S'more Birthday Cake, Please!

 

I made this s'more cake for my friends' birthdays. They're triplets, so it's three layers of old fashioned chocolate cake sandwiching caramel and chocolate frosting. I topped it with a torched marshmallow meringue. The sides are graham crackers held in place with a green ribbon.

I'm on a bit of a s'more kick recently, having just made a s'more tart for a shoot with my boss, Lori Dennis', upcoming HGTV show, The Real Designing Women. That was a graham cracker crust lined with a thin layer of caramel and honey roasted peanuts and filled with a dark chocolate ganache. It was, of course, also topped with marshmallow meringue, which I torched on camera! I'll post again when the series airs.

Here is the recipe for the marshmallow meringue: 

7 egg whites

1 3/4 cup of sugar

Pinch of salt

Put the ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer. Bring two inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan that will hold the mixer bowl above, but not touching, the water. Place the mixer on the saucepan and whisk the mixture for about five minutes, until it is hot to the touch (120F). 

Immediately transfer the bowl to the mixer and mix on high with the whisk attachment until you have a thick, glossy meringue (about two minutes).

Use the meringue immediately to frost the cake--just kind of blob it on, making sure to get lots of peaks and swirls. Torch with a blow torch.

You can also save the meringue in an airtight container to snack on Fluff style, but it will get a bit of a crust. It's still yummy, though.

My Mother's Amazing Bread

Speaking of homemade bread (see next post), my mom makes the best bread! She uses the method for no-knead bread made popular by this article in the NYTimes a few years back. She makes hers with a combination of white, wheat and rye flours and tops it with sesame seeds (maybe she'll share her special formula???). It is so good fresh with salted butter or toasted and spread with butter, ricotta and jam. Kind of like Lay's, betcha can't eat just one...loaf.

Handmade Pitas!

Feeling ambitious the other day, I set out to make handmade pitas. It was a two-day process (with only  an hour of active work time) that resulted in about twenty big, puffy whole wheat pitas. Baking bread is such a gratifying experience that makes me feel so industrious and leaves me very self-satisfied (and usually quite full).

To accompany, I made hummus, baba ganoush and marinated feta and olives with tomato confit. I use Mark Bittman's hummus recipe with the addition of one secret ingredient--apple cider. I was making the hummus at my parent's house last year and they didn't have any lemons for juicing so I substituted the apple cider. I now use both lemon juice and apple cider. The cider adds a really nice depth of flavor and a slight sweetness. I imagine that apple cider vinegar might be a nice substitute for the lemon juice, as well.

The baba ganoush was very easy to make and delicious. I roasted a whole large eggplant (punctured with a fork) at 500F for an hour. I then scooped the flesh out and let it drain in a colander for a few minutes. I put the flesh in the food processor and pureed it with a tablespoon each of lemon juice, tahini and olive oil, some parsley, a clove of garlic and salt and pepper. This is a great spread to make with the delicious eggplants at the farmers' market now and the eggplants can also be cooked on the grill for a great smoky taste.