Archive for the 'Desserts' Category

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“Boy Do I Likes Clake”

Published on July 7, 2011 in Cakes, Chocolate and Desserts. 0 Comments

The complete quote is actually, “Boy, do I likes chocolate clake…” which is one of the lesser known — but still classic — statements made by the one and only Spanky, but really who’s quibbling because there’s plenty of chocolate in this here clake (or cake, if you want to be precise).

I ostensibly made this delicious cake for Ryan’s birthday, but the truth is since we didn’t really have a party for my birthday, I made it for me too (shh, don’t tell). I was actually trying to recreate the cake my mother traditionally made for my birthday. She always made me a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. On a side note, my brother always got southern sheet cake (don’t worry, that’s coming soon to a blog near you, i.e., this one); my oldest sister, Alicia, (she of the recipe-sharing French teacher) got another Mom classic, black bottom pie (in due time folks, it is bikini season, you know), and I can’t remember what Steph, my other sister got, but I’m thinking there was chocolate involved. I’ll have to check with her on this. I guess chocolate seems to be a recurring theme in my family’s lives.

I digress, but there is something really wonderful about getting that special birthday cake or meal or whatever made just for you by your mother or someone else you love. I mean, I’ve never forgotten that cake. I think of it as my cake. The only problem is…well, I don’t have the recipe. And unfortunately, my poor mother can’t find the recipe she used and, frankly, doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about (would you if you had to juggle four kids and all their birthday requests and personal predilections?).

But! The good news (there is good news here) is that she did find a recipe for a cake that was her mother’s recipe. And while it’s not the cake I remember (that one was yellow, this one is white), it is certainly delicious. It’s not super-dense, but more of a spongey kind of texture; a nice lighter counterpoint to the incredibly rich and buttery chocolate frosting I whipped up. And with a name like Alice’s Lazy Dazy Cake — I mean, how can you NOT give that recipe a go?

Notes:
You can use sweetened chocolate, which is what the recipe for my [former] all-time favorite frosting from Magnolia Bakery does, but I didn’t have any, so I used unsweetened and just used a bit more (but not much) sugar. I don’t like my frosting to be too sweet (and yes I see the irony in that statement when you consider the 3 cups of sugar in this recipe). Also, this made about a cup more than I needed, but I think I underfrosted, particularly in the in-between layer because I wasn’t sure how much I had. And yes, I did add a nice scoop of frosting on my plate next to my slice of cake for additional dippage. And is it such a bad thing to have a container of chocolate buttercream frosting just sitting around in the fridge waiting for you and a spoon to stop by anyway? Wait. Don’t answer that.

Grandmother Alice’s Lazy Dazy Cake

Makes 2 9″ round cakes

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour (if you only have all-purpose, just sift it twice)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180º C. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar gradually and mix until fluffy, about three minutes. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, then gradually (in thirds) add that into the egg and butter mixture.

In the meantime, bring milk and butter to a boil (keep an eye on it), then add to the mixture. The batter will seem a little bit thin. Mix in vanilla. Divide evenly into two buttered and floured 9″ round cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes.

Cool on a rack. To remove the cake, run a knife around the outside edge of the pan, put your hand on the top of the cake and tip the pan over. The cake should come right out.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1-1/2 sticks (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons milk, plus more, if needed
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate over medium-low heat in a double boiler or a glass or metal bowl that fits well in a small saucepan (i.e., suspended over and not touching the water below). Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Whip the softened butter until light and fluffy for about 3 minutes. Add the milk and beat for two minutes. Add the chocolate and beat for another two minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Add sugar and mix on low until frosting is creamy.

To frost the cakes, place small pieces of wax paper on the cake plate underneath and around the outside edge of the first cake, which should be placed on its top, i.e., upside down. Don’t worry, it will settle down. Frost the top, then place the second cake bottom-side down (so the two flat sides are together) on top of the frosting, then frost the rest of the cake — top first and spread down to cover the sides.

Meet Me in Paris

Published on May 10, 2011 in Chocolate and Desserts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I hosted book club last Wednesday night, and we had a big French feast in honor of the book we read, The Paris Wife. I may not have mentioned this, but our book club (now in its third incarnation) has a history of cooking in the style of whatever the subject of the book is. So, when we read The Master and Margarita, it was Russian food. Snow, Turkish. You get the gist.

So, I lucked out with The Paris Wife. It’s the fictional autobiography of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson — sort of the flip side of A Moveable Feast (my all-time favorite book, which has been completely re-edited which I had no idea about* and am really miffed that whoever borrowed my copy of the old version has not returned it so I can do a side-by-side comparison…sorry, had to get that off my chest), although not remotely as good or written by, you know, a genius.

It doesn’t really matter though because we hardly talked about the book; it was just nice to catch up with old friends and have a few glasses of wine and some hearty French fare.

To recap, here’s the menu:

  • Lillet & soda with a twist of lime
  • Cheeses:  Fourme d’Ambert (a classic mild blue cheese from the Auvergne region) Abbaye de Tamie  (a raw cow’s milk cheese; creamy, but with a nutty complex flavor) and Comte (hard cow’s milk cheese made in the Swiss style in honor of the time they spent in Switzerland in the book), Nicoise olives and cornichons
  • Shaved Fennel, Apple & Parmesan Salad
  • Boeuf Bourguignon with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
  • Chocolate Mousse

    • Let’s start with dessert, shall we? It’s my favorite part, especially if it involves chocolate. Chocolate mousse is one of those recipes that has many different versions. Some have butter, some don’t. Some, whipped cream; some not. The recipe I’ve always used is one from my sister’s French teacher (the same lady who bestowed this gift on us), so I’m assuming it’s authentic, well, because she was French. Of course, Julia Child’s recipe is completely different and while she wasn’t French, she certainly was schooled in the art of French cooking (get it? That was a cookbook joke. Cookbook jokes? How sad.).

    But this go around, I actually ended up revising the recipe. I used dark chocolate with 70% cacao instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips it calls for. This ended up making things a bit heavier, so I felt rather than just use whipped cream as a garnish, I’d take a page from Julia and mix some into the chocolate mixture to lighten things up a bit. I also should’ve melted the chocolate first instead of just breaking it up and adding the hot espresso mixture to it (with the chips, the heat of the espresso is sufficient to completely melt the chocolate, but that wasn’t the case with the 70%, which left a bit of texture in the mix, which everyone actually liked, but bothered me to no end).

    Despite my nitpicking, I will say it tasted great — rich, dense, very chocolatey, but not too sweet. A perfect way to end a perfect night with friends. Can’t wait for the next meal…I mean, book.

    Notes: This makes six semi-restrained servings or four big ones, but after the meal we had, semi-restrained was perfect. If you don’t have the creme de cacao, don’t worry. It’s fine without.

    Chocolate Mousse

    6 ounces 70% cacao dark chocolate, melted
    1/3 cup very hot espresso (or very strong coffee)
    2 tablespoons creme de cacao
    4 eggs at room temperature, separated
    Pinch of salt
    1 cup heavy whipping cream
    Sugar, to taste

    In a blender or with a hand mixer, mix chocolate and espresso at high speed for 30 seconds. Add liqueur and yolks. Blend 30 seconds.

    In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold chocolate mixture into the egg whites carefully.

    In metal bowl, beat the whipping cream until fluffy. Fold most of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup for garnish. To the reserved cream, blend in sugar to taste; cover and refrigerate.

    Spoon the mousse into glasses or ramekins. Chill for at least two hours or overnight. Serve garnished with remaining whipped cream.

    * This new version is not necessarily the “correct” version or Hemingway’s true vision, as it was edited by the grandson of his second wife. Some say it’s been edited to shine a more favorable light on her. Hmm. I’ll still probably read it.

    Oops, I did it again.

    Published on May 2, 2011 in Chocolate and Desserts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

    Sorry for the Cheeto-lover reference, but I had to report in on my latest frozen yogurt experience. I decided that I needed to recreate one of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s limited edition flavors:  Coconut Almond Fudge. Oh yeah. It may be apparent to you that I have a thing for coconut. And I know some people don’t like it (and I’ve cut those people out of my life, naturally). Because that’s just crazy talk. What is life without coconut? That means a life without piña coladas, macaroons, Samoas and most Thai dishes. Not worth living, sorry. Nope.

    And I’m really proud to say that not only did I attempt the David Lebovitz “squiggle” method for the chocolate, but it was actually incredibly easy and so satisfying in terms of consistency, crunch and the all-important chocolate-to-ice cream distribution ratio.

    So, here’s the recipe. Get to it. And if you don’t like coconut, well, I just don’t know what to say to you.

    Coconut Almond Fudge Frozen Yogurt

    2 cups Greek yogurt
    1/2 cup buttermilk
    1/2 cup sugar (granulated or cane)
    2 tablespoons honey
    1 teaspoon coconut extract
    1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
    1/2 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
    1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

    Combine the yogurt, buttermilk, sugar, honey and coconut extract in a boil. Refrigerate for about an hour.

    Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and process for about 25 minutes. After you get the machine going, put a clean, dry, airtight container in the freezer to chill. After the 25 minutes, add the coconut and almonds and process for another 5 minutes.

    Take out the container and squiggle* a bit of the chocolate mixture in the bottom with a spoon. Add a layer of the frozen yogurt. When the cold frozen yogurt hits the melted chocolate, the chocolate will harden very quickly. Take your spoon and break up the chocolate and mix it together with the frozen yogurt. Repeat this step 3-4 more times. Cover and freeze for a couple hours before eating.

    * Squiggle = a fast drizzle using a quick back and forth motion to make skinny lines of chocolate

    Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

    Published on April 25, 2011 in Desserts. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

    Game Off! Yes. I am finished with my little experiment and while our team captains* total our scores and we wait for the results, why not celebrate with some ice cream? Except this isn’t ice cream, it’s frozen yogurt. And it’s not even whole milk frozen yogurt, it’s low fat. And you know what? It’s still pretty damn good. And it feels like a splurge. See? I’ve already changed my approach to eating. Success!

    And this is coming from someone who’s pretty serious about her ice cream. I mean, I know ice cream. Many of you may not realize that I am speaking as a former Baskin Robbins employee aka B ‘n R buddy. This is serious business here, folks. Picture this: Shoppingtown Mall, upstate New York, circa early 80s, brown corduroys (I refused to wear those horrible polyester pants), pink, orange and brown striped shirt and too many hilarious teenage high jinks to count, some involving cans of whip cream, some not. That’s all I’m saying without my attorney present.

    But I digress. So, this frozen yogurt. It’s really quite good. It’s made with Greek yogurt, which means it’s also packed with protein, so yippee for that. While I used the 2% fat version, I think you could get away with the 0% if you were feeling really virtuous, but next time, I may have to try it with the 4%. Also, the chips. You really must use a bar of really good chocolate and roughly chop it into shards. Chocolate chips are too big and get too hard and don’t disperse a high enough chocolate-to-yogurt ratio (I know this because I was not thinking clearly when I opened the bag of chocolate chips; I was too busy pouring them into my mouth and then, not thinking, just dumped them into the ice cream maker. Oops. Nothing a quick whir in the blender couldn’t fix). Or you can do what David Lebovitz does with his chips, he of the genius ice cream cookbook, The Perfect Scoop. I’m going to try this next time too. Oh hell, I’ll probably be really bad and just make full-fat ice cream next time. But I will definitely make this yogurt and different variations on a regular basis. Because of my new mindset. Yup. I’m a changed woman.

    So, when you finish a diet or juice fast or whatever, what’s the first thing you stuff down your gullet? Inquiring minds wanna know.

    Notes: You can strain the yogurt in a cheese cloth-covered fine mesh strainer over a bowl to extract more liquid and make the yogurt thicker, but I didn’t find it necessary.

    Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

    Based on a recipe from Sweet Paul magazine

    1 bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped
    3/4 cup water
    3/4 cup sugar (granulated or cane)
    3 tablespoons honey
    1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

    1-1/2 cups Greek yogurt
    1/2 cup buttermilk

    1 cup dark chocolate nibs/shards/slivers

    Combine the mint with the water, sugar, honey and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple minutes until the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and let it steep for an hour or so. Strain the mint mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Add the yogurt and buttermilk to the bowl and whisk to combine.

    Follow the instructions for the ice cream machine you have. I have the Cuisinart, so here’s what you do if you have that one. Take out the frozen bowl from the freezer (it’s ready if when you shake the bowl, you don’t hear any sloshing of the liquid inside) and pour in the yogurt. I ran the machine for 25 minutes, then added the chocolate shards and ran it for another 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture into an airtight container and freeze for another couple hours to firm it up, but take a few bites first, just to make sure it’s not poison. Nope, not poison.

    This wouldn’t be terrible with a few slices of banana, some chocolate syrup and maybe a healthy dollop of whip cream on top. Mint sprig garnish optional.

    * Happy Birthday to Julie — even though technically you’re the enemy, I still love you!

    Granola Bars

    Published on April 5, 2011 in Desserts. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

    Whole Foods has these ridiculous granola bars, which I’m sure you’ve seen, laying in wait near the check-out lines, just waiting for you to pass by, glance over, pick them up and think, “Well, granola bars. These must be healthy.” To which the granola bars snicker quietly to themselves and then guffaw all the way home, once safely buried in the bottom of your eco tote.

    Because once you get those little suckers home, bite into the chewy goodness, it’s too late to realize that they’re not so healthy, one sign being your hands covered in grease from all the oil in there. I’m sorry to say it, but you’ve been had.

    But, I’m fighting back, damnit. No granola bar will laugh at me without serious repercussions. I told myself that I can and will recreate the same delicious flavor without all that (or any, actually) oil. And so I did.  The nice thing about these bars (besides how good they taste, that is) is that you can really mix it up flavor-wise. Substitute pecans for the almonds, or add dried cherries or apricots instead of cranberries. Dare I say it? Throw in some chocolate chips. Blow off the coconut if that’s not your bag, baby. Just keep it in the 2 cups range, give or take a 1/4 cup or so.

    You can even fiddle with the sweetener part. Brown rice syrup can sometimes have a sort of chemically taste, so try it with more honey or use maple syrup or even sugar instead. I’m thinking peanut butter could be crazy good as well. As long as you keep the proportions the same (about 1 to 1-1/4 cups), you’re good.

    Join the fight against unhealthy granola bar mockery. Make these bars. And you, my friends, will get the last laugh.

    Granola Bars

    Nonstick spray (or 1 T butter)
    1/2 cup sunflower seeds
    1/2 cup slivered almonds
    1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
    1/4 cup ground flax seed
    2/3 cup (unsweetened) shredded coconut
    1 1/2 cups unsweetened brown rice crispy cereal
    1 1/4 cups rolled oats
    1/2 cup dried cranberries
    3/4 cup brown rice syrup
    1/4 cup honey
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
    2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    Sprinkling of sesame seeds (optional)

    Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. On a few sheet pans, spread out the sunflower seeds, almonds, pepitas, flax seed and coconut. Roast in the oven for about 5 minutes, stirring everything around once or twice to make sure nothing burns. When the coconut turns golden and you can smell the nuts, they’re done.

    In a heavy saucepan, combine the brown rice syrup, honey, brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Bring to a bubble over medium heat and cook until it thickens up a bit, about 3 or 4 minutes.

    In a large bowl, combine the rice cereal, oats and dried cranberries. Mix in the roasted nuts and coconut, then pour the hot syrup over the mixture and stir to combine.

    Pour the mixture into a greased (with either spray or butter) 8″x8″ or 9″x12″ pan — depending on whether you like your bars super chunky or regular thickness. Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the top if you like. Firmly press the mixture into the pan with a piece of waxed paper, compacting it down to help keep it together. You can also line the pan with sprayed/buttered parchment or waxed paper first and use the overhang to press and wrap. This way, you can turn out the bars in one big piece for easier cutting (I’ll do this next time). Let the bars sit for at least 2-3 hours before cutting.