Chocoholics, take note: Today’s requests have to do with chocolate things. “Yeast of the Ridge” saw a recipe somewhere for a cookie with chopped roasted almonds in the dough, along with Hershey’s kisses pressed in the center immediately after taking the cookies from the oven, and now she cannot remember where she saw it. She is hoping one of you can solve this mystery. The second request is from R.K.G., who would like some hints for ideas to substitute dark and/or bittersweet chocolate in recipes that call for milk chocolate, along with recipes that were made for dark chocolate. A final request comes from a Rising Fawn reader, who wants good recipes for preparing and delivering to families with a new baby or other circumstances that indispose the regular cook.
Elsie Keith wrote to give the secret of peach cobblers. She wrote: “I am sure you will get many recipes for them, but the secret is almond flavoring. Peach and cherry cobblers with about 1/4 teaspoon of almond flavoring make a scrumptious pie. The same goes for peach ice cream. Coconut cream pie with 1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring in addition to the vanilla is to die for. The same is true for egg custard pies.
“For my coconut cakes, I add almond flavoring with the vanilla to the frosting. It brings out the taste and will make you ‘smack your granny’ as the saying goes.”
If you clipped a recent recipe for corn gazpacho, you just might try this cornbread served alongside, sent from the same nameless reader.