Amy Ruth

The family says “It smells divine.”  Actually, in this particular case family  is defined as my almost 19 year old daughter.  The aroma of chocolate baking in the oven truly is one of the answers to those life questions.  What smell does it for you?  For me, warm chocolate and there is one small little smell, a puppy’s breath.  Is that weird?

Then I did a little poking around the internet.  I  remembered reading another blog around Valentine’s  Day about foods that are thought to bring about feelings of love.  You guessed it, prunes is among those foods listed.  You are welcome to read the list if you are curious.  Then I found the Armagnac Primer in the New Yorker Magazine here where I learned  there definitely is an art to sipping Armagnac, among other points.   When searching for the appropriate cognac for this cake I questioned my local wine & spirits shop about its flavor, a determining factor for acquisition.  I have acquired quite a collection over time.   Dawn was hilarious,  after she giggled she told me it tasted like gasoline.  Anyway, I giggled too as she explained to me its high alcohol content was definitely  handy for the flambe we were doing with this cake.  First it was learning about the flavor of this cognac and then the price.   Of course after I picked myself up off the floor I realized I would most definitely be using the brandy I had in my cabinet.  After all,   this cake wants 2 ounces.  Enough for a fun flambe of the prunes.  Yes, it does have them. What a luscious, velvety result complimenting the bittersweet chocolate with depth of flavor, richness and the all important moist texture.  

Yesterday was a baking day, which I loved.  First there was a carrot cake, followed by the much anticipated  and thank you so very much Lyb of And Then I Do the Dishes,  for finally choosing the lovely Armagnac Chocolate Cake.   This cake was selected from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.   My last little project was Dorie’s cheescake we made earlier and I varied it as a Chocolate Marble with Oreo crust.  Don’t worry all the delicious calories are going elsewhere.  I was reminded by the little voice in my head plus the other swim suit wearing, spring break going, college age, female people, oh yea that half-iron man training middle aged male person, that we just can’t afford to have this delicious kind of food around the house each week.    Like they think they can tell me what to do……ha ha ha.  One can usually locate some willing donors.  

After a little shopping outing today in St. Louis, we returned to the home for dessert.  An inquiry was made about whether this weeks selection was going “somewhere else” or could we have some of it.  I remarked “oh, you probably won’t like it.”  Have you tried telling your picky children that the dessert they are about to eat has prunes in the ingredients list?  Yea right!  Regardless, I set about cutting a piece for Corbin to photograph.  I left it sitting about, turned my back and listened momentarily as I heard the silverware drawer open and close.  After a few moments, my daughter said “Mom why did you think I wouldn’t like this?  It’s really good!”  Secretly I giggled never admitting my reasons.  

We really liked it so much and I think it will find a nice place among the list of chocolate tortes “for friends.”  I would love sharing this and will definitely make it again.  Remember, its possess items on the list of foods of love.  I hope you enjoyed yours too.  

This recipe selection comes from Tuesdays With Dorie baking group, selected by the wonderful baker Lyb of And Then I Do the Dishes,  where she has graciously added the recipe to her post.  So…Go Ahead, stop by and get it.  Its is totally worth the calories.

Off to the gym!

Thank you for coming by for a visit.  Don’t forget that this weekend is Daylights Savings Time, right?  So, you will definitely need to squeeze in a little more shut-eye now and then.

A classic example of something my husband always says to me when he discovers what I am doing.  Makes me laugh.  ”You haven’t made this recipe before and your going to serve it to guests, tonight?”  ”Well, yea!?!” is usually my response.  He rolls his eyes and just laughs at me.  Do you do that?  I am that fly by the seat of my pants girl.  How else are you going to find out if  the food is good, right?  

I’ve never made this  recipe before so there were some ups and downs.  As of this writing the cake has not been cut and tasted other than the crumbs and the remnants of cake batter in the mixing bowl.  Which by the way were really pretty good.   By all appearances the cake is nice and moist.  That is a relief with a dark chocolate cake.  

You know that recipe I haven’t tried before?  I’m sending it (minus one piece in the frig) to work with my husband so maybe his coworkers can hash out if it is something I should buy 8″ cake pans for future baking and refining.  Tomorrow I will post an update after I have a taste.  Yum!

Thank you to Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for choosing this wonderfully fun recipe this week.  Don’t forget to check out the cake art of the entire Tuesdays With Dorie Blog roll.  It should be so amazing to see all the black and white cakes.  The recipe for this weeks baking art is here and at Stephanie’s site.  All of the TWD bakers are baking from Dorie Greenspans Baking From My Home to Yours.  

Thank you for visiting here and I hope you enjoy your cake this week.  See you next week for Carmel Crunch Bars.

[SinglePic not found]The holiday panic has caught on at my house.  How about you?  When extended shopping hours, extended baking hours, extended everything hours are part of the season, what better way to soothe the frenzy than sipping your favorite hot beverage and nibbling on Dorie’s Buttery Jam Cookies.  They do spark the memories of eating hot biscuts (from scratch, of course) at my grandmother’s house with butter and honey.  Early on Sunday mornings before church, we always had a hot breakfast with eggs, biscuts and bacon.  A variety of home made jams and preserves were also on the table, made with love from a dear great aunt and uncle.  All of these childhood pictures are the reason why I would find these to be a very comforting little cookie.  The kind of cookie you would share … while visiting with a friend or neighbor .  Coffee and Buttery Jam Cookies.[SinglePic not found]

I followed the recipe as written, using one of my favorite flavors, Apricot Jam.   As I looked down in the mixing bowl I realized  this little cookie really is a friend to savory biscuts as well.  I had a wave of “been there done that,”  maybe with cheese and herbs or cayenne pepper.  I don’t know if anyone else had that feeling or not.  Deja Vu [SinglePic not found]

This cookie was chosen by Heather from Randomosity and the Girl.  Thanks so much Heather.  A nice comforting cookie for your cookie jar.  If you would like to visit Heather for the recipe just click on the link or head down to your local bookstore for Baking from My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.   

Thank you for visiting and if you have left me comments in the past, I sincerely appreciate the time and effort you gave.  Wishing you a very Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday Season with your family.   

Thanks also to my third child and my youngest son who is my photographer and my web guru.  He and I are enjoying the development and the fun together.  He just had a birthday and turned 15.  Poor guy, now that he is the only kiddo at home, he’s stuck with me and all the attention he missed the last 15 years.  he he

Yes, that’s right.  It was a figment of my imagination.  Just picture this,  American kids,( 2.5 ) Mom & Pop around the kitchen table with Grandmother and Grandpappy in their carefully coordinated Christmas Pajamas. ( Maybe Christmas music playing low in the background)  Oh, and I think a big lazy dog curled up near the kids would fit well.   This special feature stars a Christmas Kugelhopf, in all its sugar sprinkled sparkling splendor.  This is where Grandmother explains about the origin of the bread, or is it a cake?  I prefer to think of it as a morning treat with coffee or tea, jelly?

 Basically, the Kugelhopf  is from the continent of Europe. Some say its from a variety  of countries, Germany, Austria and or France.  I suppose you could just pick the one you most have an affection for and that would fit just fine.  On the other hand Dorie says its orgins are the region of Alsace, France.  There you have it.

Everything was moving along pretty well.  Mixed the necessary ingredients. After the big yeast debate amongst the TWD bakers,  I used the traditional active dry yeast.  My Kitchen Aid mixer bowl is large, maybe the reason my dough didn’t do the doughhook crawl.  Boo Hoo   I followed the mixing instructions, I think.  Progress was being made with all the rising and deflating methods recommended.  This is where it got a little tricky. By now the texture of my dough was a little drier than expected so I as put it in the “buttered” cake pan (although I think not buttered enough) it resembled sort of a doughnut.  I had to squish the ends together so that it was continuous.  Oh yea, I used a star bundt pan because I didn’t find a kugelhopf pan in my area.  Then I had to do the final rise,  may have messed up here.  I heated an oven for it to nap in and, maybe it was a little too warm, not sure.  Waited the recommended 3 ish hours, sort of.  I got snagged for some kid driving duties which extended that “napping” time in the warm oven.  This could have been the element of disaster.  Upon my return to “Dorie Duties.” the reality of a smidgen of deflation was apparent.  I forged on and put that bugar in the oven and baked it anyway.  What else am I to do?  

It appeared golden brown actually, nice in appearance, but it was Stuck, Stuck Stuck to my bundt pan.  I managed to  unstick the edges nicely, inverted it and did the Tap, Tap, Tap until at least half of the said cake/bread fell out.  Aahhuuumm.  So disappointing.  A broken Kugelhopf.  It  was appointed with the melted butter and sugar and devoured.  It really was nice morning bread even today with a quick toast and coffee.  So there you have it the Imagined Kugelhopf.

By the way, if you would like to secure the recipe for this delight go on over to visit Yolanda at The All Purpose Girl where she has graciously posted the recipe and some beautiful pictures.  If you follow the TWD bakers and enjoy their adventures you may even want to add Dorie’s Baking From My Home to Yours to your Holiday Wish List.   

Even though my poorly Kugelhopf was too sad for a photo or two, remember there are over 300 TWD bakers who had fun and produced some beauties.  They actually are such creatures of creativity.  So take a little trip and check out the beautiful photos, giggle with them and make some new friends.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I read all my comments and love making friends  Any Kugelhopf fans out there…leave your encouraging words.  Can’t let this one get the best of me.  I’ll definitely refine this one and “I’ll be bach!”  : )