Susan G Purdy is the author of one of my first and favorite baking books, The Family Baker. Since acquiring the book some 10 or 11 years ago, I have tried dozens of the recipes and to a one, they have all been great. None are complicated or fussy, they’re all just really good. Following in my aunt Margaret’s footsteps, I always write in my cookbooks the date at which I first tried the recipe and my opinions of the outcome. This black and white chocolate pudding cake (which I have made a million times since) I first made in 2000, and the comment at the top was, “Holy Sh!t, yum.”
Talley describes this cake as the perfect cake/gooey brownie. It’s incredibly low tech, no electronic equipment needed – all you need is a wooden spoon and a bowl. You’ll make a thick batter, spread it into a pan, pour on some dry sugar and cocoa, then pour on what seems like too much boiling water, and then stick the whole thing in the oven. What emerges 20 or 30 minutes later is a rich, gooey, chewy, chocolatey mass dripping with its own syrup. You’ll want to add ice cream.
Black and White Chocolate Pudding Cake
adapted from The Family Baker
- butter for preparing pan
- 1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar, divided (⅔ cup and ⅔ cup)
- ½ cup sifted unsweetened cocoa, preferably dutch-processed, divided (¼ cup and ¼ cup)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup canola or other mild vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½-⅔ cup white chocolate, very coarsely chopped (I chop mine into ½ inch squares, or semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup boiling water
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350˚F. Butter a 9″x9″ baking pan and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, ⅔ cup of sugar, ¼ cup of cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to blend, then mix in the milk, oil, vanilla, and white chocolate. The batter will feel quite stiff. Spread it in the baking pan.
In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ¼ cup cocoa with the remaining ⅔ cup sugar. Spread this evenly over the batter in the pan and pour the boiling water on top. DO NOT STIR.
Bake the cake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top looks crisp and crackled and a cake tester inserted in a cakey area comes out clean. Cool the cake a few minutes, then serve warm, spooned directly from the pan. Top with vanilla ice cream or unsweetened heavy cream.
The next day, the cake will have reabsorbed a the syrupy liquid and will be more like a brownie – it’s still quite good.
Serves 4 normal people, or 1 very greedy person with a sweet tooth
Beryl and I have learned a little bit about goat meat in the last couple years. First, we got some goat at the farmers market and we learned we absolutely loved goat meat: we found it had a slightly more complex flavor than beef, without being too “gamey” like mutton (a flavor we have both struggled with). Encouraged, we ordered goat curry at a restaurant and found that goat could be just as gamey and (in our opinions at the time) nasty as muttony lamb can be. Conflicted, we asked the friendly goat vendor (Terry from Quilceda Farms) at the Ballard market why his goat was delicious and other goat was gamey. From what I can recall (and blame us, not him, if we get this wrong), the flavor of goat is strongly affected both by the age of the goat and by their diet, especially in the weeks before they are slaughtered. An older goat who is finished entirely on grass will have a gamier flavor than a young goat that is finished on grain. All the goat we’ve bought from both Quilceda Farms as well as Toboton Creek Ranch has been delicious and complex without being overly gamey.
The following braise is a dish I made up to use a lovely piece of goat we got from Toboton Creek. I’m not sure exactly what cut it was, they called it “boneless rolled roast”, but I think it was shoulder. If it wasn’t, shoulder would certainly work fine here as well. One nice thing about the rolled roast we bought was the layers of fat rolled into the middle that kept the inside moist as it cooked.
There’s nothing particularly tricky about this recipe, but the secret is definitely in the veal stock in the sauce. A sauce made with veal stock and then reduced will have a texture like no other: perfectly gelatinous, flavorful but mild enough to let other flavors shine through, and rich. If you haven’t used veal stock in your home cooking, I implore you to give it a shot. Make some calls, find out where you can buy veal bones (you can buy them pretty cheap at the Ballard market from Quilceda Farms). Follow Michael Ruhlman’s recipe. I guarantee it will be one of those things that will change your outlook on things.
Braised Goat Shoulder
- 1½ lb goat
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tsp sweet smoked paprika (pimenton de la vera dulce)
- canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 large or 3 small carrots, diced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- 1½ cups veal stock
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1-2 hours before cooking, sprinkle the goat liberally with salt, pepper, and a light (but thorough) dusting of sweet (dulce) smoked paprika. Place on a plate in the fridge. Remove the goat from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking, dust lightly with flour and pat off the excess.
Preheat oven to 250˚F
Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high until hot. Brown the goat generously on all sides until very brown (never skimp on the browning) and remove from the pan.
Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots to the pan and sweat the vegetables on medium-low for about 5 minutes. Add white wine and sherry vinegar and cook for 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and veal stock, return goat to pan, bring almost to a boil (but don’t let it boil.)
Cut out a circular piece of parchment paper just large enough to cover the meat and it’s cooking liquid and place it on the braise, put in the oven. You can also just put a lid loosely on the top, but the goal here is to prevent the braise from ever coming to a boil in the oven. If you cover it tightly with a lid, the internal temperature will easily get above boiling, but using parchment paper or keeping the pot partially uncovered will allow transfer of heat out of the pot and prevent it from coming to a boil. Still, it always helps to check and make sure the braise isn’t boiling from time to time. Turn every hour or so. Check after 3 hours… the goat may not (and probably will not) be tender, turn and return to the oven for another 30 to 90 minutes, checking every 45 minutes or so until very tender.
When tender, remove the meat from braise and cover with foil in a warm place. Strain the sauce into a sauce pan and reduce the sauce on medium high heat until just beginning to thicken. You should end up with roughly ½ cup of liquid. Add a pinch of salt to taste. When pleased with the consistency of the sauce, (it should be pretty thick and definitely coat the back of a spoon) remove from heat and whisk in the butter.
When ready to serve, slice the goat and fan the slices on a pre-warmed plate. Spoon the sauce over the meat.
Serves 3 to 4
