The Essence of chocolate - Chocolate cake

My latest creation was That chocolate cake recipe for the Scharffen Berger's. I have included the link at the end of this page.

The chocolate batter after the cocoa was added. I used olive oil in place of canola oil for this recipe. You can't really taste the difference, but at least we were consuming good fats. I only baked using once tin instead of separating the batter into 2 baking tins. I had to leave the cake in longer in order for it to cook thoroughly. I had enough batter leftover for about 3 cupcakes which tasted delicious too.

Making the icing was probably more work than the cake batter. I had to make sure not to overcook the cream. After mixing in the chocolate, the instructions requests that you whisk it lightly while it cools. Given how much icing I had left over, I could have easily cut the icing amount by half.

Icing the cake. This is the bottom layer.

The finished cake. This cake was moist and delicious. I would have loved the cake even without the icing, however the icing definitely gave it a more polished look. Loved this recipe. It does not require too much prior baking skills. Would tweak the sugar level a little as I find it a smidgen sweet. Apart from that I would not mess with this recipe at all. Two thumbs up!

http://www.scharffenberger.com/re0218.asp

La Hacienda

We happen to be in Everett this day and was looking for a quick bite to eat. This place was located close to Trader Joes.

First impressions say everything. The decorations are dated. The atmosphere feels like they were trying too hard to be authentic.

Second impressions solidify our review. We ordered a pulled pork platter with refried beans and rice. This platter was brought to our table in less than 10 minutes. The pork looked like it had been reheated many times or sitting under a heatlamp. Atleast the flour tortillas were fresh. The rice was dry and the refried beans were fairly tasteless. The pork would have been better if it was not so dry from the reheating.

What we liked:

• fast service and VERY large portions
• kid friendly restaurant with lots of space.
  

What we did not like:

• mediocre food and reheated mains.
• food was plain and had no depth to the flavour

Would not recommend this place. Food is bland, salsa is not spicy at all. If you want a meal that will fill you up then this is the place, but don't expect to get an authentic meal.

Thousand layer cake - Cramberry flavour

Cranberry Thousand Layer Cake


This cranberry thousand layer cake was a find from my last trip to Malaysia. The bakery, called Lavender creates traditional baked goods with a modern twist. This particular thousand layer cake has dried cranberries included in the layers.


Although named thousand layer cake, this particular one has around 20 layers. Known for its rich flavor, this type of cake is impossible to find here, as it is very labor intensive.

Made predominantly with egg yokes, this is definitely not a heart healthy dessert. If you every get a chance to try this I would greatly recommend it, the flavor is not like any other cake that you have tasted. The cranberry flavored one I had here has a nice tart kick from the cranberries that is perfect with a cup of tea.

Next time if I find a manageable recipe I will definitely try to make this one!