Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

What is it with a bundt? I like them but sometimes I just struggle with them,  just a bit, OK more than a bit . I must be a glutton for punishment because I keep coming back to them. This time around it was not a stickage issue, it was a runny glaze issue (which let's be honest I've had drizzle issues as well). I followed David Lebovitz's recipe pretty much to the letter. I decided to use milk chocolate instead of bittersweet/semisweet for the glaze. Maybe that was the error of my ways? It didn't really matter because let's face it chocolate cake with chocolate glaze, runny or not, is still pretty darn good. What's up with the weird photo angle too? - just not a good day!

I recently bought David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert and have been itching to make something from it for a while. He explains that he needed to create cake to an idiot proof cake but used a nicer name and decided to called it Chocolate Orbit Cake. I much prefer the former than the latter since I was feeling rather stupid today due to a head cold. Chocolate Idiot Cake (Adapted from David Lebovitz ) 12 oz chocolate (bittersweet or semisweet) chopped 1 c butter (2 sticks) 6 eggs 1 c sugar 1t vanilla Grease a 9" springform pan and cover the outside with foil. Set aside. Heat chocolate and butter in 10-second bursts in the microwave or over a double boiler. Set aside. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Whisk in chocolate. Pour into springform pan. Cover with foil. Place in a roasting pan. Pour warm water into roasting pan until it reaches half-way up the springform pan. Bake at 350 1hr 15 min or until just set. (When you touch the center, your finger sh...

I had leftover egg yolks* (and you know how I hate to have leftover whites or yolks) so I was on a quest to find a use for them. I had to adapt because most of the pudding recipes I found wanted either 6 yolks (if I went with this, then I would have extra whites - it could never end!) or whole eggs. So off adapting I went... Butterscotch Pudding (Adapted from David Lebovitz ) 4T butter 1 c brown sugar 3/4 t salt 3 T cornstarch 2 1/2 c milk 3 egg yolks 2 t whiskey or bourbon 1 t vanilla Whisk together in a small bowl cornstarch with 1/4 c milk until smooth. Then whisk in egg yolks.  Set aside. Melt butter in sauce pan and add brown sugar and salt. Stir until sugar is well moistened. Remove from heat. Gradually pour in remaining milk to butter/sugar mixture - whisking non-stop. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Once it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute (or until the pudding thickens to the ...

I was looking for something quick and easy to make for Thanksgiving that was rather festive looking and I found that in this cake. I pretty much followed the recipe from David Lebovitz except his was prettier. I did the apples a little differently because I printed the recipe without the picture and was too lazy to go back and look at the way he laid out the apples. His version was definitely worth taking a look. Pre-bake All in all, it was a very moist, almondy cake. I served it with cinnamon whipped cream as he suggested. I liked his suggestion of grating the almond paste. It made the batter come together much easier. I used Gala apples for the inside and Granny Smiths for the top. I liked the tartness that the Granny Smiths provided. The Galas were nice and soft for the cake part.

The Sous Chef and I went to a book Q&A and signing last night. The book is Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss. David Lebovitz was on hand to ask the questions. He asked some great questions. It was fun to hear about living as expats in Paris (David) and Berlin (Luisa). It was surprising to hear that they don't have such great supermarkets in Paris. I guess that's because they have great markets? So who needs a supermarket. I learned that Germans are very big on Christmas cookies - I think I would fit in quite well there but might up putting on a bit of weight! They also start making their cookies in October. One particular ginger cookie, the dough ripens for 2 months! I don't know if I could stand the anticipation. They also use a lot honey so the cookies stay fresh tasting longer. We didn't stay for the signing part - it was a bit chaotic and by that point, I was annoyed with the stupid questions some of the audience asked (it was all me, me, me).  But all...

How do I love my ice cream maker - let me count the ways. There's chocolate, and vanilla of course. And then there's blueberry , burnt cinnamon and anise? Really anise? I was thumbing through recipes looking for something different. I didn't want to make plain old vanilla or chocolate and I stumbled on this recipe from David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop . I changed it up a little because I did like  the whole egg version and thought I would give it a try again. Anise Ice Cream (Inspired by The Perfect Scoop & Cuisinart Ice Cream Instruction Booklet) 2 t anise seeds 2 c half and half* 1 c heavy cream* 3/4 c sugar pinch of salt 2 whole eggs 1 egg yolk 1 t vanilla. Toast the anise seeds in the bottom of a sauce pan for about 3 minutes.  Add the half and half. Add sugar and heat until sugar is dissolved. Shut off heat, cover, and let steep for 1 hour. Pour the heavy cream into a heat resistant bowl. Place a strainer over the bowl and then the bow...

It was really hot and humid this past week.  I had bought milk as I was planning on making ricotta to go with pasta and fresh garden tomatoes. But with the weather, there was NO WAY I was boiling water. So I had this milk; I also had some bananas that were rather quickly ripening in the heat. It was too hot to make banana bread . I thought well I've had some good banana pudding in my time but have never made it. I did a search and found most recipes are just vanilla pudding, with bananas, and some vanilla wafers. I thought I could do better. I got to thinking well why not make a pudding with brown sugar and some rum and mix in some bananas and that's what I did. All my ducks in a row Bananas Foster Pudding (Adapted from David Lebovitz ) 3T cornstarch* 1/2 c milk 2 eggs 4 T butter 1 c light brown sugar 3/4 t sea salt 2 c milk 1 T rum (I must confess it was closer to 2T) 1 t vanilla 1 t cinnamon 2-3 bananas, sliced Mix the cornstarch into the 1/2 cup milk. Whi...

Now that the basil is starting to take off in the garden, it's pesto time. Pesto is such a great summer dish - the only bad part is boiling the pasta. It heats the kitchen up so much. But it's well worth it. You will notice that there really is not a strict recipe here (your are very observant). It's a matter of putting the ingredients together and tasting. It's spinach tortellini-the pesto didn't make the pasta THAT green! Pesto in a Flash 1/4 c pine nuts* 2 glove garlic - rough chop about 1 c fresh basil about 1/4 c fresh parsley about 1 c Parmesan or Romano cheese grated Olive Oil Salt/Pepper Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Remove from pan and let cool. Place a small amount of olive oil in pan and cook garlic until fragrant. Remove from pan and let cool.  Place basil, parsley, pine, and pine nuts in food processor. Pulse until rough chopped.  Add cheese and pulse.  Pour about 1/4-1/2 c olive oil into food processor and pulse. Taste. Add salt...

Here is our harvest 97 heads of garlic on the shelf, 97 heads of garlic, take one down....You know how the song goes. With 97 heads of garlic on the shelf, I don't need to buy any garlic. You should plant garlic in the fall late October/early November (keep in mind we're located in the Northeast).  Buy organic garlic - for each clove from the head, you should get one plant. I got the original garlic from one of the docs that I used to work with.  It is really strong - much stronger than what you can buy in the store. Plant each clove about 6 inches apart from one another. You can leave the skin on. If you want you can cover them with some leaves to act as mulch and to keep them moist over the winter.  About February or March you will notice the garlic begin to pop up out of the ground. If you get a real warm week, you will notice significant growth.  Late May/early June you will see the scapes start to grow. These are the flowers - you need to cut them off. I...