Believe it or not, we don't photograph every single item that comes out of the kitchen.  Case in point, the Devil's Food Salted Caramel Cupcakes we whipped up a week ago for a certain three year old's birthday.  Something I regret, because they were so good we had offers of indentured servitude in exchange for more.  But I can still give you the recipe!

A joint project with the man in my life, Chef B, I baked the cupcakes (a moist Devil's Food compliments of David Lebovitz) and he filled the center with a gooey salted caramel, a swirl of chocolate icing, some edible copper and gold, pop-rock sugar and the smiling face of Chocolate Fishes.  Moist, chocolaty rich, a gooey, salted center and rich creamy icing with the pop and fizzle of sugar and, so simple.

I'll be honest, we used a jar of salted caramel we had on hand from a local bakery, but it's not a complicated thing to make.  I've included a recipe from the blog Lick My Spoon because her photos are detailed and if you've never made caramel before she makes it easy to follow.  I love salted caramel sauce, drizzle it over ice cream, dip apples in it, toss it with some hot popcorn or...  just eat it by the spoonful.

To add filling to the center of a cupcake:  take a sharp pairing knife and cut a 'plug' from the center, top of the cake, about one inch wide and one inch deep.  Gently remove the cutaway cake with the knife and add spoon in the filling of your choice, adding about 1 teaspoon to the center of the cake.  Cut the bottom half of the cake plug off (eat the leftovers) and then replace it on top of your cupcake and cover the seam with a swirl of icing.

A huge hit with adults & kids alike.

Devil’s Food Cake Recipe - Source David Lebovitz

12 cupcakes (or one 9 inch cake)

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup strong coffee (or water)
½ cup milk

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350* F, be sure rack is in the center of the oven.  Line muffin pan(s) with paper liners (x12 cupcakes).

3.  Add dry ingredients; cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl and whisk lightly to combine.

4.  In a separate bowl beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, using an electric mixer.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.

5.  In a small bowl, combine coffee and milk.  Add about half of dry ingredients into the butter mixture, add the coffee and milk, add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix, at medium speed until JUST blended.  (about 2 minutes)  If still lumpy, fold by hand, over-mixing your batter will make cakes tough, so a light hand is always preferred.

6.  Divide batter into prepared cupcake papers/muffing tin and bake for 12 - 15 minutes.  Lick bowl.  Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Note:  I was low on butter for this recipe, which proved not the be the end of the world, I used the 1/4 cup I had and substituted a good quality avocado oil for the other 1/4 cup of fat.  This gave the batter a high gloss and the cupcakes a light sheen on the surface.  No one noticed a taste difference, I was pretty happy with the results.

Salted Caramel Sauce - Source: Lick My Spoon

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (Maldon sea salt flakes or fleur de sel)

Method:

1.   In large, heavy bottomed saucepan combine sugar and water over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves, but stopping as soon as it comes to a boil.  At this point you can swirl the boiling syrup in the pan, but don't stir, continue over heat.

2.  As you hold the pan over the heat at a boil, the liquid sugar will quickly begin to colour, turning golden and then to a dark amber, then add your butter, all at once.  The cold butter will cause the hot sugar to foam (if it bubbles too high, remove it briefly from the heat and return). Whisk in your butter until it is completely melted, thickened slightly and emulsified with the syrup, then remove your pan from the heat.
3.  Off the heat, add cream to the hot sugar/butter mixture, (once again, adding cold cream to the hot sugar, you will see it foam up, be cautious not to spill any on your skin) and continue to whisk until smooth.

4.  Whisk in salt until melted and caramel is a loose, creamy sauce, it will thicken further as it cools.

Store Salted Caramel in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge for up to two weeks (ya, right like it lasts that long!) warm to room temperature for most applications, or gently heat to pour over ice cream etc.  To fill the cupcakes, we used our caramel straight out of the refrigerator, because we find it easier to handle in drops and blobs when it's cold.

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1.  In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk.  Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.  If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Bake, cool.  Sauce, cool.  Fill.  Frost.  Then finish with something fun... like edible gold, copper, pop-rock sugar and (of course) Chocolate Fishes.  Beware the ensuing sugar high.  

While here for a little visit our favourite French Girl, Food Gypsy Editor Astrid DesLandes, was THRILLED to find that Nutella now comes in a new convenient size.  "Wow, finally a jar that will last a WEEK" she declared, quickly calculating how much that jar would put her luggage overweight for her return trip to Calgary.

"I'm sure it's worth it" I said.  Come on, the savings in gas alone, running back & forth to the store.  Think of the cost to the environment, all those extra jars to recycle.   Best to purchase a jar you can get your whole hand in.

"If my head wasn't so big, I'd put it right in the jar!"   It's true, she does have an unusually large head.  You know what they say about people with big heads... big hats.

That, right there folks, is a 5 kilogram jar of Nutella (11 pounds for those needing the imperial translation.) If there's more than 50 hazelnuts in a 13 ounce jar, then there are more than 676 hazelnuts in the new 5 kilogram (convenient, weekly) size.   Or, as it's known in Italy, Snack Size.   Now I know what to get her for her birthday.

A little Fun Food Friday for ya'!

"OK time to go, put down the Nutella now..." "NO! MINE... mineminemine!!!"

An overwhelming desire for the taste of orange and chocolate led me down the slippery slope of recipe development, creating a deep, dark and delicious Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake that thrilled neighbours and crushed that craving.

The neighbours love it when I bake. I then scurry around and distribute goodies lest they cling to my thighs.  (Judging by how my underwear fits, I may have left this cake in the Gypsy Kitchen a little too long.)

My hunger for citrus has been at a fever pitch; last week I found myself surrounded by oranges, kumquats, pomelo, Meyer lemons and several limes.  (I think I may have scurvy!)  The holiday season denied me one of my favourite candy treats (Terry's Chocolate Orange) so I had to bake now, didn't I?

Oh sure, I could have just eaten an orange and a piece of chocolate... but where's the fun in THAT?!

Keep the cake moistened with kumquat syrup and topped with colourful bits of candied kumquat (featured earlier this week on Food Gypsy).  I often use a simple syrup on a cake before icing, it helps keep it moist longer.  In this case, the juicy orange flavour of kumquats helped intensify the citrus undertones, but this cake is so moist and rich it hardly needs help.

Finished it with a chocolate ganache and that's when this Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake took on a life of its own.  The planned 'thin drizzle' of ganache became great, goopy globs of rich chocolate.  Instead of a refined, delicate effect it became one big, chocolate meltdown.

Sometimes you just have to roll with it... let the chocolate flow and learn something new.  What I learned was this:  finishing with a warm ganache in front of an open window, in temperatures of -18*C is not such a good idea.  Noted.

Didn't affect the taste one little bit... tangy, citrus backed flavour, grounded in rich, semi-sweet chocolate; a feel good combination.  

It must be, because now I feel GREAT, shame about my waist though.  Here one day, gone the next.  Meh, it'll be back.

Chocolate Orange Chiffon Cake Recipe

(Adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook)

Prep time:  35 minutes
Cooking time: 60 - 70 minutes

1 1/2 cups orange juice, heated
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups cake or pastry flour
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
zest of two medium oranges (about a 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 large eggs, separated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. In a small saucepan, heat orange juice to a low simmer.  Mix cocoa powder and hot orange juice together in a medium bowl, dissolving cocoa completely.  Stir well, and allow to cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
2. In a large bowl combine flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda and salt, add orange zest and toss to mix.  Add cocoa orange juice mixture to dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Do not beat.
3. In a large bowl beat egg whites together with cream of tartar to form soft peaks.  Add remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to egg whites and beat until stiff.
4. In a medium  bowl add vanilla and oil to egg yolks, lightly beat with a fork or whisk.  Add egg mixture to cocoa mixture, blend until just smooth, beating this batter will make it tough, so just mix until blended.   Add egg whites to cocoa batter, one quarter at a time, using a spatula and fold gently into the whites until everything is blended and bubbly.
5. Pour into an ungreased tube pan and bake at 350º for 60-70 minutes.  (Ungreased! This cake has enough oil that it should not stick, and it needs the ungreased sides so that it can 'grip' and rise.)

Invert pan and allow to cool.  Remove to cake plate, you can plate either bottom (flat) side up or top (domed) side up.  Your choice.

This is a cake that freezes well and keeps for up to a month.  You know, if you were planning your desserts that far in advance.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces good quality milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
5 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a heavy sauce pan heat cream until just bubbling. Make sure you stay with it so it does not scorch or boil over, it only takes a couple minutes.
2. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until completely melted.  Add extract.
3. Cool slightly until ganache begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.

Pour still warm, (thick) ganache over cake.  May the drizzle be with you.

Smooth, dark and super rich, this Chocolate Espresso Truffle Cake is a slab of pure chocolate heaven.  It's also flourless so there's no pesky carbohydrates and it's gluten free.

Just a few simple ingredients you probably already have: butter, sugar, chocolate, espresso and eggs.  When baked it has the consistency of chocolate paté but some mistake it for a cheesecake.  (Yea, there's no cheese in that.)

Chocolate Espresso Truffle Cake is super simple, all you need is a bain marie or double boiler.  If you don't have one no worries, just do what I do, take a bowl on place it over a pot of simmering water.  The steam will heat the bowl and help to melt the ingredients together.  Just be sure the bowl does not touch the water.

Hot tip from our Technical Director, Chef B:  to make it easier to unmold, flip the bottom of your springfrom pan upside down, that way you don't have to deal with the lip on the bottom when you serve.  Before unmolding; run a hot knife around the sides to help loosen the torte from the sides then undo the buckle on the spring form pan and ease it out.

I also used a round of parchment on the bottom because I wanted to plate it on the cake stand.  Removing the parchment was tricky and I accidentally broke the cake.  Fortunately, I was able to mend it for the presentation, but between you and I --- if you use parchment, just leave it in place.

This recipe easily doubles, which means there's twice as much of it.  It may call you at 3AM for a bathrobe attired chocolate feast by the light of the refrigerator, it's temptation in it's purest form.  

You've been warned.

Chocolate Espresso Truffle Cake Recipe

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter
10.5 oz (*300 G) dark semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup strong coffee/ double shot of espresso
4 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons cocoa, to finish

Preheat oven to 325*.  Coat 6 inch springform pan with non-stick spray.

Method:

1. In double boiler (or bain marie) over medium heat combine sugar, butter, chocolate, vanilla & coffee, stirring until all ingredients are melted. Remove from heat.
2. In separate bowl whisk eggs until foamy, slowly add to warm chocolate mixture, stirring constantly to prevent eggs from cooking.  This will make the chocolate mixture thick, like a chocolate pudding.
3. Coat 6" springform pan with non-stick spray.  If desired, cut a round of parchment to cover bottom of pan, place in pan before poring in prepared custard. Pour warm chocolate mixture into the pan and place on a baking sheet (in case of any leakage).  Place in a 325* oven, on the center rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Cooking time will vary depending on your oven (and how many times you peek), this torte will bake like a cheese cake, the sides rising while the center will remain soft and jiggly.  This is the consistency you're looking for.  I suggest checking the cake at 25 minutes and re-setting your timer on intervals of 5 minutes until you see the sides are firm and risen, and only the center jiggles when you gently wiggle the pan to test.

Remove and allow to cool.  Refrigerate, covered for two hours, then take hot knife and run it around the sides to free it safely from the sprinform pan.  Unbuckle springform and remove sides, if desired, you can also (gently and carefully) remove bottom and plate just on parchment.  Sprinkle with cocoa and plate.

Serve at room temperature, smear evenly on both thighs.

This promises to be very bad for your diet.  Worse yet, if you read the Gingerbread Hot Chocolate recipe and you don't make it, your toenails turn green and fall off.

This is hot chocolate made in the French style using cream, coca and real chocolate to make it rich and thick.  Then for some seasonal fun we've spiced it up to give you a little kick of ginger, allspice and cinnamon.   A wonderful afternoon pick-me-up on a cold winter day or an alternative to coffee or espresso after a meal.

It's so rich I might suggest espresso cups to serve, but hey, it's your waistline.  Just do me a favor and don't try "skinning it up" with 2% or some such nonsense, you'll just ruin it.  You'll wind up with a sluge of coca solids on the bottom and a scum of coca butter on the top because 2% milk contains too much water and not enough milk fat to bind to the chocolate.  (This is chemistry people, I'm not making this stuff up.)  So if you must lighten up, use one part homogenized milk against two parts light cream.

Of course, some of you are just looking for an excuse to drink cream and you need little convincing.  (You know who you are.)  The only thing missing is booze, I'm thinking an aged dark rum, what are you thinking?

This week we've showcased the Gingerbread Hot Chocolate with our Asian Gingerbread Pear Cake for a full on gingerbread experience.  It's epic.

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

1 cup light cream (half & half or 10% milk fat)
2 tablespoons coca powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
dash white pepper
1 oz dark, semi sweet chocolate, chopped

Method:

1. In a small, heavy bottomed sauce pan combine coca, sugar, ginger, allspice and pepper - off the heat.  Add cream and whisk well until blended.  Be sure to get all the coca powder blend off the bottem of the pot.
2. Place over medium low heat and bring to a low simmer, whisking occasionally to ensure cream does not scald.
3. Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking to melt.  As the chocolate melts, the fat from the chocolate will rise to the top.
4. Return to low heat, whisking to emulsify and allow the coca butter to blend with the milk fat.  If left to cool a 'skin' will form on the top, just whisk back into the hot chcoalte over low heat to bring it back to silky smoothness.

Allow to very, very gently simmer on low for about 3 minutes.  To check consistency: dip a clean spoon into the Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and run your finger through the film on the spoon.  The clean strip should remain clean, when held horizontal for at least 5 seconds.

Serving suggestions... whipped cream and candied ginger.   Go on, add the whipped cream don't be a sissy.

The Chef in my life, was my first soufflé.  He souffléd me before long before we started dating, while I was a wide-eyed student who hung on his every word.  He soufflés so well, I’ve never actually souffléd myself.  He makes it look so easy.

So we're tasking Food Gypsy Technical Advisor, Chef Benoit Gelinotte (Chef B), to give us his best tips so you can soufflé like you've never  souffléd before, this holiday season.    Starting with a little sugar and spice --- the Chipotle Chocolate Soufflé.

His first advice:  "Make sure there is absolutely no yoke mixed in with the egg whites when you separate them."  As his sous chef, that’s my job, I separate over a smaller bowl one-by-one,  just in case.  I am also permitted to grease the moulds with butter and shaved chocolate, he then commandeers my kitchen while I open the wine.

During a recent get together, we all sat spellbound as we watched him revive the batter from a ceased, chocolaty mass.  "Don't try this at home!" he insists and I must agree, it's a tricky move involving adding more fat (in the form of cream) and then your batter may be off in consistency.

Better bet; don't allow your batter to cool and solidify while you consume wine.  Measure in advance, so can move through the recipe in one shot and get those soufflés in the oven (in minutes) even when you have company.  I mean, who doesn't love a live soufflé show?

"Be sure your egg whites are firm, forming stiff peaks.  Then add to the chocolate batter 1/3 at a time, folding gently until smooth."  The bubbles in those egg whites are important, they make the soufflé rise.  So we fold them with a spatula rather than breaking them with a whisk.

One of his best soufflé  tricks, his signature move: 'the thumb drag'.

"Take your thumb and remove all the butter and chocolate from above the souffle, dragging the tip of your thumb, slightly in the batter..."

This leaves the sides of the ramekin clean and creates a ¼ inch trench in the batter, causing the soufflé to raise straight up and not spill over.  (No one likes a droopy soufflé.)

"Keep the oven door shut!"  No peeking, a sudden change in temperature could cause those little beauties to fall.  Once out of the oven, serve immediately.

“The soufflé waits for no one!  Stop taking pictures of it and EAT it.” ~ Chef B.

(He gets kind of cranky if the soufflé falls prematurely.)

Having considerably more soufflé experience than me (third timer) he has stronger opinions on these matters.  In a private moment, when our guests had gone he voiced his feeling on the performance of a recipe that was not his own.  “It was too cakey, not light and airy at all.  It was cake in a mould!”  

I like cake in a mould.  If it's your first souffle, I think you'll find it performs well, it's rich and chocolaty and (because it's a bit cakey), the soufflé holds a little longer (so you can take pictures).  He promises a rematch.  I promise to reveal more of his secrets.

Oh Baby, soufflé me.

Chipotle Chocolate Soufflé Recipe

Prep time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Makes: 7 individual, or one large 6" soufflé

¼ cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
½ cup dark chocolate
7 eggs, separated
butter & grated chocolate to coat moulds

Method:

1. Melt approximately 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat, apply to inside of soufflé moulds with pastry brush to evenly coat. Grate about 2 oz of dark chocolate on a fine grater and add to moulds, rolling to coat evenly.  Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Separate eggs reserving both whites and yokes separately.
3. Bring milk to low boil, add cocoa and half sugar, whisking to remove lumps.  Remove from heat.
4. Melt chocolate over a double boiler or 'bain marie' until smooth, stirring to avoid burning.  Remove from heat.
5. Add lightly mixed egg yokes to chocolate 1/3 at a time, whisking until smooth.
6. Add milk, 1/3 at a time, whisking until blended and smooth.
7. Add chipotle powder to chocolate base, start with 1 teaspoon and test, season to individual taste.
8. In an electric blender with whisk attachment, add egg whites and remaining sugar. Whisk on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
9. Temper egg whites with warm chocolate; add 1/3 of the chocolate to the egg whites, then 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate,fold gently with spatula so as not to break the the bubbles and maintain lightness.  Continue adding the egg whites to the chocolate, 1/3 at a time, until blended and smooth.
10. Spoon or ladle into prepared moulds, until approximately 1/2 to 1/3 of an inch from the top.  Using thumb, remove butter and chocolate above the batter line and create a ¼ well in the batter around the sides.
11.  Bake in preheated 370* oven for 30 minutes until risen and hot.  Remove from oven, plate and serve immediately.

We toned down the spice a bit in this recipe for the sake of keeping your face from catching on fire. It may have been a tad overheated in our original (never let the Gypsy with a stuffy nose be your heat thermometer).

Now friends know why I don’t order soufflés while we’re out, when the soufflé’s this good at home...

Recipe adapted from:

http://lechaudronmagique.blogspot.com/2008/03/souffl-au-chocolat-de-pierre-herm.html

As a child my parents would confiscate much of my Halloween haul.  Thanks to rigorous therapy, I can talk about this now, but... *sniff* ... it’s still painful.  What were they doing with all that candy?  Why did Halloween-sized chocolate bars appear in my lunch box at the end of November?  These are the questions that would plague my young mind.

I figure if you’re going to commandeer Halloween candy, there should be some kind of plan for later usage that the whole family can enjoy.  Like making cookies!  What could be more fun than that?

You can use pretty much any caramel chocolate based candy bar in this recipe; Caramel Mars, Caramilk or Rolo.  Or mix it up with Snickers and regular Mars Bars.  The cookie base is a basic chocolate chip cookie dough; the trick to using candy bars is the bars have to be frozen solid, chopped into pieces then folded into the dough and then refrigerated for at least 15 minutes.  This ensures that both the dough and the candy melt at the same pace.

I also tend to underbake these cookies just slightly, leaving them chewy and soft with big, melted chucks of caramel and chocolate oozing everywhere.

Caramel Mars Bar Cookies are popular with kids of all ages especially when we super-size then and make COLOSSAL COOKIES; cookies that eat like a meal.

What?  There’s butter, that’s dairy and vanilla and chocolate, they're both made from beans and sugar that’s... vegetarian.  Yea, they’re good for you.  (Suuuuuuure.)

Fortuantly, we won't be faced with forced candy abduction this year, it was quite a scene at Easter.   Finally we broke down and admitted that the Easter Bunny had to return much of the candy in light of financial difficulties.  "Times are tough for the Easter Bunny, Honey."  That seemed to pass as acceptable.   If you’re forced to pillage your child’s candy, do it gently while they’re asleep - then blame it on the Tooth Fairy.  "She’s always fighting cavities, that crazy Tooth Fairy!"

Happy Halloween.

Caramel Mars Bar (Colossal) Cookies Recipe

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Caramel Mars Bars (3 full sized bars or 8 Halloween sized bars), frozen & chopped

Method:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F
2.  In large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs & vanilla, mix until creamy.
3. In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.  Gradually blend into creamed mixture.
4. Chop frozen candy bars into small pieces.  Fold into cookie dough.
5.  Chill dough for 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge.
6. Portion out dough into ¼ cup balls, roll lightly between your palms for perfectly round cookies or drop loose on to sheet for nearly perfect cookies.  Place a maximum of four cookies per cookie sheet, sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes until puffy and golden brown.
7. Keep dough refrigerated until ready to bake.  If reusing cookie sheets rinse/wash between batches as caramel will stick and burn. Carefully move cookies with spatula onto a cooling rack to firm up.

Makes 10 – 12 “colossal” cookies (I told you they were big).  

... all our delicious readers.

Over the summer we've been thrilled to hear from Food Gypsy readers. Foodie Gypsies far and wide who enjoy a little Gypsy sass now and again and challenged themselves to try something new, in the kitchen and in life.

Fear of the unknown is a shared condition.  Every time we humans take a step into a new experience, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, we're saying to The Universe “I am willing to learn.”  Thought I would take the time to share a couple of memorable notes from the community of crazed Foodies that we are, with the rest of our readers... just for fun (and inspiration).

First a story of triumph over chocolate with our Double Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake recipe from Anita C. in the UK, who had to access “specialized equipment” to measure the recipe as recipes in the UK and Europe are weighed, not measured...

“Good morrow my scrummy, clever, most AB FAB friend!

Here are the pics that I promised of the official cake making day in Anita's kitchen. What was ace, was that after reading your recipe I had everything AND I MEAN ALL the ingredients in the cupboard, I didn't have to buy anything at all. I even had the 'extract'... no cheap essence for my baking cupboard. lol

The cups I bought years ago thinking I 'might just need them', and sure enough I did... 5 years later.

Well the cake was lovely to make my mouth was watering with anticipation and yes I licked the bowl... and the spoon... and the whisk... and the palette knife... gorgeous.

It cooked well and the clever tip of the [simple] syrup... mmm I never knew that. Only thing is I haven't covered in frosting as my family's palate is not as sweet as it used to be.  However I've got chantilly cream in the freezer which I made a few weeks ago so I'll be having that with mine.” ~ Anita C.

That’s Anita’s cake at the top.  Brilliant.

In Salmon Arm, Canada Maureen M. became a chocolate goddess with one of my personal favourites “Le Bete Noire” (the black beast) which has been my go-to chocolate stunner for years, first stumbled across the recipe in Bon Appetite magazine. 

Her request for a knock-out cake for a birthday party meant a dive into the uncertain world of butter, cream, eggs and chocolate to embrace a new technique, cooking in a Bain Marie (hot water bath).  Suggested the deep, rich “Bete Noire” cake, that bakes like a cheesecake (and is gluten-free), along with a raspberry coulee...

“Thank you Thank you!! The "La Bete Noire" was amazing!!  Made the Raspberry Coulee as well - everyone loved it!!” ~ Maureen M. 

(Maureen's pic of a truly outstanding job on la Bete Noire, below...)

And last, but certainly not last, a note from my favorite southerner, my first official fan (i.e.: someone not related to me and not told to go to Food Gypsy by my Mother), Lou H. from South Carolina, USA.

“You would be so proud!  I enrolled in the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas yesterday.  After 25 years in the restaurant biz, I decided it's time to learn what I'm doing. Classes start Aug 15.” ~ Lou H.

Proud?  No, ecstatic!  Lou, you're so brave and humble to think that you have more to learn after all these years.

I send all the love and encouragement you sent my way during my studies at Le Cordon Bleu right back to you Lou - times TWO.   Hope you'll find the time to drop a line during your culinary adventures and tell us if they're teaching you or... if you're teaching them.

We love hearing from our readers.  Thank you for coming back to Food Gypsy for fun and food, for sharing our links and telling your friends about us.  This is a conversation - by all means - tell us what’s on your mind, in your heart and in your kitchen!

You can comment on any post you deem worthy, use our handy, dandy Foodie Forum if you have a question or a suggestion or want to share a story (who knows we might publish it!).  You can tag us on Twitter, post on our Facebook wall or send us email direct to gypsy@foodgypsy.ca

I’m going to go bake something now.  Feeling inspired... by you. 

Looks like a re-bake is required on the Caramel Mars Bar Cookies... they disappeared shorty after coming out of the oven and were never seen again. Hmmm, curious.

Our resident French Girl and Food Gypsy Editor, Astrid DesLandes, takes one for the team, testing a recipe from David Lebovitz – Gluten-Free Brownies.  It’s a tough assignment, bound to add inches to the thighs.

Originally from Marseille, France, currently residing in Calgary, Canada; Astrid is our source for fashion advice and all things… 'sans gluten'. (Please, don’t get her started on shoes.)  ~ Gypsy

... the French Girl, in France.

A couple of days ago, my favourite Food Gypsy challenged me to make these scrumptious looking, gluten-free, David Lebovitz brownies.  He said "These are really good, whether you're gluten-free or not!"  Being Celiac, I am always on the lookout for "really good" gluten-free recipes, so giving it a go.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/08/gluten-free-brownies-recipe-chocolate/

My first instinct is always to “just tweak a little” anything I create, although I resisted the urge this time.  Mostly.  Replaced his almonds with hazelnuts.  Because I love hazelnuts.  See… nothing big.  Also reduced the cooking time from 30 minutes to 23 minutes… because I love a gooey under-cooked brownie.  Glad I did.

The brownies turned out nicely enough, but I found them a teensy bit crumbly, or dry maybe, hence my cuts do not look as clean as David’s.  And before you even ask… YES!  I absolutely did beat the heck out of the batter, for even longer than the one minute prescribed in David’s recipe.  And it did look beautifully smooth, glossy, and pulled from the sides of the bowl, just like he said it would.

In my re-creation, I also used 72% dark, bittersweet, organic, fair trade, chocolate.  The sugar was natural cane sugar.  The cocoa was Frys Premium Cocoa.  Real butter.  (Of course.)

Perhaps the dry result is due to a higher altitude cooking?  Living in Calgary, 3440 ft above sea level, I am a bit higher than David, currently residing in Paris, 114 feet.  The higher the altitude, the faster water boils and moisture evaporates, a special challenge for those of us who love to bake.

High altitude baking tips http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/altitudebaking

Next time I bake David’s Gluten-Free Brownies I’ll do all the same things, but then drop my baking time to 20 minutes, and maybe add a few drops of Frangelico. (For “moisture”, right?)

As someone who appreciates a great gluten-free recipe, I must say these brownies turned out super rich.  By rich, I don’t mean sweet, like some people think.  They’re not overly sweet.  Pop one tiny little morsel of this brownie on your tongue, and a powerful dark chocolate gooey wave hits you right smack in the nucleus accumbens (brain’s pleasure centre, for the non-nerds).

You know you’ve done good work, when the grown-up visitor at your house says: “You make the best damn brownies in the world”.

Thanks David.  We of the Gluten-Free salute you.

 

"Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world’s perfect food." ~ Michael Levine, nutrition researcher.

What is life without chocolate?  Horror of horrors.  Don't even think it.  It is too hideous, look away, look away.

Chocolate is something of a religion for me.  A sacred bond.  A covenant betwixt me and the glorious bean that is Cocoa.  It has seen me through abandonment and depression and heartbreak and a tax audit that nearly broke my bank but never broke my spirit because I had chocolate; and in chocolate there is courage.

Yes.  We have been through much, chocolate and I.  In the summer of 2008 I found my way through extraordinary circumstances by paying homage to that dark, rich taste by means of perfecting a chocolate cake.

Based on a recipe from Brigeten's Restaurant, in New Orleans published in Bon Appetit magazine's R.S.V.P. section (April 2008), it was juggled and shuffled to find my personal sweet spot.

Thus my Double Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake was born.   It was a messy beginning.

Past staff members at the Dragonfly Inn can attest to the many stages of its development (and the thunder thighs) until finally I found balance and --- dare I say it --- elegance.

Visionary that I am... I added more chocolate.  I know.  Ground breaking.  Oh, and raspberries.  Prepare yourselves.

Let's be honest; this is not a quickie recipe. It will goo-up a minimum of eight bowls, two saucepans, a couple of racks and several utensils.  The frosting will splatter, there may be icing sugar and cocoa powder air-born, the batter is a precise science and it will not tolerate mistakes.

This is a cake that takes time, patience and effort.  Therefore I only make it for those who will not just appreciate, but worship it.  The slightest variance from which turns me into the Cake Nazi:

"NO CAKE FOR YOU!"

Because when it's finished, those whose lips it touches will thrill to a rich, yet light old-fashioned cake that crumbles under the fork, a hint of ripe, sharp raspberry and a smooth, semi-sweet whipped icing, that cranks the sweet tooth of a mature palate.

The good news; you can make it well ahead.  Using a simple syrup on the cake base, it keeps for as long as five days in the fridge, still moist.  Simply let it stand at room temperature for an hour and --- voila.

Often, I cut the cake rounds in half to create a four layer cake. I opted not to do that this time as I wanted a loose, friendly cake - reminiscent of Donna Reid and the 1950's. So I wore pearls and high heels with my polka-dot apron and gobbed on the southern style frosting, made with sour cream, with a big spatula.

I filled the centre with far too much raspberry preserve, letting it gush down the sides, oozing red, ripe flavour, only to stop the hemorrhaging with more icing so that it might be somewhat contained and absorbed by the layers.

A certain dog just loves it when I bake. Chocolate is not for dogs Mags.

Allowed it to chill for an hour to make it firm in the heat and topped with violets from our garden.

I let it be juicy and messy and completely wonderfully imperfect because I find that so magnificently --- delicious.

Then... I licked the bowl.

Double Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake - Recipe

Prep / Cool/ Finish Time: 3 hours

Baking time: 20 - 25 minutes

Ingredients (cake):

• 2 cups sifted cake pastry flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups icing (powered) sugar, divided

• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk, divided

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 large eggs

Ingredients (icing/filling):

• 3/4 cup water

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

• 1/4 cup fresh raspberries

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup sour cream

• 2 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups icing/powdered sugar

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

• 8 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate

• 1/2 cup whole milk

Pre-heat oven to 350*F

Butter two 9-inch cake pans with 1 1/2-inch sides.

Dust buttered pans with powdered sugar.

Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper cut to fit.

Method (cake):

1. Sift four, baking powder & salt into one medium bowl.

2. Whisk 1 cup icing sugar, 3/4 cup buttermilk and cocoa powder in second bowl, until just smooth.

3. Whisk remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl.

4. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Add remaining icing sugar; beat until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until blended. Beat in coca mixture. Add flour mixture, 1/3 at a time, alternating with buttermilk vanilla mixture. Beat until just mixed.

5. Divide batter into the two prepared pans. Batter can be quite stiff, you may need to smooth it into place to get an even distribution of batter so cake rises well.

6. Bake at 350* for approximately 25 minutes, until teaser inserted in middle comes out clean.

7. Cool on racks 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges to loosen any sugar adhering to pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

GYPSY NOTE: Cake can be made 1 day ahead, cover and store at room temperature.

Method (icing/filling):

1. Bring 1/2 cup water & 3/4 cup sugar to fast boil over high heat, boil 2 minutes, remove immediately from heat, creating a simple syrup. Cool. Reserve.

2. In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup (good, clear) raspberry preserves/jam with fresh raspberries.  Crush lightly with a fork.  Leave slightly lumpy.

1. In large bowl use electric mixer to beat butter until smooth.  Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

2. Melt chocolate either over a double boiler or in the microwave, allow to cool slightly.

3. Add icing sugar and cocoa powder to butter mixture with electric mixer.

4. Slowly drizzle in melted chocolate at high speed until icing is whipped and light.

If you desire a four layer cake, cut cake rounds horizontally.  Place one layer of cake on serving plate.  Brush with 3 tablespoons of simple syrup.  This is the key to this cake's longevity and moisture.

Spread 1/2 cup of icing over cake.  Repeat with next layer in same manner, simple syrup, icing and now adding raspberry filling before adding 3rd layer and repeating process.

This cake has been a superstar of many a birthday, and it marks my one year Food Gypsy Birthday!

A year ago, on the shores of Roatan Honduras this little blog was born. We've come a long way since, it's been a great adventure and it's a great LIFE.  I made it myself, from scratch.

I honour this journey --- with chocolate.