Cake Cooperation

Let's say you have tasked yourself with baking a birthday cake.

And let's say that it's Sunday and you need it for Monday.

And then let's say that one of your two cake layers totally fails. For reasons you don't understand. They're both from the same batter. Why? And we're not taking subtle Clark Kent and Superman differences. It's like I baked up the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of cake layers. Side note: Not to be a rain cloud on the Superman parade, but how did a single pair of glasses throw everyone for a loop?



Hmm?

But the failure of my 2nd cake layer was far more obvious than Dwight/Superman. It's like the butter/sugar mixture was not properly incorporated into the batter, and then crystallized on half of the cake layer. Tragedy and total failure. My baking self esteem was in pieces. I couldn't even contemplate making a replacement layer. I even thought not to.

But a single layer cake is not a birthday cake.

And so, it was back to the drawing board on Monday morning. Cake layer #3 baked up nicely. Thankfully. Failure is especially unpleasant pre-6:00AM.

I know this because the sour cream frosting was a near disaster.



After you chop 18 ounces of chocolate only to melt it into a silky ganache. Then mix in sour cream and corn syrup to form the most wonderfully sweet and tart chocolate sour cream frosting.



And then to realize that you didn't let the chocolate cool enough and your fresh out-of-the-fridge sour cream has caused your chocolate to harden into itsy bitsy little chocolate chips!!! See the beaters on the top right? Decidedly not the creamy chocolate sour cream frosting I was planning on. Luckily, the microwave saved the day. The chocolate melted into the tasty frosting seen on the whisk. My new whisk!

Cake decor was the last thing to contemplate. But that was for later. I had enough cake excitement for one morning.



I can't believe I ever doubted the need for a second layer.

2 Cakes, 1 Day

It's possible.

If you just so happen to wake up early, at say 4, and then proceed to search for recipes on all your favorite foodie blogs. You may be even more motivated if you have a opened container of pistachio paste to use in a timely fashion.

And so was my morning today. My very favorite pistachio cookies only require a small amount of pistachio paste, so I'm always on the look out for new pistachio recipes. Too bad there are so few! And why, I ask! Why! Pistachios are such wonderful little nuts. There should be an offensively large number of pistachio based recipes. But this is not the case. So this morning, I made it my mission to find a use for them. And I did. In the form of a pound cake.

And who doesn't like pound cake? And pistachios?

By the time I discovered this, it was 4:30, and I seriously had to get a move on.

I took the pound cake recipe, which called for triple sifting of the dry ingredients and separating the eggs. Sighhhh. But who am I to question James Beard? I am not. So I happily sifted and separated. And OMG was it worth it! This pound cake has the most delicate and light crumb. And wonderfully thin crust.



See?

But as much as I enjoyed the faint pistachio flavor and the overall lightness of the cake (despite the 2 sticks of butter), it was just a little, well...homely. I wanted a pound cake I could show off a little.

So, I melted some milk chocolate and cream with some orange zest to make a quick ganache. And chopped some pistachios I keep stashed in the freezer at all times for such occasions.



And poof! Well hello there. I don't think we've met. Oh but don't worry. I'll introduce you to my tummy soon. Very soon.

The sheer airy-ness of this cake makes even this self-proclaimed laziest baker a believer in sifting your dry ingredients. Triple sifting in this case. I was dubious when I first read it...but it was so totally worth it. Oh and whipping the egg whites separately only to fold them in later. So many bowls. But such a lovely pound cake. You'd never know there were two sticks of butter in there.

As wonderful as this pound cake was, I didn't have class tonight, and so, in celebration of no-class Thursday, I decided to make another cake.



Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

I think it had me at the caramel topping. But truth be told, the only pineapple part of the cake were the few pineapple slices scattered across the top. Or bottom. Well, I guess it depends if it's upside down or not. I was just too darn lazy to take myself to Ralph's for the sake of a half cup of unsweetened pineapple juice when I was already at Trader Joe's. And yes, it might be in walking distance from Trader Joe's. And yes, it would take only mere minutes to grab a can of pineapple juice before cake baking. But Trader Joe's is the apple of my culinary heart...if I had one. And I really cannot bear to shop for groceries elsewhere. Except for Whole Foods. Sighhh. Whole Foods. Don't make me choose. It's like saying gummi bears or coconut flakes on my Yogurtland. Choosing is not an option.

But back to my non-pineapple cake. So there was no pineapple juice. There was instead orange juice...in an effort to reduce my 5 lb stash of oranges at home. There was also no dark rum.

I didn't have any.

...

What kind of lush am I? Running out of hard liquor. But I did have amaretto. And I did secretly fold a little into my whipped cream.



And by a little, I mean a lot. Lush overcompensation.

Who Dat??

Bet you haven't heard that for a good 2 weeks.

And that would be because the Super Bowl was 2 weeks ago, and thusly officially marked the end of football for the year.

Sniffles. Whyyy is football on for such a short season? Whyyyy?? I'm having separation anxiety. My Yahoo! Sports visits just aren't the same. And with Kobe rejuvenating himself, and the pathetic-ness that was NBA All-Star Weekend...and let's not even mention the Winter Olympics, well, things just haven't been the same.

But enough of this rain cloud talk. The silver lining is that my last few moments of football was amazingly fun. And amazingly yummy. And in Vegas! Yay!

This was only my 3rd visit (I know, I know...so lame!) But! In my defense, I passed out/blacked out and proceeded to toss my cookies on trip 1. To be specific, I had heat stroke! At night! While in line to get a drink...which means I didn't even have a drink! Sigh. Trip 2 was free of such embarrassing events, but I didn't really get to tour all the fabulous food offerings. And I was a little bummed. But finally, trip 3 totally filled that food void that was trip 2. Oh, and no heat stroke. Always a plus.

Soooo where did I eat? Umm...more like where didn't I eat!



Thomas Keller's Bouchon! Bouchon?!? I know! I had the same reaction. The menus are like newspapers at your table. I just couldn't resist an iPhone picture.



I discovered that I don't like snails. Even if they are called escargot. And even if they are bathed in butter and amazing spices. And even if they have adorable little puff pastry hats. A snail is a snail is a snail. And if Thomas Keller can't make them palatable...I doubt anyone else can.



Here's a close up of the little guy. Snails are texturally strange...kinda like a hot dog. And then there's this weird crunchy aspect to them that you get every once in a while. And you take pause and wonder what in the heck that could be...and then you realize you don't want to know...but you just keep chewing because you know that by judging from the price of these little critters, their last meal most certainly had to be gold-leafed or something.



Crispy sea bass with wild mushrooms, truffle oil and potato gnocchi and a few broccoli romanesco florets. I don't normally order fish...but the the gnocchi really did it for me, and I'm so glad I did because it was amazing. Cheesy and potato-y. Oh how I wish there was more.

And I must apologize that my iPhone photography skills failed for the next entree, which was quite possibly my most favorite thing I ate all weekend. Thomas Keller is known for his sous-vide, and so the missing picture is of a sous-vide sirloin cooked with thyme butter. Sous-vide? Thyme butter? Heck yeah! It was soooo wonderfully buttery and velvety. I've completely forgotten about the snails at this point.



And then there were the bouchons. Bouchons at Bouchon! With coffee and mint chocolate chip ice cream and cherry sorbet. The cakes were surprisingly light but intensely chocolate-y. And the ice creams had the most amazing texture. Such fine and tiny ice crystals! So so good. So. So. So. Good.

All those calories (well worth calories) later, it was off to see the Cirque de Soleil show O. I like to think that I must've burned some of those calories during the show because I was holding my breath nervously as I watched the acrobats launch themselves into air and dive into a tiny pool of water on the stage. Entertainment and an ab workout. Can't ask for much more.

But whatever calories burned off in my pseudo ab workout were added back in at brunch the next day at Bobby Flay's Mesa. As in Iron Chef Bobby Flay! As in my grilling idol! The Iron Chef judges always talk about Bobby's ability to balance the heat and flavor of chiles, so I was quite excited to try it for myself.



First...the most delicious bread basket I've ever had. Ever!! Blueberry coffeecake, blue and yellow corn muffins and cheddar and scallion coins. I luved them all...especially the blueberry coffeecake. I plan on re-creating it somehow. Which is why we got another bread basket...and I ate 2 more coffecake pieces. You know...for research purposes.



Black bean soup with avocado and lime crema. Silky and delicious. The crema was so refreshing and the soup was slightly smoky and had fab texture. No canned beans here. Who knew black beans could be so wonderful?



Grilled mahi with cascabel chiles and pineapple salsa. Oh and my fav part of all: the creamy green rice. Sighhhh. It was heavenly. Rich and creamy and cheesy. All the things I never make for myself at home because I know I will eat too much, as in the whole pot. And I have big pots. And yes! I meant pots! What did you think I meant?



But the real brunch winner at Mesa was the eggs benedict with smoked chicken and sweet potato hash...and did I mention the hollandaise? And the chile drizzle? And how it complemented the sweet potato hash? Which wasn't overly sweet as sweet potatoes can be. It was smoky and spicy.

And that was just brunch!



And where else but Vegas can you make Vosges chocolate truffles a mid-afternoon snack. If you know of any other place, I demand you tell me immediately! Oh, but only if that particular Vosges has the banana malt truffle. Bottom right corner. Exquistely banana-y. Also of note was the Wink of the Rabbit. Caramel, as I recall.



Brunch the next day at Morels at the Palazzo. And the eating goes on. I'm always cautious of hotel-type restaurants. And a restaurant named after a mushroom that doesn't really feature mushrooms? Odd. Also, a distinctly French-y restaurant in an Italian themed hotel...and serves prosciutto and frittes? Restaurant identity crisis if I've ever seen it. But as it usually happens, I was proven wrong. The food was good. Really good. Have you seen that American Kobe beef burger? I can't stop looking at that melty cheese on the toasty brioche bun. And the fries. Mmm...



But perhaps even more show-stopping than a huge beef patty with melty cheddar cheese is a brioche french toast masterpiece stuffed with sweetened mascarpone and bananas and topped with brulee-ed bananas and then doused in the most generous pool of maple syrup. I'm seriously looking at brioche recipes as we speak.

As tasty as these were, it just didn't seem like the appropriate Super Bowl food...you know, food you eat with your hands and is dripping with either salsa or cheese. Of course, this was an easy problem to fix.



All-beef chili cheese dog. The people at Caesar's Palace make it all too easy to pick up something quick to eat. And well, with my choices being chili or hot dog, and I think we all know about my propensity for my special request meals...and hence a tasty Super Bowl snack. And I luv that fake, runny and abnormally yellow nacho cheese. I'm sure there's more other stuff in it that actual cheese, but it's amazing.



And would it really be the Super Bowl in Vegas if there wasn't some light wagering? Or maybe just wagering? Betting in Vegas is just so infinitely better and more exciting. Maybe it's holding on to the ticket? Or actually getting cashed out. Or watching the games at Sportsbook. For me, it's all of the above.



But perhaps most exciting on this trip was my introduction to the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. And it's only natural...I luv Wheel! Of! Fortune!!! It's your basic slot machine, and you're playing for a chance to spin the wheel. I had played the other night at the Palazzo...and did not spin once! Not once! Needless to say, I was slightly salty. But as you know, the airport at Las Vegas also has slot machines...and to my surprise none other than the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. So of course, it had to be played. And I'm so happy I did because I won!
Yippeeee!!!!

Test Kitchen

Today's test subject:

Protein cookie.

...

I know...it took me a little while to fully comprehend protein+cookie = protein cookie. And it still didn't sound right. It's like this whole bacon bandwagon (not unlike the Saints bandwagon) just about every food website has hopped on. I mean, I may be known to enjoy a piece or two every now and then (more then than now), but there's no way I'm thinking chocolate covered bacon or candied bacon = yum. Although...that bacon topped sticky bun at Tavern was tasty. But I segregated bacon and bun.

But salted caramel...there's something wonderful. But that's for another entry. And ice cream.

My protein cookie sounds even worse now. It will now be referred to as protein "cookie". Emphasis on the " ".

So here's the story behind these little guys. I'm always looking for more ways to sneak cookies into my diet. Usually, my feeling is that if I make them small, I can eat a cookie everyday. But seeing as how this is a new year...and technically should be a new me...and the fact that I'm turning 27 in like a month has nothing...and by nothing, I mean everything to do with it, I decided to make healthy cookies.

Or at least try to.

I normally turn my little nose up to so-called healthy recipes. Swapping butter for vegetable oil or apple sauce. What is this? Yogurt? Seriously? It's supposed to be a cake, not a Clif Bar. Low fat this...non fat that. Just add water? And the people on FoodTV still tell me it's wonderful, and I'll never miss all the good stuff?

I don't buy it.

And here I am...adding pureed carrots to my "cookies". Sigh. What age does to a person.

I actually stumbled upon the inspiration for this protein "cookie" one day while perusing the Food Network's recipes. It is adapted from nutritionist Ellie Krieger's Breakfast Cookies. What intrigued me was that the recipe was very highly rated by users...and only 2 Tablespoons of butter...and carrots? Carrots? 2 Tablespoons of butter?

And not being able to leave things alone, I thought about how the addition of protein powder would work.

The result is not...bad...but not good either. But unlike the 3 bears, it's not just right either. It's ok. For what it is. It is low fat and packed with protein and goodness from the oats, cereal and dried cranberries.



"Cookies" in the making.



Protein with your cookies? Anyone? Anyone?

Protein "Cookies"
Adapted from Ellie Krieger via The Food Network

3/4 cup whole wheat or whole grain pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup your favorite protein powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
1 egg
1/4 cup (1 small jar) pureed baby food carrots
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sweetened coconut

1. Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Whisk together flours, protein powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil, honey and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and almond extracts and beat an additional 30 seconds.

3. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, cranberries, cocout and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

4. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 1 Tablespoon of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These "cookies" tend to have concentrations of protein powder when baked...despite my thorough mixing courtesy of Mixy. Consider yourself warned.

I'm off to find a brownie.

C Stands for Choker

Or Celtics.

Potato, potatoe.

My dad's words...not mine, but can't say that I disagree. Although, I may have some other choice words for the C's. Cry baby? Just a thought.

Celtics were leading for most of the game...and the majority of the second half. And then! Kobe...injured finger and hurting ankle and all saved the day once again! I know...he's always such a hero, but I never get tired of his amazingness. I don't think anyone does.

The fun starts around the 1 minute mark.


A shot to the heart as Yahoo! says. Seeeee?? He's amazing. Try watching just once. It's not possible. It's like Oreos. Can't eat just one. Or maybe that's just me.

Inspired by Kobe's awesomeness, I decided that I had to make something in kind. Can't let Kobe down. So I made...

Spaghetti and meatballs.

Now...I know that you must be totally unimpressed. Not very different from the way I feel about the Clippers. But this spaghetti and meatballs...or fusilli and chicken meatballs far surpasses the Clippers. It's like the Lakers! In a yummy tomato sauce!



Calm down! They're just onions! Even though they look like...well...you know.

So this wonderful tomato sauce is simply a can of San Marzano tomatoes, 1 onion and 4 Tablespoons of butter. Simmered for 45 minutes and seasoned with salt and pepper. And I like to add a teaspoon of sugar...but that's me. And I sprinkled in the eensy-est bit of red chili flake. Because when cooking Italian food, I often ask myself a highly important questions: W.W.M.B.D. aka what would Mario Batali do. And being the Italian that he is, I think Mario would like some red chili flake. And I sprinkled thusly.

45 minutes later...the onions are soft and can be tossed. And what you are left with is a wonderfully smooth and fresh tomato sauce that really defies everything we know about tomato sauce. There's no garlic. No olive oil. No Parmigiano Reggiano. No blend of herbs. But it is wonderfully mild and tomatoe-y, and I will make it again and again and again. I suspect it would be just lovely on pizza. Grilled pizza, perhaps?

And it was just the thing to coat my little meatball army.



Ok, so it's just 50. But aren't they adorable? And they're baked! And mini.



One had to be sacrificed for taste testing. Well, 2. Meatball rolling makes me hungry.



Fusilli with mini chicken meatballs. And whole wheat pasta. I feel healthier already.

So then I was off to make some chocolate cupcakes. With a vanilla bean and mascarpone frosting. Because sometimes you feel fancy, and just need to use a real vanilla bean.

But sometimes...



The little vanilla seeds like your fingers more than the bowl. I must have about $3 of vanilla residue on my fingers. Sighhhh. Sometimes feeling fancy doesn't pay off.

But eating fancy can have it's rewards. On Friday, I ventured to Pizza Ortica in Costa Mesa. Being somewhat of a pizza fanatic, it's nice to see a more authentic pizzeria nearby. The pizza is sort of your standard thin Neapolitan style pizza, complete with a charred and blistered crust. But I think where the restaurant really impresses is in its antipasti and desserts. I had the most tasty bruschetta topped with lamb sausage and creamy white beans. And also the most amazing chocolate-y chocolate tart with vanilla gelato and candied orange. Amazing.



Sooo silky.



Pizza alla Norma (with eggplant). Topped with ricotta salata.



Lamb ragu with fresh parparadelle.

I'm thinking about making a lamb ragu of my own. So this was research. Tough, I know.

Colts! Orr Saints! No no...Colts!!

Or Saints?

You're guess is as good as mine.

Wait...that's a lie. You're guess is probably better than mine. My track record isn't the greatest.

Definitely no Sam Rothstein over here.



Hmm...yeah...couldn't work that look. Big glasses and checkered print aren't really my thing.

I'm more into these...



Amazingly delicious cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes in San Francisco. My fav cupcake shop ever. Ever. Sprinkles who?

And even then, I have problems picking out a cupcake. Passion fruit? Strawberry? Chocolate? Banana? Ohh...banana. But strawberry is appealing as well.

Decisions, decisions.

As you can see, lots of thinking goes on (read: excessive waffling). And, it's no different with sports. And even after all that waffling...my correct percentage is hurten.

I was pretty sold on the Colts, though...cause I couldn't really bring myself to go against Peyton Manning. Didn't sit right with me.

But then...I see this on Yahoo! Sports:



It's a little hard to read...but it's basically a continuance that says...

Considering the historic victory of the New Orleans Saints, the Court finds that the trial will not be able to proceed as originally scheduled. The Court takes judicial notice that Saintsmania permeates the City of New Orleans. Many prospective jurors for the Parish of Orleans, several attorneys involved in this litigation and Court personnel plan on traveling to the promise land -- the Superbowl in Miami, Florida. The Court recognizes that this pilgrimage enhances the chances of Who Dat Nation to acquire the long sought after Holy Grail -- the Vince Lombardi trophy.

For real?? Who knows! Looks legit to me. But I've got cupcakes on the brain most of the time. If it is real, and I sincerely, sincerely hope it is...then it is quite possibly the most awesome thing I've seen since those cupcakes pictured above. Seriously. These people mean business. Gotta respect that.

And then the Saints defensive coach says this:

“This guy’s got a great clock in his head. The big thing is that he throws the ball so early that we’re going to have to do a good job of finding ways to get to him and when we do get to him we’re going to have to make sure he gets a couple ‘remember me’ shots when we get there ...”

Hmm..."remember me" shots, huh...sounds foreboding...

Oh but there's more!

“Here’s the deal. When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior’s mind, he doesn’t play all out. If it happens, it happens. And the only thing you’d like for me to say is that if it happens you hope he doesn’t get back up and play again.”

The type of worry he is referring to is the Saints incurring big 15 yard penalties from those "remember me shots" to Manning. Yikes!

This is gonna be such a great game!!!!

Chocolate Promises

And by promises, I mean overly cheesy messages printed the foil wrappers of said chocolate.

Talk about a way to ruin an otherwise tasty chocolate bite.

Which is such a shame because Dove makes some pretty good chocolate...and yet I can hardly bring myself to buy it due to the corny messages. However, I can hardly bring myself to pass up a good sale, so when I saw these little babies at Target 2 for $5, well...let's just say my candy cup at work runneth over.

But they're only 42 calories a piece! And I only eat 1 per day...most days...

Ahem.

Anyway, these promises really get me. I get the Susan G. Komen ones...I can get on board with those. But these other ones are just strange.

They range from cheesy:

"Close out the world for just a moment"

To super cheesy:

"Boldness has genius, power and magic in it"

To strange:

"Catch snowflakes on your tongue"

To slightly awkward:

"Be a little naughty with your nice"

To just plain bossy:

"Call your mom"

To completely incomprehensible:

"A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home"

What does that even mean???

Blahhh. I almost tossed up all my chocolate.

And now on to something completely not chocolate-y:



Almond Pistachio Cake.

Not overly sweet, but definitely nutty. I brushed mine with some freshly squeezed orange juice and topped with toasted almonds. And a powdered sugar dust to follow. This little cake is from a recipe courtesy of A16 in San Francisco. Though I've never been, I've always been a little curious about this place...hence the late night cake baking session.

Almond Pistachio Cake
adapted from A16 Food + Wine

1 1/3 cup blanched almonds
1 1/3 cup unsalted pistachios
1/2 cup butter + 2 Tablespoons
Zest of 2 oranges
3/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup AP flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Juice of half an orange
1/2 cup blanched, sliced almonds, toasted
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Pam an 8" pan.

2. Finely grind almonds and pistachios in a food processor. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Zest the orange directly into the butter and sugar. Mix.

4. Add the vanilla. Gradually add in the ground nut mixture. Add in the eggs one at a time, making sure to incorporate each egg before the next addition.

5. Combine the flour and salt. Gradually add to the cake mixture.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until cake is brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan. Invert. Brush with orange juice and top with orange juice and then powdered sugar.

No foil wrapped chocolate necessary.