boca negra

2011 was a trying year for my family.

we flitted - or dashed - from family

emergency to family emergency and

spent our time in rest, figuring out

how to handle the situations that kept

smacking us in the face, contemplating

our next moves and crossing our fingers

that the worst was behind us.

needless to say, 2012 is a welcome change.

this is a year we have hung our hats on -

and as i write that, i realize,

my goodness, that's a lot of pressure on

a new year.

but, i think it can handle it -

after all, we have a wedding in july, not

to mention a family bond that's thickened

over the past 12 months and seeds of proof

that things are starting to turn around.

to kick it off with every ounce of

this-year-damn-well-better-be-good we

could muster, we had dinner and watched

the ball drop together, at our house.

larry and i cooked all day on

new year's eve, making appetizers,

prepping eight dungeness crabs for

drowning and roasting in a garlicky

orange sauce, getting ready for

new year's day breakfast (which i

can't wait to tell you about) and,

making this cake.

even though i had, for months,

thought that this new year's was

important to spend together, i hadn't

given the menu much thought. i had

channeled back to this new year's eve

and my mom's birthday and remembered

that crabs are always good for celebrations

and for a crowd. but, i wasn't really sure

if i would be able to get 8 of them, so somewhere

inside, i was thinking lasagna. but i found the crabs

and kind of, sorta, not really figured out the appetizers

as i shopped and saw what was in store.

but, the dessert. i hadn't really thought about that at all.

the day we went grocery shopping,

i quickly searched a few blogs.

then, i thought that i was tired, we had

to leave, we didn't have time for endless hours

of searching. so, i went to dorie greenspan's

web site and scanned the desserts for something

decadent, something celebratory, something...without

a million steps or layers of frosting or 20 bowls.

and, then i found boca negra,

with which a quick read and a glance at the reviews,

i was pretty sure was my dessert.

i asked larry if we owned bourbon -

he countered with maker's mark.

and then, i looked more closely.

things jumped out at me:

six ingredients

made in the food processor

30 minutes exactly.

i added 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate to

our shopping list (and 12 more white chocolate

for the accompanying cream), and didn't look back.

that night - the night before new year's eve -

i made the white chocolate bourbon cream,

in about 5 minutes. boiling heavy cream whirled

together in the blender with the chocolate,

bourbon was added and the whole thing,

thick and fluid and pretty dreamy in flavor,

went into the fridge.

the next day, i was a little more nervous.

after a more careful perusal of the reviews,

i realized that some people had wound up

with a molten cake (instead of the rich,

fudgy texture they were expecting) and that

the cake had to be baked in a water bath.

and.

there was flipping.

of a hot, precious, delicate cake.

twice.

oh whatever.

it was for a new year.

so, when i woke up,

before even sipping my first sip of coffee,

i lined the bottom of my sheet pan

with parchment paper and then realized,

as i often do, that the eggs and butter

needed to be at room temperature.

so, i set them all aside, asked larry to chop

the chocolate and busied myself

making other appetizers.

45 minutes later, i came back to it all.

the chocolate was in the food processor.

the butter was cut into 10 pieces.

the eggs were cracked into a measuring

cup. the flour was measured.

i brought bourbon and sugar to a boil,

added it to the chocolate and processed

for about 15 seconds, until the chocolate

inside was no longer bouncing inside

and making noise. as the processor ran,

i added the butter, one piece at a time,

then poured in eggs, again one by one.

after the flour was in, we ran it a few

seconds more and had a very dark batter.

i transferred the batter to the cake plan

and placed it in the roasting pan. then,

i foolishly forgot the trick for adding water

to a roasting pan (but, didn't forget to tell

you, below), and instead, added it using the sink.

it went in the oven and i begged the cake

to please show me a thin, crackly top layer

when the 30 minutes were up, so that i didn't

have to use my own judgement to decide

if the cake was finished or not.

and, it did!

but, then, the unmolding.

and the hot flipping.

twice.

i gently placed a layer of plastic wrap on

top of the cake, as instructed. i topped the

whole thing with a large plate. i held my

breath and flipped. so far so good.

i shimmied the cake plate off and smiled.

i was staring at an empty pan, a whole cake.

and then, i flipped once more, onto the

serving plate. the cake landed slightly askew,

but it was on the plate.

it was safe.

the recipe said the cake could be served

warm or at room temperature, but there was a note

that it could also be served cold, if you're

a fan of fudge. i liked that idea.

but, by that point, our fridge was filled with

bottles of prosecco, sparkling cider, 8 dungeness crabs,

a bowl of proofed dough and many, many

other things. this cake, on its pedestal cake

stand, was destined to be served room temp.

the white chocolate cream!

i almost forgot about it,

that night, and just now, too.

i remembered to check on it,

late afternoon. it was still stunning in

flavor, and satiny in texture, but also,

hard, like the ganache filling on a truffle,

that had spent a day in the fridge.

i would still serve it,

but i can't say that i understood it.

that night,

when the ridiculous amount of appetizers

that we all made had been eaten,

and the crabs cracked,

toasts to a better year, made,

and all of us full,

we sat around our coffee table in the living room,

set the television to dick clark

and pulled out a freshly bought box of apples to apples.

i looked at the clock. it was 11:30 and frankly,

none of us needed cake. or prosecco.

we left the bubbly in the fridge.

but at 11:50,

i pulled the cake from the counter,

sat it in the living room and we ate,

teeny, tiny slivers, of seriously fudgy,

room temperature cake, dotted with

thick white chocolate-bourbon cream.

we toasted in spirit and kissed

each other happy near year, while

giggling over the most recent

apples to apples play.

and that was it.

it was 2012.

we had made the decision to

make '11 end much better

than it had lived.

we laughed.

we ate a messy dinner.

some of us swore we

remembered all the words

to certain 90's rap songs and

some us used pandora to make

them prove it.

we ate cake.

and, for all of that,

we were thankful.

boca negra

adapted from lora brody via dorie greenspan via seriouseats.com

this is a serious cake for serious chocolate lovers. (interestingly enough, that's not me - but, still, i can appreciate it.) it's fudgy, fudgy, fudgy and while the recipe says that it serves 12, we managed to get eight wedges out of just over a quarter of the cake. yes, they were tiny (it was 11:50 at night. we were full.), but it was enough. it is worth noting, however, that even though this cake is rich and dense, it cuts beautifully.

i'm including the recipe for the white chocolate cream, below. it's definitely an interesting addition and, the bourbon nicely unites the two, but i think you could whip some whipped cream with a few drops of bourbon and still be happy.

below, are the directions for making the cake using the food processor. if you prefer to make it by hand (good for you!), or you do not own a food processor, the directions are here.

and, one last thing. we can now tell you that at room temperature, this cake is soft, supple and chocolate almost like a warmed chocolate bar. when chilled, it really is like a piece of fudge, which is how larry preferred it. i think that i've liked this cake the best when removed from the fridge and given 20 minutes to sit before serving.

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup bourbon

2 sticks (8 ounces each) unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

place rack in center of oven. heat oven to 350˚f. lightly butter a 9-inch round baking pan. line bottom of pan with parchment paper. lightly butter parchment paper; set aside.

(here's how i do it, as shown in pictures, above: i fold a piece of parchment in half, twice. then, i fold the paper, corner to corner to form a triangle. i do that a second time, too. then i place the point in the center of the pan, and mark the spot that the paper hits the inside edge of the pan. cut the remaining paper off, at that mark, in a slightly rounded fashion. when you unfold the triangle, you should have a round that fits in the pan. see how mine was a little too big and went up the sides? sometimes that doesn't matter. this time, it did and resulted in creases in the cake. i would try to avoid that.)

place chopped chocolate in bowl of food processor. in saucepot over medium heat, bring sugar and bourbon to a boil, stirring occasionally. add to chocolate; run processor 15 seconds, or until mixture is smooth. it may look cool and harder than you think it should at this point - don't worry.

with processor running, add butter, one piece at a time, making sure it mixes into the mixture before adding the next piece. add eggs, one at a time, again making sure that the egg is absorbed into the batter before continuing. (i like to crack all eggs into a liquid measuring cup and then pour them, one at a time into the mixture.)

add flour and process 10 seconds.

transfer batter to prepared pan. place cake pan inside roasting pan. place in oven and, using a pitcher, carefully fill roasting pan with water. (you want the water to come up 1" on the cake pan.) bake exactly 30 minutes (the cake should have a thin, crackly-looking top crust).

remove the roasting pan from the oven. carefully remove the cake pan from the roasting pan. i used larry, a spatula and a silicone, waterproof oven mitt - i'm sure there's an easier, more graceful way. wipe cake pan dry. carefully and gently, cover cake surface with plastic wrap. place large flat plate over cake pan; flip over and place plate on work surface. carefully remove cake pan from cake; peel off parchment. place cake plate over cake; carefully flip cake and remove top cake.

serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

white chocolate bourbon cream

as i said, this mixture is more of a scoopable ball of chocolate than an accompanying cream, but it is interesting and i think it would be fun to use for other desserts. it does need to be made one day ahead of time.

12 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup bourbon

place white chocolate in blender. in small saucepot, bring heavy cream to a simmer (small bubbles should form around the sides of the saucepot). pour cream into blender. run blender 1 minutes, or until mixture is smooth. add bourbon; blend to combine. transfer to container. chill 1 day before serving.

spiced apple cake with brown sugar meringue

somehow in the midst of

catching up on recipes, i jumped

right past our chanukah dinner

and into new year's eve.

but, our dinner that evening -

a couple weeks ago at this point -

was really fun and everything

a holiday with

your family should be.

we brought back chanukah harry,

a play on secret santa, in its second

incarnation. we ate latkes and yummy challah,

before pulling gold wrappers

off our gelt. and later, we played catch phrase,

which you should know can get pretty

dangerous in our house.

(we're just a little intense about our games -

there's clue screaming and

chair bouncing, but i think it's only

natural when faced with true

challenges: how would you get

your team to guess the word

shazam without a lot of

hand gestures and

widening of the eyes?

i didn't know either.)

if i skipped chanukah,

i wouldn't be able

to tell you our night - or about my

new friend, the apple cake.

i first saw this recipe in early october,

during one of the first contests i really took

serious interest in on food52.

and by took seriously, i mean from afar -

i was still a voyeur, not yet even voting.

but i was immediately smitten by one

of the finalists for that week:

an old-fashioned apple spice cake

by betteirine, that i'm sorry to say i

probably never would have looked

at once, if not for the gorgeous picture.

but i would have missed out.

because once i spotted

the shattered top, i was in.

i loved that amanda and merrill

called it a "cake with a snow cap,"

a phrase that popped into my head,

every time i thought of the dessert.

and i loved that they said something

to the effect, that this cake should never

actually work, but it does.

and, is it just me, or does anything with

brown sugar sound instantly worth it?

so, i filed it away until i had a need.

and then, i'm so glad, in december,

i had a need. even though we're slightly

past apple season, there's no denying

that apple shortages are never really

something we deal with.

and the brown sugar

(did i mention the brown sugar?),

absolutely made me feel ok about

baking this fall cake in the winter.

usually most of the ingredients

are in the house, but it wasn't until

i was packing up the bag to go to my

mom's, that i realized that um,

somehow i ran out of golden raisins

and eggs. and butter.

thank goodness, i have a mom,

who has a house stocked with

such necessities. and a sister,

who is willing to pick things

up from the grocery store,

on a rainy miserable day,

when i, for some odd reason,

assume that my mother

does not actually

have butter in her house.

and, usually, i would

think that this recipe would

not take very long to prepare

at all. but probably, that's the

case if you are not talking to your

family and telling stories and stopping

every five seconds to interject into

their conversation because who

wants to be forgotten about in

the kitchen?

but still, it's an easy enough cake,

and just the kind i love:

a spiced thick batter,

studded heavily with

golden raisins and toasted walnuts,

then strands of grated apple.

the glossy meringue is thickly spread

over the batter and baked

until the top is crisp

and the whole house smells of

sugar and cinnamon.

oh, and another thing:

i was really concerned about the

top cracking. you see, i wanted

it to crack. for me, that was the

charm behind the cake, the

reason for wanting to make it

in the first place. so how nice

for once, after years of fretting over

cheesecakes garnished with

deep top pockets, to pull the pan

out of the oven, watch the top

crack down the center and just

not care? well, i'll tell you:

it was nice.

but i shouldn't have been so

worried about the top - or

about baking it at my mom's,

hours before serving,

just to be sure it would crack.

because it did. the moment

the knife hit the surface that

evening, the cake set out to

prove that it would not conform

to perfect just-so squares. no,

this cake was going to form

its own lines, fracturing here

and fissuring there and looking

like it was cut by a small child

with a plastic knife. and i loved it.

but the thing about this cake -

which by the way was so good:

moist, sweetly spiced, textured,

and, in fact, topped with a snow cap -

is that i shouldn't

have worried so much

about the cracking.

in spite of

what the instructions said,

the next day, the top still

splintered on its own

when we cut off

an experimental sliver.

in fact, it took a few days for

a knife to

cut smoothly through.

but now,

crack or no crack,

i would make this cake again -

not for the novelty,

or the double use of brown sugar -

but because, frankly,

it would be a shame not to.

this cake is delicious.

spiced apple cake with brown sugar meringue

adapted from betteirene via food52

well, i'm sad to say that i know one reason why this cake was so good - i realized way too late (like looking at the recipe again after the cake was already served late), that i doubled the butter. yes, doubled. i cannot believe it either. for some reason that day, with the rain and the wind and the people (my family) talking and me worried about my chanukah harry gift and trying to make a meringue with crazy weather, i had what i'll just call, a moment, and read 1/2 cup to mean 2 sticks. i know. but, below, i've written the recipe with the true 1/2 cup.

also - and maybe i'll just say right now that this was not the day to prove i'm a good reader - i somehow missed the part that said to add all dry ingredients and then the flour. i had already packed a resealable plastic bag with all dry ingredients combined - so i crossed my breath and stirred only a couple times with great intent. nothing suffered. maybe it was all that butter.

oh, and i'm sorry, but i have one more thing to tell you. when the recipe was made on food52, they baked the cake in a round cake pan (if you haven't looked yet, the picture is here again, for good measure). i loved that idea - especially because this is obviously not a fancy cake plate-cake, but a serve out of the pan confection that maybe only works for after-lunch slices, teas or family dinners. i, however, stuck with the square pan - only because all my round pans are not so easy to get to. ok, now i'm done.

brown sugar meringue

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar (i had dark - it worked well)

2 tablespoons water

position rack in center of oven. heat oven to 350˚f.

prepare a double boiler or small saucepot by filling it with 1 to 2-inches of water. over high heat, bring to a boil. in top of double boiler or a small heatproof mixing bowl that can sit on saucepot without touching water, combine egg whites, brown sugar and water. using electric mixer, beat egg white mixture 3-5 minutes, or until peaks form. set aside. (just a note - if you're using the bowl/saucepot setup, have an oven mitt nearby in case the now-hot bowl begins to tip - you might need to hold it.)

apple spice cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional - i did not have)

2 large meaty apples (i used huge fuji apples)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 large meaty apples (i used huge fuji apples)

2 cups all-purpose flour

grease 9 x 9 baking pan.

in mixing bowl using electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar 2 minutes, or until fluffy. add egg yolks and beat 30 seconds, or until completely blended. using a wooden spoon, stir in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, walnuts and raisins.

peel apples. grate apples on the large holes of a box grater; add to batter. fold in flour, just until combined, taking care not to over mix.

transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth the top. spread brown sugar meringue evenly over batter, smoothing. bake 45 minutes, or until top is crisp.

(as i said, at this point, the recipe instructs to serve it the first day for a meringue that cracks; the next day for neat slices. i say, just enjoy it whenever you're ready.)

family-approved mother's day cake

years ago, i was watching a special

on the food network -

which one, i would never be

able to tell you now.

they featured lady m confections

in nyc,

and more notably,

their 

lady m mille crepe cakes.

the cake was 

really just a stack of

whisper thin crepes,

cemented together

by cream,

but it looked gorgeous,

and extremely light,

and

like a cake i could 

actually make:

no filling to level

off while assembling, no

reason to perfectly sculpt

buttercream or ganache

around the outside

of a cake, dealing

with crumb coats, an

offset spatula or a twitchy hand.

and it looked like it would

be lovely.

so i set the cake in the back

of my mind, wondering

if there would ever be an 

occasion or time in my 

life in which i would rationalize

the $75 price tag of a 9" crepe cake.

yes, constructing the cake seemed

easy enough, but actually making 

the crepes?

i didn't know. i imagined a pile

of crepe pieces piling up on

my cutting board, me crying

alongside them.

but then, as always happens,

several years later,

the day came

that we had to make crepes

in school.

it was the same morning

that we had to make a perfect

waffle, two types of granola

and assemble a smoked salmon

platter, so luckily, i was

able to put all of my mental 

focus into these ultra thin

wraps.

the first one was a bust.

it set before i was 

able to tilt the pan.

with the second, i tilted

fast enough,

but the flipping got me.

the third? was fine.

i made crepes all morning,

rolling brandied apples

into some, folding

sauteed veggies into

others, spreading them

with butter and sprinkling 

cinnamon sugar.

i could make crepes.

who knew?

four months after i graduated,

i insisted that we ask for a

crepe pan on

our wedding registry.

i would make crepes all the time.

with one quick click of the gun

it was maybe ours and months

later, my mom gave it to us

as part of a baking collection.

around the same time,

gourmet published a recipe 

for this cake.

i couldn't believe it and 

i immediately tried to dream

up reasons to make it myself.

then i started a new job,

we were in full-on wedding

mode and dinner parties

fell by the wayside.

before i knew it, fall and

winter were here and 

this cake really seemed

more like a spring or summer

type of dessert.

but two weeks ago, when my mom

told me her 

mother's day brunch menu

and asked for possibly a dessert

and salad,

i knew what i was bringing.

i reread the recipe and thought,

i really can do this. it will

be fine. i can flip.

still, i had to work the day 

before and so i made a decision

to leave the evening open,

just in case it took until

nightfall to really get enough

usable layers.

the batter was so easy -

i just put everything into a blender

and whirled it all together. 

then, i brushed the pan 

with butter,

turned the heat to medium-high

and counted to 10.

the first one went in fine, 

but flipping was a disaster.

same for the second.

my nightmare was coming true.

after that, i didn't have any problems.

sure, some would bubble slightly,

some set before they were able

to bridge the tiny holes in the 

center of the crepe and at times,

i thought i was going to lose more,

but i didn't.

i became more and more excited

as the finished crepes

stacked up in a pile,

blessedly not sticking together,

tearing or creating a ruckus.

the hard part was over. 

now i just had to make the filling.

the original recipe was orange-infused,

which i just didn't think

was really so us, as a family.

my original plan was to make the cake

almond-flavored, using almond extract

in the crepes 

and amaretto in the cream.

but, at the last minute,

i decided to keep the crepes themselves

unflavored. and as an even more

last minute decision,

when i was digging through the

liquor cabinet for the amaretto,

cream and confectioners' sugar already

in the bowl

(very bad mise en place, i know),

my eye caught the coffee liquor

from starbucks and i changed my

mind again.

i built the crepe confection

on the bottom of a cake carrier.

not pretty, but the sturdiest

solution for traveling (and i

had all these grand plans for

transfering the cake just

before serving the next day,

but that never happened. 

and no one complained 

about presentation).

at first i was worried that

the cake would be too short,

but as i spread and layered,

it built up nicely.

i love that this cake is best

made ahead of time.

i simply covered it

and let it be until

the next morning when

it was carefully held

for the hour-long

drive and then immediately

placed back in the fridge.

a couple hours after our

delicious and very fun brunch -

which i will tell you more about

later this week -

i carefully sliced the cake.

when i saw the perfectly

lined cake, i gasped a sort of weird sound

(it was a yes! aha! and ooh! all rolled together)

when i pulled out the first wedge, 

so exicted to see what it looked like inside.

but the best part was two seconds later,

when my family saw it 

and made the same sound.

the cake was just sweet enough

and very light,

the perfect end to a not so light brunch.

the coffee flavor came through

just enough to make the couple

of tablespoons worth it,

and the fresh strawberries

that my mother served

alongside were the perfect

juicy foil.

while i had been worried that 

the cake would be too small,

it took just half  

a cake to serve

six of us.

when we were driving

home later in the day,

a slice in my mom's fridge,

a large wedge heading back

to college with my sister,

i bravely said something

that i've said before,

but this time, i think i mean it:

i'm ready to make more crepes.

coffee cream crepe cake

adapted from gourmet magazine

my two favorite things about this cake are: you can make this up to a day ahead of time and you can really change the flavor profile to better suit your own style. i think lemon zest would be lovely in the crepe batter and the cream, i'd still love to try the almond and i bet you could turn the filling to a chocolate one. in the end, my cake was 14 crepes tall (i forgot to count every time there was a counting opportunity. luckily, my family obliged and each person counted their slices before eating), but i also lost the first two and i'm convinced that had i not overpoured on one, the last crepe could have been a full round and i would have had 17. regardless, i'd make the full amount of whipped cream and serve extra on the side.

6 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

3 cups chilled heavy cream, divided

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup confectioners' sugar, divided

1 large pinch salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons coffee liqueur, like starbucks

in blender, blend eggs, milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, flour, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and salt.

brush a 10" nonstick pan or crepe pan with melted butter (i used a 9 1/2" crepe pan). turn heat to medium-high and heat pan until hot (i found that somewhere between medium and medium-high was a better heat - play until you find what works well for your stove). pour in a scant 1/4 cup crepe batter, turning and tilting pan to coat (if it sets too quickly, turn it down for the next crepe). cook 15 to 45 seconds, or until the crepe is golden and the underside is just set. use spatula to loosen edges and using the spatula and your fingertips, carefully flip crepe. cook 15 to 45 seconds more, or until golden brown and set. place crepe on plate. repeat with remaining crepes, using melted butter as necessary and stacking finished crepes on top of each other as you go.

(while i usually don't measure when i don't have to, i did use a 1/4 cup batter each time to make sure that i maximized the amount of crepes i was able to make from one batch. pouring the batter from the blender into a dry (crazy, i know) measuring cup, was very easy and surprisingly unmessy.)

in large bowl, use electric beaters to beat together remaining heavy cream, vanilla extract, confectioners' sugar and coffee liqueur. beat for several minutes or until peaks form when you lift the beater out of the whipped cream.

place on crepe on a serving plate. carefully spread crepe with about 1/4 cup whipped cream (here, i didn't measure). top with second crepe and repeat with whipped cream. repeat stacking and spreading, finishing with a crepe layer. carefully cover cake; chill 4 hours or up to 24 hours. sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving. serve with fruit, if desired.