Let Them Eat Cake!

TEDx Bend: Bending Rules 04.28.2012

Tour du Chocolat: Tower Theater 04.06.12

Cheers! Guinness Chocolate Cake: Recipe & Method

Just in time for St. Patty’s Day, a fellow fearless baker sent along this recipe for me to whip up! With the refrigerator well stocked with Guinness, this is a great recipe to impress your friends with on March 17th. The cake is perfectly moist and chocolatey with the right amount of bite from the stout. The sweet cream cheese icing or “head” on the cake, creates a beautiful balance. Cheers! 

INGREDIENTS

Cake: 

1 c Guinness Stout (drink the rest) 

10 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)

1/4 c + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 c superfine sugar (or granulated sugar) 

1/4 c + 2 tbsp sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 c AP flour

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Icing: 

11/4 c confectioners sugar

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 c heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter and flour a boundt cake pan or a 9” cake pan.  

Mise en place. In a sauce pan combine Guinness and butter (cubed). In a large bowl, combine sugar and cocoa. Sift flour and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well combine in a large mixing bowl.

Over medium-low heat, melt butter in Guinness. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat. Add cocoa and sugar. Whisk to blend. 

Add Guinness mixture to egg/vanilla/sour cream mixture. Make sure the Guinness mixture is cool. If it is still hot, temper egg mixture by adding a small amount of the Guinness mixture to the eggs, stirring vigorously; then, whisk egg mixture back into Guinness mixture.  

Add flour/baking soda mixture into Guinness batter. Using a paddle attachment, mix on medium speed until smooth. Be sure not to overmix. 

Bake at 350F until toothpick comes out clean (45-1 hour depending on actual oven temperature). 

For the icing use a food processor, KitchenAid or mix by hand. Blend confectioners sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable. 

Remove cake from pan and place on a cake platter or stand. Ice top of the cake only so that it resembles a pint of Guinness. 

Notes: 

1. I used granulated sugar instead of superfine sugar and the cake turned out beautifully. If you want superfine sugar, put the sugar in a food processor until refined. 

2. Room temperature cream cheese is key for producing a smooth icing.

3. The end result was a true Guinness chocolate cake. You could really taste the flavor of the stout which was well balanced by the sweet cream cheese icing. Personally, I found the cake to be too dense. I plated my slice with strawberries and lemon zest for a lightness.

4. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the cake before baking for a sweet chocolate flavor. 

be fearless, bake on

Almost Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inspired by my neighbors good-for-you food blog, Bend2Boulder, and her most recent recipe for Dark Chocolate Flax SUPER Cookies, I did a little experimenting of my own…

Craving Chocolate Chip Cookies , I started to throw a batch together. As I was rummaging through my pantry I pulled out Valrhona Dark Chocolate, Stone Ground Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Chopped Walnuts, Chopped Macadamia Nuts, Flax Seed and Pumpkin Seeds, all of which were left over from previous recipes (including the  Dark Chocolate Flax SUPER Cookies). 

Using my classic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I made a few alterations (indicated in italics): 

INGREDIENTS 

2 1/4 c AP Flour 2 1/4 c Stone Ground Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted* butter, softened

3/4  1/2 c granulated sugar

3 tsp corn syrup

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 1 1/2 c (1-12 oz pkg) Nestle(R) TOLL HOUSE(R) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels c

1/2 c chopped walnuts

1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts

1/4 c flax seed

1/4 c pumpkin seed 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat over to 375 F

Shift flour, baking soda & salt in a small bow or combine and whisk to ensure the dry ingredients are incorporated. Set aside. 

Beat butter, corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition (this allows the eggs to bind with butter/sugar mixture). 

Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped macadamia nuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and any extra chocolate you might have lying around! Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased sheet tray.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then remove and more to wire cooling racks.

 These cookies came out so good, I had eaten 3 before pulling out all of the trays. While you still get the calories from the butter fat and sugar, these can be easily substituted for less caloric alternatives (Stevia, vegetable oil). In addition, you can substitute Gluten Free Baking Flour for wheat flour. Buttery goodness is my specialty, but I am motivated to learn healthier alternatives from my lovely neighbor! 

be fearless, bake on

With the pastry wheel in motion…

As all of our lives eb and flow through seasonal shifts, I now find myself consumed by pastry classes and working early mornings at the bakery. While the holiday season has come and gone, cranking cookies out of my parents kitchen and warm smiles of satisfaction are still fresh in my memory. In the past, winter months have been a time of reflection and hibernation, but 2012 has fearless baking, baking, baking, baking.

fearless baking has several exciting events on the radar for 2012 including Tour du Chocolat (4.02), TEDx Bend reception (4.28) and 2012 World Pastry Forum (7.03 - 7.10). Not to mention Valentine’s Day, St. Patty’s Day, Spring, Easter, Dingus Day and everything in between - cutout cookies! 

With the pastry wheel in motion, fearless baking continues to evolve and as a baker I am focusing on absorbing every bit of knowledge and mastering a range of techniques at the Cascade Culinary Institute. This semester, Artisan Breads and Chocolate Decor monopolize my dreams. With a dry winter nationwide, I don’t mind upper body baking exercises instead of hiking/skiing laps to sculpt ski legs (although I miss it dearly). 

Fellow fearless bakers, Brook and Bekah are ever present in my life, inspiring and creating alongside one another. We feast, read, experiment and gorge as often as possible. Most recently, Bend hosted a Culinary Extravaganza featuring author, former magazine editor, restaurant critic, devoted foodie - Ruth Reichl (far left, cute shirt). 

While driven to promote her books, Reichl focused the conversation on the evolution of the food industry within the United States. Touching on mass production and genetic engineering along with the powerful grassroots movements, farm to table and nose to tail. This sparked curiosity within my bakery brain, and nearly a week later I still find myself stumped by how fearless baking can play a role in these essential movements.

Should fearless baking adopt hens? Grow grain to mill flour? How to I reach a financial/ethical compromise? Research and experimentation is first on my list, but I would to hear what has worked or not worked for you…

LOCAL. A theme I will strive to incorporate with the ebs and flows of fearless baking. 

ps. its fat tuesday. eat something you “shouldn’t” 

be fearless, bake on