B.T. McElrath Chocolatier

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Do you sometimes take photos of something you ate, with the intention of blogging about it, only to eventually forget to include it on your food blog? Happens to me all the time. I'd forgotten that I took these pictures last July (eeks!).

My brother-in-law brought home a few pieces of fine chocolate from B.T. McElrath chocolatier when he went to San Francisco. I'd never before tried anything made my Mr. Brian McElrath, but I was immediately in awe of his beautiful chocolate designs. Seriously, this chocolate is so pretty, it's almost a crime to destroy it by consumption. Below are the pieces I tried out.

Chile-Limón
milk chocolate truffle with chili and lemon

©2007 Yuzu Eats

Orange Blossom
dark chocolate flower-shaped truffle filled with orange ganache


Cherry Snapper
Michigan cherries surrounded by 34% cacao milk chocolate

I love that turtle! It makes me not want to eat plain, square-shaped chocolates ever again! Okay, not really. All the chocolates were quite delicious, though. The Chile-Limón truffle — you can mostly taste the limón, but the chili kicks in as you're swallowing the chocolate. The Orange Blossom — this was my favorite, with its oh-so-yummy orange ganache filling. I ♥ the combination of chocolate and citrus. The Cherry Snapper — well, I think this one needs a new name because the turtle shape is really the highlight of this piece. Not that the chocolate was bad, but c'mon...it's a turtle, and it's so cute! 'Cherry Turtles' is a better name, methinks.

B.T. McElrath Chocolates at Andronico's
1200 Irving St.
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 661-3220

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Share the Melon-Pan Love

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Everyone's entitled to a cute, silly post every once in a while, right? As long as it involves food! =) I bought a melon pan for myself the other day, and I left it on the kitchen counter. When I returned, look what I found!

©2006 Yuzu Eats

Looks like someone was about to enjoy my melon pan!

If you don't know much about melon pan, here are some cool things to know about it:

"Melon pan" gets its name because it resembles, well, a melon!
Namely the muskmelon, or cantaloupe.


The outer (or top) layer is a cookie dough,
and the inner (or bottom) layer is the actual bread.

Melon pan is most often served with an underbaked cookie-dough layer because baking it any longer will result in an overbaked bread portion. That's why melon pan is so light in color, as opposed to a golden-brown color one would associate with finished baked goods. I've tried many varieties of melon pan. Some were green and completely bread-like (no outer cookie layer), while others were filled with green melon-flavored custard. I haven't decided which one I like the best. I kind'a like the whole cookie/bread combo, so that might be my favorite right now. Nothing beats eating a cookie and bread at the same time!

I couldn't resist. I ended up sharing the melon pan with the turtle
and my niece while watching Miracle on 34th Street on AMC. :)

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Tartaruga Mozzarella

©2006 Yuzu Eats

I'm really digging turtle bread lately. So I made more! Baking bread is so fun and rewarding. Of course it can be a bit time-consuming (especially when making cool-shaped breads), but it's definitely worth it.

Last week I baked one plain, large turtle bread. This time around, I baked four little Italian turtle breads seasoned with fresh garlic, dried herbs and filled with yummy cheese. These are the same as the mozzarella balls I posted last time, but they're bigger and shaped like turtles.

The dough already smelled yummy while it was resting (all thanks to the garlic).


I ♥ fresh mozzarella cheese!


I think the turtles look their cutest when they're puffing up in the oven. :)


Nice & golden! And still cute.


My bread turtles like resting on fresh herbs.


And, of course, you gotta see the inside — melted, gooey mozzarella.

These turtles are a lot smaller than the turtle bread I baked last week. They ended up being 5½" (14 cm) from head to tail and 2½" (6½ cm) high. So cute! They're really tasty when you tear pieces off and dip them in marinara sauce — yum!

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I Baked Turtle Bread

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Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to eat bread. But I'm not known to bake it. I bake cookies and mini cakes, but not bread. Until now! I found a few recipes for turtle bread on the Internet and tried the one that I thought looked the best.

I shaped the dough and let it rise...


...then cut out a criss-cross 'shell' and popped it in the oven.

This is a fun recipe to make with kids. You can have them help you shape the turtle's body parts and then assemble them. It feeds quite a lot too. My bread came out to be 9" (23 cm) from head to tail and 3" (7½ cm) high.

Turtle Bread
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup warm water
1/3 cup warm milk
1 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 egg
2 raisins

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (105°F to 115°F). Stir in sugar, salt, warm milk, melted butter and 1½ cups of the flour. Stir in the egg. Stir in the remaining cup of flour.

Lightly flour a large cutting board, or your clean kitchen counter, and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it's smooth and springs back when you poke it. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape a 2½" piece of dough into a ball for the turtle’s head. Shape 4 walnut-sized pieces of dough into balls for the feet. Shape a half-walnut-sized piece of dough into a tail. Shape the remaining dough into a big ball for the turtle's body. Place all 7 pieces onto the baking sheet, forming the turtle's shape. Attach the head, feet and tail by placing one end of each under edge of body to secure. Use your pinky finger to poke little holes into the turtle's head and press raisins in for the eyes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Using a serrated knife, make a ¼"-deep circular cut around the top edge of the body. Make criss-cross cuts in the center to look like a turtle's shell. Bake for about 20 to 25, or until golden brown. Serves 4 to 6.

©2006 Yuzu Eats

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Turtle Bread

I bought this animal pan (turtle bread) at Yokohama St. Honore, a Japanese bakery at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Costa Mesa, CA. It tastes like a chocolate-filled croissant.

©2005 Yuzu Eats

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