Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Happy Day After Valentine's Day

I had a chemistry teacher in high school who ended every class by saying, "If no one else tells you they love you today, I do." I always thought that was nice. She'd probably be arrested for saying that today. We live in sick times. I don't remember one single thing about chemistry, and I can't think of the teacher's name off the top of my head, but I remember that.

I have no point, besides that I had that in my head on Valentine's Day. Fortunately, I had someone who told me they loved me, but not who you'd expect...
I don't see us having a long-term relationship, Cake. You'll be gone by sundown.
Just kidding. Matt loves me, too. He should, after being served Nigella's Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake (pg 316 of How to Eat). I love chocolate and raspberries. It's my favorite fruit/chocolate combo, and I have no idea why I've never thought of baking raspberries into a cake or brownies, instead of just placing them on top or turning them into sauce. This is a dense, moist cake, and the raspberry flavor really shone through from the fruit, even though I replaced the framboise that's supposed to be mixed in to the batter with amaretto.

My only problem with this cake is that there is coffee in it. I used instant espresso, because I don't own instant coffee. I'm one of those people who can't drink caffeine after noon, or else I'll be up all night. At midnight, I was still wide awake and could feel my heartbeat. I blame the cake. I'm beat today, and Charlie is not cooperating with my idea that we should both spend a few hours napping. Must admit, I've dozed on the couch a few times. Not for long, though. Apparently my son thinks that when I close my eyes, I'm inviting him to tackle me.
Conclusion: Loved it, but I would omit the coffee in the future, even though I know people say that coffee amplifies chocolate flavor. I guess I could use decaf, but decaf is gross. Regardless, the leftovers are going to work with Matt tomorrow.

I bought more crab meat at the farmer's market, so the other night, I made Linguine with Crab (pg 393). Nigella says that this recipe borrows flavors from Thai and Korean crab cakes, so it's unlike any other crab sauce I've had. Garlic, a red chili pepper, lime, scallions, white wine, and cilantro.
Conclusion: Liked, but next time, I'll use shrimp. It wasn't delicious enough to warrant the cost of the crab, and I don't think that replacing crab with shrimp would hurt the recipe.

If no one else tells you they love you today, I do. :-) 

5 comments:

  1. Berries in the cake - that does make sense. And totally not something I would think of.

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  2. Wow. Both look great, but I'd probably head towards the pasta first! Great double post.

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  3. I agree, I almost never feel like crab is worth the cost. Your pasta looks beautiful, and the cake sounds amazing. I love chocolate and raspberries too.

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  4. What a sweet story. And what an even sweeter looking cake. I often turn to Nigella when I am looking for a cake recipe. One of my all time favorites, and one which I have made so many times I have lost count, is her Guinness chocolate cake. Maybe because she tops it with cream cheese frosting and I am one who could just sit and eat cream cheese frosting from the bowl.

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  5. What a great teacher, that is such a sweet thing to say. I'm sure a lot of kids never hear that at home and I bet she was a big impact. Sad to say that I would have to agree with you on how that would be allowed by today's standards.

    The cake and pasta both look great, but that cake really has my attention! It looks so decadent and delicious, perfect Valentine's dessert for sure.

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