*

10 pounds down 32 pounds to go!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Valentine's Day 2009

Obviously this year we aren't going to be celebrating valentine's day with roses and dinner out and champagne. My valentine's day surprise from Matt is another year's worth of Martha Stewart Living and his present will be slavish devotion and copious amounts of heart shaped food. Technically we're going out friday night as a sort of a business dinner regarding that job proposal thing so Saturday really has to be on budget. In other years I would have considered filet mignon...this year I'm thinking pizza...but shaped like a heart...obviously...unless I find a hidden steak in the freezer because nothing says love like frozen beef.

I think the pizza will be fun and the right dinner for a night doing boyfriend things like watching Smokey and the Bandit and eating popcorn with too much butter. Dessert however is the star of the evening and will probably be a flourless chocolate cake. It's been ages since I've made one and they're yummy and decadent and should put a gold star on our valentine's day without me having to buy anything we don't already have. Are you having a thrifty valentine's day too? What are your plans?

8 comments:

Sugarcrook said...

Talk about spooky... We're also making pizza for VD. I've basically given up on pizza in the People's Republic of California - it's an abomination.

Frozen bread dough for crust and whatever toppings I want... YES WE CAN. :)

Amy said...

mark bittman's recipe is pretty awesome, I can send it to you.

Sugarcrook said...

Send it over.

Rebecca said...

damn...i need a girlfriend like you.

we arent doing anything...how sad is that?

Amy said...

oh, that is sad :(

Wei Sic Meow said...

Can we have your recipe for the flourless chocolate cake? Or is it a family secret?

Amy said...

A family secret it is not, the brownie recipe however...that's a different story.

So, I've made a few flourless chocolate cakes in my day and crazy enough most of them had flour in them...a tablespoon or two but still...liars. I just found this one and I baked it this afternoon because we're going to be out and about most of the day tomorrow. It's very dense but a little more cakey than I would have thought for no flour and not as sweet as I would have liked.

The recipe as it stands is:
melt 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate and 1 stick of butter in a double boiler. When melted, remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in 3/4 C of white sugar, 1/2 C cocoa powder, 3 beaten eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Pour into an 8" round pan (i used a heart, obviously) and bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes (i did 25 to test with a toothpick). Let rest for about 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack.

As I said it didn't come out as sweet as I would have liked. Next time I will use bittersweet chocolate instead of unsweetened and I'll use 8 ounces in place of the cocoa for a more rich texture. As is it I'm going to cover the thing with a semi sweet ganache and home whipped cream so I'm sure no one will complain. Fudge sauce and ice cream would be good options too. I also recommend using parchment on the pan...the original suggested butter and cocoa to leave no flour traces but parchment ensures perfection and what else can you ask for on valentine's day!

Sugarcrook said...

The pizza dough turned out great. It made two large thin-crust pizzas, easily enough to feed 4 people.