This weekend, inspired by the Breville pie maker thread, I decided to try my hand at making a few things. (ian doesn't see the point in buying kitchen gadgets when I cook less than once per month when we are at home. And I agree).
I tried two things: Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese and a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
The macaroni and cheese was fabulous. The most intensely cheesy mac and cheese that I have ever eaten. I used her suggested mix of extra sharp cheddar and gruyere. Delicious. And fairly easy to make. The crust was especially good.
Ian bought 3 pounds of Callebaut Chocolate - the 99% chocolate - a month or so ago. He uses it to make hot chocolate in our blender.
I decided to use it to make chocolate cake. I used an epicurious recipe for the cake. The recipe called for 2 10" layers. I only have 9" cake pans, so I made 3 layers. They were thin, but looked okay in the pan.
Because I had 3 layers of cake, I decided to increase by 50% the amount of ganache.
Both recipes called for semi-sweet Callebaut and I was using the 99%. I found the substitution unsweetened chocolate for semi-sweet and added the additional sugar and fat.
The cake was thin, but okay. The ganache, disaster. It was too oily and the frosting "broke" - it separated into chocolate and butter instead of being incorporated. I decided to try to incorporate them and used my mixer and kept on adding confectioner sugar to try to get it to stick together. It sort of worked.
Once the cake was completely cool, I put it on the plate, and the first layer collapsed. No big deal. I frosted it anyhow. Added the second layer and the frosting just oozed out between the two. By the time that I added the third layer, I had chocolate "glop" rather than cake. The layers had slid around so much that they broke.
I ended up cutting the cake into pieces, not slices, and putting it into a high sided tupperware dish that we scooped the glop from. It was like those molten cakes, but without much cake.
It is the most intensely chocolate cake that I have ever eaten.
After the intensely cheesy macaroni and cheese, I am both cheesed-out and chocolated-out for awhile.
I am glad that others cooking adventures have been more positive.
elaine
I tried two things: Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese and a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
The macaroni and cheese was fabulous. The most intensely cheesy mac and cheese that I have ever eaten. I used her suggested mix of extra sharp cheddar and gruyere. Delicious. And fairly easy to make. The crust was especially good.
Ian bought 3 pounds of Callebaut Chocolate - the 99% chocolate - a month or so ago. He uses it to make hot chocolate in our blender.
I decided to use it to make chocolate cake. I used an epicurious recipe for the cake. The recipe called for 2 10" layers. I only have 9" cake pans, so I made 3 layers. They were thin, but looked okay in the pan.
Because I had 3 layers of cake, I decided to increase by 50% the amount of ganache.
Both recipes called for semi-sweet Callebaut and I was using the 99%. I found the substitution unsweetened chocolate for semi-sweet and added the additional sugar and fat.
The cake was thin, but okay. The ganache, disaster. It was too oily and the frosting "broke" - it separated into chocolate and butter instead of being incorporated. I decided to try to incorporate them and used my mixer and kept on adding confectioner sugar to try to get it to stick together. It sort of worked.
Once the cake was completely cool, I put it on the plate, and the first layer collapsed. No big deal. I frosted it anyhow. Added the second layer and the frosting just oozed out between the two. By the time that I added the third layer, I had chocolate "glop" rather than cake. The layers had slid around so much that they broke.
I ended up cutting the cake into pieces, not slices, and putting it into a high sided tupperware dish that we scooped the glop from. It was like those molten cakes, but without much cake.
It is the most intensely chocolate cake that I have ever eaten.
After the intensely cheesy macaroni and cheese, I am both cheesed-out and chocolated-out for awhile.
I am glad that others cooking adventures have been more positive.
elaine