Barefoot Bloggers – Birthday Sheet Cake & Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

Welcome to chocolate overload zone!

I made these cakes on the same day during my Ramadan blogging hiatus. The making of both is somewhat of a blur (which you are no doubt thankful for). I was so geared up to make these, especially the sheet cake because who wouldn’t want a humongous chocolate cake with fudgy icing (well, except Kayte). See, in my mind, I had turned this into a chocolate sheet cake and was euphoric about the Barefoot Bloggers selections for September. Two cakes! Both chocolate! That is, until I realized this wasn’t a chocolate cake at all. Ultimate bummer.

We aren’t huge fans of white or yellow cake, so I doctored the cake batter with a healthy dose of Vietnamese cinnamon. The end result was a subtly cinnamon cake with chocolate icing that was delicious. It’s a very sturdy cake, not a tender crumb but perfect for a child’s birthday party. Since there were no available children having birthdays, I took this to the mosque to serve after iftar (the meal we have after breaking our fast in the evening) and it was very popular.

But Beatty’s chocolate cake was a transcendent chocolate experience. I pulled out all the stops and used the “good” chocolate as Ina always suggests. It was moist, and oh the frosting, the frosting, the frosting. I iced the cake in record time (hence the awful appearance and specks of butter, which melted right in and didn’t affect the texture or flavor) before I had to leave for the evening, and left the kitchen looking like it had been used for a kindergarten cooking class. Since I was fasting when I made and iced the cake, I didn’t taste any of it until I got home around midnight. Oh my. I licked the offset spatula, mixing bowl, paddle from the mixer and the plate on which I set the paddle. Too much information? Sorry. So much for losing weight during Ramadan.

This cake is The One. My new go-to chocolate cake recipe. As in go to this website and get the recipe. Make it tonight or this weekend. Just don’t deprive yourself (or the chocolate lover in your life) of it any longer than the weekend. I told M. I was making it for his birthday (which was last month, but he was on a business trip), and then I ate more of it than he did.

If you’d like to check out what the other Barefoot Bloggers did, you can find them all here.

Dorie’s Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

This week, my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers are making the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, selected by Melissa at Life in a Peanut Shell. She makes the most amazing creations! I tried to get these done before taking a blogging break for Ramadan, but the days and hours evaporated. I do plan to make these and will post about them after Ramadan is over.

All is not lost because one thing I did fit is was Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream. I can truly say (and report from others) that this was the most chocolaty ice cream I have ever had. It starts out with making the eponymous ganache, a mixture of cream and chocolate (I used Valrhona Guanaja 70%). Then you make the custard, fold it all together, and chill it in the refrigerator until it’s cool enough to churn in your ice cream maker. Since it’s practically solid after chilling in the fridge, it doesn’t take a long time to turn it into ice cream.

Make sure you leave a little in the bowl for sampling!

If you love chocolate, you need to make this. It’s easy, incredibly delicious, and since it’s so rich, a little goes a long way. Because of its high chocolate content, it needs to sit out on the counter to soften up before serving. Although it’s tempting to sneak a taste, the flavor will be better if it isn’t frozen solid. I mostly served mine unadorned, because topping it with hot fudge was, yes, way over the top.

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I won’t be actively blogging, but if you leave a comment, I will visit you. I’ll return around Sept. 22nd, refreshed after the blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.

TWD – Brownie Buttons My Way

Allie is modeling (but not tasting) this week’s TWD pick, Brownie Buttons, chosen for us by Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen, though I experimented by making these with the Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies recipe, resulting in perfect little morsels of brownie deliciousness, no dipping or glazing needed or desired.

TWD – Classic Banana Bundt Cake

I am living proof that sometimes, learning does not occur.

I looked at the title of this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, I thought “how dull.” I mean, I’ve made hundreds of banana breads, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, smoothies, etc. What did I really need with yet another recipe that starts with mashed extra ripe bananas?

Well, those other banana recipes weren’t Dorie’s recipes. You would think I would have learned by now that Dorie’s recipes are in a class by themselves.

I have a banana bread recipe I have made since woolly mammoths roamed the earth. It’s moist, easy and made entirely in the food processor. I’ve never shared it with you, although I have meant to.

Sharing it is now unnecessary.

Say hello to Dorie’s banana bundt cake. It may be the only banana recipe you ever need.

In the interest of fair disclosure, I have to admit I added a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and I topped it with Dorie’s chocolate glaze. For some unknown reason (operator error? serendipity?), the “glaze” didn’t glaze at all. It became semi firm, and I was distraught that I had done that to my lovely cake. I brought it in to work, wrote a note of apology for the Glaze That Didn’t, and went on with my morning.

And then the accolades started rolling in. People were wowed by the cake. They loved the chewy nature of the Glaze That Didn’t. They told me not to change a thing next time. I hadn’t tasted it yet, so I grabbed a taste thinking they were being kind.

It was fantastic, and I agree completely that the chewy Glaze That Didn’t was perfect the way it was. For as many times as I’ve made banana bread, I’m very ambivalent about it. I like my bananas eaten as a piece of fruit. But this cake changed all that.

Mary of The Food Librarian picked this week’s recipe, and she scored big points here. She’ll have the recipe posted, but be sure to spend some time on her blog. I LOVE her photography and I think you will, too.

Blondie Hot Fudge Sundaes…Blame Pamela

When I saw Pamela at Cookies with Boys had made these blondies, and they were so good she was almost speechless, it got my attention. When she said she would make them with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge the next time, I knew how I was spending my evening.

The recipe for the blondies came from Bon Appetit, and although it was straightforward, I had to mix it up a little bit. I decided to make them with browned butter instead of just plain melted butter, thinking the browned butter and brown sugar would be reminiscent of these cookies.

Don’t bother. The brown butter flavor was lost in these since butter was not a predominant ingredient. These were so good and so easy to make! I love the sweet and salty flavor profile and have loved peanuts with ice cream since I was a kid. I will definitely play around with them more next time, but not with browned butter.

Next, I attacked the ice cream part of Pamela’s vision. Dorie Greenspan’s vanilla ice cream is my go-to recipe for vanilla ice cream. I’ve made it so many times, and made so many flavor variations (check back next week for some of them), that I almost know the recipe by heart. It has the most intense vanilla flavor in the very best vanilla base. This time, I didn’t have a vanilla bean so I used some vanilla bean paste. While the cream was steeping, I tackled the hot fudge.

I have used the same hot fudge recipe for the last 18 years, since I was a toddler thirty-something. I cut it out of Gourmet and it is the very best hot fudge recipe I have ever tried. That statement may be misleading since I stopped trying new hot fudge recipes after I found it! It’s unctuously smooth and has a great mouth feel and huge punch of chocolate. I used Valrhona chocolate and cocoa, but that’s an indulgence that childless people like me can afford. We don’t have braces and college educations to worry about, so the disposable income goes for chocolate.

Rich Hot Fudge Sauce

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 sticks butter, cut into bits (I do chunks, but I’m lazy)
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
2/3 c heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, then stir in the cocoa powder, butter, sugars and the cream (I usually mix the sugars and the cocoa together in a bowl with a fork, bypassing the sifting, and let the sugars melt in before adding the cream). Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring, and simmer it until it is smooth and the sugar is dissolved (it should be glossy). Pour it into a 2 cup measuring cup or microwave safe decorative pitcher (I use either a small glass milk bottle or porcelain pitcher.) To reheat, microwave for about 15 seconds, swirl it around and repeat until it is quite warm but not hot.

Still grainy

It’s almost a ganache, so it’s pretty firm when cold, so you can scoop it out and roll the balls in cocoa and pretend they’re truffles. They’re not firm for very long so eat up.

Once all of the components were made, it was time to sample the winning combination Pamela envisioned. I cut the blondies in small squares, topped then with smallish scoops of vanilla ice cream and poured on a little hot fudge.

This combination will blow your mind. It is so perfect with the creamy, chewy, salty and sweet flavors. I took the entire operation to work (these were dangerous to have in the house!) and they were a big hit at work too. Thanks, Pamela, for bringing these blondies to my attention. If you become as addicted to these as we did, blame Pamela.

TWD – Nutella Cherry and Peach Brioche Tartlets

Dorie, I’ve been unfaithful to you.

It was laziness, pure and simple.

I was making brioche from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, and I didn’t want to double up on brioche with just two of us. So I cut off two little pieces and used them for tartlets instead of making your brioche.

I’m sorry.

I’m not a plum lover, but I know you like it when we play around with the recipe, so I made one tartlet with cherries and Nutella and one with white peaches from my tree and Christine Ferber jam I bought at your favorite pastry shop in Paris. Yes, that one. I sampled a few pastries and swooned while I was there, too.

Are we OK?

Good.

I should have checked the tartlets sooner, because after 20 minutes, they were very brown, even underneath (I popped them out to peek at their little bottoms). I cooled them on a rack, then regretted not having any of your vanilla ice cream to have with them. But at the same time I was pinching myself-I couldn’t believe I was making this recipe. When the July recipes were announced, I noticed that one of them required a yeast dough. Yeast and I have never been friends. So I finished the other three recipes by June 30th so I could have the entire month free to stress about making a yeast dough.

Then I made Anne’s yeast rolls, which were easy and delicious. And then I started tackling The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. So making brioche was not the angst-ridden event I had anticipated.

The tartlets? They were fabulous, with the Nutella cherry tartlet the absolute favorite. The Nutella kept the cherry juice in check and the brioche formed a crisp and tender crust under it all. Perfection. The peach was delicious as well. I might as well admit we split the two tartlets for dinner one night. Very decadent, but doesn’t that say “Paris” to you? It does me, and it does to the man I love.

Thanks for giving us a dessert that made us remember our trip just two months ago.

*******

Once the brioche dough was made, this is an ultra-easy and impressive dessert. I honestly did very little according to the recipe because M. had just gotten home from a trip and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time away from him. So all the rising and slapping down of the dough didn’t happen. I let the dough rest in the fridge, then put it in the tartlet pans and added the fillings and let it rise before baking it off. I can’t express how wonderful the Nutella tartlet smelled while it was in the oven. I think the next one I try will have a Nutella filling and be served with ice cream or creme fraiche.

We have Denise of Chez Us to thank for selecting this delectable tart for us to make. I’m sure I wasn’t the only TWD baker who looked at this one with trepidation, but I again learned that the ones I want to opt out of are the ones I need to make. They’re the ones that surprise me, teach me new skills and give me an appreciation of new desserts.

TWD – Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies

Thank God TWD has a new logo! Not that there was anything wrong with the previous logo, but the winner of the new logo design contest got to pick the first July recipe, and Lisa of Surviving Oz (Lisa is Jaime‘s friend) designed the winning logo and chose Dorie’s Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies. They are by far the best brownies I’ve ever had. Great pick, Lisa!

Can I tell you how much I wanted to make these brownies? I made them on the second day of a heat wave that had our high temperature around 100 degrees…and we don’t have air conditioning. It’s not that unusual to not have A/C in the Bay area. It’s pretty unusual that you’d voluntarily turn on your oven when the forecast high is 102 degrees!

But I REALLY wanted to make these. So I did. At the crack of dawn. In my pajamas. With only the under cabinet lights on.

Maybe nobody else will be able to offer you this kind of insight, but these brownies are pretty easy to make in near-darkness. I did make one mistake, but I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with the hour, the heat or the fact that I was wearing my PJs.

I overzealously scraped the bowl when putting the brownie batter in the pan. After I put the pan in the oven and licked the single drip on the spatula, I realized my mistake, but it was too late.

So make sure you leave just the tiniest amount in the bowl. It’s the chef’s reward to lick the bowl. I read that in Kate’s memoir.

Not really, but I think she’d approve.

Ina Garten’s Curried Couscous, Ellie Krieger’s Double Chocolate Pudding Pie AND My 100th Post!

Talk about a mega post!

This week’s Barefoot Bloggers recipe is Ina’s Curried Couscous, selected by Ellyn of Recipe Collector & Tester. We love couscous and I’m always trying to think of new ways to make it exciting. Trust Ina to come up with a tasty twist on this go-to side dish.

I changed up the recipe somewhat, substituting whole wheat couscous, nixxing the red onion (figuring the spring onions have enough onion flavor), substituting cilantro for parsley (sorry cilantro haters!) and slivered almonds for sliced. I also tossed in a can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans for some added protein and called it dinner! What can I say, I was going to make tandoori chicken to serve along side but that requires taking the chicken out of the freezer. Maybe next time!

This was soooo tasty and it made (in typical Ina fashion) a ton of couscous. We’ll be eating it for a while, and I’ll have plenty of chances to dress it up with different proteins and make it seem new. It had a great curry flavor without being overbearing, and the almonds and carrot gave it a nice crunch. Definitely another great recipe from Ina. Thanks, Ellyn for a wonderful pick!

For Craving Ellie in My Belly, we made Double Chocolate Pudding Pie, selected by Tessa of Handle the Heat. This recipe was so easy, I made it at 6 AM before work, with time left over for 20 minutes of cardio (I MUST counteract all of these!) and a shower before leaving for work. Hearts make me happy, so I used these mini tart pans I got while we were in Paris. I also wanted to break in my new mini pie pan, and two of the heart shaped ramekins I bought about 10 years ago at Williams-Sonoma and have never used. Truly. I made Ellie’s graham cracker crust almost as written (no water, extra tablespoon of butter and one additional graham cracker sheet). I didn’t mess with the filling, using 70% bittersweet for the chocolate. I did follow one Food Network reviewer’s suggestion to sprinkle the gelatin over cold water rather than hot, and I didn’t have any clumping at all. It took ten minutes of constant whisking before the chocolate mixture thickened. Once it did, I actually LISTENED to the voice in my head that said to use a ladle to fill the various tins, ramekins, molds, etc. No spills to clean up, though we won’t talk about what happened to the traces clinging to the side of the pan.

This was delicious! The crust wasn’t as sturdy as my usual butter-laden graham cracker crust, but this was outrageously chocolaty and the perfect portion size. Truth be told, I preferred the ones I made sans crust, as the graham cracker crust interfered with my enjoyment of the chocolate pudding. If you prefer a less assertive chocolate flavor, you could substitute milk chocolate and the flavor would mellow out.

And finally, this is my 100th post. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and can’t get my head around it. When I started this blog last fall, it was to be a part of Tuesdays with Dorie. I’ve since joined Craving Ellie in My Belly and Barefoot Bloggers, and have gotten more out of blogging than I could have ever imagined. I love to cook, and I love to share my cooking, and this is just another way to share. Most of all, I love visiting your blogs to see what YOU’RE cooking, to be inspired by you, to learn from you, and to share in your story. You have elevated my cooking by your words and your sharing, and I am a better cook and baker because of you. Thank you.

Ina Garten’s Curried Couscous, Ellie Krieger’s Double Chocolate Pudding Pie AND My 100th Post!

Talk about a mega post!

This week’s Barefoot Bloggers recipe is Ina’s Curried Couscous, selected by Ellyn of Recipe Collector & Tester. We love couscous and I’m always trying to think of new ways to make it exciting. Trust Ina to come up with a tasty twist on this go-to side dish.

I changed up the recipe somewhat, substituting whole wheat couscous, nixxing the red onion (figuring the spring onions have enough onion flavor), substituting cilantro for parsley (sorry cilantro haters!) and slivered almonds for sliced. I also tossed in a can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans for some added protein and called it dinner! What can I say, I was going to make tandoori chicken to serve along side but that requires taking the chicken out of the freezer. Maybe next time!

This was soooo tasty and it made (in typical Ina fashion) a ton of couscous. We’ll be eating it for a while, and I’ll have plenty of chances to dress it up with different proteins and make it seem new. It had a great curry flavor without being overbearing, and the almonds and carrot gave it a nice crunch. Definitely another great recipe from Ina. Thanks, Ellyn for a wonderful pick!

For Craving Ellie in My Belly, we made Double Chocolate Pudding Pie, selected by Tessa of Handle the Heat. This recipe was so easy, I made it at 6 AM before work, with time left over for 20 minutes of cardio (I MUST counteract all of these!) and a shower before leaving for work. Hearts make me happy, so I used these mini tart pans I got while we were in Paris. I also wanted to break in my new mini pie pan, and two of the heart shaped ramekins I bought about 10 years ago at Williams-Sonoma and have never used. Truly. I made Ellie’s graham cracker crust almost as written (no water, extra tablespoon of butter and one additional graham cracker sheet). I didn’t mess with the filling, using 70% bittersweet for the chocolate. I did follow one Food Network reviewer’s suggestion to sprinkle the gelatin over cold water rather than hot, and I didn’t have any clumping at all. It took ten minutes of constant whisking before the chocolate mixture thickened. Once it did, I actually LISTENED to the voice in my head that said to use a ladle to fill the various tins, ramekins, molds, etc. No spills to clean up, though we won’t talk about what happened to the traces clinging to the side of the pan.

This was delicious! The crust wasn’t as sturdy as my usual butter-laden graham cracker crust, but this was outrageously chocolaty and the perfect portion size. Truth be told, I preferred the ones I made sans crust, as the graham cracker crust interfered with my enjoyment of the chocolate pudding. If you prefer a less assertive chocolate flavor, you could substitute milk chocolate and the flavor would mellow out.

And finally, this is my 100th post. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and can’t get my head around it. When I started this blog last fall, it was to be a part of Tuesdays with Dorie. I’ve since joined Craving Ellie in My Belly and Barefoot Bloggers, and have gotten more out of blogging than I could have ever imagined. I love to cook, and I love to share my cooking, and this is just another way to share. Most of all, I love visiting your blogs to see what YOU’RE cooking, to be inspired by you, to learn from you, and to share in your story. You have elevated my cooking by your words and your sharing, and I am a better cook and baker because of you. Thank you.

Chocolate Caramel Graham Crackers

Graham crackers and I go WAAAYY back. When I was a child, if I was “good,” my mother would give me a treat to reward my good behavior. She would crumble graham crackers in a glass, pour some milk over it and add a teaspoon or two of sugar. It may sound strange, but I loved that concoction. To this day when I have an opened box of graham crackers in the house, it’s a guarantee that they won’t last long. I don’t indulge in my childhood treat (which sounds awful on so many levels), I simply eat them straight from the box until they are gone.

When I needed to buy a box for a recipe (check back later in the week for that one…if the graham crackers last), I knew I would have to find a way to use up the remainder of the box or they would end up in my (expanding) tummy.  That’s when I remembered this tried and true recipe, guaranteed to please children and adults alike. It calls for only six ingredients (graham crackers, butter, brown sugar, salt, nuts, and chocolate) and takes just minutes to prepare. I tore it out of Gourmet several years ago, and I go through periods where I make it a lot, and then I ignore it a lot, then I go back to it and make it a lot… You get the picture. Make these, and you’ll understand.

Note:  This is an excellent use for your Reynolds Release foil. It eliminates prying these babies off the foil (the sugar and butter form a caramel that is a big reason why these are so yummy).