I saw this chocolate-sour cream cake on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn last week and simply could not get it out of my mind. A two-layer chocolate-sour cream cake! I had to make it. HAD TO. Because Gil’s birthday was just a few days ago, it gave me the great excuse I didn’t really need (because I have this here blog, you see).

So I got to work as soon as Gil left for for the office this morning, and it still took most of the day because I’m not much of a baker. Nor am I much of an icer, from the evidence presented above. Still, a crumb coat must be applied, no matter how messily.

I think it looked pretty nice once I was finished. And even though powdered sugar-based frostings aren’t really my thing, I couldn’t stop sampling. I think it was the sour cream that made it so irresistible.

Just to be safe, though, I decided to add a layer of poured ganache. What could it hurt?

You really should’ve seen my absurd setup for this shot: Seated on the floor, camera balanced on my right knee with auto focus engaged (I hoped), while my left hand stretched as far as possible to get the ganache close to the center of the cake. Oh, and let’s not forget the big reflector balanced on my left shoulder. It’s a wonder I ever get anything in focus at all. The things I do for you!

Naturally, I allowed the ganache to cool just long enough lose the completely smooth surface I made it for IN THE FIRST PLACE, so I rummaged around in the fridge till I found a visual distraction — pecans. PECAAAAANS! (Have I mentioned that I’m not much of a baker? Because I’m not. At all.)

See? All you notice is the pecans, right?

Not wanting to go empty-handed, I pulled out the bag of almost-overripe persimmons I’d been storing for a couple of weeks and got to work on an upside-down cake that sounded like a perfect ending to a Thanksgiving meal — with two sticks of butter, it was possibly the most indulgent cake I’ve ever made.

I did a quick google search when the idea for the cake hit me (my standard approach, since very few ideas are truly new), and found only a couple of recipes. Joanne Weir’s parmesan flan has been one of the highlights of my summer for the past two years, so I opted for her version of the cake and came away very, very happy indeed.

Her secret for keeping things light and airy in such a rich cake? Whipping the egg whites, then folding them into the rest of the batter. Even so, the cake was much more soufflé-like in the pan than I expected:

Anyway, we had a wonderful time with the Edwards family and I feel like I finally have friends in the neighborhood, which is no small thing. They’re a creative family, into drawing, painting, photography, music, fashion…so you can imagine how much I enjoyed myself. Oh, AND I finally got a house tour with details of the major renovation they did last year! So we have lots of inspiration for our own house project, whenever we start.

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The next day, I roasted the Zuni chicken (with bittersweet pimenton added to the salt & pepper rub) originally intended for Thanksgiving and made a bread-based dressing with roasted acorn squash on the side. Nothing terribly exciting, but repurposed as breakfast this morning, I fell in love:

I pan-fried some of the leftover dressing, served it atop a thin drizzle of gravy and topped it with a fried egg. “X + egg = heaven” is undefined for Gil, so I waited till he was running an errand to work it up. (How anyone can snub a runny egg yolk over just about anything is beyond me, but hey, in sickness & in [mental] health, etc…)

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For Saturday’s dinner, there wasn’t a hint of Thanksgiving left over in the leftovers, though I forced myself to use the contents of my fridge and pantry in a stab at eating down the house. We ended up with a North African-inspired couscous dish that took maybe 30 minutes to make, but had a great depth of flavor mainly because it relied so heavily on leftovers.

To start, I made a quick harissa paste and set it aside for the flavors to develop while I worked on the rest of the meal. I hit the freezer for a package of caramelized onions, which I browned in some olive oil, then added two thinly sliced cloves of garlic, and reinforced the warm spices from the harissa — ground cumin, caraway seeds and ground coriander — in the sizzling oil. When the spices were fragrant, I added a package of Israeli couscous, bite-sized pieces of dark chicken, chopped roasted acorn squash, leftover chicken stock and two tablespoons of harissa paste. Only 15 minutes later, we were sitting down to a meal I wouldn’t even mind making from scratch someday.

I hope you add had a filling and fun-filled Thanksgiving. Now I need to figure out a way to work from home, because the last four days spent with all of my boys has been too good to miss again for 13 hours a day or more.

recipes and sweet doggy pictures after the jump

Persimmon Upside-Down Cake by Joanne Weir

16 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pound fresh Fuju persimmons, peeled, halved and pitted
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

Butter a 9-inch cake pan. Place the pan over medium heat and melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the pan. Overlap the persimmon slices on top of the melted butter and brown sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350F. For the cake, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cream the remaining 12 tablespoons butter and granulated white sugar together in a bowl until light. Separate the eggs and add the yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and mix well. Add the milk and the dry ingredients alternately to the batter, folding well after each addition.

Beat the egg whites to form soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the cake batter. Spread the batter over the persimmons and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes.

Cool the cake for 10 to 15 minutes and run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen it. Turn the cake over onto a serving platter and let it sit another 5 minutes. Remove the pan.

To serve, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks are formed. Sift the confectioners’ sugar on top of the cream, add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and fold together. Serve with the cake.

Serves 8 to 10

Harissa adapted from Global Gourmet

3 1/2 tablespoons dried chili flakes, soaked in the same amount of hot water
1 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons caraway seed
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, dry roasted then ground
1 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in small food processor and blend or grind in mortar until a paste is formed.

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When we were leaving the adoption fair with Otis last weekend, the representatives from Greyhound Friends of NJ told us to be sure to keep the boys muzzled on the drive home because they might get aggressive. Clearly, we have our work cut out for us, because they’ll never get along:

Honestly, we didn’t pose them.

They both love to sleep and don’t seem to mind if another creature is nearby, though sometimes they’ll change position and nap apart.

Turns out, it’s a lot easier to get a picture of awake-Otis than of awake-Rufus. His prey instinct is so strong that he’ll stand at the window staring at something in the yard (or in the tree, or across the street, or down the street just out of sight) for minutes at a time.

Bless his heart — he’s a pain in the ass to walk, but so much fun to photograph.

Gil, Rufus and I spent Saturday with the Connecticut branch of the family. In the spirit of being a good guest, I wanted to bring a little something for lunch, but couldn’t choose between a panzanella and dessert, when the September issue of Gourmet magazine decided things for me with their recipe for Nectarine Golden Cake. The picture was gorgeous (of course) and it sounded just like the kind of dessert I favor (simple and homey, no chocolate), but best of all, I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen (yay!).

We got to the Levin’s right around lunchtime and Ru introduced himself to his canine cousins:

Yes, you’re seeing correctly. That’s 3 golden retrievers, a labrador puppy and Ru. It was chaos, but the best kind.

Annie (the puppy) stood still for a few seconds so I could take her picture:

Then she ran around like a madwoman and eventually collapsed on Ru’s bed:

He didn’t mind. Ru had no need for a bed, as he was following Gil from room to room pleading to return to his quiet life in Ringwood. Or maybe he was just angling for a treat. He isn’t really all that picky.

But back to the cake. It was a big hit. Shame I didn’t make two, but my mind was sleep-addled in the morning and it just didn’t occur to me, so we all had small slices of cake mounded with fresh berries. It was a healthier option.

Our friend Ann came by with her gorgeous baby Sunday afternoon, so I tried another version of the cake with blueberries instead of nectarines and topped it with turbinado sugar. I was expecting to like it even more, but honestly, it was only every bit as good as the other. Which was still a home run.

There was no bow
The best Christmas present I ever gave myself? That’s easy — Astrid, my Mini Cooper S, who came to live with us one year ago today. Happy birthday, girl!

For all Advent Calendar posts, click here.

recipe after the jump

Aunt Lolly’s Banana Cake

This is my ur-banana cake. For years, no one could duplicate Aunt Lolly’s cake (specifically, the frosting) despite her willingness to share the recipe. She visited St. Louis once when I was in grad school, so I took her out to dinner and pumped her for information. Turns out the secret’s very simple: if the frosting doesn’t set up well enough, add a little extra flour to thicken it.

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk

2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/4″ rounds

Frosting:
5 tablespoons flour (plus 1 tablespoon, if frosting is too soft)
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all cake ingredients together except for sliced bananas, beating until thoroughly blended. Pour into three greased cake pans. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes. Remove from pans and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

For frosting, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is the consistency of pudding. Set aside and cool thoroughly. In mixing bowl, beat together remaining 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and vanilla. Add pudding and beat for five minutes.

To assemble cake: Add banana slices between layers of cake, then spread sides and top of assembled cake with frosting.

Brilliant, isn’t it?

via The Cranky Professor