Always Room for Chocolate

I got my boyfriend, Stan, the candy man in the kitchen with me today

I'm a happy chick. Stan is the owner of Savannah Candy Kitchens

and he's going to help me to make your chocolate dreams come true today

First up, for all you sweet tooth lovers, is our chocolate explosion cheesecake

Doesn't that look delicious? Look at this, y'all. And then Stan makes one of his favorites, a chocolate almond brickle

Brown sugar and butter. I don't see that could be anything but good. And to round off this chocolate fairy tale today

a new friend stops by to help me with a hazelnut filling for our fabulous chocolate cream puffs

You know, there's always room for chocolate. Stan is the man here in town

He is a dear, dear friend, and I love him to death. He owns Savannah Candy Kitchens here in town

So for all you chocolate lovers, this show is for you. We are going to make a chocolate explosion cheesecake today, y'all

And it's going to take the entire show for us to put this cheesecake together, Stan

because there's a dadgum many layers to it. I don't care if it takes all day, if we eat some at the end

Stan is chopping some almonds, y'all. He's getting ready to make... Chocolate almond brickle

Not brittle, brickle. Brickle. What's the difference between brickle and brittle? I really believe it's a lot softer

I didn't realize the difference between brickle and brittle, y'all. But I'm going to start putting our cheesecake together

Now, I have dropped in six tablespoons of butter to my double boiler here

I'm going to add two eggs, six ounces of chocolate, a half a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of flour

And we're just going to just cook this on top of the stove over the boiling water, just until the chocolate melts, y'all

Then we're going to put it on our graham cracker crust. And you can go on foodnetwork.com if you need the recipe for the graham cracker crust

Look at that butter popping up. Butter makes it better immediately. Yes, immediately

All right, so this is looking good. All right, if you'll pass me that crust, I think everything is melted in here

I'm going to turn this off, and I'm just going to pour this in to our crust

No, you got many nuts to chop, so I'm just going to pour this in here

We're going to put this in a 300-degree oven, y'all, and we're going to bake it for 15 minutes

and then we're going to pull it out and we're going to put another layer

on top of this layer. This is truly just the beginning. And I'm just going to spread that out

Okay. We're going to have a caramel layer and another chocolate layer

All right, so in the oven, this goes 15 minutes, 300 degrees, Stan

All right, Stan, let's get started on your chocolate almond brickle. So I'm going to move this pot, Stan

and we can move your brickle pot up and you tell me what to do

What we want to do first, we want to add two sticks of butter

See, I knew I loved staying. They're on medium heat. Okay. We're going to get that melted

We need a cup and a half brown sugar. And we want to cook this to about 280 degrees

but we want to stir it the entire time, but not over stir it. Okay

Because if you over stir it, it'll give it too much air in it and we don't want that either. We want it to be firm, but not brittle-y

And there's a difference between brickle and brittle, isn't it? Yes, and I really believe it's the temperature

Brittle is cooked at 300 to 310. Brickle is around 280. Okay

Stan. There's nothing more important than a thermometer. Candy-making, baking, it's all a formula

I don't really think you can take a chance on that in candy-making and baking. I agree, will really make a huge difference

Yeah. Now, while I'm doing this, Paula, You want me to start? Let me get these almonds on the tray

Okay. If I drop these on the floor, that's going to be bad. Well, we'll just pick our nuts up off the floor and keep getting it

It wouldn't be the first time. I have dropped this on the floor before

You see how that looks almost like the praline? It sure does. What's that thermometer now

I don't know. I'm going to have to turn it around here to me. All right. It's almost up to 270

I would say it's at 266. You sure of that? Mm-hmm. I'm sorry

Right now. So you're ready to take it out? Okay. Because if it gets over there, it will get too hard for you

Okay. So you're just going to pour that. For the nuts. Okay

Oh, my gosh. That looks so good. Now we'll spread it evenly. Okay. And let it sit for about five minutes

Then we can add our chocolate, our morsel. Okay. And we're using milk chocolate today

You want me to just sprinkle this on evenly This has got to melt so we got to put it on there This is a a chocolate shell I want to make sure you not short on that Yeah And you can change this You could do a cup and a half cup and a quarter

Yeah. I might even like two cups. But, you know, you can go with what you like

You can make the thickness. I've got about two cups here, Stone. I don't think that hurts

Rules and recipes are made to be broken. Well, they're made to fit your taste

Yes. If you like a little more chocolate, what's that going to hurt? Look, I'm just going to kind of bang that in there

But we still got to get the thickness like we wanted. Because the taste is not going to change, but we want it to look pretty too, Paul

Oh, okay. Look at this. See there? And we put those chocolate chips on it, y'all, while that brickle was still hot

That's correct. So it's melting. Oh, my gosh. It looks delicious. All right

We're going to put this in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. I better do that

Okay. While you're doing that, I'm going to wash my hands. Y'all, go to your kitchen, get you a cup of coffee, and come back

Sit down, put your feet up, because we've got the chocolate doctor here with us today, Stan the Candyman

Coming up next, it's time we sink our teeth into Stan's Brickle

And then it's on to the next few layers of our cheesecake

I tell you what, I'm in heaven. And then later, we get started on our chocolate cream puffs

Y'all, if you're needing a chocolate fix today, you're on the right channel

because I've got Stan the Candyman here in the kitchen with me today. And it's all about chocolate, chocolate, chocolate

Now, we just made Stan's chocolate almond brickle. Look at this. Today, Stan and I are saying

there's always room for chocolate. Yeah, and this is going to be fine, too

See that texture I was throwing? I see it. I see it. One piece

Look at that. Can we? Heck yeah. I think we got the right amount of chocolate for sure

Brown sugar and butter. I don't see that could be anything but good. Oh, my God, Stan

This might be the best stuff I've ever tasted that you've made

Uh-huh. Well, I may name it after you then. Okay. Stan, you're going to have to move that stuff

I'm not going to be able to move on. All right, I'll move it and we'll get your stuff going

Stan, I could kiss you right on the lips. I like it

I need some good stuff. Don't sweat it, Michael. Well, let's grab that first chocolate layer over there

Now we're just gonna move into the next few layers of our cheesecake. I've got a one-pound rolled of cookie dough

And what we're gonna do now, I've got some caramel, just a caramel sundae sauce

So what I need for you to do, Stan, is on top of that chocolate layer, just drizzle about a half a cup of caramel on it

And while you're doing that, I'm going to be slicing this cookie dough into almost between a quarter and a half an inch thick

So now I'm going to start laying these slices of raw cookie dough

Now right on there, we're just going to cover that. We're going to use the whole pound

So how does that look to you, Donna? That's very good. All right. What's next

Well, if you'd hold the mixer, that would be great. And we're going to cream together two eight-ounce packages of cream cheese, y'all, that we brought to room temperature

And if you'll be creaming that stand. I got three eggs. I'm going to crack those

These eggs came from my chicken coop. You don't. I am not

I am. And do I love my chickens? They look pretty. They give me all kind of eggs

I tell you what, I'll take this over. if you'll measure me, three quarters of a cup of sugar

So if you'll just put three of those in here. Every time I see you in that mixer, I worry about that thing on..

You talking about Oprah when I just dropped the whole glass dish in the mixer

I'm scared of you. I was visiting with Oprah, and I was making something that I could have used a mixer for

and I said, Oprah, I noticed that I don't have a mixer

up here. And she said, yes, Paula, for good reason. I'm dangerous

All right. One tablespoon of all-purpose flour. Just dump that in. And I'm going to start adding my eggs

And now we're going to put in a half a cup of sour cream

one teaspoon of vanilla, and second egg goes in. You can see that this is just an ordinary cheesecake recipe

There's my third egg. What next Well next we gonna put our cream cheese layer on So if you help me hold that bowl Hold the bowl All right now so how many layers do we have

We've got the chocolate. Let me help you with that. Okay, here, I'll hold the bowl. We've got the chocolate layer

We've got the caramel layer. And you've got cookies. We've got the cookie layer

Now we've got the cream cheese layer. Yeah. All right, now smooth that out for me

We are going to put this in the oven back on 300. but we're going to bake it for one hour, y'all

Who ever thought of putting cookies inside all this? And Stan, we are ODing on chocolate today

I tell you what, I'm in heaven. Guess what we're making, Stan, when we come back

What's that? We're making chocolate cream puffs with a hazelnut filling. Ooh, that sounds good too, Paula

Coming up next, we got another step. It's time for the last layer to this cake, the chocolate ganache

Then Stan needs a little cheering, y'all, to mix up our puffs

Go, go, go! And later, we have one of Savannah's newest chocolatiers

to make us a hazelnut filling for our cream puffs. I want you to know, our time is almost up today

and we're still working on this cheesecake. We got another step. We gotta have enough time to eat it

I mean, can you hurry? We have made a wonderful ganache. Just go to foodnetwork.com, get the recipe

Ganache is simple as pie. This has got to sit for eight hours in the refrigerator

Before you can taste it? I don't think so. I bet we taste something before that

Sorry. Now, I'm just going to pour this ganache on top of this cheesecake

Boy, that looks good. Doesn't that look delicious? Look at this, y'all

This is worth the... effort and the weight. That's really creamy. Look, look

look, look. Why would I have to sit eight hours? That doesn't make any sense to me

You're going to have to have a little patience for this. That just means you have to come back to see me later, darling

Okay, so we're going in the fridge? Yes. That's a little warm. I know it's warm

That's why it needs eight hours to chill all the way through

I got a blast freezer at work. We can shoot that thing right through. Heck fire

Take that down there and let's do it. I'm immediate gratification. You know I like immediate gratification myself

Well, this is not going to take that long. It's going to be a chocolate cream puff with a hazelnut filling

I've already got this melted, y'all. It's just a cup of water, half a cup of butter, and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt

So we have to have this to a rolling boil. So it's boiling away

What I need for you to do is measure out one cup of flour, and you're going to have to do it precisely

Ready? I'm ready. And now quickly, two tablespoons of cocoa and a fourth of a teaspoon of cinnamon

And this is going to get like a softball, like quick. Just enough cinnamon to hint it

Man, that got stiff and hurt. I know, it does. Now, if you'll take over that, I'm going to cut off the heat

So we got no fire going. Now, Stan, I got four eggs, and I'm going to break these eggs into the bowl

and I'm going to add them one at a time. Man, this is a lot like work here

We couldn't use a real, like a... No. Okay. This takes manpower

And there's your fourth one. Don't stop beating, honey. Go, go, go, go, go

See, he just needs a little encouragement. Look at you, Stan. All right, that looks good

All right, so come on down. And we're going to put this in a piping bag, Stan. We got two bags, one for you, one for me

Still very, very thick. It's about half in each one? Yeah. Yeah, so you can do some puffs

No, I don't think I can do that. You don't want to do any puffs? I'll try. Yes, you can

Your little cream puff, you know you can do it. Man. These bake up, y'all, hollow inside

Now, we're going to put 12 puffs onto our baking sheet. Now, what we're going to do is we're going to shake that chocolate down

We're going to get all the air out of it, and we're going to puff

Let me try that. You can do it. You can do it. Perfect

See, I told you you could. I can do this. You can puff. They're going to go in the oven at 375 for about 30 to 33 minutes

Yes. That a pretty big baking time Okay Now when we come back Stan Adam Taroni is going to be joining us He a fabulous chocolate maker He is

good. And he's going to come make this hazelnut filling for us

So don't go anywhere. It's chocolate cheese puffs for everybody. Coming up next

y'all, my new friend Adam is here to help us fill up our cream cheese puffs. And we

finally get to dig into our masterpiece. I've got two chocolate geniuses here in the kitchen with me right now

This is Adam Taroni. I had met Adam a few months back, and he brought me some chocolates

And I said, great time of day. These are good. I just had to introduce him to y'all

Now, he's going to make us a hazelnut filling for our cream puffs

Okay, so what I'm going to need you to do is first do is take the chocolate and melt that down for me

Okay, it's a milk chocolate. Okay, and it's five ounces. Five ounces

So I'm just going to have you melt that, and we just toasted three cups of hazelnuts. Okay

So I'm just going to grab those. Uh-huh. Now, did you roast those off, Adam

I did, and it's three cups. For how long? For about five, six minutes

At what gym do you're now? 375 is good. Just until they're golden or a little darker

Do you put oil on them or anything? I don't. I just pop them right in. Simple and easy. Completely dry

Even with the skins on. That even creates more of a flavor. Mmm, yum. So put that back there

Here, Stan, I want you to taste, before he does them up

taste a few of those here. Delicious. So I'm gonna start processing

Is that all melted? It's all melted. We're gonna need a quarter cup of the powdered sugar

To this? To your nuts. Right. Okay, how much salt? Just a pinch of salt

Okey doke. So I'm gonna need another quarter cup of powdered sugar

I want the sweet. Oh, okay. Do you like it sweet? Yes, I like it sweet

So we're going to add that, and then we're going to need that luscious chocolate

Oh, we're going to put this chocolate right in. Right in there. Adam, it's hot

I'll do the heavy lifting. Okay. And this is just going to make it so creamy

So now Adam is just going to incorporate the chocolate, y'all, and get it into the bowl

Look at that. Now this is going to harden up once we let it sit out for a little bit, and it's going to start to thicken

and then it will be a good time to add it to our cream puff. All right, well, let's show everybody how we're going to fill these, Adam

Okay. And you going around here, and, you know, just as another option

because I bet sometimes you do it this way. You going to pipe them

Yeah, I'm just going to show them how they can pipe them, because most of them are cut, but I think you have three whole ones left

How long do you have to wait before you eat these? You can pop them right in your mouth

You can eat them right now. I can tell you I already like this program

Stan, guess what? What? Our cheesecake got cool enough. We're not going to wait

Look here, darling. Adam, you have to try this almond brickle. It looks delicious

It is out of this world, and look at our cheesecake. That's the biggest cheesecake I've ever seen

Four layers. Oh, that's good, Adam. So what do you think, kids

What's the name again? Chocolate explosion cheesecake. Okay. 24-hour chocolate explosion. 24

Been waiting forever for this. Damn. And I'm gonna put a little chocolate puff. Well, honey, this is for you. Oh, hey, you gotta have a piece of this dude

Oh, wait, you know this plate just would not be complete without a few fresh strawberries. All right, honey

Thank you. There's your fork and Where's yours? We need to get you look look look. No, I don't need a plate. Oh, you just take

Look look at that plate stand Damn. Try that. Okay. Good ain't it

That's really good. It's not overpoweringly sweet. Now try this. All right

Let me tell you, this is fabulous. This is fabulous. You think we put enough ganache on that cheesecake

I think so. It's about an inch thick. Stan and I have been friends for a long time

Adam, I look forward to you and I being friends for a long time. And I just wish you all the best in your career

Thank you for having me. Adam and Stan and myself, we always send y'all love here from Savannah

From our kitchens to y'alls, have a great day, y'all