Homemade Alfredo Sauce

   First off let me start out by saying this alfredo sauce is the real deal. One of the best homemade versions I've had. Rich, creamy, and every bite is packed with flavor. It goes great with my homemade fettuccine noodles, but can also be a nice quick option with store bought noodles. This recipe is quick and simple. Can be stored which can really come in handy on a busy night. Recipe can be found here.  

   1. The first thing I would recommend is cutting the butter in half, if not more. The end product turned out a little too greasy for me, but that was really my only complaint.  

   2. Also, I only used about 1 and 3/4 cups cream instead of two, mainly because I didn't need that much sauce. 

   3. Be careful to keep an eye on the cream mixture and make sure the pan isn't too hot. You don't want to burn the bottom or have it boil over. I found that a low simmer was best. 

   4. I cubed the cream cheese in small one-inch cubes before I put them in. This helped them melt a little faster than just throwing it all in in one chunk. 

   5. Whisk it until smooth. It shouldn't have any lumps, other than the spices. Go ahead and try it and make sure it is seasoned enough. I used a little bit more Italian seasoning than called for because I thought it was what made the sauce. It all just depends on what you like. 

   6. Lastly, toss your favorite type of pasta in, don't forget to cook the past before hand ;).  

   My family and I really did enjoy this sauce and I crave it every time I think about it! It is super simple and anyone can make it. 

THE BEST HOMEMADE ALFREDO SAUCE EVER!

Prep time--Cook time--Total time 

   10 mins          5 mins          15 mins  

The most creamy and delicious homemade alfredo sauce that you will ever make! This is a tried and true recipe and you will agree that it is the best recipe out there!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream (2 cups)
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper 
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese 

Instructions 

• In a medium saucepan add butter, heavy whipping cream, and cream cheese. Cook over medium heat and whisk until melted. Add the minced garlic, garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Continue to whisk until smooth. Add the grated parmesan cheese. 
• Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for about 3-5 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Toss with your favorite pasta.

Homemade Fettuccine

   Pasta, for me, is one of those foods I CANNOT get enough of. There are so many different kinds, with different sauces, that I could eat it for every meal and it would never get old. However, because of my love for pasta I have always been terrified to try and make it from scratch. I always told myself it was too complicated, or that I wasn't qualified. But don't let those thoughts get to you. YOU CAN DO IT. Yes, there may be a few times during the process that you have no clue what you are doing or what it is supposed to look like, but keep with it. The same things happened to me and it still turned out so good!  Recipe can be found here. If you click on the link there are pictures that accompany the recipe that might be helpful.

   1. This recipe calls for semolina flour, however, all I head was white flour and sorry I wasn't going to run and buy a thing of four that I only needed a half of a cup for. I think this affected the process a little, making the dough a little too dry, because I couldn't incorporate all the flour during the kneading process. But just incorporate all the flour it allows you to.

  2. You will be kneading for a long time. To the point where your wrist will start to cramp up, or I'm just super weak hah. The dough will eventually get smooth and stick together. It took a solid 10 minutes of straight kneading for me to get to this point. The entire time I kept telling myself that I was doing it wrong, that I was over kneading, and my noodles were going to be tough. But it needs to get to the point where it is smooth. If yours gets to that point before 10 minutes by all means STOP. If your dough starts to stick together earlier don't feel that you have to keep kneading it just because the recipe says for roughly 10 minutes.

  3. I found that letting the dough rest for the 30 minutes really helped it calm down and stick together more. This step is actually very important to get the dough to start behaving like dough. So I really recommend not skipping this step.

   4. I do not have a pasta roller, cutter, or anything, so this part is hard! Rolling the dough out with a rolling pin is a workout. I'm not kidding! I broke into a sweat trying to get the dough down to 1/16th of an inch. Boy it took a long time. My dough probably wasn't even there because I couldn't get it to go any thinner. I would definitely recommend that if you have a past roller to use it. However, I am living proof that you don't need one to make pasta, it is just a little bit harder.

   5. The folding and cutting directions are kind of confusing. Basically you are going to lay your 1 foot long pasta sheets on top of another. I only had 2 because I choose not to cut mine in half. Mine were not quite long enough to cut and make two, one foot long sheets. So I left them being a little bit longer than a foot. Fold the layered pasta sheets into about thirds or fourths. Then cut into 1/3 inch strips. I cut mine a little bit too thick for my liking. So go thinner than you would think because as you get cutting the strips slowly start getting thicker and thicker. (at least for me they did, more focus could prove otherwise ha). If you have a pasta cutter this step is a lot easier.

  6. After they are cut and have sat out for around 10 minutes they should be a little harder. Place in boiling water to cook. It says 3-5 minutes, however, I cooked mine for 5 minutes on a high boil and I think I could have cooked mine longer. At around 3 minutes my noodles started rising to the top of the water, but this doesn't necessarily mean they are done. Take one out to test it before taking them all out.

   I threw my noodles into a pan of homemade alfredo sauce and it was amazing. A big hit. The recipe is easy to follow for the most part and once you do it once, it will get easier. You will be able to understand the process a little bit more the second time and the results will be that much better.

 

HOW TO MAKE FOOLPROOF FETTUCCINE

SERVES 6-8

Ingredients

1 cup flour

¹⁄₂ cup semolina flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Thinly shaved Parmesan, for serving

Instructions

Make the pasta: Stir together flour and semolina in a large bowl, and form a well in the center; pour eggs into well and stir with a fork until dough forms. Transfer dough to a work surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Uncover and halve dough; using a pasta roller or rolling pin, roll each piece of dough until it's ¹⁄₁₆" thick. Hang pasta sheets on a rack to dry slightly for 5 minutes. Slice pasta sheets crosswise into lengths of one foot and stack, one on top of another, sprinkling cornmeal in between, then roll into a cylinder; cut crosswise into ¹⁄₃"-thick ribbons. Unravel fettuccine and toss with semolina to separate; let dry for 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, and add pasta; cook, stirring, until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta and add to a bowl of desired sauce; toss to combine. Divide among serving bowls and garnish with Parmesan.

PIE DAY!

3.14

   Happy Pie Day! Today is easily in my top 5 "Best Day of the Year". However, making a pie where I live can take a toll mentally and emotionally. The weather has to be perfect for a good pie crust day, if any moisture is in the air or it is too dry, boy it makes it seam like a nearly impossible feat to complete. I did it though! It was definitely not my day today, and I may have wanted to cry two or three times during it, but I finished.  

   To start out I didn't have any Crisco in the house. My go-to pie crust recipe is by far Betty Crocker's. Betty's requires lard or Crisco though, and I only had like a fourth of a cup, so I had to get creative. I think today is actually the first day I have ever tried another pie crust recipe. The pie crust recipe I used is actually from the same recipe I used for the filling. Both can be found here. I will do another post on the pie crust. 

   I would just like to say that it is definitely NOT peach or raspberry season where I live. However, it looked so good I had to try it somehow. My family cans fresh peaches every year so I was able to use those instead of fresh ones. If you choose to do this there are a few things to keep in mind. 
    1. Canned fruit has been sitting in sugar water for a long time, which makes them a lot sweeter than if using fresh ones. Because of this I cut half the sugar out of the recipe.  
    2. Canned fruit is a lot softer so don't go ham when you're stirring in the cornstarch and such. 
    3. Canned fruit is a lot juicer, so I didn't use the full one half cup of liquid it called for and mine still ended up being way juicy. 

  

   Also I used frozen raspberries, which were hand picked by my family. I let them sit out for a while before I used them. There ended up being lot of excess liquid which I ended up having to strain out.  

   As I was looking through my fridge and cabinets I couldn't find my lemons anywhere. I knew I had some, but they were just gone! Frazzled and frustrated I just threw in lime juice. Then as soon as I took the pie out of the oven I FOUND THE LEMONS!! I was so mad and felt so stupid hahah. So in case you only have lime juice instead of lemon, it is totally okay.  

   I don't know if it was just because I was super slow today and kept getting distracted, but this pie took me a good 3 1/2 hours to finish, if not more. The pie crust itself took forever. There was a lot of letting it cool in the fridge, but the end product turned out very tasty. However, it was just a major off day for me because I ended up not cooking it for long enough! I had taken the pie out for like 20 minutes before I took a bite and the entire bottom of the crust was doughy. I was so mad. I ended up throwing it back in the oven for another 20 minutes on 375 so we could eat it.

   The recipe itself is actually really easy to follow. I just don't think it was a good judgment call to make a summer pie in basically winter where I live. So my bad! I mean it ended up still tasting delicious, but oh my goodness... it was the biggest pain to finish. 

    My biggest tip on this recipe is when it says to cook it less if you don't want yours "deeply caramelized" if you cook it for anytime under 45 minutes it WON'T be done. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, I just didn't want mine to be too done, but big fail on my part. I don't think you can screw up more than me when making this pie, but if you do just know you can come back from it and still end up with a delicious pie that will bring a little bit of summer in on any day. 

  

Peach-Raspberry Pie  

• 1 recipe flaky pie dough
• 3 lbs firm-ripe peaches (about 6 large)
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 9 tablespoons sugar, divided
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch salt
• 8 oz raspberries (about 2 cups)

*Notes: Peaches can release a lot of juice once you sprinkle sugar on them. If your peaches give off a lot of liquid, you’ll need to pour most of it off before baking to avoid a soggy crust and loose filling.

- Cutting your peaches into large slices (about 1 inch) limits the surface area and also helps limit the amount of liquid they give off.

Directions 

  When you are ready to bake the pie, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 425°F. 

 Cut the peaches into slices about 1-inch thick and place them in a large mixing bowl. Gently toss with the lemon juice and ½ cup of the sugar. Set aside to rest for 20-30 minutes. Pour off the juice from the peaches discarding all of it except for ½ cup. Toss the peaches (and ½ cup juice) with two tablespoons of the cornstarch, the ginger and a pinch of salt. 

 Place the raspberries in a medium mixing bowl and toss with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons of the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of sugar. 

 To fill the pie crust, pour half of the peach slices onto your well-chilled or frozen bottom crust. Arrange half of the raspberries over the peaches. Top with the rest of the peach slices and then the rest of the raspberries. Cover your fruit with your top crust. (Here’s a great tutorial on how to weave a lattice-top crust if you want to go that route.) Trim the edges to overhang by 1/2 inch. Fold the top edges of the lattice inside the bottom crust. Place the filled and topped pie back in the freezer to chill for 15-20 minutes. 

 I know, I know. There’s a lot of chilling and freezing and waiting around. But taking the time to par-freeze your pie will keep the crust from slumping in the oven and make sure that lattice turns out gorgeously. :)

 Brush the top crust with cream, milk or egg wash and then sprinkle with the turbinado, demerara or sanding sugar. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake until the crust is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until the crust is dark golden brown, about 45-60 minutes longer. I like my crust deeply caramelized; if you like yours less dark, feel free to take your pie out earlier.

 Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool a bit and firm up before slicing. Leftovers keep best covered at room temperature overnight. If you need to keep your pie for more than a day, cover tightly and store in the fridge.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Pudding on the Rice

   Growing up I wasn't necessarily a picky eater because of tastes I was picky when it came to textures, as a lot of people can be. But I swear this recipe cured me. 

   There used to be a small restaurant called "Pudding on the Rice" in Portland, Oregon that my dad's cousin owned. Actually the recipe below is his wife's, Jessica, creation. Their place sold rice pudding like ice cream. There were dozens of flavors to choose from and you could actually choose to have tart frozen yogurt mixed in with the pudding. Not being the adventurous type when it came to "chunky" food I did NOT want any. I had previously had bad experiences with rice pudding that were not easy to forget. The only references to rice pudding I had were of grainy, soupy, disappointing  messes. At the time, only having those memories to look back on, I was everything but thrilled about being there. My mom eventually shoved a bite of raspberry cheesecake rice pudding down my throat, and I swear time stopped for a second. I had never in my LIFE tasted anything so amazing. Creamy, sweet, fluffy yet it had structure and texture. The rice wasn't grainy at all. It has the consistency of a thick pudding instead of soupy cream. Still to this day this is mine and my families favorite dessert to have for any occasion. The recipe can be found here.

   The first thing to realize when using this recipe is that it makes a very large batch. My family of six will usually only make half a batch and this still gives everyone a very generous portion. However, if you decide to cut the recipe in any way it is important to remember that you will NOT have to stir the mixture as long. They aren't kidding when they say use a large pot. 

   1. To start out combine the first four ingredients. I usually use 2% milk because that is what I drink and have around, but the type of milk won't really affect it. If you use a thicker milk [whole] the end product will be slightly thicker, but not much. Also, dry milk works fine. It calls for a lot of milk so if you wanted to do half dry milk the results will still turn out. 

   --- The recipe calls for medium grain rice, but to be honest a lot of people don't know what the difference is. So here is the definition if it helps: Medium grain rice has a shorter, wider kernel (two to three times longer than its width) than long grain rice. Cooked grains are more moist and tender, and have a greater tendency to cling together than long grain. Short grain rice has a short, plump, almost round kernel.--- 

   2. When it comes down to it, the type of rice doesn't affect it that much. I usually have Jasmine Rice, more of a longer grain rice, at my house. So that is what I use and it still has a delicious end product. Unless I just happen to have a more medium grain rice I will use that. [Medium grain rice just has a less grainy end product, but not by much]. The only thing I suggest when using Jasmine Rice is let the rice cool to at least room temperature, if not put it in the fridge for a while, before cooking with it. This will help the rice not break apart and the end product will be less grainy. This isn't a problem with medium grain rice, it sticks together more, which is why this recipe calls for it. 

   3. This recipe call for a lot of sugar, and because of this the end product is very sweet. I usually can cut the sugar in HALF and it will still be plenty sweet. Especially if you decide to change the flavor up. Fresh or frozen fruit help sweeten it up, which is my family's and I favorite topping. You can experiment with different amounts of sugar to see what you like best. 

   4. It can take a long time for the mixture to thicken, but don't turn the heat up. It is a slow process because it take a long time for the rice to soak up the liquid. If you turn the heat up you will just burn it and will have chunks of burnt rice in the end. 

   5. Tempering the eggs is a very important stage. It is best to have room temperature eggs, but I have done it will cold eggs as well. You just need to start out with a smaller amount of pudding that you are adding to the eggs. If you try and combine too much pudding too fast you are going to cook the eggs, and you will have chunks of scrambled eggs in the end. It doesn't taste too good... unfortunately I've had to try it because I wasn't patient. So just take a breathe and take an extra minute or two to do it right. 

 ---It is always easier to have two people to do this part. One person adds small amounts of pudding to the bowl with the whisked eggs, while another whisks it all together.---

   6. After the eggs are incorporated back in, the mixture should start to thicken more fairly quickly. Be careful if it starts boiling because the bubbles will shoot hot pudding onto your hands and it hurts!! It should get to the consistency of box pudding, or at least pretty close. 

--Just remember to keep stirring. Stir so you are scraping the bottom of the pot. Milk burns very easily so it's important to remember to stir from the very beginning.--

   7. Whip the whipped cream to stiff peaks and add your desired flavoring. I have found that it doesn't take as much [liquid] whipped cream as it calls for because it grows when you whip it. So I will do half the amount of [liquid] whipped cream because after it is whipped it is about as much as it called for to start out with. 

   My favorite combination of flavors is cheesecake with raspberries. Fresh or frozen berries really compliment the creamy flavor. 

   This truly is a rice pudding like no other. 

Pudding on the Rice

By: Jessica Grimmer

Basic Recipe

Ingredients: 

8 cups  of Milk

4 cups of Cooked Medium Grain Rice 

4 cups of Sugar

2 tsp. of Salt

2 Eggs

4 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream 

2 Tsp Pure vanilla Extract 

Method:

In Large Sauce Pan add: Milk, Rice, Sugar, and Salt.

In separate bowl crack 2 eggs and eat sit at room temperature. Set aside. 

Stir slowly with flat wooden spoon at medium heat for 45-60 minutes until the mixture has evenly thickened. 

Take pan off heat. Take the room temperature eggs and whisk them thoroughly adding a tablespoon of the hot pudding to temper the eggs. When you have added the equal amounts of pudding to the eggs, slowly incorporate the eggs back into the pudding. Return the pudding to medium heat and slowly stir as you bring the pudding back to a boil. 

Then take off heat, put pudding in a glass bowl, cover with saran wrap and cool for 6-24 hours. 

Whip 4 cups of heavy whipping cream and 2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract. 

Add the whipped cream to the cooled mixture until it is fully enveloped. 

Keep pudding refrigerated, it lasts about 1 week. 

Different Flavors:

Amaretto Rice Pudding: 

Omit the Vanilla Extract and instead add 2 tsp. of Almond Flavoring 

Chocolate Rice Pudding 

In microwave melt 1 cup of milk chocolate chips with 12 cup of heavy whipping cream for 2 minutes. Whisk until shiny and add to the cooled pudding BEFORE adding the vanilla whipped cream. 

Raspberry Rice Pudding 

Add a bag of frozen raspberries and mix into the pudding fully incorporate and then fold in the vanilla whipped cream. 

Cheesecake Rice Pudding
Add roughly 6 ounces [for a full batch] of cream cheese, cut into small room temperature cubes, and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar to the hot rice pudding before refrigerating. Fold in whipped cream after cooled.  

Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Today I will be recreating a chocolate flourless cake with a chocolate glaze (recipe can be found here). 

   To start out I used a 9 inch cheesecake pan. A regular cake pan will work just fine, however it is a little easier to transfer at the end being able to remove the sides so they aren't sticking. I still made a parchment paper collar though to help with the sticking. 
           -- For those who don't know what a parchment paper collar is, basically, it is lining the circumference of the pan with parchment paper to help with sticking or when making soufflés it will help the soufflé stay upright and not be lopsided. For our purposes it is to help with sticking. Tape the ends together using scotch tape will do the job.--
   Butter the bottom and sides of the pan generously with butter. I buttered the actual sides of the pan first, then put the parchment paper collar on to help stick it down and stay, then I buttered the parchment paper to make sure I was able to get the cake out. 
      Next to make the cake. One rule I LIVE by is never microwave chocolate. I can't express this enough. Yes, it may be quicker, but the chances of burning the chocolate and giving it a gloppy texture are so much higher. Take the time to do it the right way and you will never regret it. Experience is a brutal teacher haha. In the end spending a little extra time in the beginning has saved me a lot of extra time in the end. 
   --Get a pot of water boiling then place a bowl that fits on top. Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl (I use a glass bowl) and stir with a spatula until incorporated.--
     When making the egg mixture don't under mix it. This was a huge issue for me when I first started cooking. I was so scared to over mix something I never mixed it enough. Time it if you have to. I know it might seem like it has been mixing a while, but when you actually time it, you will mix it for a lot longer than you would have expected. Don't rely on your sense of time because when you are very focused on just one thing time goes by a lot slower than you would expect! Trust me on this one, it took me forever to learn this. Learn from my mistakes PLEASE! I mixed my egg mixture for around 4 minutes before it go to the level of frothiness that I wanted, and they aren't kidding when they say your mixture should double. So if your mixture hasn't doubled yet KEEP MIXING. Also, it may take a while for the chocolate mixture and the cocoa to mix, so make sure that everything is well incorporated. The finished product should be very smooth. Go ahead, try it and make sure. There should be no lumps are chunks of chocolate. Also, It should taste fairly sweet. 
   -- I used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet cocoa with 2 ounces Guittard 64% semisweet cocoa. Depending on what percent cocoa chocolate used your cake will either be more sweet or more bitter, up to you. These chocolate brands are the brands I have found to provide the best results for the price. Chocolate can get very expensive and these brands have fairly good prices for such good quality. For my glaze I also used the Guittard 64%. The cake itself isn't particularly sweet so it is okay to have a sweeter glaze. However, it just depends on if you are more of a dark chocolate fan or not.--  
     This particular cake is very easy to over bake. Depending on your cake pan and your oven each cake will cook differently, just make sure you keep an eye on it because they don't taste good over baked. Once again, trust me on this... experience. I cooked mine, on the middle rack, for 40 minutes, and I probably could have done 2-3 minutes less. Your toothpick is NOT going to come out clean, so if yours does, I'm sorry to say you over cooked it. 
  --The edges of the cake should look a little dryer than the center and don't be afraid to insert a toothpick to check because remember we are flipping the cake. If you insert the toothpick it should come out with some cake, but it shouldn't be dripping off; it should be a firm layer.-- 
     The cooling process after you take the cake out is actually very important. Don't take the cake out of the pan right away. When the cake cools the edges shrink slightly so they aren't touching the sides of the pan. This helps a lot when your are transferring the cake onto a pan. When you first take the cake out the edges may not be even, right away (don't worry it isn't too hot) push them down so they are even with the rest of the cake. The sooner you do this the more effective it will be. If the cake is cooled they won't really budge. Don't worry about it too much though, remember the top will actually be the bottom. Pretty smart isn't it? 
     The transferring process can be somewhat tricky. To make it a little bit smoother really make sure the sides aren't stuck and bang the bottom of the pan a little to get the bottom unstuck. Also I would recommend transferring straight onto the pan you plan to serve it on because this is a very dense cake and very hard to move from one place to another. When I was transferring my cake a part of it got stuck to the pan so it actually cracked. If yours does this as well don't freak out, just kind of piece it back together and stick it together. As you can see below because of the glaze you can't see the crack beneath. 
    It turned out delicious. It is a very rich cake so the pieces don't have to be huge, but it is very satisfying. The great thing about it is that their aren't a lot of complicated techniques needed. And its okay if you slightly mess something up, like I broke my cake and in the end you couldn't even tell! The recipe instructions are easy to follow and with a few of my tips anyone should be able to do it. Something that would really impress friend and family. 

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze      

Serves twelve generously.

Yields one 9-inch cake.

• For the cake:
• ____________________________________________________
• 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (2-1/4 cups

• 6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into six pieces; more for the pan
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 3/4 oz. (1/4 cup) unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy; more for the pan

For the glaze:

____________________________________________________

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 1-1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) unsalted butter

Make the Cake: 

____________________________________________________

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F. Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x2-inch round cake pan and line it with round of parchment. Lightly butter the parchment and the sides of the pan and dust with cocoa powder. Tap out any excess.

  Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a medium metal bowl set in a skillet of barely simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Remove the bowl from the water bath and set aside to cool slightly. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and 2 Tbs. water. Beat on medium high speed until the mixture is very foamy, pale in color, and doubled in volume, 2 min. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually pour in the chocolate mixture. Increase the speed to medium high and continue beating until well blended, about 30 seconds. Add the cocoa powder and mix on medium low just until blended, about 30 seconds.

 Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a pick inserted in the center comes out looking wet with small gooey clumps, 40 to 45 min. Don’t overcook.Let cool in the pan on a rack for 30 min. If necessary, gently push the edges down with your fingertips until the layer is even. Run a small knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Cover the cake pan with a wire rack and invert. Remove the pan and parchment and let the cake cool completely. The cake may look cinched in around its sides, which is fine. Transfer to a cake plate. Cover and refrigerate the cake until it’s very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Glaze the cake:

____________________________________________________

TIP:

To slice this cake (or any dense, sticky cake), heat the knife first, either by dipping it in a tall container of very hot water or by holding it under hot running water for a few seconds. Then wipe it dry before cutting the cake. The knife will cool quickly, and the cake will start sticking, so expect to rinse and repeat several times. A crème brûlée torch, if you have one,is also handy for heating up a knife.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a medium metal bowl set in a skillet of barely simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the warm glaze over the chilled cake and, using an offset spatula, spread the glaze evenly to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set, 20 to 40 min. Before serving, remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, 20 to 30 min. To serve, cut the cake into small, if not tiny, slices using a hot knife.

nutrition information (per serving): 

Size : based on twelve servings, Calories (kcal): 420, Fat (kcal): 33, Fat Calories (g): 290, Saturated Fat(g): 18, Protein (g): 6, Monounsaturated Fat (g): 5, Carbohydrates (mg): 37, Polyunsaturated Fat (mg): 1.5, Sodium (g): 80, Cholesterol (g): 125, Fiber (g): 3