Happy Thanksgiving To All

So I had big plans to do a big photo-review of all the turkey-day dishes, but who wants to have someone running around the table snapping a bunch of photos of everything when you're waiting to eat. So I only clicked a couple.

Jessi and I were tasked with the dessert for the meal which was good since we don't bake all that much. We scoured the internet for the perfect cake or sweet and finally decided to go with this Chocolate Mint Cake with a chocolate ganache. The cake seemed  like it was going together so well as Jessi and I started cooking after work on Wednesday evening. We got the cake layers baked and were quite pleased with the rising results since our cake layers usually resemble a deflated cookie. As we moved onto the icing we really thought we were going to create a true holiday masterpiece. Then we began to assemble the thing and trouble started to brew. As we put on the icing in between the layers we thought to ourselves "Man, this sure is a lot of icing, how will we ever get all of this in between the layers?" I kept piling on the icing and then placed the top layer on. Here's where things really went down hill. All the icing began to ooze out the sides and drip onto the cake platter. I thought to myself "well maybe the icing is getting too soft" so I threw the cake in freezer in hopes to harden it up a bit and thwart the lava-like icing flow. After a few minutes in the freezer I pulled it out only to find that the cake had now taken on a bulbous shape where the icing had pushed out the sides and hardened. We did our best to shape it up before pouring on the ganache but it only did so much. By now the top layer had stated to slide across the bottom layer making our masterpiece resemble more of a lopsided moonpie. We finally finished the creation around 11 PM that evening defeated and annoyed that our cake had not turned out as picture-perfect as we had hoped. I realize this write-up is getting a little too long so I'll cut to the chase. Come to find out you're only supposed to use half of the icing recipe not the whole thing. Jessi's mom also informed us that bottom cake layers should always be turned upside down to make a more even surface between layers. In the end the cake still tasted great—everyone loved it! It turned out super-rich and the mint icing added the perfect holiday hint. We will probably wait a couple seasons before we do this again but definitely recommend it as long as you can follow instructions better than us.

I also included a couple photos of Mom's bird which was fantastic (all 19lbs of it) and her new antler additions to the dining room. I promise we have more family than the one in the photo they're just not all in the room. We hope everyone had a most-wonderful Thankgiving and got to share it with family and friends. Looking back at the post and bitching about our cake escapade makes me realize how fortunate we truly are to have all this. God bless everyone this week and remember those less fortunate in the holiday season. Oh yeah one more thing.... WAR EAGLE!!! My Auburn Tigers defeated Alabama last night in the Iron Bowl putting us one step closer in their undefeated season to becoming the 2010 national champions.

Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups  semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (16-ounce) package light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt semisweet chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH for 30-second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes total time). Stir until smooth.
2. Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer, beating about 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. 
4. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. 
5. Spoon batter evenly into 2 greased and floured 10-inch round cakepans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. 
6. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire rack.

FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. 
2. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extract.

Ganache

INGRIDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

1. Microwave semisweet chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt.
2. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Whisk in butter; let stand 20 minutes. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture forms soft peaks.

Cake Assembly

1. Spread frosting mixture evenly between cake layers. 
2. Spread Chocolate Ganache evenly over top and sides of cake.