Entertaining
Almost Sugar-and-Carb-Free Chocolate Cake
This past weekend was Ryan’s birthday, and Monday was Ryan’s Birthday: Observed. Or so he claimed. ;)
He was back home with his family for most of the weekend, and I was sewing to catch up on all the orders (still) from when food poisoning kicked my butt two weeks ago. But before Ryan came home I attempted to do a little festive decorating & cooking.
I put together a super quick and easy banner, using scrap booking paper, ribbon, and letters printed off the computer. I simply chopped the colorful papers into squares, pasted the printed-out black-and-white letters over them, and then strung it together with ribbon. I hung it on the wall in our living room that is STILL blank after all this time. Sometimes it comes in handy – for Christmas cards & stockings or apparently for birthday banners. It’s like a “special occasion” wall. :)
I also snagged some balloons during my run to the grocery store. Not the most environmentally-friendly decoration, I know, but they sure are fun and give you a lot of celebratory bang for your buck at only $5.95 a 1/2 dozen.
And after the birthday boy has been surprised, the balloons are fun for annoying your pets. Or tying them around the dog.
But I digress. Let’s talk about CAKE!
Because Ryan and I both love chocolate, but we are trying to do a low-carb and low-sugar diet to slim down for the wedding, I experimented with an almost guilt-free dessert. It turned out really well (if you love dark chocolate), so I wanted to share the recipe with you.
I based the recipe on the chocolate torte (Reine de Saba) recipe in the Williams-Sonoma Chocolate cookbook.
Ingredients for Jane’s Almost Sugar and Carb Free Chocolate Torte
*5 oz Unsweetened Ghirardelli baking chocolate, 100% cacao (don’t get the cheap stuff)
*3 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (I like Scharffen Berger, don’t skimp on quality)
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, (room temp)
**1/4 Cup Sugar or Splenda
6 Large Eggs, Separated (room temp)
1 1/2 Cups Ground Almonds (use a food processor)
*Instead of 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, I did part unsweetened, to help cut down on the sugar.
**Instead of 3/4 cups sugar, I only did 1/4, and I did a mixture of Splenda and Real sugar for that 1/4 cup. I hate Splenda but Ryan swears by it. So this was a compromise.
To make ground nuts, use your food processor. I used my coffee grinder, and it gunked it all up. Huge mistake.
Directions!
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butter and flour a round cake pan, spring form is ideal. (I used a cheap aluminum foil cake pan.)
3. Break the chocolate into small chunks (if not already chopped). To melt the chocolate, use a double boiler (or a pot of water with a heat-safe mixing bowl on top of it. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. The chocolate should cool slightly.
4. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Use an electric mixer if you have one. Add the egg yolks gradually, mixing well after each is added.
5. Mix in the chocolate and the ground almonds.
6. Beat the egg whites until glossy and stiff but not dry. (This was hard for me because we don’t have an electric beater or mixer.)
7. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate cake mixture. Be gentle.
8. Pour the mix into the cake pan, smooth out with spatula on top.
9. Bake at 350 for around 50 minutes. When the top puffs and forms a crust, the torte should be done.
10. Remove from oven. Cool in pan for around 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to continue cooling.
Serve it up:
We like it with Frozen Raspberries & Unsweetened Whipped Cream.
The original recipe recommends that you serve this baby dripping in chocolate ganache. But because we’re trying to make dessert healthier, I made a simple raspberry sauce. Simmer a bag of frozen raspberries in a pan, stirring and mashing occasionally until they just become saucy. Like a puree, only less work.
Take heavy whipping cream, add a few drops of pure Vanilla Extract, and whip – well whip it until you’ve got whipped cream. The unsweetened cream is so naturally sweet that you don’t need to add the sugar. And it’s SO much tastier than that stuff that comes out of cans.
I drizzled a very generous spoonful of raspberry sauce over the torte, then added a huge dollop of whipped cream. Garnish with orange zest for a natural sprinkle look. :)
The verdict? Ryan and I both loved this very chocolatey, only-slightly-sweet cake. However, we realized that it’s best if served in small slices, smaller than the one pictured above. It’s so dense that a little bit goes a long way. And you know what? That’s fine with me!!
PS: Want to see what happens when we tie balloons around the dog and then ask her “Do you want to go for a walk?” She gets so excited she has to run in circles, even if there are balloons tied to her collar. And then our other pup thinks he should play-attack her. Don’t mind the disheveled state of the room. It was a busy weekend. :)
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Fresh Pomegranate Martinis & Pomegranate-Lime Sodas
Please forgive me – yesterday I overslept so I lost out on my early-morning blogging time. But better late than never, I’m back with another reason for you to make your own Fresh Pomegranate-Infused Vodka. There are a ton of recipes for Pomegranate Martinis out there, but the one that I think is simplest is this version below. After the recipe, I’ll share some of the ways you can mix it up.
Jane’s PomTini
Ingredients:
- Fresh Pomegranate Vodka
- Chambord Raspberry Liqueur
- Limes
- Simple Syrup
- Pomegranate Seeds
Let’s Make a Drink! Read the rest of this entry »
Festive Holiday Dinner Party & A Reminder on Simplicity
This past weekend was a busy one. Ryan and I had wedding business to attend to, I had a small holiday crafting party scheduled, and had to do some sewing to restock new Sunny Sweaters and Reusable Produce Bags in the shop.
And on Saturday, the previously-planned “holiday crafting party” morphed into a dinner with friends, which was a-ok with me. The only problem? With less than an hour before company arrived I had to throw together a place for us to eat – and we still haven’t gotten our dining room table.
I came up with a solution that was quick, cheerful and pretty, while reminding me that you don’t need a dining table and finely honed “tablescaping” skills in order to enjoy a simple, pretty table and wonderful company.
I snagged my long and skinny Ikea table from the basement, where we’re in the midst of setting up a crafting & puzzle corner. With no tablecloth long enough to cover the plain white table, I dug through my fabric stash and found a few yards of holiday dot fabric. Read the rest of this entry »
A DIY Wine Tasting Party & Free Printable!
Wine tasting has been a staple “sport” for me and my 3 bffs in Richmond for as long as we’ve been friends.
So when Reba talked about her upcoming 30th birthday, she mentioned that she really wanted to gather all her friends and climb aboard a bus for a big, mobile party through Virginia’s wine country. But as we planned her surprise 30th, we weren’t able to get the key people’s schedules to line up right to make a weekend afternoon wine tasting road trip work.
In a last-minute moment of brainstorming, I realized that if we couldn’t take Rebecca to wine country, we could bring a wine tasting to her ! The party turned out great, even though we put the theme together in just a few days. Read the rest of this entry »
My Quick-n-Easy Fabric Banner {Tutorial}
Good morning! It’s such a perfect morning here in Virginia. There’s a slight cool breeze drifting in my window as I write. It’s welcomed treat after those weeks of horrible heat.
Speaking of mornings, I’m really enjoying getting up earlier and sitting here writing to you guys while sipping my cup of coffee. It’s such a great way to start my day before heading to the office. Yes, I just said “writing to you guys.” That’s how I view this blogging business, because I feel like it’s kind of like writing a really detailed letter to far away friends. 
Anyhow, I recently went to Richmond to celebrate one of my bff’s birthdays. When the other bff and I were planning, she asked if I could help with decorating because it’s not really her thing. Let me tell you about the convo that ensued, because I think it illustrates the difference in mindset between us DIY bloggers and non-bloggers :) Read the rest of this entry »
Dinner Party Decor
Was it alomst two weeks ago that Ryan and I hosted a little dinner gathering? If so, I guess it’s high time I shared some pics of how we got all gussied up for it.
Actually, we didn’t get so gussied up. I kept the table pretty simple, dividing a grocery store bouquet into a few old glass jars, which is my favorite way to display flowers.
We brought our 1970′s expanding table (a $10 Craigslist find that usually lives in our basement work room) up to the dining room space, where it fit . . . barely.
The night before the dinner, I quickly sewed a table runner and some matching cloth napkins to dress up the otherwise simple painter’s drop cloth-turned-tablecloth. No one would have known it was a beat up, cheap, ugly table – except of course I told them. I’m proud of our $10 find.
I love how the napkins and runner turned out! So glad I bought that fabric on a whim last fall.
And how did the rest of the place come together? Well, it’s not quite magazine-worthy, considering that we had to improvise in order to provide enough seating for everyone. Between our Ikea porch chairs, two Ikea dining chairs, and two folding metal chairs from Target, we had enough seating in both the living room and at the dining table. (Note to self: time to find a dining table and chairs.)
But that really didn’t affect our night. From the perfectly grilled bacon-wrapped fillets, to the good company and the yummy warm strawberry rhubarb crisp, it was a perfect dinner gathering. At least if you ask me.
(Jenn, this photo’s for you!)
Weekend Fun: Festive Fall BBQ
This past weekend we had a few friends over for a little Fall-themed BBQ. I couldn’t have asked for better Fall weather. We cleared off the back porch to make room for the food table, which was filled with all sorts of seasonal goodies, from pear and Gorgonzola pastries to baked brie with cranberry and pecans to bratwursts to cupcakes to mulled cider and wine. I had no large tablecloths, so some random pieces of fabric covered the table instead.
I made the little pumpkin food labels on my computer with some free pumpkin clip-art, then taped them to toothpicks. Easy-peasy.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper BBQ without a S’mores tray! Yes, a S’mores tray – because suddenly, when you arrange all the bits in little white dishes and corral them on a large tray, S’mores suddenly look so much fancier!
In addition to the usual Hershey’s bar and graham crackers, I also get the “Le Petit Ecolier” chocolate-coated European biscuits made by LU. I find them in the cookie section at the grocery. You must try S’mores this way! They are so freakin’ fantastic. 
I made the simple cake stand by hot-gluing a capiz-shell charger to an upside-down candle holder. It wasn’t the fanciest, most gorgeous contraption I’ve ever made, but the price [free, had the stuff on hand] can’t be beat! And when the party was over, I simply peeled the two bits apart, just like that.
After the sun set we sat around the fire pit for what seemed like hours, drinking wine and keeping warm. Oh, and trying to melt glass bottles in the coals. :) Yeah, that’s what we mature adults like to do. Now I’ve got a heck of a broken glass and watery coal mess to clean up! But it was well worth it.
I just love a good theme party with good friends. Do you have any parties planned for the coming weeks, or are you already working on Thanksgiving?
(Oh, and if you haven’t voted in my Etsy Shop Name poll, please take a moment to share your opinion! Thanks!)
