The Brownie Dilemma aka What I Do For Love

I am the baker in our house. When I make brownies there is a dilemma. Amy likes her brownies with nuts. I'm not a great fan of nuts in brownies. Last week Amy asked me to make brownies, and since they were her idea I added nuts. But I would have been much happier without them.

Crumbled Cake

Sassafras Mama posted today about her weekend battle with cake and it brought to mind a battle I had with a cake many years ago.

For many years we belonged to a lesbian & gay neighborhood group which held monthly potlucks. Most month's our contribution was cooked at the last minute. Our contribution that month was to be a bittersweet chocolate bundt cake. (We'd clearly planned ahead because the cake takes several ingredients that we don't normally have on hand.) The cake went together smoothly and was soon in the oven. While it was cooking I mixed up the glaze for the cake.

When the cake was cool I loosened the edges and turned it out onto a plate. Or at least I tried to turn it out onto a plate. About a third of the cake stayed in the pan. Since there wasn't much time before we needed to leave for the potluck I didn't have time to wallow in sorrow, though I probably let loose with a few curse words. I quickly had to come up with an alternative contribution for the potluck. I'd been at a party where trifle was served a few weeks before this, and so that was where my mind went when presented with the broken cake.

A quick look in the freezer revealed some raspberries, and there was cream in the fridge. The raspberries were quickly defrosted, and the cream whipped. It was quite cathartic to crumble the cake into a clear bowl, where I layered it with raspberries, the chocolate glaze that was intended to coat the outside of the cake, and the whipped cream. The resulting concoction was a big hit at the potluck.

We have made "Raspberry Oops Cake" many times since, and I've never had a problem getting it out of the pan. I keep swearing that I'm going to make the cake as intended one of these days, but so far it hasn't happened. And it's still somewhat cathartic to crumble up the cake.

Unfortunately, I don't have photographic evidence to share.

Don't Bake While Tired

A couple of weeks ago I was up late finishing cupcakes for a party the next day. I'd gotten a late start and I had to have the cupcakes ready to go first thing in the morning so even though I was really tired I was determined to finish. When I added the confectioner's sugar to the mixer for the frosting I realized that I needed to mix it in by hand because the mixer was putting too much of the sugar into the air. I reached for the switch to turn it down. In my sleepiness I did not turn the mixer off as was my intent, no I switched it to high. The result, as you can see, wasn't pretty.


The powdered sugar was everywhere. I was coated, the counter was coated, everything on the counter was coated. So take it from me - if you're tired step away from the mixer.

New Year's Eve Tradition

year draws to a close
knead dough, chop toppings, shred cheese
bake homemade pizza

Homemade pizza is our New Year's Eve tradition in our house. Most years it's just Amy and I. There was one memorable year when we spent New Year's Eve at our friends ski house in New Hampshire and I made pizza for 22.

Holiday Baking

Our kitchen has been humming with a flurry of cooking and baking this weekend. Turkey and stuffing, roast beef, pork roast and ham & beans were the entries in the cooking portion of the weekend. Below are the entries in the baking category.

Vanocka ( Czech Christmas Bread)
Full of golden raisins and walnuts.


Homemade Chocolate Danish.


Amy's Fudge

There was also a marginally successful attempt at divinity. There is no photographic evidence of that.