use real butter

Boy, I have been posting a lot of sweets lately. I try to mix things up, but I wanted to get this cake recipe up because it’s so pretty and a great dessert to serve for a holiday weekend. Tomorrow is the fourth of July - the quintessential summer holiday here in the States. My favorite part? The fireworks. I am a visual creature and nothing dazzles me like pretty colors and bright lights. I am drawn to lovely sparklies like Lite Brite (remember that toy?) and gummy bears and shooting stars and… fireworks! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

a mountain of dry ingredients

batter in the pan

But on to this cake. I served it at the tele betties barbecue last weekend. It’s my riff on Marcel Desaulniers’ White and Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cake from his famed Death by Chocolate. I have a signed copy only because my parents live near Trellis Restaurant where he is chef and co-owner. Mom gave it to me years ago, when I was too timid to even crack the book open - it was so intimidating then! My baking prowess has since been found and nurtured. In graduate school I even exchanged a few emails with Marcel on the doubling of his recipes. He’s such a great guy - so friendly and approachable.

skinning pistachios

whipping swiss meringue

I omitted the white chocolate from the buttercream frosting because I think it is too sweet and I just hate white chocolate in general. No one seemed to miss it. I also doubled his chocolate cake recipe so I could make a 4-layer deal instead of his prescribed 3-layers. And besides, I wouldn’t be able to eek out 3 decent layers from a single cake because our oven is crooked and the dome is always lopsided. I should level the oven, but I’m a bum and there wouldn’t be an overabundance of cake trimmings for Jeremy to snack on! Skinning the pistachios is the biggest pain in the ass. The only reason I do it is because I love pistachios so much… and because I forget what a pain it is until I start skinning them.

folding chopped pistachios into the buttercream

spreading the pistachio buttercream on the first layer

I debated adding a soaking syrup because I wasn’t sure if this cake would crumble apart if it got wet. I decided against it. Turns out if you serve the cake within 24 hours, it’s pretty moist without soaking syrup and is delightfully dense. If you have leftovers, they tend to dry out with time, so I recommend immediate consumption.

crumb coating

decorate as you see fit

I was planning to pipe some cute little standard stars around the edge, dotting them with pistachios, but I was too impatient for my ganache to set up because I had a gazilion other things to make for the party. So I drizzled rings all over and sprinkled the top with extra chopped pistachios and a flurry of whole ones in the center. Good enough for government work.

love the light and dark motif

The cake was a huge hit with our guests. I like the solid construction of this dessert as I don’t have to worry about it falling to pieces when I serve a slice. I also think the dark and light contrasts are striking and beautiful together, not to mention the awesome pairing of flavors: pistachio, vanilla, and chocolate. The dense chocolate layers play wonderfully with the creamy and light (ha! a POUND of butter?!) frosting and the nuts add a bit of crunchy texture. The chocolate cake is not overly sweet, which I love because buttercream is plenty sweet as it is. However, I enjoyed the little zing of rich and sweet that the ganache lends to the whole ensemble. All in all a great cake. Wow your friends and see your enemies driven before you.

now that’s real love, folks

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
modified from Death by Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers

joe’s chocolate cake
makes ONE 9×3-inch round cake - I used TWO of these for my version, so double this recipe if you want a 4-layer cake

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
6 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda (1/4 tsp at 8500 ft.)
1 tsp salt
4 oz butter plus extra for coating the pan
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2 oz pieces
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp red raspberry vinegar
1 cup water

[Note: I made TWO chocolate cakes to give me 4 layers instead of the three in Marcel’s original recipe. This results in plenty of leftover “dome”.] Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a sifter. Sift onto wax paper or a bowl and set aside. Coat 2 9×3-inch round pans with butter on the base and sides. Place circular parchment in the bottom and brush with more butter. Marcel says to dust with flour, which I apparently overlooked. I didn’t have any problems, but my pans are also non-stick. Gently melt unsweetened chocolate over water bath or on half power in the microwave - stirring to prevent burning. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter together in mixer fitted with paddle. Beat on medium for 1 minute, then on high for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and beat on high for 15 seconds after the addition of each egg (one at a time). Scrape down the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and vinegar and beat on high for 20 seconds. Add the melted chocolate and mix on low for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Boil water and operate the mixer on low while adding the sifted dry ingredients. Mix for 10 seconds. Add the boiling water (carefully!!) and continue to mix on low for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 seconds. Pour batter into pans. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until toothpick test is clean. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in pans for 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

pistachio and vanilla buttercreams
this amount was just enough for the 4-layer cake

8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
1 lb butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups shelled pistachios

Combine egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with balloon whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand). Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add vanilla. Blanche the pistachios in boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and place the nuts in a cotton towel. Fold the towel over the nuts and rub vigorously to loosen and remove the skins. Toast the skinned pistachios on a baking sheet for 15 minutes at 325°F. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Reserve a few whole ones for garnish. Finely chop the remaining pistachios. Take 2/3 of the buttercream frosting and fold in the pistachios. Save the remaining third of the buttercream for frosting the cake.

ganache
6 tbsps heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Bring the cream to a boil and remove from heat immediately. Pour over the chocolate (making sure to cover all of the chocolate) and let sit for a minute. Stir until the ganache is smooth and evenly mixed. Put in the refrigerator until firm enough for piping.

Assembly: Cut off the dome tops of the cakes. Slice your cakes into two layers. Place the base of one cake on the serving plate or a cake board. Spread 1/3 of the pistachio buttercream over the layer. Repeat twice more. Top the cake with the other base slice (upside down, so base it facing up). Crumb coat the sides with the vanilla buttercream (a thin layer spread around the entire cake). Then frost the entire cake with the rest of the vanilla buttercream. Decorate the cake with chocolate ganache however you like and garnish with whole pistachios and/or any extra chopped pistachios. Serve at room temperature.

Cooler than most of you, anyway! We are nearly a week away from the summer solstice and it is snowing outside.

and this is why i live here

Perfect timing as I have a double batch of lentil soup simmering on the stove. All of the barbecue I’ve been making over the past few weeks has me craving non-terrestrial animal foods. I say non-terrestrial because I don’t think I could ever EVER tire of seafood, our lovely, tasty, wonderful aquatic pals… We hit another sushi bar yesterday, but I won’t post on that right now because I don’t want to freak my dear Graeme out with too much fish.

these are not fish: chopped candied orange peel

and some fresh grated orange peel

I was never a huge fan of the combination of orange and chocolate. After teaching a self-defense class one evening, all of the instructors and assistants got together for the post-class meeting and one of the assistants had brought a giant bowl of orange-chocolate mousse to share. I nearly gagged (and I am pretty sure it was good because she was seriously into pastries). Whenever Jeremy tucked into a Trader Joe’s package of chocolate-dipped orange sticks I would try to like them - take a nibble and hand the rest of the stick back to him. It was only recently when I made some chocolate-covered candied orange peels that the flavors finally grew on me. It’s not something I crave, but now I can at least appreciate it.

don’t forget the fresh squozen orange juice

For some reason I’ve been mulling over high altitude issues and why some of my best and most reliable cookie recipes suck ass at our elevation of 8500 feet. I know why - it’s the elevation. I want to know how to fix each and every one of the failed recipes which requires research and testing on each recipe (I have about 20 that I want to salvage). Oh, and butter-rich pound cakes - those chap my hide too.

mix the dough and chill

The last time I made these ginger-lemon cookies I thought there was too much spread when they baked. I referred to Susan G. Purdy’s Pie in the Sky [hmmm, I just mistyped Sky and wrote Ski - where do you think my mind is right now?] for guidance. Taking a cue from her Highland Shortbread recipe, I substituted the granulated sugar in the ginger-lemon cookies with confectioner’s sugar (powdered) and a few other adjustments. But instead of lemon and ginger, I went for an orange flavor.

slicing the chilled dough

ready to bake

I used homemade candied orange peel, orange zest, and fresh orange juice to flavor the cookie dough. Although Purdy’s recipe doesn’t call for chilling, I did refrigerate the dough because that helps to limit spreading. It seemed to work better this time for me.

cooling

dipping

I couldn’t resist that extra step of dipping the cookies in some good dark chocolate. Kind of a cookie version of the chocolate-dipped candied orange peel. The cookies on their own (no dipping) have a nice orange perfume to them and aren’t too sweet. But dipped in chocolate…

waiting for the chocolate to set

They are fantastic paired with the dark chocolate. Jeremy did a little happy dance when I asked him to taste test the cookies last night. I’m rather pleased and I think at least I’ve solved one of my problems in dealing with shortbread cookies. So that leaves me with what? 19 recipes left to test.

excellente!

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Peel Cookies

1/2 lb. butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt (heaping for 8500 ft.)
1 cup candied orange peel, chopped
1 orange, zest of
1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Oven: 325°F (or for 8500 ft. preheat to 350°F and reduce to 325°F right as you put the cookies into the oven).

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Beat in the salt and flour until large clumps form. Add orange peel, zest, juice, and vanilla. Mix well and press the dough into a tight ball. Shape according to how you want your slices to come out (rectangles, squares, rounds, wedges), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Slice the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and place on cookie sheet with enough space between for spreading. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden (for 8500 ft. bake 20 minutes). Let cool completely on cooling racks. Melt chocolate gently (temper it if you will, but I am too lazy). Dip cooled cookies in chocolate or drizzle with chocolate and let cool until chocolate sets.

I live in a snowglobe! It’s snowing beautiful, white flakes outside right now and for once - for once it’s falling vertically instead of flying past on its way to Kansas. Lovely. Really lovely.

looking up valley this morning

Folks may be sick of seeing pictures of the weather around here, but for me, weather is an integral part of nature and I love it - love to read it, study it, feel it. Weather is beautiful to me. If you don’t understand and respect the weather, you really have no business climbing in the mountains.

good on ya, cali!
California’s Supreme Court just declared a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Thank you! It is not an issue of gay rights, but civil rights.

Recovery is slow this time around, but I’m staying patient (this is rare). Thoughts of sushi and berries and salads flit around in my mind nearly 24/7. I am having trouble eating solid foods at the moment, but I know it will pass and I have a list of new restaurants I want to try as soon as it does! I’m craving authentic Asian food, which means I will probably have to venture into Denver. *sigh* Any favorite recommendations from the locals? The operative word here is authentic.

I made a habit of bringing baked goods to oncology each time I got chemo’d (except the first time). It’s a cheery set up for what is to most, a depressing situation: a giant room with huge windows and all of the infusion stations lined up along the walls - facing the center. In the middle of the room is the nurses’ station which is open and inviting. All of the nurses are situated at their computers to face us because they need to make sure we don’t keel over and die :) There was a communal kitchenesque area where folks could go to grab a snack, coffee, tea, etc. I had brought chocolate chip banana bread, sour cream coffee cake, raspberry cream cheese cookies, and lemon petits fours.

butter, sugar, eggs - that’s a good start

For my last chemo, I wanted to bring something chocolaty because (most) people love chocolate and I really adore my nurses - one is a tele skier! Something with chocolate… Something with sour cream… Something rich and moist…

i cannae resist a cake recipe that calls for sour cream

I had a hard time finding a recipe that fit the bill and received rave reviews to boot. I ended up trying one from a book that contains my favorite tea cake recipe. Ideally, I was looking for a rich, dense, moist chocolate bundt cake made with sour cream that has bittersweet overtones without being overly sweet. If you have one of those, send it my way.

the dry ingredients

This cake calls for raspberries to be folded into the batter, which I thought was a nice touch. I think raspberries and chocolate go together like beans and cornbread.

gently folded

into the happy pan we go

Another reason I wanted to try this cake was because it didn’t require layering and complicated frosting. I love making layered cakes, but there are times when you just want a one-pan recipe that comes out beautifully on its own - no cutting, no stacking, no crumb coats.

an easy ganache glaze

simple

I made two of these cakes. The first was to test for edibility and shooting. I made Jeremy try it. He liked it. I gave several slices to my neighbors and they liked it. I sent the rest to Jeremy’s graduate students, and they scraped the cake saver clean. I guess it’s fine, but it didn’t have that dense and rich texture I was seeking. The crumb itself is slightly on the dry side, but the chocolate chips and raspberries give it pockets of moisture. It is chocolaty without being too sweet. I don’t think this is the go-to chocolaty, dense, moist, cake I was looking for. The search goes on…

dotted with chocolate chips and raspberries

Anniversary Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with Chocolate Glaze
modified from Easiest and Best Coffee Cakes and Quick Breads by Renny Darling

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
6 tbsps cocoa
2 tsps baking powder (1/2 tsp for 8500 ft.)
1/2 tsp baking soda (1/4 tsp for 8500 ft.)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup raspberries

glaze*
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 tbsps butter
2 tbsps light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 325F. Cream together butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in eggs until blended. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until blended. Combine and add the remaining ingredients (except for the raspberries) and beat until blended. Stir in the raspberries. Spread batter evenly into a greased 10-inch springform pan and bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool in pan.

Make the glaze: Melt chocolate. Heat butter and corn syrup together until bubbly, and stir into chocolate until blended. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. When the cake is cool, remove it from the pan and spread the top and sides with the glaze.

*Jen’s glaze: I didn’t use this glaze recipe. Instead, I heated (don’t boil) 5 ounces of heavy cream and poured it over 5 ounces of chopped chocolate. Let the cream sit for a minute and then stir until smooth and pour over the cake.