sucker for a good ol’ french fry!

However, I will admit that slicing, soaking, and frying all the potatoes in addition to the fish was pretty time consuming. They both tasted good, but I think I’ll treat them as separate recipes and pair them with more low-maintenance dishes in the future. After all, beer-battered fish pairs perfectly with lots of easy side dishes (we’re having it again this Friday, and I’m planning on serving roasted broccoli on the side). And next time the Mister wants to grill burgers, I can be inside making some delicious homemade fries!

Matilda’s Gummy Newts

Posted April 5, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments

One of the most iconic moments in Matilda is when a student puts a newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water jug, and Matilda tips it over with her mind. Not only is it an exciting scene, but it’s also how Matilda discovers her powers. It’s one of my favorite parts of both the book and the movie, so I reeeeeally wanted to pay tribute to it here on the blog. Of course, when you picture appetizing recipes, newts don’t exactly come to mind, but then I remembered a recipe I made from another Roald Dahl book: my magic green sour gummy worms from James and the Giant Peach. How fun would it be to make newt gummies?

Using an easy recipe I found on Tastemade and some lizard candy molds I found online, I whipped up a batch of delicious gummy newts to start our Matilda menu. With the help of some lime and peach jello, I made mine green and orange like the newt in the book (my grocery store was out of orange flavored jello, which would have paired better flavor-wise, but peach and lime still tasted good). You can choose whatever flavor/color combinations you like—get creative! This makes a great after school snack or fun favor at a children’s Halloween party. Enjoy! 🙂

The Magic of Reading: A Matilda Reading Kit

Posted April 3, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Reading Kits / 1 Comment

Our new Book of the Month is Matilda, and I’m kicking things off with a reading kit! 😀

I was impressed by how many Matilda-inspired fan made items were out there. With a book that was published so long ago, sometimes it can be hard to find stuff that’s specifically themed to that book, but not so with Matilda. It was easy to track down art prints, candles, throw pillows, jewelry, and so much more. Of course, book- and library-themed items are perfect for Matilda as well, so I was sure to include some when I rounded up my favorite items for this reading kit.

Snag some bookish swag for yourself or your favorite reading buddy and sit back with a copy of Matilda. Enjoy! 🙂

Honey Glazed Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Posted April 27, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

What would a James and the Giant Peach menu be without peaches? A travesty, that’s what. Of course, not just ANY peach recipe will do. I wanted to make something special but simple at the same time. After all, this is a kid’s book we’re talking about! Grilled peaches with ice cream came to mind, and I dressed them up just a little by glazing the peaches with honey and making homemade ice cream with the most glorious of all the spices: CINNAMON. The end result was sweet, refreshing, and delightfully simple. The perfect snack after flying across the ocean on a giant peach!

P.S. The cinnamon ice cream recipe included below is for a Cuisinart ice cream maker and is a slight variation on the vanilla ice cream recipe that comes with the machine.

Fried Snowballs: Deep Fried Mashed Potato Balls with Bacon and Cheese (an AWR Original Recipe!)

Posted April 20, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

One group of characters often forgotten from James and the Giant Peach is the Cloud Men (perhaps since they were left out of the movie). In the book, the Cloud Men are responsible for creating such atmospheric phenomenon as rainbows, storms, and snow. When James and companions float past a Cloud Man city in their flying peach, they see Cloud families preparing dinners of fried snowballs.

These sounded delicious, so of course I wanted to make them for the blog! And I knew exactly how I wanted to create my own interpretation: mashed potato balls mixed with bacon and cheese, rolled in panko crumbs, and deep fried. Utterly delicious and fun to make!