Double Complete Rainbow Cake (or Double White Chocolate Ganache Cake)

I live in a coastal community, which is peaceful and serene 9 months out of the year. During the 3 months of summer, however, our fair community is inundated with tourists. Absolutely lovely individuals, but this mass onslaught of summer folk increases our community’s population by at least tenfold.

The most interesting phenomenon occurs on the roads during this season, when those who perhaps have never seen the ocean before, which I can totally respect, tend to stop – not slow down, but come to a complete stop – at every cove and glimpse of the horizon.

“Whoa. That’s a full horizon,” I imagine them saying as they hit the brakes. “Whoa. Whoooooooa! All the way across the sky! Whoooooa!” they exclaim. “Whoooooa! That’s intense!”

Another phenomenon that occurs along our shoreline during the summer months after an evening storm clears away, is (Yes. I’m going to say it.) the Double Complete Rainbow. As a tribute to the wonderful estival-loving folks who are awestruck by our shoreline – the very thing that strikes me every time I see it too – I bring you, the Double Complete Rainbow Cake.

I think you know what I’m referring to here, but if not I implore you to search Bing for the term “double complete rainbow” for a supremely fun and I thought inspiring video made by a gentleman who is just beside himself with the beauty of a rainbow and its reflection that appear in front of his home. It’s such an adorable video, I was inspired to bake a cake.

This is simply a Double White Chocolate Ganache Cake, of course, which can be decorated with anything really. Double complete puppy dogs? Go for it. Double complete antique cars, anyone? All the better.

I chose to paint mine with edible homemade “paint”. As you can imagine, actual paint – the non-edible stuff artists use – consists of two parts: the pigment (like burnt sienna or ultramarine blue, for example) and the vehicle (oil, acrylic, water, etc.). In this case the pigment is food coloring and the vehicle is excess ganache. I mixed each color, using an empty egg carton as a palette and a fresh unused paintbrush to paint the rainbow onto the cooled ganache.

On a side note, I mentioned to my husband that the cake looks like something out of the 80’s. He agreed and added, “It does. It looks like the back of a Freaky Freezies Glove.” Excellent observation.

For the double complete white chocolate effect, in addition to the ganache, the cake is also made with white chocolate, which is essentially cocoa butter. What does this meeean? A sweet, and dare I say, inspiring cake.

White Chocolate Cake - serves 6 – 10

2 eggs
1/2 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1 C flour
a dash of salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 C buttermilk
3.5 oz. white chocolate

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour an 8″x8″ square metal cake pan or line with parchment paper.

Separate the eggs. Using a stand mixer or electric beater, cream the butter, yolks, sugar and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix in the flour mixture and then the buttermilk.

Melt the chocolate in double boiler or a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Allow to cool slightly and mix into the batter until well combined.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form – you may have to transfer the batter to a different bowl. Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. Pour batter into the baking dish and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and topping with the ganache.

White Chocolate Ganache

10.5 oz. white chocolate
3/4 C heavy whipping cream

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once completely melted, gradually stir in the cream until smooth.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to help it cool evenly. Pour about 1/4 of the ganache over the cake – enough to cover the top and drip down the sides a bit. Even out the sides with a rubber spatula.

Cool the cake in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Spoon another layer onto the top of the cake and allow to cool again in the refrigerator. Repeat once more to create three layers so that the cake no longer appears through the ganache.

There should be about a cup excess ganache, which will be used to make the “paint”

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Rainbow “Paint”

White Chocolate Ganache (above)
food coloring

Combine 2 tablespoons of ganache with 2 drops of food coloring for each color (i.e., 2 drops of red to make a vibrant red) and 1 drop each for mixed colors (i.e., 1 drop red +1 drop blue = violet).

Using a clean, unused #1 paintbrush, dab the “paint” to create the first rainbow. Mix about a tables spoon more per color of the excess ganache into the “paints” to create a lighter color for the rainbow’s reflection.

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies

It’s good to have a chocolate recipe on hand for emergencies and rainy days. The past few days have been awfully rainy and cold here on the coast of New England, and these fit the bill nicely. Sometimes – not often, but sometimes – it’s nice to have a rich dessert-type snack.

The brownie swirl is rich and dense and complements the fluffy sweetness of the cream cheese swirls. People seem to like them anyway…

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies - makes 16 brownies

1 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 C milk
3 eggs
3/4 C flour
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 C confectionery sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl using a electric beater or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the cocoa, milk and 2 of the eggs one by one, until well combined. Gradually add the flour.

Using an electric beater or stand mixer, cream the cream cheese until soft. Add the egg

and beat on medium until combined and lemon yellow. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar one quarter cup at a time, on low at first (to avoid a sugar sandstorm), and then increase the speed as the sugar is absorbed, scraping the bowl occasionally.

Pour half of the brownie batter into an lightly greased 8 x 8 inch brownie tin (you could use a glass or ceramic brownie dish, but I like to use a tin, because it’s more responsive to heat and it cools down faster when removed from the oven. But hey, it’s your kitchen).

Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the pan in three evenly spaced columns. Spoon the rest of the brownie batter around the cream cheese columns to fill in the spaces. Shake the pan slightly to make even out the surface.

Take a sharp knife and run lines across the surface in one direction. Do the same in a different direction, being careful not to mix the two components too much. We want swirlage people. Not mixage.

Bake 40 -50 minutes until the edges are pulling away from the pan slightly and a toothpick comes out almost clean from the center. Place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Ingredient origins: butter – Maine; Sugar – Florida; Equal Exchange cocoa powder – Dominican Republic (by way of the Netherlands); Milk – Massachusetts; Eggs – New Hampshire; Flour – Vermont; Organic cream cheese – Unknown; Confectionery sugar – Unknown

Chocolate Chip Raisin Walnut Cookies

These are somewhat lower in fat (sour cream replaces some of the butter), higher in protein (walnuts) and higher in fiber (raisins) than your average chocolate chip cookie.

The recipe also calls for slightly less sugar than most, but the addition of raisins makes up for the sweetness. Corn syrup and sour cream lend a delicate fluff to the texture which, in combination with the walnut’s crunch make for an addictive cookie.

Chocolate Chip Raisin Walnut Cookies – makes 3 dozen

1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T cane sugar syrup (like Lyle’s Golden) or corn syrup
1/2 C butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 C sour cream
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 C flour
3/4 C walnuts
3/4 C raisins
1 C chocolate chips

Mix wet ingredients and brown sugar in a small bowl. In a medium bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins.

Refrigerate dough for about 15 minutes to chill. This will make it easier to scoop and also make it less likely for the cookies to spread out on the cookie sheet as they bake. While the dough chills, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop by tablespoon onto a slightly greased cookie sheet – these have less fat than most cookies, so they’re not as self-greasing. (Frugal tip: I like to save the wrappers from sticks of butter for the purpose of lightly greasing pans.) Place dough mounds about an inch and a half apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow them to cool on a cooling rack.

Serve with an ice cold glass of milk on a “pretty, pretty dish”, as my mother says. Recognize the plate Mom?

Ingredient origins: Egg – New Hampshire, Vanilla – Madagascar, Brown Sugar – Florida, Corn Syrup – UK, Butter – Maine, Sour Cream – Texas, Baking soda – Who knows?, Walnuts – California, Raisins – California, Chocolate chips – California.

Coconut Curry Brownies (that happen to be Lactose Free)

This idea came to mind the other day when I was trying to think of what to do with some leftover Thai curry paste. We’d had our fill of savory-spicy applications, so I thought using it in something sweet might be interesting. Chocolate takes on spice very well and coconut goes nicely with curry and chocolate, so I decided to develop a brownie recipe using all three.

I also decided to cocofy it, thereby unendairying it. I just made up those words, but what I mean is that in this recipe, typical dairy based baking ingredients are replaced with coconut milk and coconut oil. I chose to do this in order to achieve the rich coconut flavor that complements chocolate so well. The fact that it’s lactose free is a happy and delicious accident.

These turned out to be dense and moist, with a decadent coconut flavor and a mild finish of curry spice. If you’re not into spice in your brownies, you may omit the curry paste. I suppose.

Lactose-Free Coconut Curry Brownies – yields 2-3 dozen, depending on the size of the brownies and the brownie pan.

1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C coconut oil, softened
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk, full fat recommended
1 t Thai red curry paste
2 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C flour
1 C unsweetened, shredded coconut

In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil, cocoa and coconut milk, carefully folding the cocoa powder in before stirring (this will prevent a cocoa powder sandstorm when you use the electric beater in the next step).

With an electric beater set to medium beat until smooth. Add the sugar, eggs, curry paste and flour, beating on medium until combined. Stir in shredded coconut.

Pour into a greased, 10 x 13 inch rectangular brownie pan or 9 x 9 inch square brownie pan for higher brownies Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes for the rectangular pan, or 25-30 minutes for the square pan, until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Ingredient Origins (this time they’re not so local, but at least they’re still keeping with the minimally processed, less than five ingredients, requirement): Equal Exchange cocoa powder – Dominican Republic, by way of the Netherlands, Organic coconut oil – Colombia, Coconut Milk – Thailand, Cage-free organic eggs – New Hampshire, Sugar – unknown, Flour – Vermont, Shredded coconut – Oregon.