Flourless Chocolate Torte #1

When the man asked me for a chocolate torte, I said "Sure" without a second thought, nevermind I'd never made one before. Fortunately, I decided I had to try out some recipes before I delivered the final product. This is recipe number one, from Williams-Sonoma.

Ingredients:

15 oz Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped. (I used semisweet, and wasn't entirely pleased with the results.)

2 1/4 sticks butter, cut into small pieces

7 egg yolks

9 T sugar

1.5 T dark rum or espresso (I used rum)

1.5 t vanilla extract

pinch of salt

5 egg whites, room temp

raspberries, for serving

Preheat oven to 300. Grease a cake pan or springform, and dust with sugar or cocoa powder

Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler. Stir often. (See my make-shift double boiler below. Apparently, the water isn't supposed to touch the bottom of the bowl when melting chocolate). Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks, 6 T sugar, rum, vanilla and salt on medium high speed using a hand or stand mixer. Beat until very thick and pale, 3-5 minutes. Gradually pour in the chocolate mixture and beat until well blended.

In a large, clean bowl, beat egg whites using hand or stand mixer. (It's important that there is no oil or grease or yolk in the bowl, because if there is, the whites won't whip up to full capacity). Whip for about a minute, then gradually add the remaining 3 T of sugar and continue to mix until stiff peaks form; about 2 minutes.

Scoop half of the egg whites into the chocolate, and stir until combined. Then stir in the second half, trying not to lose too much air from the egg whites. Fold just until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake at 300 until the center is moist, but not liquid, about 40 minutes.

Let cool on a rack for half an hour,then remove from pan. Let chill for at least four hours.

Now, this is what the bottom of my torte looked like, because it puffed up really big while baking, then settled down into cracks and cracks. I actually thought this looked nice, but wouldn't sell at the restaurant so I turned it upside-down and added ganache on top.

If I made this again, I would run a knife around the edges when it came out of the oven so that it could settle without cracking quite so much. I would also serve it at room temp, right side up and I would use better chocolate.

BBA Sourdough Fail

It was a beautiful rainy day, and after several days of preparing my sourdough starter, i was ready to bake.

The previous night I mixed the barm I'd been fermenting with flour and water to make the starter. You can see it above in a plastic bag. Below, you can see how I cut it up into pieces and mixed it with flour, salt and water to make the dough.

The next step was to let rise at room temp for 3-4 hours, until plastic wrap. Maybe the starter was bad, or maybe this is where I went wrong, because I only covered it with a towel, and at the end of 3.5 hrs, it had not risen very much and had a crust on top.

Undaunted, I carried on, dividing it into two boules, which I also set under a towel to rise for an hour.

After an hour had passed, they hadn't rised at all, and we were late for Chinese Thanksgiving* at Fred's house, but I decided to bake them anyway. I went through the whole process of spraying and steaming the oven, and in the end, I just had to turn off the oven and hope they were done.

When we came back that night, this is what we had:

Pasty, dense excuses for bread. And when I looked inside, the crust that has formed during the first rise remained, hiding inside the loaf like an alien, ready to burst forth...

Needless to say, I will have to try this again.

*Chinese Thanksgiving. A tradition that Fred and his friends started in college, where friends get together sometime near thanksgiving and order chinese food and eat on the floor. This was last sunday. I brought a chocolate torte to get feedback on, and we ordered just about every chicken dish that the place had.

Thanksgiving week!

Thanksgiving Pie on the Porch!

Sorry I've been sort of MIA here; it's been a crazy Thanksgiving week. I had 6 cake orders, in addition to normal baking for the restaurant and the in-laws coming and my first cooking of the Thanksgiving meal.

I was mad excited to have so many orders. I drove around with Linda the day before thanksgiving, trying to drive Eric's stick shift smoothly, delivering my goods. I made 2 Hummingbird cakes, a PB Cup cheesecake, a Banana Cake from Cakelove, a Gateau de Crepe, and a flourless chocolate torte. Let's just say it was a stressful 36 hours.

I was invited into a couple of the residences, both extremely unique slash ridic by Augusta standards.

One man makes couture mosaic belt buckles that he sells at high end craft shows and have been seen on stars at the CMAs. (picture him with long graying hair pulled back in a low ponytail, hit denim shirt half untucked and the glint of buckle just visible below his slight paunch.) He energetically gave me the tour: he showed me a Starry-Night painted refrigerator, a black casket-turned wine closet, a creepy framed decaying receipt for a slave sale and countless gem-encrusted butterfly belt buckles. He was so impressed that I pulled through with the torte, that he payed me 20% extra, kapow!

One woman has turned her home into a shrine for the arts, and she does not discriminate; she loves art of all kinds. Her entryway is full of African masks, her kitchen decorated in a south-west theme with blue tile counters and tastefully distressed cabinets with Anthro pulls, the front of each step on the stairway leading to the upper level are lined with mish mash of painted ceramic tiles, and livingroom walls covered, simply loaded with oil paintings, each overwhelmed by massive and ornate gold frames. Linda, the art historian, was drawn to the carved Moroccan chest supporting the 4 ft wide TV. She said it reminded her of the sarcophagi that she studies.

The rest I delivered to the restaurant, quiet on the eve of Thanksgiving, which meant I could finally relax.

Oh, no wait. We still had to have our own Thanksgiving.

We roasted our turkey upsidedown and overnight at 225. It turned out well. I used Martha's recipe for Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie, and I couldn't have asked for better pie, also her honey-glazed carrots and gravy. When in doubt, I turn to Martha. And she rarely fails.

Our love nest where we slept while we gave our bed to the parents:

Our couches make a square when pushed together! Separate, they are very nice too.

And now, in the aftermath of Thanksgiving, my house is cleaner now that it ever has been before, thanks to Linda Fuchs.

The Fuches taking a computer break:

Cherry-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes by Cakelove...Fail

I'm already plotting new cherry cupcakes, because this one failed so spectacularly. I'm envisioning a Ben n Jerry's Cherry Garcia inspired cupcake.

The flavor wasn't awful, but what the heck do you do with an inverted cupcake?

Perhaps someone can tell me: Was the recipe bad? Did I somehow screw up the recipe? Could this have been solved by not overfilling the cupcake papers?

This cupcake featured chopped dried cherries, cherry puree (made by boiling sugar and frozen cherry puree), chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

Undoubtedly, the best part of the experience was Italian Meringue Buttercream with Cherry Puree. Make the IMB recipe, and add about 1/4 cup cherry puree. It's beautiful.

The cupcake bowls provided a space to slather on about 3 times as much frosting as necessary, but while this cherry frosting was killa dilla...too much is too much.

Fail :(

Mojito Cake by Cakelove

As we know, Mojitos are one of the best uses for rum. And there are a lot of fantastic uses for rum, as my roommates and I explored our senior year of college.

Examples:

Hot Rum Spiced Cider

Rum-nana Pancakes

Rice Pudding flavoring

Actually, flavoring just about any dessert. Also any drink or icecream.

We thought that buying the massive jug of rum would be more cost effective and last us a long time. It did not, because it's very presence inspired us to add it to almost everything we ate or drank.

Anyway...why not a mojito cake? Thanks, Cakelove!

Preheat to 350. Prepare two 9 in cake pans.

Ingredients:

12 oz AP flour (or 2 cups plus 2 T)

1/4 cup potato starch

1 t salt

1/4 vanilla powder (I omitted this.)

1/4 t baking soda

3 whole cloves, ground (I used pre-ground)

1/3 cup oven dried mint (place mint leaves in an aluminum foil pouch. poke holes with a fork. bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Crush with fingers and remove stems. )

Whisk together and set aside

2/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup half and half

3 T dark rum

2 t vanilla extract

1 t molasses

1 t lemoncello (I was unable to find this at our liquor store, so I used

1 lime, zested (to add to the butter and sugar) and segmented (meaning cutting the juice pods away from the white segments holding them to the middle. So you have just juice pods and no strings or tough parts) (add the juice pods to the rest of these ingredients)

Whisk together and set aside

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

18 oz (2 1/4 cups) extra fine sugar

2 t minced lime zest

4 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

Cream the butter, sugar and lime zest in a mixer at low speed until light and fluffy, about 5 min.

Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, fully blending each.

Add the dry and wet ingredients, alternating in 3 to 5 additions, in about a minute (don't linger over this step.) Scrape the mixer, and then beat on medium for 15-20 sec.

Pour into cake pans and bake about 30 min, until a knife or skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean.

I saved some batter and made myself a couple cupcakes:

While your cakes are cooling (don't remove from the pans until they are cool, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate), make your Rum Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe in previous post).

Doctor up your layers, pile them on, do the crumb coat, chill, and then glop on the frosting. You may want to garnish with mint leaves and Raw Sugar.

Be sure to serve at Room temp. This cake is a little denser, and is in fact called a pound cake in the book. So for the cake an icing to be soft, pull out of the fridge about an hour before serving.

"Mr. Banana Legs" by Cakelove

Here is the second attempt at the Banana Cake from Cakelove; this time i followed the recipe to the letter AND used my NEW KITCHEN SCALE!!! And really, why would you dirty all those cup measures when you could just pour everything into a bowl on a scale?

This cake lived up to the hype- it was lighter and more cake-like than any banana baked good I've ever had. Also, I discovered Rum Flavored Italian Meringue Buttercream, which may be the best thing I've ever had in my mouth. True story.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 min

Ingredients:

AP flour: 10 oz (or 2 cups)

potato starch: 1 T (I found this in this "healthy" section of Kroger, near the bulk grains.)

turbinado sugar: 1 T (I used Sugar in the Raw)

salt: 1/2 t

baking soda: 1/4 t

nutmeg: 1 whole (I used ground, not sure how much it is supposed to be)

* Mix these ingredients together and set aside

6 oz very ripe bananas (the book claims this is three, but according to my NEW KITCHEN SCALE, it is not quite 2. I went with the weight rather than number of bananas.)

3/4 cup half and half

1 T dark rum

* Blend or food process these ingredients for 30 sec or until smooth and set aside

6 oz (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened.

21 oz (or 2 3/4 cup) extra fine sugar

4 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

Directions:

Cream the butter and sugar together at low speed until pale and fluffy, 3-5 min. Add the eggs and yolks one by one, blending fully between each. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, in three to five additions. Add them quickly, don't bother waiting until each is fully blended. Do it in about one minute. Then blend at medium speed for 15-20 sec to "develop the batter's structure."

Spray the bottom of two 9 in cake pans, and divide the batter between the two. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, and remove from oven. Let cool for 30 min before removing from pan. Let cool completely, and refridge until ready to use.

Meanwhile, prepare the ganache and frosting. For the Ganache, as always, heat one part heavy cream then pour in 1.5 parts chocolate, let melt, and stir til smooth.

Then move onto the FANTASTIC FROSTING. And if you have a mixer, so easy.

1-1/4 cup sugar, divided

1/4 cup water

5 large egg whites

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened

3 T rum, or whatever other flavor you want to use.

In a small saucepan with a lid, combine 1 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water. Stir thoroughly and put the lid on. Heat at medium-high heat while you put 5 large egg whites in your mixer. Whip these up into stiff peaks, which should on take a minute or two.

Keep an eye on your sugar. You don't want it to turn golden, but you do want it to reach the temperature of 245. I don't have a candy thermometer, so I wait til I think it's about to turn gold. Is it the best system? Probably not. Has it worked so far? Absolutely.

When stiff peaks form in the eggs, add 1/4 cup sugar, while the mixer is running. When the sugar in the pan is hot enough, slowly add the syrup to the egg whites, again, while the mixer is running.

Reduce the speed to medium and run for about 5 min, until the mixture has cooled.

Add the softened butter, one tablespoon at a time. When all is added, increase the mixer speed to high again for a couple minutes to make sure the frosting is smooth. Add your flavor, in this case, RUM:) Aaand you're done!

To assemble:

Remove the cake from the fridge, and doctor it up with a knife. You might want to rub off all the brown parts- the overdone crumbs. You might want to cut off the top of on of the cakes for an even layer.

Then brush the tops of each layer with Chocolate Ganache, and put sliced bananas on what will be the bottom layer. Put these in the freezer for a few minutes to harden the chocolate so it's easier to spread the frosting on it without making choco-streaking frosting.

When it's ready, spread a thick layer of meringue on the bottom layer, and then place the top layer. Spread a thin "crumb coat" of frosting over the entire cake, to seal in any troublesome crumbs. Refrigerate or freeze for 5 or so more minutes to harden the coat.

Finally, spread the meringue all over the cake, making interesting textures or keeping it smooth. And you're done!

Final Thoughts:

1. DEFINITELY serve this cake at room temp. The frosting becomes harder and somehow brittle when cold. It is a constant conundrum that the cakes at the restaurant have to be stored in the cold case, and so are not served at the optimal taste temperature.

2. The cake, the ganache and the frosting are all amazing, phenomenal, even when they exist by themselves. When combined, there is somewhat of a disconnect. To me (and Eric, who usually declines to comment on such things), they don't exactly complement each other- the frosting is very light, but does fight for attention with the denser cake. So maybe you and I can find different uses for these delicious elements. That said, it's still a great cake and worth the time and the calories.

I have a Wheeeeeeeeeel!!!

It CAME it came it came it came it came it CAME!!!!!!

ONE day after I ordered it, the nice fedex man brought it to my door.

And I am thrilled, and we are de-grossing the basement to make a nice home for it.

I can't move it with out Eric's help.

Pics of the studio to come! It's almost ready.