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Tag Archives: entertaining at home

  • Mocha Layer Cake

    May 30, 2012

    11 Comments

    Mocha Layer Cake.

    We had a busy weekend with family, friends and our eldest’s Memorial Day wooden bat baseball tournament (great, low-key fun, btw). But Memorial day weekend also means a few birthdays and anniversaries, so we usually end up entertaining. We always enjoy entertaining, but it’s sometimes a challenge to decide what to make. But, as we often remind ourselves, successful summer entertaining is all about simplicity. With cocktails, we make it easy and serve punch or home-made Margaritas, guests serve themselves at their own pace and we get to visit. For dinner we grill meat, a nice piece of fish and fresh veggies from the garden with a few tortillas, guacamole and fresh salsa. And for dessert Carolyn bakes a big ol’ cake.

    And for a party, particularly on a holiday weekend, nothing beats a good cake. Everyone likes cake (or at least frosting), it lasts a few days and you can eat it any time (and yes, there has been breakfast cake enjoyed here at the farm…;-). When baking for us, Carolyn makes small cakes with 6 inch pans. But when a large group is coming, Carolyn pulls out the 9 inch pans and makes 2, 3 (and sometimes 4) layer cakes with loads of frosting. You know it’s a good party when the host pulls out a big, beautiful, homemade cake. Add a scoop of ice cream and suddenly the kids are quiet (but not for long) and the parents are smiling and enjoying a well-earned indulgence. There is no hurry. Feels like summer now.

    While we like to keep things simple, it is still good to branch out and learn new techniques and try new recipes. In this case Carolyn adapted a recipe from Susan Purdy’s “A Piece of Cake” that included a new technique she wanted to try. Usually baking a cake is straight-forward, albeit time-consuming. Melt chocolate (if using), cream butter and eggs, add other wet and dry ingredients. Blend batter until smooth and fluffy. Bake.

    Grease and dust the pans with cocoa powder.

    Melt the chocolate.

    Mix your batter.

    Ready to bake, note using a scale to evenly divide the batter.

    But for this recipe, we add a cup of boiling water with coffee powder (or very hot coffee) to the batter. The batter sags with the heat, but then reconstituted itself with added mixing. We are unsure of the chemistry involved here, normally we would assume the boiling water helps with activating baking powder, but there is only baking soda in the recipe. Something to figure out, as we like to know why things happen in the kitchen. Regardless, the cake was unusually moist and rich, and Carolyn already makes very moist cakes. The flavor was very good as well, with the coffee really bringing out the chocolate. Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Dessert, Entertaining Tags: baking, cake recipe, chocolate cake, entertaining at home, food, frosting recipe, mocha cake, mocha frosting, photography, recipes
  • Ti’ Punch: This week’s cocktail

    February 11, 2012

    4 Comments

    Ti' Punch

    Since we did Meyer Lemon cocktails last week, let’s make this a weekly thing. This weekend, we will be drinking Ti Punch.

    One of the themes of the blog is cooking and entertaining at home. And nothing entertains (or ends the work week) like a cocktail. And right now there is a lot of fantastic and inspiring (and perhaps, overwrought) mixlogy out there. But let’s face it, much of the best mixology these days is not easy to do at home. That does not mean we cannot drink great cocktails, we just need to focus on drinks that use ingredients we actually can find and don’t break the bank. The easiest way to make great cocktails at home is to use fresh juices. Last week it was Meyer Lemons. This week it is limes. And Ti’ Punch shows just how much you can do with a fresh ingredient and a good recipe. Continue reading →

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    Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Rum / Cachaca Tags: cane syrup, Cocktail, entertaining at home, fresh juices, lime juice, limes, mixlogy, Mixology, Rhum Agricole, Rum / Cachaca, simple syrup, sugar, Ti Punch

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