Decadent Chocolate Cake For a 50th Birthday Bash

This year my uncle turned 50! Quite a milestone to reach! Mom and I were asked to create a scrumptious chocolate cake (and chocolate frosting!) for this special day. Mom found this awesome recipe from Tyler Florence, and gave it a go a couple of days in advance. It's a good thing she did because she followed the instructions just as they were printed, and this resulted in a semi-disaster. No matter who says it, do not fill the cake pan any more than half way full! Want to know why? The cake rises as it bakes in the oven. When there is not enough room for the cake to rise properly, it spills over the edges. This means you have cake batter stuck to the bottom of your oven. And the next time you use it you'll think the house is burning down. Not to mention that it ruins the cake, making it all funky looking. So. Mom made the cake again and only filled it halfway up the edge of the cake pan. And this time, you might ask? Perfection! The cakes rose perfectly to the top of the cake pan, not over, and were perfectly flat across the top (she also used the decorating needle in the middle of the cake as well as the baking strips that go around the cake pan).

yum.

The plan was to decorate the cake after a long and busy Saturday, but that just didn't happen. Instead, we gathered up supplies and brought them to the party with us. Almost the whole family was able to be there and we had a scrumptious dinner out. I had a caramel appletini with my dinner. Must figure out how to replicate. It tasted like something between hard cider and a candied apple. So. good.

Looks good enough to eat!

Anyway, back to cake, I made chocolate buttercream frosting. My. God. I infused my trusty buttercream frosting with a bit of cocoa powder, and it was incredible! I helped mom assemble the cakes, and she frosted them. She is so much better at frosting, and I really haven't the patience for it. She doesn't seem to mind doing it, so it works out pretty well. Her piping is really coming along, too! The shell border was perfect! So professional! Auntie Cheryl and Auntie Shelly got festive candles to put in the cake, so that was about it for decorating.

Only scraps are left.

Turned out fabulously! Uncle Jim's guests seemed pretty impressed, too. I heard people saying that it was the best chocolate cake they had ever had, and "where did you get this cake from?" Awesome. Another job well done!

 
All that was left were the remains of candles.

Can I Offer You Some Cherry Pie?

This week mom and I made fifteen pies: Strawberry Rhubarb Apple and Cherry pie. Mom makes the Rhubarb pie all the time and it's my absolute favorite, but this time was the first for Cherry pie. We found a decadent recipe and dressed it up a bit for optimum flavor.

Gorgeous cherries!

I spent Thursday evening pitting the giant colander full of fresh cherries. I was expecting this task to take just about forever and a day, but I had hope that I would get a hold of the pitting technique quickly. I remember my dad saying that he cherries from the cherry tree in the yard with a paperclip. That did not sound all that efficient, so I had mom google another technique. Low and behold that is the technique that came most recommended.

Pitting cherries with a paperclip.

Mom got a small paperclip (also recommended) and I donned my gloves. Cherry juice can get everywhere and will stain everything. I used this tiny paperclip for a bit and about tore the cherries to shreds trying to get the pits out. I decided to try a bigger paperclip, and that did the trick! The pits came out easier, cleaner, and the cherries looked whole.

We need lemon juice!

Once the cherries were free of pits we made the pie filling. I really wish I had a cauldron. It would have been fabulous to reduce the cherries in a proper pot.

Cherry pie filling.

Anyway, the pot I had was filled to the brim with cherries, lemon juice, water, almond extract, and cornstarch for thickening. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer and continue stirring for an additional ten minutes. The sauce should be nice and thick and looks like a decadent syrup. Most of the cherries turned to mush, but the riper ones stayed more intact. I like this combination. You have more of a sauce, but you can still eat a whole cherry. It is cherry pie after all!

Pie crust ready for a pie tin.

Next I made an hour's worth of pie crust -- the most wonderful recipe. The crusts turn out so flaky and just incredible. Both the cherry filling and the crusts were left in the fridge overnight for optimum freshness. On Friday, bright and early, I started rolling out crusts and filling pie tins. I have to say the finished product was so sweet. Once I topped the pie with a crust I cut out little cherries and leaves to use as decoration for the top of the pie. People go crazy over this! They love the little personal touches, and I had a blast making them. The whole pie just looks cohesive and complete. I finished off the pies with a bit of egg wash.

In need of filling!

 
We had so much extra pie crust leftover that we didn't want to reuse -- I thought it might be tough and gross, so I decided to roll some of the used crust out and throw a dab of cherry pie filling into the center. Just to see. Well, they turned out kind of ugly, but holy crap! These little guys were incredible! And the crust was still flaky and decadent. That was a happy surprise! 

Pretty touches to cherry pie!

 

The pies turned out so pretty! We had two large pies and five mini pies. The little ones are so sweet, and they're perfect for singletons and couples. It's just enough to satisfy, and small enough to not sit on the counter/in the fridge and rot. They're perfect!

A Savory Treat: Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi

While I thoroughly enjoy all the sweet treats I make I am also very fond of baking food that is savory, too. After all, one can only take so much blatant sugar. Instead of making dessert I made a dinner out of spinach, ricotta, parmesan, seasonings, and binding eggs.

Making the gnocchi was much like making both filling of stuffed shells, and making pasta at the same time. I first combined the spinach, ricotta, parmesan, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl, and once that was completely mixed I added flour until the batter was of a pasta consistency.

The dough with all its' speckles of herbs and seasonings is then rolled out into a long log shape and then cut into gnocchi pieces. I had absolutely no idea of what gnocchi is supposed to look like, so I found a video that showed me how. All he did was cut 3/4 inch pieces on the diagonal. He did a much better job of flinging them into a neat pile on the table with his knife than I did. Mostly my pieces stuck to the table. Perhaps I should have added a bit more flour.

Anyway, once they're all cut into precious shapes they go into a pot of boiling water (good to add a touch of oil so they don't stick together).

They only boil for a few minutes; once they start bobbing along the surface they're pretty well done. I didn't have any tomatoes to make a sauce so I just used a can (for shame, I know!), and it did turn out really well. The gnocchi with the tomato sauce topping tasted remarkably like stuffed shells -- so decadent!

I love that baking not only entails making desserts, but also making food that you can eat for a satisfying and healthy meal. If you have the right ingredients your baking adventure can be extremely good for you, whereas desserts are typically reserved for a sweet after dinner indulgence.

I love how versatile baking can be!