Web site offers recipes for scrumptious sweets

Think San Francisco. Now, think chocolate.

Chances are, Guittard probably didn’t cross your mind.

While not as widely known as Ghirardelli, Guittard is another Bay Area chocolate prized by pastry chefs and foodies worldwide.

The company was founded by French chocolate maker, Etienne Guittard, who was drawn to America in the 1850s by the California Gold Rush. According to the company’s Web site, Etienne traded his French chocolate for mining supplies. Wealthy miners, however, paid top dollar for the treat, so Etienne returned to France and worked in his uncle’s chocolate factory to earn money for equipment.

In 1868, he sailed back to San Francisco and opened Guittard Chocolate.

Still family-owned, Guittard is the company behind the grass-roots movement to maintain the purity of chocolate. It’s also the staple at Spokane’s Bittersweet Bakery and Bistro, a place renowned for its brownies, cakes and other scrumptious chocolate desserts.

The following are some chocolate recipes taken from the Guittard Web site: www.guittard.com/home/recipes.asp.

Brownies

1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8-inch pan. Combine chips and butter in top of double boiler over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from heat; set aside to cool.

Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stir in melted chocolate. Add flour and salt, stirring only until combined. Turn batter into prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center still has moist crumbs on it. When cool, cut into 2-inch squares.

Yield: 16 servings.

Approximate nutrition per serving: 134 calories, 7 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 44 percent fat calories), 2 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrate, less than one gram dietary fiber, 42 milligrams cholesterol, 48 milligrams sodium.

Killer Fudge

4 1/2 cups granulated sugar

12 oz can evaporated milk

1/2 pound salted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups minature marshmallows

2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chips

First, prepare the pan. Line a 8-by-12-inch or 9-by-13-inch pan with foil (the ends need not be covered, only the sides). Grease with butter and set aside.

In a heavy pan, using a wooden spoon, bring sugar, milk, vanilla, and butter to a medium boil. Boil approximately 11 minutes.

Remove from heat, add marshmallows, and stir until the marshmallows are partially melted. Then add chocolate chips and stir until marshmallows are completely blended. Stir a little longer until a slight crust forms on the fudge when you stop stirring for five seconds or so.

Pour the fudge into the buttered, foil-lined pan and let it cool overnight. When ready to cut, lift the fudge out of the pan and turn it upside down. Your cut fudge will have a perfectly smooth top.

Yield: About 90 one-inch squares

Approximate nutrition per serving: 85 calories, 4 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 36 percent fat calories), 14 grams carbohydrate, less than one gram protein and dietary fiber, 7 milligrams cholesterol, 26 milligrams sodium.