Chocolate Banded Torte

I knew I owned a spring form pan. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I always just borrowed my Mom’s spring form pan. I realized this when it was time to put the first layer of chocolate in the pan. And my Mom was two and a half hours away. What to do.....what to do. I decided to use a pound cake pan that the bottom lifted out off of the sides. I had serious doubts. But it actually worked. AMAZING. And then I found the spring form pan that I knew I owned.

I further discovered that I do not own a whisk. Who doesn’t own a whisk??? I remember throwing it away because it had rust on it. I knew I did not own a whisk. So I used my wire beater from my Kitchen Aid mixer.

The torte was pretty and was very easy to make. I think I would prefer in the future to just use mint chocolate chip ice cream directly from the container rather than creating a flavored ice cream. That would be like crack in my house.

I'd like to show you pictures of everything, but my internet is being a total piece tonight and doesn't have the capacity to upload too many pictures......something about a former hurricane now a tropical depression has a way of doing that to a signal.

Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes......

This week's TWD challenge was the Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream chosen by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. I do not own an ice cream maker, so I had the option to prepare a previously completed recipe. I chose the Double Crusted Blueberry Pie. Actually, my sister Amy picked the Double Crusted Blueberry Pie. Up until this moment, my kitchen had been a autocracy, but I allowed it to be a democracy just this once. Good kitchen karma, ahhhhhh.........

Apprehension doesn't begin to describe my feelings toward pie dough. Please refer to my Summer Fruit Galette blog in the event you were not present for my very public Crown Royal breakdown. Images of warm blobs of super glue pie dough flashed through my head like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. This could be bad....berry berry bad. I was consumed with dread at the thought of doing this to myself again. I even toyed with the idea of using refrigerated pie dough. Of course, if we were to commit such a baking sin, we would have to make this purchase in our sunglasses so we could not be so easily identified if we were later picked up by the pastry police.

Tisk Tisk! We could never get away with it. And what if it just became a stepping stone? First, refrigerated pie dough. Then what? Cool Whip? Blueberry Pie Filling? I couldn't allow the devil in my kitchen. So, homemade pie dough it is. And breeeeeeeathe....in through the nose, out through the mouth......repeat. After that it was pretty uneventful.

This is how I roll.......

The filling was really easy to make. The only difficulties I experienced was working with....wait for it.....the pie dough. I don't know how one "gently transfers" the pie dough to the dish. My dough transfer was more of a quick prayer and a toss. Whatever works I suppose.

By far, this was the best creation I have made so far. If only there was a piece of it left.

This is how you feel when you eat Double Crusted Blueberry Pie:

Kitchen autocracy restored.

Not a Black and White Banana Loaf

This week's recipe was the Black and White Banana Loaf chosen by Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen. Instead of a Black and White Banana Loaf, I got a wild hair and decided to run with it. That and I failed to buy bananas in advance to let them rot away on the kitchen counter prior to use. Gotta love a baking procrastinator! So, I made a Pink and White Raspberry Loaf!! It smells SOOOOO De-lish!!!!

I made the following substitutions:

Original Ingredient / Substitute

Bananas = Raspberries

Bittersweet Chocolate = White Chocolate

Nutmeg = Cinnamon

Vanilla Extract = Almond Extract

Rum = Franjelica

The final product didn't have the visual contrast of pink and white as I had hoped, but it is SO GOOD!!!! I did get my kicks by enjoying a bit of kitchen porn for this challenge:

Bring it on baby! The Kitchen Aid mixer and the Food Processor working side-by-side. I'm gonna need a private moment after that.

I think maybe the cooking time and temperature needed adjusting for my version. It didn't seem cooked thoroughly, even though I baked it for 1 hour and 40 minutes. I'll just lie through my teeth and say "It's so dense and moist". Fake it til' you make it, fellow banana loafers.

Now who's gonna clean up this mess?