This weekend I watched Julie and Julia, not being american i had no idea who Julia Child was and i'm glad as it meant i could appreciate the film without making any comparisions. It was a really enjoyable film, the dvd came with a cookbook which is a great idea and all the shots of food and cooking are really inspiring. Julia's paris based scenes are really beautiful as are all the vintage hats... and her relationship with her husband is sooooo romantic!
I then spent Sunday cooking!.. my mum came over for mothers day with my brothers so i cooked root beer cake! (from joy the baker)
ingredients:
2 cups root beer (don’t use diet)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
Preheat even to 325 degrees F. Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter generously and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.
In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten. Then whisk into the cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy. You can give it a quick whisk if you like, but don’t over beat the batter or it could cause the cake to be tough. Don’t worry, the batter is very loose.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cake plate.
Chocolate Root Beer Frosting
2 ounces 60% cocoa, melted
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt (you may want to use less… maybe just 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using an electric hand mixer, beat softened butter and cocoa powder. Once combined add the melted chocolate, salt, powdered sugar and root beer. Beat together until smooth. Spread on top of cooled cake. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.
i had a bit of difficulty converting all the measures, and then as i didnt have a bundt tim - only regular cake tin it tok a bit longer in the oven... but when eventually finished was lovely and moist... and huge!... it was quite chocolatey and not that root beer-y but still delicious!
i then made jamie olivers steak, cheese and guiness pie!... wow a heavy meal!.. this too was great though.. very wintery!
all followed off by a big walk on the heath! - great!
