My new favorite baby: Steamed Chocolate Cake

Sunday was UDubb's baby shower.

I don't know if I've really expressed it, but I adore my sister-in-law.  And I am beyond excited for my new little niece.  I'm excited for UDubb, because I think she's going to really enjoy having a little girl and all that entails.  I'm excited for Thatbrother, because he is going to be such a great girl's daddy.  And I'm excited that this new little princess is going to be spoiled beyond belief by our family.  We've very low on girls in my family, so this will be a nice change. 

UDubb's shower was just as adorable as she is.  Her friends went all out in decorating in a very shabby-chic way.  Since the baby's nursery is pink and grey, they used those colors to set the stage.  The food was fantastic, with a make your own mimosa bar, sandwiches, salads, and an ombre pink cake made by one of her friends. 

The pink cake was a nice touch for a girly shower, but in truth, UDubb loves chocolate.  I was pretty surprised there wasn't a chocolate cake, a rich, fudgey chocolate cake.  Personally, I like my chocolate cakes less rich, which could be why I'm such a fan of red velvet, which has just the barest hint of chocolate.  This steamed chocolate cake is right up my alley.  It's not overly sweet, and the steaming ensures it's not overly dry.  Just a nice, spongey cake that is chocolate without being overwhelmingly so. 

I made mine using a pyrex dish with a lid, but any lidded mold will work.  The idea is based on Boston Brown Bread, which is a loaf cooked/steamed stovetop.  It's a concept that doesn't seem like it sound work, and yet it does.  Every time I use the method I expect I'll end up with a liquidy consistency, but that's not what happens.  Instead, it's exactly what you would expect from a cake - without heating up your entire home with a hot oven.

Steamed Chocolate Cake

1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Butter a 1 qt mold that has a tight fitting lid. Heat water in a pot large enough to hold the mold.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a small pan.  Remove from heat and pour into aan electric mixer.
3. Stir in the sugar and egg, beating until smooth.
4. Add the milk and vanilla.
5. Stir in the flour, baking powser, and salt and beat until smooth and creamy. 
6. Spoon in the mold and cover.  Put in the large pot, cover, and steam for 1 1/2 hours.

More playgrounds, More Beach, More Cake: Sponge Cake with Italian Meringue

So I feel like it was just yesterday I was telling you about how I have vast experience with the San Diego playgrounds.  Because it was.

And last week I told you about how we spend every weekend at a playground or two. 

Seriously, welcome to the Tour of San Diego, as seen through the eyes of a toddler.

Saturday we headed out once again to a playground on the beach.

I have to say, I'm a little jealous.  When I grew up, we played on a swamp with alligators across the water.  Thatbaby gets to look at the ocean as he climbs and plays.  (This sounds like a really new-fangled version of "walking to school uphill, both ways.")

Lately, Thatbaby hasn't been too into slides.  But there was plenty of other things to keep him interested.

 Like those swings which he is all about.  Thatbaby has started saying "no" with a purpose this week.  It's not short and choppy, but kind of a long, drawn out whine.  "Nooooooooo"   Thatboy got to hear it every time he suggested they stop swinging and move on to something else.

But eventually Thatbaby was able to move along, when he found a group of kids he really wanted to play with.  First there was chasing them around the sandpit.  Then one of them busted out a bunch of sidewalk chalk.  And my not-so-brilliant child started the movement from the cement, onto the sand, where sidewalk chalk does not work so well.

 After we were done at the playground, we loaded Thatbaby into his stroller and headed for a walk on the beach.  A 5 mile walk along the beach.  Thatbaby didn't stay asleep for all of it.  But he did for the first half.  Which was nice for Thatboy and I.  Although I think we both might have benefited from a nap instead!

For some reason, I like to pair my playground posts with cake posts.  This is very strange, because Thatbaby doesn't even get to participate in the eating of it.  But we do!  I've been making sponge cakes for a while now, and realized I've never posted my recipe here.  I like sponge cakes because they're pretty easy to make - it's really a combination of beaten egg whites and beaten egg yolks.  And there's no butter or oil or anything like that.  The meringue frosting is unbelievably light and fluffy, which is nice with a light cake.  Very springy.

 Sponge Cake with Italian Meringue Frosting

5 eggs, separated

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt, plus a pinch

1 cup cake flour

3 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Line two 8-inch round pans with wax paper.  Beat the egg yolks with the lemon juice until pale and thick.
2. Slowly add 3/4 cup of sugar and beat thoroughly. 
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. 
4. Add 1/4 tsp salt and continue beating until soft peaks form.
5. Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Stir a fourth of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
7. Spoon the remaining whites over the yolk mixture.
8. Sprinkle the flour on top.  Fold until blended.  Spoon into the pans and bake for 25 minutes. Invert the pans and let cool completely.
9.  While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Combine the egg whites and a pinch of salt in a bowl and beat until the whites are stiff.
10. Combine 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water in a pan and bring to a boil.  Cover for 3 minutes.  Remove the lid and continue boiling until mixture reaches 230.
11. Pour the syrup over the beaten whites, beating the entire time.  Continue to beat until the meringue has cooled to room temperature.
12. Beat in the vanilla.  Frost the cooled cake.

When a plan goes oh so wrong: Chocolate Chip Cake

Excuse my absence for this past week.  I took a brief hiatus last week, which was the 4th anniversary of Thatdad's death.  I went up to spend the afternoon/evening with Thatmom, Thatbrother, and UDubb. 

There's an interesting paradox when dealing with death and the passage of time.  At once it feels like an instant and an eternity since Thatdad was giving me a hard time, offering advice, or answering useless trivia questions. This past year without him has felt the most "normal" so far.  Probably because I've been a little preoccupied with the other men in my life. 

And I've also been beyond busy with work.  Which has kept me preoccupied, but also made my blogging break a little longer than I was anticipating.  Which means I am just now able to share with you my special Valentine's Day treat I brought in for my coworkers.

Have you ever had a happy accident?  Like the guy who dropped a ball of peanut butter in a vat of chocolate?  That's what happened with me and this cake.  My plan was simple enough - a chocolate chip cake with a carmel-y frosting. 

Except (you knew there was going to be an except, right?) something went wrong with my candy thermometer.  You see, I've been doing a lot of boiled frostings since Thatboy complained that a lot of my frosting tastes like "confectioner sugar."  I love boiled frostings and they're pretty easy to make- if you have a candy thermometer and can take the sugar off the heat when it hits the soft ball stage.

And my candy thermometer died while making this frosting.  Which meant it must have gone past soft ball stage to hard as a rock stage.  The stage where frosting is less spreading it on to the cake and more trying not to rip the cake to shreds.

The weird thing is - this turned into something incredibly delicious.  Thatboy thinks it was one of the best things I've made in a while.  My coworkers loved the "toffee" topping.  So I guess the moral of this story is that even a disaster can be a success.

Chocolate Chip Cake with Caramel Frosting

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips

2 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Spray an 8x8 pan with baking spray.  Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Mix the butter, milk, and egg in a separate bowl.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir, just until combined.  
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour into the pan and bake for 25 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out to a rack and cool completely before frosting.
5. Mix the brown sugar and cream in a heavy bottomed an and boil without stirring until the mixture reaches 234 degrees.
6. Let cool, then mix until creamy.  Stir in raisins and walnuts and frost the cake.

Playtime: Date Cake

On our last morning in Idyllwild Thatboy didn't want to hit the road too early.  We had heard about the new playground that was built, so we decided to check it out.

We picked up some coffee and pastries from the nearby European bakery.  Thatdog offered to guard them while we played with Thatbaby.

Thatbaby is getting so brave with the slide lately.  At school, he'll go down them all by himself.  But here, with these new slides and new environment, he was more comfortable sliding down with Thatboy.

 I knew our little drummer would be pleased as punch with this set of tongue drums.  I was right.

And by the end of our time there, he had warmed up enough to head down one of the more familiar looking slides all by himself.

While at the playground we snacked on an eclair with our coffees.  But this date cake is much easier to make.  It's a nice addition to breakfast, and like our pastry, pairs well with coffee.  It's not too sweet, more like a quick bread than a cake.  I love the addition of dates to baked goods.  I much prefer them to raisins, although they provide the same kind of moist sweetness.

Date Cake

5 Tbsp butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

8 oz dates, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray an 8x8 pan with baking spray.  Combine all the ingredients in an electric mixer and beat for 3 minutes.
2. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

Weekend Treats: Cookies and Cream Cake

Now that Mustang and RB are living in San Diego, we get to see our family more often.  Which is fabulous.  Last weekend Knits and Petman came down to visit RB and we got to meet up with them for Sunday Brunch. 

Since they were staying on Shelter Island, we met up at Jimmy's Famous American Tavern - which I had discovered when dropping Tesseract off one day when she was having brunch there.

The great things about J-FAT include their location, right on the water, the fact that tater tots are served with all brunch entrees, and a giant grassy area beside the restaurant for Thatbaby to run around.

Oh yes, Thatbaby is a full fledged runner-arounder.  With his little arms flapping in the air as he goes.  And there are frequent moments of him being airborne before coming crashing to the earth since his balance has not quite met his desire for speed.

It was such a treat to have brunch with Knits and Petman.  I'm really so thankful they decided to move out to California.  I feel very lucky to have so much of our family close by.

Having some free time this weekend, I also decided to make a cake!  I wanted to tweak the cookies and cream cake I had made for Thatbaby's birthday. That cake had a vanilla base and a chocolate buttercream frosting.  This is the reverse.  A rich chocolate cake (hello secret ingredient coffee!) with a white buttercream frosting.

Without the chocolate frosting, this cake isn't as rich as the other, but the chocolate cake aspect is unbeatable.  And this frosting really has the same flavor as the middle of the oreo - which is everyone's favorite part, right?

Cookies and Cream Cake

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 egg

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup coffee

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg yolk 

1 stick of butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray an 8inch cake pan with baking spray.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or makeshift double boiler) and set aside.
2. Beat the egg in an electric mixture and add the sugar.  Beat until well blended.
3. Add the oil, vanilla, chocolate, and coffee and beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix for 2 minutes.
6. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn onto a rack and cool completely.
7. While cake is cooling,  combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water without stirring in a heavy-bottomed pan until the mixture reaches 240.
8. Beat the egg yolk.
9. Pour the heated sugar mixture over the egg while beating.
10. Cut butter into small pieces and beat until incorporated.  Continue beating the frosting until it's the right consistency.
11. Frost cake and sprinkle with crushed oreo cookies.

Oh the New Year!

The New Year has been treating us pretty well so far. It started out when I got spoiled opening up my stocking.

See, Thatboy and I have been together for almost 13 years. And I have spent all but one of those years spending Christmas with his family.  And although everyone else has a stocking, I don't.  So Thatboy and I started our own tradition of exchanging stockings when we got home from our Christmas trip.  This year was filled with all sorts of goodies for me, including a not pictured whisk which Thatbaby ran off with.

New Years itself we spent in Palm Desert with Thatmom and her boyfriend.  And I got a chance to cook a nice elaborate feast.  It's been forever since I've done that!

We started with some black bean and pancetta soup, which I didn't get a chance to photograph, but went over well with the whole crowd.

For the main course, Thatboy had requested a roast chicken, since it's been a while since I made one.  I was only too happy to accommodate.

 And since I was already roasting a chicken I thought I should make my life easy and roast some root veggies to go with it.  Especially since Thatmom loves roasted root vegetables.  This was a mix of carrots, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes.  And a handful of pancetta leftover from making the soup.

I also had the ability to make some homemade bread to go with our meal.  It's been a while since I've made bread - but it's one of my favorite things to make.  Although I prefer to do it at home with a stand mixer.

 As usual, we went overboard with the dessert.  Thatmom picked up a bunch of pastries and a chocolate covered caramel apple.  And I made fruit compote and applesauce cake.  The fruit compote because it's easy - and would have been fantastic over some vanilla ice cream.  And the applesauce cake because Thatboy loves this cake.  Well, to be fair, he probably loves any cake with cream cheese, but he raves about this one every time I make it.

 Fruit Compote

1 can of pears in juice

1 can cherries in juice

1 can halved apricots, in juice

peel of one orange, cut into slivers

1 tsp vanilla

1. Drain all the juices from the fruit into a small saucepan.
2. Add the orange peel and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the fruit and the vanilla and continue cooking until heated through.

 Applesauce Cake

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup applesauce

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsps cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan with baking spray.  Cream the butter in an electric mixer.
2. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add the applesauce and blend.
4. Beat in the eggs.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.
6.  Stir in the raisins.  Spread in the pan and bake 40 minutes, or until done.
7. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

We're HOME!: Cheesecake

I'm celebrating. 

I'm celebrating the fact that we are home for the forseeable future.  No more traveling for a while!  No more trips with schedules thrown off.  No more living out of a suitcase.  No more hours upon hours in the car.

I'm celebrating the fact that I can start getting our home back in order!  Today I started with the kitchen, cleaning out the fridge and stocking it with fresh vegetables and yogurt.

I'm celebrating the New Year and all my resolutions, which yes - do have to do with my health.  Sleeping more, drinking more water, nightly situps and pushups - so stereotypical.

But even with all those healthy resolutions, there would be no celebration without a cake.  And cheesecake freezes so well, that most of this is actually in my freezer right now.  So it's not sitting around being tempting, it's tucked away for a special occasion.  A special occasion like...not having to see the inlaws for 3 months! 

Cheesecake

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

4 Tbsp melted butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb cream cheese, room temperature

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, nutmeg, cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter in a bowl and mix. 
2. Spray a 9-inch spring form pan with baking spray and pat the crumbs in bottom of pan. Place in the refrigerator until ready to fill.
3. Preheat oven to 325. Beat egg yolks with electric mixer until thick and pale. 
4. Add sour cream, flour, salt, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until well blended. 
5. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth.
6. Beat the egg whites until foamy.  
7. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and continue to beat the egg whites until they stand in peaks. 
8. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. Spoon into the crust. Bake about 70 minutes, until the center of cake doesn't tremble when gently shaken. Cool completely before serving.

Pinteresting

I'm not fabulous with social media. As anyone who knows me will attest, I am infuriatingly NOT involved with facebook, twitter, instagram or the million other ways people fill their day.  I'll admit it - I just don't get them.

The same holds true with pinterest.  I've heard people lose hours on the site, which I fully can't understand.  Whenever I use pinterest I type what I'm looking for in the search bar, scroll through what pops up, pin what I was looking for, and log off.  I usually have one board I'm working on at a time (like Thatbaby's birthday party.)

So when I got an invitation to a Pinterest White Elephant Party I was a bit at a loss.  The instructions were simple - bring a bottle of champagne, a brunch food, and a gift inspired by pinterest,.  But really, I had no clue what that meant.  I turned to my more social-media savvy friends who came up with a list of creative ideas - my very own living pinterest board!

The winning suggestion was "Sunshine in a Box," except when you live in California, no one is really clamoring for more sunshine in December.  So I decided to change the idea to "Christmas in a Box."  Same idea - a box of candy and other goodies, but red and green themed instead of yellow and white.

The rest of my party prep was easy.  Do you know what goes perfectly with a champagne brunch?  Rum cakes!  Boozy breakfast treats were never so fitting.  These cakes are not too sweet, but dipped in a rum syrup makes them quick to disappear from the table.  Just don't drive right after drinking eating them.

And the bottles of champagne were a complete necessity.  I think we went through all of them!

The rest of the spread was equally fantastic.  Many of the foods brought were inspired by - you guessed it - pinterest!

Our pinterest presents were stacked under the tree, just waiting to be chosen, opened, and stolen.

And after all the choosing, opening, and stealing, I walked away with my very own pinterest present:   

Grown up hot chocolate mix!  What makes it grown up?  Well the Baileys and Kahlua of course!

Baba Cakes (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1 pkg yeast

1 3/4 cups flour

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 lb soft butter

1/2 cup rum

1. Stir the yeast into 1/2 cup warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.
2. Add 1/2 cup of the flour and mix well with an electric mixer.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Add the 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and remaining flour.  Mix until the dough is smooth.  Cover and let rise until double in bulk.
5. Beat the softened butter into the dough, bit by bit until smooth.
6. Spray a muffin pay with baking spray.  Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups.  Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 400.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden on top.  Remove from pans and cool on a rack.
8. While the cakes are cooling, mix the remaining sugar and 1 cup of water in a small pot and boil for 10 minutes.  
9. Cool to lukewarm and then stir in the rum.
10. Dip the cakes in the sauce and spoon some over the tops of each cake.
    

A very long weekend

Last week was so mellow.  I had the office to myself, which meant Monday I got to head to the beach for a run and Wednesday I got some holiday shopping out of the way and left work early to get in another run before the holiday weekend.

I even had a whole blogging schedule planned.  Which involved me setting up posts to automatically post while we were away - Thursday would be all about Thanksgiving, Friday was dedicated to Thatboy's birthday.

But, life got in the way of preparation.  Thatbaby is going through an awful separation anxiety phase right now that involves lots of screaming and crying and very little is getting done at home.  The place is a mess, and Wednesday instead of setting up my posts Thatboy and I were busy juggling "baby duty" (which often involves Thatboy trying to wrangle away Thatbaby from me and Thatbaby escaping and hysterically coming to find me so he can cling to my leg and beg to be picked up) with packing up our stuff for our upcoming trip.  So instead I will combine our Thanksgiving and Thatboy's birthday into one combo-post.  More for your money!  2 for one!  It's Cyber Tuesday!

The holiday weekend started out so well.  We decided to travel at night, after Thatbaby was all ready for bed.  Which meant he slept almost the whole way up, and stayed asleep once we arrived.  It also meant we didn't hit any holiday traffic, since most people had already hit the road.

Thanksgiving itself went as well as could be expected.  It was much easier last year when Thatbaby wasn't doing much but sleeping.  This year I wasn't nearly as helpful, because of constant screaming and hysteria.  Have I mentioned he won't sleep past 6am anymore?  Last year he could be passed from family member to family member, but the separation anxiety this year meant I didn't get to do nearly as much mingling as I would have liked.  The food was delicious though, and we had nearly a record number of attendees this year, requiring 3 tables! 

Friday was Thatboy's birthday! The original plan was to go to breakfast at The Original Pancake House, which is his favorite place ever.  But he selflessly decided to give that up when Toxicesq and China decided they didn't want to get up early to have breakfast and wanted to eat closer to their hotel.  This should have served to foreshadow the disappointment that was this weekend, but we unknowingly pushed on.

The one thing Thatboy really wanted to do was see a movie in the theaters on his birthday.  It's a real luxury for us - the last time we saw a movie in theaters was for my birthday, in June.  So Thatmom and Toxicesq volunteered to watch Thatbaby while we saw Life of Pi, and after we were going to all go out to dinner to celebrate Thatboy's birthday.  Notice I said "were."  Thatboy's birthday dinner never happened. 

While we were at the movie, Thatmom gave TMD and Thatdog a new treat - beef lungs.  Well apparently beef lungs are the best tasting thing in the entire world, because the dogs started fighting over them.  And in the process of separating them, Thatmom put her hand between the dogs' mouths and got bit.  Badly bit.  ER visit with stitches bit.  And that, my friends is what happened to the rest of our weekend. 

There was no birthday dinner for Thatboy on Friday.  Saturday, instead of meeting my friend for coffee or having a makeup breakfast for Thatboy, I was undressing and redressing Thatmom's hand and getting her ready for Thanksgiving with her boyfriend's family.  Saturday night, for Thatboy's birthday, I had planned a nice grownup evening where we could eat dinner without worrying about our 30 inch time-bomb going off, then we were going to head to a hotel where we could have some time away from a screaming-all-the-time-baby.  Where we could sleep until we woke up naturally, not because it was 5:57 and our 30-inch alarm clock was blaring from his bed.  Instead, we had leftovers and took turns trying to get Thatbaby to sleep as he woke every 20 minutes, while Thatmom and her boyfriend headed out for our nice dinner and hotel night. 

Sunday morning we were going to have a nice breakfast, just the two of us, before heading back into the reality that is our life right now.  Instead, I tried to make Thatboy his favorite kind of pancake, which ended up getting burned because I was preoccupied with screaming Thatbaby, while Thatmom called to let me know her and her boyfriend were going to have a nice breakfast before heading to the doctor to check on her hand.

To say I'm bitter about how the weekend turned out is an understatement.  Disappointed only begins to cover it.  Thatboy's birthday will go down as possibly his worst ever, but even more so we both realized that there is no break for us from what is our life right now.  There are no "escape for just one night"s.  We're both feeling fairly isolated, tired, and stressed out, and on top of it all, all three of us are now battling the cold from hell, which doesn't make things any easier.

The only good thing that came out of this weekend, was this cake, which I miraculously managed to put together Friday morning after breakfast while Thatbaby napped.  Thatboy wanted a chocolate cake for his birthday. A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that was so rich he could only take a bite or two before being overwhelmed with the chocolateyness of it all.  I found a copy-cat recipe for The Cheesecake Factory's Blackout Cake that certainly fit the bill.  Thatboy made sure we took the cake back home with us when we left on Sunday.

Blackout Cake (A Cheesecake Factory Knock-off)

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened (plus 2 Tbsp)
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract, divided
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/3 cup boiling water
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans with baking spray. 
2. Cream 1 1/2 sticks of butter in an electric mixer.  
3. Add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, 1 at a time, waiting until each is mixed in before adding the next.
5. Add in 2 tsps of vanilla and beat until well blended.
6. Add in melted chocolate and beat 1-2 minutes.
7. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. 
8. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk.  Beat until well blended.
9. With the mixture on low speed, slowly add the boiling water and beat until smooth.  
10. Pour into prepared pans and bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks and let cool completely.
11.  In a microwaveable- safe glass bowl, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream.  Heat in microwave for 3 minutes on high.
12. Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp butter and remaining 1 tsp vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour, or until ganache holds its shape and is thick enough to spread on cake.
13. Cover a cake layer with a little more than 1/3 of chocolate ganache. Set second layer on top. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining ganache.  Refrigerate cake 3-4 hours, or until ganache is firm, before serving.

Cake for the Weekend

Lately it seems like the weeks are flying by.  I attribute it to the fact that my days are busy, I'm home for such short periods of time, and during daylight hours I pretty much don't get to see daylight.

Which means I really look forward to the weekend, but the weekend also comes along so quickly.  (It also goes by too quickly, but that's another one of those first world problems.) 

I like spending time in the kitchen when I can on the weekends.  It gives me a sense of peace.  Especially if my kitchen time coincides with someone's naptime.  Because otherwise "peace" isn't a word I'd use to describe any of my time.  It is ridiculously difficult to pour cake batter into a pan while holding a baby on your hip.

This cake is exactly how I like my weekends - easy, simple, and sweet.  Not too sweet though.  In fact, Thatboy enjoyed a slice for breakfast, finding that it was a great complement to coffee.  And without a mound of sugar in the cake or frosting, I even felt okay giving a bite to Thatbaby.  I kept it extra light by filling the cake with fresh whipped cream and topping it with just a bit of powdered sugar.  If it were summer, I would love to serve it with some fresh berries.

Nut Torte (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

5 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

2 cups ground walnuts

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a two 8-inch round pans with baking spray.  Beat the egg yolks until pale and thick.
2. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until well blended.
3. Stir in the walnuts, crumbs, baking powder, and vanilla, and mix well.
4. Beat the egg whites separately until foamy, add the salt, and continue to beat until stiff but not dry.
5. Gently stir a third of the whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.
6. Spread in the pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto racks to cool.

My Little Punkin'

Last Friday when I dropped Thatbaby off at daycare, he didn't really want me to leave.  "We're going to have so much fun today Thatbaby!" his teacher said as she tried to coax him from my arms.  "We're going to paint pumpkins, and go on a wagon ride!"

Thatbaby must have had a great time painting his pumpkin, because he was hooked from that moment on.  When helping Thatboy decorate our entry way, he immediately was drawn to our decorative pumpkins, which actually do a fair job of bouncing.

But, lest he should come to believe all pumpkins are made from glitter, paper, and foam we decided a trip to an actual pumpkin patch was in order.

As soon as we got there, he made a bee-line for the pumpkins.

 He wanted to pick each one of them up.

 He had more success with some than others.

And in addition to the pumpkins, there was lots of other stuff to explore.  Like hay tunnels.

We brought Thatdog with us for some fresh air.  And to help babysit.

 

There is nothing that Thatbaby enjoys more than rolling around.  As soon as he saw the carts he started pointing to them and asking for "more" which is pretty much his way of asking for anything.  We were more than happy to accommodate, since  it's hard to carry a bunch of pumpkins and a baby.

Do you see Thatbaby's lips in this picture?  How they're pursed?  That's because when you wheel him around he tries to make a "vroom vroom" sound, but it comes out more like "mmmmm mmmmm" or raspberry blowing.

He was a sport for a little while, so I could get some pictures.

But before long, he had had enough of the spotlight.

Luckily he cheered up as soon as he was back in his racecar, holding his pumpkin, and watching the alpacas.

This would be the perfect place for a pumpkin recipe, wouldn't it?  Well then you will surely be disappointed.  It's October and I've already delved into my stack of chili recipes, but haven't bought a can of pumpkin yet.  Don't worry, I'm sure there will be many pumpkin recipes on their way.  Until then, I'll leave you with a cake that is more attune to the type of weather we've been having - summer weather. 

Up until today, it has been unseasonably warm, which puts me in the mood for a light dessert.  And this ranks up there with something truly airy.  This Daffodil cake is a twist on an angel food cake, with most of the batter being comprised of egg whites, flour, and sugar.  But some of the batter has egg yolk stirred in, giving bright, sunny, yellow bursts of color in the otherwise white cake.  The amount of egg whites in this cake make it light and almost guilty free.  Perfect for these last days of warm weather.

Daffodil Cake (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

 

Preheat oven to 375°F.
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla
9 egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
4 egg yolks
2 tsp grated orange rind

Frosting:
4 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 tsp grated orange rind 

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Combine salt, vanilla, and egg whites in bowl of electric mixer.  Beat until the egg whites hold a soft peak.
2. Slowly add 1 cup of the sugar and beat just until the sugar is blended.
3. Fold in the flour in 4 additions.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and orange rind until thick.
5. Add the remaining sugar and beat until thick and light in color. 
6. Fold a third of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture until blended.  Fill an ungreased tube pan, alternating large spoonfuls of the white batter with the yellow batter. Bake 35 minutes.
7. For the frosting, cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff.  Combine the egg whites and butter and blend.  Stir in the lemon extract and orange rind.