Tarte Noire
A quick break in the Parisian posts for a Thanksgiving-dessert update.
My best friend was in town from Texas for the holiday, and we put together quite the menu considering it was just the two of us. She is more of a cook, and I am (obviously) more of a baker, so it was pretty easy to divvy up responsibilities.
Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie
Last Thursday I got a craving for Kentucky Derby/Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie, which is strange because I’m not particular fond of pecans or bourbon. Regardless, I want to practice my pie dough rolling and crimping, so I gave in, and:
1.
Failure and bulls.
Week 43. Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies.
It was bound to happen. 42 weeks of delicious, flavorful baked things and then…a failure. Not even a massive failure, just a pan of lack-luster, “why-am-I-eating-these” brownies. They sounded delicioius: pumpkin, chocolate, a smattering of spices (including cayenne?! yum!) all topped off with nuts? Count me in.
Party Cake.
Week 40. White Out Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting.
I like baking to make other people happy, to bring a smile to their face, a bright spot in their day.
My grandfather’s favorite kind of cake is white cake with milk chocolate frosting. I am glad I got to bake him a cake before I moved. Love you, grandpa!
He insisted on eating the last slice of cake straight off the cardboard. Can’t see a problem with that!
I used Baked’s White Out Cake recipe for the white cake, and the milk chocolate frosting recipe from the Malted Milk Chocolate cake. Delicious!
Because “Schwarzwald” is a bad name for a cake.
Week 39. Black Forest Chocolate Cake Cookies.
Baked‘s take on Black Forest Chocolate Cake as a cookie – and they nail it (they usually do!)
I’m not a fan of white chocolate, so I replaced the white chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips (because when is dark chocolate not an appropriate sub?) and I used a mish-mash of dark, milk & semi-sweet chips and chopped chunks for the batter (I was trying to use up the chocolate I had on hand…and STILL ended up buying more… $26 more of mid-grade dark chocolate chips in bulk…that’s my lesson to be mindful of those levers in the bulk bins…) the swap-outs definitely didn’t hurt the end product. My grandparents invited me up for dinner with them and one of my Uncle’s who was in town on business, so I offered to bring dessert. It was just the four of us for dinner, but G&G invited the other local cousins, their spouses and kids for dessert. The wee kids quickly dubbed these “brownie cookies” and were putting them away as quick as they could without Mom & Dad catching on. 
More S’more.
Week 36. S’More Nut Bars.
A quick administrative task before this week’s project: the posts for the next few weeks are going to be short and sweet. I’m knee deep in sorting, packing and seeing friends before the move (which is now L.A., not NYC…try to keep up, I do) which is not leaving a lot of time for baking. Not to fret, I’ll still be posting, but posts may be a little short. I’ve been doubling up on baking the last few weeks and saving up some stuff to post for when the move goes into full swing. Posts will probably be quick and dirty, full of pictures and not a lot of text…not necessarily a bad thing! I’ll be back on plan once I’m settled in my new place.
Vanilla Walnut Mocha Bundt Cake
Week 31. Vanilla Walnut Mocha Bundt Cake. That’s a mouthful.
This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours“, which I got as a bundle with her “Around My French Table” for a song off of Amazon earlier this year. I think it was $16 for both, one of the best deals all year!
Anyway. Back to the cake. This is hard for me to believe, but this recipe is the first full size bundt cake that I’ve ever made (!!). I think the fear of the cake sticking in all the nooks and crannies of the bundt pan kept me from making one in the past. I made mini-bundts earlier this year, using a pastry brush and melted butter to coat the pans and didn’t have any issue with sticking. I inherited a bundt pan in June and was anxious to try it out. I used the same method here and once again, no sticking! It’s the little things.
This cake has two distinct layers, the chocolate is dense and rich, laced with coffee. The vanilla is equally dense, with a lighter flavor and studded with ground walnuts. I don’t think I swirled the layers enough this go-round, I’ll be sure to swirl more the next time I make this.
motobaker 
