~ Decadent Chocolate Truffle Cake the Rolls Royce of Desserts

As a Personal Chef, I mostly cook for Pharmaceutical Reps and Doctor's conferences, and often face dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian, lactose intolerant, diabetic, and the most prevalent of them all: gluten free.

 The Rolls Royce of flourless desserts is Chocolate Truffle Cake, and I've both tasted and prepared many dozens of them.  I have recipes that are more complicated than this one, but for the beginner, this recipe is no-fail, and after the wonderful results you'll enjoy, I hope you'll feel more confident in venturing out into other more time-consuming and complicated versions.  If after you try this, you'd like a more challenging recipe, feel free to contact me.

One reason I developed this simple recipe, is my impatience with bainmarie.  If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times: you have to cook Chocolate Truffle Cake in a bainmarie, or water bath.  I disagree. Admittedly, a bainmarie will produce a denser cake, but they're both ganache glazed, decadent and delicious.  Technically, ganache is made from only chocolate and heavy cream, with butter added sometimes.  There's no great equation or truth serum -- you have to get the feel of it and know when you've added just the right amount of cream.  If you're already an expert at making a good ganache, use that instead of the fail-proof easy one below.  So here we go....


Chocolate Truffle Cake     about 8 servings
Heat Oven to 300 degrees. 
Prepare pan:  Spray an 8" spring form pan.  Cut a parchment paper circle to fit the bottom only, place into pan, spray again, and dust with cocoa.

Have all ingredients ready:
4 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter (no margarine substitutions -- it won't work)
1/2 cup cocoa powder

In bowl, have the following: 

Using an emulsion blender to beat eggs

3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In saucepan over low heat, slowly melt 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate with 1 stick butter, stirring to keep from burning.  If you prefer a microwave method, go for it.

 Remove from heat, and stir cocoa powder into hot liquid, until all lumps are dissolved.  Pour over remaining ingredients in bowl, and fold until completely combined, and as smooth as possible.

Pour into prepared pan.  

Bake 30 minutes.  Remove to cooling rack and cool completely.  When completely cool, run knife around pan, remove sides, and invert cake to remove bottom of pan and parchment paper.  Re-invert onto cake board with wax paper strips to catch drippings of ganache glaze.

EASY GANACHE:
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 T unsalted butter (no margarine substitution -- it won't work)
1/4 cup commercial chocolate fudge icing
3 Tablespoons unsweet cocoa
1/4 cup cream
 
Place all in saucepan over low heat, melt slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.  If lumpy, force through strainer to smooth out. Pour over truffle in circular motion starting from center.  Allow to run down sides of cake.  Cool completely. As ganache cools, it forms a skin. You'll need to cut around the bottom to separate the glazed cake from the puddle of ganache that's run down onto the wax paper, so you can then slide the wax paper away.  Garnish as desired.


Chocolate Truffle Cake will look like a little pattycake to you at first, and you'll think there's no way that will feed 8 people. But when you serve a delicate wedge with fresh whipped cream, and maybe a drizzle of raspberry sauce, you'll see how a few bites go a long way.  It's very, very rich and chocolatey just like a hand-dipped chocolate truffle.

I store it in a tight-lid container at room temp, because it doesn't last long enough to worry about refrigerating.  If you want to chill it, that's fine.  Just remember to either allow it to come to room temp before serving, or nuke it a few seconds to quickly remove the chill.  Like a chocolate candy bar, it's better at room temp.

Now let's hear it for chocolate, peeps! 

Bon Apetit!

Decorate Like a Pro, Part 2

DECORATE LIKE A PRO: PART 2: LIGHT & DARKNESS
I've often wished I could talk with Thomas Edison, and explain to him how I feel about overhead lighting.  Since I can't, I'll share my thoughts here.

We've all said:  They're as different as night and day.
And if you're describing people who are complete opposites, you're correct -- night and day are as different as you can get, because like black and white, night and day are polar opposites.  We can't exist without both of them.   A world of total light, or total darkness, would for us, be unnatural.  Our universe supplies us with both: sunlight for day; darkness and shadow for night.

Polar Opposites #2: Light and Darkness

In decorating, we bring those polar opposites home, through lamp lighting.  Like the room that is more comfortable and inviting with the use of black and white, the use of lamp lighting gives us areas in a room that are in vignettes of light, and areas that are in shadows.  Subconsciously, that's more inviting and comfortable to us.  It feels natural.

When I'm working in my kitchen (I'm also a personal chef and in the kitchen a lot), I use overhead light.  I don't like it, but a working area has to be uniformly lit.  There are no dark/shadowed areas -- just uniformly dispersed light.  When I'm cooking for myself, or entertaining, that's a different story.  Those are the times I want the kitchen to have a warm glow, because it's inviting, cozy and comfortable, and natural.  I have several small lamps on the counters and sideboards there, and with lamp lighting, I can create a romantic mood, or a festive mood, or a relaxing mood, or any mood I choose.  You've all done that when you have parties.  But the reason lamp lighting can alter your mood, is because of the polar opposites of Light and Darkness. 

People look better in rooms that are lamp lit.  Overhead light has no place to shine but down.  It hits the ceiling and bounces down.  Because of this down cast light, the lines of your face will also look downcast. People look older and more haggard with downcast light.  Lamp lighting is softer because of the shadow effect, so faces look softer, rooms looks softer, and your world is more inviting.  So turn off the overhead light, turn on the lamps, and change your appearance and your mood from edgy to relaxed.

Below is a photo of my bedroom with the overhead light on, complete with little Tea on the bed -- she's 11 years old and 5 lbs soaking wet.

And here is a picture of the same room with the glow of lamp lighting, but no overhead light.  See the vignettes of light and darkness/shadows?

In the second photo, I've created a softer, more warm and inviting mood with the use of lamp lighting, and the polar opposites of Light and Darkness.  You'll also see the Black and White polar opposites in play here as well (See Polar Opposites #1: Black and White in post below this one).  There's a white night stand, an ivory bench, a black bed and ebony night table.  And Tea must like it.  Her eyes are lit up as well!

Next time:  Polar Opposites #3: Up and Down

Decorate Like a Pro

I have a friend with such an innate sense of design who, although he's had a 20-year career in a different field, probably missed his calling. As a Decorator/Designer of 35 years, I can walk into a home and immediately see the makings of a true designer -- a person with an eye for the fundamental elements of design buried so deep down beneath the obvious, there are only 3 words to describe the bearer of all this natural talent: they get it.
 
With the birth in the early '90s of TV Channels such as Discovery and HGTV, who taught everything from how to prep a paint job to no-sew throw pillows, home decorating became so run-of-the-mill, we decorators and designers found ourselves at parties with guests who delighted in telling us every minute detail of their decorating projects.  It got to the point back then, if you wanted to pick out the real decorators and designers at a party, you had to look for the people who weren't talking about design.

Modernism has played havoc with the basics of good design, because it takes minimalism to the extreme, thereby leaving little room for the polar opposites.  That's why modernism is uncomfortable for some people, and why it doesn't appeal to their emotions or make them feel all warm and fuzzy.  Polar opposites are those secret little building blocks innately talented decorators understand without thinking about them, the same polar opposites that are so difficult to teach new design students who lean toward modernism.  But I'm confident you'll understand and maybe want to use the concepts, or at the very least find them interesting.   So here we go.....

Polar Opposites #1: Black & White
How many times have you said to a friend, "I decorated my bedroom in green."
What you are really saying is:  "I added green when I decorated my bedroom."

Every room -- no matter what color you envision it, is really -- or should be -- black and white or variations of black and white, such as ivory and charcoal, with color added.  Black and White are polar opposites.  A and Z.  Ying and Yang. Alpha and Omega.  Genesis and Revelations.  White is the presence of all color.  Black is the absence of color.  

Let's go back to Dove Cottage and I'll show you what I mean.....

Below is a photo of Dove Cottage with autumn colors:

And here's the same room with all the color removed.  What do you see?

I'd be willing to bet you didn't even see the black and white draperies in the first photo.  Am I right?  That's because your eye doesn't land on the black and white in the photos -- it's drawn to the color.  But black and white anchor your color.  They give it life, depth and dimension.  Again, White is the presence of all color -- it's where color begins.  Black is the absence of all color -- it's where color ends.  Except for God and Spirit, nothing in the universe exits without a beginning and an ending -- not even our physical bodies!  The colors you put in your room, without the anchor of black and white, technically are floating in the air like a rainbow.

To decorate like a pro, each room should have an underlying anchor of black and white.  You don't have to start with a black and white base, like I usually do.  You can go back after you've added all your color, and balance it out with the addition of black and white accessories or small furnishings. I really don't give it much thought -- I automatically look for black, white or off-white furnishings and upholstered pieces.  If find a sofa in a style I like, such as in these photos, and it's a color -- that's okay (this sofa is red under the white slipcover.)  The black and white can be incorporated in other ways.  I generally throw in some natural woods like the pedestal table here.  Then I begin to colorize the room.  Think of a coloring book with white pages and black lines, where you fill in the color with crayons. You could take this same room in the second photo above, and add blue and green, or purple and gray.  The color doesn't really matter.  The anchor of Black and White does matter. 

Even the exterior shade of Dresden Blue on Dove Cottage, is anchored with black and white.



 
Next Lesson will be
Polar Opposites #2: Light & Darkness

Framing a Doorway Gracefully

I always frame the entryway to Dove Cottage in some interesting and inviting way.  The entry to your home is the first impression, and it should not only be inviting, but establish a certain curiosity and mystique about what's beyond the door.  Right now, while you still have time to address it before the holiday season, make an objective assessment of your own front doorway, and ask yourself:  Does my entry welcome my friends and show them the joy in my heart, and how happy I am to have them visit?

I've also framed interior doorways with architectural elements in almost every place I've lived.  It gives a feeling of welcoming delineation to the transition between your living space and juxtaposed areas such as bedrooms or guestrooms.

This photo was my original inspiration in a home in South Florida in the early '80s, and I used it to inspire a similar installation in every one of J's and my homes, as well as in decorating homes for clients.  For some reason I have the photo of the inspiration and can't find my and J's photos.  I think sometimes photos must accompany socks into Neverland.  Or follow husbands into divorce.  Oh, well.  We do tend to lose photos, don't we?



Study the photo below and you'll see a proportionate doorway frame in Dove Cottage.  Note the two pieces in this application are actually different woods.  The lower oak piece you'll have to imagine upside down.  It's a mirror frame for the swivel mirror to an antique washstand.  I rescued it from the throw away pile when I was decorating for Don and Joyce Wyckoff.  I guess somewhere along the way the mirror broke, or the washstand was needed without it, and the Wyckoffs no longer found the piece useful.  I certainly did!  It could have just as easily been used around a small fireplace with a mantle piece added.  So Don and Joyce welcomed me to take it and tickle my imagination with it.  They were pleasantly surprised to see it in use in Dove Cottage.

The second piece -- the cherry arch, is from a broken butler's table that graced one of my family rooms somewhere in time. The table was broken and sent to the thrift store, but for some reason this piece was either accidentally or intentionally (I don't remember which) left behind. 

There's a definite color difference between the two woods, and I've contemplated painting them so they look more like one piece, but it's a project I've put on the back burner because once wood is painted, it's not easy to get it back to it's original state.

But without looking up close, the two blend together pleasantly.
 

There are many creative things you can do to frame a doorway.  I've taken large artwork frames as wide as the doorway, cut off one of the longer sides and finished the two cut areas with coordinating paint.  There are many corbels and crowns available at salvage yards and thrift stores.  Beautiful demi-lune wreaths can also work, with the half-moon wall inside the wreath opening painted a color to match the florals in the wreath, contrasting to the rest of the wall.  Look  in you storage shed, barn or garage, then use your imagination and you'll be surprised how many things you'll see that you could turn into a doorway frame.

I may have failed to mention that I lived in Dove Cottage for several months before I realized I'd probably been attracted to it because of it's Jueng Fui.  The front door faces due East, and when you walk in, you can see all the way through and into the West side woods through the window in the back.  It gives a sense of completeness.  Polar opposites are as important in decorating as they are in all aspects of your life.  It's commonly referred to as balance.

 
With that in mind, I've decided my next post will be about the POLAR OPPOSITES of decorating.  It's something they don't teach you on TV, because really good decorators and designers feel it naturally.   It would be akin to an artist trying to explain to you why he puts his next paint stroke in exactly that spot.  Like the artist, a designer's knowing where to apply the brush strokes is the difference between really good design and text book decorating.  It's not something I can completely teach, because it's more instinctual, but you'll certainly find the concept interesting!

I'll also be sharing the recipes for the Holiday Breakfast over the next few days.


Until.......

Pine and Berry Centerpiece

These are photos of Dove Cottage accessorized in Autumn colors, and not a pumpkin in sight, proving we really can exist without magazine holders made out of scooped, dried pumpkins, and we really don't need pumpkin ravioli, LOL!

Notice the large white ginger jar behind the sofa above -- I'm about to remove the lid and use it to make a statement with a large natural arrangement that looks exactly like this:

When I was married, if my husband J couldn't find me in the house, he knew to look out back in the woods.  As a decorator, much of the decor in our homes and the homes of my clients, I gathered from the woods.  There were times we'd be driving down the road and I'd yell STOP!  J knew to pull over and indulge my fancy of gathering something I'd seen along the highway for making anything from a floral arrangement to a curtain rod.  I also dug ferns and saplings and planted them in our yard, never thinking of the legal issues, only of the xeriscaped beauty.

I went out in the woods behind Dove Cottage today
to gather a few pine boughs, branches, and pine cones to make a large decorative centerpiece for my round coffee/dining table -- it's a beautiful 40" oak parquet pedestal table that's hydraulic so the top whooshes up and down and can be locked into any height from 14" coffee table height to 29" dining height.  8 years ago, I found it in a Goodwill store in Gastonia, NC for $25, and have never seen

Sneak Peak

The best laid plans......this is the first week I haven't been able to sit down and actually write.  Those of you who know me, know I'm a Personal Chef and up at 4 a.m. on catering days, and in bed early after working a 14 hour day.  Because of this hectic and erratic schedule, I usually write on the weekend -- only this past weekend was full up, I didn't get to Helen Kirk's Grand Opening of her studio, and I didn't make a few other things happen that needed to happen.  Surely I'm the only person in the world who can't always work it all in.

As soon as the rain passes over, I'll be gathering the lovely organics from the woods to show you how to make a beautiful statement centerpiece.  And here's a sneak peak of the Breakfast Menu recipes I'll be sharing with you....  

As for planning....I planned on making all these lovely dishes for a photo shoot last weekend, but I won't go into that again -- it just didn't happen.
 




As for this menu -- I chose some of my brunch favorites and somehow they seem to work together.  For those of you feeding children, you might want to use portions of this menu with some of your kids' favorites to balance the kid/adult ratio of dishes.






Will be back in a few days with these recipes, and some notes on Chocolate Truffle Cake, which is fast becoming popular among clients and friends because it's flourless and gluten-free and way yummy.

Ganache Glazed Chocolate Truffle Cake

Until then....Happy Trails, Blairsvillagers!