For dinner with our friends last night, I wanted to make a nice dessert.
The challenge is that one of our friends, Kristin, has a gluten allergy and, well, most desserts contain gluten. Earlier this week, I asked for gluten-free dessert recommendations on a message board I frequent, and someone said that this was the best flourless chocolate cake she had ever had. That was a pretty great review, so I decided to give it a go.
I’ve only ever had flourless chocolate cake a couple of times in my life, and those times were always at restaurants. So I wasn’t really sure what it was going to come out like. The baking process itself was pretty straightforward; just like any other cake, but obviously without flour, baking soda, or baking powder.
After tasting the batter (who can resist?), I knew that this was going to be a really rich, chocolatey cake. I suppose I should have guessed that before–there is a lot of chocolate in this cake.
The person who gave me the recipe told me she had baked this cake in a springform pan with success, so I thought I’d give that a try, too. I always like the look of cakes turned out of their pans–it makes for better presentation. Also, I had a brand new set of springform pans that I had never used before, and was eager to put them to good use.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
(Source: Unknown)
Ingredients:
– 1 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
– 8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
– 1 1/2 cups sugar
– 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
– 6 large eggs
– 1/4 cup cassis or orange juice
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×2 inch cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Make sure it lies flat.
2. Melt 16 tbsp. (2 sticks) butter and 8 oz chocolate together over simmer water. Stir until very smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. Mix the sugar, cocoa, and eggs just until well combined. Do not overbeat. Add the cool chocolate and butter mixture and again, only mix until combined. You do not want to beat air into the mixture. Stir in the cassis or orange juice.
4. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan, place the pan in a larger pan and pour about 1 inch of hot water around the cake pan (I skipped the larger pan/water thing since I was using a springform pan). Bake until the top of the cake is firm to the touch, about 45 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temp. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Notes: After about 10 minutes of cooling time, I removed the sides of the springform pan. I then inverted the cake onto a serving platter and removed the bottom of the pan as well. Once cool, I wrapped the whole thing in plastic and refrigerated, as the recipe says. However, be sure to remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3-4 hours before you want to serve. When I first took it out of the fridge, it was really hard. We let it come back to room temperature before eating it. Also, because it is so rich, we served it with french vanilla ice cream. Bon appetit!
Tonight, we had dinner with our friends (two couples) and their babies. It was nice to catch up over some takeout Chinese food and wine. We just relaxed around their house, chatted, and held babies!
We got our new external flash last week (have you noticed a difference in my pictures?), so I couldn’t resist bringing along my camera to capture the little ones. I was eager to see how the flash would improve portraits since I’ve really only used it for food and Tessa so far. Let’s just say… I’m impressed. I love these photos.
Meet Emma, who is three months old:
And Rowan, who is 4.5 months old:
Aren’t they the cutest? They are only six weeks apart, so hopefully they will make great playmates one day. Tonight, they really didn’t seem to have much interest in each other.
Rowan is at that age where he is starting to really interact. He is becoming really expressive, and it’s absolutely adorable. It wasn’t difficult to make him smile (and giggle, too!). While I was playing with him, Michael was able to get several photos of him mid-grin. Here are a few of my favorites:
I took more than 80 photos tonight, just of Emma & Rowan. I usually take more than 100 every time we see Brendan.
I’m predicting that someday, our children will be the most photographed kids on the planet.
Let’s face it: There is really nothing better than a “homemade” meal that you don’t have to actually make. Especially on weeknights, after a long day at work.
This post is a tribute to the people at The Ravioli Shop, who essentially are responsible for making my dinner when I don’t feel like it.
These geniuses have opened a shop that sells–well, you guessed it–ravioli. Fresh ravioli, made daily, with many different fillings. Sausage, four cheese, shrimp, lobster, feta, asparagus, etc. Our favorites are pumpkin, roasted vegetable, and roasted red pepper.
The shop is charming and small. When you walk in, you’re always greeted, and the worker usually asks whether you’ve been there before. If not, they give you a little “tour” of the different products and even make recommendations.
There are refrigerated ravioli if you’re planning to cook it up that night, and there are frozen ones if you’re planning to store it for later.
Once you finally make your ravioli decision (it’s difficult sometimes!), you also have the opportunity to pick up sauce, if you so choose. They also stock a small supply of organic mixed greens, as well as a few kinds of freshly baked bread (including semolina bread, which is awesome).
Once home, all that has to be done is to boil a pot of water. Throw in the ravioli, and in 8 to 11 minutes (depending on whether the ravioli is frozen), you have a perfectly cooked meal.
With our pumpkin ravioli, all we ever do is toss it in a little bit of olive oil. With the roasted vegetable and roasted red pepper varieties, we usually top them with a little bit of tomato sauce.
But no matter what the sauce, one thing is always a necessity: Parmesan cheese.
So, so good. It’s hot, it’s tasty, and it’s easy. All thanks to The Ravioli Shop. And you know what? It’s popular.
And so I figure… There is only one thing to ask.
Why didn’t I think of this??
This is a newbie for us. I was in the mood for something different for dinner one night this week, so I went perusing the internet for ideas.
I came across this recipe on Cooking Light, and since it sounded really good, I decided to go with it. I wanted to pair it with something else, so I then went on a hunt for a mexican rice recipe. I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, so I used a couple different recipes as a foundation and added my own twists.
Both turned out awesome. Leftovers were fantastic, too.
Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas
(Source: Cooking Light)
Ingredients:
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
– 2 teaspoons canola oil
– 12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into really small chunks
– 1 cup chopped red onion (about 1) (we used a mayan onion)
– 1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears) (due to the winter, we used canned corn)
– 1 cup chopped zucchini (about 4 ounces)
– 1/2 cup green salsa (we substituted regular red salsa)
– 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided (we used dried cilantro)
– 4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
– Cooking spray
– 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (we used a pre-shredded “Mexican” mix)
Directions:
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over chicken. Add chicken to pan; sauté for 3 minutes.
3. Add onion, corn, and zucchini to pan; sauté for 2 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in salsa and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.
4. Working with 2 tortillas at a time, arrange tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet; lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. (Ours took much less than three minutes. Also, going from some suggestions in the comments section on Cooking Light, after they browned on the first side, we took them out of the oven, turned them over, sprayed with more cooking spray, and put them back under the broiler to brown the other side as well. This made the tostadas nice and crispy, and they held up well to the weight of the ingredients on top of them.)
5. Spoon about 3/4 cup chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla; sprinkle each serving with 1/4 cup cheese. Broil an additional 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese. Sprinkle each serving with about 3/4 teaspoon of remaining cilantro. Serve immediately.
Mexican Rice
(Source: Adapted from Southern Living)
Ingredients:
– 1 1/4 cups long-grain rice
– 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
– 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped onion
– 2 garlic cloves, minced
– 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
– 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
– 5 oz. water
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1/4 tsp. pepper
– 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
– 1 tsp. ground cumin
– 2 tsp. dried cilantro (optional)
Directions:
1. Saute rice in hot oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for three minutes or until lightly browned.
2. Add onion and garlic, and saute two minutes.
3. Stir in broth, tomato sauce, water, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and cilantro. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until tender (about 15-25 minutes).
4. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with fork.
I went through a good portion of the day thinking to myself, “January 21. January 21… why do I feel like something happens on January 21?”
As it turns out, nothing happens on January 21, but the “21” will probably always sound familiar to me.
Why? Well, because of June 21, of course.
Seven months now! Well on our way to the one-year mark.
And speaking of the one-year mark… Tonight, we booked our flight for our first anniversary trip. We’re going to Seattle and San Francisco!
I was born in Seattle, but only lived there until I was 6 years old. I’ve been back a few times, but Michael has never been. It’s been on our “list” for a while, so we figured we’d jump at the opportunity to go all of the way out there while we have the chance.
Neither of us have been to San Francisco, and we’ve always wanted to go, so hey–if we’re going all the way across the country, we might as well take advantage of it and visit two cities instead of one.
So we’re going to be spending about 5 days in Seattle, and then another 5 in San Francisco. Fun, fun! We’re hoping the weather will be kind to us and it’ll be beautiful for mid-June. Can’t wait!
Meanwhile, we still have four more “mini anniversaries” until we hit the real one. But with the way things have been going, those will all fly by before we know it. Isn’t that just the way life works?
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
