Black and {Black-and-White} Cake

Ever had those "senior moments" in the kitchen?  Hmm. Forgetting the sugar in the batter of a butter cake once taught me forcibly that baking is an exact science. Today was another one of those moments when I used soy sauce instead of hoisin sauce because the recipe said "Kikkoman's" and I read no further. Nevertheless I remain optimistic in the kitchen, fool that I am, willing to experiment so long as I have willing souls brave enough to try my cooking; last week's attempts at Haupia Cake, notwithstanding. John was very diplomatic to say he liked my first attempt, which he called a haupia "torte," and Richard said that for my second attempt the haupia was exactly right. Well, some things do work sometimes!

This recipe was originally called a Black and White Cake in Diane Mott Davidson's book Fatally Flaky a detective novel-cum-cookbook. As a genre I'm not sure how it's supposed to work--should I read the book or put it down and cook?  I decided to cook. AJ requested an ice cream cake so I decided to give this one a try. It was originally supposed to be a chocolate layer cake with a vanilla ice cream filling; hence a black and white cake. However, AJ wanted a chocolate vanilla swirl filling instead. And I used a different chocolate cake recipe only because I happened to have all the ingredients for that cake in the Teeny Tiny Kitchen.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake (New York Times Cookbook)
Have at room temperature:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease two 9x1 1/2 inch layer cake pans, bottoms lined with parchment or waxed paper and greased. Flour pans. Set aside.

Mix all ingredients. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, water, milk, and vanilla. Blend on low speed to moisten all the dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium and blend until just combined. Do not over mix.

Bake the cake. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan 10 minutes on wire racks. Then invert the cakes and remove the pans and the parchment/waxed paper circles. Cool completely.

After this I followed the Davidson recipe for Black and White Cake.

Make the ice cream layer.
1 quart vanilla or vanilla swirl ice cream
1 9x1 1/2 inch layer cake pan, buttered

Soften the ice cream in the refrigerator about half an hour; 15 minutes on the kitchen counter. The consistency should be soft to the touch and spreadable. Spread the softened ice cream in the prepared pan and freeze until it is solid again.

Assemble the cake and ice cream layers
Remove the frozen ice cream layer from the freezer. Use  a thin spatula to separate the ice cream from the sides. An offset spatula will help to remove it from the pan. If it breaks apart, just push it back together. 

Put the bottom layer upside down on a serving plate. Place the ice cream layer on top and smooth it together. Put the second layer on top of the ice cream. Loosely cover with foil and freeze for at least 3 hours.

The next part is the fun part!

Making and pouring the chocolate glaze.
10 oz. (1 1/2 cups) bittersweet chocolate chips (easier than chopping up the chocolate, I find)
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons corn syrup

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the corn syrup. Let cool to room temperature. I would say when the glaze feels warm when you dip your finger in it.

Set a wire rack over a baking tray. Take the frozen ice cream cake out of the freezer and using a large pancake turner, take it off the plate and put it on top of the wire rack. With a thin blade spatula, smooth the ice cream layer flush with the cake layers. Pour the glaze all over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. The frozen cake will solidify the liquid glaze into a thin coating of chocolate! Is it ever neat!

Refreeze the cake for about an hour to set the ice cream. To cut the cake, heat a serrated knife in hot water--I poured boiling water over the blade--and wipe dry. Slice the cake using a sawing motion--don't press down.

The cake was cold, lightly sweet, and creamy--but the texture was holey like the last two cakes I made. Over mixed. This disappointing result is because my mixing bowl is too small. Time to get a bigger one!

Herbed Pan Fried Pork Chops

With Pan Roasted Asparagus, Tomatoes and Black Olives and Basmati Rice

I always like to try new recipes. This one is from America's Test Kitchen, which seldom disappoints. It had good flavor without being either too salty or too oily. The only question I had was, what do I do with the crisp bacon bits?

Blended spices (or use your own blend)
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon sage
pinch of ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour
3 strips of bacon, chopped
4 center cut, bone-in pork chops
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable oil


Make the spice blend. Pour blended spices in a shallow pan or pie plate. You may find you will need to make another batch after two pork chops. I did. Pour flour into another pan or pie plate.

Season the pork chops. Dip each chop in the spice blend, then lightly dredge in the flour. Let the pork chops rest in a plate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fry up the bacon in a large 12 inch skillet. When crisp, remove the bacon to drain but reserve the bacon fat. Start wth 1/4 cup of oil to the fat and heat until just smoking. Add more oil if necessary.

Fry the pork chops. Put each pork chop in the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Mine came out over done so I would reduce that to 2-3 minutes per side instead. Drain on a greased wire rack set over a baking tray in a warm oven. Don't discard the pan drippings.

Still no idea what to do with the bacon bits but since I was making pan fried asparagus with tomatoes and black olives, I decided to dress that up with the bacon. Ta-dah!

Pan-fried Asparagus with Tomatoes and Black Olives (and bacon bits)
2 pounds thick asparagus spears, ends trimmed
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup black olives, chopped
2 -4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon bacon, chopped and fried until crisp, drained (optional)
4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Trim the asparagus. Hold up one spear and snap off the end. Cut all the other spears to the same length.

Make the tomato-black olive dressing. Use the pan drippings from the pork chops to make the dressing. Over medium heat, fry the garlic in the pan drippings until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and olives. Cook until the tomatoes "spring" water and become wilted. Pour the dressing into a bowl, cover with foil, and reserve.

Cook the asparagus. Rinse out the skillet and dry it with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil. Lay half the spears in the pan in one direction. Lay the other half in the opposite direction. Cover and cook over medium heat until the asparagus turns a bright green, about 2-4 minutes. Remove to a serving dish and pour the dressing on top. Top with cheese, basil, or bacon bits.