Thursday, October 16, 2014

Fall Colours in the Park, Cooking

Wednesday morning we were finally expecting a painter to fix the wall/ceiling where there had been a leak so I got cracking as far as getting dressed was concerned. When I went into the bedroom to put on my clothes, I was struck by how nice the park looked and how good the colours were right outside our window. This picture looks better on my desktop and the colours really stand out. Hope they look good on your computer. This picture is particularly for Fil.

View from Bedroom

A propos, the leak damaged area has been fixed.

Today we are bowling again, just for a change. Actually this has been a somewhat boring week for us. I spent a fair time yesterday cooking. I had boiled up the turkey remains so today I made a vegetable soup. I also made Alice’s Beets but I left out the sugar, the beets are quite sweet enough. We ate some for supper, they are very good. Luckily I was wearing an old shirt as it is covered in beet juice. Not happy with the soup, something missing, Matt says seasoning, but I think it is lacking "mouth feel" if you know what I mean. I tried a spoonful with a tiny drop of olive oil in it, it seemed to be better.

Did everyone get frightened off by my conservation statistics? I haven’t had so few comments in a long while.

I was asked for more chocolate, here’s more chocolate from BBC Good Food. Of course, as I say so often, this would be so much better with thick English cream.

Espresso, chocolate and chilli cake with coffee cream



espresso-chocolate-chilli-cake-with-coffee-cream

Serves 8 - 10

The warmth of coffee and chilli combine beautifully with chocolate in this impressive dinner party dessert, finish with double cream.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for the tin
  • 250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 250g salted butter, softened and chopped, plus extra for greasing
  • 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
  • 2 red bird's-eye chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder (optional)
  • 6 medium eggs, separated
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 175g caster sugar
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 4 tbsp ground almonds
  • cocoa powder, to serve
For the coffee cream
  • 300ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp instant espresso powder

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 22cm springform cake tin with soft butter and line the bottom with baking parchment. Shake a little flour around the buttered edges.
  2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a pan of simmering water, or in a microwave. Once melted, whisk together until smooth and add the espresso powder and chillies and chilli powder, if using. Whisk the egg yolks with the brown sugar and caster sugar, either in an electric mixer or with an electric hand whisk, for 5-10 mins until thick and pale. In a separate bowl, using a clean whisk, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft rounded peaks form.
  3. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the beaten yolks and sugar, and gently mix until smooth. Add the almonds and flour and mix again. Spoon the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and gently fold together. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 mins until the cake is set but with a slight jiggle in the centre. (If the cake is starting to brown too quickly, cover with a piece of baking parchment.)
  4. Leave to cool in the tin – it will sink a little as it cools. Run a knife around the inside of the cake tin to loosen. Remove the baking parchment and place on a cake stand. Whisk the cream and espresso powder until soft peaks form. Serve on the side or spoon on top of the cake dusted with a little cocoa powder.
Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

24 comments:

  1. Good morning Jo - the trees look glorious - thank you for the photo:) that's a lovely view to wake up to each morning.
    I checked out the Beetroot recipe as well - that veg is becoming addictive in this house.
    and that chocolate cake looks sinful :) Fabulous.

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    1. I hope the colours came out well for you. The picture is really bright but not on my laptop.

      I like the beetroot recipe, this is the second time I've made it. The cake does look sinful. I assume that the cream in Ireland is much the same as in England? Much richer than we get here.

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  2. What a beautiful view! I'd get nothing done, just sit and look out the window.

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    1. That's why we like our apartment so much Denise. It's nice to watch the ever changing colours of the seasons.

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  3. Replies
    1. Doesn't look so good this morning, it's foggy.

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  4. Beautiful foliage! I have been remiss in my local leaf peeping endeavors thus far this fall and the colours are going by fast. Leaves are falling off the trees too.

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    1. Yes, you should be able to get lots of good shots with your camera. I am no photographer but this one was easy to take. The leaves are falling off the trees here too.

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  5. The picture is beautiful bu when I look at my backyard all I see is a sea of leaves and they don't look so lovely! They look like work! LOL

    Chocolate cake - mmmmm

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    1. I sympathise. In NC our biggest problem was pine straw. But we still got lots of leaves. The joy of living in an apartment, no raking, no mowing and no snow shovelling.

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  6. Stunning view you have there Jo. Does it snow where you are in Winter? The occasional tree changes colour here in Autumn but certainly not like that.

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    1. View changes somewhat in winter. It most certainly does snow here in winter, heavily. Last year we had a ton of snow. That's when we thank heaven for being in an apartment building.

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  7. The park is gorgeous! I love the colors of fall.

    My commenting is off due to being busy. Conservation is a good thing- waste not, want not, right?

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  8. Hi Jo - the Fall colours are just lovely - what a wonderful view from your appartment .. I love soups but rarely make them .. they need some body ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Glad you like them Hils. It is a wonderful view, we enjoy it all year round.

      I managed to give my soup some body and we had some last night. It was good.

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  9. Lovely photo, Jo. We don't get much in the way of Fall colours here - just a few exotics that try but are fairly insipid because it's too warm and our native trees are evergreen.

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    1. Nowhere in Oz? That's such a pity. Even in England we got some pretty good fall colours

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    2. There are plantings of deciduous exotics in colder parts like Victoria, Tasmania and the mountains that colour but where I live there are very few. It's too warm - which is one of the reasons why I live here. I'm not fond of the cold although I do have to say I enjoyed Autumn and later fresh fallen snow when I lived in colder climes.

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    3. When I was working I wasn't keen on the snow because of driving and cleaning cars, but now I'm retired I can enjoy it.

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  10. We had some really nice colors this year. Hubby got some pictures of the tree next door while the leaves were a vibrant yellow. Now we have a yard full of leaves that need to be raked up.

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    1. We did too, I'm sure they were better than usual this year. Luckily we don't have to rake any more.

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