baby rambutan

i decided to shine the spotlight on the chocolate cake i mentioned in the previous post–it got overwhelmed by my being so chef-starstruck, and it really does deserve its own post.

this is currently The One, yes i have it on good authority: the cake we will bake for when we are chocolate-deprived.
plus, it’s got that Good Housekeeping seal of approval (latest issue on newsstands).
cake layers:
2 c. all purpose flour
1c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp.baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter (1 & 1/2 sticks), softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk

frosting:
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c. boiling water
1 c. butter (2 sticks), softened
2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. prepare cake layers: preheat oven to 350ºF, grease three8-inch round cake pans. line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. dust pans with flour.

2. on another sheet of waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and brown and granulated sugars until blended. increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. occasionally scraping bowl with spatula. reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in vanilla until blended. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. beat just until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

3. spoon batter evenly among prepared pans. if necessary, stagger pans on 2 oven racks, placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack, so that top pans are not directly above bottom one. bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. with small knife loosen layers from sides of pans; invert onto wire racks. carefully remove and discard waxed paper; cool completely about 45 minutes.

prepare frosting:
in small bowl combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth. in large bowl with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar 5 minutes or until fluffy. reduce speed to medium-low. add melted chocolate then cocoa mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. if frosting is too runny, refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread.

assemble cake:
place 1 cake layer bottom side up on cake plate; spread with 1/3 cup frosting. top with second layer, bottom side up; spread with another third cup of frosting. place remaining layer bottom side up on top. spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cake. (you may have to trim the tops off of the cake to make them even..i used a serrated knife.)

something sweet and something spicy to welcome to the new year.
every new year’s eve it seems now i’ve served fondue to the kids whether they like it or not. i don’t know why i love it so, maybe it’s the crackling little flame under the fondue pot? the interactivity and suspense of keeping your dipper in your fondue fork? but i got another electric one so we can have both cheese and chocolate fondue…i think the three had had enough rich food over Christmas dinners that they sort of groaned when i announced the fondue plans. i said, don’t worry, children, it will be a little bit different.

i chose a cheddar cheese mix with red bell peppers and jalapeno, for dipping with bread & ham cubes, tortilla chips,
fresh and cooked vegetables.

i also made spiced beef so that the #1son could opt for tacos–he who seemed reluctant to partake of melted cheese.
as midnight approached i melted the chocolate and chopped up bananas, rinsed the strawberries and cubed the brown butter pound cake.

ahhh! i suddenly remembered my ma’s “bruun cake(?)” that she used to prepare whenever she got a hold of this special canned butter, from Denmark maybe? the method of melting the butter until the milk solids turn dark brown, then freezing to congeal, then mixing with eggs and sugar, and flour, made the butter flavor so deep and profound and caramelly, just perfect with the dripping semisweet/bittersweet chocolates, and for eating for breakfast, this New Year’s Day.

i hope you had a loud and raucous Eve! did you remember to jump at the stroke of midnight?!

this slice is for you…
who’s all ears when friends pour their hearts out
yet somehow always alone when yours is shattering into pieces all around
who takes care of everybody when they’re sick, and buys them treats
and proffers hugs freely when they’re anxious and tired
yet is content with the flat pillow and the downy covers on cold nights
the crumb and the batter and the washing up
the sticky greasy pans
it’s there in the hot blast from the clunker oven
there in the singed edges of lashes and brows

the company of cake


recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. multiple steps, a sinkful of washing, at least three bowls, three kinds of chocolate, loads of butter, thick and lush icing.

i was about to wax nostalgic about the past summer, the cookouts! the road trips! the visiting cousins, nephews, sis’s-in-laws, sightseeing, restaurant meals!! in sharp contrast to the grey skies, the gloomy cold, the ungodly wake up hours, clock-watching ….
when i once again received the call for my favorite chocolate cake recipe, that’s easy and delicious and a snap to make. there are so many great ones out there but this is my ultimate fall-back all time fave…it tastes like a million bucks, and i promise you won’t have to worry about refrigerator real estate….this. won’t. last.
AND! they translate easily into cupcakes! (decrease heat by 25ºF, line muffin pans with cupcake liners, and start checking for doneness after 25 minutes.)

this is my all-time go-to favorite chocolate cake recipe. moist, dense, dark, deep. as long as you have sour cream on hand, you’re all set.

Rosie’s fudge frosting (from Rosie’s Baking Book):
melt 6 ozs. unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering water. cool slightly.
blend 1 cup plus 2 tbsps. evaporated milk with 1 & 1/2 cups sugar in a blender on medium speed for 2 seconds (i used my stick blender).
add the melted chocolate to the sugar mixture in the blender and blend on high speed until the frosting is thick and shiny, 1 to 1&1/2 minutes. the blender’s sound will change as the frosting thickens.

spoon the frosting into a bowl and allow it to set at room temperature for 30 minutes. then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the frosting to set for 1 hour more before frosting.
do not refrigerate.

no, not mine! Julia Child’s, that is. i now declare myself officially “forever 25″ years old.
she would have been 97 years old this year, and her birthday is on August 15, but one bite of this cake and you’ll see why i had to make it.
this was concocted by Marcel Desaulniers–serious foodies will remember him, he’s one of the real chefs who truly deserved a cooking show, *sniff.
the description of the cake alone will convince you to try and make this cake. the combination of flavors truly honored the very essence of the woman to whom it was dedicated: butter. almonds. liqueurs. raspberries. chocolates. cream.
it took me two days to put it all together–due to time constraints, much to my children’s chagrin. i finally assembled the 4 9-inch cake layers with the mousse and ganache and served it to my favorite kids.
it only comes once a year (thank goodness) and though it’s alarming how aged we feel now, the joy of birthdays that the kids feel is quite contagious. the thrill of waiting for their birthdays makes my kids so ecstatically happy that it somehow makes up for the glaringly real ageing process their parents must go through now.
i’ll be the first to admit that it looks nothing like the photograph in the book–i think it suffered quite a lot from the very warm 90 degree days, so anomalous for spring, as much as from my amateurish baking skills, but here it is….mommy’s birthday cake, dedicated to the children i birthed.

4 layers of chocolate almond cake, filled with chocolate red raspberry mousse, and smothered with a combination of 12 ounces of dark chocolate and 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate ganache.
you want to make?
let me know and i’ll type in the recipe.
recipe follows: (more…)

i know for a fact that this friend of mine doesn’t read this blog. but said friend sent me this lovely box of Godiva milk chocolate assortment…
how’d you know dearie? that chocolate cures what ails my hormonal self lately?

i think they’re too pricey, i can get them piece meal at bargain prices in my favorite salvage store. but i do concede, they are right up there in the fancy-chocolate- heaven-tier.
this is one of those things you have to bite and then close your eyes as you let the chocolate melt and spread out over your tongue to let the chocolate go to your head.
i haven’t had these since i worked in Manhattan, decades ago, when the marketing department bigwigs at the Book Club where i used to work, would pass around goodies, or ask me to buy them goodies for a meeting, a rah-rah-rah-sis-boom-bah get together…they served Dom Perignon champagne at my goodbye party.
i think they were happy to see me go?

we are smothered.
ice, snow, and then more snow on top of it all. i keep myself sane by daydreaming of the things i’m going to do once (if ever?) it warms up, i’ve got to keep hope alive!! amen!
buy a new kettle grill! charcoal! set out the patio furniture! the swing! plant new herbs and vegetables!
over and over i visualize these things, as i drive through the brown and grimy muddy snow, windshield wipers swooping like crazy batty demented eyelashes.

so being cooped up indoors by a snowstorm, again– husband: only 5 inches. not much. me: only? ONLY?! ever the optimist, he considers shoveling good exercise, and i look to him for inspiration so i’ll survive this mad winter, brain intact –
i made another chocolate cake.

i know, i should create a category here for chocolate all on its own, since i like to bake the latest intriguing recipe i find. this one caught my eye for its title and its premise/promise: a mysterious tunnel of fudge is formed in the middle as it bakes. wow, i thought, sort of like a gigantic Bundt-size molten chocolate cake instead of several tiny ramekin portions. it’s a Pillsbury bake-off champ of a recipe too!

Bundt cake flipped out, unscathed! yehey for my assistant chef, #2son, who buttered and floured the pan extra-enthusiastically. he also confessed, he loves cracking the eggs for me.

tunnel of fudge cake
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups margarine or butter, softened
6 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 1/4 cups all purpose or unbleached flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (i used Droste brand, processed with alkali)
2 cups chopped walnuts
glaze (which i did not make, since it is already quite sugar-laden and there’s moistness in the tunnel…)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 to 6 teaspoons milk

preheat oven to 350°F. grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch tube pan. in large bowl, combine sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar; blend well. by hand, stir in flour and remaining cake ingredients until well blended. spoon batter into greased and floured pan; spread evenly.

bake at 350°F. for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is set and edges are beginning to pull away from sides of pan. cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 1/2 hours. Invert onto serving plate; cool at least 2 hours.

in small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. store tightly covered.

notes from the cook:
make sure oven temperature is accurate (i used an oven thermometer…er ahem two thermometers to be exact, just to be obsessive about it).
measure ingredients exactly.
sift the confectioners’ sugar…do not skip this step!
*you need those two cups of walnuts.