Individual No-bake Chocolate Cakes for a Celebration

Hi guys!!!  Wow, did I miss you, did you miss me too?  

It was a long time away and a lot of hard work, but now I am back, and better than ever, because now I am a PhD!  After 6 years, 225 pages of a dissertation, and too many days to count when I thought I had lost my mind, I am FINALLY finished.  There are not words to describe how relieved and happy I feel, but just check out this big smile on my face!

It felt great to show my family and friends my more professional side, and to demonstrate to the scientific community what I have accomplished.  I could literally feel my heart swelling with pride as it dawned on me just how big of an achievement this is.  I actually think I surprised myself with how much I know, and how far I have come.  It's funny, when you work on something for so long, and hold onto it so tight, sometimes you miss the big picture.  And the big picture here is that not only am I amazed to have been blessed with the talents and determination to earn a PhD, but I am also immensely lucky to have have family, friends, and co-workers that have supported me, encouraged me, and always believed in me.  They are my heart, and without them, none of this would have been possible. 


The entire day of my defense was more than I could have hoped for - my boss said my talk was excellent (which is high praise), and I felt like it was hands down the best presentation I have ever given.  My family and almost all my friends were there, and after everything was done, we popped open bottles of champagne to celebrate.        

Can you tell how excited I was to be done?  

My lab did a fantastic job of organizing food and drinks for everyone to enjoy, and my good friend Marie came with a special surprise - a lab-themed cake from Jenny Wenny Cakes!

Yes, I am a complete nerd because I totally loved this.

We relaxed, drank wine, ate lots of food, and generally were happy.  Of course, the best part for me (aside from the huge weight lifted off my shoulders) was to be able to celebrate the day with my Mom, Dad, and my sister.

After everything was done, my family and I spent the rest of the weekend lounging at the pool, going to the beach, and eating amazing food.  Because what is a celebration weekend without a little sunshine and good eats? 

At the end of the weekend, my sister and packed up the car and headed up to Sequoia National Park for a few days of camping.  After writing 225 pages for my dissertation, all I could think about was unplugging and getting away from the computer, and some time in the fresh air of the mountains was just what I needed.  The weather was perfect, we saw tons of wildlife, and definitely had an adventure driving into Mineral King.  (Has anyone else been there?  Soooo beautiful, but seriously - that road?!  Holy shit.)  I have tons of photos and can't wait to tell you more about our vacation, but that is for another post and another day.

For now, I can't leave you with out a recipe, and I felt like I needed to celebrate my PhD here on The Cilantropist with a little dessert.  

So of course, I turned to chocolate.  Pure and unadulterated, these Individual No-bake Chocolate Cakes are the epitome of effortless indulgence.  Basically just a combination of chocolate and heavy cream, you can make these in under 10 minutes and they are sinfully good.

Spumoni Sundaes with Hot Fudge and Amaretto Cherry Sauce

Sundaes always make me think of long summer days growing up in the midwest.  At the peak of summer in Ohio, the sun sometimes didn't dip below the horizon until almost 9:30pm, which meant lots of daylight hours to laugh and play, especially after school was out for the summer.  Those days, it was pretty safe to roam around the neighborhood, and I spent my time playing kickball in the street with the boys or riding bikes with my girlfriends.  My mom always told me I had to be home by the time the streetlights came on, and I would grudgingly drag my feet back home to end the day.  

Other evenings, my mom would load us up in the minivan (oh yeah, we did have two minivans in my lifetime) and we would head to the ice cream shop for cones or sundaes.  Hands-down, my favorite places to go were Honey Hut Ice Cream and East Coast Custard, and if you grew up in Cleveland, I really really hope you have been to one or both places.  (It is no coincidence that the Yelp review for Honey Hut has 5 stars for reviews.)  

Ghiradelli chocolate for Espresso Hot Fudge Sauce. (Can you read upside down?)

When my family would go for ice cream, sometimes I would be in the mood for just a cone (with two scoops of course), but often I would want a sundae.  Thinking back, might have just wanted the sundae for the maraschino cherry on the top, but the hot fudge sauce on the frozen ice cream didn't hurt either.  Actually, I think I gravitated towards the sundae because aside from a banana split, it was the most indulgent thing on the menu.  Even as a child I was a smart girl. 

Now I don't know if it was these childhood memories or just the appeal of chocolate, cherries, and ice cream, but when I saw this Spumoni Sundae with Hot Fudge and Cherry Sauce in Bon Appetit last summer, I swooned.  

Plus, I can rarely turn away chocolate.    

I cannot resist this. 

Espresso hot fudge sauce?  Warm amaretto cherry sauce?  Pistachio and vanilla ice cream?  Check, check, and check.  Yes, I would like them all please.  And if you can serve them to me in a pretty sundae glass that would be great.  I can even say please and thank you if you want.  Pretty please...? 

This warm amaretto cherry sauce is to die for.

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter... Best-Ever Brownies?

If it is possible to hate a particular dessert, I could easily say that I loathe dry brownies.  They lure you in with the promise of chewy chocolate and a tight, dense crumb, only to leave you disappointed with a brown mass that seems to immediately fall to pieces when you bite into it.  Come on brownie, lets get a little resilience here.  Now I realize that some of you might condemn me for detesting any dessert with almighty chocolate as the main ingredient, but at the risk of prompting shouts of sacrilege, I will say it again: To me, a dry brownie is not even worth one single bite. 


Because I hold this opinion, brownies in general don't rank high on my list of favorite chocolate desserts, or high on my list of desserts in general; however, when I opened my mailbox a few months ago to find the February issue of Bon Appetit, I was immediately awestruck by the gorgeous dark chocolate brownies gracing the cover.  The visual alone set off immediate chocolate cravings, but then Bon Appetit piqued my interest even more with the huge text proclamining "BEST-EVER BROWNIES."


Wow Bon Appetit, that is a pretty bold statement to make.  

Both the delectable photo and the 'best-ever' proclamation broke down my initial brownie barriers, so it was only natural that I check out the recipe - and that was where Bon Appetit upped the ante even more.  You see, they had an entire feature section devoted to chocolate desserts penned by none other than the lovely Alice Medrich.  For those of you not familiar, Alice is an author, baker, and chocolatier that has been affectionately called 'The First Lady of Chocolate.'  Is it not appropriate then, that a recipe by her should be deemed 'Best-Ever Brownies?'  As if I wasn't convinced enough already, I scanned over the recipe and realized that these brownies were a one-pot recipe.  Done.  I was sold. 

Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart

Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  Whether you are trying to forget the holiday or you are pumping up your romance muscles, you cannot possibly ignore the mounds of boxed candies at the grocery store, the cheesy Hallmark cards, and the increased frequency of the Kay Jewelers commercials.  

I think most people take issue with Valentine's Day because it is a specific day artificially designated to show your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/secret lover (ha!) just how much you care by showering them with expensive gifts or fancy dinners. Frankly, most people don't like to be told what or when to do something, and they also don't feel like they need to go to extreme measures to share their affection. Fair enough.  If you are one of these people, then honestly, don't do it.  Seriously. 

But if you do your best to shun the commercialized products and get over your issues with the big V Day, you just might be able to get to the core of a holiday that is supposed to be only about love.  And no matter how big of a scrooge you are, don't try to tell me that spreading a little bit of extra L.O.V.E. around is a bad thing.

Ringing in 2011 with a Top 10 list, and a Giveaway!

Happy New Year friends!  2010 has officially come to a close, and what a year it has been.  On the rollercoaster of life, this blog has been a consistent high point, and I get such happiness from sharing my love of food with each of you every day. Throughout this past year, I hope The Cilantropist has given you delicious recipes that helped you experience the simple joys of eating well and sharing good food with friends and family.  I have so many exciting ideas to share with you in 2011, and I can't wait to get started; I hope you will continue to pull up a comfy chair and follow along with me on my adventures.  

But first, lets take a little look back at 2010 and your favorite posts and recipes!  I chose the Top 10 based on pageviews, twitter, reader comments and emails; not surprisingly, many of the top posts were from Project Food Blog, where I made i my mission to put my very best food forward and improve the quality of my blog by leaps and bounds.  So, without further ado, here are the The Cilantropist's Top 10 post of 2011!    

1. The post where I shared my lunch menu for A Presidio Picnic, with Italian Pressed Sandwiches is by far the most viewed post on The Cilantropist.  The post includes a recipe for Sopressata and Provolone Italian Pressed Sandwiches, which I also made for a post-Project Food Blog Celebration, and is the most popular recipe with readers.  For the lunch, we also enjoyed Parmesan and Gruyere Cheese Straws from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten, as well as Spiced Pear and Cranberry Pocket Pies.  The Pocket Pies were a huge hit as well, and I can't wait to make them this summer with peaches! 

Peppermint (and Cocoa) Meringue Kisses, and Giveaway Winner!

Did everyone have a lovely holiday?  I hope so, and I also hope that many of you are still enjoying a relaxing vacation before heading back to work!  My Christmas with family and friends was everything I hoped it would be and was surprisingly stress-free...with the exception of my flight to Norway.  

The east coast winter storm basically closed most airports and left thousands stranded after the holidays; though my travels were interrupted, I count myself lucky that my delay meant more time with family and not more time sleeping on the floor of Newark Airport.  I finally arrived in Oslo today after having TWO cancelled flights on Sunday and Monday this week (if you follow me on twitter you heard all about it!) and this Norwegian Cilantropist is looking forward to a week and a half of bliss.      

So for today, I am going to tell you about the peppermint meringue kisses that I made before the holidays.  I know that Christmas is officially over, but as a good friend reassured me, peppermint flavors can be enjoyed throughout winter and should not be limited to the holidays.

The recipe comes from Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Dodge; earlier this year, I was the lucky winner of a copy of Desserts 4 Today through a giveaway on VinoLuci's site.  This book has loads of fabulous recipes that all use only four ingredients.  (Get it, Desserts "4" Today?)  Oh yes, you heard me right.  You can whip up a quick and easy dessert with four things that you already have in your pantry, or can easily pick up from your local grocer.      

Rocky Road Ice Cream

I think chocolate and marshmallow might just be soul mates.  Or maybe more like yin and yang.  Chocolate is the dark, and marshmallow is the light.  Dense and rich belong to chocolate, while marshmallow owns air and fluff.  The pairing of them together in any sort of dessert is a match made in heaven, or maybe more like a perfect dinner date between heaven and hell. 

In any case, I hope none of you missed out on my last post, where I made homemade marshmallows and graham crackers from scratch as my entry in Project Food Blog.  There are photo tutorials, adorable heart-shaped marshmallows, smiling honey bears, and open flames; if none of these are able to convince you that my post is a must read, well then, we might not be able to keep being friends.  (Joking, obviously.  Sort of.)  But seriously, it has been my most viewed post to date, so I hope you are enjoying it!  If you think it is really great, voting is still ongoing for round four of Project Food Blog, so pop on over to my entry on Foodbuzz and show me some love with a little vote.   

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Birthday Layer Cake

So before I tell you about this luscious chocolate layer cake, I just want to mention that today marks opening day for voting in Project Food Blog 2010!  Don't have any clue what I am talking about?  You can find some info here, and also see my profile by clicking on the cute little widget with my cute little picture that is over on the sidebar (or here).  In a nutshell, 2,000+ bloggers will compete in a series of challenges to determine who is the next food blog star.  Oh yeah, and that person will win $10,000.  A minor detail of course.  Since I am participating (and fiercely competitive), I would love your support and your votes!  I really hope you enjoyed reading my first entry and you can vote for me using this link, just click the heart!  Also, on the voting page you can share my entry on Facebook or Twitter.  Isn't technology these days wonderful?    

And now, without further ado... On to the birthday festivities!  

I am a little late in posting this cake, since I made it August for my good friends Jenn and Jill.  They both have birthdays within weeks of each other, although Jill is a Leo and Jenn is a Virgo.  (I am sure you were dying to know that.)  I thought about having a separate birthday celebration for each of them, but then it seemed like too much to take on, even for me, especially considering I was making a second layer cake that same weekend.  So, to properly celebrate both their birthdays, I decided I would make them a spectacular cake that was just to their liking. 

I already had a good idea about the kinds of flavors that were their favorites, but to be absolutely sure, I asked them in advance while we chatting online what kind of cake they would like.  This is what they said:

Dense, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Mmmm... chocolate.  Lots and lots of dark chocolate + cream + sugar = sinful.  

And be sure to take notice of this picture: Oh yes, in case you thought your eyes were deceiving you, I did make this ice cream in an ice cream maker.  My ice cream maker.  I know, I know, I said I would not purchase an ice cream maker.  I lamented the cost, the lack of space in my kitchen, and most importantly, how dangerous it could be to have an appliance that makes ice cream.  But lo and behold, when thrifting last month with my mom, I came across a brand new Cuisinart Automatic Ice Cream Maker, for the steal-of-a-deal price of only $10.  I immediately decided I liked living dangerously and so I snatched it up.     

Once I got the ice cream maker home, I did a little happy dance, and then made some standard vanilla ice cream using the recipe provided by Cuisinart.  (Being a scientist, it's hard to fight the urge to go with a standard 'protocol' the first time you use something new.)  The ice cream turned out alright as far as flavor goes, but I was just tickled pink with how awesome the ice cream maker was.  I mean, I had done the work before to make homemade ice cream by hand, and I would do it again because it tastes so phenomenal; but, having a machine that will churn it for me makes the entire experience just that much better and quicker.   

I think 'quicker' is the operative word, especially considering that I churned out not only one, but two, batches of ice cream for my Labor Day party this past weekend.  The first one was absolutely-to-die-for Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream from David Lebovitz (I would highly recommend that you give this recipe a try), and for the second, I got a little more adventurous and came up with my own recipe for Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.  

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Did I mention that my boyfriend loves sweets?  Oh, I said that already?  Wait, now I remember: I think my exact words were, "He has an insatiable sweet tooth and I can't say I have the inclination or the will power to refuse him."  Hmm, lets check again... Yep, that's is still true.  So you will have to forgive me, but despite the fact that he is leaving in three days (soooooo sad), I now have a backlog of sugary and chocolately recipes that I will be posting.  These recipes will not be kind to your waistline and will most certainly violate any possible diet you might be on, but they absolutely will make you smile with glee.  So to kick off this sugar-spree, I present rich, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth Double Chocolate Cupcakes.  

So my boyfriend obviously really enjoys his sweets, which means he loves his cupcakes.  But they can't be just any cupcakes.  Oh no.  They need to have chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.  No peanut butter, or mint, and certainly no berries.  In his opinion, chocolate should be chocolate.  (He is crazy.  Give me chocolate and strawberries any day, and I am happy woman.)  So, to appease the love-of-my-life a.k.a. chocolate-worshipper, I went on a quest to find the perfect chocolate cupcake.