When my oldest daughter 2, she experienced a sleep regression, namely the complicated regression. My husband and I have tried everything: noise machines, blackout curtains, endless hours of rocking.
One night, when we were at the end of our minds, we saw that she calmed down through the unlikely thematic song of Food Network “Barefoot Contessa”. And thus the obsession of our family began with the star of the program, Ina Garten.
Soon after, as a birthday supply for my daughter, I purchased any of the tickets for a live consultation consultation hosted through Garten to advertise his cookbook “Cooking for Jeffrey. “I’m sure my daughter would be the youngest guest, however, we were excited.
At the end of the presentation, the prominent leader opened for public problems. I have impatiently asked Garten to come up with the most productive recipe adapted for beginners for me and my daughter to make together. He paused, thought for a moment, and replied, “My devil’s food cake would be great. It’s to die for. “
I have prepared dozens of Garten recipes over the years, but I have never tried this cake. My daughter is almost nine years old now, so it was time to replace her.
The recipe, taken from his cookbook “Cooking for Jeffrey,” resembled a fundamental chocolate cake with the addition of hot coffee and buttercream and meringue frosting.
I’ve never made meringue at home before, but I’ve made countless frostings in my life. Naively, the idea that it couldn’t be that hard.
Although I tried to stick with the recipe, I used instant coffee instead of espresso, which took time and didn’t taste like it.
All of my kids were required to take turns combining and measuring the dough ingredients, and we were all in a great mood when the double cakes went into the oven.
Unfortunately, this is where things got worse.
My assumptions about the frosting being simple to make were woefully wrong. The meringue buttercream called for boiling sugar, a candy thermometer, and tons of room-temperature butter.
When I relegate my children to the family room, I got in conscientiously in the stove and waited for my mixture of sugar and water to boil. The recipe said I had to reach exactly 240 degrees Fahrenheit, so I held my sweet thermometer and observed.
Unfortunately, the pan I chose was not deep enough to prevent the batter from bubbling. While the hot chisel melted the sugar on my electric stove, I ran to find a larger pot. After locating one and starting to boil, I tried cracking and separating six eggs into a separate container between temperature checks.
Finally, the syrup reached 240 F.
Then I beat the eggs and cream of tartar.
The recipe called for the syrup to be added in a steady stream and whipped on high speed for one hour. I double-checked the recipe three times to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding, but I wasn’t.
I had to beat the glaze at maximum speed for an hour to make sure the syrup was well tempered.
After the first 10 minutes were spent screaming at my youngsters because of the sound of the blender, I was still fed up and moved it into the living room closet. Maybe ridiculous, but at least I can get along.
After the hour was up, I dropped six sticks of butter into the frosting (2 tablespoons at a time) along with vanilla and coffee liqueur. I didn’t have Kahlua, so we used Trader Joe’s cold-brew liqueur instead.
Finally — finally — the frosting was finished, the cakes were cooled, and I began to assemble them.
The cake ended up a little rustic; It’s not the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done, but it’s not horrible either.
My blood pressure hit a record high, my stove was covered in hardened sugar, and my kitchen was in total disarray. But after all those years, I’m proud of myself for completing the cake.
I invited my daughters’ friends to try a portion with us. As soon as they took the first bites, they were stunned.
I told them that there was coffee in both the cake and the frosting, and they didn’t believe me. They couldn’t taste it and loved it just the same.
After our friends left, I was still in a bad mood from the long bake. But do you know what cures just about any bad mood? A slice of chocolate cake.
I settlen with a cup of coffee and a generous portion. After the first bite, despite everything I understood.
It may have been a ridiculous amount of work to make — and not at all the beginner recipe it was touted as — but the cake was, in fact, “to die for,” as Garten promised all those years ago.
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