5 pounds of chocolate cupcakes

I found this recipe in the most unlikely of places - by talking to a startup software executive at a conference. I immediately like people when it's apparent they have a love of food that rivals mine, and this woman was awesome. She had just moved back from Spain, and instead of talking about what I imagine most business people would (glad to be back to burgers or family or familiarity?), she talked about the olive oil, the bread, the markets, learning first the spanish words for basil and garlic... Wow. And then she tells me about this cake, her go-to, never-fails-to-disappoint cake made with "at least 5 pounds of chocolate" (her words). I prod a little deeper, and it turns out the recipe she uses comes from Orangette - the lovely blog I read on a daily basis - posted over 4 years ago. She sent me the recipe, which I immediately set to making. The only problem was my own impatience - not waiting for the cupcakes to cool enough before removing them = not nearly as photogenic as Orangette's, but by far the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever tried. Find someone who's birthday is near, or any other excuse possible, and make this cake. You can find the Orangette original here.

Grocery list: (cake) 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, 1.5 cups brewed coffee, 3 c sugar, 2.5 c A/P flour, 1.5 c unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 3 eggs, 3/4 c canola oil, 1.5 cups buttermilk (shaken), 3/4 tsp vanilla extract; (ganache frosting) 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate, 1 c heavy cream, 2T sugar, 2T light corn syrup, 1/2 stick unsalted butter.



To make the cake, chop the 3 oz of chocolate and pour hot coffee over it, and allow it to set for a while to melt. Grease or line 36 cupcake tins, or grease/flour 2 10-inch cake pans.



Next, work on your dry ingredients: sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.



In an even bigger bowl, beat the eggs for 5 minutes with a hand mixer (or 3 mins w/a stand mixer) until they are thickened.



Then, slowly add in the oil, vanilla, buttermilk, and the coffee-chocolate mixture, beating until smooth.



Now, if you've got a stand mixer with one of those nifty attachments that keeps flour from poofing up into the air, good for you. I had to MacGiver it - I draped some towels over the top of the hand-mixer & bowl, and carefully dumped in the dry ingredients while beating on medium speed. I'm still finding chocolate powder in some crevices in the dining nook, so I'm just warning you here...



Then, pour your batter into the pans. This was an impressive sight wasn't it? Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes (or 50-55 for larger cakes). I think it helps to rotate the cupcake pans halfway through - meaning, move the pan from the bottom rack up to the top and vice versa. Otherwise the bottom cakes will cook way faster. Use a toothpick to tell when they're done.



While they're baking, make the ganache. Heat the heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until just boiling.



Chop the chocolate (or cheat, and use chips - but they were really really nice chips from WF so I think Orangette would approve) and stir into the cream, then remove from heat.



Cut the butter into pieces and stir into the melted chocolate mixture. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool - it will keep thickening as it cools. Whenever it's at frosting consistency, you can spread it on the cakes. Make sure you remove the cakes to a wire pan and allow them to cool to completely room temperature. I rushed the first few cupcakes, and literally poured the frosting over them instead of waiting, that's how excited I was about the cupcakes. You might want to enlist some moral support during this part, if you don't want to risk ruining the presentation in the heat of the moment...

Orangette, I agree with you - this was "the most deeply-flavored, moist-yet-fluffy chocolate cake [I've] ever tried."

best fried chicken in the universe

The September 2008 Bon Appetit is shaping up to be the best cookbook I've ever purchased - what is this, my 6th recipe from that issue, and counting? They featured Thomas Keller's recipe for fried chicken, and the pictures of all these kids eating drumsticks had me thinking, I've got to try this. So I cross-referenced with my trusted resource, New Best Recipes, but for the most part followed Keller's recipe (scaled down to about 1/3 of the original - which called for 3 chickens!). Just like the rosemary garlic roast chicken I've blogged before, brining is the key. This is by far the BEST FRIED CHICKEN I have ever tasted.

Grocery list: (for the brine) 1/3 cup kosher salt, 3 T honey, 6 bay leaves, 10 unpeeled garlic cloves, 1 T whole peppercorns, 2 rosemary sprigs, 3 thyme sprigs, 3 parsley sprigs, zest & juice of 2 lemons, 1 3-pound chicken (or 3 pounds of chicken parts like thighs and drumsticks); (for frying) 2 cups AP flour, 2 T garlic powder, 2 T onion powder, 1.5 tsp paprika, 1.5 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp ground pepper, 1.5 T kosher salt, 2 c buttermilk, 4 cups peanut oil.



You have to start this recipe either the night before or early the morning of - in the 12-24 hours before dinner window. Put all the brining ingredients in a large bowl with 8 cups very hot tap water, and stir to dissolve the salt. Chill until the brine is cool or room temperature.



Rinse the chicken parts and submerge them in the brine. Cover with saran wrap and chill for at least 12 hours, and no more than 24 hours. About 2-3 hours before you start cooking dinner, drain the chicken and pat the pieces dry, removing any bits of herbs that stick to the skin.



Next, set up your assembly line. You'll need 1-2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Mix all the dry ingredients for the coating in a bowl (flour + spices), and put the buttermilk in a bowl next to it.



Dip a piece of chicken in the flour mixture first, then in the buttermilk, then back in the flour mixture again. You want a pretty thick coat - don't shake off the excess - because some will fall off anyway during the drying process. Place the coated chicken pieces on the lined baking sheets and let stand to dry. The Keller recipe says they can dry at room temperature for 1-2 hours, but the New Best Recipe says to refrigerate them for a couple hours (your own comfort level with room temperature poultry is the determining factor I guess).



In a heavy skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat until it registers 320-330 degrees. The oil should be at least 1.5 inches deep. Add 4-6 pieces of chicken at a time, carefully lowering each piece into the hot oil with a slotted or wooden spoon. It's also safe to keep a splatter screen in the other hand, shielding you from the pan just in case. Fry for 7 minutes, then carefully turn each piece over and cook for another 6-7 minutes.



Transfer the chicken pieces to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with more kosher salt. The New Best Recipe gives a helpful tip for placing the first batches of chicken in a warm oven on a cookie drying rack over a baking pan, so they stay warm and crispy (instead of on paper towels, where the crust can get soggy and stick to the paper towels).

buttermilk pancakes

Whenever I crave good pancakes, I always assume this means I have to make a trip to either the Flying Biscuit (great oatmeal pancakes) or to the Original Pancake House in Atlanta. I associate at-home pancakes with the crappy Aunt-Jemima all-in-one mix or Bisquick or whatever, and those don't come even close to "real" pancakes. This morning I realized I had some buttermilk, some flour, some eggs -- why not try to make them from scratch? I found this fairly generic recipe on foodnetwork.com, and made a half batch (the half batch is listed below), which made 6 pancakes.

Grocery list: 1 cup a/p flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 2 T sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 T melted butter, extra butter for cooking.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Stir the buttermilk, melted butter, and 1 beaten egg together. Stir the wet ingredients in with the dry *but don't overmix the batter!* You want to keep it lumpy; if you over-stir it, the pancakes won't turn out fluffy.



Melt a T of butter in the bottom of a fry pan, then spoon the batter into the pan. You'll know it's time to flip when the pancakes are bubbling and you can see the edges are golden. This entire process took about 3 minutes longer than making the "instant all-in-one" pancakes, so I've got a great back-up plan next time I don't feel like trekking across Atlanta for a buttermilk pancake fix...



Side note: I served this with a simple side of fried bacon. I prefer the Maverick Ranch hormone- and antibiotic-free bacon, it's delicious.