Ispahan Loaf Cake

French Friday with Dorie

Like quite a few people in the group, I have been looking forward to making this exotic cake. I love roses and especially old world roses that have a lovely fragrance to them, so even while this month has been a busy one for me I didn't grumble a bit when I was out on the hunt for rose syrup and rose extract. I did find them locally which I was quite relieved about as I did not have a chance to make this until after work yesterday. 

The batter for this cake was fairly easy to put together, although I seemed to dirty quite a few bowls. You stir whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten it which I have done many times, but this was the first time I had to add additional flour along with the egg whites. I really don't understand that step at all and if anyone knows why we had to do it please let me know because it seemed to make the batter a little lumpy when I added the all-purpose flour. Why go to the trouble of sifting the almond flour and the confectioners' sugar together when you are going to add unsifted all-purpose flour alternately with egg whites at the very end? I also thought the batter would be pink after adding the rose syrup, but even though it turned the milk a pepto bismol pink it didn't make a difference in the batter.

I, of course, did not divide my batter into equal thirds and almost didn't have enough to cover the top of the cake, but I actually like the look of the raspberries peeking out at the top. My oven runs hot, so I started checking on the loaf after 50 minutes and saw that it was browning along the edges, so I tented it with foil and checked every 5 minutes until it was done at 65 minutes. 

It's a pretty cake, but I was really disappointed that it wasn't pink. (Boo!) It has a fine crumb, but is very moist. I was so tired after I baked this yesterday and fixed dinner that I didn't try it until this afternoon. John had a slice as soon as it cooled, but said it had a different kind of flavor that he wasn't sure about. We both have never eaten anything with rose syrup or rose extract before. He at least had tea that his grandmother used to make him when he was a child - rosa de Castilla, but he didn't remember it tasting like this cake. He tried another slice before he went to bed, but said it didn't taste any better than earlier. 

Before I left for work this morning, John was in the kitchen slicing another piece and proclaimed that it still tasted the same. I guess he was expecting the flavors to meld or something, but he said that "flavor" was still there and he didn't care for it. I finally tried a piece after I got home from work and I have to say that I agree with him. Roses may be one of my favorite flowers, but I don't care for the flavor of this cake. Perhaps it's an acquired taste, but I am not sure I will make it again to find out if we like it better the second time around. I have a feeling that John will be slicing a piece of the cake every time he walks through the kitchen - until it's gone - just to check to see if it tastes any better.

I wonder if we are in the minority this week and will be interested in reading what the rest of the group thought. Meanwhile, on a more positive note - I also made the chicken diable last night and that was pretty darn good. I'll be doing a catch up post about it soon.

Mocha Chocolate Chips

Tuesday Wednesday with Dorie

Contributing Baker: Rick Katz

This has been one of those crazy, busy months for me and I just haven't been able to get into my baking and cooking groove, but I didn't want to miss making these cookies. Mocha Chocolate Chips?! Ooohhh, yeah! What's great about these is that they are so easy to make. I used up some of the leftover chocolate I had on hand - Valrhona white chocolate, Ghiradelli semi-sweet and Trader Joe's 72 percent Belgian dark chocolate pounder bar. I skipped the apricots (they were optional anyway). I had some on hand, but discovered that I had some left in a bag that was waaaay past its 'use by' date and instead of being a lovely apricot color they were a deep, dark brown. After mixing the dough in a stand mixer, I stirred in the chunks of chocolate and put the dough in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

There was definitely a more chocolate to dough ratio going on with these cookies. The dark brown sugar and the instant espresso powder gives the dough a lovely mocha color and flavor.

Halfway through baking, our cat was sniffing the air. It smelled like coffee was brewing. The cookies baked up nicely and had a great texture - moist on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. I loved the mocha and chocolate combination and they more than satisfied my chocolate craving, but John thought they were just 'okay'.

Peggy of Galettisa is hosting this week, so go check out her lovely cookies and  the recipe on her blog. Please visit Tuesdays with Dorie to see what the rest of the group thought about them.

Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup

French Friday with Dorie

I made this on Presidents' Day since I had the day off and it was a sunny, breezy day - just the kind of day that looks like spring, but still feels a little bit like winter. It turned out to be the perfect kind of day for a bowl or two of pretty green soup. And the best part is that it took no time at all to cook. All you need is some chopped onion, salt and pepper, some broth (I used chicken broth) and a package of frozen peas and you have a delicious soup. I also minced some garlic and threw it in while the onions were cooking to give it a little extra flavor. This soup is supposed to also have romaine lettuce, but I forgot to get some at the store.

It is supposed to be a creamy soup, achieved by either blending it in small amounts in a blender or using an immersion blender. I used an immersion blender, but chose to leave it a little chunky since John prefers chunky soup.

I garnished it with a little bit of sour cream and some fried leftover bits of baked ham.

This was such a delicious soup. The 'fresh' taste of the soup, along with its beautiful, vibrant green color, was just what the doctor ordered on a cool winter/spring day. 

See other versions of this soup over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Boca Negra

Tuesday with Dorie

Contributing Baker: Lora Brody

Boca Negra means "black mouth" and that's exactly what you are going to have when you eat this cake. It is a wonderfully rich and decadent cake - light and moist when warm from the oven and heavy and dense when chilled and then brought to room temperature. The cake consists of 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, five eggs, two sticks of butter, a cup and a third of sugar, a half cup of bourbon (I used Kahlua instead) and only a tablespoon and a half of flour. I used the food processor to mix the cake together. I have used the food processor for cakes before and really like how easy it is just to dump everything in the bowl.

I decided that I wanted to make individual cakes, so instead of putting the batter into a 9-inch round cake pan, I used four 4-1/2 inch ramekins and baked them at exactly 30 minutes per the recipe.

The white chocolate cream that is served along with the cakes I made early in the morning so that it was nice and chilled and I also used Kahlua in it instead of the bourbon. It changed the cream from white to a light coffee color. John and I were going to share one of the cakes for a late afternoon treat, so I served it when it was still warm.

The cream started to melt before I could take the photo and when we sliced into the cake it was so moist and tender and so very delicious. The Kahlua wasn't strong in the cake, but you could taste it in the cream and it gave the cake such a lovely coffee chocolate taste.

We enjoyed the cake so much and John said it was one of my best yet. I wrapped one of the other ones and put it into the refrigerator and we had half of it the next day for lunch. We could only eat a small portion because it was so rich and the texture was more like a fudgy brownie. The Kahlua was also more pronounced in the cold cake, but still tasted good - just totally different than the night before. We both agreed that this was delicious served warm or cold, but  tasted its best when served warm with the white chocolate cream melting over it. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

To see what the other bakers thought, visit Tuesdays with Dorie. You can find the recipe over at our host's blog this week  - Cathy from A Frederick Food Garden.

Coeur à la crème

French Friday with Dorie

I had never heard of Coeur à la crème before this month's recipe schedule and certainly had never seen the mold that Dorie mentioned in the intro to this recipe, but as luck would have it when I was at the American Cancer Society Thrift Store a few weeks ago I came across a Coeur à la crème mold. I really don't need another mold to store, but for $3.00 I wasn't going to pass it up. What makes this mold special besides the holes are little feet so liquids can easily drain out of the bottom. If you don't have one of these you can also use a strainer.

You need at least 12 hours of chilling time before serving this dessert, so I made it the night before. You mix the cream cheese and heavy cream with confectioner's sugar, some vanilla and liquor. I used framboise. Once everything is mixed together, you scoop it into the mold that is lined with cheesecloth.

Wrap the cheesecloth overhang and slide it into the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.

By the time I served this for dessert it had been chilling in the fridge for at least 24 hours and I had very little liquid drain out - maybe 3 or four large drops. I made some raspberry coulis and Dorie's bittersweet chocolate to serve with it and decorated it with raspberries and mint.

It makes a rather impressive looking dessert.

When we tasted it we both thought that it was just "OK," but nothing to write home about and I have to say that I was a little disappointed. It was like eating whipped cream with some chocolate sauce - certainly nothing exciting. We both felt the raspberry coulis would have been better as a jam on toast. Maybe I should have added some framboise to give it a sweeter taste.

The second night we gave it another try and it tasted so much better. By this time it had been in the fridge for at least 48 hours. I found that I really liked it with the whole raspberries and chocolate sauce the best. John put some in his hot chocolate and declared it a winner. I made a note in the cookbook for when I make it again to serve this after a minimum of 48 hours of chill time.

I am curious to see what the rest of the group thought. You can also check their results out over at French Fridays with Dorie. Have a great weekend!

Great Backyard Bird Count Goes Global

Exciting News! For the first time ever, bird lovers around the world can count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count - all they need is access to the Internet. The count takes place February 15 - 18, 2013 and all you have to do is watch birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more of the count days, estimate the number of birds of each species that you can identify, and enter your tallies online. For more information go to www.birdcount.org. GBBC is hosted by the Cornell Lab, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada.