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Update on my second baking of the Mocha Chocolate Chip Cake to which Cwcdesign introduced us last year.
I used 3/4 cups of mini-chocolate chips this time and dredged them with flour. They still sank to the bottom, but it is less messy with the mini chips. I stacked the layers so that each had the chips on the top. I also used 1/2 tsp. salt in the cake rather than the specified 1 tsp. kosher salt. I omitted the kosher salt from the frosting, since it uses salted butter. I used just 2 Tbs. of the King Arthur Espresso powder (recipe calls for 2 Tbs. and 1 tsp.). I like the frosting much better this time, perhaps because I used less and because I had freshly opened espresso powder.
However, the cake does not slice nicely but crumbles a lot. I'm not sure if that is the chocolate chips or if the recipe could use some tweaking.
I have written to Cass/Kid Pizza to see if he has any suggestions about how to address that issue and the sinking chocolate chip issue. If he does, I'll be sure to post his answer here.
On Saturday evening, I baked the Brown Sugar Sour Cream Pound Cake from the KAF website. I used a Wilton Bundt pan from my mother that has 5 little hearts around the top. I also baked No Fail Sugar Cookies from the Fancy Flours website, rolled 3/8-inch thick, cut with a small heart cookie cutter and sprinkled with red jimmies. For the cookies, I increase the salt by a half teaspoon. As an experiment, this time I used Hudson Mill bleached flour. The cake and cookies are for the after service social time at church tomorrow.
Note: Kid Pizza is correct: bleached flour in cookie recipes with a lot of butter is the right choice. My cookies came out nicely crispy (baked 15 minutes, but also refrigerated a few minutes before putting the cookie sheet in the oven.
Baking Valentine's cookies makes me think of Livingwell (Penelope). I hope that she is reading, on either this site or Zen's site. I hope that she is baking her sugar cookies for the holidays.
I tried another new recipe on Saturday (wow: I'm caught up!), "Asiago Bagel Buns, a.k.a. Faux Bagels," from The Baking Sheet (Winter 1999), p. 25. It's also on the KAF website. I wanted to use up some Sir Lancelot flour, and to use some of the non-diastatic malt powder I have in the freezer. They are called "faux" bagels because instead of the water bath, they get brushed with a solution of non-diastatic malt powder and water twice before going into the oven, and then once during baking. We each had a warm one with dinner. The flavor is good. The second rise might have been a bit too long, but the texture is good. I'll probably try the recipe again in the next couple of weeks, since I have the rest of the cheese to use up. I'm almost done with the Sir Lancelot flour (about one cup left), so I would have to use the Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread flour in the pantry to make up the difference.
So far, I've only missed one week in my resolution to try a new recipe every week this year. On Tuesday, I baked "Lethal Layers," from Dying for Chocolate, a murder mystery series by Diane Mott Davidson, in which Goldy the caterer solves mysteries in between jobs. I made two changes: I used light brown sugar (I prefer the taste) and Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (my husband is a dark chocolate fanatic). I also lined the pan with parchment paper. My husband and I liked them very much, so I will rename them "Luscious Layers." (Did someone else on this site also try them and call them Luscious Layers?)
