Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As the old Irish blessing goes, “May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.”

I found this recipe on a site called “In an Irish Home.” The author adapted the recipe from one that originally appeared in the NY Times.

Interestingly, the Irish cook calls this cake a “master recipe,” one of those exemplary recipes that is so good that you cook it for the rest of your life. She said that, once she tasted this recipe, she danced a jig across the kitchen.

Seems like a good recipe to share on St. Patrick’s Day.

I plan to have my cake tonight with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream and a generous tot of Irish whiskey. Jig will, no doubt,  follow.

Recipe: Irish Whiskey and Chocolate Cake

12 T. unsalted butter (cut into 1-inch pieces)
3/4 C. plus 2 T. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 C. brewed strong coffee
1/2 C. Irish whiskey
1 C. granulated sugar
1 C. light brown sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. fine sea salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. ground cloves
3 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch springform pan and dust it with 2 T. cocoa powder. Wrap bottom of the pan in aluminum foil to prevent the batter from leaking in your oven when you bake the cake.

Put warm coffee, Irish whiskey, 12 T. butter, and 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder in a medium pan and heat over low until the butter melts. Whisk the mixture as the butter is melting. Then, add brown sugar and white granulated sugar to the liquid mixture, whisking until the sugars are dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and ground cloves in a large bowl. Set aside.

Mix eggs and vanilla in a bowl. Slowly whisk the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg/chocolate mixture and whisk until the batter is well combined. Fold the chocolate chips into the cake batter.

Pour the batter into your buttered springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees F. in the middle of your oven for 55-65 minutes–until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Remove cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to keep it from sticking to the pan. Remove sides from the springform pan. Place cake on a serving dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

My market had big bunches of asparagus today–beautiful, tender green stalks.

Can it be Spring?

My recipe was adapted from a recipe that appeared on the All Recipes site. The link to the original recipe appears at the end of this post.

Recipe: Cashew Rice Pilaf with Asparagus

1/4 C. butter
2 oz. uncooked spaghetti (broken)
1/4 C. minced onion
1/2 t. minced garlic
1 1/4 C. uncooked jasmine rice
2 1/4 C. vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2  pound fresh asparagus (trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces)
1/2 C. cashew halves

Directions:

Melt butter in a pan. Saute broken spaghetti in the pan until the spaghetti is a light brown. Be careful, the spaghetti can brown pretty quickly.  Add the minced onion and garlic to the pan with the butter and broken spaghetti and saute for 2 minutes until the onion and garlic are soft. Add the jasmine rice to pan, stir to mix and saute for about 5 minutes until the rice is a light brown. Add vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower heat and cover pan. Cook for about 20 minutes until rice is tender and has absorbed the broth.

Trim asparagus and cut into 2 inch pieces. Put asparagus in a pan with water to cover and cook until the asparagus is al dente but not mushy.

Mix cashews into rice/spaghetti mixture and garnish with asparagus.

Here is the link to the original recipe from the All Recipes site:

Asparagus and Cashew Rice Pilaf