If you happen to be alone over the Festive period....

CitizenJack
This cake you speak of sounds sinful, hope you said ten hail mary's before eating it.

It's got ganache on for a frosting.

CitizenJack
It does seem that way , I think Nef actually left out the fact he put all those ingredients in a pie because he doesnt want to fill any sterotypes

No pie was involved

I forgot to mention the Vanilla and Mandarin Cheesecake topped with dark chocolate flakes and covered in fresh pouring cream I had for dessert.

I can say, in all honesty, that ATS was instrumental in helping get through some rather difficult moments of this holiday.

I want to thank neformore and everyone here for making it not just tolerable, but amusing, interesting, stimulating and fun.

Looking forward to spending New Years with you lot as well.

Sincerest thanks and regards,

beez

(diving into the Hobbit right now before bed, then back to regular life after tonight.)

It has been nice. I'm looking forward to another day alone next week. Tomorrow ; back to the grind stone @ 5am (sad face)

reply to post by neformore


You and Bedlam are killing me, I'm about to go rob a dessert shop....
I guess I'll settle for a twinkie at the corner store.
I think food was my biggest miss out this year , when I saw my famn damily it was a quick snacks and gift exchange the other day. No real feast. However I have the next few days off , I think I'll go into baking mode.

reply to post by neformore

MG are you serious? That sounds like the most perfect desert!
I am jealous, LOL!

Cheers
Ektar

CitizenJack
However I have the next few days off , I think I'll go into baking mode.

How about the secret recipe for the Legendary Cake O' Bedlam? It's been classified up to now, but I can Reveal All. Warning: prep time is about two hours.

reply to post by Bedlam


Yes, Yes , Yes.

Thats the one thing I want for christmas now. I must have it.
Message me if you want to keep it secret , I will make it and make you proud.

Hey Guys and Ladies how is it going in here? I'm here alone on the holiday again and thought I'd come in and say hello. Been pretty much on my own all day drawing figured I would come and share this with you all



For bigger pic

What has everyone else been doing all day?

Here is some easy listening as well, I love this band as they are classically trained musicians and do not rely heavily on synth and other forms of digital manipulation the piano and beat are so rad!

reply to post by Brotherman


Cheers for you to be doing something creative!

You have talent!

reply to post by beezzer


Thanks Beezzer! I'm working on a portrait of one of my favorite artists of all time M3

Doing it in reverse chalk and drawing with an eraser its been a terribly long time since ive done a reverse chalk so i figured I'd do one today since don't have much else going on and got tired of writing and sketching on my comic been working on.

reply to post by Brotherman


Thats really good , and I hope that you don't mind but I made you an avatar that you might like from it.
(it needs to be set as a backgound not as avatar)

reply to post by bluemooone2


LOL thanks, Im kind of attached to my Honey Badger though me and the badger been on ATS for too long together Id be lost without it. I still have a long long long way to go to bring this piece to completion! But that looks awesome =D when I finish the piece i will have to post that on here

Seeing as I'm out of a relationship, it looks like New Year's Eve is going to be a quiet one. Well, unless my cat counts. Wouldn't mind meeting some of the ATS folks from Michigan, if anyone else needs the company.

Anyone know of any special New Year's Eve events going on in Michigan?

-fossilera

reply to post by CitizenJack


Heck, I'll post it here. The thread's sort of eclectic by now. Do Not Eat In Case of Diabetes.

This recipe is in three and a half parts. I sort of do it from memory so no two are alike. This should be written down for posterity anyway. Ok, you'll want to start with the:

Cake Part

2 cups unsifted all purpose cake flour. In a pinch you can use regular All Purpose
1 teaspoon baking soda. Not powder.
1/2 cup butter. Use butter.
1/2 cup salad oil. Corn or soybean beats canola here.
3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. Or 4, depending.
2 cups sugar
2 whole eggs, beat them up
1/2 cup whole milk in a 1 cup measuring cup
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract (no fake!)

2 oz really good rum
4 oz cola
ice cubes

Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift the flour and soda together in a big bowl. Grease and flour two 9" pans, I usually use square but round works too. Set it all down, get a big plastic bowl, put the chocolate, butter and salad oil in. I stick mine in a microwave for about 3 minutes at 50%, but you can use a double boiler. Melt it down until it's all liquid, stir it up really well. Then put in a cup of water, stir it again, and set it aside to cool. Back to the cake part. Put the vinegar in the milk and stir it up. Seriously. Add the sugar, eggs, sour milk and vanilla to the flour and soda. Stir it into a dough with a spoon. Don't use a mixer. Now add in the chocolate mixture, again use a spoon. Don't do a lot of extra beating here, you want to mix it up so it's uniform and you're done. You're on the clock with the baking soda, take too long and it won't rise. You'll end up with a batter like pancake batter, and you'll wonder if this is going to turn into cake. It will.

Split it into the pans, pour the rum into a glass, add ice and cola to taste, drink it while you bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until the center's done. Let it sit about five minutes, then turn them out onto racks to cool.

Next, it's time for:

Filling

1 can (5.3 oz) evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped seedless raisins
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

2 oz George Dickel sour mash
4 oz cola
ice cubes

Put the milk, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a nice saute saucepan and heat over a medium flame stirring constantly until the mixture's warm and the sugar dissolves (that happens suddenly). Add the raisins and dates. Heat more until it just starts to bubble, then cook at that level for about five minutes. This is where you have to watch it because it'll want to boil and if it does it burns. After five minutes or so, it'll start to thicken. Take it off the heat, add in the nuts and vanilla extract, stir it up good and stick the pan in the fridge.

Rinse out the glass with the rum mixture, add more ice, the sour mash, ice and cola to taste. Drink it while the filling cools. It needs to be no more than faintly warm. You will want to take it out and stir it occasionally to speed up the cooling process. As it cools, it'll become gooey and thick.

When the filling is cool, put the cream in a bowl and beat it with a mixer on medium until you get stiff whipped cream. Don't overdo it or it turns into butter.

Spread the filling on the top of the first layer. Take it out near but not quite to the edge. Then put the whipped cream on top of the filling and get it even. Place the top layer on that. Don't squish it down. You want it to float on the whipped cream. While it's sitting there, it's time to make the...

Ganache

6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup of sour cream
a dash of salt

Put the chips into a small plastic bowl, wave it (or double boiler, your choice) at 30% power for two minutes, check and repeat until melted. You want to just melt it so you can stir it into a smooth goop, but not heat it more than you have to. Stir in the sour cream, it'll get smoother. Add in a pinch of salt. Let it cool for a few minutes. The longer it sits, the stiffer it gets. When you think it'll stick to the sides of the cake, slather it all over the cake with a spatula.

In about an hour, the ganache will set up hard. It's ready to go. You will want to refrigerate this cake, it can go bad at room temp unless you're going to eat it up in a day or two.

If you really want to make yourself sick, warm up a slice in the wave and dump some vanilla bean ice cream on.

Hope everyone had a smashing holiday!

Been up and at em since 6am when both of my sons, one being a "too cool" teenager, decided to wake my wife and I up to open gifts.....and we been running ever since.

Its time to kick back, read up on some ATS and enjoy a beer(s).

Cheers to all of you on this Christmas Day!

reply to post by Bedlam


Wow Bedlam,

That sounds great. Now I have to make one for New Years. One question though, is it ok to have Scotch instead of the Rum and Sour Mash; or should I just to to the Liquor store tomorrow?

ahhh the memories of yesterdays

hoagy1199
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Wow Bedlam,

That sounds great. Now I have to make one for New Years. One question though, is it ok to have Scotch instead of the Rum and Sour Mash; or should I just to to the Liquor store tomorrow?

Scotch is ok. I have also managed to substitute wine for the interstage recreation, although I find tequila to cause the filling and frosting to come out badly.

eta:
The recipe originally called for clabber, it's an Appalachian ingredient but it's not something you come by easily these days and buttermilk doesn't work exactly right. After years of effort, we decided on the vinegar and milk mix. The acid in the clabber makes the baking soda go and makes the cake fluffy and light.