Alton Brown's Fudge Cake

 

Okay, so I am just copying this post over from one of my other blogs, Family Tree-Eats.  I feel it is too good not to share here on latent chestnut.  So, I apologize if you've read this before, but if you haven't, make this cake!!

 

This is the best chocolate cake I have ever made, and it is my 'go to' chocolate cake recipe.  It comes from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food, and I think it is one of the first recipes I tried from the book.  I don't even need to look up the page number for the recipe anymore because the book is so worn in that section, I can find it just by shuffling through the pages.

 

The steps to make this cake and frosting are a bit unconventional (pulverizing chocolate, mixing the frosting over a bowl of ice), but the end result is well worth it.  The cake is, for lack of a better word, meaty, but not too dense or rich.  The chocolate is the star of the show and there are bits of chocolate speckled throughout that didn't get pulverized as much.  It is not too sweet, and leaves you begging for more.

 

The frosting is light, airy, and full of flavor.  I like to add a pinch of fine sea salt to the mix because I think it really compliments the chocolate.  The frosting is almost the consistency of dense whipped cream only with an intense chocolate flavor, and just melts in your mouth.  I'm not usually a fan of frosting, but this one is just as good as the cake.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go bake a cake...

 

Alton Brown's Fudge Cake
Printable recipe

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
10.75 oz (2 1/4 cups) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 oz (1 stick) butter
13.5 oz (2 1/4 cups) brown sugar
8 oz (1 cup) full fat sour cream
8 oz (1 cup) boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13 x 9 cake pan.

Pulverize chocolate in a food processor until fine, then add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and pulse to combine.  Combine the eggs and vanilla and lightly beat to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar.  Then add the egg and vanilla mixture.  Alternate adding three doses of the chocolate flour mixture and two doses of the sour cream.  Slowly add the boiling water and mix to combine, the batter will be loose.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Internal temperature should reach 175-180F. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove to rack and allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
6.5 oz (1 cup) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
4 oz (1/2 cup) whipping cream
8 oz (2 sticks) butter
10 oz (2 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
Bowl of ice

Melt butter, chocolate and cream in a saucepan (preferably with curved edges) over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and neat in the powdered sugar with a hand mixer.  Once the sugar is dissolved, place the pan into a bowl of ice.  Continue to beat until the frosting lightens and holds its shape.

Cheesecake

 

 

Finding the perfect cheesecake recipe has been elusive for me.  I like Alton Brown's version in "I'm Just Here for More Food", but I usually crave something more rich and dense when I think of cheesecake.  His version almost has more of a soft custard quality.  But, I love the crust and I love his technique.  It never fails.

 

So, looking for the rich, dense, style cheesecake, I came across a recipe that seemed to fit the bill on allrecipes.com.  I made this cheesecake a few times, and while it was always good, it usually cracked on top and the sides browned and rose up over a sunken middle.  The crust left something to be desired, too.  The filling had good flavor and texture, so it had potential.

 

I decided to combine the things I liked best about both recipes to create my own version.  The crust and technique from AB's cheesecake combined with the filling recipe from the allrecipes.com cheesecake.  To my delight, this resulted in the best cheesecake I have ever made.

 

The filling set up beautifully.  It was smooth yet dense and not grainy at all with a nice rich flavor.  The crust had so much flavor, too, with just the right texture and a nice subtle crunch.  It is a beautiful cheesecake to look at, with no cracks along the top and a nice shiny flat surface.  It was also nice to not need to cover cracks with whipped cream and leave it optional.  Though is it ever really?  I think I may have cracked the code to my perfect cheesecake!

 

Cheesecake

 

Crust:

25 graham cracker squares

3 ounces unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

 

Filling:

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and grease a 9 inch spring form pan.  Put a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil along the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

 

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the graham crackers, melted butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and pulse until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Blind bake the crust for 10 minutes, then cool.

 

Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F and place a pan of water on the middle rack large enough to hold the spring form pan.

 

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar and on low for 30 seconds and then turn it up to medium. Scrape the bowl two times during this process to make sure the sugar and cream cheese are fully integrated. 

 

In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, flour, eggs, milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the liquid mixture in. When half of it is incorporated, stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Continue adding the mixture until all the ingredients are incorporated. Once completely combined, pour into the cooled crust.

 

Place cheesecake into the preheated water bath and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Then, turn the oven off and do not open the oven door for two more hours. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours before serving. 

Rhubarb Peach Cobbler

Whenever I'm in the mood to consume an entire cobbler by myself, I make rhubarb peach cobbler.  I am the only one in the house who will eat rhubarb, but I usually share a couple servings with Michael, who also enjoys its tartness.  I have been making this recipe since it first aired on Good Eats in 2005. 

I have three versions of this recipe.  One from the Good Eats episode, "Cobbled Together" printed off foodnetwork.com, one from I'm Just Here for More Food, and one from Good Eats 2: The Middle Years.  I mainly use the printed recipe, but I really enjoy using the Good Eats books, so last time I made the cobbler I reached for Good Eats 2.

I noticed right away the recipe was different because it called for lemon zest instead of lime zest in the crust, yet the filling still called for lime juice.  I decided to still use lime zest since that what I was used to for this recipe.  Then, I entered bizarro world, the measurement for lard was labeled in tablespoons.  I have never seen an AB application measure lard in anything other than by weight.  I was so baffled by it, I didn't realize the recipe called for nine tablespoons!  That's a lot of lard, especially when the recipe calls for only nine tablespoons of butter.  It didn't hit me that it was way too much until I started to measure it out.  Once I saw how much nine tablespoons was going to be, I got another copy of the recipe and checked.  Indeed, the correct measurement for lard was 1.5 ounces, or three tablespoons.  I'm glad I know butter to lard ratios or I would have had one lardy cobbler.

The cobbler turned out absolutely delicious.  The rhubarb and peaches work so well together in this dish and the crust is out of this world.  The crumbled bits of crust on the bottom are soft, tender and filled with the juices from the peaches and rhubarb.  The top crust is very pie-like; tender, flaky, and delicious.  This could very well be my favorite cobbler.  I just wish I had more people to share it with.

Rhubarb Peach Cobbler
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
9 1/2 ounces all purpose flour, approximately 2 cups
1 ounce sugar, approximately 2 tablespoons, plus 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, plus extra for dish
1 1/2 ounces lard, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 ounces ice water, approximately 3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound sliced peaches, peel on and sliced into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom rack to catch any drippings. Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside.

Place the flour, 1-ounce sugar, lime zest, and 1 teaspoon salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and lard and pulse until the mixture just becomes crumbly. Sprinkle or spritz the mixture with the ice water a little at a time and process just until the dough holds together when squeezed in a fist. Place the dough into a 1 gallon zip top bag and form into a disk. Place the dough into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, while you prepare the filling.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the 1 cup of sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir in the rhubarb, peaches, and lime juice.

Remove 1/3 of the dough from the bag, pinch into pieces and distribute evenly in the bottom of the prepared dish. With the remaining dough still in the bag, roll it out to a sheet large enough to cover the top of the dish. Pour the fruit mixture into the dish and top with the dough that has been removed from the bag, pressing the dough into the corners of the dish. Bake, uncovered, for 60 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and starting to turn golden.

Change the oven setting to broil and continue to cook until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Pastry Cream!

It would be an understatement to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed Alton Brown's new book Good Eats: The Early Years. I have been reading sections of it every night since I got it; digesting all the wonderful nuggets of information thoughtfully placed on it's pages. It is truly a must have for any Good Eats fan, Alton fan, food fan, or really anyone! It's just that good. The book covers the first eighty episodes of Good Eats and is chock full of recipes, fun facts, trivia, and good ol' cooking know-how. So far, I only have one complaint; where's the Stove-top Mac & Cheese?

My excitement for the book grew to an even higher level yesterday when I was flipping through the pages and saw a recipe for pastry cream. Pastry cream? I don't remember that recipe on Good Eats. I turned to the page prior and saw that it was grouped with the recipes from the Choux Shine episode. "No way!" I yelled as I realized what I was seeing. In the actual episode, after Alton makes a batch of eclairs and cream puffs, he tells the viewer to use a pudding mix for the filling. Pudding mix? That doesn't sound like AB. Why would he tell us to use pudding mix? As it turns out, they did not have time to include the pastry cream recipe in the episode and he goes on to say that it really deserves an episode all to itself.

So, why am I so happy to have this recipe for pastry cream? I guess I don't really know. Maybe it's because I felt like the recipe was incomplete. I'm Just Here for More Food doesn't even have a recipe for pastry cream in it. It could be also that I didn't know that the name of the stuff that fills the eclairs is called pastry cream. I was looking for custard and pudding recipes, I didn't know to look for pastry cream. It may also be because I made eclairs a couple weeks ago and my pastry cream turned out lumpy. I didn't really use a recipe because I couldn't find one and just made it on the fly, so I really have only myself to blame. But now my eclair recipe arsenal is complete! Look out world!