twice desserted

World's Best Ever Plain Pound Cake: this - be aware that it makes a rather large cake and it needs the ENTIRE time to bake, maybe even a bit more.  Don't be fooled by a brown top - check the cake with a toothpick or knife to see if the middle is completely done before removing.  If you have any leftovers, they're great toasted for breakfast with a bit of jam on top.

World's Easiest Chocolate Sauce For Pound Cake: Heat 1/4 c. butter, 1/2 c. chocolate chips (though I'm pretty sure the original recipe called for baking chocolate), 1/4 c. milk and 1 c. sugar over low heat.  Bring to boiling; stir constantly and boil for one minute.  Remove from heat and cool before serving, if desired.

We had this cake at the bloggiversary potluck - I forced my friend Rebecca into an evening of slave labor in my kitchen in exchange for dinner, so she did this one start to finish for me.  She got rave reviews.  I'm not surprised.  She's quite the kitchen diva.

A few noteworthy things have been happening this week:

-I'm officially into my second year of blogging

-My father-in-law supervised my mozzarella-making adventure that will result in tomorrow's tomato-mozzarella-basil salad

-I viewed a chicken deboning a la Julia Child and it was everything she said it would be: "By the time you have completed ... this, [it] will appear to be an unrecognizable mass of confusion and you will wonder how in the world any sense can be made of it all."  The formerly mentioned FIL worked a bit of magic with the smoker and some mushrooms, with such a spectacularly tasty result that Julia called and asked to feature him in her new edition.

A few of my favorite things ...

Wow, I love friends, and potlucks.  I love the friends more, but the potlucks are a nice accompaniment to friends.  We had some great eats ... my plateful of food looked something like this:

Go ahead.  I give you permission to drool a little ... 

We had:

Herbed roast beef

Goat cheese salad with vinegrette dressing

Homemade macaroni and cheese

White & Sweet potato bake

Colombian bean dip

Mostaccioli salad

Pound cake with chocolate sauce

Easiest chocolate cupcakes with espresso whipped buttercream

Dark chocolate brownies

Don't you wish you could have come?  

You're invited next time.

Chocolate for Rachel

Frances Jones Cocoa Cake 2 c. sugar 1/2 c. shortening 1/2 tsp. salt 2 eggs 2/3 c. cocoa 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. buttermilk (make your own: put 1 1/2 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice in the 1/2 c. measure, then add milk up to the top. Let it sit for a minute or two - the acid sours the milk and it starts to curdle a little bit) 1/2 tsp. baking soda 2 c. flour 1 c. hot water Mix sugar, shortening, and salt. Add unbeaten eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Add cocoa and vanilla and stir. Add baking soda to buttermilk*. Add flour alternately with buttermilk mixture to the sugar/shortening mixture. Add hot water and stir. Pour into greased pan (I've used a 9x13pan, a Bundt pan, and 2 8-inch round cake pans. It's your call). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. *Remember elementary school science project volcanoes? If you make your own buttermilk as I suggested above with vinegar in milk, I ... um ... advise you to transfer the 1/2 c. of milk to a larger measuring cup before adding baking soda, or you'll have a mini-Mt. Vesuvius on your counter. Not that this has EVER happened to me. This is my "fall-back-perfect-every-time" chocolate cake recipe. It's moist and fluffy. And delicious. And easy! And chocolatey. It's one of those cakes where you eat a piece and don't feel weighted down by all that you just ate - it's that amazing. I wanted to post it for my friend Rachel, who is living and teaching with her husband in Guatemala, where access to certain ingredients can be tricky sometimes. Aah, jungle living! Viva el 3rd world! If anyone knows of any resources for her ... like, let's say you know a good cookbook that doesn't use many pre-packaged ingredients, or a website she might like to look at, leave it in the comments and she'll see it. This recipe came to me from a mission guesthouse in Ogbomoso, Nigeria, called Frances Jones Memorial House. The cooks there used to turn out the most amazing desserts (well, entire meals, really) and this one was always a favorite. And since today is Nigeria's 49th Independence Day, it's only fitting that this recipe is from there. Happy chocolate, Rachel!

Answer: What is "your granny"?

Question: This is the person you would "jump up and slap" when you have a slice of this delightfulness.

For real.

Granny's Pound Cake

from Southern Living, November 2005

1 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

2 1/2 c. sugar

5 eggs

3 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 c. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and shortening at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition just until the yellow appears.

Stir together flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla just until blended. Pour batter into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cook in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, cook completely on wire rack. Dust cake evenly with powdered sugar.

Makes 1 cake (as many servings as you want ... probably 12ish)

Really, all I can say about this cake is that you must make it. It's as simple as that. Don't you dare read the ingredients and think anything other than, "Do I have all of these right now?" Beats a store-bought cake any day, and it's the most moist, tasty thing EVER. With summer coming and lots of fruit on the vine/tree/bush that's ripe for the taking, you've got to make this for dessert one weekend and top it with blueberries or peaches or strawberries.

It really will make you want to jump up and slap someone. If it's your granny, just make sure she won't slap you back (I believe mine might ... she's spunky for an 85 year old).

PS. I've had a not-so-secret secret-desire to appear on the show Jeopardy ever since I was twelve. I think I could do it, though I am afraid that I'd win so much money that I wouldn't know what to do with it ...