There is no better way to celebrate a birthday than to indulge in a piece of good chocolate cake. With ice cream, of course. For my mother-in-law's birthday, I made this
Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake. The recipe is in my very favorite cookbook, the
Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook. Sure, I also found the recipe online, but there are so many other recipes in this book that are not online. Every recipe I've made from this cookbook has become a family favorite. I had planned to make cinnamon ice cream to serve with the cake, but, lacking energy, I picked up some
Häagen Dazs Five Brown Sugar ice cream ... my favorite. Perfect with this cake.
As I returned from the store with the Häagen Dazs, snow began to fall. In earnest. As I watched the snow accumulate on the deck, I started to have doubts about asking the seventyandeightysomething in-laws to venture out on I-5. So the birthday party was delayed and the cake went into the refrigerator, much to Ben's dismay.
With an afternoon now free, I sat down with the yarn I bought in Tübingen and started a scarf. Knitting and falling snow just seem to go together.
Another excellent way to celebrate a birthday--particularly an office birthday--is with Schnecken. German cinnamon rolls. Literally translated: Snails, because of the spiral that is made when the dough is rolled up, then sliced. Celeste's birthday was last week, and our office likes to celebrate birthdays in the morning with still warm bakery goods and hot coffee and a "meeting in progress" sign on the door. These schnecken are filled with pecans and butter and lots of brown sugar. The dough is a simple sweet, soft yeast dough and yes, I admit to using a bread machine when making the dough. And although I'm not a fan of silicon baking pans, I do keep silicon muffin pans specifically for making schnecken. In a regular metal muffin pan, you have to worry about the sugar burning, but not so with the silicon pans. The brown sugar and butter does exactly what it's supposed to do; that is, make a sugary glaze that coats the bun when the pan is turned upside down on a cooling rack and the buns are released.
