baking at home

Since my return to American life exactly one month ago today, I've tried out a few of my new cooking skills on my friends and family. First I made two successful tarte aux pommes for my birthday party, then a raspberry-lemon tart for book club (I desperately need to learn how to make a pâte brisée) and then I baked a quiche for our back-to-school potluck lunch. Baking was immediately made easier with my KitchenAid stand mixer and my full-sized oven. Now that I'm so into baking, I'm even more thankful that I bought my duel fuel baby a few years ago!

Three for three, I felt confident to try Emmanuelle's fondant aux marrons. First, I went to the Mediterranean Deli, where I tracked down a can of chestnut purée. I hadn't tried this brand, and the date on the end was 2005, so I was a bit wary from the beginning. The recipe calls for the kind that's flavored with vanilla (and as I discovered, sugar) so I figured I'd just add vanilla to taste. I also stopped at Super Cao Nguyen to see if they stocked the right chestnut purée (pas de chance, but at checkout, I decided to put my cashier/student Theresa on the case), and then ran to Buy For Less for a bar of Lindt 85% cocoa chocolate.

At home, I dusted off the top and opened the can of purée. Let's be honest here; it reminded me of dog food. Determined to make the cake, I forged on. I added the butter and chocolate, then the eggs. It was still not the consistency I was expecting. I added two, then three, then five teaspoons of my best Mexican vanilla, and then about a third cup of sugar. Each taste got a bit closer to the real thing, but I was pretty nervous. I told my friend for whom I was preparing the cake that I would bring a back-up dessert just in case. He assured me that he had no expectations since he didn't know what it was supposed to taste like. But I promised him the best chocolate cake he's ever tasted, so I figured expectations were pretty high. I made a raspberry coulis to garnish the cake and grabbed some vanilla ice cream just in case. Turns out the cake tasted almost like it was supposed to, even if the texture was a little off.

Still, I wasn't satisfied. I looked online; the right kind of purée is available on Amazon, but at $13.99 for a 500g can. The cake is delicious, but not worth that much to me! Mom and I checked at the most upscale market in town, and the guy said that they should have it around the holidays. I guess my chocolate cake will just have to wait.