YUM

Yummy new things:

Just found the King Arthur Flour blog...

And their website gets me thinking about holiday baking. Hmmm. When to start? Going to be a busy season.

Flourless (?) Chocolate Cake:
Made by my friend Julie for my birthday/playgroup last night. The kids had fun stuffing it into mini ice cream cones (without the ice cream). There's only a little bit ground into the cream-colored carpet in the office, and it was worth it for the YUM factor.

I don't have Julie's recipe, but here's a recipe I tried once that turned out well:

The Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake
Even though the cake may not look done, pull it from the oven when an instant-read thermometer registers 140 degrees. (Make sure not to let tip of thermometer hit the bottom of the pan.) It will continue to firm up as it cools. If you use a 9-inch springform pan instead of the preferred 8-inch, reduce the baking time to 18 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients
8 large eggs, cold
1 pound bittersweet chocolate or semisweet choc., coarsely chopped
½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into ½-inch chunks
¼ cup strong coffee or liqueur
Confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder for decoration

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of 8-inch springform pan with parchment and grease pan sides. Cover pan underneath and along sides with sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in large roasting pan. Bring kettle of water to boil.

2. Beat eggs with hand-held mixer at high speed until volume doubles to approximately 1 quart, about 5 minutes. Alternately, beat in bowl of electric mixer fitted with wire whip attachment at medium speed (speed 6 on a KitchenAid) to achieve same result, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and butter (adding coffee or liqueur, if using) in large heat-proof bowl set over pan of almost simmering water, until smooth and very warm (about 115 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), stirring once or twice. (For the microwave, melt chocolate and butter together at 50 percent power until smooth and warm, 4 to 6 minutes, stirring once or twice.) Fold 1/3 of egg foam into chocolate mixture using large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of remaining foam, then last of remaining foam, until mixture is totally homogenous.

4. Scrape batter into prepared springform pan and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Set roasting pan on oven rack and pour enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until cake has risen slightly, edges are just beginning to set, a thin glazed crust (like a brownie) has formed on surface, and an instant read thermometer inserted halfway through center of cake registers 140 degrees, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath and set on wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight to mellow (can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days).

5. About 30 minutes before serving, remove springform pan sides, invert cake on sheet of waxed paper, peel off parchment pan liner, and turn cake right side up on serving platter. Sieve light sprinkling of Confectioners’ sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder over cake to decorate, if desired.

Cupcakes:
Now, I'm not typically a big cake fan. I like the german chocolate cake Mom used to make for my birthday cakes, and I do like the flourless version above, but I don't really like cheesecake and wouldn't select a cake off a dessert menu. However, Brandon (my new PR guy at work) gave me two spectacular cupcakes for my b-day yesterday. He got them from Minis Cupcakes - I got "breakfast at tiffany's" (the blue one) and "the diva" (not sure if I should be worried that he chose this one). Check them out, below - how beautiful are they? They each came in a beautiful little box with the name of the cupcake on a cute label. Note to self - give these to other people. They're pretty! It almost doesn't matter whether they taste good (they do).



My staff must know I like to cook (and eat). Lacy gave me a beautiful pie dish with a lid shaped like the top of a pumpkin, and Ben gave me a gift certificate to cold stone creamery. JUST when I thought I was starting to get pretty good about what I'm eating..... Well, the pie dish will actually benefit people coming to my house for Thanksgiving, not necessarily just me, right?
xoxo