the divine Miss M

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Monica,
Happy Birthday to you!

Small Chocolate Amaretto Cake

Cake
6T. unsalted butter
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
3 eggs, separated
1/8 tsp salt

Buttercream
2 T. unsalted butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 T. Amaretto

French Chocolate Glaze
6 oz semisweet chocolate
3 T. cream
1.5 T. butter

Cut parchment to fit 6" pan. Spray pan with nonstick spray and lay parchment on bottom. Preheat oven to 350 and set a teapot of water to boil.

Melt butter and chocolate. Let stand for a minute. Add sugar and flour. Mix in one egg yolk at a time.

Beat egg whites and salt to stiff peaks. Gently fold them into the chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

Place cakepan into a larger pan and add hot water to the depth of about 1". Bake for approx. 1 hour. Remove pan from water, cool for 15 min. Invert onto wire rack, peel off parchment, cool completely.

Spread buttercream all over. Freeze for 15 min.

Be patient. Melt chocolate together with cream. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in butter until melted. Cool, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.

Put cake on wire rack. Pour chocolate glaze over and allow to drip over sides. Spread with a spatula ONCE, then leave it alone. Leave it be for at least an hour.

Wish her a Happy Birthday, because she is most wonderful.

Sourdough

Two 2-lb. loaves of Country White Sourdough and two 1-lb. loaves of Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough, Breads from the La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton

Black & Whites

While other people might just hear the melody, I also hear the lyrics when I listen to music. A song that shuffled up recently is "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant. Which might be apropos because my insomnia, which never quite goes away, is back with a vengeance.

I also seem to notice things when I'm running that other people don't. A skinny little dead snake. A blooming century plant. The Lunar Eclipse.

Now you have the back story behind my middle of the dark decision to bake Black & Whites. Apparently they are also called "half moons", though I've never heard them called that.