Chocolate Raspberry Maryann Cake

This cake is dangerously delicious.  Consider yourself warned.  It's a match made in heaven, dark chocolate and raspberry, definitely rich, but not too sweet.  It was the perfect cake to celebrate the engagement of my daughter Melissa and my soon to be son-in-law, Mike, another match made in heaven.  Let me digress for a moment.  You may have noticed that I've neglected my blog for a while.  It's not that I haven't wanted to blog, I've just been busy.  Last month Paul and I headed west and toured the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion National Parks, Monument Valley and Lake Powell.  We had a fantastic time and when we returned home, I intended to sort though my 2000 new photos, do some inspired cooking and blog about some wonderful southwestern food.  But you can see by the large gap since my last posting, that never happened.
A few days after we returned home, Melissa and Mike announced their engagement.  Not only did they announce their engagement, but they also announced that the did not want a long engagement and planned to get married this September.  Yes, I said THIS SEPTEMBER...time to kick it in gear.  They are young, they are in love, and they have energy.  They will make this happen even if it kills them!  All wedding craziness aside, I couldn't be happier for them.  Melissa found her soulmate and we are so pleased to welcome Mike into our family.  They complement each other...just like chocolate and raspberry.

Saturday night, Mike's mother hosted a dinner in celebration of Mike and Melissa's engagement.  My job was to bring dessert.  After much consideration I decided to make a Chocolate Raspberry Maryann Cake and this tart.  If you are not familiar with a Maryann pan, take a look at it here.   I've read that Crate and Barrel also carries them.  It's sort of an old fashioned cake pan, so maybe your grandma has one buried in the cupboard.

Fudge Brownie Kisses and Swirls

Valentines Day is a good excuse to make something chocolate, isn't it?  Last year I made chocolate soufflés, my personal favorite.  This year I decided to make Paul some brownies.  A big batch of brownies is really something we don't need to have hanging around the house.  Instead of a big pan of traditional brownies, I thought I'd make some brownie bites using a mini cupcake pan.  The last time I made them they were a big hit.  Maybe it was the Nutella I swirled in the batter.  Paul had just discovered the wonders of Nutella.  They were really fudgy and one little brownie bite was the perfect sized chocolate fix.

For Valentines Day I decided to swirl some with raspberry jam, some with Nutella, and top a few with a little Hershey's Kiss.  I used a basic brownie recipe, but the add-ins make them special.  As I am writing this I just thought to myself, I should have swirled in some peanut butter.  That would be wonderful!  Oh wait, then I would be making them more for me.  Anyway, this recipe makes about 50 bites, so you can experiment if you so desire.  Sorry Paul, you can't have all 50.  I'm packing up a box and the rest are headed to my office.  There are a few chocoholics working there as well.

I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day and share it with someone you love!

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-The-Pooh

Make Ahead Chocolate Souffles

What's not to love about chocolate souffle?  They may not be the most convenient thing to make, but they sure taste good.  I think chocolate souffle is the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day.  First of all, it's CHOCOLATE!  It's light and sophisticated. And most of all... you will be loved and appreciated by the recipient.   I spent the better part of the evening a few days ago searching for my souffle recipe.  It has vanished off the face of the earth.  I searched organized binders filled with recipes, no luck.  I'm convinced someone swiped it  borrowed it and misplaced it.  I'm not saying who, but I have a pretty good idea who, as evidenced by pictures of souffles (taken in my kitchen) on a Facebook page.  It's better to let it go and move on.  Sometimes things happen for a reason.  I found a better recipe.

Better recipe?  I think so.  After reading countless recipes, and trying to remember my old favorite, I came across this recipe in The New Best Recipe  from the Editors of Cooks Illustrated.  This cookbook is a massive collection of "exhaustively tested recipes" from America's Test Kitchen.  These folks have never steered me wrong, so I decided to take the chance.  These souffles are made ahead.  They must be frozen for at least 3 hours and can stay in the freezer for up to a week before baking.  How awesome is that?  If you are having a dinner party you can make them a day or a week in advance and just bake them off in less than 20 minutes while you are clearing away the dinner dishes, perfect timing.  Not having a dinner party?  Make up a batch or half a batch, freeze them and you have dessert for 2, 4 or just for yourself if you are so inclined in 20 minutes. This really has the potential for being a "go to" dessert.  They pop directly into the oven from the freezer, no thawing involved.  The outside of these souffles have a wonderful flavor and texture with a rich moist center.  Seriously, you have to try them.  Look what's in my freezer drawer!

Heath Bar Shortbread Meltaways

Christmas has been sneaking up on me.  Thanks to the internet, my shopping is now under control .  It's a quiet weekend.  Paul is away visiting his family.  Today was the perfect day to start my holiday baking.  I sat with a cup of coffee this morning, looking through cookbooks, reading tattered recipe cards, and pulling out cookie recipes that I've been collecting all year.  I thought I'd spend the day mixing batters, baking off some cookies and freezing the rest.  I wanted to use ingredients that I had on hand.  I've been squirreling away cookie-baking ingredients since October.

I finally decided to start my first day of holiday cookie baking by making my mom's rugelach recipe, her spritz cookies, some sparkling ginger chip cookies, russian tea cakes, peanut butter cookies, and I was thinking of making some shortbread cookies.

I've been a busy baking elf today

This morning I came across a hand written shortbread recipe that my mom probably wrote back in the '60s.  I remembered that she liked them with her afternoon tea.  They weren't too sweet and they melted in your mouth.  I was thinking of jazzing them up with some chocolate, either chopped and added to the batter, or better yet, maybe I would dip the baked shortbread in some dark chocolate.  I started pulling all of my ingredients out of the pantry and lo and behold, a bag of Heath Bar chips was tucked between a bar of Belgium chocolate and a bag of chocolate chips.  I bought them because one of Paul's favorite candy bars is a Heath Bar.  I didn't have anything in mind to bake when I bought them.  I don't know what possessed me to do it, maybe I was missing Paul, but I decided to go a little crazy and add the Heath Bar chips to the shortbread and heck....dip them in chocolate as well.

The Best Chocolate Cake

I have the recipe for the best chocolate cake.  Yes, that is a BOLD statement, but I truly believe that it's a TRUE statement.  If you made this cake, you would understand where I am coming from.  For me to consider a chocolate cake to be really good, it has to meet a certain criteria.  Here is my criteria for what I believe constitutes a good chocolate cake:

This is what my best chocolate cake looks like

1. A good chocolate cake should not be a mere vehicle for frosting or butter cream.  A good chocolate cake should be able to stand on its own.
2. A good chocolate cake should have depth of flavor.
3. The only after taste a good chocolate cake should have is chocolate.
4. A good chocolate cake should have a fine crumb.
5. A good chocolate cake should be moist, and remain fresh if properly stored, for a few days (if you hide it from your husband the masses).
6. When a good chocolate cake is baking, it should fill the air with an aroma that stops people dead in their tracks and makes them think they have died and gone to heaven.
7. When you eat a small piece of a good chocolate cake, you contemplate each bite and nothing else in the world matters.
8. When my husband eats you eat an even bigger piece of a good chocolate cake, you break out in a  chocolate sweat, right between your upper lip and your nose.
9. A good chocolate cake makes your mouth feel happy.

Last weekend we were invited to a dinner party and I volunteered to bring dessert.  I did not not know everyone attending, so I thought it safe to bring one chocolate dessert and one non-chocolate dessert.   The only chocolate cake I considered bringing was this Chocolate Guinness Cake.  The Guinness and the little bit of molasses, not to mention the brown sugar, give this moist cake a deep, complex flavor. Yes, it was the right choice.

Sayonara Sushi

I have a love/hate relationships with my job.   Generally speaking, it can be very rewarding.  On the other hand, it can be very frustrating, bordering on depressing.  I help people with disabilities prepare for, find, and maintain employment.  In this economy, it is more than challenging.  The bright side of my day however, is being a part of an AWESOME team of women who face this challenge as a force to be reckoned with.  I am sad to say, but also happy for her, that our youngest team member, Morgan, is moving on...... to bigger and better things.

Morgan is a vocational rehabilitation counselor who has been part of our team for the last 3 years.  She has been a ray of light with a youthful exuberance that will be sorely missed.  Fran, friend and colleague, was gracious enough to host a "farewell brunch" for Morgan.  Since Morgan loves sushi and chocolate, I thought it only fitting to make Morgan some Brownie Sushi for her send-off.