Wish Upon A Chef

It's no secret that I love the Boy Toy more than I love goat cheese.  And that, people, is ALOT.  As long as we've been together, I still get all twitterpated about date night with him. 

We had initially planned to go back to "our place" for Valentine's Day - the same restaurant where we've had dinner for the past two years, but after Boy Toy brought home a $300 souvenir speeding ticket from our California trip a few weeks ago, I made the offer to have dinner at my house instead.  I don't get the opportunity to cook for him often and I was uber excited about our plans all week.  I planned an easy-to-prepare menu complete with a sinful dessert and picked up a couple of bottles of wine that I had been wanting to try.  (This label combination made me giggle because I'm dirty like that.  50 Shades of Grey ain't got nothing on me!)


During our flights to and from California, Boy Toy entertained himself by streaming episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on my iPad (am I turning him into a foodie??) and at one point he turned to me and asked if I thought he would like polenta.  "Yes! Of course you would!" I said. (I really had no idea if he would or not but I always try to further his interest in food so I was very agreeable that he would absolutely LOVE it while at the same time wondering if I would even like it.)  I decided the next chance I had, I would test the polenta theory.  Keep in mind that you do have to plan ahead when making it as it requires several hours (or overnight) to cool.





Lemon Rosemary Steak with Mushrooms
Serves 4

4 (6-ounce) grass fed sirloin steaks, about 1/2 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 spring fresh rosemary
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup water

Pound steaks lightly with meat mallet to slightly thin.  Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet over high heat, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil and garlic cloves. When the pan is hot, add 2 of the steaks and cook for 1 minute. Flip steaks, add rosemary to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Transfer steaks to a platter and keep warm. Add remaining olive oil and repeat process with steaks, garlic and rosemary. Remove steaks to platter and add mushrooms to pan and saute for about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, water and any juices accumulated from steaks, lower heat to medium and cook for about 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook about 1-2 minutes more.

Discard rosemary and garlic, spoon pan sauce and mushrooms over steaks and serve.

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Polenta cakes topped with mushroom pan sauce from the steaks

Polenta Cakes
Serves 4

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, divided
shredded cheese (Cheddar or Parmesan works great)

Bring water and salt to a boil. Gradually sprinkle in cornmeal, whisking continuously until all cornmeal has been added. Simmer until mixture becomes thick, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep cornmeal from sticking to bottom.. Once mixture is done cooking, stir in butter and pour mixture into a lined baking sheet making sure polenta is at least ½” thick. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours (up to 2 days).

Slice polenta into 8 cakes. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and place 4 polenta cakes in a skillet. Grill cakes for 5 minutes, until golden brown. Flip and grill until other side is golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from skillet and repeat with remaining polenta.

Serve topped with shredded cheese.   I also topped with mushrooms and pan sauce from the steaks

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Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with Caramel Filling
Serves 4

1 stick unsalted butter, plus melted for brushing
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
6 ounces 70% dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Pint of salt
4 tablespoons store-bought caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Brush four 6-ounce ramekins with melted butter.  In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of the flour; dust the ramekins with the cocoa mixture, tapping out the excess.  Transfer ramekins to a sturdy baking sheet.

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter with the chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally.  Let cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat granulated sugar with the eggs and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until no streaks remain.  Fold in the 1/4 cup flour.

Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared ramekins, then spoon a tablespoon of the caramel sauce on top.  Cover with the remaining chocolate batter.  Bake in the center of the oven for 16 minutes, until the tops are cracked but the centers are still slightly jiggly.  Transfer ramekins to a rack and let cool for 5-8 minutes.

Run the tip of a knife around the edges of each cake to loosen.  Invert a small plate over each cake and, using pot holders, invert again.  Carefully lift off the ramekins.    

Yes, that's a cake complete with moving Nascar cars.

Through the wonders of Facebook, I was made aware that the ICES (International Cake Exploration Societe) was having their annual convention this past weekend at the Charlotte Convention Center and for the price of $10, visitors could view the beautiful creations. It promptly went to the top of my "To Do" list and was something that I looked very forward to doing on Sunday.


To call them "beautiful creations" is definitely an understatement because the amount of patience, creativity, and work that goes into each of the cakes is astounding and beyond my realm comprehension. When I catered, I had the idea of possibly adding specialty cakes to the repertoire until I took the series of Wilton cake decorating classes and learned very quickly that I couldn't be paid enough to concentrate on such intricate details of tiny flowers and scroll work. I'm more of a "throw it all together and see how it turns out" kind of girl. Detail is not my thing, and the classes quickly proved that. It's good to find out things like this about ourselves before we take a wrong turn into a career path that we are not meant for ~ sort of like me thinking I wanted to be a nurse when I was a kid until I grew up and found out that I'm not the most compassionate person in the world (according to a few of my former husbands anyway).


After you've taken a look at these absolutely gorgeous works of art (more photos of the ICES can be found here on my flickr page), I'll leave you with a recipe that is more my style of creating a cake ~ the Earthquake Cake. 

My mother raved about this cake several years ago and kept telling me that I just HAD to bake it, so I did.  And I was horrified at what I pulled out of my oven the first time because the cake had overflowed the pan, burnt to a crisp on the bottom of the oven and smoked up the entire kitchen. Under normal circumstances, the cake itself is a frightful looking thing with it's sunken hollows of cream cheese swallowed up by chocolate cake, but this one was exceptionally scary with its burnt molten lava spilling over the edges of the pan.  When the Husband du Jour came home and saw it on the counter, his reaction of "What the hell is that??" instantly declared it a natural disaster (and he said I wasn't compassionate??)

Easy enough for kids to help with (or do on their own) and a real conversation starter when you show up with it at a potluck, the Earthquake Cake is an embellishment of a box mix (make sure you get the mix with pudding because it doesn't seem to turn out as well otherwise) and while it may never make it into the ICES hall of fame, I can guarantee it tastes as good as any of those masterpieces look with its delicious combination of chocolate, cream cheese, coconuts and pecans.



Chocolate Earthquake Cake
Categories : Cakes/Icings

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 package Devil's Food cake mix with pudding (plus ingredients to make per package directions)
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
8 ounces cream cheese -- room temperature
1 pound confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup butter -- room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Spread coconut and pecans over bottom of pan.

Mix cake mix according to package directions. Pour over the pecans and coconut.

Melt butter, add with cream cheese, vanilla and confectioner's sugar to a medium sized bowl and mix well. Dollop with a teaspoon over the cake (cover entire surface).

Bake 50-55 minutes or until done.

And the ICES award for ugliest cake goes to....

My innate love for living in the Carolinas is no big secret. I grieved for the Queen City for the entire 6 years that I was away in that other nearly forgotten state and even though I've been back home now for over 2 years, there's still not a day that goes by that I don't stop and think about how great it is living here. I was so fortunate to reconnect with some of the friends I had before I left, and after becoming involved with the Good Eats and Meets social group, I amassed more good friends and acquaintances than imaginable.  Even though my career is no longer in the catering/food business, I'll always have a love for doing that kind of work so being an assistant organizer for this group helps fills the void. 

And while it looks like all fun and games when we get together (and rest assured there is plenty of that!), there's alot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to pull off each event.  We brainstorm, plan, test, organize, solicit and promote and we are constantly looking for new and fun things to bring to the membership.  I'm so pleased to be a small part of the newly established "Carolina's Eat Local Farm to Fork Restaurant Month," the brainchild of Richard Gruica, the founder of Good Eats and Meets.

During the month of May, local participating restaurants will create delicious three-course prix fixe menus for both lunch and dinner, composed almost entirely of Carolina grown farm-fresh ingredients such as artisanal cheeses, micro-greens, and meats from local farms.   With over 30 restaurants participating, this event will go a long way toward raising awareness of North Carolina’s presence on the culinary scene and will also create an opportunity to give back to area farmers by establishing the NC Farmer’s Fund. A portion of the proceeds from the event will create a subsidy to benefit small, family-owned farms in the event of a natural disaster.

It has been my job with the Farm to Fork project to focus on, sample and promote NC based beverages, one of which is Uncle Scott's Root Beer. Certifiably made from all natural ingredients, Uncle Scott's is the creation of Scott and Suzanne Ramsey of Mooresville, NC and has been on the market for nearly 4 years now. Available in over 57 stores in the Carolinas, Uncle Scott's Root Beer has received an excellent response in the marketplace and I understand why.  I'll admit to being a bit leery of tasting the concoction because I've long ago kicked my carbonated soda habit and I'm just not fond of anything having to do with licorice, which is the prominent flavor in most mass produced brands of sugary carbonated root beer sodas.

The verdict?  Not only am I proud as punch to live in North Carolina, I'm equally as pleased to say that Uncle Scott's Root Beer hails from home.  My palate detected hints of vanilla long before the ever-so-subtle taste of licorice and the sweetness of the organic sugar was just enough.  It tasted real and natural, not sugary and commercial.  I was impressed, too, that the carbonation was still intact on a half-used bottle the day after it had been opened.  I used the root beer to test cocktail recipes which will be featured soon on the Charlotte Cocktails Examiner site, but in the meantime, please enjoy these fabulously cute Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Cake adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Recipe and idea taken from smittenkitchen.com

Cupcakes

2 cups root beer (of course I used Uncle Scott's Root Beer)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Toppings

1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pint of vanilla ice cream
Maraschino cherries (optional)

Make the root beer cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 22 cupcake cups with paper liners. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Fold the liquid and flour mixtures together in the large bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy; this is okay. If you overbeat it, it will get tough.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 to 3/4 full (a 1/4 cup scoop or measuring cup will filled mine perfectly) and bake cupcakes, rotating trays back to front and top to bottom halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center of each comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Assemble cupcakes: Whip heavy or whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until it holds soft peaks. You can do this with an electric mixer, but if you do it by hand, not only will you get a killer arm workout (which you can trade in for a cupcake, very soon), it will be nearly impossible to overbeat the cream. (Which I almost always do with a mixer.)

Use the tip of a knife to cut a small cone of cake out of the top center of each cupcake; feel free to snack on these, I won’t tell anyone. Using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, nest a scoop of ice cream in each indent. Surround ice cream with dollops of whipped cream. Top with a cherry, if using. To keep cupcakes in a holding pattern while you assemble the remaining ones, you can put them in the freezer, but try to do so for no more than 5 minutes or the whipped cream will harden.

Eat immediately.

Chef's note: While the root beer flavor is present in the cakes, it’s not the loudest root beer flavor (unsurprising as most root beers today are pretty subtle). One way to make it more pronounced, as suggested in Baked, is to swap out half a cup of root beer for root beer schnapps, which looks like it is available from a few places online.

It's been Party Central around here the last few months with so many of my close friends celebrating monumental birthday milestones, and I am all about finding the perfect cake to commemorate the occasion.   A truly unforgettable themed cake that reflects the personality of the birthday guy or gal always makes the party a hit, and those who secretly wish to forget the fact that another year has lefts its indelible mark on their face are especially thankful for a cake that captures the complete attention of guests.

I was going to start this post out by saying how divine it would be to plunge to my death into a vat of melted chocolate, but a quick internet search of the phrase "death by chocolate" shows that it has, in fact, happened that way for someone and it wasn't a pleasant experience at all.

So instead, I'll just stick to talking about this uber-decadent flourless chocolate cake that my friends and I served as the grand finale at our cocktail and dinner pairing. We served it with the equally indulgent Coffee Margarita and all of our guests needed to be wheeled out to their car because we had rendered them unable to walk for themselves with the awesome menu. It was probably as close as they could come to dying by chocolate without actually, well, dying.

After the initial test run, it was determined that the cake held up and tasted much better when served chilled. And don't say that I didn't warn you to cut it into very small pieces ~ one 10" cake served over 20 people. If you don't heed my warning, make sure you have emergency personnel on stand-by and I'll be the first person to say, "I told you so!" because that's just what kind of person I am.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CAKE
　
Cake:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)
4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup water
7 eggs

Fudge topping:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate (again, I used Ghiradelli or Godiva works well too)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup of Kayro syrup
3 tlb of water


Note: Using good chocolate such as Ghiradelli or Godiva and real butter (not margarine) makes a HUGE difference in taste. Don’t scrimp on the ingredients, you will be disappointed.

Directions for cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch round cheesecake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. Chop chocolate squares and place in a large bowl with 12 ounces chocolate chips. Add melted butter. Heat water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a saucepan until boiling, and then pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth.

3. In separate bowls, separate the egg whites and yokes and whip separately until both bowls have become thick and creamy. Take the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and evenly distribute between the two bowls as you are mixing. Once the yolks are thick and creamy and the whites are at soft peaks, combine both of them and then add to the chocolate mixture.

4. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into 10 inch pan.

5. Place 10 inch pan in a “water bath” like you would for a cheesecake.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool for 1 hour; then refrigerate for several hours.

7. After cake has been refrigerated for 3 to 4 hours, you can add fudge topping. First take the side of the cake pan off, then put a plate on top of cake and flip; then remove parchment paper. Then add your fudge topping allowing fudge to drip off the top onto the sides. Clean up the bottom of your plate as you go along to keep it looking good! (You must do this before it cools, as it gets hard & thick like fudge)

Directions for topping:

1. Melt butter, Kayro syrup and water in saucepan. Bring to soft boil.
2. Add chocolate chips after butter has melted.

Do not let it burn, turn to low heat while mixing in chocolate chips.
Once you take it off heat, keep stirring so it won’t harden, then pour onto cake.

But sometimes I just don't trust myself.

How many times have you read directions and thought to yourself, "Self, this isn't going to work" but totally disregarded your gut instinct and followed the directions verbatim?

The Warm Chocolate Cakes with Mascarpone Cream featured in July 2009 edition of Food & Wine touted the decadent individual treats as Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg's rendition of a Black Forest cake and said nothing about the chocolate treasures having the liquidy inside consistency of a molten chocolate lava cake (of course, the term "warm" in the title should have given me a clue. Oh, and the baking directions do indicate the center will be "slightly jiggly" but who reads that stuff?) Even the photograph showed the cakes turned out of the ramekin and served "right side up" which is usually not typical of the molten lava type cakes. And the baking time of 15 minutes....well, that should have been my next clue that the cake innards would be as hot as molten lava itself. Surely a critically acclaimed culinary magazine featuring a recipe from a classically trained chef knows more than a dumb ole girl who pays good money to be blonde.

But noooooo! Even though I knew better, I followed the baking and cooling instructions spot on and tried to unmold my cakes right-side up per the photo. And just as my gut was telling me NOT to do it that way, words spewed forth from my volcanically erupting mouth while the hotter-than-the-hinges-of-Hell molten chocolate lava splashed forth.

Not realizing these were in fact lava cakes, I had planned to make these cakes the day before a dinner party with the intentions of storing them overnight so it worked out well that I left them in the ramekins. I refrigerated them overnight and they set up to a fudge-like consistency and were just as delicious as what they would have been right out of the oven warm. If you are a chocoholic, I definitely recommend these because they were so very rich ~ I couldn't finish my portion. The mascarpone cream was very tasty and I topped the cakes with some Black Cherry Cognac Sauce by Stonewall Kitchen. It's one of my all-time favorite ice cream toppings and worked perfectly for these uber rich cakes. Next time, I'll follow my gut. And my gut is telling you to try these cakes the next time you need an easy but impressive dessert!


Warm Chocolate Cakes with Mascarpone Cream
by Hosea Rosenberg
Food & Wine, July 2009
Serves 6

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, plus shavings for garnish (optional)
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter
3 large eggs, plus 3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 cup mascarpone (8 ounces)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
About 1/2 cup brandied cherries or kirsch-soaked sour cherries

Preheat the oven to 375°. Coat six 6-ounce ramekins with butter, and dust lightly with flour. Set the ramekins on a sturdy baking sheet. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate with the butter; let cool.
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the eggs, yolks and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chocolate, then fold in the cake flour just until no streaks remain.
Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 15 minutes, until the cakes have risen, the tops are dry and the centers are slightly jiggly. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, beat the cream with the vanilla seeds, brown sugar and lemon zest until soft peaks form. Add the mascarpone and lemon juice and beat until blended.
Run the tip of a small knife around each cake to loosen it, then unmold onto plates. Spoon the mascarpone cream onto the cakes and garnish with the brandied cherries and chocolate shavings

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week for numerous reasons, but mainly because it's the day that the food section is included with the newspaper. Forget world peace and politics ~ I want to read about fruits and vegetables and hot new restaurant openings!

On a recent Wednesday, there was a short press release about Tizzert's, a "custom cakery" that opened back in 1995 here in Charlotte having revamped their website. Even under normal circumstances, I would have been compelled to check out the website but this particular day I found it ironic that I was even reading about Tizzert's in the first place. It was probably about the same time, back in 1995, when Tizzert's first opened that the online version of the Charlotte Observer ran a press release about Tiz Faison and her desire to start a bakery. Along with the article was a recipe for Tizzert's Carrot Pecan Cake. Not having the perfect carrot cake recipe in my repertoire at that time, I printed it from the website and filed it away.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I baked a carrot cake for my co-worker's birthday. Guess which recipe I used? The recipe that had been used so many times before in my own catering business. The one that made a grand entrance for Captain Sturm's 40th birthday. The one and only Tizzert's Carrot Pecan Cake taken from the website some 14 years ago.

Not much of a from-scratch cake baker myself, this recipe bakes up perfectly every single time. It's moist and delicious and the velvety cream cheese icing is nothing but out of this world creamy goodness! Granted, my photo does not do justice to Tizzert's wonderful creation, but this photo was taken on the fly just before I rushed out the door to the office (I had actually forgotten the cake that morning and had to come back home to get it!) And I gave up trying to make my cakes look like something straight out of the Wilton Cake Decorating book. When garnished correctly with finely chopped pecans pressed all around the sides of the 3 layer cake, it is pretty impressive (again, please forgive me for sending this poor cake to slaughter without the proper garnish but it was Monday and I was late and she was lucky that I remembered to bake the thing in the first place.) Oh sure, the cake is loaded with sugar but it can conceivably be considered healthy and good for you since it has vegetables in it, right?

Congratulations on your booming business, Tiz, and great job on your new website.

Tizzert's Carrot Pecan Cake

Cake layers:
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup oil
4 whole eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups grated fresh carrots
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
FROSTING:
2 8 oz. cream cheese
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
DECORATION:
2 cups pecans, chopped extra fine
1/8 cup half pecan pieces or larger -- (1/8 to 1/4)

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cake pans with parchment & spray lightly with pan spray. Combine oil and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream until light. Add whole eggs and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to bowl slowly and blend well until all flour is incorporated.
Add carrots and pecans to mixing bowl and incorporate well. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 25-30 mins. Allow to cool in pan at room temp.

For frosting:
Allow butter and cream cheese to come to room temp. Use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and add butter to bowl and beat well. Slowly add softened cream cheese to butter mixture in small pieces to decrease any chance of lumps. Scrape down bowl and add powdered sugar slowly, again blending well. Add vanilla last. Scrape bowl and blend 1 minute until smooth. Use frosting at room temp.

To assemble cake:
Use 8" Cake circles to flip cooled cake layers out of pans. Remove parchment. Carefully, trim any excess edges with a serrated knife to level each level. Apply cream cheese frosting evenly to 2 layers only. Place unfrosted layer onto 1 frosted layer and fold last frosted layer on top of these layers (like a hamburger). Chilled filled cake in refrigerator or freezer 30 mins or more (wrap in plastic wrap if longer than 30 mins). Remove chilled, filled cake and set on turntable. Add 1+ cups frosting to top of cake and push to sides, slowly turning turntable as you go around sizes of cake with straight met 8" spatula. Use more frosting as needed. Scrape off excess when nearly finished. Smooth top with edges of off-set spatula, bring icing into the center of cake. Place finely ground pecans into large bowl. Hold cake in your strongest hand on cake circle and slowly touch pecans to sides evenly from top edge to bottom edge. Place completely "crumbed" cake on cake platter or final presentation plate. Using large pastry bag with large star tip, pipe rosettes in even numbers at edge of the top of the cake to represent a slice (12 works nicely). Sprinkle rosettes with half or larger pieces to complete cake. Refrigerate before serving.

Source:
"AroundCarolina.com"

Could you say "No" to this face? I think not. I'm not made of stone, people. A few weeks ago I was asked by my friend Mary to help plan the party of the year for this handsome little man. It's a major milestone turning 2 years old, is it not? No longer a baby nursing a bottle and almost a man just as soon as you let go of the pacifier and can fully grasp the concept that food goes in your mouth and not on the floor (I believe I've dated a few who were just barely out of this stage themselves.)

I must have been absent the day they handed out the wanton need to have children because I've never had the desire myself ~ partly because I never really felt like I was old enough yet and mainly because I've never met the right person. But this cutie pie makes me feel all tingly in my nether regions. I'm thinking Mary should just turn him over to me one night when he's cranky and experiencing one of those "terrible two" moments and it will be enough to make me celibate for the rest of my life. But while the euphoria lasted, I decided this little prince needed a cake to remember for his big day.

This sinfully rich, decadent chocolate ganache cake is from one of my all-time favorite chefs, Ina Garten. The book Barefoot Contessa Parties! was given to me years ago and page 88 is one of the many dog eared pages. The cake is typical Ina style ~ overly impressive in appearance and unbelievably easy to make with very few ingredients.

The recipe as written makes only 1 layer which is enough to put anyone into a sugar coma but that just wouldn't do for the birthday boy. Mary and I decided to turn it into a 3 layer cake with raspberry mousse sandwiched between the layers, dripping with rich chocolate ganache and garnished with fresh raspberries. Oh Lordy! I wish I'd taken a picture of the other older children camped out in a complete circle around the cake just waiting for it to be sliced. I don't think they ever took their eyes off of the tower of fudgy chocolate.

Happy birthday John Wyatt and I wish you many, many more!

Chocolate Ganache Cake
by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa

1/4 lb butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 (16 ounce) can Hershey chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake pan (see note ), then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until JUST combined (overbeating with make the cake too tough).

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Do not refrigerate.

Just a few side notes....the recipe indicates that you should use an 8" round cake pan but I have my doubts that it wouldn't overflow. We used 9" and they worked perfectly. Also, the cakes freeze well. Cool completely and wrap really well in plastic wrap. Pull out of the freezer a few hours before final assembly and let thaw.

If you are a food purist, read no further. I can promise that this post will cause instant blindness, hives, and major traumatic stress syndrome for those who do not believe in the use of prefabricated food ingredients.

I don't want to have to say, "I told you so" {although I'm very good at it!}, so this stands as your final warning....hit the "Back" button NOW! There is no turning back.

Anybody left in the room? Helllloooo? I think I see one or two of you hiding in the dark shadows waaaaay back there...shall we carry on with today's post?

Let me first clarify by saying that I, myself, don't normally use alot of prepackaged ingredients but some days just necessitate being a Sandra Lee wannabe because that pesky thing called life gets in the way or in today's instance, it's just a really good recipe that happens to contain items from a box. My second clarification is that, as written, this recipe contained even more prefab items than what is shown in my revision below so you can thank me for trying to un-prefab it.

You already know how sentimental I am about orange dreamsicles and so by default this is one of my favorite cakes.

I was first introduced to this lovely cake 8 monumental years ago when I turned the big 3-0. The company that I was working for at the time temporarily positioned me back in my hometown for a few weeks to work on a special project and one of my co-workers was kind enough to present me with this cake, unknowing that it would bring back a flood of childhood memories. I never forgot that cake and even 8 years later I still treasure hunt the grocery stores for the sometimes elusive Duncan Hines Orange Supreme cake mix that it calls for. There never seems to be a shortage of the other Supreme mixes so hopefully your favorite grocery hangout carries this one as well. The recipe as written called for adding water to the mix but I decided to kick up the orange flavor a notch by adding orange juice.

But let's be honest here folks....this cake tastes like it's made from a box. I'm not trying to pass this off as being one of those where your friends are never gonna suspect that you cheated {as if the neon orange color wouldn't give it away} because it is what it is. But the icing....well, now that's a different story! It brings back the image of me carefully selecting my orange dreamsicle from the frozen cooler of Wilson's Convenience Store on those hot school day afternoons.

Substituting fresh whipped cream in place of the original Cool Whip gives the icing a richer flavor and less of a fake taste. And don't be afraid to pile it on....it totally makes the cake!

Prefab ain't so bad, people.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Dreamsicle Cake

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cakes/Icings

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 box Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix
1 1/4 cups orange juice
1/4 cup oil
1 small box orange jello
3 each eggs
ICING:
8 ounces heavy whipping cream
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Mix all cake ingredients well. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutess. Cool completely before icing. (You can leave the cake in the pan and ice only the top, but I like to turn it out onto a cakeboard and slather a ton of icing on the top and sides.)

For icing: whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Slowly add orange juice and confectioners sugar while continuing to whip into stiffer peaks. Place the sour cream and coconut in a large bowl, stir to combine. Fold the whipped cream into the coconut mixture until just combined. Smooth over cake and keep refrigerated.

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