When our friend Traci commissioned a surprise birthday cake for her significant other, Dan, she requested something chocolate. So I started flipping through my cookbook collection looking for inspiration for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. This was no time for restraint. Special occasions call for special cakes. And this would be a special cake. I …
Chocolate
This cocoa nib semifreddo might be the easiest fancy dessert I’ve ever made. It has three ingredients (well, four if you count the pinch of salt), it requires about 10 minutes of active work, and it doesn’t require any special equipment like an ice cream maker. You just need some kind of mixing apparatus (anything …
I have a confession to make. I’m not really into the whole mint and chocolate combination. I’ve never disliked it, exactly, but it’s never been one of those things I crave. Mint chocolate chip has always been my father’s favorite flavor of ice cream, but ever since I was a kid, I could take it …
It was 70° on Saturday. Then on Sunday it turned cold and misty. And today it was colder still with a forecast for snow. It’s springtime in Chicago. A season that always seems intent on doubling back on itself a few times before it settles in for good. It’s a good day for simple comforting …
Who wants cake? This triple chocolate mousse cake isn’t just any old cake. It’s a special occasion cake. It’s a takes-three-days-to-make cake. It’s a hunt-down-three-or-four-kinds-of-chocolate cake. It’s a reorganize-the-freezer-to-make-this-thing-sit-level-overnight cake. It’s, let me just say, a totally-worth-it cake. I made this for my sister Erin’s birthday. She was having a low key party at her …
When I was a kid, I couldn’t get enough chocolate. It was, easily, my favorite flavor. Death by chocolate, molten lava cakes, chocolate ice cream topped with hot fudge sauce: they were the desserts I dreamed about. In my mind chocolate plus chocolate plus chocolate could only be improved with more chocolate. Now I tend …