Chocolate-Raspberry Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

Do you ever cook or bake something and when it's time to write your post you are at a loss for words? Well, that's how I feel today. I should talk about this great cake I made, but I would much rather talk about my youngest son and the awesome soccer season we've been having. Or how about my middle son, he just got done with a big science project. I could certainly tell you about the effects aspirin has on plants. Not your thing? Well then how about my oldest? She is a senior in high school and we are in the middle of prom season. Would you like to know about all the emails she sends me daily of the pretty dresses she is finding all over the internet. I could also talk about all the yard work we've been doing since our weather has been gorgeous and we are having a big graduation party coming up in just a few short months. None of those are of interest to you? Well, then can I tell you about my two silly, extremely loving dogs who've been enjoying the warmer days by exploring the yard like they've never seen it before. In fact our little Cocker Spaniel is out there with her nose on the ground and her little "nub" wagging all day long, that is as long as I'm out there with her, since she has a slight case of separation anxiety, but we'll save this subject for another time. All of those things are going on in my life and I could easily talk about all of them for hours, but coming up with an interesting post about this recipe is just not in my cards today. I really don't want to bore any of you, so I guess I better try and turn this around and bring it back to my cake (how did you like this extremely smooth transition?).

OK fine, let's talk about this recipe. This is an extremely tasty cake, which I found in a great little book called "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman. This cake is a kicked up version of a marble/pound cake. Kicked up with raspberry flavor that is. The chocolate part of this cake comes from melted bittersweet chocolate which is folded into half of the dough. The other half of the dough gets some berry love from raspberry jam. Both are layered alternating into a loaf pan and then swirled with a knife to get the marbled effect. Once baked, the cake gets even more flavor from raspberry jam, which is brushed all over the cake. Last, but not least, once the cake is cool, a chocolate glaze with a little bit of Chambord liqueur adds the finishing touch for this delectable dessert. 

This is a great cake with a wonderful, but yet subtle raspberry flavor. The whole family (minus my chocolate hating husband) really enjoyed this. In fact, my youngest was terribly upset when he got home from school and realized his brother and sister had gotten to the last couple of pieces before him. Yeah, it is that good and apparently it makes a 9 year old very upset when gone. I'll be making this one again and this time a little someone already put "dibs" on the last piece.

Chocolate-Raspberry Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

 ~makes 1 cake~

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 large eggs, at room temperature lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup raspberry jam

For the glaze:

1/4 cup raspberry jam

6 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 tablespoons raspberry liqueur (Chambord)

Preparation:

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and dust with sugar.

Put 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler or a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Place the chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in a stainless steel bowl big enough to rest on top of the saucepan, and set the bowl on top of the simmering water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine the eggs and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and lightly beat. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixer on low speed an d add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Scrape half the batter into a medium mixing bowl and whisk in the raspberry jam. Whisk the melted chocolate into the batter remaining in the mixer.

Scrape 1/2 the raspberry batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top, then add 1/2 of the chocolate batter. Repeat the layers with the remaining batters. Run a butter knife blade through the batter to create marbling. Do not overmix.

Bake the pound cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely.

For the glaze: Heat 1/4 cup raspberry jam until loose, and use a pastry brush to brush the warm jam all over the top and sides of the cake. Combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, and chocolate in a samll pot and heat over medium, whisking until smooth. Stir in the raspberry liqueur. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes. Spoon the glaze over the cake, smoothing it over the top and sides with a small metal spatula to cover. Let stand until the glaze firms up, about 1 hour. Slice and serve.

Adapted from: Cake Keeper Cakes

Ice Cream Fridays: Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream and Giveaway Winner Announcement

Welcome to the final installment of Ice Cream Fridays for the year. All of you ice cream fans, this does not mean that I won't be featuring seasonal ice cream flavors every now and then, it just means, that for now it will not be a regular feature anymore. But don't fret, Ice Cream Fridays will be back for sure next year with new ideas and flavors. For the time being though, I'm cooking up a couple of different ideas for a new Friday feature, so stay tuned to see what I have in store.

Which ice cream did I chose to cap off my feature? It is none other than a Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord. To break this one down with one simple word would be: Decadence. I had this flavor bookmarked in my all time favorite ice cream book, "The Perfect Scoop" for a very long time. I figured there was no better time than now to feature a flavor combination that I have loved for as long as I can remember, raspberries and chocolate.

This ice cream was another very easy, non-custard based, quick to fix recipe. Heavy cream, unsweetened (dutch processed) cocoa powder and sugar are whisked together and brought to a boil. Fresh (or in my case freshly frozen) raspberries are added and left to "steep" for a bit. The mixture is then processed in a food processor or blender until smooth, and finally strained to remove all those pesky little "get stuck in your teeth" seeds. To kick the flavor up another notch, I added a couple of tablespoons of Chambord liqueur to really enhance the raspberry flavor. After chilling in the refrigerator for a few hours the mixture is churned in an ice cream maker.

True bliss with every creamy, rich, decadent bite. On first taste you think it's just a chocolate ice cream until the bright tartness of the raspberries gets you upon swallowing - heavenly. One of my definite favorites this year. One that I will be making over and over again. Maybe next time I'll add some chopped semi-sweet chocolate to the final mix to make it even better (if possible).

In case you were wondering what my personal top 5 ice cream flavors were this season, here they are in no particular order:

- Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord

- Nutella Ice Cream with Frangelico

- Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream

- Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

- Super Lemon Ice Cream

 And finally, here is the winner (who was generated by Random.org) of the giveaway. The winner receives the book that has brought me,

and hopefully all of you, so much joy this summer:

Congratulations to:

Carole

who said:

"I recently purchased an ice cream maker so I've been enjoying your ice cream posts. I'm a Nutella fan."

Please contact me by email with your address so I can send you the book! :o)

Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) heavy cream

5 tablespoons (40 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

2/3 cup (130 g) sugar

2 cups (240 g) raspberries, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons Chambord liqueur

Directions:

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender. If you wish, press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Add the Chambord.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Adapted from: The Perfect Scoop

Tender Shortcakes with Chambord Raspberries

For this weeks BWD: Baking with Dorie Challenge, it was my turn again and I chose Tender Shortcakes on Page 423 and 424 in Dorie Greenspan's book

Baking: From my home to yours.

Choosing a recipe from this amazing cook book is a much harder task than one might think. For one, it has a lot of recipes and for two, every single one of them looks and sounds like it would be amazing. So in order to come up with some kind of selection process, I try to at least go with something seasonal, which eliminates about half of the recipes. This is how I decided on the shortcakes. I figured everyone in our blogroll would be able to find some kind of fresh fruit that would complete these little biscuits.

The dough is quickly made in one bowl without dirtying a lot of dishes. You have to be careful not to overwork the shortcakes, but again Dorie's instructions are always wonderful and easy to follow. Baking time is a short 15 - 18 minutes, and after briefly cooling the shortcakes you are ready to use the filling. I wasn't sure which route I was going to go since all the berries in the store looked delicious, but ultimately decided to make the recipe a little different from the traditional strawberry and used raspberries instead. To further enhance the raspberry flavor, I macerated them not only in sugar, but also in a tablespoon of Chambord which really heightened their flavor. Since the berries turned out quite sweet, I didn't think the cream needed further sugar, so I just whipped it to soft peaks and left it "au naturale".

The recipe makes about 10 shortcakes, but I went ahead and halved it with fantastic results. My alterations netted me 6 shortcakes which was perfect for my family.

These were probably the best shortcakes I have ever had and everyone in my house was in agreement. The cake part was unbelievably tender and tasty, with the raspberries and cream being a wonderful accompaniment. Dorie Greenspan definitely hit a home run with this recipe and it will go into my permanent recipe file and will be the only shortcake recipe I will use from now on.

Please go and check out the other Baking With Dorie participants blogs (which you can find on the bottom of the BWD page) and find out what they decided to do with this weeks recipe.

For our next BWD in two weeks (the 7th of June) it is Grapefruits turn with Lemon Cup Custard on Page 387.

If any of this has peeked your interest and you want to join the fun with us next time, then shoot me or Grapefruit an email and we'd be more than happy to have you.

Tender Shortcakes

~makes about 10 Shortcakes~

(Print this Recipe)

For the Biscuits:

4 cups  all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

For the Filling:

Berries (about 1/2 cup per shortcake), hulled and slice if using strawberries (I used raspberries)

Sugar

Chambord (optional)

Lightly sweetened softly whipped cream

Directions:

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

To make the biscuits: Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces in between - and that's just right.

Pour the cream over the dry ingredients and toss and gently turn the ingredients with a fork until you've got a very soft dough. When the dough comes together, you'll probably still have dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl - just use a spatula or your hands to mix and knead the dough until it's evenly blended. Don't overdo it; it's better to have a few dry spots than an overworked dough. Even with all the flour mixed in, the dough will be soft and sticky.

Spoon out about 1/3 cup of dough for each shortcake onto the baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches of space between the mounts of dough. Pat each mound down until is is between 3/4 and 1 inch high. (The shortcakes can be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake with out defrosting - just add at least 5 more minutes to the oven time.)

If you have more dough, repeat, cooling the baking sheet first.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, rotating the sheet from front to back at the midway point, until the shortcakes are puffed and give just a bit when prodded. Pull the sheet from the oven and transfer the shortcakes to a cooling rack.

To make the filling: Put the berries in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar to taste and add Chambord if desired. Let them sit for about 10 minutes , until they are juicy.

The cakes are tender and really pretty fragile, so go easy with them. Use a serrated knife and not much pressure to cut each cake in half horizontally. (Alternatively, you can use the tines of a fork to prick a ring around the middle of the shortcake, then use your fingers to gently pry the halves apart.) Put the bottom halves on plates, top with the berries - make sure to include some of the sweet juices - and spoon over some whipped cream. Put the tops on the shortcakes or lean them against the cream, my preference. If you decide to go for the open-faced shortcakes, you'll get two textures - moist and moister.

Adapted from: Baking: From my home to yours

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

 

The other day my husband stopped at Costco on the way home and brought me a 4 pound container of Strawberries. What a perfect opportunity to make another of David Lebovitz's ice cream recipes. After looking through his book, The Perfect Scoop, I decided on Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream which can be found on Page 90.

This ice cream is very different from his Vanilla Ice Cream which I had made a couple of weeks back. This ice cream unlike the vanilla version, required not cooking a custard. The ice cream has very few steps, so besides slicing up the strawberries and blending everything together, which should take a max of 15 minutes total, there is only waiting time. This is truly an easy recipe as far as homemade ice creams are concerned.

It starts by washing and slicing your strawberries, then adding your sugar, some alcohol; which in my case I used Chambord (David uses vodka or kirsch in his recipe). Then the mixture macerates for one hour. After that, put the strawberries, which have juiced significantly, along with sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency. The mixture then gets poured into the ice cream maker and frozen to the ice cream makers manufacturers instructions.

This ice cream did not disappoint either. It was full of strawberry flavor that was only enhanced by the sour cream, heavy cream, and Chambord but overall, the strawberries were the star in this frozen concoction. Everyone in the house enjoyed this ice cream immensely which I will be making again as long as strawberries are in season.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

~makes about 1 1/4 quarts~

Ingredients:

1 pound (450 g) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

2 tablespoons Chambord*

1 cup (240 g) sour cream

1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and Chambord, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour stirring every so often.

Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still slightly chunky.

Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

*If you are concerned about the alcohol you could leave it out, but I really think it enhances the berry flavor and certainly helps with the texture of the finished product once frozen.

Adapted from: David Lebovitz