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PlumedQuail of Leave
Sep. 28th, 2019 09:12 pmYesterday, I got a text from Dr. Nurse asking if we'd like to come for dinner sometime, and if we were free tonight. I probably shouldn't have said yes, but it has been too long. I had been hoping to invite them to our house for dinner, but since I haven't been up to that, I thought I might as well accept this opportunity. I asked if I could bring something, thinking more of a bottle of wine or some trifle of that nature, but she responded hopefully "dessert?" and I didn't have the heart to say no. She added that Mr. Dr. Nurse likes chocolate.
The problem with that is that I already made the easy chocolate cake once this month for the Sparrowhawk's birthday. We still have some in the freezer. Making that again would have been too boring and simplistic. Also, I've been watching way too much Great British Bake-Off. I leafed through cookbooks, and my eye fell upon the recipe for Dutch Mocha Cake in the Time-Life cookbook series, which I own because I inherited it from Deb during one of her cookbook purges. It's a three-layer chocolate cake with a cup of strong coffee in it. It requires whipping five egg whites with sugar and folding that into the butter, sugar, flour and chocolate mixture. And then, you have to make a pastry cream for the filling AND a chocolate butter cream icing. Pastry cream is that sweet, yellow, custardy substance that is sometimes found in filled doughnuts. It requires drizzling boiling vanilla milk into a base of egg yolks beaten to a froth with sugar, and then turning the mixture into a saucepan and BOILING it again just for two minutes while beating it madly. And if you don't do it just right, it can curdle and turn into scrambled eggs. Or maybe just never thicken. This was the first time I ever made pastry cream, and it worked!! Yay! It was like a miracle.
Then I had to chill it while making the butter cream, which requires butter beaten till it is light and fluffy, more egg yolks beaten until pale and frothy, and a sugar syrup heated to just the right temperature, after which it is drizzled while still boiling into the bowl of egg yolks, and again beaten madly so they don't cook while incorporating boiling hot sugar. And then add melted and cooled chocolate and beat it and chill it till it's spreadable. This was really just WAY too much for me to take on, but once embarked, I had to continue! The cake was a monster when built. But, perhaps inspired by GBBO, I took great care to follow all instructions, and all the different fiddly bits came out well for a change. I imagined Paul Hollywood checking my layers as I cut it. I think I would have been judged quite creditably. Certainly Mr. and Dr. Nurse enjoyed it. We prevailed on them very easily to keep most of the remainder. Mr. Dr. Nurse said that I make the best cakes he's ever eaten! I was pleased.
We enjoyed our evening with them. Dr. Nurse cooked butter chicken with rice, broccoli, flatbread, and raita. I ate a small amount of everything, and my stomach is doing very well. One reason I like cooking is that it forces me to try new things. A day when I learn something new is always a good day.
The problem with that is that I already made the easy chocolate cake once this month for the Sparrowhawk's birthday. We still have some in the freezer. Making that again would have been too boring and simplistic. Also, I've been watching way too much Great British Bake-Off. I leafed through cookbooks, and my eye fell upon the recipe for Dutch Mocha Cake in the Time-Life cookbook series, which I own because I inherited it from Deb during one of her cookbook purges. It's a three-layer chocolate cake with a cup of strong coffee in it. It requires whipping five egg whites with sugar and folding that into the butter, sugar, flour and chocolate mixture. And then, you have to make a pastry cream for the filling AND a chocolate butter cream icing. Pastry cream is that sweet, yellow, custardy substance that is sometimes found in filled doughnuts. It requires drizzling boiling vanilla milk into a base of egg yolks beaten to a froth with sugar, and then turning the mixture into a saucepan and BOILING it again just for two minutes while beating it madly. And if you don't do it just right, it can curdle and turn into scrambled eggs. Or maybe just never thicken. This was the first time I ever made pastry cream, and it worked!! Yay! It was like a miracle.
Then I had to chill it while making the butter cream, which requires butter beaten till it is light and fluffy, more egg yolks beaten until pale and frothy, and a sugar syrup heated to just the right temperature, after which it is drizzled while still boiling into the bowl of egg yolks, and again beaten madly so they don't cook while incorporating boiling hot sugar. And then add melted and cooled chocolate and beat it and chill it till it's spreadable. This was really just WAY too much for me to take on, but once embarked, I had to continue! The cake was a monster when built. But, perhaps inspired by GBBO, I took great care to follow all instructions, and all the different fiddly bits came out well for a change. I imagined Paul Hollywood checking my layers as I cut it. I think I would have been judged quite creditably. Certainly Mr. and Dr. Nurse enjoyed it. We prevailed on them very easily to keep most of the remainder. Mr. Dr. Nurse said that I make the best cakes he's ever eaten! I was pleased.
We enjoyed our evening with them. Dr. Nurse cooked butter chicken with rice, broccoli, flatbread, and raita. I ate a small amount of everything, and my stomach is doing very well. One reason I like cooking is that it forces me to try new things. A day when I learn something new is always a good day.
