Chocolate Beer Cake

Chocolate Beer Cake Recipe

Batter:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup beer
1/3 cup oil
1 egg, slightly beaten

Syrup:
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup beer
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar

For batter, mix dry ingredients; make a well in center. Add beer, oil, and egg. Beat just until smooth.

For syrup, make a paste of cocoa and a little beer in a saucepan. Add remaining beer and sugars. Heat to boiling.

Pour batter into a greased 8-inch square baking pan. Drizzle syrup over top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

Cool about 5 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from pan; invert onto platter. Even out pudding layer with knife. Serve warm or cool. The aroma of this chocolate beer cake is quite strong.

You Say Bark, I Say Slab - Some Like it Ruff

After reading my post on bark (releasing the hounds of habit), my good buddy Don sent me the following:

Man Charged With Striking Girlfriend, Forcing Her To Bark

A Dunn man was arrested after he allegedly hit his girlfriend with a whip and made her bark like a dog on all fours. Brian William Cook, 35, was arrested at his home after his live-in girlfriend reported he began arguing with her and slapped her when she would not call him “sir.” He then allegedly grabbed her by the hair and hit her with a “bondage stick.” The woman told police he made her get on her knees and ordered her to bark like a dog. Cooke was charged with assault on a female. He was held at the Harnett County Jail without bond.

First of all, let me say that this was not what I had in mind.

Secondly, both Don and I think that if this was really a live-in girlfriend, she probably saw the "bondage stick" before and might just like it a little ruff.

(Thanks, Don - there just can't be too many bad puns in the world!)

Since we're still talking bark, I've learned that some chocolate makers call it bark, at Hotel Chocolat they call it slabs. I think slabs is more accurate. If it was all bumpy (nuts and fruit on top), I think bark would be better. These thick smooth things look more like slabs to me. But, hey, as long as it's made of chocolate, who even cares what they call it!

This is an assortment of 10 of Hotel Chocolat's mini slabs:

Hotel Chocolat is a UK company. Can you see the subtle British flag in the packaging? (look at all the bars as a whole.) How cool is that?

I just think the packaging is gorgeous. Each bar comes in a different colored envelope/box with a beautiful metallic wrapper.

Here's a little about them from their website:

All good stories need a bad guy, an antagonist who sparks the action. For us that bad guy was the mediocre quality of chocolate available in UK stores. So, 15 years ago, co-founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris embarked on a journey to do something about it.

Starting as a mail order catalog business, we began making our brand of exclusive chocolates available to UK consumers for the first time. An award-winning website soon followed and in 2004 the first of many Hotel Chocolat retail stores appeared across the UK. The company and their chocolate have a loyal following all over the world, and have established a presence in the United States to better serve the American chocolate connoisseur.

The combination of authentic, premium ingredients with plenty of imagination and flair is something we’re passionately committed to. And it’s a position that we have strengthened by growing our own cocoa at our historic plantation, Rabot Estate in St Lucia. This exciting step allows us to extend our expertise all the way from the bean to the bar – making a unique connection between you the consumer and the cocoa plantation.

And guess what? Holy smokes!!!! This is some damn good chocolate!!!

And you can order it at http://www.hotelchocolat.com/


We're going to review just two of the slabs to start:

As usual, I thought I wouldn't like this one - Chilli & Orange Dark Chocolate with 74% cocoa - and was wrong (again).

Their description - chilli (yeah, that's how they spell it) has been teamed with cocoa since the pre-Aztec era in South America. The addition of zingy orange adds a new dimension which really works.

I agree - this bar rocks! The chili is VERY subtle and the orange balances it out. The chocolate is so good that even at 74% it's smooth and delicious. BAM!! Well done! It makes you see how chili can really work with chocolate.

This next bar is sin in a wrapper. (All the slabs come either one really thick slab or two thinner slabs to a pack.) This one is Smooth Praline Fusion:

Isn't it beautiful? Their description: Mellow milk chocolate praline meets creamy hazelnut praline in a gorgeous swirl that will melt away in the mouth like butter on hot toast.

Damn skippy! That's exactly what happens and it is AWESOME!! Once you start eating this you will never want to stop - so sweet, creamy and delicious - it should be illegal.

The only improvement in my mind would be to mix the two a little more. Maybe to have the whole bar swirled. The hazelnut is so sweet and creaming you need a little of the chocolate to balance it. But, hey - that's minor. This bar is simply amazing.

More slabs to come!! But let's keep the bondage sticks to a minimum.

Ice Cream - It's Not Just for Dessert Anymore

You know how I feel about candy makers making political statements. Remember my rant about organic chocolate? (See September 27, 2008) Well that was nothing! Check this out:

Ben & Jerry's celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor "Chubby Hubby" to "Hubby Hubby."

Oh please.

Look - I really don't mind who marries who. As long as both parties are adults and both are free to choose - rock on. But I don't want my ice cream to get into the political fray! Can't there be one safe haven?

I mean, let's try these flavors on for size:

Pro-Choice Pomegranate

Anti-Abortion Almond

Bail-Out Banana

Healthcare Reform Raspberry

I think ice cream should be about ice cream not politics. Can't we just buy a product because we like it, not because we want to embrace a political view? Can't our refrigerators and candy dishes be political free zones where we can all come together - united by our taste buds?

And, at the end of the day, do the decision makers at Ben and Jerry's really think someone is going to change their belief system because of the name of an ice cream flavor? Do I really have to think about two men married to each other when I eat ice cream? (I don't really want to have Hubby Wifey ice cream either.)

I feel like the last safe bastion of summer and goodness and fun and carefree lazy days has been invaded by politics. Here's to taking ice cream back!

Hey - if Ben and Jerry's really wants to do something politically correct - maybe they should stop making ice cream at all. After all, there is an obesity epidemic. Maybe they should just call it "Tubby Chubby" and sell shaved ice.

Ice cream and politics just don't mix.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Chocolate Bark is basically a flat slab of chocolate into which nuts and dried fruit and other things are placed. I've reviewed Bissenger's awesome pumpkin bark which is a giant slab of chocolate with delicious pumpkin swirled in. I also reviewed berkshire bark's Pretzelogical Bark which I didn't care for. But berkshire makes other barks:


http://www.berkshirebark.com/


and the big thing is the ingredients are all natural - no preservatives.


Here's Mocha Buzz:

Mocha Buzz has Belgian milk chocolate, roasted almonds, cocoa nibs, crushed coffee beans and caramel. If you like coffee - you'll love this. I don't like coffee and I loved this! The chocolate really is excellent and it's packed with almonds. The caramel must have been really light because I didn't notice it. The bitterness of the nibs and the coffee beans balance it all out. Outstanding!!

Here's another coffee influenced bark - Jumpin' Java:

This one has Belgian dark chocolate, roasted almonds, Espresso toffee, crushed coffee beans and caramelized cocoa nibs. Again coffee lovers would adore this - but so did I! I was shocked!! It must be the toffee and the almonds that offset the bitterness of the coffee beans. This was a damn fine bark!

You don't see much done with white chocolate (really not chocolate at all, but you know I'm no snob!). This one is called White Lightning:

It is made of Callebaut white chocolate, roasted cashews, fresh lemon zest, ginger and sea salt. This is a good bark, but it doesn't have the depth the others do. Cashews are a sweet nut and with the white chocolate - well, it was too bland and sweet for me, especially compared to the others. Not bad in any way, just not as good.

Here's Tropical Heat:

This one is Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate, macadamia nuts, mango, papaya, pineapple, coconut, Ancho chili powder and cayenne pepper. I thought I would really like this bark. I found the chili powder and the cayenne pepper too strong - overpowering the fruits. Maybe a milk chocolate would have helped restored the sweet balance. I am so bummed - I bet I would have worshiped this bark if it didn't have the chili powder and the pepper. Wah!!!! This was my least favorite.

And finally, there is Midnight Harvest:

This one has Belgian dark chocolate, roasted almonds, roasted hazelnuts, dried cranberries, fresh orange zest. Outstanding!! A great fall bark - packed with nuts and fruit.

These are so much better than your average candy bar - you can really taste the quality of the ingredients. And the flavor mixes are creative and interesting without being weird (well, except for Tropical Heat - I just don't like my chocolate to be so peppery). If you're a chocolate lover, you owe it to yourself to try and track these barks down.

Once again - the things I thought I wouldn't like (the coffee barks), I did and the things I thought I would like (the white chocolate and the fruity tropical heat), I didn't. Keep trying new things - you don't really know what you will (or won't) like until you try it!! And this goes for people, music, places, activities etc. etc. etc. - not just chocolate. I keep saying it because it's so true for me - the hardest thing to keep open in this life is your mind.

Release the hounds of habit!! Try a new bark. (Bwah, ha, ha!)

Orange Chocolate Crunch

Orange Chocolate Crunch Cake Recipe

2 cups orange sections (about 6 oranges)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1-2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and section oranges. Cut sections into small pieces. Combine the orange pieces and orange juice.

Beat eggs. Add oranges, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix well.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add all at once to orange mixture. Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9x13-inch pan.

Combine the brown sugar, chocolate chips, and nuts. Sprinkle on top of cake. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes.

The Fog of Dating

Last week I spoke at the NCACPA's Emerging Leaders conference. It's for their younger members (under 35). After my session, a group of us got involved in a discussion about dating. This is the perfect audience for me - most of them were single too. (Now I don't mean to date, I mean to commiserate with!) In most of my audiences, everyone is married.

The discussion we got into was what exactly counted as a date. Now I found this interesting. Usually I figure if a man asks me out for a drink or coffee or a meal, and he's not married, a business contact or a friend of mine, it's a date. I think all of these match.com meetings are dates. But here was the discussion - one of the women said it was a date only if you kissed at the end. The rest of us disagreed. We felt if the man paid, it was a date. (Although I have paid on occasion just to get the hell out of a date.)

The truth is, I never really thought this was a topic that was open for debate. I've known several men who asked me on our first date if we could have a "real" date. (Poor guys didn't realize that was the real date and they blew it.) I've always known that men hate to call anything a date and anything short of marriage a relationship. (Hell, some don't even consider marriage a relationship.) But I didn't realize that what a date actually is was a matter of debate for women.

I don't kiss the majority of men I go on first dates with, but I'm still sure I was on a date. I can agree that a really good date ends with a kiss, but a bad date ends with either or both parties trying to get the hell out of there ASAP. But it was still a date! What do you think, readers? What the heck is a date? Am I wrong?

Hey gang - let's see what Wikipedia says! (Italics are my insightful comments.)

Dating is a form of courtship, and may include any social activity undertaken by, typically, two people with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as their partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse. (Typically two - i.e. don't be bringing your friends or your Blackberry!) The word refers to the act of meeting and engaging in some mutually agreed upon social activity. Traditional dating activities include entertainment or a meal.

In many cultural traditions, a date may be arranged by a third party, who may be a family member, acquaintance, or professional matchmaker. Recently internet dating has become popular. (God help us all, especially me.)

Although dating etiquette in Western culture has become more relaxed during the twentieth century, there are considerable differences between social and personal values. For example, when an activity costs money (for example, a meal), traditionally the man was expected to pay; but in recent times the practice of "going Dutch" (splitting the expenses) has become more common and more acceptable. (I am totally biased here - if a man doesn't pay on our first date, it's over for me. One guy actually pushed the check toward me and said - "I'll get it next time." Needless to say - there was no next time. It's not about the money - we can just do coffee - it doesn't have to be expensive. It's about making me feel cared for.)

The average duration of courtship before proceeding to engagement or marriage varies considerably throughout the world. (Ain't that the damn truth.)

Nothing there about kissing, but there is a mention of the man paying.

I guess dating is in the eye of the beholder. One person might think they are on a date, and the other might think they are......well, on the moon.

The only time it has ever been murky for me is when a man I thought was just my friend thought we were on a date. I was usually clueless until the bill came. If he tried to pay for everything, I would fight him. I didn't want there to be any doubt about things. Usually after the bill battle, he would blurt out something like - don't you know that I'm attracted to you? Um.......no? Thank God none of these friends have ever tried to kiss me. I'm so damn blunt it never gets to that point.

So many things are in the eye of the beholder. One person is planning your wedding, the other person is planning his escape. A neighbor thinks you hate him, when you just like your privacy and have never given him a thought. Some people like peanut butter, some people (clearly insane) don't. It's so easy to be convinced things are one way, when they really are another. The older I get, the less I know. Hell, when I started writing this post, I was sure I knew when I was on a date, and by the end, I realized I've been on someone else's date when I thought I wasn't.

Keep an open mind - realize your reality is not the only one. Heck - you might be dating someone right now and not even know it!

Trader Joe's Chocolate Treats

Trader Joe's has cool stuff and it changes all the time. So some of these might be there if you go one time and not be there another time. But that's okay - it's all part of the fun! The people who work there are so fun and friendly - if you haven't been in a Trader Joe's yet - you should go - it's fun to shop there and they have cool, funky stuff. Let's check out some of their treats:

These dark chocolate covered caramels are delish. They are the chewy kind, the kind I really like:

This is a good, solid caramel. The best in the world, no. But damn good - yes. I have nothing bad to say about these babies.

Now, Joe's Almond in the Coconut is sent straight from heaven:

What makes them so good is revealed in the autopsy:

How brilliant is that? The almonds are chopped up and put in with the coconut! (Not like Almond Joy with one lone almond sitting up on top - this is SO much better! Why didn't anyone think of this before now?) The coconut is moist and delicious - these are fabulous!!!

Not so fabulous, but appealing to health nuts:

If you really like edamame (roasted soybeans), you'll probably love these. And they really aren't bad, I'd just rather have peanuts or almonds or raisins or cashews or pecans or blueberries or JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE covered in chocolate.

Speaking of almonds - look at these two variations:

The first ones are sprinkled with sea salt and turbinando sugar and they are incredible!!!!

No, I didn't know what the heck turbinado sugar was, but Wikipedia does:

Turbinado sugar, also known as turbinated sugar, is made from sugar cane extract. It is produced by crushing freshly cut sugar cane; the juice obtained is evaporated by heat, then crystallized. The crystals are spun in a centrifuge, or turbine (thus the name), to remove excess moisture, resulting in the characteristic large, light brown crystals.[1][2][3]
Turbinado sugar is similar in appearance to brown sugar but paler, with larger crystals, and in general the two can be exchanged freely in recipes. Turbinado sugar differs from refined white sugar in that it is obtained or crystallized from the initial pressing of sugar cane.

So basically, these almonds are coated in dark chocolate, then sprinkled with sea salt and big hunks of brown sugar. They are amazing and delicious and different. YUMMY!!

The second set are also dipped in dark chocolate, but are then then rolled in black cocoa. They too are very good, although I really like the first ones better. The cocoa they are rolled in makes them extra chocolaty but in a more sophisticated way than just chocolate covered almonds. They are very, very good. The only drawback is the the dark cocoa powder gets all over everything! But there's something kind of fun about that. It looks like toner - no one would guess it's really chocolate.

Now you know there would have to be some peanut butter treats! These are milk chocolate covered mini peanut butter crackers:

These were not bad, but they were not my favorite. In fact, I could take or leave these. I think they were too crackery and not peanut buttery enough. But you all know I have peanut butter issues. Hell, let's face it - George Washington Carver is my dealer and peanut butter is my crack.

And that's why I could not stop eating these - OMG they are good!!!!! (Notice this package is the largest of all and is empty.)

These give Reese's a serious run for the money. Look at that delicious, oozing, creamy peanut butter! They literally melt in your mouth. If you get nothing else at Trader Joe's get these. However, do not blame me when you can't stop eating them. Blame George.

Trader Joe's is a great lesson in retailing - give people cool stuff, make it of high quality, and make shopping a fun, funky experience. They don't really compete with traditional grocery stores or health food stores because they are so unique. It's fun - you deserve some fun - get thee to a Trader Joe's. Or just sit around and be miserable - the choice is yours.