Summer Eats Post #2: Chocolate Poundcake and Homemade Ice Cream

When I was looking for a delicious but simple chocolate cake to accompany my friend, Lane's  homemade mint ice cream she was making,  I chose this Chocolate Poundcake from Joy the Baker.  It's from her recently published beautiful, and delicious cookbook, Homemade Decadence,  that I got for Christmas.  I have been reading it and marking pages and little by little trying things from the book. It is chock-full of beautiful sweet treats.  

I made a practice cake since this was going to be for her birthday and I didn't want to take a risk.  I wanted to ensure that it was moist enough and rich and chocolate-y enough.  Not surprising, it met the standard! Joy the Baker is a safe bet.

I was able to share my practice cake- 1/2 with some pals of Asher- when they hung out together that afternoon and the other 1/2 I sliced, packaged, and sent with Dave on his hospital visit to a family friend who had just had a baby. (It sliced and packed up nicely - I like this quality in a baked good.) And I got to have a piece and then get it out of my house so I didn't eat my entire "research".

Later that week,  I made it again for Lane's birthday and she made this INCREDIBLE mint chocolate chunk ice cream to go with it.  HERE is the recipe she followed.  She said it was her starting point though she tweaked it a little.  It was perfect! I haven't had a chance to attempt it myself, but homemade garden mint chocolate chunk ice cream is as good as it gets.

The cake was a good accompaniment to the ice cream.  It's a good stand alone or with ice cream.

Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze
from Homemade Decadence

Makes one 9 X 5 inch loaf

the Cake:

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup hot coffee

1 ¾ cups cake flour (or all-purpose)

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ cup buttermilk

¾  cup dark chocolate chips

the Glaze:
(These are Joy the Baker's quantities, but I feel it's too much glaze.   I thought it overpowered the flavor of the cake. When I made it the second time, I halved the glaze recipe. It's your call).

1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 Tbsp. cocoa powder

pinch of salt

3 to 4 Tbsp. milk or water

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1.     Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350˚. Grease and flour a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

2.     For the cake, in a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot coffee.

3.     In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4.     With the mixer on low speed, beat until just combined.  Add the cocoa-coffee mixture and beat well.  Beat in the buttermilk.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. 

5.     Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, with just a few crumbs, 50 to 60 minutes.  Let cool for 20 minutes before inverting the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

6.     Meanwhile, for the glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, milk, and vanilla.

7.     Once the cake has completely cooled, drizzle the chocolate glaze on top.  Let set for 30 minutes before serving. 

The cake will keep, well wrapped and at room temperature, for up to 4 days.

  

     

    

I didn't get to capture many photos of the finished product since I promptly gave it away! 

 But I snapped a couple.

I've also been making this good simple Ice Cream recipe this summer.  And while my daughter, who is obsessed with chocolate ice cream, has wished that I would only make chocolate this summer, I have managed to make banana and vanilla too, using the same base recipe.  (Which upon first bite she remembers the glory of non-chocolate homemade ice cream as well.) 

I wrote a few years ago about another recipe for homemade Ice Cream and some stories and tips of ice cream freezing.  If you want to read more on this subject click HERE. 

Vanilla Ice Cream (makes 5 quarts)

6 cups milk (1%, 2%, whole milk or a combination)

2 ½ cups half and half
1 ½ cups whipping cream

2  1/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Pour milk into a large pot.  Scald milk on stove top until bubbles form around edge. Remove from heat.  Add sugar and salt.  Stir until dissolved.  Stir in half and half, vanilla and whipping cream. Cover and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or so to cool (or in the refrigerator for an hour or more). Once cooled off, freeze as directed on your ice cream freezer.  

*In the recipe the milks are interchangeable.  The recipe calls for 10 cups of milk total, so do the math and as long as it adds up to 10 cups of milk, the salt, vanilla and sugar proportions should be able to stay the same.  You can use more milk (1 %, 2%, whole milk) and less cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if you want it lighter and icier.  Conversely, you can do more whipping cream and 1/2 and 1/2 and less milk if you want it richer and creamier.  

I made it this week to go with Dave's Red Velvet birthday cake and I had 1% milk, 2 cups of whipping cream and 1 cup of 1/2 and 1/2.  So I used 5 cups of 1% milk.  My family loved it and Lainey said it tasted like snow cream.  It was creamy and icy.  

*Also, if you want to make Strawberry Ice Cream, simply add 5 cups pureed or finely diced strawberries to chilled mixture before freezing. 

or Banana: 3 cups of mashed or finely diced bananas to chilled mixture before freezing.  

or Peach: Add 5 cups of finely diced peaches to chilled mixture before freezing. 

or...whatever you'd like! 

for the chocolate version

Chocolate Ice Cream(makes 5 quarts)

2 ½ cups half and half

6 cups whole milk

1 ½ cups whipping cream

12 oz. chocolate chips (semi sweet)

2  2/3 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large pot, mix milks.  Add chocolate chips.  Cook over medium heat until chocolate is melted, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add sugar and salt.  Stir until dissolved.  Stir in vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until cooled off.  Stir well. 

Freeze as directed on your ice cream maker.  

(If you want to make it banana- just add 4 cups of sliced or mashed bananas, if you want to make it with strawberries- 4 cups of berries, sliced, ...)

Enjoy these last days of summer!

Summer Eats Post #1: Greek Potato Salad & Tangy Grilled Chicken

I have been scattered this summer- feeling pretty foggy in the brain when it comes to trying to write a creative, inspiring, cohesive blog post.   The lack of posting certainly isn't because of a lack of cooking. There has been much action in our kitchen… perpetual, and I have taken photos along the way, in case I had some inspiration and time for sharing them with you.

Perhaps this foggy-headedness is because my three very zesty, energetic, creative children have been swirling about nonstop.  Or perhaps it is because I have taken on an added role in my home as nurse, to my healing son, after a broken leg and a nose surgery in the past few weeks.  Or it might be that I am just plum tuckered out.  I’m feeling old and tired, if truth be told.

But we have had some yummy eats so far this summer. 

So, rather than waiting until my foggy brain clears, I have decided to just write some brief, simple posts for the next few weeks to fling some of these recipes your way!

Greek Potato Salad

For the 4th of July I wanted to make potato salad that was vinegar and oil based rather than mayonnaise-based.  I looked and looked for a recipe that was what I had in mind.  I just couldn't put my finger on it.  In looking in my huge How to Cook Everything cookbook by Mark Bittman I found one recipe for a Potato Salad with a Mustard Sauce.  As I made it, I thought,  "this looks tasty, but it's not what I had in mind".  I kept looking through cookbooks.  I went to Ina Garten- surely she has what I'm looking for! She usually does.  I found her Provencal Potato Salad which was on the right track, but before I started making batch #2, I texted my friend Gretchen to ask if she had a recipe.  She replied with the magic words that sparked it for me, "Hmm I haven't. Makes me think about the Zoe's Kitchen one- like that?" YES!! That was exactly what I was trying to remember …from some back file in my brain that I had not been able to reach. 

I then had the clarity I needed: Red New Potatoes, Green Onion, Feta and a Greek Vinaigrette with chopped fresh herbs.  I used Ina's advice about cooking the potatoes and then letting them steam to finish cooking, and I used herbs out of my garden.  It was just what I was hoping for: zippy, fresh, and flavorful.

Greek Potato Salad
2 1/2 pounds Red New Potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of one lemon
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped
3 green onions, chopped (green and white parts)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (or more)

Wash potatoes and chop them into large bite sized pieces.
Boil a pot of water.  Sprinkle in some salt.
Drop potatoes into the boiling water.
Let cook for 15 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
Remove from heat, drain water and place in bowl with a tea towel over it for 10 more minutes to steam and finish cooking.

In a bowl or glass measuring cup, combine vinegar, oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, chopped green onion, basil, parsley and oregano together. Add salt and pepper.  Pour over cooked potatoes and toss well until fully coated.  Add feta cheese.  Stir.  Add salt as needed.  (This is a very loose recipe.  You can add/delete/substitute/change amounts as you desire.)

Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

It was even better the day after (FYI).  And it is reminiscent of Zoe's Kitchen tasty potato salad that they sneak in the bottom of their Greek Salad (my favorite thing on their menu)…the Greek Salad with a buried treasure.

Tangy Grilled Chicken (Brower's BBQ)

Dave's dad was in town a couple of weeks ago and we were grilling chicken but didn't have much time to marinade it like we typically do.  I said, "maybe we could baste it with something while we are grilling".  As we were brainstorming, somehow the word "baste" sparked the thought of this great vinegar based BBQ sauce that we had all of the time growing up but I haven't made in a decade.  
(I'm telling you, my brain is foggy.)

I found the recipe card in my box, had all the ingredients on hand, and stirred it up.  Dave brushed it on the chicken as he grilled.  It was a hit.  It is salty and tangy and is made with ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.   

We call it Brower's BBQ Chicken, named after Mr. Brower, the man at our church, who gave my mom the recipe.  He had a long portable grill he would use to serve large groups.  He grilled for a church-wide dinner one time and my mom requested the marinade recipe.  My parents made it regularly after that.

For several years of my childhood my family owned a lake house, and my food memories of dinner there involve this chicken.  From the dock we could smell it as dad was grilling. We ate it with Rice-A-Roni: summer childhood comfort food.

It is such a great marinade.  I'm glad it has resurfaced from my recipe archives.

Brower's BBQ Chicken
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 stick butter (the original recipe calls for "Oleo" but I used butter)
3 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. cayenne red pepper (or more or less depending on your desired spiciness)

Pour all ingredients into a small pan on the stove.  Stir and heat, but not to a boil.
Pour over raw chicken.  Place chicken on hot grill. Baste frequently on chicken with brush as it grills.

I hope your summer is full of beautiful produce and the flavors of summer. 

Other  installments of our summer eats are soon to come: Homemade Ice Cream, Pizza, Chocolate Pound Cake and more!