The Best Chocolate Cake

June 10, 2013 - Elspeth 3 Comments

This is the only chocolate cake recipe you will ever need. Ever.

It is moist, light, intensely chocolatey, and– to top it all off– it’s the easiest recipe on the planet. Half the time when people say “I have the best recipe for chocolate cake!” It’s THIS recipe. Thank you, Barefoot Contessa, for supplying us with a wonderful addition to the world of food.

This time around I went with coffee buttercream and Heath Bar toffee bits, because…I don’t really need to explain myself. It was delicious. Amen.

The cake is pretty delicate and has a fine crumb, so be wary when you start to frost– bits of cake may start to come up and mix in with your icing.

The Best Chocolate Cake

from Barefoot Contessa

1 3/4 c flour
2 c white sugar
3/4 c cocoa
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line your baking pans with parchment (you can either do 3 6″ pans or 2 8″ or 9″ pans. You MUST line them with parchment. This is not optional. This cake sticks like the devil to the bottom of pans and you will kick yourself if you do not use parchment.) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, powder, and salt). In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredient mixture, until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly add the hot coffee. It will be very, very liquidy. Divide the batter evenly between your pans and bake for 30-35 min (6″ pans), 25-30 min (8″ or 9″ pans), or 15-20 minutes (cupcakes). Let cool completely and frost with whatever your heart desires. Or just eat it straight, because it is magical.

Seriously, though. Best cake ever.

Beet and Potato Pancake

June 9, 2013June 10, 2013 - Elspeth Leave a comment

My coworker sent me this last week and it’s sad how close it hit home. I love potatoes. Like, LOVE them. More than so many things. My boss is scared to even look at french fries when I am nearby, because he knows I will fly into a rage if anyone touches them.

I think I have a problem.

Oh, well! Better happy with a potato, than normal and sad without one.

The true name of this dish is roesti. It’s basically a gigantic plate of hashbrowns, but Cook’s Illustrated gave me a lovely variation that I used for inspiration. They added beets, but I one-upped them with the further addition of celery root (aka, the unsung hero of the underworld…get it? Because it’s a root?…Screw you guys, I’M laughing).

I paired it with some goat cheese and horseradish sauce, fried shallots (clutch), maple-cayenne pecans (make extra, for insanely good snacking), and arugula salad. DIVINE.

Make sure to keep the heat on the medium-low side of things, so that you don’t burn the bottom. The pieces all went very well together and I would definitely recommend this as a complete meal, but if you just go with the roesti I think you’ll still be quite happy. I have visions of this with a poached egg for breakfast. Mmmm.

Potato and Beet Pancake

inspired by Cook’s Illustrated

For the pancake:

3/4 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 small celery root, peeled and shredded
3 medium beets, peeled and shredded (I used both red and gold)
1/4 c finely diced scallions
salt and pepper
6 T butter

For the horseradish sauce:

3 T horseradish
1/2 c goat cheese
3 T sour cream
pepper

For the pecans:

1 c pecans
1/2 cayenne pepper
enough maple syrup to coat the pecans (approx. 1/8-1/4 c)

Fried shallots (fry at a low heat in peanut oil for best flavor)

Arugula salad (I went with a lemon-dijon-honey dressing)

For the pancake, mix the shredded potatoes, celery root, and beets together in a bowl with the salt and pepper. Melt 4 T butter in a large cast-iron pan over medium-low heat. When hot, press the potato mixture in until you have a pretty compact cake. You may need to move the pan around over the heat, so that the pancake is evenly browned. After about 15 minutes, loosen the pancake with a spatula, place a plate over the top, and invert onto the plate. Add the remaining 2 T butter to the pan and melt, then slide the pancake back into the pan to cook on the other side. Brown another 15 minutes.

For the horseradish sauce, simply mix everything together in a bowl.

For the pecans, spray a baking sheet with oil and then mix the pecans, syrup, and cayenne together on top. Spread out into a single layer and bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

To assemble, place a wedge of the pancake on a plate, dollop on some horseradish sauce, sprinkle with the fried shallots, toss the arugula salad in with some pecans, and enjoy the heck out of one fine meal, you sexy son of a B.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

June 5, 2013 - Elspeth Leave a comment

Word on the street has been that this is just one of those “must try” recipes. I am very glad to have satisfied my curiosity, since the result was very tasty and satisfying. It is by no means pizza, but we can’t hold that against it. I’m glad I chose to make it without tomato sauce, for any more moisture and it would have been quite wet through.

Err on the side of overcooking this, to ensure the crispiest crust possible. I would also recommend using rubber gloves to squeeze the toweled cauliflower, since the steaming substance nearly burnt my hands and it’s very unpleasant to be upset with a recipe at the very beginning.

I used Deb’s toppings with my own twist, and for the base combined a couple of different recipes (here and here). Adjust to taste!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

1 large head cauliflower
2 eggs
2/3 c goat cheese
2 t salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t oregano
pepper
red chili flakes

To rice the cauliflower, cut the head down into chunks and process in batches in a food processor. Do not overdo it or else you will have mush on your hands. Meanwhile, heat a pot on the stove with about 1 in of water. When the cauliflower rice is ready, place in the pot and cook, covered, for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pass the cooked cauliflower through a fine-mesh strainer, then place in a dish towel or cheese cloth. Squeeze as much of the excess moisture out as possible (this is key, so don’t skip it. And don’t forget your gloves!) and then put the cauliflower in a large bowl. Mix in the eggs, cheese, garlic, oregano, pepper, and chili flakes. Mix very well. Divide the “dough” in two and shape each portion into a rectangle on the baking sheets. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on your toppings, return to the heat for another 10 minutes, remove and cool slightly.

I went with caramelized onions (made a kind of “sauce”), shaved asparagus, grated parmigiano, discs of mozzarella, and thinly sliced green onions. Superb!