beer & chocolate

Beer and chocolate are two of my favorite things. But what happens when you put them together...in a CAKE? (And also throw in a little whiskey and some Baileys?)

You get Irish Car Bomb CAKE!

Now, I know the name of this cake is rather distasteful, but this cake is named after an American beer cocktail, not a Irish form of domestic terrorism. If you've spent any time in a bar, you're familiar with this drink.  It's delicious, but it will also **** you up!

If you're not familiar with this drink, it goes like this: Take 3/4 of a pint of Guinness. Into the Guinness, drop a shot glass full of Baileys Irish Cream and Jameson Irish Whiskey. Now chug!

Somehow, the booze and the beer combine to form something that tastes like chocolate milk. Have several and they also combine to form something that will give you a terrific headache the next day. It's pretty much the greatest drink ever.

So when I saw a recipe for the Car Bomb in CAKE form, I had to try it! I feared it might be a bit of a gimmick (three types of alcohol in one cake?) - but it was fantastic. The cake itself was moist and chocolatey (and I have high standards for chocolate cake!) and the sweet Irish cream frosting perfectly complemented the bittersweet chocolate ganache.

I will definitely be looking for more reasons to make this cake again. Also - Baileys Frosting - why didn't I come up with such a thing? It's fantastic, and would be a delicious on just about any chocolate cake...or straight up off the spoon!

Irish Car Bomb Cake
Adapted from The Biscuit Pusher who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen

For the cake:

• 1 cup Guinness (or other stout beer)
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

For the ganache filling:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 70% cacao)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1-2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (Confession: I didn't have any Jameson, so I just poured in a dash of bourbon! I was afraid it would be too boozy, but next time I will definitely use the full amount of Jameson.)

For the Bailey's frosting:

• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 5 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, combine beer and butter and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt to blend.

In another large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream with an electric mixer to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and beat on slow speed until combined. Pour the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes (until done in the center). Remove cake from oven and allow to cool on a rack.

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To make the filling, chop the chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for one minute, then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey. Set aside while you are making the frosting.

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To make the frosting, whip the butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing, and then add the Baileys and whip until combined. (The consistency can be adjusted by adding more powdered sugar or Baileys/milk, if necessary.)

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To assemble the cake, place a dollop of the ganache on your serving platter to secure the cake. Place the bottom layer of the cake on the platter and spread the ganache filling over the top. Place the second cake layer on top. Use a knife to smooth any filling that has squeezed out between the layers. Frost the entire cake with the Baileys frosting. (Tip: The texture of the frosting was like spreading play-doh, and the cake didn't look very nice after I had frosted it. I then used an offset spatula dipped in hot water to smooth the frosting.)

vicious fishes

So, Larry and I have been eating a pescetarian diet the past few weeks - and I just realized that there are no seafood recipes on Vicious Dishes. I'm starting off with a good one - easy, delicious, summery, and definitely good enough to serve to company.

Larry and I both love seafood, but don't eat it as often as we should because of lack of availability - I'm sorry to say, but buying fish at our local grocery store would be a recipe for food poisoning. But over the weekend, we were heading home from a hike, and stopped at Wegmans (which has an excellent fish market) to stock up on fresh tuna steaks and salmon fillets.

I love salmon, but often find that it is a "safe" choice on many restaurant menus - meaning it's somewhat bland and lacks flavor and sophistication. Not so with these salmon cakes which are summery and delicious and creamy. They don't dry out while cooking and go quite well with a tomato salad.

Summer Salmon Cakes
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
2 servings

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 pound skinless salmon fillet, chopped
• 8 Ritz or saltine crackers, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper.

Add salmon, crackers, and zucchini, and mix well.

Form mixture into 4 (3-inch) patties. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until hot, then cook salmon cakes for 3 minutes on each side.

the icing on the cake

Vicious Dishes' own Sara had a birthday last week, and the fact that she (along with the other Vicious Dishes - Sarah and Abby) was in town visiting from Louisiana, meant that I was going to seize the opportunity to make her a birthday cake! I set about searching the internet for a new and unusual cake recipe, but came to the realization that the perfect recipe was already in my own recipe binder.

As far as I know, there is nothing Italian about Italian Cream Cake. What I do know is that it's delicious! This recipe came from my mother - it is one of my favorite cakes that she makes (and she makes a lot of good cakes!).

Two things about this recipe - one, it came from Cooking Light, but you'd never know it! And two, it has a slight hint of coconut (from coconut extract), but even several of my anti-coconut friends have loved this cake.

And the icing on the cake? Cream cheese frosting! (And of course having all four of us - who live in four separate states - together for an evening of wine, gabbing, and stuffing face with cake!)

Italian Cream Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat bottoms of 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans). Line bottoms of cake pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray, dust with flour, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until butter is creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine 2 cups flour and baking soda; stir well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix in coconut extract and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter and pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 5 minutes on wire racks. Loosen cake layers from sides of pans using a narrow metal spatula, and turn out onto wire racks. Peel off wax paper and cool completely.

Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread with cream cheese icing; top with second cake layer and spread with more icing. Add third cake layer and secure layers with a few toothpicks. Spread remaining icing over cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
• 12 ounces Neufchatel cheese
• 1 ½ pounds powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at high speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugar. Add vanilla extract. Beat at low speed until blended.

in search of the perfect mac and cheese

It's always amazed me that it's so difficult to find a great recipe for such a universally-loved food as Mac and Cheese. I've tried MANY recipes, and while I can't say any of them tasted bad, I haven't found The One. I've mentioned this to several friends, who seem to have the same problem.

I even found a recipe earlier this year that claimed the resulting Mac and Cheese was better than sex. Well. How could I NOT try that recipe? Let's just say, that recipe, ahem, failed to perform.

I then printed out all the suggested recipes in The Bitten Word's Ultimate Mac and Cheese Guide - I haven't tried all of them, but still the perfect recipe evades me. (Side note: Nutmeg belongs in Pumpkin Pie, NOT Mac and Cheese. Any Mac and Cheese recipe including nutmeg is automatically disqualified. I'm looking at you Martha Stewart!)

Perfect Mac and Cheese recipe - where are you?

Then I stumbled across a blog called Homesick Texan. Other than a few layovers in Dallas and Houston, I've never been to Texas, but still, it makes me think Tex Mex and BBQ and, well, I knew I was going to like this blog.

Not only that, she had a mouth-watering recipe for Mac and Cheese. It was different than the other recipes I'd tried - no making a roux, NO NUTMEG, no cheese product (shudder) and well...is it the perfect Mac and Cheese recipe? It's hard to say, but this is pretty damn close.

Just in case you need any more convincing...4 Reasons You Will Love This Recipe:

1. You don't have to boil the pasta ahead of time.
2. It's cooked in a cast iron skillet.
3. Chipotles in Adobo!
4. BACON!!!

Chipotle Mac and Cheese with Bacon
Slightly adapted from Homesick Texan via the NY Times

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups dry pasta (I used ziti, but you could use penne, or the traditional elbow macaroni)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream (or substitute another cup of milk)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
• pinch of cumin
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
• 4 pieces cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese (optional - I couldn't find this in my grocery store, but would love to try it!)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cast-iron skillet (original recipe calls for a 9-inch skillet, I only had a 10 1/2-inch and it turned out fine) with the butter. Add the dry pasta.

Use a blender or an immersion blender to mix together the milk, cream, cottage cheese, chipotle, mustard powder, garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper until smooth. Pour mixture over dry pasta and stir until sauce is evenly distributed.

Stir in 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of monterey jack. Cover the pan with foil and bake 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil and stir the mac and cheese a few times. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar and 1/2 cup of monterey jack. Sprinkle with chopped bacon and cook for another 25 minutes uncovered or until brown and bubbling.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cotija cheese (if you have it).

Note: I am usually skeptical of Mac and Cheese recipes that include cottage cheese - the so-called better than sex recipe had cottage cheese in it and the texture was weird. However, pureeing it in the blender as this recipe calls for is perfect and there are no texture issues.


P.S. That's a black tomato in the salad - in case you were wondering about the unusual color.

the three deadly C's

Carbs. Cheese. Cream.

All in one recipe - in the form of potatoes, bleu cheese, and heavy cream - oh yes!

This recipe is to die for. Seriously, it's like scalloped potatoes IN A PIE. Soaked in cream and doused with cheese! Make it now - for breakfast, for brunch, for dinner, for company, just make it!

Bleu Cheese and Red Potato Tart
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Gourmet Magazine

• pre-made pie dough (if you want to make your own crust, see Smitten Kitchen)
• 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 pound bleu cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
• salt

In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Pat potato slices dry with a towel.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Press the pie dough into a 9-inch tart pan and trim any overhanging dough from the edges. (You could probably make this in a pie pan too, but it looked so pretty as tart, that I highly recommend using the tart pan.)

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles on top of the pie crust in the tart pan. Sprinkle bleu cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs and salt.

Bake tart at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.

A few notes:
On herbs: When I sprinkled the full tablespoon of herbs over the tart, it seemed like a lot and I thought it might be overpowering. It wasn't - it was perfect.

On bleu cheese: I love bleu cheese. Some people don't. That being said, this wasn't overpoweringly bleu cheesy - it was perfect.

Also, per Smitten Kitchen - the filling will remain soft and custard like after baking - it will not firm up like a quiche.

fresh squeezed

I love strawberry lemonade. Love it. I can make myself sick off of it whenever I see it on a restaurant menu and order a glass. And then another. And another. But why have I waited this long to make my own lemonade? I finally checked it off my To Do list earlier this summer. And then I checked it off again. And again. And again. Then I made it with peaches. As far as I'm concerned, there should be a pitcher of this stuff in my refrigerator at all times throughout the summer.


This recipe is for all the new or pregnant mamas out there who are laying off the booze this summer. It's an easy and refreshing recipe - I recommend making it during baby's nap. When baby wakes up, the two of you can go out and sit on the porch and you can enjoy a nice cold glass of lemonade with a happy baby on your lap. (Isn't that how it works? There's no baby crying, no diapers to change - just a quiet afternoon on the porch with mother and child and maybe a good book...right?!)

Also, I doubled Emeril's original recipe - there's no sense in going to the trouble to squeeze lemons if you only make enough lemonade to last an afternoon. I put it in a glass drink dispenser, but if you don't have one, I'd recommend mixing it all up in a big pasta pot and then pouring it into several pitchers. Make a lot of this stuff and you will be happy.

Strawberry (or Peach) Lemonade
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
8-12 servings

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice (10-12 lemons depending on size and juiciness)
• 2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and halved (or 2 16-ounce cans of peaches plus syrup)
• 4 cups cold water

Bring 4 cups of water and the sugar to a boil in a saucepan.  Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from heat. Let cool completely, then strain into a drink dispenser.

Puree the strawberries using a blender or immersion blender and add them to the drink dispenser with the lemon juice. Add additional 4 cups of water and stir well to combine. Refrigerate until chilled.

Note: If you're serving this for a party, add some whole strawberries (or peach slices) and lemon slices to make it look fancy.

Happy squeezing!

for the love of squarsh: the ubiquitous zucchini post

Every summer, food blogs are filled with posts about "how to use up zucchini."  Now, I think that good ol' zucchini bread is a treat, not a way to use up an over-abundant vegetable.  In fact, I have bags of shredded zucchini in my freezer, so I can make this treat year-round. However, I will admit that the plethora of summer squash can get a little overwhelming at times.  It's a good thing I have a vegetable-loving dog!

My favorite zucchini recipe is of course, Blueberry Zucchini Bread - one of the recipes that started this blog. However, when I asked Larry if he had any requests for zucchini recipes this week, he asked for regular zucchini bread and squash pie - just like his mom used to make.

Larry's mom makes squash pie (or as she pronounces it, squarsh pie) - and if you've never had it, I suggest you try it - it tastes like custard!  After he requested squarsh pie, he worried "but you don't have Mom's recipe" and I promised that with a little googling I could figure it out.

As for the zucchini bread, I realize that everyone has their favorite recipe, but I had a bottle of buttermilk in my fridge that I needed to use up, so a little more googling, and I had found this recipe.  I'm a firm believer that buttermilk makes every recipe better.

Neither of these recipes are fancy or complicated - really, they are simple (confession: I even used pre-made pie dough) summer staples, just like mom used to make.

Squarsh Pie
Adapted from Just Jane

• 1 cup zucchini pulp (see below)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon butter

• pre-made pie dough

To make zucchini pulp:  Peel a large (or 2 medium) zucchini.  Cut it into chunks and boil in water until tender. Drain well.  Puree in a food processor.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Press pie dough into a pie pan and form crust.  Blend pulp, sugar, evaporated milk, flour, eggs, vanilla, and salt in food processor.  Pour filling into pie shell and top with butter cut into chunks.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Buttermilk Zucchini Bread

Adapted from Caviar and Codfish

Makes one loaf

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan.  Combine buttermilk, oil, and sugar in a medium bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light-colored and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix.  Fold in the zucchini.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, and clove.  Stir to combine and then mix everything with the wet mixture until just combined.

Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes or until the top is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.

the last of the blueberries

Just a week later, and all seven pounds of blueberries are gone.  I made blueberry oatmeal squares, blueberry smoothies, blueberry maple parfaits, blueberry freezer jam, and ate handfuls of blueberries straight from the bucket.  However, the last three cups of berries went into the best recipe yet - a beautiful blueberry galette.

I'm a little obsessed with galettes.  They're like free-form pies and I love their rustic look.  Confession:  I often don't make my own pie crusts - the rolling out, the tearing, it is all too frustrating to me.  But the galette filling recipe is so easy, that a recipe that called for a homemade crust was a requirement this time around.  Not only did this crust make the dessert (the addition of cornmeal is fantastic), but it came together in a snap in the food processor.  I may be revisiting my feelings about homemade pie crusts from now on because it was totally worth it.  The other great thing about galettes is that they are not supposed to look perfect - so a cracked and uneven crust is part of its charm!

Blueberry Galette

Slightly adapted from I Shot the Chef

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 2-3 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

• 3 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, chilled

To assemble:

• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse briefly to blend.  Cut the butter into pieces, add to the flour mixture, and pulse until the butter is cut into very tiny pieces, about 30 seconds.  The texture should be sandy with very tiny lumps throughout.

While the food processor is running, pour the cream and 2 tablespoons of ice water through the feed tube. Process until the dough begins to hold together.  Turn off the food processor, remove the top, and feel the dough - if it holds together it is done.  If it is still crumbly, add the remaining tablespoon water and pulse again.

Turn the pastry dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap.  Shape into a flat disk and wrap tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator 2 hours, or until firm.  When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit 10-12 minutes to become pliable.

Place the berries and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a mixing bowl and toss together to distribute evenly. Taste the berries to see if they need any more sugar.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Roll out the pastry dough between sheets of lightly parchment paper to a large circle about 12 inches in diameter.  Carefully, peel the parchment paper off the top of the dough, brush excess flour off the dough, and transfer the pastry dough with the bottom piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

Mound the berries into a pile in the center of the dough circle, leaving a 2 1/2-inch border all around.  Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and distribute over the berries.

Fold the border up so that it partially covers the berries.  Brush the dough with the cream.  (Be careful that it doesn't run under the galette - if it does, wipe it up because it can cause the bottom of the galette to burn.) Evenly sprinkle the sugar over the dough border.

Bake the galette at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until light golden. (If desired, dust with powdered sugar before serving.)

Note: The only problem I did have was that it is impossible to move the baked galette from the baking sheet to a serving platter and attempting to do so would result in a catastrophe of epic proportions.  I was able to make the transfer by leaving the parchment paper under the galette and then tearing off the exposed parts of the paper from around the pie once it was on the serving platter.

perfect parfaits

We've been eating a lot of blueberries around here lately, and I usually gravitate towards dessert recipes that involve baking - so I'm extremely glad that I gave these blueberry parfaits a try. They were phenomenal - and easy to make, too. This would be the perfect dessert to serve at a summer dinner party - they look elegant, and are rich, but refreshing at the same time.



When I first mentioned to Larry that these had maple syrup in them, he looked at me skeptically and said "Maple syrup is for pancakes - and nothing else!" I tend to agree - I don't really like the flavor of maple unless it is going on my breakfast. But the syrup paired perfectly with the blueberries - and accented the flavor much like cinnamon pairs perfectly with apples.

I wish I had better glasses to serve these in - one of the reasons that this recipe caught my attention was the beautiful way it was photographed in Gourmet magazine. But layers of purple berries and fluffy white whipped cream can't look bad - no matter what you serve them in!  (Also, I took the photo before I topped them with nuts - which accented the blueberries perfectly and added a little crunch.)

Another note - don't be tempted to halve this recipe. I was only serving three people, so I cut the recipe in half - big mistake. Trust me, even if there are only a few of you - you will finish these up without any trouble (and lick the glass clean while you're at it!).

Blueberry Maple Parfaits
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, July 2009
6 servings

• 3 1/2 cups blueberries, divided
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup, divided
• 1 cup chilled heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• crushed pecans

Cook 2 1/4 cups blueberries with 1/2 cup maple syrup in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until blueberries have burst, about 3-8 minutes. (Note, I recommend doing this step the day before you plan to serve them and then just popping the mixture in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the parfaits. However, if you make the blueberry mixture shortly before you serve, then cool it in an ice bath.)

Beat cream with remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup in a bowl using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks.

Stir lemon juice and remaining 1 1/4 uncooked berries into cooled blueberry-maple mixture.

Spoon 2 tablespoons blueberry mixture into each of 6 glasses and top with whipped cream. Repeat layering blueberry mixture and whipped cream. The top layer should be blueberries. Top with crushed pecans.

seven pounds of blueberries!

Here is our bounty after our day at the U-Pick Farm - seven pounds of blueberries from Butlers Orchard.
Stay tuned for lots of blueberry recipes!