Chocolate Puffs, a Train Recipe

When I travel, my souvenirs tend to be cookbooks.  Why not?  They are fun and useful memories of the journey, and I can "revisit" the trip when I cook.  

Today's recipe is from a cookbook I bought when in Sacramento, touring the California Railroad Museum.  This book contains recipes from the famed "Harvey Houses", which were a creation of Fred Harvey.  His company provided restaurants located along the train routes, where people could get off the train and have a nice meal in a clean place with pleasant servers:

In the 1870s, people traveling west of the Mississippi were still venturing into the wild.  Loud, smoke-belching trains might have cut across the rough terrain, but the harsh weather, rigid seats, and short breaks for bad food in the middle of nowhere showed that the West was by no means won.  Entrepreneur Fred Harvey had an eye for such problems and a nerve for the impossible.  In 1876, he began establishing high quality dining rooms along the Santa Fe Railroad, and his Harvey Houses helped change the entire picture of the American West. 

... Suddenly, after surging through mountain snow or sweltering heat, rail travelers halted at a surprising sight:  a Harvey House arose out of nowhere and served them like royalty.  Fine china, Irish linen ... and, oh, the "Harvey Girls."  Magical and romantic in a region still rough-edged and rowdy, these polished young servers made the Western rail dining experience a true pleasure.

Some of the sites were developed further into beautiful hotels and resort destinations complete with tours.  It was the advent of air travel, automobiles, and faster trains needing to make fewer stops that is attributed to the demise of the business, which I find sad.  

There are many recipes I would like to try in The Harvey House Cookbook by George H. Foster and Peter C. Weiglin.  Chocolate Puffs, on page 108, is credited to chef George Burnickel, who worked on the California Limited.  

ISBN 978-1-58979-321-7

Chocolate Puffs

1 cup flour

1 oz. melted chocolate

1 cup water

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter

Strawberry preserves

Whipped cream

Boil together one cupful of flour, one cupful of water, and half a cup of butter.  Remove from the fire and beat in an ounce of melted chocolate and three eggs (one at a time).  Bake in a gem pan, and when done cut off the top and put into each cake a teaspoonful of strawberry preserves.  Cover with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored.

And water.

My Notes

I didn't have strawberry preserves but I did have a most marvelous pomegranate jelly made by my friend, MR.  I thought it would go well with chocolate.  Also, I had no whipped cream.

A gem pan is a muffin tin, so I used my regular sized, non-stick muffin tin.  

Mr. Burnickel did not specify an oven temperature, probably expecting that anyone reading the instructions would have experience in knowing the right one, so I did a little reading on the side.  The recipe looked like a choux paste and the word "puff" in the name gave me enough hints on what to do.  I preheated my oven to 400 degrees F.

The chocolate was melted in the microwave (with some left over for nibbling!).  The butter was frozen so I was reluctant to put the flour-water-butter mixture over a high heat for boiling.  I wanted the butter to have a chance to melt.  The three ingredients went over a medium heat, and I stirred it a lot until it all came together and didn't stick to the sides of the pan any more.

Pre-chocolate

Then I turned off the fire and mixed in the chocolate until that mixture looked smooth and well-blended.  After that, the eggs, beating in each one until the mixture looked smooth before adding the next.

With chocolate and eggs.

I used a ladle to scoop the batter into each pan.  I wasn't sure how much they would puff so I filled the cups about halfway to 2/3 full.  That left me with one empty cup, which I filled with water.  (This is recommended to keep balance in the way the pan heats.)

My reading suggested cooking them at 400 degrees F and then reducing the temperature to 350 degrees F.  I cooked them for 12 minutes at 400, which made them puff nicely, and then 23 minutes at 350.  The recommendation was to remove them only after they were "very firm."

I managed to keep the over door closed until about 20 minutes into the 350 degree cooking slot.  Then it was briefly opened for me to poke it, checking for firmness.  They browned well and didn't burn, and they smelled lovely.

I wanted to take them from the pan immediately so they could cool on a rack.  They all stuck to my non-stick pan!  So I let them cool completely in the pan and pulled them out later with the help of a small metal spatula.  

The Verdict

Some of the puffiness had left my cooled chocolate puffs, but they didn't sink down to anything embarrassing.  The bottoms tore when I took them from the pan, so I didn't cut off the tops for serving, I just turned them over.

The texture inside looked just right.

The interior was visibly moist and the "feel" of the puff was delicate and tender.

I served it with a spoonful of pomegranate jelly on top.  The jelly looked like a jewel.

My guest taster noted that the exterior was a little crispy and the interior was moist and tender - very nice!  The chocolate flavor was subtle but pleasantly there, and the pomegranate jelly (tart and sweet) went very well with the chocolate.  I agreed with him completely.

We both enjoyed it as a simple and yet satisfying dessert.  It was pretty and it was tasty.  When you include how few ingredients it required and how easy it was to prepare, I think it gets very high marks.  

Success!  I would do it again if I can have chocolate in the house that isn't already consumed for being, well, chocolate.  

Be sure to grease the pan!