To bake or not to bake is that my real question?

Greetings from my couch where I am anxiously awaiting 2 dark chocolate cakes (with a hint of orange) that are still baking in the ovens. I have successfully finished 2 of the 4 that I am currently working on. In all seriousness though, I never thought I would blog about anything. I have had friends who suggested that I should blog about my baking, but I thought it wasn't that interesting...until I watched the movie Julie & Julia. I thought well if that girl can cook her way through a cookbook and write about it, then why can't I? I am not attempting to compare or compete with her task of 524 recipes in 365 days, but merely to share my journey in the kitchen as I tackle the art and finesse of baking!

Starting off today with the task of 4 dark chocolate cakes was not an easy one to conquer. These gorgeous cakes take quite some effort to make and roughly an hour to bake. Not all of us have that kind of time on our hands, but I am just so lucky at this time in my life to have it. These cakes will be enjoyed by nearly 40 people tomorrow for their coffee break, so they are not all for me and my husband. I have successfully made these cakes in the past, but today I added orange shreds and some of the juice to give it a glorious taste. I have to say adding orange to chocolate is so divine it makes my taste buds water just thinking about it.

I now need to end my first entry to get our dinner going. We are having chicken with pasta, mixed with olive oil, fresh home grown cherry tomatoes, spinach, fresh basil and feta cheese. Unfortunately we do not have any red wine to accompany our delicious meal, but we will savor each bite anyhow.

Until next time let your taste buds enjoy their life!

Barefoot and Baking in the kitchen,
Leia 


















 

Here is the recipe for the Dark Chocolate Cake:
Ingredients:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter (softened)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl pour the boiling water over the cocoa and whisk until smooth. Let cool. (could be up to 20 minutes)In another bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternately. Put in round pan and bake for up to one hour at 175 C or 300 F

Good Luck!