RoundAbout San Diego

This was the best chocolate cake ever. Even Alex, who does not like cake without some sort of butter cream frosting, whipped cream, or ice-cream, loved this cake on it's own. It was moist, slightly chewy on the edges, with an intense chocolate flavor. Alex said it has a sort of brownie texture - he should know, he's the expert in these matters. The recipe came from the Blue Kitchen food blog. If you plan on making this I recommend you read the kitchen notes at the bottom of the page. I used a 9" pan and cooked it about 5 minutes more than the recommended time.

Perfect Chocolate Cake



10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 cup [2 sticks] unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5 large eggs
One cup plus 5 tablespoons refined white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter and flour a 10-inch-diameter springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler so it’s over, not in or even touching, the water. While the water simmers gently below, stir the chocolate and butter together until it’s all melted and smooth.

With a big whisk, mix the eggs and refined sugar in a large bowl by hand until everything is well blended and beginning to thicken. Next, sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the egg mixture and, still using the whisk, fold and stir it all together. Now, gradually, add in the chocolate mixture—gently folding it in about 1/4 cup at a time.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Put the cake in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes passes, loosely cover the cake with foil—don’t tuck it down tightly, just lay the foil across the top of the pan.

Bake the cake about 30 minutes longer. Test it, near the center. The tester should come out with a few moist crumbs—not with a glob of raw dough, but not dry either. If necessary, leave the cake in the oven a few minutes more and re-test at intervals.

Take the cake out of the oven; put it on a rack, still in the springform pan, and remove the foil. The cake will be rather puffy and a little of it may cling to the foil—don’t panic! That happens. Walk away for now. As the cake cools, it will fall and flatten out.

When the cake is completely cool, slide a knife around the edge, then gently release and remove the pan sides.

We each had a slice with a glass of port - decadence at it's best.

Alex and I just had a piece of last night's tart and it tasted even better. Also, it didn't fall apart so here are a couple of photos that would have looked so good next to the recipe yesterday.

I spent a few hours today doing last minute shopping at the mall and picking up a few items from Trader Joe's. On my days off so far I have been quite productive in the mornings and totally lazy in the afternoons. I spend my mornings doing housework, cooking, and shopping while my afternoons are spent watching online movies or reading. Is this what I can expect for retirement?

After our left-over dinner of curry and rice tonight we had pan-baked lemon-almond tart for dessert. This comes from The Minimalist, Mark Bittman, of the New York Times. You can also watch his video here. It was easy to make and quite delish - will definitely make again.

Pan-Baked Lemon-Almond Tart

4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sliced almonds, more for garnish
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 tablespoons butter
Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, ground almonds, cream, sliced almonds, lemon zest and juice.

2. Melt butter in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet over low heat; when foam has subsided, add almond mixture to pan, tilting pan to distribute batter evenly. Continue to cook tart on stovetop until edges just begin to set, then put pan in oven and finish cooking, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

3. When tart is done, put it in broiler for about a minute or until just golden on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and sliced almonds.

Serves 4.

I served this almost as soon as it came out of the oven which was not the smart thing to do. It fell apart as I plated it which is why there isn't a picture of it. Let it cool down before serving.

Last year when we were in Germany, we often had these lovely, fresh, crunchy, bread rolls for breakfast with cheese and/or jam. Alex and I loved them so yesterday I attempted to make my own. They cooked to a beautiful golden brown color with a nice crusty crust. The inside texture was very good too. But the one thing that was really disappointing to us was the size. They were very small even though the dough rose to twice its volume when it was supposed to. I thought they would puff up in the oven but they didn't. The recipe below instructs you to make 12 rolls but I think the next time I do this I will make 10. The recipe calls for salt but doesn't tell you when to include it so I mixed it with the yeast, sugar, and water. If any of you think this was the wrong thing to do, let me know.

Broetchen



2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour
1 package of active instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oil
1 cup warm water

Pour 2 1/2 cups flour into a large bowl and form a well in the center.

In a separate container, mix yeast, sugar, and 2 tsp. of water (water comes from the 1 cup listed from above). Pour mixer into well but do not mix with the flour at this time. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add remaining water and oil and beat until mixed.

Turn dough out onto the counter top and need until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed. Put dough in bowl, cover, and let it rise until double in size. Punch down and divide the dough into 12 parts. Shape in oval rolls and place 3" apart on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double in size. Beat egg white and 1 tsp. of water with fork until frothy and brush on the rolls.

Bake in preheated oven at 450F for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown

On Thanksgiving Day Alex put on a scavenger hunt for Astrid and Pippa to help while away the time before dinner. Using puzzle-maker programs he found online Alex put together 5 word games. When solved, each word game gave a clue that led the girls to a location in the house or around the garden.

The first clue led Astrid to a bigfoot game - but which one? With a couple of choices they had to go through each box to find a prize and the next clue


Some of the clues were easier than others but it kept them occupied for quite a while.


The last clue led them to the spaghetti tree and a final prize of silly string. If you look closely at the tree you can see spaghetti growing on it

It was great that Ben, Kirsten, Astrid, and Pippa drove down from Palo Alto to spend Thanksgiving with us. We all had a fabulous time because of our beautiful weather here in San Diego.

The original plan was to buy a pre-cooked meal from Whole Foods or Jonathon's of La Jolla but I couldn't imagine serving a whole meal cooked by some store on Thanksgiving Day. So with some planning and a lot of cooking ahead we were able to eat a home-cooked meal with not too much work on the actual holiday.

The day started out with fresh croissants with lots of butter and jam, mimosas, and coffee served on the patio. The croissants came from Williams and Sonoma as a gift from Janet and Klaus. All I had to do was take them out of the freezer the night before, let them rise overnight on the kitchen counter, and pop them in the oven about 1/2 hour before ready to serve. Wish I had a picture but alas, it's not to be.

Soon after breakfast Alex took everyone to Mission Trails for a good romp around to help burn of excess energy and work up an appetite for dinner. While they were gone I started prepping for dinner, getting the turkey in (simple roast turkey with rich turkey gravy), setting the table, prepping some veggies, etc.

We don't have a dinner table so Alex made one with some saw horses and left over polycarbonate from the patio cover (another entry). It looked so pretty with all the dinner ware, especially after Kirsten did her decorating bit with the leaves and turkey confetti.



This is the turkey that Pippa made out of a pine cone and some colorful paper. It served as one of the center pieces for our feast.


Charlie turned out to be quite popular with the girls - he was chased all around the yard with silly string being shot at him.


We had dessert out on the patio around the fire pit. Rred velvet cake courtesy of Janet and Klaus from Williams and Sonoma, pecan pie from Trader Joe's, home made apple pie from Danielle, and fresh whipped vanilla cream to wash it all down with. Kirsten bought some caramel with sea salt bark from World Market which I was eating all day and is so good.


Winding down at the end of the evening after a drink or two (or several, but who's counting?). I'm still wearing my favorite apron!


Danielle, Pippa, and Charlie hamming it up for the camera


I'm not quite sure what Charlie was trying to show here but Astrid was sneaking up behind him for a final spray of silly string


The next morning we were a little on the slow side to get going but Pippa and Alex managed to get some quality time together while others were still in bed.


All in all a busy day but a lot of fun.

Well, it certainly isn't Alex!

Boo enjoys asserting her authority over her peeps. Here she is putting Alex in his place by using him as her pedestal.


As I took these photos I kept calling her to get off and she totally ignored me.


Here she is in one of her more adorable moments - posing on her fluffy pink blankie. Work it baby!