Autumn Martin opened her Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery in Ballard nearly a year ago. Martin is justly famous for her desserts in jars, but the shop includes a menu that extends from s’mores, cookies, and cakes to milkshakes and malts, some boozy. In her new cookbook, Malts & Milkshakes, Martin shares 60 recipes for the title drinks as well as the molten chocolate cakes that made her famous, plus ice cream, various toppings, and cookies.
The introduction to this book is straightforward: Martin believes that if you use quality all-natural ingredients, the results will be delicious. She shares six quick tips for a perfect shake every time (for example, use chilled glasses), and recommends which type of blender to use. The book’s appendix lists sources for some of the recipes’ more obscure ingredients: essential oils, coconut-milk powder, and rye flakes. Otherwise, a quick trip to the supermarket will get you everything you need.
Milkshakes are probably the first dessert I made for myself—so simple, a kid can make them. What sets Martin’s milkshakes apart are the interesting flavor combinations and ingredients: salted black licorice, tamarind, blackstrap molasses. She includes your basic chocolate, strawberry, and banana, but shares a recipe for a strawberry sauce that makes her shakes even smoother and more flavorful, and adds milk powder to all her shakes to make them extra-creamy. Her dark-chocolate shake uses a combination of cocoa powder and chocolate ice cream for the chocolatiest results.
There’s more to this book than milkshakes, like recipes for apple pocket pies, bacon- oatmeal-raisin cookies, and salted peanut- butter cookies (both these cookies are recommended for ice-cream sandwiches). There are recipes for shake add-ins and sauces that can also be used for sundaes— strawberry syrup, salted caramel sauce, lemon curd, brandied cherries—and unique toppings like smoked chocolate chips, candied lavender, and rye-flake crumbles.
Martin is also offering demo classes (three of her favorite shakes, plus ganache and caramel sauce) at Hot Cakes, 5427 Ballard Ave. N.W. The hour-long classes are $40 and include a signed copy of Malts & Milkshakes and a jar of Hot Cakes’ signature smoked chocolate chips. Classes, limited to 10 participants, are scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturdays through May 11. To reserve a spot, call Hot Cakes at 206-420-3431. E
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