Martha's Never Coming to Dinner.

January 16th
Some recipes utilize ingredients we are likely to have on-hand and therefore get made regularly. For me this is cornbread, which takes 10 minutes to make and tastes oh-so-good with anything; I say hello to fresh batches of cornbread more often than I say hi to many of my friends (which is regrettable and purely geographic, however. I do love my friends more than cornbread).

Then there are the recipes you've always looked at, salivated over, and imagined making yet never have. These are Occasion Recipes, far too elaborate to be made on just any day and which have only ever seemed appropriate to make if Martha Stewart called to say she was coming to dinner.

For me, one such recipe is found within the pages of the Rebar Cookbook, a fantastic compilation of best-loved dishes from the Rebar restaurant in Victoria, BC. Along with many other great eats, the authors share the secrets to their chocolate cake, an imposing tower of deliciousness cut into large wedges and served up daily. Trust me, as soon as my friend Lindsay and I discovered this, the best chocolate cake we had ever had, a good many of those wedges were sent in our direction during our University of Victoria years.

I have since moved from Victoria and miss the cake sorely (though Lindsay more, of course), yet keep the recipe tucked away with the rest of my Martha's-coming-to-dinner projects. Several days ago I decided, enough. I am tired of waiting for Martha. Truth be told, she may never come. I am going to make an occasion and make this cake, darnit.

The occasion? This Friday. It's January 22nd......the fourth Friday of 2010......and therefore this decade, which is remarkable, really.......not to mention that there has never before been a January 22nd, 2010, nor will there ever be one again. When you think about it, it's a pretty big deal. How will you be celebrating?


January 26th
I wrote that ten days ago. You may wonder, was the National Lindsay Makes a Cake Day a success? It was. It totally, chocolately was.

I invited two friends over for dinner, though that really took a backseat to dessert and involved strategizing over which pre-cake-eating foods would be best. This turned out to be chicken, roasted squash, beet and apple salad, and organic sourdough. Did the trick. But it was about the cake, the cake people, which was dark, rich, smooth, and sat-is-fy-ing.

After several previous layered cake attempts, none of which had turned out like the picture in my mind, I finally had success with the Rebar chocolate cake, and I'll share the reasons for this with the recipe. Come up with your own excuse to make this or any other recipe you've been wanting to try. Life's too short to wait for Martha, plus she probably wouldn't eat much anyway.

How about celebrating the fact that Saturday only comes once every seven days? National Saturday Day deserves a treat, so get on it.



Rebar Chocolate Cake

1 ½ cups light brown sugar
1 ½ cups unbleached flour
½ cup Dutch process cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup strong coffee
¾ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs (1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk)
1 tsp vanilla

Cake Filling
5 oz (150g) milk chocolate (fair trade chocolate, preferably, for a cake with a conscience)
5 oz (150g) dark chocolate
½ lb (225g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ lb (112g) cream cheese, spreadable (about half of a normal sized container of Philly)
1 tsp vanilla

Ganache
½ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
5 oz (150g) semi-sweet chocolate

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F. Prepare three 8” cake pans with oiled parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pans. Set aside.

2. Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, and salt in the bowl of a mixer and whisk on low to combine, making sure it's lump free (or just use a whisk). Add the coffee, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix on medium-low for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides. The batter will be pourable.

3. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 15 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Remove parchment papers before assembling.*

4. Next, prepare the cake filling. Melt the milk and dark chocolates in a double boiler and stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes. Cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Mix the cooled chocolate into the creamed mixture. Next, prepare the ganache by heating the cream and butter to just before the scalding point (just below the boiling point). Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let rest for 3 minutes, then whisk gently (to avoid incorporating air) until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.

5. To assemble the cake, place one of the cake layers on a cooling rack with a large baking sheet underneath to catch drips. Evenly spread almost half of the filling over the layer, then position a second layer on top. Save a small amount to thinly spread over the top and to fill in the sides to make it smooth.** Position the top cake layer over the filling. Chill 10 minutes. Next, slowly pour the warm ganache over the entire cake while carefully spreading it with a large metal icing spatula to make a smooth surface. Carefully transfer the cake to a plate and into the fridge to set. Bring to room temperature before serving.

*I made the three cakes on Thursday, then the next day made the filling and ganache and assembled it all. The cake was easier to work with cold and, in my opinion, gets more delicious after sitting well wrapped in the fridge for 24 hours.

**Cakes never bake with sides that meet the top at perfect right angles. This means there are always gaps between the layers which have to be filled in, or else the sides of the cake will look rippled. You can horizontally slice the uneven parts off the top, but then you end up losing half the cake. Instead, with the metal spatula I spread a thin layer of filling over the whole thing, then filled a plastic baggie with more filling and snipped off a corner to make an icing bag. I used the tip to completely fill in the gaps, then re-spread the whole thing with the spatula so I had entirely smooth sides before pouring over the ganache.

Some Goods.

I have multiple recipes promised to multiple people so here are a few of them, for the multitudes.

Number One! Pumpkin Millet Muffins, care of the fantastic Rebar cookbook. This collection of colourful recipes come from the vegetarian/fusion institution known as Rebar, set in Victoria BC's Bastion Square. I've found it for sale in a cookbook store in London, so clearly it's got a rep.

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup veggie oil (can substitute apple sauce)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice stirred into 1 cup milk. let sit 10 min)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup millet

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup unbleached flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease large muffin pan and line with muffin cups if you like. Set aside. Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin in large bowl and mix together, making sure there are no lumps of brown sugar. Stir in the oats. Toast millet in a hot dry skillet (over medium heat) until lightly browned and fragrant. Toast the pumpkin seeds skillet and add millet and seeds to the bowl. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and gently stir to combine. Do not overmix, or the muffins will be dry and tough.

3. Fill muffin cups generously with batter. Sprinkle tops with pumpkin seeds and bake for 25 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Number Two! Granola Bars. I made these for a film crew and they were pop-u-lar. They're good on their own, with yogurt, with ice cream.........and great because you can make them a little different each time by switching up ingredients. Also, they don't require baking, so you don't have to worry about under or over-doing them. I got this recipe from a blog called Joyful Abode.

2 cups oats

3/4 cup wheat germ (I used unsweetened, shredded coconut)

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup peanuts, crushed (I used sliced almonds)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

4 Tablespoons (Tb) butter

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

approximately 1 cup dried, chopped fruit (I used raisins, dried cranberries, and dried apricots)

Prepare a glass baking dish or small cookie sheet by lining it with wax paper (this is what you'll press the bars in and you'll want it ready ahead of time).

Mix first 4 ingredients and spread on another cookie sheet. Broil them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, tossing every few minutes, until they are lightly toasted and fragrant (don't let it burn!) Remove and let cool.

In saucepan on stove, combine the rest of the ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

In a big bowl combine the toasted mixture, syrup mixture, and dried fruit (or chocolate chips if you're adding them, why not) and make sure everything gets coated evenly in the syrup. Pour it all into the prepared, lined baking dish/cookie sheet and spread it out evenly with a wooden spoon. Then line the top with wax paper and use something hard and flat to press the mix firmly into the pan. The harder you press, the better the bars will hold together. Let cool for several hours then remove from pan and cut into bars.

That's it for now. Ryan, happy baking.