birthday time!

i have always wanted to make one of those cakes that are gooey in the middle but never knew how. for christmas derek got me the williams-sonoma "cakes" book and i found what seemed like a pretty decent recipe for it: individual molten chocolate cakes (pg 131). Derek loves chocolate. i mean he really loves chocolate.indeed it was quite gooey in the middle, and a little cakey towards the edges. very lovely and warm.
happy birthday derek!

individual molten chocolate cakes

unsalted butter for preparing the ramekins
10 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 equal pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
1 tbsp confectioners' sugar for dusting

position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. butter the bottom and sides of 6 3/4cup ovenproof ramekins, and put them on a rimmed baking sheet.
combine the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl and place over barely simmering water. stir occasionally until smooth and all of the chocolate has melted. remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool slightly.
sift the flour through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a small bowl. set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and salt. fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer with the twin beaters. beat the mixture on medium-high speed until it thickens and the colour lightens slightly, about 4 minutes. stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. reduce the speed to low, add the vanilla extract and dissolved coffee, and beat until combined. with the mixer running, add the flour 1 tbsp at a time. using a large rubber spatula, stir about one-third of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture to lighten it. scrape the remaining chocolate on top of the batter and, using the spatula, fold the mixtures together just until no streaks of the chocolate mixture are visible.
pour the batter into a 4cup glass measuring cup, using the spatula to scrape out every last bit from the bowl. pour about 1/2 cup batter into each prepared ramekin. bake until the edges look firm and dull on top and the centre looks shiny and slightly wet, 16-18 minutes. you may see a few tiny holes on top. these cakes should be under baked, so do not bake longer than 18 minutes.
let the cakes cool in the ramekins on wore racks for 10 minutes. put the confectioners' sugar in a fine-mesh sieve and sift an equal amount over the top of each cake. using pot holders, transfer each ramekin to an individual serving plate. serve right away.

hip to be square

i don't know what's gotten into me as of late... i mean, i love to bake, but this week is getting crazy. cookies. db challenge completed (check back on the 28th!). ice cream. and now lemon squares. i had some lemons left over in the fridge that needed to be used up so as i was moving my books around i found one of my martha stewart kids magasines. on the cover: lucious lemon squares. mmm sounds good. i rushed to get it completed for when the kids where home from school, and the procrastinator in me left it to the last possible second- i pulled them out of the oven and we left to get ella from school.

i only had 3 lemons and it was definetly enough juice, i'm just feeling like i should have added the zest from one of those lovely organic lemons to give the squares that extra kick it needed. still very good.
lemon squares

martha stewart kids magasine 2004

Makes about two dozen 2-inch squares
FOR THE CRUST
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, frozen
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon salt
FOR THE FILLING
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, (about 4 lemons)
1/4 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish; line dish with waxed paper.
Make crust: An adult should grate butter on a cheese grater with large holes. In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Add butter; stir with a wooden spoon until combined and mixture looks crumbly.
Transfer mixture to baking dish; press evenly onto bottom with your hands. Chill crust in freezer 15 minutes. Bake until slightly golden, 16 to 18 minutes.
Meanwhile, make filling: In a large (1 quart) liquid measuring cup, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and milk.
An adult should remove crust from the oven and pour filling mixture over hot crust. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until filling is set and edges are slightly golden brown, about 18 minutes. An adult should remove dish from the oven. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Grip paper; lift out dessert, and set on cutting board. With a sieve, dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

you say vanilla...

i recently bought the ice cream attachment for my kitchen aid stand mixer. yay! i first saw one about 2 summers ago at canadian tire and the guy who was buying one in front of me in the line said that their price was the best at $99. i looked around and sure enough it was the best price. by the time i did enough research, no canadian tire carried it anymore and sears and the bay were selling them for $130! so online it was. i found one at cooking.com and with shipping was just over a hundred bucks. not too bad.
seth was super excited when the doorbell rang and it was the mailman. it was unpacked immediately and washed and put into the freezer. today i got around to making my very first batch of ice cream.
now, i have had my KA stand mixer for about 5 years now and have had no problems what-so-ever. that is until i couldn't put the drive assembly onto the driveshaft (i'm totally singing "we are everybody!"). i noticed that there was a little pin sticking out preventing the drive assembly from fitting properly. not knowing if it was supposed to be like that i went online to the KA website to see if anyone else had any similar problems... nothing in their faq's... oh, look! they have online help and you can chat with a real person! cool!
yeah, not so cool.
the attendant on the other end was one of the slowest typers i have ever come in contact with, and typed in circles. not literal circles, but conversational circles. i told her exactly where the pin was (in the left illustration on page seven, direction three, right beside where it says "no step" and looks like a dark dot...) and was not so promply said that there is no pin. and then she said that the pin isn't supposed to move and that it's on the shaft to lock in the whisk, etc. no honey, not on the shaft, in the left illustration on page seven, direction three... omg! "okay, let me check the manual." that's when i said nevermind and went down to the basement and got a hammer.
now that that was taken care of i could get down to the business of makin' me some ice cream. i found a recipe in the back of dorie's baking book. everyone seems to like dorie, and that perfect party cake was, well, perfect, so i figured why not give it a go.
the ingredient list was short and simple, and i loved the smell of that vanilla bean when i split it open! mmmm! very easy to follow. i was probably a little too impatient to wait for the custard to fully cool, which was most likely the reason the ice cream didn't get any thicker after a certain point- it did double in size though. i believe the stuff that freezes inside the bowl came to room temperature. damn! i never can wait long enough. ah well, into a container and into the freezer until it's hard enough to give it a taste.
tastes pretty good.

vanilla ice cream
adapted from dorie greenspan's baking: from my home to yours

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 moist, plump vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

bring the milk and cream to a boil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. if you are using a vanilla bean, put the seeds and pod into the pan, cover and set aside for 30 minutes, then bring the milk and cream back to a boil before continuing. if you are using vanilla extract, wait until later to add it.
meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid- this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. the custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180F, on an instant-read thermometer. immediately remove the pan from the heat and strain the custard into a 2-quart liquid measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. discard the vanilla pod or if you are using vanilla extract, stir it in now.
refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream.
scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.