Sweets of Rage - A Classic Easter Eat 'Em Up

This recipe is for our friends over on The Sega Addicts Podcast who have just posted episode 4 of their show featuring a discussion on beat 'em up games. The Sega Addicts crew includes heroically controversial Destructoid editor Jim Sterling and for those who are missing the late, great RetroforceGO! podcast, former host Topher Cantler is on board too.

The Streets of Rage series was one of the jewels in the 16-Bit Sega crown and Streets of Rage 2 is still regarded as one of the finest side-scrolling fighters ever released. While the gameplay and visuals of the series were undoubtedly first-rate for the era, special mention must go to the scorching techno soundtracks by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. Koshiro, composer of the vast majority of tracks, was heavily influenced by the Nineties rave scene and squeezed sounds out of that poor little Yamaha chip that no-one had thought possible, from deep bass growls to searing acid-tinged synth lines.
Here's the track Jungle Base from the second game.



When I was younger, I made a cassette tape of Yuzo Koshiro's music from Revenge of Shinobi and Streets of Rage 1 and 2 for my walk to school. Nowadays, it's MP3s on my PSP but the music has held up a darn sight better than that of many commercial artists from the same period. Many gamers seem to dislike the music from Streets of Rage 3, as it is often discordant in nature and not as catchy as the earlier games, but listened to in the context of Aphex Twin/Warp Records electronica or even the Psy Trance/Acid Techno free-party scene, it is a remarkably prescient piece of work.

You can find all three Streets of Rage games (alongside 40 other classic Sega games) on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection which is now under $15 dollars at Amazon on Xbox 360 or PS3. For those of you in the UK, it's less than eleven quid on either system and is known as SEGA Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection


So, on to today's recipe...

Our truffles hit you with a chocolate, caramel and sea salt combo in a concerted effort to both freak out and delight your tastebuds. These three big hitters are ably assisted by some smoky chipotle chiles to provide some depth and heat, and most importantly giving me an excuse to call the recipe Sweets... Of... Raaaaaaage!

Sega fans who prefer savoury to sweet can try our spicy Sega sandwich, After Burger!

Recipe: Sweets of Rage

Makes 40-ish truffles

Ingredients:

• 8 oz (225g) dulce de leche caramel (available in cans or jars from most supermarkets)
• 3.5 oz (100g) extra-bittersweet / very dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), smashed up good and proper
• 10 oz (280g) bittersweet / dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa), beaten up into pieces
• 10 oz (280g) good quality milk chocolate, broken 'til it feels the pain
• 1/2 of a US pint of heavy cream (250ml double cream)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp chipotle chile powder (or crushed dried chipotles)
• 3 oz (85g) cocoa powder mixed with another teaspoon of chipotle powder for rolling 'em in
• A little vegetable oil to prevent caramel sticking

Method:

• Ok, these truffles have gooey centres, so first we must make some goo!
• Put your dulce de leche in a pan over a low-to-medium heat for a minute or so before mingling in the darkest of the three chocolates. Leave it to melt for another minute before removing from heat, adding the sea salt and giving it a good stir, making sure the mix is smooth.
• Take a baking sheet (or large plate) and cover it in plastic wrap / cling film, then smear enough oil on the plastic wrap so that it is all coated very thinly.
• Pour the caramel chocolate mix onto the covered sheet and spread evenly. Leave to cool, then place in the freezer for a couple of hours or until the caramel has firmed up.
• Next, heat the cream in a pan until it reaches boiling point, placing the other two types of chocolate in a bowl while you wait. Pour the just-boiling cream over the chocolate and leave to melt for 2 minutes.
• Add the vanilla and the first teaspoon of chipotle powder and stir until smooth. Leave this mix to cool, then place in the fridge to set.
• Take your caramel from the freezer and chop it into pieces about the size of your thumbnail. It's easiest to cut the mix up using wet kitchen scissors but a knife should be fine, just a little messier!
• Spread your chipotle-spiked cocoa powder across a large baking sheet and remove your chocolate truffle mixture from the fridge.
• Dust your hands in a little cocoa, take a heaped teaspoonful of the truffle mix and prod a piece of your caramel into the middle of it. Smear the truffle over the join, make it round-shaped and roll it around in the cocoa. Repeat this process until you run out of caramel or truffle. Any leftovers of either mix would make a great ice cream topping!
• The Sweets of Rage will last 3 days in the fridge, a month in the freezer or 5 minutes in my house! If you are freezing all or some of your truffles, just take them out of the fridge an hour or so before serving.

Happy Easter to food geeks and retrogamers the world over!

We have collected together some of the best SEGA games available on all systems in our Classic Sega Store, to save you sorting the wheat from the chaff! For readers who don't yet own a Sega Dreamcast, we can highly recommend picking one up from the USA store while there are still some available; if the Dreamcast's "geek-cool" status doesn't grab you, the sheer weight of triple-A games will!


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Devil Make Pie - Dante's A'Baking

Our latest recipe here on Mealtime Strategy is for those readers with a sweet tooth and a penchant for gothic action games! As this past week saw the release of God of War III, we thought we would pay tribute to the inspiration for the God of War series, Devil May Cry.

The first Devil May Cry game for Playstation 2 was originally envisaged as the fourth Resident Evil game. However, the fast-paced nature of the new game was believed not to be a natural fit for the slower, considered approach of the Resident Evil series. Rather than go back to the drawing board and waste all of the hard work, the game coninued development as a standalone title.

Released in 2001, the game quickly built up a solid following among gamers and at the time of writing has received 3 sequels.

This recipe is a fusion of the classic flavours of Devil's Food Cake and the homely, comforting nature of an American pie!

Recipe: Devil Make Pie: Dante's A'Baking

Makes 8 small portions, or 4 portions for hungry souls!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 200g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 50g ground walnuts or pecans
• 120g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg, yolk and white separated

For the chocolate filling:

• 250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids preferably)
• 250ml double cream
• 2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 5 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 50ml good dark rum or cognac (Jack Daniels also works well or you can substitute 50mls of espresso / strong coffee for a non-alcoholic version)

Method:

For the crust:

• Place the flour, salt and ground walnuts in a large bowl and mix, before rubbing the butter through the mixture until you have a fine, crumbly texture.
• Mix in the 2 tbsps of caster sugar, then add the egg yolk and 2 tbsps of very cold water.
• Smoosh the mixture into a ball (don't smoosh it too much or your pastry will end up too hard!) and then put it in the fridge, wrapped in cling film for half an hour.
• Next, heat your oven to 200°C (180° for fan oven)
• While the oven is heating, we can roll out the pastry! So, take it out of the fridge and roll it as thinly as possible (if you roll it between two sheets of greaseproof paper, it's easier) then line a pie case with your pastry sheet. If the pastry breaks, it's fine, just fix the joins with your fingers!
• Place a disk of greaseproof paper on the crust, then fill with baking beans or dry rice and bake for twenty minutes. Take out the beans and greaseproof paper, brush some egg white on the pastry and put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
• Once the pie crust is baked, lower the oven to 140° and we can get going with the chocolatey filling!

For the filling:

• Break up the chocolate in a bowl, add the cream, and heat over a pan of simmering water ensuring the bowl isn't touching the water.
• Keep stirring until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla extract and your choice of booze (as per above) and stir well. Put to one side to cool for 15 minutes or so.
• Take a clean bowl, and whisk your egg whites to the "soft peak" stage, then whisk in 2 tbsps of caster sugar, creating a soft meringue. Don't over-whisk to the "stiff peak" stage!
• In yet another bowl (!), whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar for a few minutes until all creamy-like, then add the chocolate mixture and combine the two.
• Take a large spoon, preferably metal, and fold the meringuey egg whites into the chocolatey goo.

Now we are ready to put it all together!

• Pour the filling into your pastry case and bake in the oven (at 140°) for 15 minutes. The centre should still be a little squooshy when you remove it, but will firm up when left to cool for a while.

The pie is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche, but you can eat it cold too... if you can wait that long! Some black cherries would also make a good addition on the side.