The Icing on the Cake
It was fresh whipped cream, actually, spiked with a little Cointreau. If you chill the beaters and the bowl that you're going to use to whip the cream, everything comes together really well. I just sprinkled in a little sugar and poured in some Cointreau once the cream started to get fluffy, then continued to beat it until it was the right consistency.
One of my favorite articles from Cooking Light was cakes that can be made using only one bowl. The one I made recently, and accompanied with the whipped cream, is a Devil's Food Cake. The key technique used in the article is melting the butter, then mixing it with the sugar, salt, levening, spices, then the flour. You start with 5 tablespoons of melted butter for this cake, then add 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1 cup brown sugar. Mix that, then add 2 eggs, one at a time, then 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix in 3/4 cup flour, then add 1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water and pour into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Ouch! Gigondas in a sauce?? I'm sure it was good; it better be good. But how about drinking the gigondas with the meal and opening a cheaper syrah or heavier rhone for the sauce. That way you'll have a bottle of wine open that you'll have to enjoy the following night!
What's the objection? Is it simply the price? (I really am curious, since I'm kind of a wine novice. What do you cook with?)
It wasn't terribly expensive - less than $20. And Todd and I are kind of lightweights, so 1 bottle minus the 1 cup for the sauce still left a lot of wine for drinking. Anyway, I wanted to use something I really liked the taste of, since the flavors were being concentrated in the sauce. And it's all part of my wine experimentation, to find out what works for cooking and what I like for drinking.