Birthdays and Aging

The eye doctor mentioned something called "reading glasses" to me and I just laughed her off. Then she mentioned "cholesterol check" and I thought perhaps I was being secretly filmed for a Cheerios commercial. No such luck. Next thing you know I'll be sporting support hosiery, sensible shoes, and the aforementioned reading glasses around my neck on a chain. The only thing that makes this aging thing endurable is watching my older sisters do it a decade before me. Now my child is aging as well. No longer a toddler, not even a teen or a young adult, she turned 25 this weekend. As Cher might say, "If I could turn back time..."

Let's commiserate, aging readers, over thick slices of chocolate cake doused with whiskey. I found a recipe for Chocolate Whiskey Bundt over at epicurioius, and converted it for my dairy-free girl.

Happy Birthday to the best daughter ever! If I could turn back time, I'd go back to when you were little if only to watch you; always running in front of me, singing at the top of your lungs, oblivious to any cracks in the road ahead. Stay young, exepcially at heart. Never go quietly. And never wear ugly footwear.

Chocolate Whiskey Bundt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 3 tablespoons for dusting pan
1 1/2 cups almond milk
3/4 cups whiskey
1 cup butter substitute
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 egg yolks (or 2 large eggs - I just happen to have a lot of yolks right now)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Grease 10-inch bundt pan and dust with 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and preheat oven to 325°F.

Heat almond milk, whiskey, butter substitute, and cup cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking, until fat is melted. Remove from heat, then add sugar and whisk until dissolved, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and cool 5 minutes.

While chocolate mixture cools, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together egg yolks and vanilla in a small bowl, then whisk into cooled chocolate mixture until combined well.

 

Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined (batter will be consistency of thin pancake batter). Pour batter into bundt pan and bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.

 

Cool cake completely in pan on a rack. Loosen cake from pan using tip of a dinner knife, then invert rack over pan and turn cake out onto rack. Frost with Chocolate Almond Ganache.

 

Chocolate Almond Ganache

6 ounces almond milk

2 x 3.2 ounce rich dark chocolate Chocolove Bars (65%)

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Bring almond to simmer in small saucepan. Immediately pour over chocolate bars that have been broken into small pieces. Set aside for 5 minutes: do not stir. Whisk milk and melting chocolate until glossy and well combined, about 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Cool until thick and spread over cake.