How can something taste like cold? Science time! Menthol, a compound in mint (also used in many cough drops) binds to the ion channels in the skin that are responsible for temperature sensation. Once the menthol is bound, the receptors are hypersensitive to small changes in temperature, which is why your mouth feels extra cold if you take a drink of water right after brushing your teeth. There, you can say you learned something from my blog today.
I love science and mint, and I'll be needing both to stay positive after this week. I'm trying to keep this blog real an not have it just be this made-up persona that always has a good life. Some weeks suck. And this was one of them. One of my teeth is cracked and needs a crown, my apartment needs to be bug-bombed, and because of coworkers taking vacations and bad weather messing up drop-off schedules, work is a struggle. Adulting is hard. And it all had to happen around Christmas, too. Not every year can be the perfect postcard year, and that's okay. Some snowstorms look like a Hallmark card, some knock out the power and keep you from your holiday plans. I try to find enjoyment in any way I can, and this weekend it came out in my baking. Baking something feels like a small victory in a week filled with unexpected defeats. Going to the dentist? looks like I need an expensive procedure. Want to get home and relax after a long day at work? Last courier is late and brings a ton of stuff to process. When I bake something that turns out well, I can look at it and say "At least I made this and it's beautiful" and we all need that sometimes.
Christmas means another work potluck, which means I'll be trying to impress my co-workers once again with my cooking. Everyone always tries to impress with their home-cooking in my workplace, and it's also a great testing ground for new recipes. It may seem strange that we have this love of food in a pathology lab full of formalin and body parts, but we're all used to it. The people in my office loved the scones at Thanksgiving, so I figured I would do some different flavors this time around.
One of those flavors is a combo of two of my favorite things, chocolate and peppermint.
They're so cute!
If you're looking at this and saying "Really Kim? More scones? Didn't you just do one on scones?" then you can take your complaints to another blog, because I love making scones. I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while, and I just needed the right occasion. They combine two of my favorite flavors in the perfect minter storm (terrible pun) that makes for a rich, sweet holiday treat. The texture is somewhere between a dense cake and a light brownie, rich and super chocolaty. The mint is just enough to mellow it out and keep the chocolate from becoming monotonous.
Sprinkles of Kim:
-The recipe calls for dark cocoa powder, but I used regular because that was what I had. Dark would probably be richer, but regular is still delicious
-You'll need approximately 2 full-size Hershey's candy cane bars to get 1-1 1/2 cups of chocolate that goes into the dough.
-I melted a third Hershey's candy cane bar for the drizzle on top. I think it's a more festive look than just plain white chocolate
I honestly hope your week went better than mine, and I hope my next week is better, too. It's Christmas, we always gotta have hope! And next week's recipe is one of my favorites ;)
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