happy new year! we'll take a cake o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

for new year's, the mister and i headed over to the warm home of our friends for dinner and revelry. the mister made GF french onion soup, his own recipe that he's been making for years, and i made a layered GF chocolate cake to share. after spending the christmas holiday at my in-laws house, and watching my mother-in-law make two yule logs, i decided i needed to make a light and fluffy sponge cake. with booze. and chocolate. and brown butter.

egg yolks and sugar 

6 eggs were separated, 120 g of dark chocolate was melted (i used callier's baking chocolate), and the oven was warmed to 175C.

with the trusty kitchen aid, i paddled the egg yolk and 1/4 cup sugar until thick and ribbony. i added a drop of almond extract, and then the melted and cooled chocolate.

i took a baking sheet, olive oiled it, then put down a layer of parchment paper and olive oiled and GF floured it.

the yokes were transported to a new bowl and then i worked on the egg whites. they were beat until foamy, and then i added a pinch of salt. i continued to beat until i got soft peaks, then added sugar, and beat some more.


so fluffy.

the whites were gently folded into the chocolate, and then i poured the batter into the prepared pan. i dropped it on the counter to pop the air bubbles.

folding in whites

6 large eggs, separated
200 grams chocolate (divided--120g and 80g)
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 1 generous spoonful of sugar
almond extract


for good measure, i sprinkled the batter with edible glitter.

i knew i would be making a ganache, but i was hoping the glitter might peek through now and again. these days i am resisting the urge to sprinkle edible glitter on everything. want to make that pasta dish seem more festive? GLITTER! oh, is that a plain bowl of oatmeal? GLITTER. im glad the mister loves me no matter what.

the cake baked for roughly 15 minutes. i covered it with a damp towel to keep it moist. then i made some cream for the filling.

i whipped some heavy cream until just so, and then added some cointreau. and then a little more cointreau.

and you know what goes with chocolate and orange? cinnamon. for the ganache, i made browned butter and combined it with the remaining chocolate. i added just a pinch of cinnamon. the ganache was stashed in the fridge to cool, and then i layered the cake with the cream and frosted it when the time came.

and yum.

Ode on a Kitchen Aid (with apologies to keats)
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever baking, and for ever young;