One month to Christmas, I come bearing chocolate gingerbread cake

It feels a bit early for me to start thinking of Christmas. Drifts of research and reports surround me; calendar reminders twinkle on my screen, and it wasn’t too long ago when a hard thump of an icing sugar duster covered my garden with snow. Maybe it’s not too early for me to start thinking of Christmas.

Two things easily get me into the Christmas spirit—music and food.  While I am prone to belting out “Do They Know It’s Christmas” in June, I’m not quite ready to put my Christmas CDs in the mix just yet. The Christmas Pud has been stirred, steamed and safely out of my mother’s reach (really, it’s not hard as she’s 4’10” (maybe)).  While I’m beginning to plan out my baking, it’s hardly a Bing Crosby existence, rumpapumpumming to David Bowie.

Yet.

I used this week's visit with some favourite people to get me further into the festive spirit.  How better than with a cake? Preferably something aromatic that hints at the weeks to come.

I thought the Chocolate Gingerbread Cake from Nigella Lawson’s Feast would be perfect with our tea, as we chat next to a roaring fire. I paired the smoky-rich chocolate spice cake with the salted brown butter caramel icing from Shuna Fish Lydon’s Caramel Cake.  For a bit of texture, amidst all that soft lusciousness, a generous handful of roasted spiced pecans was scattered on top.

By my standards, it’s a sweet enterprise, but all that means is I'll have a smaller slice.   But it is a dark, damp and rich cake, spiced with flavours familiar to the Yuletide season, with the added bonus of chocolate.  And salted caramel.  And crunchy pecans.

A couple of notes about the cake:

• The full cake recipe is enough for two 20cm x 20cm (8"x8") pans, so if you only need a small cake, halve the recipe.
• Instead of treacle, I used cooking molasses, which is a mixture of regular and blackstrap molasses.  My molasses-loving friends liked it, but next time I’ll use a lighter variety.
• For one 20cm x 20cm cake, use about one-third of the icing specified in the recipe (or more, or less, I'm not going to judge).

Ginger spiced roasted pecans

Ingredients:

50g/125ml/0.5c chopped pecans

one heaping teaspoon icing sugar

0.5 tsp ginger powder

cayenne pepper, to taste

pinch salt

water

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with parchment or tin foil.

Mix the nuts with the sugar, spices and salt.  Drizzle in enough water so the nuts are coated with a glaze.  Toss the nuts and spread on the prepared baking tray. 

Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool before sprinkling on the cake.

Recipe Links: 

Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Gingerbread Cake Recipe

Shuna Fish Lydon’s Caramel Cake Recipe

cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!

A few days late, I bear cake

A belated happy 2013 to all--may it bring  you and yours laughter, opportunity, friends and whatever good things you wish for.

I know some of you have been wondering why my entries have become increasingly sporadic these past few months.  The last half of 2012 brought pervasive change.

While Hagia and Zeus are no longer padding around the house, two new companions have trotted in.  Those of you who follow my @cardamomaddict account know about Nigel and Rufus, but if you don't, here's a pic taken in October.

In the midst of those exits and entrances, my professional life has taken a twist, and I have hung out my shingle and started Peacock Blue Communications, where I help clients with the various stages and phases of planning and implementing strategic, integrated communications plans (think I can help you?  email me at jasmine{at}peacockblue{dot}ca and I'll be happy to chat with you).  I've been working with clients and networking (oh, the networking!) for the past few months.  I'm working on the website, but here's what I've got up right now at peacockblue.ca; you can also follow my PR, Social Media and issues/reputation management tweets at @pckblue.

While all of this was happening (and still is happening), I simply wasn't able to dedicate time to this space as I had done previously.  I've not been cooking as much as I had been, nor have I been exploring food and culture in ways I like, so I've not really had much to post about.  Retiring this blog crossed my mind.  But I'm a stubborn optimist who thinks that every hiatus is a brief one.

So while I'm not committing to fast and furious posting, I will keep this space alive, posting what I can, when I can.

While I've been mostly absent, I have had one constant these past couple of months...chocolate cake.  As my longer-term readers know, I pretty much lost my chocolate tooth a few years ago when my partner died.  Whereas my chocolate cravings haven't returned, this overwhelming craving for un-iced chocolate cake has taken hold.  I'm on my third cake (fourth, if you include brownies) and I think I've found a winner.

The recipe is from a long-neglected gift I received more than 10 years ago from Jo Walton (yes, that Jo Walton) who came to stay with me.  She knew I loved to cook and bake, and Cadbury's was (and still is) a favourite of mine, so she gave me a copy of The Complete Cadbury's Cookbook.  It's a lovely book, filled with chocolatey and cocoa-y merriments.  Why I don't cook from it more often, I don't know, but I think this recipe will become part of my regular repertoire

Devil's Food Cake

adapted from The Complete Cadbury's Cookbook (c) 1994

Yield: 1 20cm (8") cake

Ingredients
175g (300ml/scant 1.25c) plain flour (all purpose flour)
1tsp (5ml) baking powder
0.5tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
50g (105ml/7Tbsp) cocoa powder
Boiling water
1 pinch salt
55g (60ml/0.25c) soft butter
60ml (0.25ml) flavourless oil
225g (280ml/1c +2Tbsp) dark brown sugar
2 eggs
80ml (0.33c) yoghurt

Method
Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Grease and paper a high-sided 20cm (8") round cake pan (or two 20cm (8") regular or low sided pans). Set aside.

Seive together the flour, leavening agents and salt. Set aside.

Mix enough boiling water into the cocoa powder to make a soft, smooth paste. Set that aside too. 

Cream together the fats and sugar. Blend in the eggs. Mix the cocoa paste with the yoghurt and incorporate into the eggy-sugar mix.

Fold in the dry ingredients until the batter is uniform in colour and texture and you don't see streaks of unincorporated flour. Pour into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 35 minutes, or done.

The cake is done when an inserted skewer comes out cleanly, the cake has shrunk in at the sides a teeny bit (about 2mm/1/16th") and the top springs to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.

Ice, if you wish.


cheers!
jasmine
 I'm a quill for hire!

Irish Cream Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits

I checked my BBM the other day to find a colleague changed her avatar. This in itself is not remarkable--pretty much everyone on BBM (except for me) seems to change their avatars regularly. Sometimes it's a wee self portrait or image of their child. Sometimes is a vacation snap or some other image that strikes their fancy.

What caught my eye was an image of an Oreo cookie, with a note wishing the popular sandwich cookie a happy 100th birthday.

Oreos are 100 years old?

Really?

Like so many people, I have a soft spot for Oreos. Some people are crunchers, others like to pry apart the sandwich and lick off the filling. I prefer mine dunked in milk until the biscuits practically melt away on my tongue.

But here's a confession. I really don't like the icing. It's too sweet and the texture is just...meh. I think it's because it's made with shortening (or so I've been told)--I've never really been fond of shortening. Give me lard or butter any day. Well...for icing, give me butter. I'm sure one can make an adequate icing from lard, but I'd rather not find out.

So when I saw the birthday wishes on my phone's screen, I thought 'why not bake my own Oreos?'

So when I saw the date, I thought 'Why not start my St. Patrick's Day foodishness a wee bit early?'

I've been rather busy as of late, so I haven't had the time to develop my own cookie dough for this recipe. After looking up a few recipes, I decided to use one based on a recipe from Gourmet Magazine. Flavouring the filling with Irish cream was pretty much a foregone conclusion (well, in my mind, it was).

The resulting chocolate sandwich cookies were delicious--nicely chocolatey with a soft Irish cream flavour. I'm sure you can change up the filling flavour with another liqueur...but for March, Irish cream just seems fitting.

Irish Cream Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits (Oreos)
adapted from Gourmet Magazine's Double Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Yield 24

Ingredients

For the biscuits
200g (1c + 6 Tbsp/330ml) all purpose flour
40g (6Tbsp/90ml) cocoa powder
0.25tsp (1.25ml) baking powder
pinch salt
150g (0.66c/185ml) butter, softened
2Tbsp (30ml) milk or cream
0.75tsp (3.75ml) vanilla

for the filling
55g (0.25c/60ml) butter, softened
100g (0.75c/185ml) icing sugar
2dspn (20ml/4tsp) Irish cream liqueur (maybe a drop more, if you wish)

Method
For the biscuits

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the milk and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture in two additions, until the dough comes together. Form into a disc, wrap in cling and chill for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 170C/350F. Line two cookie trays with parchment.

Roll the dough out between two pieces of wax or parchment paper, until it's about 3mm (1/8th") thick. Using a 3.75cm (1.5") round or fluted cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them on the prepared sheets, approximately 1.25cm (approx 0.5") apart. Gather the scraps, form into a disc and rechill before re-rolling.

Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and let fully cool before assembling the cookies.

For the filling:
Beat together the butter and the icing sugar until well mixed. Add in the Irish cream and beat well. Chill for at least an hour before using.

To assemble: smear about a half to three-quarter teaspoon of icing onto the flat side of a cooke. Press a corresponding cookie top to the icing. If the icing is soft, chill, uncovered, in the fridge for about an hour until the filling firms up.


cheers!

jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Happy Thanksgiving! Double Chocolate Whisky'd Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.


I know I've been remiss in posting my foodie adventures (and yes, there have been some), but *gasp* I've been going out! and having fun!


More about that later.


Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Yes. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving. We've been doing so since 1578 when the English explorer Martin Frobisher was absolutely thrilled he didn't become a popsicle while searching for the NorthWest passage. About 30 years later Samuel de Champlain (the foodie he was) and his French settlers initiated their own feasts of thanks.


My Dear Little Cardamummy has quite a fondness for pumpkin pie. It's not really Thanksgiving unless there's a pumpkin pie on the table. My Big Strong Cardapoppy on the other hand, calls all pies "apple pies" (including cherry, pumpkin and banana creme) and, from what I've gathered, isn't too fussed on what the sweet is. He just wants a 10kg/22lb turkey on the table (did I mention it's usually just three or four of us for lunch?). Yes, really.


Needless to say, after a certain amount of negotiation and some consternation, I won the dessert battle (really, Mum store bought pie?) and I was allowed to bring in dessert.


I immediately cottoned onto the idea of a chocolate pumpkin pie. I checked my library to see what there was--a number of pumpkin pies, but no chocolate pumpkin pies. My online search basically came back with three recipes, and their permutations reposted over and over and over again. None of them truly excited me, so I put on my apron and started playing.


The finished result was this pie--chocolatey but not overpowering the pumpkin, laced with warming spices that remind me of both falling leaves and crunching snow. Underneath it all is a deeper warmth carried by whisky and vanilla.

Double Chocolate Whisky'd Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from recipes by Edna Staeber, Martha Stewart, Baking Bites and Dreena's Vegan Recipes.


Yield: one 9" pie (1.75" deep)


Ingredients


For the crust
170g (1c+3Tbsp /295ml) all purpose flour
20g (4Tbsp/60ml) cocoa
25g (4Tbsp/60ml) sugar
0.25tsp (1.25ml) salt
85g (6Tbsp/90ml) very cold (if not frozen) unsalted butter
2 egg yolks, beaten
0.5tsp (2.5ml) vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp (15-30ml) ice water


For the filling:
28g (2Tbsp/30ml) unsalted butter
70g (0.33c/85ml) semi sweet chocolate chips
2Tbsp (30ml) heavy cream
0.5tsp (2.5ml) cinnamon
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground cardamom seeds
0.125tsp/ 1/8tsp (0.6ml) ground cloves
0.125tsp/ 1/8tsp (0.6ml) nutmeg
pinch salt
135g (0.66c/170ml) brown sugar
280g (1.25c/310ml) pureed pumpkin
2 eggs3-4Tbsp (45-60ml) whisky (see notes)
1tsp (5ml) vanilla extract


Serve with any of the following, if desired
Whipped cream/Chantilly cream
Ice cream
Icing sugar


Method
For the crust


Sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. Grate in the butter with the large holes on a box grater, then rub in the butter into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the beaten egg and vanilla then dribble in enough water so the dough comes together but is not wet or tacky. Form the dough into a disk and pop into the fridge for 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to 300F/160C. Lightly butter a pie tin that's 9" wide and 1.75" deep (approx 22cm wide, 4.25-4.5cm deep).


Line the pie tin with the dough that's been rolled out to approx 0.5cm (0.25") thickness. trim the edges and crimp the crust as you see fit. Dock the bottom and sides of the crust by piercing the dough with a fork's tines--I do this until it reminds me of my dentist's acoustical tiles. Line the crust with tin foil and then weight it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes.


Remove from oven, take the foil and the weights off and let cool as you make the filling.


For the filling:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C.


Melt the butter until slightly foamy. If you're doing this on the stovetop, turn off the hob and add the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add the cream, spices and salt and stir until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar. Set aside to cool slightly.


In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin eggs, whisky and vanilla, until well mixed. Fold in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and mix until you cannot see streaks of orange or brown. Pour evenly into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Bake for 40-55 minutes. The filling will be set and an inserted skewer will come out clean.


Remove from the oven and let cool completely.Serve with whatever accompaniment (or none at all) you wish


Notes:

• You don't have to make the chocolate shortcrust if you don't want to. A regular shortcrust or graham wafer crust will be fine (but then it would simply be a Whisky'd Chocolate Pumpkin Pie...nothing wrong with that).
• Do not use pumpkin pie filling. Goodness knows what's in that stuff.
• Whisky. I suppose it's optional, but it's Thanksgiving (or Christmas, or whatever occasion that warrants pie). You may feel better with a few drams of whisky.
• More about whisky. I'm Canadian, so I use rye/Canadian whisky. You can use what you have on hand (even if it means bourbon, scotch or Irish whisky). If you don't have whisky in the house, use brandy, rum, cognac or creme de cacao (or whatever else you think may work) :)...I welcome any and every effort to make this pie happier

cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!

Chocolate chip pecan toffee cookies

Oops!  I mean Lacey Chocolate chip pecan toffee cookies

Even though it's only been about five or six weeks since I last posted, it feels longer...much longer.  I fully admit to a bit of sheepishness about the length of this past break.  My usual two or so week break stretched to three...and then a month...and then it became...umm...a wee bit longer.

I think I have good reason.  The fact is...I really didn't cook or bake a lot this summer. Between this and that, this food fete and that dinner, most of my kitchen activity seemed to be microwaving or simply pulling a cold drink...erm...salad fixings from the fridge.

That's the way it goes sometimes.

This week I made a very conscious effort to reacquaint myself with my kitchen and create something to write about.  I decided upon chocolate chip cookies.

Goodness knows I've made hundreds of dozens of them over the years.  That should be a nice, easy way of easing me back into the swing of things.

Ermm.

You know what it's like to take a yoga class after not doing a Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana for five years?  That feeling that even the corpse pose is well beyond capabilities?

Okay...maybe you don't.  But I do...and it's weighing heavily as I'll be unfurling my mat for the first time in half a decade on Tuesday.  No...I'm not concerned...overly.

Yeah.  That's what it was like baking these cookies.

I looked at a few recipes, including the Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookie #10 (aka the Toll House Recipe) and a couple of community even cookbooks and came up with another way to build a chocolate chip cookie (because, of course, the world needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe).

It all came together nicely and I scooped out the first tray of cookies.

After eight minutes I took out the first tray of cookies from the oven.

The first tray looked more like crocheted lace doilies by someone obsessed with the popcorn stitch.  Half the tray was one lacy cookie ooze of sugar and butter, held together by the occasional molten pool of toffee and studded with softened chocolate, as well as the just scant amount of flour I used.

Don't get me wrong, they were buttery and soft and nummily sticky with melted toffee bits...but they didn't have  the toothsome weight that I wanted.

Thank goodness I can fix things on the fly.

Based on the amount of dough left, I measured out some flour.  Presto!  Cookies that keep their shape without being too cakey (the bane of My Dear Little Cardamummy's cookies (but you didn't hear that from me)), lovely and chewy and just salty enough to cut through the combined sweetness of the dough, the chocolate and the toffee.

Not bad for my return to the kitchen, I think.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Toffee Cookies

Chocolate Chip Toffee Pecan Cookies 
Yield 3-4 dozen

175g (1.25c/300ml) all purpose flour
0.5tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
0.5tsp (2.5ml) salt
115g (0.5c/120ml) soft butter
125g (10Tbsp/150ml) brown sugar
75ml (6Tbsp/90ml) white sugar
0.5tsp (2.5ml) vanilla extract
1 egg
175g (1c/250ml) chocolate chips
100g (0.5c/125ml) chopped pecans
75g (0.5c/125ml) toffee bits

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Moderate. Line cookie trays with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, bicarb and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter, both sugars and vanilla for about five minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Mix in the flour until just combined. Fold in the chocolate, nuts and toffee.

Roll into teaspoon-sized balls and place about 4cm (1.5") apart on the prepared cookie trays. Do not flatten.  Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and are golden around the edges and on the bottom.

Let cool on the the tray for about five minutes and then transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Note: for the lacey version, reduce the flour by about 35g (0.25c/60ml); when you portion them out, flatten then slightly before baking.

cheers!

jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!

Irish Cream Swirled Guinness Brownies

Undaunted with my less than stunning first attempt at a Guinness-inspired dessert of the year, my next attempt at a stout-soused sweet took me down a more familiar path.

What started as a quest for a simple Irish cream swirled brownie ended with a bit of a bang.

Not literally.

I think every recipe I found was replicated from our dear Peabody's. It looks like a great recipe and I encourage you to try it if you wish.

Then I got to thinking about the Car Bomb cupcakes which proliferated the web these past few years and decided to play around with that idea: what could be a cupcake could be a brownie.

For those unfamiliar, it's a boilermaker of sorts. Instead of a glass of beer fortified with a shot of rye (or whisky, tequila or vodka), it's Guinness with shots of Baileys Irish Cream and Irish Whisky.

The dozen or so Guinness brownie recipes I perused seemed to be the exact same one. Then I looked for actual recipes and they all seemed to be Guinness brownies with Irish Cream icing.

Deja-vu all over again.

So I played with a number of the brownie recipes I had on hand, including those above, ATK's chewy brownies and this one from epicurious.com and devised my own version, using Peabody's Irish cream infused cream cheese swirl.

I played. I baked. I tweeted.

Normally when I tweet my scullery goings on I get a couple of replies along the lines of "Yum!" or "Will there be a post?"

This time the reaction ranged from a chastising because of my apparent political incorrectness, to explanation requests (most people know of the incediary device, not as many know of the drink)--to recipe requests made slightly unintelligible by slurping dribble....followed by impatient proddings for the recipe.

To those insulted by the title: I apologise--the name's inspiration never really dawned on me.

To those who thought I sent away to the Acme Corporation: No--I am not an animated coyote with hate-on for equally animated road runners.

To those who want the recipe: Here it is.

The result is a chewy-fudgey chocolatey, Guinness-kissed brownie. The stout's flavour isn't pronounced, but it adds a bit of depth. I'll be honest and say the fresher (and I would argue temperature has something to do with it) the brownie, the more prounounced the Irish cream flavour (so yes, this is permission for you to eat the entire tray an hour or two after it's come out of the oven).


Irish Cream Swirled Guinness Brownies
Yield: 1 22cm x 22cm (8"x8") pan
Primarily adapted from recipes by about.com, America's Test Kitchen and epicurious.com

Ingredients
For the Irish Cream swirl
85g (3oz) cream cheese, softened
25g (2Tbsp) butter, softened
50g (0.25c) sugar
1 egg
1Tbsp all purpose flour
2Tbsp Irish cream such as Bailey's or Carolans
0.5tsp vanilla extract

For the Guinness Brownies
120ml (0.5c) Guinness or other brand of stout
30g (2 rounded Tbsp) cocoa
90g (3oz) bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped into small pieces)
25g (2Tbsp) butter, melted
50ml (3Tbsp + 1tsp) flavourless oil
1 egg
1 egg yolk
100g (0.5c) sugar
100g (0.5c) brown sugar
100g (0.66c + 1Tbsp) all purpose flour
0.25tsp salt
1Tbsp Irish Whisky (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180C/350C. Create a foil sling for your 22cm x 22cm (8"x8") brownie pan, otherwise line it with parchment. Set aside.

For the Irish Cream swirl:
Beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, Bailey's and vanilla and then mix in the flour. Set aside.

For the Guinness brownies:
Bring the stout to a simmer. Take it off the heat and whisk in the cocoa, then mix in the chocolate chips until melted. Stir in melted butter and oil.

Mix in the egg and yolk, then the two sugars and salt. Sift in the flour and give it a good turn until you have a smooth batter.

Dollop in the chocolate and Irish cream batters and swirl them together.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted mid-way between the edge and the centre point comes out with moist clingy crumbs.

Remove from the oven to cool thoroughly. Brush or spritz the top with Irish whisky, if you wish, before cutting.

Serve on its own, or warmed with vanilla or Irish cream ice cream.

Note:

- You can, if you wish, mix the chocolate (30g bittersweet and 60g semisweet) for a slightly sweeter brownie

cheers!
jasmine




I'm a quill for hire!

Dirt and Worms Cupcakes

This weekend was one of foodbloggerdom's biggest annual hootenanies (yup, you guessed it, BlogHer Food '10). Many are in San Francisco at panels and outings.

Those of us not in SF are left to press our cybernoses against the windowpanes of online culinary kewlery. Many delegates tweet what they're up to. It goes something like this:

"Oh SQUEE! I'm having so much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

and

"That was such a great session about...!"

and

"Who else is going to...??"

and

"Can you believe .... did ....?!"

and

"I finally got to meet ...! I'm so thrilled!!!"

Alas, not everyone can attend: money, cat flossing, the fact that this is Canada's Thanksgiving weekend and many of us north of the 49th parallel have familial obligations (read whatever tone and inflection you wish into that last phrase).

Yeah...we're sad and rather pathetic as a result.

So sad and pathetic we started a support group.

BlogHer Food '10 Pity Party (#BHF10PP, for those of you into hashtags) started off as a joke by the fine people behind The Peche, but soon took on a life of its own: movie trailers, themed menues, a drinks competition...seminars about how to make a habanero martini, doing fancy things with chocolate and strategies for dealing with dirty dishes were streamed as well. But really, what many of us did was tweet about how sad and pathetic we are and what we're doing to deal with it. Alcohol figures prominently (and yes, I did get some poutine).

Misery loves company, as the saying goes.

Me. I'm here.
In my basement.
Tending to a sprained ankle.
The liquor cabinet is upstairs.
Nobody loves me.
Everybody hates me.
I think I'll eat some worms.

Hence the most obvious of treats, grownupified by the addition of whisky. It's a non recipe-recipe. You don't have to use the attached cupcake recipe--any chocolate cupcake will do. Heck. If melancholia has taken hold of you to such an extent that spending 35 minutes to make and bake cupcakes sends you into a downward spiral of sad kitten eyes and reciting bad poetry, then go ahead an buy a packet of uniced cupcakes and turn them into dirt and worms.

My cat's breath smells like cat food..

Dirt and Worms Cupcakes
One dozen chocolate cupcakes (recipe follows)

Chocolate cookie crumbs
Whisky
Caramel
Gummi Worms

Cut the domes off the cupcakes. Take four domes and crumble them into dirt clods. Mix in about an equal amount of cookie crumbs. Set aside

Sprinkle as much whisky onto the cupcake stumps. Spread caramel on top. Tumble the cake-cookie crumb on top and nestle a worm into the dirt.

Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from Edna Staebler's Devil's Food Layer Cake in Food That Really Schmecks
Yield: 12 cupcakes

125ml (0.5c) milk
0.5tsp vinegar
0.5tsp bicarbonate of soda
165g (1.25c) cake flour
0.5tsp baking powder
0.25tsp ground cinnamon
55g (0.25c) butter
100g (0.5c) white sugar
100g (0.5g) brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
30g (1oz) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1Tbsp whisky

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 12-bowl muffin tin with papers.

Mix the milk and vinegar together and let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir in the bicarb and let sit.

Sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Stir in egg and melted chocolate. Mix in the flour and soured milk in the usual alternating way (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry). Stir in the whiskey.

Divide batter into prepared bowls and bake for 20-25 minutes. The tops will be springy and an inserted skewer will come out clean.

Let cool to room temperature before adding the dirt and worms.

Eat the remaining cupcake tops.


cheers!
jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

A Cake is Announced: Delicious Death

I always find my blog’s inbox completely irresistible.

Here are grouped together, all higgledy-piggledy, notes from readers and stoppers-by with questions or comments, frenzied appeals to publicise charitable events, PRs and marketers looking for a cheap and easy way to gain pixel space for their clients, and subject lines asking me if my Mr. Winkie needs improving.

This particular Wednesday, September the eighth was no exception to the rule (well, apart from notes of well-wishing for both this blog’s anniversary and another notable event). And so it was with great interest while sipping my tea and nibbling a foofy pink cupcake, I perused Mailwasher’s preview pane, I noticed lying betwixt newsletters and messages imploring me to try “it” now for the purposes of shocking friends with my tool, I spied the following notice: A cake is announced and will be available to celebrate Agatha Christie’s 120th birthday on 15 September, and will be available a Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair during Agatha Christie Afternoon Tea the week of 12-19 September 2010. *

My, it was like my inbox was like the North Benham News and Chipping Cleghorn Gazette.

Further reading truly got my heart racing. No, the cake would not be prepared by or served by Lucas Bryant (my current actor crush). For you see, this was not just any cake, but one created by Jane Asher, inspired by "Delicious Death," Mitzi's celebrated dessert in A Murder is Announced.

Its description is only this, in Mitzi's own words:

"Yes. It is rich. For it…I need for it chocolate and much butter, and sugar and raisins….It will be rich, rich, of a melting richness! And on top I will put the icing--chocolate icing--I make him so nice...These English people with their cakes that tastes of sand, never never, will they have tasted such a cake. Delicious, they will say--delicious--"

How a propos that the Queen of Crime nickname a mysterious cake "Delicious Death."

Recipe in hand, I set out to bake the cake. If you followed my Twitter feed this past weekend, you're well aware of my skirmish with the kitchen gods.

If you didn’t (and really, I’m not sure whether to be hurt that you don’t clamour for my every online word or congratulate you for having better things to do than follow my often disjointed140-character missives), this was the fate of that first cake:

Yes.

It fell.

To the floor.

Dismayed, I collected the hunks of crumb, and still glistening confettied dried, preserved and sugared fruit off the floor. It was very much a lovely tribute not only to the story, the lady but also post-war rationing and baking traditions in England but also from somewhere in the middle of Europe. This was not a light and tender, buttery crumbed floury cake as many of us are accustomed to, but a more substantial cake gilt with chocolate, dried fruits and fortified with brandy (or rum, if you prefer). It is not a fruitcake, but could easily turn into one by folding the fruits into the batter before baking.

I tasted it before binning it. The cake was chocolaty and moist with a nutty undertone from the ground almonds. It was, as suspected, sweet. Cloyingly so. Between the sugar in the cake, the sugar in the filling and the sugar in the glaceed cherries and crystallised ginger, I buzzed around my kitchen like a little humming bee.

I checked my ingredients. What I didn’t have I’d simply substitute for or use a reduced amount. I faithfully followed the recipe once. This second time I would play a bit, based on what I had on hand and my assessment of the first attempt. My recommended tweaks are in the baker’s notes following the recipe.

To me this cake is not the wedge-serving kind, but instead one where squarish slices are sliced off. So I baked it in a 21.5cm (8.5”) loaf pan. Since I could not find candied flower petals, nor was I willing to pay for gold leaf. and I was besotted by the jewel-like translucency of the glaceed cherries and crystallised ginger, I decided to mince some of each and strew them on the ganache glaze.

Regardless if you choose to bake the original or tweak it, it is a lovely little cake. It’s equally at home to be brought out for an afternoon coffee or tea, but also as a festive dessert.

Delicious death? I wouldn’t have it any other way.


Agatha Christie’s Delicious Death
by Jane Asher; Imperial/volume conversions by me

Ingredients
175g (1c) dark chocolate drops (50-55% cocoa solids)
100g (7Tbsp) softened or spreadable butter
100g (0.5 c) golden caster sugar
5 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
100g (1c) ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder

For the filling:
150ml (10Tbsp) rum, brandy or orange juice
150g (1c) raisins
55g (0.33c, packed) soft dark brown sugar
6-8 glace cherries
4-6 pieces crystallized ginger
1 tsp lemon juice

For the decoration:
175g (1c) dark chocolate drops (50-55% cocoa solids)
150ml (10 Tbsp) double cream
2 tsps apricot jam
10g crystallized violet petals
10g crystallized rose petals
1 small pt of gold leaf.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 150degC, (300degF, 135degC fan assisted). Grease an 8” deep cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment or silicone.

Prepare the filling: in a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients and stir over heat until the mixture is bubbling. Allow to simmer gently, while stirring, for at least 2 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thickened. Allow to cool.

In a small heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate drops over simmering water or in a microwave, being careful not to let it overheat. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until very pale and fluffy. Separate the eggs, setting aside the whites in a large mixing bowl, and, one by one, add 4 of the yolks to the butter/sugar mix, beating well between each one.

Add the melted chocolate and fold in carefully, then stir in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the ground almonds and baking powder, then stir them into the cake mix.

Whisk the egg whites until peaked and stiff, then fold gently into the chocolate cake mix.

Spoon the mix into the prepared cake tin, leveling the top, and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 55-65 minutes, or until firm and well risen. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out on to a rack to cool completely.

Using a serrated knife, slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the cooled fruit filling onto one half and sandwich the two halves back together.

To decorate: put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and melt them together over simmering water or in a microwave. Spread the cake all over with warmed apricot jam and place on a rack over a baking tray. Keeping back a couple of tablespoonfuls, pour the icing over the whole cake, making sure it covers the top and the sides completely, scooping up the excess from the tray with a palette knife as necessary. Add any surplus to the kept back icing. Carefully transfer the cake to a 10” cake board or pretty plate.

Once the reserved icing is firm enough to pipe, place it in a piping bag with no. 8 star nozzle and pipe a scrolling line around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Leave for 2-3 hours, to set.

Place the violet and rose petals into a plastic bag and crush them into small flakes. Sprinkle these liberally around the chocolate scrolls. Finally, with a cocktail stick, pull off some small flakes of gold leaf and gently add them to the top of the cake.

Jasmine’s Notes:

• Chocolate: If you cannot find chocolate chips with the cocoa solids percentage listed on the packet, look for bittersweet chocolate chips.
• Double cream: Double cream can be difficult to find in Canada (I only manage to find it at Christmas). It has 40% fat and can be substituted with whipping cream (heavy cream), which is 35% fat.
• Caster sugar is the same as superfine sugar.
• If you wish to make this a loaf cake, use a 21.5cm (8.5”) loaf pan and bake at 150C/300F for 65-75 minutes.
  

My tweaks to the original filling
 30ml (2Tbsp) Cointreau, plus extra for assembly.
 75g (0.5c) raisins
 1Tbsp soft dark brown sugar
 8 glace cherries, minced
 6 pieces crystallized ginger, minced
 1 tsp lemon juice
 a pinch of salt
 1tsp butter

While you mix the cake, soak the raisins, cherries and ginger in water, to remove as much of the excess sugar as possible. Drain the water. After the cake is done, mix 2Tbsp Cointreau with the remaining filling ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium heat to let the alcohol evaporate and the liquid thicken. When assembling the cake, brush or sprinkle the slices’ surface with Cointreau.

Original recipe reproduced with permission.

AGATHA CHRISTIE and DELICIOUS DEATH are registered trade marks of Agatha Christie Limited (a Chorion Limited company). All rights reserved.

Visit http://agathachristie.com/ for more information about the author and the celebrations marking her 120th birthday.

* With apologies to Dame Agatha and all her fans. I couldn't resist.

cheers!
jasmine


I'm a quill for hire!

Food to mend a bruised heart: Part Two: Choco-fudge Cake with peanut butter icing

I can't eat chocolate when I'm truly and utterly upset. At my most heartbroken, the mere thought of anything that resembled chocolate or cocoa makes my stomach turn.

When Michael died it took more than a year before I could enjoy a little square of dark chocolate. When I started eating it again...in small, sporadic doses...I knew I was climbing out of my deepest trenches of grief.

With my more recent emotional bruising chocolate was again off the menu, substituted instead by fast food and poutine.

I suppose it makes sense. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine and anandamide--two whozzits that can mimic love's chemistry. Why would I want to go through the (e)motions of love when there was no one to love...or even be fond of.

After a couple of weeks it hit me like one of Lennox Lewis' right hooks: Chocolate cake NOW.

Well...I guess my bruising is fading.

Like many of us, I have dozens, if not hundreds of chocolate cake recipes, of varying pedigrees. This one is inextricably linked to Alton Brown's Chocolate Fudge cake is, quite honestly, the only one that will do to sweep away as much hurt as possible in bad times, and flood my being with happiness in better times.

The batter is quite thin--pancake batter thin--but don't let that worry you. If you decide to portion it out into cupcakes, the easiest way to fill the muffin bowls is by using a ladle. When baked, the crumb is tight, moist and midnight-like.

You can top it any way you choose. I topped one batch of cupcakes with vanilla icing and slathered peanut butter icing on another cake.

Really, I think peanut butter icing is the way to go.

I normally don't suggest particular brands in my recipes, but if you can get an organic product, that's the way to go. It's peanuttier and not nearly as sweet as the giant tubs adorned with characters and colours that appeal to six year olds.

Together, the cake and the icing is a salve for a bruised heart and is a sure sign that things are getting better.

Choco-fudge Cake
adapted from an Alton Brown recipe

Yield 1 9"x13" (20cm x 29cm) cake or 24 cupcakes

45g (9Tbsp) cocoa powder
315g (2.25c) ap flour
1dspn (2tsp) bicarbonate of soda
1tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter)
110g (0.5c) butter
45ml (3Tbsp) flavourless oil
385g (2.25c) brown sugar
1dspn (2tsp) vanilla
3 eggs

250ml (1c) buttermilk
250ml (1c) boiling water

Preheat oven to 180C/350F; line two 12-bowl muffin tin with papers or butter and sugar a rectangular cake tin.

Sift together cocoa, flour, bicarb and salt (if using).

Cream together the butter, oil and sugar. Mix in vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Mix in the buttermilk and sifted dry ingredients in the usual alternating fashion (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry). Mix in the boiling water.

Dose out into the papered bowls or pour into the prepared cake tin.

Bake for about 25-35 minutes (for cupcakes) 40-45 minutes (for the larger cake) or until an inserted skewer comes out mostly clean-ish. A bit of sticky crumb is fine.

Allow to cool completely before icing.

Peanut Butter Icing
Yield: 1.5-2c

110g (0.5c) butter, softened
250g (1c) peanut butter (not the kind with a load of sugar, preferably)
45ml (3Tbsp) milk or cream, (more or less, as required)
190g (1.5c) icing sugar, or to taste

Cream together butter and peanut butter until light. Beat in sugar about a quarter-cup at a time. Add enough milk or cream to achieve desired constistency. Beat for at least five minutes before using.


Related posts:
Food to mend a bruised heart part one: Poutine
Food to mend a bruised heart part three: Maple-glazed peppered bacon

cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!

Bordello Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love romance. I love love. I love the giddy excitement that overtakes you body, mind and soul at the prospect of being near that special person.

It's just that I dislike the artifice that surrounds 14 February. I loathe its commercialism and expectations. I sneer at forced restaurant menus and scowl at the gasoline-like price hikes for flowers and chocolates. I avoid storefronts designed by those enamoured with an imagined lovechild produced by Barbara Cartland and any of the Teletubbies.

This year my snarling came earlier than in previous years.

No, it's not because the prospect of being hit by a disabled Norwegian communications satellite is probably greater than the chances of finding a single, erudite, articulate, kind and interesting man who'd want to spend time with me.

A radio advert set off my jeers. Without going into too much detail, the messaging was "Men, (and it was aimed at men) if you have any hopes of making the beast with two backs with your special lady, then get her something for Valentine's day...because if you don't you'll probably never see her naked again."

I'd love to meet the 15 year old boy who came up with that one.

I'd also love to be there when some poor soul who doesn't have the sense gawd gave a goose finds out that no, most women don't want to be treated like one of the gals at Hooker Harvey's.

Good gravy.

When I ventured into my kitchen to bake Valentine's Day treats for my friends, my usual obsession with the tackily mundane became tinged by those women of of the night, turning my little kitchen into a scullery of slightly salacious repute...a bit of a bakery bordello, I suppose.

For many, the colour red is associated with passion and love and, as a result, Valentine's Day. To others it's associated with certain areas of Amsterdam. But to me, a deep, rich brownish-red has always been known as "bordello red." And what better way to celebrate the colour and the connotations than with red velvet cupcakes?

For those of you who haven't had one, all a red velvet cake is is a buttermilk-tangy chocolate cake dyed an almost unnatural shade of red. Some recipes call for beets, but most modern ones use copious amounts of liquid food colouring. I tried making a red velvet cake a few years ago, but I wasn't thrilled with it. It was too dry and not very chocolatey as the dye's flavour overpowered the cake.

After studying a number of recipes, I came up with this one. Like the others it uses buttermilk--essential, I think, for the tang, but I've also read it's acidity helps to redden the cocoa's natural brown; my experiment with yoghurt, although just as tasty, lacked the gaudy visual I yearned for. The combination of oil (well, a mix of oil and butter) and brown sugar keeps the cake moist; the brown sugar also gives it a deeper flavour that's missing from using granulated sugar alone.

It's a rather easy cake to make (and quite honestly the vinegar-bicarb component satisfies my latent mad scientist tendencies) but do not be alarmed by the almost violent plummy-brownish-red the the moussey batter takes on. As it bakes, the colour deepens to a luxurious deep, bordello red.

Bordello Red Velvet Cupcakes
yield 12 cupcakes

125g cake flour
1Tbsp cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
0.25tsp salt
125ml buttermilk
30ml liquid red food colouring
50g butter, softened
135g brown sugar
2dspn (4tsp) vegetable oil
1tsp vanilla
1 egg
0.5tsp bicarbonate of soda
0.5tsp red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 170C/350F. Line a 12-bowl muffin tin with papers

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Mix together buttermilk and food colouring until it is a rather vile but even shade of puce.

Beat butter for a few minutes until creamy. Add brown sugar and cream well. Mix in oil and vanilla. Beat in egg.

Alternate mixing in flour mixture with buttermilk mixture (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry), scraping down the bowl's sides between additions.

Mix together the bicarb and vinegar into a fizzy, volcanic solution and work it quickly into the batter. At this point, the batter will be almost mousse-like in consistently.

Working quickly to so as to not lose the lift, divide between the papered muffin bowls and bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Top with cream cheese icing, and whatever gaudy or not-so-gaudy decorations if you wish.

cheers!
jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Chocolate Mint Pots de Creme

When self-induced self-improvement’s constant hum turns into January’s roar of nicotine patches, head-hunter appointments and gym memberships, it’s time to take matters into my own hands.

New Year resolutions aren’t my thing. It’s not that I can’t do with a bit of self-improvement—Heaven knows that unfurled laundry list is longer than I am tall--it’s just that replacing a calendar doesn’t urge me into making life changes (large or small).

I support my friends when it makes sense, but when water bottle nutrient charts and power walking calculations to “burn off” a slice of unbuttered toast seep into life’s white noise, I get more than a little bored.

Maybe it’s because deep down, I expect this 3 January marriage to devolve to a mostly committed relationship by 15 February, casual brief encounters by 27 March and total strangers by 19 April.

Perhaps I’m simply tired of people linking happiness to denying some of life’s sweet, sticky and luscious pleasures. If anything that withholding simply strengthens cravings to the point that when the wannabe self improved weaken, they do so in a deeply sweet, dangerously sticky and oozingly luscious bliss.

If the actual goal is to take on a sensible diet, I think the best way is to learn how to include loved foods on a frequently infrequent basis and avoid abstinence. In my books, a sensible diet includes reasonable amounts of chocolate and cream and eggs. Which means a sensible diet includes reasonable amounts of chocolate pots or pots de crème au chocolat.

I developed this recipe for a close friend who stayed following some minor surgery. Limited to soft foods, I thought this pud would be easy enough for her to eat, chocolaty and minty enough to raise her spirits, and easy enough to prepare on a busy morning and leave in the fridge for the rest of the day.

As with any custard, preparing to mitigate the eggs’ curdling way is wise. To do so, fill your sink basin with several inches of cold water – icy cold, if you can manage it. If while heating the custard you feel it considering splitting, curdling or simply turning to scrambled eggs, immediately take the pot off the hob and plunge it into the cold water, while stirring vigorously.

I’m not going to kid you. This is a rich dessert and measured portions are the better way to go: this recipe produces about 800mls of custard, which will give you six generous portions or eightish reasonable portions. Mind you…if you are recovering from surgery, having a bad day or need to face the new year with the steely resolve of Boxing Day shoppers at an electronics shop this may just barely be enough for one serving.

Pot de Crème au Chocolat à la Menthe (Chocolate Mint Pots)
Serves 6-8, more or less

45g cocoa powder
20g butter
140g bittersweet chocolate (85 per cent cocoa, if possible), chopped
6 egg yolks
135g sugar (less if using a lesser cocoa percentage chocolate)
pinch of salt
a good splash of vanilla extract
300ml full fat milk
200ml heavy cream
a sprig of fresh mint (or a half tsp of mint extract)

Scald the milk and cream with the mint leaves. Take off the heat and let sit for about 20 minutes.

While the cream is cooling, slowly melt together the butter, cocoa and bittersweet chocolate until glossy but not oily. Set aside.

Whisk together the yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt. Slowly temper the egg mixture with the warmed chocolate, keeping care to not scramble the eggs. Then, equally slowly pour the cooled cream, complete with the mint) into the chocolate mixture, stirring well all the time.

Return to the hob and heat thoroughly—the intensity of heat decreasing as your timorousness increases. Continue stirring for several minutes until the custard thickens. If the eggs begin to get claggy, immediate take the pot off the heat and plunge it into a sink of cold water, as discussed above.

Sieve out the leaves (and any bits of egg that has scrambled) and decant into teacups, demitasses, small ramekins or small glasses. Let cool on the countertop and then cover with cling film and pop into the fridge for at least four hours—it will thicken as it cools.

To serve, dollop with a little whipped cream or fruit, or just serve as-is.

cheers!
jasmine

What I'm reading: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (opens to my Amazon.ca shop)

I'm a quill for hire!

Comfort & Restoration: Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

Stress eating.

If stress eating were a military rank, I'd be the Commander-In-Chief.

If stress-eating were a popstar thing, I'd have a fragrance, cookware set and shoes baring my signature.

If stress eating were an Olympic sport (a real Olympic sport--not one of those namby-pamby ones where artistic merit marks are bought/sold), I'd be a platinum medallist.

Yeah. I'm *that* good.

Stressors come in all forms. Some of them are environmental like the street urchins' thumpathumpa music at 2:30am. Some of them are situational like the final throes of a relationship where you know you need out, but haven't admitted it. Some of them are imposed like the wall of lava-like deliverables and deadlines emitted from volcanoes of projects. Some of them are biological, caused by rampaging hormones of puberty, PMT, pregnancy or menopause. Some of them are accepted like knowing the lectures you're in for from well-meaning elderly relatives about how the the way you're living you're life is just plain wrong (but you put up with it because they are well-meaning elderly relatives).

Yes. I know some stressors are actually good for you, but really, if you're in the thick of it, stress is just...stressful.

I also know there are some who espouse exercise or meditation as means of dealing with the emotional nasties of life.

Meh.

There are few things that will keep me on a somewhat even keel when life overuns life. Long drives, preferably on the 401. Loud music--lately The Cult and QOTSA. A thorough toothbrush to the grout type of cleaning. Food.

My foodish comforts come in two categories. The first are the foods whose processes lean towards stress release. Kneading bread doughs and tenderising meat with a mallet offer an obvious outlet through pushing and pulling, smacking and pounding.

The second are the foods I gravitate to for sheer physical comfort. Sweet hot milky tea. Steaks with a trickle of blood. Greasy cheeseburgers with rashers of bacon. Poutine, weighed by thick, salty gravy and gooey-from-the-heat cheese curds. Chocolate so dark the cocoa content is in the high 80s and 90s.

Sweet, fatty, salty and deeply flavoured.

Sounds like a gosh-darned good brownie to me.

Normally I'd go for a chocolate brownie, perhaps flavoured with mint or espresso, but I've not fully regained a reliable chocolate tooth. Right now, for me to enjoy it, my chocolate needs a bit of a crutch, and lately that crutch of choice is peanut butter.

I've never had luck baking with peanut butter--the cakes always come out very dry. My Google-fu turned up this well-rated peanut butter brownie recipe, which is the peanut butter component of this swirly brownie. The chocolate component is a combination of a few recipes, but with a bit of chilli pepper in for a bit of interest. Chocolate, peanuts and chillies...lovely stuff.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies
Peanut Butter Batter

140g ap flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

110g peanut butter, softened

75g butter, softened

125g sugar

85g brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate batter

110g butter

55g Dutch processed cocoa powder

100g sugar

85g brown sugar

1/4tsp salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

100g flour

Butter a 23cm x 33cm (9"x13") baking dish. Preheat oven to 170C (350F).

Prepare the peanut butter batter by sifting together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add the sugars and continue creaming until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down between each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
Blend in the flour mixture in two batches and incorporate well. Set aside.

For the chocolate batter, brown the butter until it has a nutty fragrance. Stir in the cocoa, sugars, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the hob.

Beat the eggs and vanilla until foamy. Temper the eggs by beating in a couple of spoons of the hot cocoa mixture. Incorporate the flour mixture and the rest of the cocoa mixture in alternate additions (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry).

Dollop in the batters in a checkerboard pattern in the buttered dish and marble them together.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until dense crumbs cling to an inserted skewer. Let cool thoroughly in pan before turning it out to cut into as many pieces as you see fit.

cheers!
jasmine


I'm a quill for hire!