Rosie Makes A Chocolate And Caramel Cake For Mr. Hawthorne's Birthday.

 

Heads up, folks!

This is only The Best Cake in the World.

It was Mr. Hawthorne's birthday and I made this cake for him.

Made it for him last year too and he said it was the best cake he'd ever had.

So he's getting it again.

There are two chocolate cake layers which I sliced in half.

Then there's a luscious, gooey caramel filling that goes between each layer

and the whole shebang is covered with a decadent chocolate icing.

It is nothing less than divine.

Trust me.

First, let me give credit where credit's due.

This is not my recipe.

It's from one of my favorite resources: America's Test Kitchen.

Let's start with the chocolate layers.

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz.) flour

3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Rosie Notes:  For flour, cocoa, and sugar amounts, I went by weight, not volume.

For eggs, I used room temperature.  I set them in warm water while I assembled my mise en place.

To prepare the cake pans, I buttered them and, instead of flouring them, I cocoa'd them.  No white flour showing, plus I have extra chocolate flavor!

For the cake:
Heat oven to 325°.
Butter 2 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Sprinkle cocoa in the pans and shake to lightly coat.

In a large bowl, sift flour and cocoa.  Whisk in sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Whisk buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until smooth batter forms.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

Rosie Note:  Whenever I have a cake batter, I always tap the pans on the counter top several times, to get the air bubbles up to the surface.

Bake about 20-25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool pans on wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove cakes and let cool completely on rack at least 2 hours.

Dry ingredients on left.

Wet ingredients on right.

Prepared pans in back.

Wet mixture into dry mixture.

Whiskie whiskie until smooth.

Pour into prepared pans and tap the pans on counter to remove air bubbles.

Let cool.

Now, the Caramel Filling.

Caramel Filling

1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 oz. sugar)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

8 TB unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp kosher salt

Rosie Note:  Again, I measured the sugar by weight, not volume.  And once you start making caramel, you must stand over it and not be distracted, even by an asshole neighbor coming over to complain about "not-my-dog" scratching him in "not-my-yard-but-the-cul-de-sac" while "not-my-dog" was playing with asshole neighbor's dog (not on leash) in the cul-de-sac.  Unfortunately, I had to let Mr. Hawthorne field that one, although next day I suggested said neighbor take a couple of Midols and add some fiber to his friggin' diet.  Jackass.  Anyways, I digress.  Back to the caramel.  As I was saying, caramel is not something you can just leave on top of the stove to take care of itself.  You have to stand there and watch the sugar change color until it's precisely the proper shade of amber.  And if you don't have a laser thermometer, now is the time to get one.  Immediately if not sooner.

For the caramel filling:

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in medium saucepan.  Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until mixture is amber colored.  8-10 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, swirling saucepan occasionally, until dark amber - about 375°.

Remove pan from heat and stir in cream, butter, vanilla, and salt.  Mixture will hiss and steam at you.  Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and caramel registers 240°.  

Pour caramel into prepared pan and let cool about 30-40 minutes - until 100°.

Preparation of layers:

 Slice each cake layer in half.

Using an offset spatula, spread 1/3 of caramel on first layer to within 1/2 inch of edges.

Top with cake layer.

Repeat with remaining caramel and cake layers.  (Three cake layers should be topped with caramel.  Top layer has no caramel.)

For the step-by-steps:

Let the sugar melt.

Now, it's starting to turn color.

Watch very carefully.

Use your thermometer.

IGNORE the idiot neighbor who took THIS time to come over, beat on my door, and complain about Not-My-Dog.

This is the amber color you're looking for.

Remove from heat and pour in the cream.

Add in the butter and vanilla.

Whisk until ...

... until creamy smooth.

Return pan to heat.

Bubble and occasionally stir back up to 240°.

Pour into buttered baking dish and let cool.

Pour caramel onto first layer.

Spread out with offset spatula.

Continue with second and ...

... third layers. 

Now the crowning glory - the Chocolate Frosting.

Glorious Chocolate Frosting

16 TB unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup (3 oz.) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch kosher salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Rosie Note:  Again, I went by weight, not volume.

To make less of a mess when frosting, line edges of cake platter with 4 strips of wax or parchment paper, placing cake layers on top.  After frosting, carefully remove paper strips.

For frosting:

In food processor, process butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add corn syrup and vanilla and process about 10 more seconds.  Scrape down sides of bowl, then add chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy.  Spread frosting evenly over sides and top of cake.

Stand back and admire your handiwork.

Try not to drool.

Step by steps:

Add chocolate to chocolate.

Mmmmmmmm!

Lick fingers.

Frost away!

Look at the gooey caramel spilling out the side!

I couldn't decide whether I wanted the frosting smooth ...

... or swirly. 

Tough call there.

And here ya go!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Hawthorne!

Make a wish!

Perfection!

Enjoy!

Rosie Makes Chile Rellenos.

 
Mexican food on the Outer Banks is like Chinese Food.
If you want it, you need to make it yourself.
I wanted chile rellenos, so I made 'em.

Now, I'm not giving you a recipe here.
I'm giving you a process, which is a much better thing.

 I'm starting out with a homemade sauce.

I picked tomatoes and bell and jalapeno peppers from the garden. I sliced them along with some onions and threw in a few garlic cloves.  Drizzled with olive oil then baked it all in a 450° for an hour or so, turning halfway through.

  

  Like this.

 Put everything into a processor ...

... then squeeze the garlic pulp out of the skin into the mix.

 Process away.

Until chunky-smooth.

 

 Next, I heated a little oil in my skillet, added the sauce, and basically intensified the flavors.

Kosher salt to taste.

 Now, on to the peppers.

 I set my poblanos over an open flame.

 

 And charred them all over.

 

 Plunge the charred poblanos into ice water,
 then you can simply wipe the char off with your fingers.

 You can use a paper towel to help wipe the peppers.

 You don't have to be fanatic about the char.

You can leave some on for extra flavor.

And if anybody complains about the black,
maybe just not invite them back.

 Make a slit for stuffing down the side of the pepper 

and use a paper towel to absorb any excess water.

Let the peppers dry.

 Next, I started on some of the filling.

I chopped a medium onion and sliced the kernels off an ear of corn.

 Sauté the corn and onion in a little oil and butter with a pinch of sugar and kosher salt.

 Push it around a bit and let it slightly caramelize.

 

 Plop in some cooked rice!

I'm always trying to use up whatever's in my fridge.

Remember, I don't have "leftovers."

I do "MOREOVERS!"

 Cornriceonion ready.

Now, let's stuff some poblanos.

 Add in the corn, rice, and onion mixture.

 Then I put in some little dices of Monterey Jack cheese.

   Do not overfill your peppers.

 Now, what could this filling be?

I'm always trying to use up what I have, whether it be in the fridge or freezer, and this particular meat is from the freezer.  Some time ago, I'd made carnitas (Literally, "little meats.").  Another wonderful process you should try.  The results were most excellent.  

This is the meat from a Boston butt and here's the recipe:

Rosie's Carnitas .

 Isn't this beautiful?
It's fall-apart tender and delicious.
Be sure you check out that link on carnitas.

This is really wonderful stuff.

Here's another link to check out:

More of Rosie's Carnitas.

OK, back to the rellenos.

 They're stuffed and sealed.

Stuffed with corn, onion, rice, carnitas, cheese.

 Blot the little buggers dry and roll in flour.

  

 I brushed off excess flour.

 Now for the batter.

 I whupped up three egg whites until medium peaks.

Beat the yolks and added to the whites.

 Whup it!

Whup it good!

 Coat the stuffed poblanos.

Drain off any excess.

 And fry, baby!

FRY!

350° - 375° for 4-5 minutes.

 I fried one at a time, so as not to crowd the pot.

And that's peanut oil.

Fry, turning, until everything is lightly browned.

Drain on paper towels.

 Serve chile relleno on a bed of intense sauce.

 Oh my!

 Oh goodness!!

Oh my goodness!
I loved this.  

So many flavors!

Make this.
You'll be happy.