Wildlife, Movies.

Last Thursday morning I received my regular newsletter from World Wildlife Fund spreading the good news that tigers, in India, are apparently recovering due to good management and conservation.

A roaring success for India's tigers


Tiger numbers are up! In 2006 it was estimated that there were only 1,411 wild tigers in India. In 2010 there were 1,706, and we’re really pleased to say that the 2014 survey counted an incredible 2,226

Directly copied from the newsletter. Unfortunately with that good news comes the news that more rhinos were poached in 2014 than ever before despite all the efforts being made. 1,215 rhinos were slaughtered last year.

We finally got the DVD of the movie The Dish. I loved this film from the first minute I saw it. I had it on my PC, from iTunes, but decided to buy the DVD for Matt so he could see it again. In fact he had more or less forgotten the movie. We watched it Monday night and both enjoyed it. A friend in Oz tells me if I love this movie I should watch The Castle. I will have to check it out. I learned a great word, drongo, and then my friend, Michelle, who writes Pinky Poinker’s blog used the word in her blog which I found amusing. It means a fool basically. Of course today, Tuesday, I am going to see Paddington Bear and will be telling you all what I thought of it. From everything I have seen, it looks hilarious.

A lot of people have been saying how much they hate Valentine’s Day and particularly because of it’s commercialism. I can see where you are coming from, but it doesn’t have to be commercial. Arrange a nice dinner at home, or even a lunch if you prefer, with your sweetie and just practice some togetherness. Even easier this year as it falls on a Saturday. Here is a dessert you could serve to your special someone. If you want to be lazy you can always buy the wafers rather than making them yourself.

Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake

Melissa Clark

• Yield 8 to 12 servings 

With homemade chocolate wafer cookies and a maple-laced butterscotch whipped cream, this recipe takes icebox cake to a more sophisticated level without sacrificing any of its lusciousness. You can build the cookies and cream into any shape you like — a round, a rectangle or a heart, which is what we do here. If you have cookies and cream left over, you can sandwich them together, whoopee-pie style. The wafers can be made up to a week ahead of when you’d like to assemble the cake. Store them airtight and try not to eat them all before you make the rest of the cake.

Ingredients

For the chocolate wafers:

• 1 ½ sticks/170 grams unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons/230 grams granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons/30 milliliters milk
• 1 teaspoon/5 milliliters vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon/3 grams baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon/5 grams kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup/88 grams unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-process

For the maple-butterscotch cream:

• ½ cup/100 grams firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons/30 milliliters maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons/28 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Pinch kosher salt
• 3 ½ cups/840 milliliters cold heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon/15 milliliters bourbon
• 1 ounce/28 grams semisweet chocolate, for serving
• 1 teaspoon/5 milliliters coconut oil, for serving

Preparation

Make the chocolate wafers:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Whisk together baking powder, salt, flour and cocoa, then add to mixer bowl and mix until combined. Roll into a 10-inch-long log, wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice dough into 1/8-inch rounds and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. You should have about 48 cookies. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make the maple-butterscotch cream:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, butter and salt. Stir continuously until mixture is combined and sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking without stirring until mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup cream, then stir in bourbon. Let butterscotch cool completely.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine remaining 3 cups cold cream and the butterscotch. Whisk until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Assemble the cake:

1. Divide wafers into six batches, about eight cookies per batch. On a serving platter, arrange one batch of cookies into a heart shape, breaking into pieces to fill in gaps if necessary. Top wafers with about 11/4 cups butterscotch cream, smoothing into a heart shape with an offset spatula. Repeat layers until cookies and cream are finished, ending with a layer of cream. (There may be extra cookies and cream; build the cake higher if you like.) Cover with plastic wrap and chill cake in the refrigerator until cold, at least 1 hour, before decorating the top.

Decorate the cake:

1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir in coconut oil. Let chocolate cool until lukewarm but still fluid. Drizzle over cold cake. Return cake to the refrigerator and let sit overnight or up to 2 days before serving.

Have a great day