New Year, New Look

Well, more of a refresh really. I've tweaked the banner and brought the tatted heart widget up higher on the page, since I've been getting more visitors from the tatting community.

The top two posts are still about banana bread. But there was a noticeable spike in traffic for the shiny knitting post, blasting it into the number three spot. I had no idea there were so many Firefly/Serenity fans who knit!

Thank you for the lovely emails encouraging me to post more often about the 'verse. And just because you asked for it:

My result for The Firefly / Serenity Test

BRILLIANT! You scored 96%!

Take The Firefly / Serenity Test at HelloQuizzy

Well, it's late and I must give these tired eyes a rest.
A toute à l'heure, mes amis and keep flyin'!

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge

Mmm, chocolate is food of the gods. So when Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella emailed me about her Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge, I jumped at the chance to participate.

Did I want to bake chocolate cake and not have to share it enter for a chance to win a prize? Is this a trick question?

So I put the kettle on for tea and set about choosing a cake that was dense and decadent.

None of the recipes I found were exactly what I wanted so I adapted two recipes into one sinfully rich, satisfying confection. Et voila! A Chocolate Rum Cake was born.

NOTE: Several recipes called for chocolate frosting (or chocolate mousse frosting - yum!) and/or chocolate shavings. I chose to forego frosting and shavings in favor of a buttery rum glaze.

Next time, I will try dusting the cake with powdered sugar to showcase the lovely fleur de lis pattern.





Chocolate Rum Cake
4 eggs
6 Tbsp. butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 Tbsp. Rum Extract or dark rum
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
Dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
½ cup dark cocoa (unsweetened)
2 cups sifted flour
1 ¾ tsp. baking power
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup milk

Rum Glaze:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
2 Tbsp. water
½ cup dark rum

In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy; gradually add sugar and lemon peel, beating well. Add eggs. one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add rum; beat until blended. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Bake in greased and floured pan at 350 degrees F, 50-60 minutes or until cake tests done. I used a 10-cup nonstick Fleur de Lis Bundt^® pan.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out on cooling rack. While cake is cooling, prepare glaze. In saucepan, combine sugar, butter and water to make a syrup and heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil for a minimum of 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Add rum.

Transfer cake onto serving plate. Pierce cake with a toothpick, cake tester or fork in several places. Pour warm glaze over cake. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 16 servings.

Sources: NordicWare Bundt Cookbook, Swedish Rum Cake, pg. 7.
Grandpa's Chocolate-Rum Cake, AOL KitchenAssistant recipe

Click on links to go to The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge hosted by Not Quite Nigella

Special thanks to Not Quite Nigella for hosting this contest. I had great fun and got to eat cake!

Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread†Scrumptious Banana Bread Pudding

The other day I went on a baking spree, resulting in a loaf of banana bread and 6 1/2 dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out great. The banana bread did not.

My apologies to Nigella Lawson. Her banana bread recipe has been my go-to gold standard since I started feeding bananas to Little Sprout sometime last spring. But I got overconfident.

Attempting to execute her recipe from memory, I added a whole stick of vegetable shortening (1 cup) instead of the ½ cup of butter called for in the recipe. Remarkably, the baked loaf held together. (Just barely.) It had a light crumb but an oily texture.

I'm not afraid to admit when I screw up. What I like even better is turning a failure into a success! So the greasy banana bread got a makeover into a dessert pudding.

Banana Bread Pudding ^‡
⅛ cup apricot brandy
½ cup raisins
1 loaf banana bread
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
½ bag (6 oz.) mini morsels chocolate chips
2 cups milk
½ cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
4 eggs

Put the raisins and the brandy in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and leave for an hour, or until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid. Drain remaining liquid into a mixing bowl.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with non-stick baking spray.

Crumble banana bread into baking dish. Add graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips and drained raisins. Mix thoroughly.

Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and eggs into the bowl with drained off brandy. Beat until blended. Pour over bread mixture, soaking thoroughly. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until set.
____________________________________
† Link to original post about Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread and the Banana Bread Bake Off contest sponsored at Not Quite Nigella

‡ Special thanks to the incredible cooks in my dinner group for their advice on how to salvage a greasy loaf of banana bread.
You are my foodie heroes.

For examples of mouth-watering dishes my dinner group has made in the past year, read Food, Glorious Food

Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread from How to be a Domestic Goddess

What to do when you have overripe bananas lying around?
Make banana bread, of course.

I wanted to share some comfort food since the weather outside is so dreary. There is no better way to warm up a damp, rainy day than with homey aromas and sumptuous flavors. And Nigella does homey and sumptuous so well!

Nigella soaks golden raisins (also known as Sultanas) in bourbon or dark rum for this recipe. Apple or orange juice may be substituted if you’re looking for a non-alcoholic alternative. However, Nigella writes:

If you’re thinking about giving this cake to children, don’t worry, the alcohol doesn’t pervade: you just end up with stickily, aromatically swollen fruit. – Nigella Lawson, from How to be a Domestic Goddess

I can personally attest to the aromatic qualities of this sweet bread and must confess that the plump, juicy raisins were my favorite part. It tasted delectably rich and oh, so satisfying.


Don’t you just want to carve off a slice, slather on some butter and take a bite? Click on the Banana Bread Bake-Off event link below for the recipe, plus photos of Lorraine's loaf. (Loaves, actually. She baked four different ones!)

I found this Banana Bread Bake-Off event on the Not Quite Nigella website.

Click on the links to see how Nigella’s recipe fared against three competitors or send in your own banana bread entry.

This cupcake-lovin' blogger even has a recipe for Meatloaf and Mash Cupcakes!


Not Quote Nigella is my kind of creative baker! You go, girl!