This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was the Tarte Noire, chosen by Dharmagirl of bliss: towards a delicious life. I hadn’t actually planned for this one but found I that had pretty much everything that I needed so I gave it a shot. Read More
[Don't bother trying to clean your glasses or rub your contacts - the above picture has the lovely "halo" effect after letting my kids "use" the camera and they tried to, I don't know, clean the lens with a finger or something.]
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie, which I’m happy to be picking up again after nearly two months away, was a delicious chocolate loafcake chosen by Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes.
You know how sometimes you get a craving for something, so you get the food that you think you’re craving but it’s just not quite right? I do that with chocolate cake. I’ll see a picture or read a recipe and think “ooh, chocolate cake sounds really good,” and it’s all I can think about until I make it (don’t worry, my family has no problem with this particular issue).
It never quite hits the spot, though. The chocolate’s there (and I’m always good with chocolate) but there always seems to be something missing.
This, however, is exactly what I crave when I think of chocolate cake. The cake itself is made with sour cream, which I love in sweet foods, and the frosting is simply melted chocolate with sour cream, too. The cake is also cut into layers with raspberry jam in between, which just adds to the perfect-ness of it all. This is a craving-worthy chocolate cake.
Mother’s Day always sneaks up on me. May is such a busy month already between anniversaries, birthdays and holidays that sometimes something will slip off my radar until we’re right on top of it!
This year, however, I will be ready on May 9th, and to help, See’s Candies has a beautiful collection of Mother’s Day Gifts just right for those of us who need a little extra help coming up with the perfect gift for mom. And to help you out, they’ve very generously given me a $50 gift card to give to one lucky Heather’s Bytes reader!
>> How To Enter:
Leave a comment here telling me what you love most about the moms in your life. It could be your mom, grandma, aunts, sisters, friends — there is no right or wrong answer!
~ Retweet this giveaway on Twitter and get an extra entry! ~
Just leave a comment with a link to your tweet each day. (And feel free to follow me, if you’re so inclined!)
[Comments may get caught in moderation -- please don't panic, I will approve them as soon as I get to them.]
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~ Contest ends Friday, April 30, 2010 at 5:00pm PST.
~ You may enter once a day, per household. Duplicate entries in one day will be discarded for the entire duration of the giveaway.
~ Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
~ One winner will receive one $50 gift card from See’s Candies.
~ Winner will be randomly drawn and notified by email, and will have 24 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was the Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake chosen by Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350.
I almost didn’t make this because I forgot to check the recipe before I did my grocery shopping last week and didn’t want to head out again for a special trip. Thankfully, I had everything I needed anyway so it worked out well!
Actually, I take that back — I didn’t quite have everything I needed: I only had unsweetened baking chocolate in the cupboard, and the recipe calls for bittersweet. But I checked my chocolate drawer just in case and found a bar of Lindt 85%, which worked perfectly. I’ve used Lindt bars for baking before and have never been disappointed. In fact, the recipe called for 3 ounces and the bar was 3.5, so there was a little extra in it too 
The cake itself is so moist and yummy, and I love it when chocolate and coffee flavors are combined – they really complement each other. I was also able to use some of the cold-brewed coffee syrup I had in the fridge. However, I was a dummy and didn’t pay close enough attention to my chocolate and butter mixture on the double boiler, and the chocolate and butter ended up over-heating and separating. But! They came back together again perfectly when I added in the cake batter to make the chocolate batter, so hope is not lost if it happens to you too!
After the cake came out of the oven and I let it cool for a bit, I had a heck of a time getting it out of the pan. In fact, the entire top layer stayed in the pan, which was pretty disappointing (the piece in the picture above was the only section of the entire cake that had part of a top still attached). I buttered and floured it beforehand, but it just didn’t work. It’s still yummy, though, and I know Mike and the girls won’t care!
Also, this would be amazing with some dark chocolate chips in it as well, especially after it’s cooled and the chips are able to solidify after baking.
