apologies and promises

I have NOT forgotten about this blog. I have not been cooking much, or at least not anything real special, because I have

• started a new job (Yay!! but the stress that comes along with that has made me not what to be in the kitchen)
• been sick for about a week (not much of an apetite)
• have discovered how awesome Jimmy Johns subs are, and have been eating there at least every other day.

I have a cupcake recipe I used a few days ago, which I'll be writing up for a post. So...entries are coming!!

Chocolate and Almond Cake with Chocolate-Butter Icing

I attempted this cake because a friend had made it, and I thought the recipe was interesting, and I wanted to try it. Also, this is the first Julia Child recipe I've ever attempted!

THE CAKE:

The Ingredients:

• 4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate , melted
• 2 Tbsp. rum or coffee
• 1/4 pound or 1 stick softened butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar to mix with butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar to beat with egg whites
• 1/3 cup pulverized almonds
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 cup cake flour , scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter
• Chocolate-Butter Icing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour the cake pan. (I used a square pan because that is what I have, but the recipe recommend a round one.) Set the chocolate and rum or coffee (I used coffee) in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.

Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.

Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 ·minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

To serve: Use the Chocolate-Butter Icing , and press a design of almonds over the icing.

THE ICING:

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces (2 squares) semisweet baking chocolate
• 2 Tbsp. rum or coffee
• 5 to 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions:

Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in the small pan, cover and set in the larger pan of almost simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife.

YAY OR NAY?

Since there wasn’t any added sugar in the icing, I thought it tasted like a buttered piece of chocolate cake. This was good, but not worth the effort, in my opinion. Fun to make though!

I completely forgot to add the almonds to the cake until half of it was gone! :)

So, I bought way too much baking chocolate chocolate when I went shopping for ingredients. Anyone have a good recipe I can use it in?

Apple Mushroom Chicken

This is one of my absolute favorites!! I just love this recipe! The point of blogging my cooking experiences was to try NEW things and see how they work out, but I just had to share this one. I got it from The Healthy College Cookbook which is my FAVORITE cookbook I own!

Now, this Apple Mushroom Chicken is the EPITOME of quick and easy!

THE INGREDIENTS

(okay, so I forgot to take a picture of the olive oil...you know what that looks like!)

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup applesauce (note: I used cinnamon once and it was not very tasty. I recommend just plain applesauce.)
• 8 medium mushrooms, sliced (again, I still have those mushrooms that were already sliced, from when I made the pot pie wedges, so I used those and estimated 8 mushrooms worth)
• salt and pepper to taste

THE CHICKEN

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned lightly on both sides.
3. Place the browned chicken in a casserole dish and cover evenly with applesauce. Sprinkle with salt, cover, and bake for 25 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms to the casserole dish. Cover (if your casserole dish doesn't have a cover, use aluminum foil!) and bake for 10 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.

YAY OR NAY?

Yay yay yay!! This recipe is AWESOME and turned out great, as usual! I served it over brown rice and made some green beans to go with.