Archive for October 2013

I went to three weddings this month. I love weddings. I've been accused of befriending people just as they get engaged just so I can watch them marry.

I really do love the weddings because of the marriage. The music, the vows, the embrace, the crying, the smiles, the pride. It gets me all tingly inside.

But a nice little bonus to the celebration is enjoying the food. I usually focus on the entree, maybe the pasta course or antipasti buffet. By the time the music starts, I probably look around for a guy holding the coffee so I can enjoy it with a couple bites of dessert before I hit the dance floor.  And then any sweet table following that is usually wasted on me.

Except for the wedding I attended this past weekend.

The cupcakes were made by my incredibly talented cousin, Emily. Maybe she put some extra love into the cupcakes (and jumbo cupcake for the bride and groom to cut) since this was a family wedding, but I ate three of them they were so good. They're big. With an almost 1:1 cake to icing ratio. And oh so moist. Actually, I'm pretty sure I ate four.

Dustin and I have been dreaming about them for days. Look: I'm even writing about them. And since I still hadn't baked a cake to celebrate our 6th year anniversary, I decided to try and bake a cake that was almost as tasty to remind me of those oh-so-good wedding cupcakes. Something moist and so rich you need milk or coffee to help you out, but you always go back for more.

It's been years since I've baked Ina's "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" found in her pink cookbook (my fave). I remembered it to be the best chocolate cake I had baked. I remembered the buttercream icing to be pretty darn good. I remembered that I had some buttermilk in the fridge that needed to be used.

The batter for the cake is surprisingly thin. Maybe that's what good chocolate cake batter should be like? No matter, it turned out so incredibly moist. It still didn't have that creaminess that Emily's cake had after it warmed up in your mouth, and the icing wasn't as delicious (she had a coconut icing and a caramel icing on her cupcakes) but it was good enough for me to eat two slices today.

I'm ordering a batch of cupcakes from Emily for my freezer. Until then, this chocolate cake with autumnal sprinkles is satisfying the void.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake 

by Ina Garten (with slight changes to the icing)

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tsp instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

The first day I woke up at the farmhouse was quite wonderful, although strangely quiet.

The combination of excitement, anticipation, and habitual early wake-ups led to a 5:30am start to the day.

Mackenzie and I explored the dewy fields and watched the fog slowly lift away. The horses were there to welcome us on our first day at the farm. We even heard a distant cockadoodle-doo.

I knew I had a whole day of preparation ahead of me, but it was an awful shame not to run out into the field, arms stretched out, my head cocked to the sky, proclaiming to the world that the hills were alive with the sound of music.

My to-do list could wait. This was some rare time to myself in I-don't-know-how-many acres of quiet farmland.

After the outdoor exploring, my early morning was spent sitting in all the various spots around the farmhouse enjoying my Moonbean coffee and My Berlin Kitchen. In the open family room there were a pair of wonderfully comfortable couches that gently hugged you as if to say "thank you" for choosing this seat. There were also two nailhead-trimmed, leather chairs by the sunny patio door.  There was another living room near the front of the house, a little creakier and cozier, with an equally welcoming couch and armchair. The back deck had patio seating; the front porch had a bench and some Muskoka chairs.


I probably could have played musical chairs all day, changing seats with every couple pages. But there was work to be done.

I baked my favourite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for weekend snacking, I made two batches of pie crust ready for the quiches planned for lunch on Sunday, and I prepped a rainbow of peppers and zucchini for grilling -- to round out the charcuterie and cheese "light dinner" planned for that evening when retreaters arrived.


The dinner spread was nothing short of spectacular. All the charcuterie was from Sanagan's Meat Locker in Kensington Market, where they support the small-farms in the nearby Ontario area. The cheese was a spread of Ontario cheddar, Ontario honeyed goat cheese, Quebec Brie, and a not-so-closeby smoked gouda (I can't get over my love for smoked gouda). And then I went nuts with the pickles. Taking the advice of many wise friends, I forwent the homemade route and just purchased a variety of deliciously tangy pickled vegetables. Local choices included spicy pickled cauliflower, giant green olives stuffed with garlic, and Matt and Steve's spicy beans. Not so local choices were some Italian pickled baby onions and the famous Maille cornichons. But I think the unexpected dark horse of the night were the grilled vegetables, in particular, the zucchini.

I dare not say that a humble grilled zucchini was the star of the night. It was simply the surprise contender. One of the most satisfying things in life is convincing someone that a food that they barely tolerated is, in fact, delicious.  Zucchini is one of those foods that can be unmemorable or downright mushy, but when cooked properly, it can be one of the tastiest. The secret is high heat, simple seasoning, short cooktime. It's surprising how soon the zucchini is ready to be taken off the heat.

Whenever I cook zucchini, I make too much. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes because I'm Chinese and too-much is just-enough. The leftovers taste great reheated, or cold in a salad. At the retreat, I actually used the leftovers to make a grilled vegetable quiche.

"Grilled" Zucchini

I put "grilled" in quotations because at the retreat, and often at home, I pan-fried my zucchini. You can fire up your grill and cook the same way, I find they both taste great but the stovetop is easier to control your heat.

2 zucchinis
2 tablespoons of good olive oil
1 tsp of kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Wash and trim your zucchini. On an angle, slice your zucchini into ovals, about 1cm or 1.5 cm thick. If you cut them thinner, they may cook too quickly.

In a large bowl -- I like to use a stainless steel prep bowl because it is lighter than glass -- toss your zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can adjust the amount of oil to your liking. Excess can be left behind during "grilling" or you can likely use less oil if using a good non-stick pan.

Fire up your grill, or heat a frypan on the stove on high heat.

When the grill or pan is hot, add your zucchini in a single layer. You will likely need to do a couple batches. When it starts to brown, after about 2 minutes, flip and cook for another minute or two. Although they may look a little firm and you think they need longer cook time, they are actually perfectly ready.

Serves 4 sides, depending on the size of your zucchini.

Passion is a funny thing.

I like to think that I'm a passionate person. Most things I do, I take to heart and then go for gold.

Some days you run out of steam. Life throws you hurdles and you spend extra energy leaping over them. And then, you start to graze the top of those hurdles, and then eventually you just give up and break the rules and push them over entirely just so they're out of your way. But at least you're still making it to the finish line. We'll worry about the DQ later. (Mmmm. DQ.)

That's what passion does to a person. You just keep going for what you love.

I started breaking the rules around September. I landed myself in the hospital in August (I'm fine now, and will save that story for another day.) and then felt like I just couldn't get myself up to speed.

My Farmhouse Retreat was fast approaching and I started pushing the hurtles over. Dishes? Bah! A meal plan with well balanced meals? Double bah! Laundry? Well, I haven't done that in months anyway.

I hobbled to the finish line and completed my first Purple Workbench event at the Farmhouse.

It has been over a week since the event ended and I am only now picking myself up to say hi. And thank you, to all the people that supported me in the event: everyone that talked to me about it (what? you read my blog?! You follow me on twitter? You liked the Purple Workbench Facebook page?!), the truly inspirational ladies who attended the retreat (like this one, this one, and this one, just to name a few), and to the owner of Cobblestone Farm who could not have been more welcoming a host.

But the person that really had to pick the hurdles up, glue the pieces back together, and talk to the ref about keeping me in the race, was my darling husband of 6 years today: Happy Anniversary. Even though neither one of us remembered until 9am when we were 3 hours into our day.

That's what passion does to a person. You keep going for the one you love.

And you bake him his favourite cake. Tomorrow.