Mother's Day Brunch

As you may have guessed, I love cooking for other people. Since last August, I have been lucky enough to be the proud renter of a relatively large condo - complete with a formal dining area and a huge patio - so entertaining has never been more fun. So, for Mother's Day, I invited the gang over to my house for a Sunday morning brunch.

I wanted to keep it simple and fresh, and make use of all the fabulous produce I'd purchased the day before at the Pasadena Farmer's Market. I made two salads: one of sliced red and yellow tomatoes, sweet corn kernals and fresh basil, all drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette; the other a green salad with radishes, endives, cucumbers, carrots, aged parmesan slices and a lemon/garlic vinaigrette.

But the showstopper would have to be the la tarte à l’oignon, a beautifully simple yet luscious onion tart that I saw on Orangette a while back. Of it, Molly wrote, "Every onion comes into the world hoping to find its end in this tart." I believe the onions I used were quite happy to end up in this creamy, rich and deliciously savory tart, and we were happy to devour every last morsel. Thanks, Molly!

The tart; and the final plate - lots of color!

Though I normally do not have dessert in the middle of the day, I wanted to make something to mark this special occasion. Well, and I needed an excuse to make this lovely Lemon Pudding Cake that I saw in Food & Wine magazine the day before. AND it happens to be low-fat, so even more reason to indulge, right?

This cake is simply sugar, lemon juice, zest, skim milk, butter, eggs and a touch of flour, and the result is a moist, tangy, rich pudding cake that is sure to please just about anyone. The cake separates so that the center is like warm pudding. Served with blueberries, it's a tangy, citrusy delight of a dessert, and one that I will definitely be making again and again.

All in all it was a wonderful little party, and I was most grateful and happy to be able to host it at my place. Everything was easy to make, so I didn't spend a ton of time in the kitchen - it was like an episode of "Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello," which is definitely my idea of a great time!

Sunday Cooking: Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting

The ideal Sunday morning for me consists of a nice, hot cup of rich decaf coffee; a challenging but exciting cooking/baking project; and my radio tuned to This American Life. Lucky for me, this past Sunday included all three.

Before I proceed, I will address the decaf issue: I love the taste of coffee but dislike the jitters caused by caffeine. Call it diet coffee or something more sinister, but I like my decaf as long as it tastes like real coffee (no Trader Joe's weak stuff; I get the pricey-yet-worth-it Starbucks variety).

So back to Sunday morning: Since I'd promised my coworker Tony that I'd bake him some variety of chocolate cake for his birthday, I wanted to find a recipe that would both delight his picky taste buds and challenge my mediocre baking skills. I chose the Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting from my newly acquired Bon Appetit Cookbook. The crunch comes from a layer of toffee bits, and since Tony is a fan of the candy, I figured it'd be a suitable choice.

Starting off with the main ingredient: Chocolate!

I perused the recipe while keeping an ear to the radio. This week's episode, titled "What I Learned from TV," was poignantly funny and featured some of my favorite writers as well as Mates of State, who performed covers of television theme songs. David Rakoff's monologue about his recent introduction to cable television was especially hilarious.

But I digress. I started first with the cake batter, which consisted of 4 oz. of melted, unsweetened Valrhona chocolate, eggs, butter, sugar, plus the basic dry ingredients. Then there is the whole milk, which really transformed the flavor of the batter (and, ultimately, the cake) from a rich chocolate to a rich, milky chocolate.

Chocolate cakes - ready for the oven

The cake itself was relatively easy to make, but the frosting was a bit of a challenge. First, you have to melt 1 lb. of chopped milk chocolate with heavy cream and corn syrup.

Chocolate ready to melt

Then you have to pour the melted chocolate mixture into a bowl over an ice bath, and whisk for about 15 minutes. The purpose of this is to cool the mixture quickly without letting it set, so constant whisking is necessary. The recipe says "about 8 minutes" but I can tell you from personal experience that it takes much longer for the chocolate to cool. The bonus is a great upper body workout.

Whisk, whisk like the wind!

After the mixture has cooled, you whip the chocolate with an electric beater until the color has lightened to a tan-ish brown. The mixture will also thicken, essentially becoming a fabulous frosting.

It takes a beating and comes...frosting

I frosted the first layer of cake, then added bits of chopped toffee candy on the middle of the cake. Then I topped with the second layer of cake, and covered the entire thing with the milk chocolate frosting. I finished the top with more toffee bits and some chopped semi-sweet chocolate for a nice flavor contrast (well, I hope - I haven't tried it yet, because, unlike Paula Deen, I can't bring myself to give a half-eaten cake as a present!).

I liked the way the cake turned out - especially the frosting. It's thick enough not to run all over your cake plate, but loose enough to ooze down the sides of the cake. And the flavor is very milk chocolaty. Hopefully I'll get a bite at work today and can update you later on the taste.

Chocolaty, milky, toffee crunch goodness

Click here for the recipe.