Being the Dep’s baker, I’m the go-to person for birthday cakes and other celebratory sweets. Not that I mind, of course. For a recent quadruple birthday party, I decided on a dark chocolate-stout triple-layer cake with dark chocolate ganache and hot chocolate-flavored whipped cream. Super, super rich and super, super good.
[Birthday cake bought for my friend by her husband: vegan orange and chocolate cake with mocha and cardamon-spiced ganache]
[My slice!]
[Summer sweethearts]
[Springtime blooms snipped from public sidewalks]
[The sweetest one of all]
[CREPES!]
I just spent four brief, luminous, relaxing days in Ithaca, New York and maybe it is something about the sweet and wet summer air but I can’t stop hovering around sugar: fruits dripping with pulp and fresh juice in the morning and chocolate cakes and flaky croissants and iced tea and the perfume of fresh flowers. If only I had remembered to take a photo of the vegan coconut milk and chocolate cake smothered in bananas that Sasha made, but I was too busy stuffing my face with it. If only I had remembered to take a photo of the magnificent and tart rhubarb crumble that Anna made and served with sweet vanilla bean ice cream (Mark Bittman says to omit the strawberry — DUHHH!), but I was too busy etc etc etc. I very rarely crave sweet over savoury — I’ll pick pizza every time — but ever since I ate a Portland crepe at 3am laced with cinnamon sugar, butter, bananas and peanut butter it’s all I can think about.
Posted in baking, food, home, party, people, portraits, summer
Tagged birthdays, chocolate cake, cravings, crepes, summer sweets, watermelon
I officially went outside my culinary comfort zone and baked – for the first time – a two-layer chocolate cake from scratch! This cake, aptly titled “The Best Chocolate Cake” - David Lebovitz’s recipe, via Cucina Nicolina (which I had bookmarked long ago under ‘maybe?’ but never had the courage to attempt it, the recipe equivalent of a tight red dress that sits in your closet and mocks you with its impossibility) – has a subtle taste and a huge, light crumb. The frosting is dense but not sugary. This is the perfect cake to be sliced alongside vanilla ice cream. In fact, I insist upon it.
But honestly, parts of the process was farcical at best. First: I couldn’t find a proper sieve and ended up sifting my dry ingredients through a mesh screen – and made a gigantic mess in the process. Second: Do NOT try to cream butter and sugar by hand. It will take eons and it is not worth a sore bicep the next day. Third: Do NOT allow the ganache that clings to your dirty dishes and pans to set overnight. It is a nightmare to remove the next day and frosting is less delicious when you have tennis elbow. Fourth: Do not add water to the ganache recipe. I forgot to, and honestly, I’m so glad I didn’t. The frosting is rich and shiny and dense with just chocolate and butter. No water needed. Fifth and final: the Lebovitz recipe calls for cake flour (not self rising) but I used regular all-purpose flour and was fine.
Other than those pretty minor caveats, you MUST make this cake. It was so simple and rewarding. I was seriously proud of my creation – “roast chicken proud,” as some would say – that I posed with the final product in a rare food-chef pairing photo op. Sure, it had deflated some and I had done a laughably bad job of frosting it, but I masked most of the mistakes with fresh sprigs of lavender from my mom’s garden.
It was the perfect conclusion to one of the richest, most decadent meals I’ve had in a while: grilled beef tenderloin marinated in champagne mustard and crushed coriander seed; potatoes gratin with cream, beef stock, rosemary, and brandy; shiitake mushrooms sauteed in red wine, scallions, garlic and ginger; and a watercress salad dressed with oil and lemon (because SOMETHING has to be light on the menu). There was a lot of crazy wine and we listened to the debut Love album but I think my bragging about the cake overshadowed everything else. Moral of the story: BAKE THIS CAKE TODAY.
Posted in baking, celebration, color, food, home
Tagged baking, chocolate cake, david lebovitz, dinner parties
i adore cooking. whether it’s the first bbq of the summer at a dear friend’s backyard
(yes, these were as good as they looked)
whether it’s making fresh pico de gallo from a friend’s enormous garden bounty (yes, i’m aware it’s early for tomato season; this photo is from last august),
or whether it’s simply dinner for one (i cooked myself spicy salmon with navy beans & whole wheat penne).
but i equally love eating out (this was a particularly epic chocolate cake – it’s the best thing wegman’s sells. trust.)
especially when it’s chicken teriyaki at a cheap hawaiian diner in lanai,
or a divine cheese plate and bottle of mellow bordeaux at my favorite french bistro on the lower east side. i still have dreams about their brie and frisee salad.
:stomach grumble:
it is lunch time yet?
Posted in food
Tagged chicken, chocolate cake, diner, eating, food, garden, grilling, hawaii, homecooked, kebabs, lower east side, lunch, pasta, salmon, teriyaki, tomatoes, vegetables, wegmans, zucco's
