January baking

Chocolate Mousse Cake

In recent years, I've been making a handful of resolutions at the start of every new year using the very corporate sounding SMART framework - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. I've found "measurable" and "achievable" most helpful. I found a set of new year resolutions that I'd jotted down in an old diary back when I was in my twenties. "Be more punctual", it said. Definitely relevant and timely, but not measurable. You can imagine how that resolution went. 

I've gotten smarter (!) since then and my resolutions have included reading an average of two books a month, 1 blog post a month etc. They've been much easier to follow because they're specific and measurable. I thought they were eminently achievable but that assumption was questioned along the way. Even though I had to scramble at the end of the year to achieve my targets, it felt good to have hit goals at the end of the year. Sometimes I look back at my twenties and wonder if I've actually improved in meaningful ways over the last many years. Achieving some of my new years' resolutions last year has helped me identify ways in which I can concretely say that I've learned a thing or two, done better that I have in earlier years.

My resolutions have been somewhat run of the mill. I recently came across one that's much more fun: “Every morning when you wake up, stick your arms out at your sides, wiggle your fingers and say, “It’s showtime!” 

In the spirit of writing an average of one blog post a month, here's my inaugural blog post of the year. I've had some success with baking savory things recently. Here's a cheese, and red pepper savory bread I made recently with a few bits of finely chopped chorizo thrown in. The original recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes, which I didn't have. I substituted with finely chopped red peppers. I used fontina cheese instead of asiago because that's what I had on hand. It was a little rich with the butter and cheese, but very yummy. Here's a picture. It was taken late in the evening, so the lighting isn't great. 

Cheese, Red Pepper and Chorizo Bread

I also baked a delicious chocolate mousse cake. The mousse and glaze recipes came from an acclaimed French-American chef, Dominique Ansel (from his reassuringly titled book "Everyone Can Bake"). I had to add confectioner's sugar to the glaze and mousse, which never happens with an American recipe. The book taught me a thing or two about cooking with gelatine, and everything about putting together a mousse cake. The chocolate cake recipe ("Super Moist Chocolate Loaf") came from "Paris Picnic Club" at the recommendation of my sister-in law. I cut the sugar to 200g but was otherwise loyal to the recipe. This is worthy of a special occasion. 

                    

Finally, here's a Cinnamon Swirl bread from Sally's Baking Addiction - a very nice blog/website. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and 1/2 cup currants for the filling mixed with two tsp of flour based on recommendations from the King Arthur Flour website. I also used an eggwash to the rolled dough to help the filling stay in place, and brushed it on the loaf before it went into the oven. Finally, I baked the bread in 3 mini loaf pans instead of the traditional 9x5. Worked perfectly. 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Here's to more baking and blogging in the new year!