A birdday cake

My sister made this cake a while ago and it looked delicious! When I was deciding what to bake for my brother for his birthday, the “Chocolate Guinness Cake” came to mind, it is rich, chocolaty, and moist. Perfect for a wintry day like today.

The first step was to pour the Guinness in a wide saucepan, add the butter and warm it until the butter melts.

Next, I whisked in the cocoa powder and the sugar, until it was smooth. I slid the pan off the  hot burner and beat the eggs with some vanilla and sour cream. I added the egg mixture to the pan and mixed again. Lastly, I added the flour and a little baking soda.

I poured the batter into a springform pan and popped it in the oven for about 45 minutes. When it was done, I put the cake outside to cool.

Meanwhile, I made up a batch of cream cheese frosting. The recipe calls for a little whipping cream to be added into it, making it fluffy, somewhat resembling the foam on top of a pint of Guinness.

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Tangerine and Cranberry Galette

I made a variation of this galette (inspired by my friend Emily) for Thanksgiving last year and have been dying to make it again ever since, I am going to a birthday party this evening so I thought it would be a nice thing to bring along.Today’s variation is a bit heavier on tangerines, because I was running out of cranberries.

For the crust, I combined two of my favorite recipes (Pastry for Pies and Galettes from Deborah Madison, and Pâte Brisée from James Peterson) to get a crust that, I think, came out quite nice.

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. cold butter, cut into small pieces

3 Tbsp. cream

1/2 tsp. vinegar

3-4 Tbsp. ice water

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add cream and vinegar and mix gently. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until the dough comes together. Wrap and chill for at least 30 min.

While the dough was chilling, I prepared the filling.

3-5 tangerines-preferably organic, washed well

3/4- 1 1/2 c. cranberries, washed and sorted

1 1/4 c. sugar

First, cut a few thin slices from the widest part of the tangerines and set aside. Cut the remaining tangerines into pieces and remove any seeds.

Put the chunks of tangerine in a food processor and pulse until there are only small pieces left. Add 3/4-1 cup of cranberries and pulse again. (The first time I made this I had more cranberries so 1 c. of cranberries here, and 3 tangerines. This time, I only had about 3/4 c. cranberries so I used 5 tangerines.) Scrape cranberries and tangerines into a mixing bowl and add 1 1/4 c. sugar. (For the first version, at this point I added 1/2 c. whole cranberries as well.)

By this point, the dough was chilled, I rolled it out into a rather large rough circle.  Transfer the dough to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the filling to about 3 inches from the edge of the dough. Place the tangerine slices on top of the filling and fold the edges over. (I had a little extra filling and dough so I made a tiny galette also.) Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of the crust. Bake at 400*F for 20 minutes, turn the heat down to 375*F and bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the filling sets up a bit and the crust is golden. Serve with whipped cream.

 

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