Connection - Love in A Smile

Photo Challenge of the Week:

Connection

#LeverageLove was a campaign that started on an instagram community that I follow, it was about why we love our dogs and what they have taught us. Ziva has taught me patience and perseverance, she went from scared of her shadow, to an agility pibble princess and confident little sidekick on all of my life's adventures.

Dante is my other love and adventure buddy, not scared of anything I can share with him my hopes, dreams, and sadness. His gentle smile and dark brown eyes melts everything away and brings hope and love to the surface.

Dogs are truly our best friends.

Connected by Love.

Connected

Dark Chocolate Torte with Ganache

My sister is leaving for France and for her goodbye party I was asked to make her a cake, her request?
Something dark...preferably my torte! Ok sis you asked for it!

This recipe is originally from Fork Knife Swoon but I made some changes.

One thing to keep in mind - the better the quality of chocolate, the better your cake will turn out! I prefer to use Trade Joe's 72% Dark Chocolate, and it takes almost a whole pound for the cake.

Here is my version:

Dark Chocolate Torte with Ganache

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
3/4 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
10 oz. bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped into small bits
1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature cut into pieces
1 & 1/4 Cups white sugar
3 oz red wine
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

For the Ganache Glaze:
1 Cup heavy cream
8 oz. bittersweet dark chocolate
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature cut into pieces

Cake Instructions:

1. Preheat oven 325* degrees F. Generously butter a  9 inch spring-form cake pan, set aside.  
   
2. Sift & combine: flour, cocoa, and salt.  Set aside.
3. Using a double boiler: melt 8 oz of chocolate with the butter, 1/2 Cup of sugar, wine, and vanilla. Stir constantly until combined. The chocolate should be smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a mixer, beat together the eggs and remaining sugar for 2 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer still running, carefully and slowly pour the melted chocolate into the eggs until combined. *It's important that you pour slowly to avoid cooking the raw eggs.*
5. Turn the mixer off and gently stir in the flour mixture and remaining chocolate pieces until just mixed.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top has just set and beginning to crackle. The cake should still be slightly gooey with melted chocolate when a cake-tester is inserted into the middle. 
7. Remove from oven and let cool on a baking rack.

Ganache Instructions - Make while the cake is cooling:

1. In a sauce pan combine cream and chocolate. Bring the cream to just a boil over medium heat. Whisk continuously until fully melted. Add the butter and gently stir until just combined. *Avoid over mixing to ensure a glossy finish. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two to thicken.
2. When the cake is room temperature, remove it from pan and gently pour ganache glaze over the top, allowing it to spill down the side. Top with fresh berries if you desire and serve!

Other great toppings include: Shredded coconut, any sort of berry, caramel sauce, ganache with peanutbutter, whipped cream..be creative!

Here is my finished cake!

Preserving Basil

I Love Fresh Basil

Basil just so happens to be one of my favorite herbs, I plant it every year and enjoy it as much as I can every summer season. The one problem I run into though is in the winter....I don't typically use dried basil, I prefer fresh and the winter is just not basil's season.

This year I decided to do things differently, instead of purchasing fresh basil during the upcoming winter months I made up my mind to make my own preserved basil from my garden which is currently overflowing in yummy leafy basil which I definitely don't want to go to waste!

I've seen this idea many times online and decided to give it a go myself! 

Frozen Fresh Basil in Oil and Water

Step 1: Gather your herbs - you can do this for any herb that you enjoy cooking with.

Step 2: Wash your herbs, pick the leaves you are going to use and discard the rest. Then dry your herbs gently on either a paper or hand towel.

Washed and Picked From Their Stems.

Fresh From My Garden! Washed and Ready!

Step 3: I used a food processor because it's much easier and quicker but you can also hand mince your herbs with your favorite sharp knife (non serrated please!). Deposit your minced basil into a bowl.

Step 4: Using a muffin tin or ice cube tray, divide out your basil accordingly. I used the muffin tin for 1 tablespoon scoops of my basil, and an ice cube tray for 1 teaspoon portions of basil. Don't pack them in tightly, but rather gently and somewhat loosely pressed into the bottom. You want to give your liquid a chance to completely encase the basil.

Prepped and Ready

Herbs in the Bottom, Don't pack them too tight!

Step 5: Now for the fun part! Using your favorite oil, or water go ahead and just cover the top of the pressed basil. I used mostly Grape Seed Oil for my basil because I use oil in a lot of different cooking recipes, but I also used water for a whole ice tray for recipes such as soup where I might not want to add oil.

Just cover the top of the herbs

Step 6:  Toss it in the freezer for a few hours and then bag it!

Enjoy!

Pic from: fatandhappyblog.com

Author's Update:

Upon removing my supposedly frozen cubes from their trays, the oil was a complete mess! As soon as I took it out of the freezer it began to melt! The shapes did not hold up as planned.

For future reference, the water cubes worked great! And I think melted butter would be a better choice rather than oil, melted butter freezes super solid.