B's Birthday: Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

It seems to be a big birthday time! We celebrated my mom’s birthday over the weekend, my maternal grandmother’s birthday is this week, my friend Sunny’s son just had his second birthday and she is anticipating the birth of her twins. By the way, I ‘d like to give a huge round of applause to her for handling bedrest like a champion and making it to 36 weeks!

Last week was my colleague, “B”’s birthday. She and I began working together in September and became fast friends. It’s been a rough time at work for both of us, and to complicate things further she is now hobbling around on crutches with a broken leg! She was in definite need of a chocolately birthday treat!

I made Chocolate-Chip Pound Cake to bring in to work on her special day. This pound cake comes together easily, and gives you chocolate cake that is filled with chocolate chips and topped with chocolate sauce. A chocolate trifecta! You can dip the bread in the chocolate sauce, but I like to pour it over the top and allow it to harden for a few minutes in the refrigerator. Oh, and this makes two cakes! Eat one and put one in the freezer, because it freezes really well!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
(From Giada's Kitchen)
Ingredients
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup water
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 ¼ cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

For Homemade Chocolate Sauce:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

In a small saucepan, combine the unsweetened chocolate and 1 cup water. Place over medium-low heat and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool for 2 minutes, then whisk in the mascarpone until the mixture is smooth.

Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl for 30 seconds. Stir in the chocolate-mascarpone mixture. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of each loaf comes out with no crumbs attached. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. (If you plan to freeze the cakes, wrap them well in aluminum foil once they are completely cool.)

To make the sauce:
Place the chocolate chips in a small heat-proof bowl. Combine the heavy cream and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until small bubbles appear at the edges of the pan. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate chips. Stir with a fork until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the pound cakes and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes to set the chocolate sauce. Return to room temperature before serving.

Merry Christmas: Crème de Menthe Pie

Merry Christmas! I just wrapped up my Christmas dinner. The leftovers are in the refrigerator, the counters are wiped, and the dishes are in the dishwasher.




For the past few years, I have hosted Christmas dinner at my house. It is a small crowd, but it is fun to have the liberty to cook whatever I want to. Since my in-laws have always had more conservative palettes, I don't make anything too prolific, but I do modify the menu each year. We start the afternoon with a few appetizers, followed by dinner, and capped off with the one constant each year - Crème de Menthe Pie.

Baked Brie with Raspberry Preserves

Crab and Cream Cheese Dip

Glazed Ham

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas

Seasoned Corn

Green Beans with Sautéed Mushrooms, Garlic, and Almonds

Glazed Carrots with Pecans

For as long as I can remember, my family has had Crème de Menthe Pie for dessert on Christmas dinner. This was a tradition I continued when we lived in NYC and I made it for our friends for our pre-Christmas dinner. When I started hosting Christmas dinner myself, there was no doubt what I would make for dessert. Although my mother, my sister, and I are all in different places on Christmas night, celebrating with our respective in-laws, this is a dessert that we all still make. (In fact, I wound up with two pies in my freezer tonight, as my parents stopped by my house for appetizers, but forgot their pie when they ventured on to their next destination.)

There are so many memories associated with this dessert, but it is also reminiscent of my favorite hard-serve ice cream flavor - mint chocolate chip. You can serve the pie with whipped cream if you like, but I think it is perfect without.

Crème de Menthe Pie
Ingredients
3 pints vanilla ice cream
5 Tablespoons crème de menthe liqueur
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (such as Oreos)
1/3 cup butter, softened
Chocolate Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions
Combine wafer crumbs (if using Oreos, crumble in food processor) with butter and press into 10” spring form pan (press throughout bottom of pan, and up to 1 inch along sides of pan). Refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

Turn ice cream into large bowl to soften. Pour crème de menthe over ice cream and stir to incorporate. Fill chilled wafer shell with ice cream mixture. Freeze. Make chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce:
Ingredients
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
½ cup water
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ½ Tablespoons butter
¾ teaspoon vanilla

Directions
In a small saucepan, combine chocolate with water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until chocolate is melted. Add sugar and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Cool thoroughly. Then drizzle over top of pie and return to freezer until firm.