cake. It means I Love You

I have not been in a professional pastry kitchen for almost 3 years. That is the longest I have gone without a pastry job since I was 16. Yes there would be the few odd months when I would move or travel and be in between jobs, but this. This is serious. I have moved on. It's official.

 I grew up with a mother who decorated beautiful cakes for my brother and I every birthday. She strongly encouraged hands on learning in any situation. So naturally I had taken over the cake decorating from my mother by the time I was 5. If there was a cake to be frosted or icing to be piped, I got the honors. And I loved every moment. Unfortunately my talented mother never got to decorate a cake for us again!

 My point being, that cake is in my cell memory. Like the protein bubbles that form the crumb of a cake. Sugar, butter, eggs, flour seem to have formed the structure of my life.  At the end of the day, I feel a bit inadequate for not having produced hundreds of cookies, piles of cupcakes and at least a special order cake or two. 

  What I get to do now, is what I always said I wanted to do. When anyone would ask if I wanted to open my own pastry shop, I would always reply that that would be nice, but what I really want to do, is bake for the people I love. To have the time to cook for family and friends. Cake, it means I love you.

 Here is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. This came from a woman I worked with back in the good ol' days in Seattle. I think she found it in a magazine or cook book... I believe it has it's origins on the east coast, possibly a famous tavern in NY?

 Chocolate Stout Cake

1 cup cocoa - for best results use valrhona or cocoa berry 

3 cups cake flour - you can sub unbleached AP flour if you do not like the prospect of using such a  highly processed product

3 cups sugar

1.5 cup veg oil

3 eggs

1.5 Tbs soda

1 tsp salt

1.5 cups butter milk

1.5 cups stout beer

1 Tbs vanilla x

Sift the flour, cocoa, soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs oil. Working quickly, add butter milk and beer, whisk until fully incorporated. Then dump in the dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated and there are no lumps. Pour into two 9" pans with parchment lined bottoms. Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes. This cake pairs well with fillings that involve espresso, Irish cream, whisky, chocolate, whip cream and strawberries.

I like to cut each cake layer in half, so you end up with a 4 layer cake. Anything less than 3 layers is just not impressive!

whipping up butter cream frosting

this beauty has 6 layers...

Can you feel the love?