Lemon Coconut Crinkle Cookies: Welcome To Our New Kitchen

You probably thought we'd left for good- maybe dropped off the face of the earth.  Or, gasp, stopped cooking.  Well- only for the "stopped cooking" are you a bit close to the truth- but of course not the whole truth.  

It started with just "too much", "too distracted", "too busy"... The regular list that keeps us all from doing the things that we intend to do while we meander in the land of the "maybe tomorrow".  

We actually had a recipe and pictures ready for a post whose tomorrow never came.

And then we stopped cooking.  Really.  I mean it.  We stopped cooking.  For seven long months we were exiled into the world of "which restaurant do we go to YET AGAIN", punctuated with respite in the homes and kitchens of friends and family, while our kitchen was remodeled.  The kind of remodeling that cannot be ignored- the kind that makes you suffer as you dream of even a grilled cheese cooked at home!

And now we're back- and cooking. Again.  So let's start with cookies.

 Now when we ended our blogging last March (1 year and 3 days ago), we posted a recipe for Chicken Liver and Spinach Frittata.  And of course Don HATES chicken livers.  As we begin cooking again this first post is all about Don- and a cookie he can't get enough of.  Honest, he's addicted in a big way.  I don't think he is able to pass that Cookie Jar Nook tucked in between the dining room and the kitchen without having at least one- and from the looks of how quickly that jar is emptying, maybe two.

Now our house is a very old house, a very old house indeed. Circa 1894.  And the kitchen was added some years after the original house was built.  You get to the kitchen by passing through a short hall from the the dining room (passing on the left, the stairs down to the basement- "scary basement" according to more than one grandchild, or up the back stairs to the second floor- also a "rite of passage" for the grandchild that is suddenly brave enough to take the narrow wooden back stairs).  On the right was a narrow and very shallow pantry with bi-fold doors, something that truly did not complement our new kitchen. Our very dear and amazingly talented master carpenter for our remodeling project had a vision and designed a Cookie Jar Nook welcoming visitors into our new kitchen.

So now my job is to keep cookies in the cookie jar!  And you're going to love these cookies whether you have a Cookie Jar Nook or not!  Bet you can't eat just one!

LEMON COCONUT CRINKLE COOKIES: Adapted from http://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2013/04/09/lemon-coconut-crinkle-cookies/

Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees

Dry Ingredients: 
Flour: 1 1/2 cups
Baking Powder: 2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp

Mix together and set to the side.

Wet Ingredients:
Butter, softened: 4 Tbsp
Sugar: 1 cup
Cream together in stand mixer until  very well blended.

Add: 
Eggs: 2
Lemon Zest: 1 large or two small lemons
Mix well.
Add:
Lemon Juice: 1/2 of a large lemon or all the juice from a small lemon
Coconut Flavoring: 1 tsp (optional)
Mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix just until the flour isn't visible.

Add:
Coconut, Shredded: 1 cup (sweetened or unsweetened).

Refrigerate batter for at least one hour to firm.

Roll batter into balls and roll in Powdered Sugar. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes depending on how soft you like your cookies.

DOUBLE OVENS!  HURRAH!

ENJOY!

Oatmeal Cookies, Anyway You Like Them!

I know, I know- it's been a long time.  And can't say we were very regular about it even before that.  And I promised we were going to be better.

I bet you thought we forgot.  Or maybe changed our mind and thought it was a bad idea. Or stopped cooking.  Or maybe even fell off the face of the earth.

Well actually the explanation is a bit easier- we've been busy- or at least I have been.  In between traveling to see one child or another (not to mention the GRANDS!)- and squeezing in a friend here and there, I find that retirement is very, very time consuming.  I mean after lingering over coffee for up to an hour- and then showering- and then lingering over breakfast while I read the New York Times it's almost afternoon.  And then if not too distracted by some stray idea or other I finally sit at the piano and play for an hour or two.  And sometimes I take a walk... And of course there are the occasional errands... And by that time for sure it is time to begin the ritual of dinner- which of course includes a leisurely glass of wine to get the right mood for the work.  

Well as you can tell- it's mighty hard to fit in writing a blog with the whirlwind life I'm leading.  Now being a bit more disciplined about the blog was a New Year's resolution- and given that it's almost February, I'm noticing that I'm not off to a very good start.

It's not that we're not cooking.  Why we're cooking pretty much everyday- and some day's it even seems like we're cooking all day when a crowd is coming.  But cooking isn't the same as blogging.  Cooking is well- just cooking.

But I'm really going to try- for me- and for you as well. I thought I'd rather like to start simple- and nothing is simpler than an oatmeal cookie.  Why oatmeal cookies are cookies without the guilt. I think of them rather like breakfast in cookie form.

After the whirlwind of the holidays and our life settled a bit- the holiday company all safely returned to their homes, it seemed that the time was just perfect for spending the day in the kitchen baking cookies.  So baking cookies is what we did- and then Don boxed them up and mailed them to all the kids.  They were for the "post holiday" let down when you're desperately trying to find even a crumb left over from all sweets that seem to linger for days in November and December and then suddenly comes January and it's cold turkey for sure.Oatmeal cookies seem just the comfort food that's perfect for the dark, cold winter days. 

Now for most folks Oatmeal Cookies are rather straightforward.  Oatmeal, raisins and there you have it.  But then our family isn't very straightforward- for some you can't call it a dessert unless there is some chocolate tucked in somewhere- and Don HATES raisins.  So there you have it- I needed a cookie that was flexible- one that could bend here and there for the different folks.  So here it is:


OATMEAL COOKIES, ANYWAY YOU LIKE THEM!

Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/2 cup Oatmeal (Can increase oatmeal to 2 cups and decrease flour to 1 cup. I think Don would like it if I skipped the flour altogether and just used the oats.)
1 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, freshly ground

Wet:
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 sticks of Butter, softened
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla

Optional:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Cranberries 
May also add Coconut, Walnuts, Dried Cherries....
(Of course for Don the cookie of choice was PLAIN- I mean absolutely PLAIN- no chocolate, no cranberries, no cherries, no coconut- PLAIN!)

Directions:
Mix Dry Ingredients.




Cream butter and sugars.
Mix in eggs.
Finally add vanilla.





Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Add in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.



Plain and Loaded!



Chill dough in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. (This helps keep the dough from flattening so fast when you begin to bake them.  You also can spoon them on the the cookie sheet and chill the entire sheet of cookies if you'd like.)

Spoon onto cookie sheet.



Bake for 10 minutes! (Careful that you don't over bake this cookie- or any cookie for that matter- unless you like your cookies hard!  I did learn a trick to create that "fresh from the oven" taste even when the cookies are 3-5 days old.  Wrap the cookies in a damp paper towel and microwave for 15 seconds or so.  Usually I skipped the damp paper towel and just microwaved on a plate and this seemed to work as well.)

Enjoy it your way!

Cooking with Dorie

Well, I know it's been a while.  It's not like I forgot.  And I really don't have a good excuse.  Saying we've been busy just sounds so lame and only partially explains our long silence.  I think probably it's as much about disorganization and just plain inertia.  But we're back!  And we're starting big, real big.  Why, this one post is going to have the recipes for a complete dinner party from appetizer to desert.  I'm trying to make up so you'll forgive our lapse.  Is is working?

The motivation was a Bridge night with Don and Mary Jo Peairs- and I'll just confess that I am really, really bad at Bridge.  If I were as bad at cooking as I am at Bridge, then everyone we know would beg, down on their knees and beg, that we go to a restaurant rather than eat at home.  Fortunately I'm a bit better at cooking than I am at Bridge. I had been eyeing a new cookbook I bought some time ago by Dorie Greenspan called Around my French Table and decided that this was the perfect time to actually open the beautiful book and cook.  I've often used Dorie's cookbook, Baking, and have followed her on twitter, but hadn't explored her recipes outside the desert category.  What a perfect opportunity!  Why Don might even think this cookbook was an essential addition to my already embarrassingly large cookbook collection!

Now before I get to Dorie, I will mention the simple- I mean really simple appetizer.  So simple in fact it hardly needs a recipe at all.  We started with Baked Brie with Apple Butter (homemade Apple Butter of course!).

BAKED BRIE WITH APPLE BUTTER:

Ingredients:

One round disk of Brie (I used one cut into wedges but you could use a single round)

Apple Butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the Brie through the middle horizontally.  Spread apple butter on the bottom layer and then top with Brie and spread apple butter on the top layer.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with toast points or crackers.

See, I told you that was simple, real simple.

But now we get to Dorie, and the rest of the menu is straight from Around my French Table.

CHUNKY BEETS AND ICY RED ONIONS SALAD
Ingredients:
4 beets
1 small red onion
Mixed greens (or you could use arugula- THE green of this season)
Goat cheese- crumbled

Dressing:
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of honey
1 tbsp of sherry vinegar (I used Champagne vinegar because it's what I had on hand)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp of minced fresh herb (I used thyme)
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
I use the Mark Bittman method for preparing the beets. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut off the greens and the tail of each beet and wrap separately in aluminum foil.  Cook for 45- 60 minutes depending on size of beet- you can tell it's done when a sharp knife pierces it easily.  Cool the beets in the aluminum foil.  These can be made a day ahead.  Unwrap the cooled beets and remove the skin under cold running water.  The outer skin will come right off.  Cut off the spot where the leaves were attached, and then dice the beets into small chunks.
For the red onions Dorie suggests soaking the onion slices in ice water to give them crunch.

Mix the dressing (I love to use my stick blender for mixing the salad dressings!).
Place a handful of greens on each plate, top with the red onions, then the beets and finally the goat cheese.  Drizzle with the dressing.

ROAST CHICKEN FOR LES PARESSEUX (LAZY PEOPLE):
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken- 4-5 pounds (usually a hen instead of a fryer)
Olive oil
2 thick slices of bread (I used ciabatta)
2-3 sprigs each of rosemary, thyme and oregano
1 garlic head, cut in half horizontally, leaving the head intact, removing only the very outer peel
2/3 cup of white wine (you can substitute chicken broth if you like but we always seem to have more wine around than chicken broth)
1 large onion
8 small red or white potatoes, cut into wedges
4 carrots, cut into big chunks
2 parsnips, quartered

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  (It's real important that the oven temperature is correct or the cooking times will be off.  My oven is 25 degrees cooler than the temperature I set it at so I actually set mine to 475 degrees.)

Rub the inside of a dutch oven liberally with olive oil. (I lined the bottom with aluminum foil the second time I prepared this chicken to aid the clean up.) Place the bread in the center of the pan.
Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.  Stuff the chicken with 1 quarter of the onion, 1/2 of each of the herb springs and the chicken liver if the butcher leaves it with you.  
Put the chicken in the pot on the bread, breast side up.  Pour a few tbsp of Olive oil over the chicken and pour in the wine. Place the remaining onion and herbs around the outside of the chicken. 
Cook covered for 50 minutes.
Toss the vegetables with olive oil until they are all glistening and then salt and pepper.
Add the vegetables to the pot and cook for 40 minutes more.
Check the chicken- the skin should be crackly and crisp and the leg should move easily.
Remove from the oven.  Let the chicken "rest" for 5-10 minutes.

Serve!

MARIE-HELENE'S APPLE CAKE:

I love this cake!  I mean really love this cake!  It's really apples with a bit of cake and WOW! It is so good we didn't even give any away to the neighbors- and in fact I baked another one two days later for Sarah and the kids just to have another piece!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples- mixed variety- I used one Cortland, one Granny Smith, one Gala and one Red Delicious

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp of dark rum
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
8 tbsp of butter, melted and cooled.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (in my oven this is 375)
Grease and flour an 8 inch springform pan.
Core, peel and cut into 1-2 inch chunks.  I love to use our apple peeler.  It makes the apple prep job so easy (and I might mention it is a sure way to entertain grandchildren- and get them to eat apples as well). Dorie loves the idea of using a variety of apples.  This adds both interesting texture (some will cook softer than others) and also interesting flavor (some are sweet, some more tart).  After eating this cake I am a firm believer in "mixing it up" with the apples in a recipe!

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in small bowl. 
Whisk the eggs until they are foamy (I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer).
Pour in the sugar and whisk until blended.  Whisk in the rum and vanilla.
Whisk in half of the flour and when blended add half of the butter. Repeat with the remaining flour and finish with the remaining butter.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the apples. Make sure that all of the apples are covered with cake batter.
Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly in the pan.
Place the pan on a cookie sheet (mine leaked  a bit so I was glad this was on a cookie sheet rather than the bottom of my oven) and bake for 50-60 minutes.  The cake is done when a knife inserted comes out clean. 
Place on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes.
Carefully remove from the edges of the pan.  I had placed parchment paper on the bottom of the pan so it was easy to slide onto the serving platter.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  We served with Caramello with Sea Salt Gelato.

Enjoy!

Let's Talk Brownies: Time for a Bake Off!

"There are as many brownie recipes as there are flowers in the meadow" says Laurie Colwin (author of both fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular contributor to Gourmet  and New Yorker), as she introduced the recipe she claimed was Katharine Hepburn's Brownies in an article called "A Harried Cook's Guide to Some Fast Food" in 1992.  This article had actually originally been printed in The Ladies Home Journal in 1975. Well I'm not sure how many flowers one might find in a meadow, but I can tell you for sure there is no end in sight when looking for brownie recipes!


Brownies originated in Chicago at the Palmer House Hotel at the end of the 19th century by Mrs. Palmer who needed a dessert for the box lunches for women attending a fair at the hotel. It was from this beginning that the brownie began it's journey to it's current leading position on so many folks list of "favorites"!


Well I will assure you this is not an exhaustive look at brownies- but we are going to look at four recipes- and even do a blind taste test using both chocolate lovers- and non-chocolate lovers!  I do believe I found my favorite- we'll see how this one rates with our other "tasters"! I have to warn you here that we can't really say which is the REAL #1.  Our first testing compared the Katharine Hepburn "A" Brownies to Expresso Kahlua Brownies while our second testing compared the Katharine Hepburn "B" Brownies to Caramel Brownies.  That said we each came out with a favorite!


Most of us easily recognize the two major types of brownies-" cakey" or "fudgy".  Now since I really only like the "fudgy" rather than the "cakey" brownies- and since this is my blog- we're only going to focus on the "fudgy" ones.  So if you're a "cakey" brownie sort of person you're on your own! We'll look at two recipes claiming to have originated with Katherine Hepburn's family- you got it- two recipes!  And then we'll try an Expresso Kahlua Brownie as well as a Caramel Brownie!  I feel certain after reading this blog each of you will go straight to the kitchen and bake your own brownies!


Let's start with Katharine Hepburn "A" Brownies. The source of this first recipe is from a "Letter to the Editor" in the New York Times- (you can find the letter here) written by Heather Henderson, a graduate of Bryn Mawr, Katharine Hepburn's alma mater.  Ms. Henderson writes a lovely tribute to Ms. Hepburn that makes you love Ms. Hepburn- if you already didn't.  It seems that as a young girl Ms. Henderson was a student at Bryn Mawr- the same college that Katharine Hepburn had attended.  Ms. Henderson reports becoming so discouraged in her studies her senior year that she told her father that she was going to drop out of school.  Now it just so happened that her father shopped at the same small grocery in New York City that Ms. Hepburn also shopped.  Ms. Henderson's father asked Ms. Hepburn if she might talk to his daughter about her studies and Ms. Hepburn agreed- and promptly invited the young girl and her father to tea at her apartment.  Ms. Hepburn served brownies.  Ms. Henderson did not drop out of college.  She writes in this letter  that she learned three things from Katharine Hepburn- "Don't quit. Be yourself.  Never put too much flour in your brownies."  Ms. Hepburn gave the recipe to Ms. Henderson.


You can add nuts to any of these recipes though I didn't.  I have some chocolate lovers that love their chocolate straight!


So let's get cooking!

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies "A": Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghiradelli of course!)
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of flour


Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 8 inch square baking pan- use metal- with either parchment paper or wax paper. Bring the paper up two sides to make it easier to get the brownies out. Butter and flour the paper.  


Whisk the flour and salt together.


Melt the butter over low heat on the stove top.  When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa onto the butter.  Stir until butter is melted and cocoa is well mixed into the butter. Set aside.


Whisk the eggs until light yellow in color.  Add the eggs to the butter/cocoa mixture.
Add in the sugar and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture- be real gentle with the mixing- you want to mix by hand (I used a rubber spatula)- and stop mixing when the flour has disappeared. 


Spread the mixture into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes.  Start checking after 20 minutes.  You really don't want to overcook brownies. If you happen to overcook them then cut the dry edges off and serve these as a "biscotti" with ice cream- and just cut the center of the brownies into squares.


Cool completely in the pan and then remove using the parchment or wax paper edges.  Cut into squares.

But brownies aren't just plain- often other ingredients are added for a different taste.  One of the most frequently mentioned "add-on" is coffee. Coffee actually enhances the flavor of the chocolate.  The next brownies are a more "grown-up" brownie!


So let's gather the ingredients!

Expresso Kahlua Brownies: Adapted from a food blog, Baker Street


Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces of chocolate ( I used 60% Cocoa)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
3 Tbsp of instant espresso powder
2 Tbsp of Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 cup of pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  With brownies you want to use a conventional oven setting rather than the "convection" setting if your oven has this setting.  The "convection" setting creates more even heating so the brownies won't develop the crusty exterior and the gooey interior- the perfect texture for a brownie.


Grease and flour a 9 inch cake pan.


Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt)


Melt butter and chocolate in a sauce pan over low heat.  


In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer), mix well the eggs, sugar, vanilla, espresso powder and Kahlua. Add in the chocolate mixture.  Last, gently add the flour mixture being careful not to overdo this.  Stop when you no longer see "white"!


Spread the mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Again do check beginning at 20 minutes so you don't over bake.  


Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Since I was traveling to Florida with these brownies, I layered them in a plastic container separating each layer with wax paper.  Kept this way brownies will last up to a week.  Brownies can also be frozen for up to 3 months if anyone can resist eating them before any thought is given to freezing them!

But just two recipes for brownies didn't seem enough- not given the abundance of "flowers in a meadow", so when I returned from Florida it was back to baking! Besides, Brandy and Will were to arrive from Florida (we were watching Mikayla while they went house hunting in Michigan) so they could be taste testers for two more renditions of brownies!


I was especially interested in the other brownie recipe attributed to Katharine Hepburn.  So we're back to Laurie Colwin and her article "A Harried Cook's Guide to Some Fast Food" from her book, More Home Cooking. The article that appeared first in The Home Journal before it was later published in Gourmet. This recipe had traction!  In this brownie recipe rather than using cocoa, chocolate is used.  I rather like this recipe because it is so, so, so, so easy- and so, so, so, so chocolately!  If you want perfect brownies, but don't want to work so very hard- this is the recipe for you. 
We'll end this brownie match-up with a "layered" caramel brownie. And who of course can resist a Caramel Brownie!

So let's get started!


Katharine Hepburn's Brownies "B": Adapted from "A Harried Cook's Guide to Some Fast Food" by Laurie Colwin

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
6 ounces of chocolate (I used a mixture of 70% as well as semi-sweet)
2 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup of pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup of flour


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Line a 9 inch aluminum pan with parchment paper- or aluminum foil. Grease and flour the pan.


In a saucepan melt the butter and chocolate together.  When completely mixed, stir in the vanilla, the sugar and the salt.  Mix well.


Add in the eggs.


Finally, add in the flour. Remember- don't overdo this. Stop when you don't see "white".

Spread into the pan. and bake for 30 minutes (again begin to check after 20 minutes so that you don't overcook).


Cool completely in the pan before removing from the pan and cutting into squares.

The final brownie was a Caramel Brownie- rather like a caramel sandwich-  layer of caramel sandwiched in between two layers of brownie.


So let's get started!

Caramel Brownies: Adapted from the food blog, Annie's Eats.

Ingredients:


For the Brownies: (Notice that these are the same brownies as Katharine Hepburn's "B".)
1 stick of butter
6 ounces of chocolate  (Again I used a mixture of 70% and semi-sweet- the chocolate I had on hand- feel free to use your favorite!)
2 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of flour


For the Caramel:
7 ounces of caramels
1/2 cup of pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/6 cup of heavy cream


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.


Melt the butter and the chocolate in a saucepan over low heat.  Add in the vanilla, sugar and salt. Mix well.  Add in the eggs. Again, mix well.  Finally, add the flour, mixing only until you no longer see white.


Spread half of the mixture into the pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Melt the caramels with the cream.


Cool the bottom brownie while you melt the caramels. 


Spread the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie.

Top the caramel layer with the rest of the brownie mixture.

Bake the Caramel Brownies for 15-20 minutes. Again watch carefully so that you don't over cook- the idea is to get "soft, gooey" brownies. And these brownies will always win the "soft, gooey" award!

Now let's reveal how the brownies where rated by our tasters.  In our "LOVE CHOCOLATE" group were Brandy, Will and Becca (Becca is our delightful next door neighbor- home for spring break from her freshmen year at Ohio State University).  In our "DON"T LOVE CHOCOLATE" group were Don, Ann and Mark Lampe (our neighbors, the parent's of Becca).  Brandy, Will and Don definitely picked the Caramel Brownies, though they remained fond of the Espresso Kahlua from the first test.  They loved the "gooey" texture of the Caramel Brownies as well as the taste.  For Ann and Mark the favorite was the Espresso Kahlua Brownies from our first taste, though in the second taste they definitely preferred the Caramel Brownies.  Now Becca likes her brownies less "adorned" and choose the Katharine Hepburn "B" Brownies.  


As for me- well that is a lot of brownies to mix and taste.  And I have to admit I'm rather influenced by how easy it might be to "whip" up a batch of brownies on a whim.  With that criteria I have to say I'm with Becca.  Katharine Hepburn "B"!  Try them all- and see which one you like!


Enjoy!

Company Cake: Chocolate Of Course!

Of course we all know that Don does not have a very high opinion of all things chocolate- much preferring apples- or rhubarb- or most assuredly cinnamon in his deserts- not that he's much of a "dessert" person actually.  But Don is definitely in the minority here.  I should probably acknowledge that Don is often in the minority when it comes to opinions (his is always the right one of course!)- and Don rather enjoys this position in the minors!  

But if you need a "Company Cake" then I go with chocolate- a crowd pleaser for sure! So since we were having company, chocolate it was!  Now this recipe is the first in a "series" of chocolate cake recipes- though not sure how long this "series" will take to complete- that are all totally dependent on "company".  But for sure I'd like to explore other chocolate cakes- such as the flourless- and the "sheet"- but for this dinner party the cake was simpler- and easily adorned with ice cream- Graeter's of course! 

Now before I start talking about this particular cake I want to talk just a bit about all things chocolate in general. Chocolate has been around a long, long time- since 1100 B.C. for sure! And traveled up to North America from South and Central America. Chocolate actually played a central role in Mayan and Aztec religious ceremonies. It was given as a gift to the fertility goddess! It was the Europeans who added the sugar and fat and placed it squarely in the dessert category in the late 1600s/early 1700s!

Now the most important decision you're going to make whenever cooking with chocolate is both brand and type.  These two decisions are absolutely central to the result you're going to get when cooking with chocolate.  I use Ghirardelli Chocolate exclusively.  Ghirardelli- originating in San Francisco near Fisherman's Wharf in 1852- is the oldest chocolate factory in America- and the only one that controls the production process from start to finished product!  

Next you have to decide which choice of "chocolate" you are going to use.  Though most recipes specify which chocolate to use you actually have some freedom of choice here- and if you know your chocolates you can select the "chocolate" that best matches your own taste buds!  Unsweetened chocolate (also called Bittersweet) is the chocolate for "adult" tastes.  It's available from 100% to 60%.  I usually use 70% because that's what's most readily available to me.  Bittersweet chocolate will definitely need some "sweetening" for a dessert!  Bittersweet chocolate contains cocoa solids, and cocoa butter that is then diluted with sugar (thus the 100%, 70%, 60%).  Semi-sweet chocolate is even less cocoa solids and butter and more sugar.  Milk chocolate (probably the preferred chocolate for children because it has the least "bite") adds in milk products- and usually contains around 20% cocoa solids and butter.  I like the "rich" taste of the chocolates with more chocolate and less sugar when cooking- but in cooking with chocolate always feel free to select the chocolate that best suits your own taste buds!  White chocolate contains only cocoa butter, sugar and milk- no cocoa solids at all- and is not even considered chocolate in some countries.  I really don't like the taste so seldom use it! 

So lets get to cooking!  Of course first things first- let's gather the ingredients!

Company Chocolate Cake (Adapted from Taste of Home Chocolate Ganache Cake):

Ingredients:

2 ounces 60-70% Ghirardelli Baking Chocolate

2 tablespoons of Butter

3/4 cup Boiling Water

2 teaspoons of Espresso Instant Coffee

1 tablespoon of Amaretto Liqueur

3/4 cup of Sugar

1/4 cup of Buttermilk

1 Egg

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 cup Flour

1 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Ganache:

1/4 cup of half and half

3 ounces Ghirardelli Baking Chocolate , coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.  I also lined mine with parchment paper I had cut to fit.  (If you use parchment paper, first butter the bottom of the pan, then place the parchment paper on top, and then butter the top of the parchment paper.)

Place chocolate, butter, espresso instant coffee and Amaretto in large bowl.  Add boiling water and stir until smooth.  

Stir in sugar, buttermilk, egg and vanilla (I used my stand mixer and made sure that this mixture was very, very smooth!).

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt).  Beat into the chocolate mixture just until blended.  Don't over mix at this point!

Bake for 18-22 minutes.  Don't overbake!  Toothpick inserted into center should come out clean.  Cool the cake for 10 minutes in the pan before cooling on a wire rack.

For Ganache:

Place a stainless steel or glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Melt the chocolate into the half and half. Whisk until smooth.

Cool for ten minutes.

Slowly pour Ganache over cake, allowing some Ganache to drape the sides.

Serve with Graeters Raspberry Chip Ice Cream!

ENJOY!