Not Just a Cake- Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

For Mohamed's 32nd birthday, I decided to go for the gold and make Bakerella's "Just a cake." Of course, the name can hardly be less fitting. This is not just a cake. This is an amazingly rich chocolate cake covered and filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with potent chocolate ganache.

This is not just a cake. Although all things considered, it was fairly straightforward to make.

First you mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt). Then add the wet (eggs, oil, vanilla, milk, hot water). Mix, pour, bake!

While the layers are baking, make the buttercream by beating together lots of butter and powdered sugar with a little vanilla and milk. I'm drooling.

Finally, make the chocolate ganache by heating butter and heavy cream. Pour the mixture over chunks of chocolate. Mix!

Once the cake layers have cooled, it's time to assemble! My layers were a bit flat, I think due to my oven being a bit too hot. 

Note that the buttercream for the filling is mixed with mini chocolate chips!

Sandwich and crumb coat (this was my first time crumb coating, this cake did not want to stay together).

More buttercream!

 Try to make it pretty...

 and pour the ganache!

 decorate as desired

If I make this again I think I'll make the cake layers in advance to break up the kitchen time. It was exhausting, but I think the birthday boy was happy. 

A word of warning. This cake is not for the faint of heart. It is extremely rich! Generally Mohamed and I could easily eat an entire cake in about 10 minutes. We could only handle one piece of this baby! It's meant to be savored and it held up really well in the refrigerator for a good 3 or 4 days.

For the full recipe, please see Bakerella!

Bumps for Baby

Welcome back all!

Since I've completely failed at turning this blog into anything that makes any sense, I suppose I'll just continue the insanity that it currently is. Random posts, huge time lapses between entries and general lack of direction.

Today I've decided to post my baby bump photos! They aren't all pretty, but we've been trying to take photos and measurements every two weeks. Also, our measurements are sort of wacky. Apparently we don't always take them in the same place. Anywho, enjoy!

14 weeks- I still wasn't exactly showing, but it seemed a good enough time to start the measurements! 102 cm around the belly button. We didn't measure Mohamed...

16 weeks (and just back from a week of gorging in the US!)- 106 cm

20 weeks (oops, missed 18!)- 107 cm and the bump is really there this time

22 weeks- 110 cm and forgot to photograph

25 weeks- 110 cm (still? not sure what happened...)

28 weeks- 114 centimeters and starting to feel "big"

30 weeks- 115 centimeters. Only 10 weeks to go!

32 weeks- No measurement and new outfit. We were visiting in Tafraout for Eid.

35 weeks- 119 cm and a new haircut!

36 weeks- No measurement, but we did some maternity photos. Coming soon!

38 weeks- 120 cm. Only 1 cm increase in three weeks. Seems odd, I don't think we we've been measuring in the same place. Oh well :-)

40 weeks- 122 cm. We made it!

41 weeks, 4 days- Omar Ethan Outayeb is here! Born on Dec. 26th, 2012 at 6:05 pm. Everyone's happy and healthy!

Zaina's Lemon Tea Cookies

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the south of Morocco, one of my favorite things to do was cook with my awesome lady friends. I learned all of the Moroccan basics from them, although we never really baked together. Until the day I tasted these lemon cookies.

It was love at first bite! Many of the other cookies I'd tried were rather bland and dry; nothing to write home about. These were different. A subtle lemon flavor inside a crumbly, powdered sugar covered cookie.

As with most recipes I've learned here, measuring is imprecise. Women use various cups and glasses from their kitchens or simply eyeball it. Adds a certain amount of fun, I think!

For this recipe we use a standard Moroccan tea cup. I think as long as you use a smallish cup and are consistent, your cookies will come out just fine.

Zaina calls these cookies "quatre quatre" which in French is "four four." Start with four cups of vegetable oil and four cups of sugar. Mix.

Then add four eggs, mix again.

Zest and juice two lemons. I use two because I love the lemon flavor. Reduce a bit if desired.

Add the lemon zest and juice along with 4 teaspoons of vanilla and a teaspoon of salt. Mix it up.

Once the liquids are well mixed, it's time to add the dry ingredients. Sift 4 teaspoons of baking powder in with enough flour to get the consistency seen below. The dough should not be sticky to touch or crumbly. Approximately eight (American) cups, but add slowly and knead with your hands.

Form the dough into small balls. Feel free to play around with the size (but be sure to adjust cooking time as well). These are about the size of a walnut.

Use a fork to squish the balls and imprint the cookies. Criss cross or simple lines work well. Have fun!

Bake at 325 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Pay close attention as you don't want to overcook them! Cookies should come out of the oven the same color as they went in. Check for doneness by pressing lightly on the top. They shouldn't be doughy.

This recipe yields A TON of cookies! 10-12 dozen I'm guessing. Half the recipe if you don't need such a big batch.

The final step is to roll the cookies in powdered sugar. Be sure to let them cool first. As an alternative, you can dip the top of the cookie in granulated sugar before baking. I prefer the light powdering coating!

Enjoy!

Do you remember learning to make one of your favorite cookies? Leave a comment with the type of cookie and how you learned!

Zaina's Lemon Tea Cookies

4 cups* vegetable oil

4 cups* granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 lemons- zested and juiced

4 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

Flour to create the right consistency, approx. 8 cups

Powdered sugar

*vegetable oil and sugar are measured using tea cups or some other small cup

1. Mix oil and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Add eggs, zest and juice of lemons, vanilla and salt. Mix well.

3. Sift in baking powder and flour 1 cup and a time. Once the dough is close to the correct consistency, add 1/2 cup at a time. Dough should stick together, but not be sticky to touch.

4. Roll into walnut sized balls, then use a fork to squish and make an imprint on the top.

5. Bake for 8-10 mins at 325 degrees, do not overcook!

6. Once cooled, roll in powdered sugar.