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.

[Daring Bakers in search of Danish Braid, please jump here.]

On a recent post where I bagged on annoying blog characteristics I got a lot of comments and emails about why I hate Blogger. I’m sorry, I should have been more clear. There are a lot of people who blog on Blogger, and I love those people, I just HATE BLOGGER. Aside from the incredibly stupid and clumsy mechanics of Blogger, it is ass slow. I know this because when you try to visit over 1000 Daring Baker blogs in the course of a few days (where the majority are on Blogger) you start to pick up on how painfully stupid and poorly designed the commenting procedure is. I’m no authority on blogs, I just know what makes me crazy when I go to other blogs - although I do have professional experience on the design, programming, and implementation side (including some user testing).

my avocados ripened too late for the party, but not too late for us

Now I’m going to make a few observations about photography… I usually keep quiet, but every now and again I will let loose and rail. Here is more brain dump. And away we go!

1) A dSLR for you, and a dSLR for you… Everyone is jumping aboard the dSLR bandwagon, it seems. A lot of people feel compelled to drop a wad o’ cash for one of these pretty babies because they want to post pictures on their blog. For most folks, a really nice point and shoot (aka dummy cam) will do just fine. I see a lot of shitty looking pictures that were taken with a dSLR and some expensive glass. Such a waste. Buying a fancy camera doesn’t make you a good photographer any more than buying a slick pair of skis will make you an Olympic class skier. There is actually something to learning how to take a good picture.

2) Don’t take photography for granted. Let’s back up and think about what usually makes a nice photo (and when you get really artsy, all of these rules are out the window). Focus. Composition. Focus. Lighting. Oh, did I mention FOCUS? If you can’t hold a camera steady, there is this amazing piece of equipment called a tripod. They run as little as $25 and won’t shake up your shot like a drunken freshman during rush. I tripod 70% of my photos and of my money shots I tripod about 95%. What you are shooting will have some bearing on what type of lenses and other equipment you want. There is a big difference between shooting food and shooting weddings, for instance.

3) See the light. Lighting is a technical issue, but when you begin to understand the nature of light (natural, artificial, diffuse, offset, reflected, etc.) it becomes an art. Try shutting off your flash. Try using an off camera flash with bounce or diffuser. Try natural light with reflector. Mess around and learn how light behaves and how it interacts with your subject. If you’re outside, try shooting before sun up or after sundown. You’d be amazed at how different a change in lighting can make your shot. Light is a pain in my ass and it was something I avoided learning about for years, but it was worth it. I’m no expert, but I consider myself mildly competent now. It’s definitely a more advanced topic, but it is important.

4) *I’m* driving the bus! Take the camera off auto. Learn to use manual. Learn what aperture is. Learn what shutter speed is. Learn ISO. Learn white balance. Learn to manual focus. And learn to post-process (this is digital we’re talking about). If you leave your dSLR on auto, you have essentially purchased an expensive and large point-and-shoot camera. For shame.

5) Composition is the big one. I think compo is where the signature of the photographer comes through. It’s the translation of the vision in your head into the photograph you produce. What’s the set up? What is the subject? WHERE is the subject? IS there a subject? How is it lit? What are the implied actions/motions? Where are you leading the viewer’s eye? Is there chaos? How does it make you feel? What is the focus? What is the depth of field? Sometimes no matter how I try, I cannot make a shot work because what I see as beautiful with my two eyes doesn’t transition into a good photograph through my lens (usually in the backcountry where, as a rule, I do not move natural subjects). Your brain creates a unique and vast image in your head from the input through your eyes. Your camera - it don’t do that. Ever take a picture of something you saw that was beautiful only to be disappointed later with what the camera captured? Yup. That’s what I’m talking about - the lens and camera are far more limited than your brain and eyes. What you convey through the camera is the true art.

Composition is not so much a technical issue as a personal preference. It comes with practice and the beauty of digital is that you can practice a lot without going bankrupt! I shoot daily and when I am shooting, particularly in the backcountry, I see the world in two views: from the perspective of my eyes, and what that would look like through my camera and lens. I know them so well that I can consider a gorgeous span of wildflowers and know what I can and can’t get with the camera without even removing it from my pack. That comes from a lot of practice. So practice, damn it. Practice. And vary your shots to see what works and what sucks.

6) Zoom the hell in. Whether it means zooming in with your lens or getting up close and personal with the subject (I’m assuming food here, but yeah - other subjects too). Not all shots need to be macro shots, but people are usually too conservative and are zoomed out too much. My friend E was complaining how people who take “snapshots” for her with her camera wind up making the people subjects teensy tiny so that you don’t even know who is in the picture. Do you NEED to include their shoes? A lot of things can be implied even if they aren’t in the picture. You can get the idea of a bowl of berries across without showing the whole bowl.

7) Move your ass. If you insist on taking pictures always standing at full height - you are boring and so are your photos. Perspective is crucial. Get on your belly! Crouch low, shoot up, angle sideways, turn the camera, shoot directly down. Try SOMETHING different. It may not always work, but you won’t know until you do it.

8) And my pet peeve that is addressed directly at food blogs: multiple shots of the same frakking thing (with the exception of the end product, but that can go too far as well). I mean, how many pictures do you really need to post of a hand sprinkling brown sugar over cake batter? Six? Seven? What a waste of my bandwidth. That’s what VIDEO is for, durrrrrr.

Well, that’s my two cents and with the decline of the dollar, it’s worth less now than it was when you started reading. I’m just tossing out what works for me which may or may not mean anything to you.

Kathy had asked if I could post the sangria recipe earlier. I actually went searching online at various food blogs for a good sangria recipe because I typically prefer the tried and true recipes I see on food blogs rather than the standard online collections. I came across this one at Andrea’s Recipes and decided to give it a try.

citrus slices

strawberry and peach to add before serving

The beauty of sangria is that you don’t have to buy expensive wines - cheap wines work perfectly here. I don’t know how to shop for cheap wines, but my local liquor barn employee had excellent recommendations and pointed me to some good affordable picks. Toss in some sugar and seasonal fruits and you are good to go.

pour the wine

Sangria is one of those drinks that will knock me to the ground because I love fruit and will drink a lot of sangria just trying to get to the floating peach in my glass. So deceptive, this adult fruit punch… It’s perfect for combating the summer heat.

put up your dogs and cool off with some of this

Sangria

1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine
1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
2 peaches, sliced
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup Grand Marnier

Combine orange, lemon, sugar and wines in a large glass bowl or pitcher and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. Add peaches, strawberries, and Grand Marnier before right before serving. Serve over ice.

A yellow dusting of pine pollen appeared on *everything* just two days ago. Pine tree sex has begun in earnest. Before long, nothing that remains outside will be safe from a plastering of yellow pollen - NOTHING! I don’t mind the pollen powder getting all over the place as long as I don’t think of it as a major orgy going on in my yard… But it does wreak havoc on my allergies. It didn’t seem to bother Kaweah much while she sprawled out on the deck this afternoon.

what, is there something on my face?

We were all chilling out on the deck this afternoon because our second visitor P.C. (post chemo) arrived at noon. My dear friend was in the state for a wedding and dropped by our mountain abode for lunch and a short stroll before flying home. Neither of us considers ourself to be an emotional creature, but we could not help a few tears when we greeted and embraced.

a lovely friend on a lovely day

I prepared a simple, yet incredibly satisfying and happy-making menu for this, the second day of summer. It was almost as delightful as the company!


orange and toasted almond salad with citrus dressing
grilled asparagus
yukon gold potato galette
grilled marinated flank steak
lychee panna cotta

salad

yukon gold potato galette with gruyère, parmesan, and shallots

slicing the flank steak

After lunch we went for a quick walk on a local trail to drink in the burst of blooming wildflowers and the lush forest and understory. The bloom is in full swing at our house elevation and we loved it! We also happened upon the mystery flower from the last post (I know it’s been driving poor Diane crazy). I think I’ve identified it now.

anemone multifida: ranunculaceae (buttercup family)

drummond’s rockcress

gorgeous green gentian

the tiniest orchid, a spotted coral root

i love aspen stands throughout the year

not a fan of the color orange, but i love orange wildflowers

Clouds had moved in and made for very pleasant walking conditions, adding a light and cool breeze. That is my kind of weather, and E was happy to have a break from the heat since she lives in So Cal. I missed an opportunity to shoot a red-winged blackbird (with my camera) because Kaweah was acting up…

finishing off the dandelion

e and the blinker

Once back at the house, we had enough time left to indulge in little shots of lychee panna cotta (recipe to come later). I won’t go on and on about what a phenomenal, brilliant, adventurous, creative, kind, deep, and utterly hilarious woman E is, because it will just make you sad that she’s not a part of your life ;) We had such a wonderful 4-hour visit with her. She is one special chica.

The recipe for the marinated flank steak is super duper easy and mucho mas mejor rico (delicious)! Another keeper I got from my ILs… along with my guy. If you have 24 hours to let it marinate in the refrigerator, you have the makings of a Great Meal.

i recommend fresh lemon juice and parsley

flank steak is a great cut for grilling

I like to drop the flank steak and all of the marinade ingredients in a gallon ziploc bag. It is a more efficient way to marinate and it takes up less space in my refrigerator where real estate is at a premium in the summer!

piling everything into the ziploc

After 24 hours of sitting happily with the likes of soy sauce, mustard, lemon juice, parsley, and other friends - the flank steak is ready for the grill. While it grills, I like to pour the marinade into a pot and bring it to a boil. I stir up some cornstarch and water to add and thicken it into a lovely sauce. If I weren’t so lazy, I’d make a small amount of roux for thickening… but I get lazy at times.

let the flank steak rest a few minutes before slicing

slice and serve to the adoring applause of your guests

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

1-2 lb. flank steak
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a ziploc bag and marinate for 8-24 hours in refrigerator. Grill the steak on high heat to desired doneness (we find 3-4 minutes a side gives us a nice medium rare to rare color). Pour the marinade into a pot and bring to boil. Thicken the marinade by adding 1 tsp of cornstarch mixed with a tbsp of water. Once sauce is bubbling, remove from heat. Let the flank steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing against the grain. Serve the flank steak with the sauce.