Cooking Day 19: Early Dinner = Baking
Hello again. Yes, I know I've been gone for a couple of weeks. As I mentioned before, Tony is back at work and the last couple of weeks I've been exhausted and a little achy. I've been meaning to get back to cooking regular meals and blog them for you, but it is a little difficult when I have to cook and take my own pictures. That just means that I am moving through really quickly and not taking time to stop and take pictures, so for that I am sorry.
Today, Wes let me sleep in and when I finally woke up, I panicked because I had placed a curbside grocery pick up order for 10am. I woke up at 10:30am! I jumped up and grabbed my phone to see if my order was ready only to find that there was no order...I forgot to hit the final submit button. Y'all...you have no idea how many times I do that. The electricity bill, my car payment...whatever. It is those stupid little, "Are you sure you want to submit the submit button you just submitted twice?"
YES!!! JUST DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO THE FIRST TIME!!!!
So, I resubmitted my order for 2:30pm. That told my body to take all the time I needed. I am NOT a morning person. Anyone who knows me can attest to that. I am also not an "eat as soon as you wake up and then every three hours" person like my husband. I don't usually crave breakfast unless I am up really early and then it is only to get enough energy to make it through the morning, so I wasn't even thinking about breakfast or lunch when he came in to ask what my plans were for eating at 1:19pm. I had NO idea. All I knew was that we needed to leave to get groceries soon and if he wanted to eat after that, or before it really, I was not going to be in the mood for dinner. So we decided to pick up groceries and then food on the way back home.
For the last couple of weeks I had been in the baking mood so last night I had already decided that I would be baking a cake this weekend, so an early dinner made it easy for me to say tonight was the night for...
Ina Garten's Chocolate Cake
It has been on my Pinterest Board for a long time, so because I already had everything I needed, I decided that it was kismet, fate, destiny, MTB (for you non Sleepless in Seattle fans, that Meant to Be).
When we got home we put groceries away, ate our takeout while watching the next episode of Kids Baking Championship (we are currently on season 4). When that episode was over, I headed into the kitchen and dragged Wes along for the ride. It seemed only appropriate since yesterday he and Aidan cleaned my stove after I started and gave up on it twice. I have really great guys.
Now, friends, there is a reason why Wes and I have been married for 22 years. We had an agreement when we got married that I would do the cooking and he would do the cleaning. Which usually is ok. Sometimes he forces me to clean with him and I hate it. I don't usually make him cook with me, except for rare occasions and there is a reason for that. I am awful. No really. I do not teach or instruct well. I am impatient and I get frustrated easily. He likes to clean as he goes...not that I don't, but I do it when it is convenient, not after every single step. At one point today I yelled at him and told him, "This is why you will NEVER win a cooking competition...YOU WILL NEVER COMPLETE YOUR DISH ON TIME!" But because we are in the kitchen working together so rarely, we get over it pretty quickly...he's usually just laughing at me.
To start, we did something together for the first time...we cut parchment rounds for my cake pans. Have you ever done this? Usually I do the trace and cut method, but that is always so wasteful, so I googled "how to cut parchment circles." It was so easy!
I am telling you, it's life changing.
We started Ms. Ina's cake by preheating my newly cleaned oven to 350-degrees and buttering the cake pans. Even if the recipe doesn't call for it, I always butter the parchment too, just to be safe. As I buttered, Wes put together the Mise en place. He measured everything out and got it ready to go.
He brought together all the dry ingredients, 1 3/4 cup of flour, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cups of cocoa (we used Ghiradelli), 2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of salt (of course I used fleur de sal). He whisked that together and then we put that bowl aside.
In another bowl, he added all of the wet ingredients, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla. Ina says not to add the coffee at this point.
Once all this was mixed, he combined the wet into the dry ingredients and brought it all together. It was a bit thick and clumpy and he was concerned until we added the 1 cup of coffee. Whisk together until there was no more dry ingredients visible. It is a pretty runny batter, but that is ok. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and cook for 35 minutes.
When your 35 minutes is up, take the pans out and let them cool for about 15 minutes, then let turn them out onto a cooling rack and let your cakes cool while you mix up the frosting.
The frosting is a yummy sour cream buttercream. It really reminded me of a frosting my mom used to make when I was a kid. I wonder if she remembers how she did it.
Anyway, I changed it just a little bit because it called for one egg yolk and I know my eggs are not fresh enough for raw yolk icing. The frosting is 2 sticks of softened butter, 3 cups of powdered sugar, 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup of sour cream and a pinch of good salt. Start by creaming your butter in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until it is nice and fluffy. Add your powdered sugar, if you are like my husband and dont like mess, you can drape a towel over your stand mixer to prevent sugar in the air. Add your salt and vanilla.
Put your chocolate (either chips or chopped) in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it at 30 second intervals until it is melted and thin. Whisk in your sour cream and then add that mixture to your mixing bowl with the butter and sugar. Beat that together for about a minute, then scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl. Beat again for another minute or so until it has all come together. Do not beat it too long or it will separate and you will have to toss it.
Now frost it! I like to put a dollop of frosting down to keep the cake from sliding around. Frost the first layer using an offset spatula. I actually piped the icing and then spread it across. Add the top layer and frost it the same way. I wanted to leave the sides naked, but Wes and Aidan outvoted me.
There you have Ina's Chocolate Cake! It was so incredible moist and chocolatey. You dont event taste the coffee, but it helps to give the chocolate and nice strong chocolate flavor. The frosting was sweet and creamy without being too over the top with the chocolate.
I am going back to work June 1st, but I will try to keep the blog up. TTFN!
Today, Wes let me sleep in and when I finally woke up, I panicked because I had placed a curbside grocery pick up order for 10am. I woke up at 10:30am! I jumped up and grabbed my phone to see if my order was ready only to find that there was no order...I forgot to hit the final submit button. Y'all...you have no idea how many times I do that. The electricity bill, my car payment...whatever. It is those stupid little, "Are you sure you want to submit the submit button you just submitted twice?"
YES!!! JUST DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO THE FIRST TIME!!!!
So, I resubmitted my order for 2:30pm. That told my body to take all the time I needed. I am NOT a morning person. Anyone who knows me can attest to that. I am also not an "eat as soon as you wake up and then every three hours" person like my husband. I don't usually crave breakfast unless I am up really early and then it is only to get enough energy to make it through the morning, so I wasn't even thinking about breakfast or lunch when he came in to ask what my plans were for eating at 1:19pm. I had NO idea. All I knew was that we needed to leave to get groceries soon and if he wanted to eat after that, or before it really, I was not going to be in the mood for dinner. So we decided to pick up groceries and then food on the way back home.
For the last couple of weeks I had been in the baking mood so last night I had already decided that I would be baking a cake this weekend, so an early dinner made it easy for me to say tonight was the night for...
Ina Garten's Chocolate Cake
It has been on my Pinterest Board for a long time, so because I already had everything I needed, I decided that it was kismet, fate, destiny, MTB (for you non Sleepless in Seattle fans, that Meant to Be).
When we got home we put groceries away, ate our takeout while watching the next episode of Kids Baking Championship (we are currently on season 4). When that episode was over, I headed into the kitchen and dragged Wes along for the ride. It seemed only appropriate since yesterday he and Aidan cleaned my stove after I started and gave up on it twice. I have really great guys.
Now, friends, there is a reason why Wes and I have been married for 22 years. We had an agreement when we got married that I would do the cooking and he would do the cleaning. Which usually is ok. Sometimes he forces me to clean with him and I hate it. I don't usually make him cook with me, except for rare occasions and there is a reason for that. I am awful. No really. I do not teach or instruct well. I am impatient and I get frustrated easily. He likes to clean as he goes...not that I don't, but I do it when it is convenient, not after every single step. At one point today I yelled at him and told him, "This is why you will NEVER win a cooking competition...YOU WILL NEVER COMPLETE YOUR DISH ON TIME!" But because we are in the kitchen working together so rarely, we get over it pretty quickly...he's usually just laughing at me.
To start, we did something together for the first time...we cut parchment rounds for my cake pans. Have you ever done this? Usually I do the trace and cut method, but that is always so wasteful, so I googled "how to cut parchment circles." It was so easy!
- You cut a sheet of parchment that is just bigger than your cake pan.
- Fold it in half from top to bottom.
- Fold it in half again from left to right.
- Then fold it in half so it makes a triangle with a point.
- Fold that triangle in half lengthwise again.
- Put the tip of that triangle in the center of the cake pan.
- Cut the wide end of the triangle where it meets the edge of the pan.
- Unfold and you have your circle.
I am telling you, it's life changing.
We started Ms. Ina's cake by preheating my newly cleaned oven to 350-degrees and buttering the cake pans. Even if the recipe doesn't call for it, I always butter the parchment too, just to be safe. As I buttered, Wes put together the Mise en place. He measured everything out and got it ready to go.
He brought together all the dry ingredients, 1 3/4 cup of flour, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cups of cocoa (we used Ghiradelli), 2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of salt (of course I used fleur de sal). He whisked that together and then we put that bowl aside.
In another bowl, he added all of the wet ingredients, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla. Ina says not to add the coffee at this point.
Once all this was mixed, he combined the wet into the dry ingredients and brought it all together. It was a bit thick and clumpy and he was concerned until we added the 1 cup of coffee. Whisk together until there was no more dry ingredients visible. It is a pretty runny batter, but that is ok. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and cook for 35 minutes.
When your 35 minutes is up, take the pans out and let them cool for about 15 minutes, then let turn them out onto a cooling rack and let your cakes cool while you mix up the frosting.
The frosting is a yummy sour cream buttercream. It really reminded me of a frosting my mom used to make when I was a kid. I wonder if she remembers how she did it.
Anyway, I changed it just a little bit because it called for one egg yolk and I know my eggs are not fresh enough for raw yolk icing. The frosting is 2 sticks of softened butter, 3 cups of powdered sugar, 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup of sour cream and a pinch of good salt. Start by creaming your butter in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until it is nice and fluffy. Add your powdered sugar, if you are like my husband and dont like mess, you can drape a towel over your stand mixer to prevent sugar in the air. Add your salt and vanilla.
Put your chocolate (either chips or chopped) in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it at 30 second intervals until it is melted and thin. Whisk in your sour cream and then add that mixture to your mixing bowl with the butter and sugar. Beat that together for about a minute, then scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl. Beat again for another minute or so until it has all come together. Do not beat it too long or it will separate and you will have to toss it.
Now frost it! I like to put a dollop of frosting down to keep the cake from sliding around. Frost the first layer using an offset spatula. I actually piped the icing and then spread it across. Add the top layer and frost it the same way. I wanted to leave the sides naked, but Wes and Aidan outvoted me.
There you have Ina's Chocolate Cake! It was so incredible moist and chocolatey. You dont event taste the coffee, but it helps to give the chocolate and nice strong chocolate flavor. The frosting was sweet and creamy without being too over the top with the chocolate.
I am going back to work June 1st, but I will try to keep the blog up. TTFN!
What?!? That looks amazing! Ghiradelli chocolate for the win! Also, that towel trick was new to me, so thank you.
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