Chocolate Bacon Cake

This cake is what happens when you spend time drinking with a chef and say crazy things like “how would one go about making a gluten free cake with port, bacon and chocolate?” And said cooking expert is just wacky enough to take the question as a challenge, not only making it happen in a very tasty way but never once cocking an eye brow at the weird idea. So together Jacob, the chef with multiple “most unique” cooking titles and I threw together this chocolate bacon cake for the birthday party of our celiac friend Q. It was a big hit and a lot of fun to make. Two packages of bacon were cooked in the making of this delicious dessert.

The only problem with this cake is that it will conquer even the greatest sweet tooth. I highly recommend making it next time you need the most creative baked good possible, just remember to eat truffle sized amounts of it and have large amounts of chocolate and bacon loving friends around to help you conquer the cake. Its that rich and evilly tasty. Somehow the sweet flourless cake combines perfectly with the bittersweet salty bacon frosting. The powdered sugar makes it nearly perfect.

Oh did I mention this cake is out of this world but absolutely not something that follows the French diet at all? Yeah whoops. It was just so good I had to write about it anyway. It was a big hit.

FOR CAKE:

1/4 cup red wine reduction
1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Or invest in a 9-inch silicon pan which requires no greasing or lining.

To make a wine reduction pour most of a bottle of a decent red wine (something bold like tempranillo or syrah) into a saucepan over medium low heat. Keep on a gentle simmer until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrupy consistency.

Stir chocolate (I used half bittersweet and half semisweet), butter, wine reduction, and vanilla in heavy large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until thick and pale, and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining egg mixture into chocolate mixture.

Place prepared pan on baking sheet. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan; transfer cake to platter. Remove parchment paper.

Original recipe from Epicurious.com with creative embellishments from Jacob.

FOR FROSTING:

4 ounces bacon fat (rendered from 1 package good quality bacon)
4 ounces 100% cacao dark chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
powdered sugar for decoration

Use your preferred method for cooking bacon, setting aside rendered fat. While fat is warm run it through a sieve to strain out the ugly left over bacon pieces. Reserve cooked bacon for decorating the cake later.

In a small double boiler gently melt together 4 ounces of the bacon fat and 4 ounces of dark chocolate. When melted add heavy cream and stir to combine until homogeneous.. Allow mixture to return to almost room temperature at which point it will thicken enough to smooth over the cooled cake. Place in refrigerator until frosting is firm, about 20 minutes.

To make your own powdered sugar place about a 1/2 cup regular granulated sugar into the blender. It seems crazy but it works, dont try try to substitute the food processor for this it wont accomplish anything. You might need to agitate the sugar occasionally to get a uniform powder consistency.

I then used a damask stencil, placed it over the firmed frosting and sprinkled powder sugar over it. Using the left over bacon, chopped into small pieces I a framed the stencil decoration.

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Breakfast Frozen Mango Fat Burning Smoothie

Today was my day off so it was a good day to start I think, so I could take my time figuring how to start this. I did wake up late however. It was a nice gloomy rainy day to sleep in and my tummy was hurting a bit from the cold.

Anyways lets get this show on the road.

Weight: 140lbs
Wake time: 9:30am
Breakfast time: 10am (consumed)
Cost: $1.50? (not sure. I already had the mango and stevia around the house)

FROZEN MANGO FAT-BURNING SMOOTHIE

PHASE 1

(1 SERVING)

1/2 CUP FROZEN MANGO (OR STRAWBERRIES OR PINEAPPLE)

1/2 CUP ICE CUBES

1/2 LEMON

1/4 STEVIA

2 MINT LEAVES OR 1/4 TSP PEPPERMINT TEA LEAVES

Add mango and ice to a blender with 3/4 cups water.

Juice the lemon and add stevia.

Sprinkle the mint and mix/puree until smooth.

Enjoy 8 to 10 rice crackers.

Notes:

Relatively easy to make but I forgot to buy rice crackers and mint leaves... so this meal was sort of incomplete.

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Breakfast Pizza

I cracked five raw eggs on a pizza... gross right... no delicious! I have never really made homemade pizza before so I was pretty intimidated with doing it. Luckily, I have a husband who is a good cook and he helped coach me through this first time. After making it though I wondered why Dan and I ever get take out pizza. Hello... homemade is the way to go folks!

Breakfast Pizza (www.budgetbytes.com) $3.24

Ingredients

• Refrigerated pizza dough 
• ½ cup pizza sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1 medium roma tomato
• 3 oz. ham
• 5 large eggs
• 2 sliced green onions
• 1 Tbsp corn meal
• 1 green pepper

If using frozen pizza dough, allow it to come to room temperature before stretching it into shape (it is much more cooperative at room temp). While the dough is thawing, slice the tomato, green onion, green pepper and dice the ham.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a perforated pizza pan with non-stick spray and sprinkle with corn meal. Stretch the dough into a pizza pan.

Top the pizza with sauce, half of the cheese, the tomatoes, ham, green onions, green peppers,eggs and the remaining half of the cheese (I used monterrey jack on the bottom and cheddar on the top). The eggs can either be placed on top whole and raw or pre-scrambled and sprinkled over top.

Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes at 450 degrees or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

This pizza was very good. Who would have thought eggs on a pizza??? Dan rated this meal a 4 out of 5 stars and Im excited to make my second homemade pizza ;)

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Extremely Spicy Bean Curry

The fella and I love spicy food especially of the Indian variety but this recipe was something else.  He was actually pretty okay with it but I made the mistake of trying it for the first time while I was at work.  I wasnt expecting it to be that overly spicy because Im no wimp.  Boy was I wrong.  Gladly the lunch room was empty that day because this curry was so hot I was crying.  In a very good and happy way its just I dont exactly make a habit of sitting alone in public at work weeping over my food.  It gives people the wrong impression I guess.

This curry is so good it manages to both be very very hot and tasty at the same time.  So if youre not big on spice I would suggest making it with the least amount of chilies suggested in the recipe and it should have a nice bit of kick to it.  If you really want to challenge yourself go ahead and add all the chilies and be prepared to have a pleasant fire in your mouth. 

And dont be put off by the long list of ingredients, they are mostly spices that require no effort on your part other than tossing them in the pan so it is actually a really quick meal once the beans are cooked.  I even cheat by making my beans in the crockpot while Im at work so I can start cooking as soon as I get home.  With that short cut this very hot meal takes almost no effort.

So there you go all my friends that are fans of insanely hot food, give this a try and let me know if its hot enough for you.  If not Im scared of but impressed by your idea of spicy.

Extremely Spicy Bean Curry

1/2 cup of dried chickpeas
1/4 cup of dried kidney beans
1/4 cup of lentils (puy lentils or black lentils are best)
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 generous teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoons of agave nectar
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric
dash of cayenne
2 - 4 dried red chilies
1 large tomato, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic, minced
2 - 4 fresh red or green chilies, finely chopped

Rinse the chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils in a strainer. Soak overnight in enough water to cover. Drain, transfer to a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the beans are tender - roughly 1 hour.  Or put beans in crockpot covered in water at low heat for 6 hours.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, toss in the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop. Add the cumin seeds, ground cumin, agave nectar, salt, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and dried chilies. Stir quickly and add the tomatoes, garlic, and fresh chilies. Stir a few times and cook until the tomato is softened - roughly 5 minutes.

Drain off some of the water from the cooked beans and add the tomato mixture to the pot. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for another 10 - 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Garnish with the fresh parsley or cilantro.  

Original recipe from Lisas Kitchen blog. 

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Chocolate Lava Cake

 

The only thing sexier than this beautiful little molten pile of chocolate is the woman who wrote the recipe.  

Suzanne Pirret is what would happen if Nigella Lawson and a sultry sex writer got together and decided to write a book.  Shes my food writing hero.  She is hot and funny and totally engaging.  Not usually words one uses when describing a cookbook but this one is all those things and more.  Then again I suppose hotness its to be expected from someone wearing a form fitting white dress and 6 inch Louis Vuittons on the cover of a book called The Pleasure is All Mine.  Get your head out of the gutter, its a book full of fancy but easy recipes for one because eating alone is no reason not to treat yourself well.

Seeing as Ive been obsessed with this book as of late Ive already shared her recipes for TomYum Kung Soup and Lemongrass Steamed Fish.  But I wouldnt be able to live with myself if I didnt write about the best recipe in the entire book.  It of course involves chocolate and is insanely decadent.  That didnt stop me from making this luscious melty mouth filling treat over a dozen times last week in order to experiment with getting the sugar free version of the recipe perfect.  It was tough but I made it through.  This is the type of rigorous testing I suffer through just for my loyal blog readers.     

In the end I came up with a gluten and sugar free recipe that is so good I couldnt tell the difference between the one that had sugar and the one that didnt.  I have to warn you though Suzanne Pirret says this is a single serving treat, unless youre immune to high doses of sexy chocolate induced caffeination you might want to find someone to share it with.  Or not who am I kidding its too good to resist eating the whole damn thing.  

If you want to make the sugary version or need help figuring out how making this cake works check out this video for the recipe and watch Suzanne Pirret work her magic.  Someday Ill be the type of person coordinated enough to wear a designer dress and high heels while working with chocolate.  Or at least I can dream.

Chocolate Lave Cake

3 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate

1 tablespoon butter (soy butter also works nicely)

3 teaspoons fructose

1 egg

 1 tablespoon almond flour

1 dash sea salt

unsweetened cocoa powder

drizzle of agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees.

In a small sauce pan over low heat very slowly melt the chocolate.  When chocolate starts to melt, briefly remove pot from heat and stir, then place back on heat to further melt.  Repeat the process until chocolate is completely melted and set aside to cool a bit.

Melt the butter in a small mixing bowl then whisk in fructose and egg until well combined.  Slowly begin to drizzle in the melted chocolate, whisking as you pour.  You want to add the warm chocolate a little at a time so it doesnt cook the raw egg.  The mixture should be very stiff and thick at this point, too dense to stir easily and that is the perfect texture.

Add in the flour and salt and stir once again briefly. 

Grease a small ramekin then sprinkle the inside with cocoa powder.   Tap the sides of the ramekin to remove any excess powder then pour the batter into it.  Bake for 9 minutes.  Dont over cook!  

When the cake is done cooking it should be firm on the outside but liquid on the inside.  If you tip the cake over a plate and it slides out its done.  Drizzle with agave nectar or top with ice cream to take an edge off the bitterness of the chocolate.

Modified to be sugar and gluten free from a Suzanne Pirret recipe in The Pleasure Is All Mine.

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Double Chocolate Flourless Torte

It has been a hell of a day over here in my world so Im going to just let this fabulous chocolate treat speak for itself.  Long story short; its amazing and easy and I wish I had not already eaten it all so I could have some right now in my time of need.  Also please feel free to oo and aw over my new dessert plates.  Thats all.

Double Chocolate Flourless Torte

1 cup dark chocolate (4 one-ounce squares)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Break up the squares of dark chocolate a little bit (I used unsweetened baking chocolate and still thought the recipe was too sweet) then place in food processor and pulse until coarsely ground.  Remove 1/2 of the ground chocolate for later. 

Add in almond flour, cocoa powder, and salt and combine for a couple more seconds in food processor.  Add eggs to food processor and pulse again, then add in agave, oil and orange zest.  Combine until smooth.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate pieces back to the mixture and stir briefly.

Transfer batter into a well greased 10 to 12 inch round pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until it passes the tooth pick test.

Adapted from a recipe on Elanas Pantry.

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Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake

This recipe lulled me into a false sense of security. It only has two ingredients it will be simple, right? Very very wrong. Those two ingredients tested my patience until I was swearing up a storm and very nearly gave up on it several times. Things were not improved by the fact I started making this at midnight the night before Easter. That is never a good idea and yet I make the mistake time and again. Apparently there is something about midnight that screams last minute baking.

There were plenty of other problems along the way. Unsweetened chocolate must mean something very different in France because Montignac keeps talking about unsweetened chocolate with different ranges of cocoa content. Here, at least in Madison, the only unsweetened chocolate is 100% cocoa baking chocolate which I am now going to assume has a very different texture than whatever Montignac was cooking with. It is also bitter requiring me to wing it and add fructose until the cake tasted edible. If youre using 100% cocoa chocolate youll want to keep tasting the cake mixture and adding fructose until it tastes sweet enough, and then add a little more.

The other problem with unsweetened American chocolate is there are no additives in it to thin out the chocolate so when I went to add the egg yolks to the warm chocolate I got a hunk of chocolate scrambled eggs. A dozen eggs and 2 boxes of chocolate in a blob of ineligibility that defiantly was not going to fold into the egg whites.

It was about then I started swearing, then I called for the fella who was smart enough to be hiding upstairs. I was on the verge of angry tears at wasting all this chocolate and the recipe making a fool of me. The fella just looked at me like I was crazy, which I was. His mere presence in the kitchen calmed me down enough think that adding milk might help with the solidified chocolate situation. That would have been fine except the milk was way curdled which only further fueled my rage, wondering why it was in the fridge so long past its due date. Thankfully I found some heavy cream and there was just enough to thin out to chocolate so that the egg whites could be folded in.

After all that drama I had no optimism left as I threw the cake into the pan and wondered what could possibly make it edible after only 8 minutes of cooking. Oddly enough it rose into a beautiful bake like dessert and popped easily out of the pan. The next day I melted more chocolate for the topping and was really excited to try it.

After dinner I took a warm knife to it, then I hacked at it with a fork, then I threatened to throw it against the wall. The topping on this cake would not crack. I had to use all my strength to break through which caused the cake to shatter into unattractive bits rather than allowing itself to be cut into wedges. My family went with the flow and gladly accepted odd shaped pieces of chocolate cake which continued to put up a fight on the plate, refusing to break apart.

It was worth the effort, the cake bit is very fluffy and delicious. The topping is yummy as well but impossible to break, I would suggest making the topping much thinner than the recipe calls for. We also didnt think it was sweet enough even with the addition of fructose so we drizzled agave nectar over our slices. Then it was perfect, it would be great with jam, fruit, maple syrup, anything to break up the pure chocolate.

This cake taught me that there really is such a thing as too much chocolate, believe it or not.

After eating it we were all drunk on it. 100% cocoa is not something to mess with especially when combined with a bottle of wine. It was LSD cake, we were out of our minds after one tiny piece each, giggling at nothing and talking about things not fit for polite company. Two nights in a row now I still havent slept well, its that powerful. I have years of over caffeination under my belt from surviving on nothing but coffee for 8 hour shift playing barista in busy cafes, and yet even that did not compare to the rush from the cake.

This cake needs a warning label. It is amazing but hallucinatory.

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake

11 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate (plus 6 more for topping)
10 large eggs, separated
4 tablespoons fructose
1 cup heavy cream (to thin out your chocolate if necessary)


Line the bottom of an 8 inch round pan with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 500.

Place a large glass or ceramic bowl over a saucepan of barely boiling water to create a double boiler. Break the 11 ounces of chocolate into smaller pieces and place in bowl. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes then remove from the pan and let cool at least 5 minutes. Taste the melted chocolate, depending on the cocoa content of your chocolate it may need to be sweetened. I added 2 tablespoons fructose.

Using a hand held electric mixer, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. This will take a long time to accomplish, youre finished when you lift the beaters from the eggs and the peak you pull out of the mixer stays stiff.

In another bowl beat the egg yolks until they are well combined. Slowly add them to the melted chocolate. If the chocolate and egg yolk mixture is too stiff to stir easily or turns into a sold mass, add the heavy cream until it has a thick mouse like consistency. Add a couple tablespoons of beaten egg whites and stir to combine. Quickly and gently fold in the rest of the eggs whites until the mixture has a consistency of a soufflé or light mouse. Do not over mix.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan and bake for exactly 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes before placing in refrigerator covered for at least 12 hours.

To finish, turn cake over onto a flat work surface and remove from pan. Melt the remaining 6 ounces of chocolate in a double boiler. Add remaining 2 tablespoons fructose to sweeten if necessary. When fully melted pour a thin layer of chocolate over cake and refrigerator for 15 minutes. To serve dip a sharp knife in hot water and use to slice cake in very thin pieces.

Original recipe from Slim Forever the French Way.

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Leek and Fennel Coulis

This simple but flavorful sauce is a great addition to just about anything. Fish, chicken, veggies or pasta with the addition of a little Parmesan. When Im having a lazy menu making week I whip up a full recipe of this and use it to top a low maintenance piece of meat and then later in the week when I have zero time to cook I toss it over some pasta. Recipes like this keep me sane when Im working too much because the only thing worse than working two jobs is not eating well and trying to make it through the day.

Leek and Fennel Coulis

1/4 cup olive oil
2 leeks, white part and two inches of green part, chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute leeks and fennel for 6-8 minutes until soft. Stir in thyme and spinach and cover skillet for 2-3 minutes until spinach is thoroughly wilted. Remove pan from heat and stir coconut milk into mixture

Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree on highest speed until smooth. While food processor is running on medium speed, slowly drizzle in olive oil.

Original recipe from Elanas Pantry blog.

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Gluten Free Pistachio Cake

Another day another failed soufflé  I shouldnt be surprised but I still am every time.  And yet Ive been lucky enough that of my four recent unfluffy unimpressive soufflés they have all been at least tasty, making up in flavor for what they lack in beauty.  And this one worked out exactly that same way.  Le sigh.

Pistachio cake with rose water syrup sounded like a recipe too good to pass up.  And the fella is a freak for pistachios so I knew I would get points for making a dessert he would go crazy for.  Perhaps next time I cook something that requires him wash every dish in the kitchen twice he wont curse me so much.  When I told him what I was making it also got me help shelling about a pound of nuts which otherwise could have taken me hours going at it alone.

The rest of the baking didnt go so smoothly.  It was nearly impossible to fold fluffy egg whites into a sugary pistachio paste.  Im still not quite sure how that was supposed to work out but I did the best I could and ended up with a cake that alternately had chunks of nuts or areas of egg white when it was cooked.  Which sounds kind of unattractive but youd be surprised how good it is when covered in rose water syrup.

Also I didnt realize fructose would react so differently than sugar to being baked.  The original recipe called for baking the cake for 45 minutes but after about 20 minutes mine started smelling burnt.  So I had to do the biggest soufflé no no and open my horrible windowless oven and see what was going on in there.  Turns out I had a very very brown cake that had fallen from  fluffiness long ago.  Im not sure what I should have done differently to prevent this failure but it tasted just fine so Ill take the hit for the sugarless team and let the world know that fructose in a soufflé is not a good idea.  If you figure out how to make this work let me know.

Regardless of what it looked like the fella and I had no problem eating this sweet, gooey creation all last week.  It was worth the work.

Pistachio Cake

SYRUP:

1/2 cup fructose (or 1 1/ 2 cups sugar)

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons rose water

CAKE:

5 eggs, separated

1/3 cup fructose (or 1 cup powdered sugar)

1 1/2 cups pistachios, finely ground

1/3 cup pistachios, chopped coarsely

Make the syrup first.  Bring fructose, water and lemon juice to a boil and simmer just until fructose is dissolved.  The syrup will be very thin and will not reduce.  Remove from heat and stir in rose water.  Let syrup cool to room temperature and then put in refrigerator to chill.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 or 10 inch diameter nonstick round cake pan.

In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and the fructose until it is a pale creamy texture.  Add the finely ground pistachios and mix very well.  Beat the egg whites until stiff in a small bowl using a standing mixer(read Julia Childs advice in Mastering the Art of French Cooking on egg whites for more in depth tips on how to make it work) and then fold them gently into the pistachio mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan, sprinkling with the course chopped pistachios and cook for about 25 minutes (45 if using sugar.)  The cake will poof up slightly like a soufflé and will pass the toothpick test when finish.  Immediately turn the cake over onto a deep serving dish.  Using a tooth pick make holes over the top of the cake then pour the syrup over it.  The cake will taste best after 2 hours when the syrup has had time to soak into the cake.

Made Montignac friendly from a recipe by Claudia Roden in Arabesque.

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Rice Flour Angel Food Cake

The fella has only one requirement for his birthday: there must be an angel food cake with blue frosting. I love him more than air but in case youve never tried angel food cake making is a pain in the behind. There is also the fact that boxed cake mixes are my Achilles heel of baking. I can make a three layer hummingbird cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch without breaking a sweat but show me a boxed cake and I can almost guarantee it will not turn out.

The first two years the fella and I were together I made the mistake of thinking a boxed angel food cake would be the way to go because even though baked goods in boxes are my nemesis it had to be simpler than doing it from scratch. Right? Both times I spent an afternoon in the kitchen glaring at the box and swearing at the electric mixer. No matter how much I beat the mix it wouldnt fluff up. Convenience food? Ha. After much pacing of the kitchen and many choice words I did end up with a mostly in tact cake placed on the table and frosted and me with a smile on my face, trying not to let on to the fella the amount of crazy I had just re-harnessed behind my beaming faux house wife facade before he got home.

There were a couple moments while making those cakes when all the angel food cakes I would make for the rest of my life flashed before my eyes and I wanted to give up. Was a deep meaningful relationship with a man I love dearly and connect with on almost every level worth making angel food every year? It turns out it is but I still dislike angel food.

This year a box mix wasnt even an option. If I was making this cake I was making a gluten free cake I could eat and if I was going to go through that much effort I was going to make the best freaking angel food cake ever. This would be the year I made piece with angel food.

It worked. I took the super simple recipe for basic angel food cake in The Joy of Cooking and switched rice flour in for the cake flour and stirred in some chocolate flakes to make it more interesting. It was a long 35 minutes waiting for that cake to finish. There is no window in my oven door and opening to peak in would have ruined anything so for 35 long minutes I was sure that I had just wasted a dozen eggs and my afternoon for nothing. When the timer went off and a perfectly risen fluffy gluten free made from scratch angel food cake came out of the oven I couldnt help but do a little dance and congratulate myself. The fella was thrilled and belly laughed at me for my lack of modesty.

Now there was the issue of blue frosting. I thought of all sorts of creative and crazy ideas for flavors or ways to make it blue without food coloring but in the end I went simple. Homemade whipped cream with blue food coloring heaped on the top of the angel food cake so that it looks like a fluffy blue cloud of yum. As you can see the fella was excited by this prospect and Im excited that I finally made a yummy birthday cake for him.

Turns out angel food cake isnt that difficult after all. The trick is reading the recipe a million times before starting and making sure absolutely all the tools youll need for all the steps are within arms reach because once you turn that mixer on for the first time you are not leaving that corner of the kitchen for a good 10 minutes but the result is worth it.

So happy birthday to the fella, hope youve had the best birthday week ever.

Rice Flour Angel Food Cake

1 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/ 4 cup dark chocolate pieces or chips

12 cold egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Have ready an un-greased 10 inch tube pan.

Sift together the flour, sugar and salt three times into a medium bowl.

Pulverize the chocolate chunks in a food processor until finely chopped. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat together on low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute the egg whites, water, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and lemon. Increase mixer speed to medium and continue beating until the mixture increases in volume about 5 times and resembles a slightly translucent soft foam. This should take around 2 to 3 minutes. The foam will hold soft moist peaks when beaters are lifted.

One tablespoon at a time slowly beat in the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar. Do this process over the course of 2 minutes. When the sugar is added the foam will be a creamy white and hold soft glossy peaks that bend over at the points. Do not beat until stiff.

A 1/4 cup at a time sift a fine layer of the flour mixture evenly over the surface of the batter and fold gently with a rubber spatula just until the flour is nearly incorporated. Repeat 7 more times with the rest of flour mix until no traces of flour are visible. During the last addition of flour mixture add the chocolate pieces.

Pour the batter into the pan and spread to level the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool upside down for at least 2 hours, setting the tube over a bottleneck or resting the pan on 4 glasses.

Original recipe from Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Beckers The Joy of Cooking.

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