Blue Cayenne

Apparently Queen Elizabeth is a foodie.

She loves raspberry jam cookie sandwiches, white peaches, Dubonnet and gin, and chocolate biscuit cake. Scones are a constant at her tea table where she reportedly crumbles some of them up and slips them under the table to her beloved corgis. Like the rest of us, she enjoys having bowls of snacks, particularly mixed nuts, readily available when she is in the mood to nosh. (Remember the gossipy e-mail leaks a couple of years ago that revealed that the Queen was in a bit of a tizzy about the royal police guards who were pilfering nuts from the bowls that were kept in the palace corridors–nuts that were clearly intended for Her? Reportedly, she started marking the bowls to deter the thieves and a frosty royal memo was issued. If I may add my two cents here, I guess we all have our triggers, but I don’t think I would get into a war of words with the people protecting my life over a few bowls of nuts.  Just sayin… )

Purportedly, the chocolate biscuit cake is her favorite after-dinner dessert. Wills’, too. (He had the cake as his groom’s cake at his wedding to Kate Middleton.)

On the occasion of the recent celebration of the Queen’s 91st birthday, the press ran a number of anecdote-filled stories about the bespoke chocolate biscuit cake and the Queen’s obsession with it.

The anecdote I liked best was one about the Queen’s travels (by train) from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle. On those trips, it is the job of a member of the royal household to package up a chocolate biscuit cake (most likely a left-over cake since the thrifty Queen eats a slice every day and insists upon finishing every last piece of a biscuit cake before starting a new one).  A member of the royal household then rides in the train car behind the Queen’s car with the box of cake safely stowed on his lap. Great image. I’m picturing the honorable and ever-reliable Mr. Bates sitting patiently with the Queen’s cake as the verdant green English countryside rolls by outside his window. Full disclosure: I think I’m in love with Mr. Bates. When did they stop making men like that?)

Speaking of love, the love of chocolate has a long history among British royals. Chocolate was introduced into England from The New World during the age of exploration. England’s Seventeenth Century King Charles I enjoyed drinking hot chocolate at court until that no-fun Puritan Oliver Cromwell condemned chocolate as “sinfully pleasurable.” Charles lost his head during the civil war that followed, but when the monarchy was restored under Charles II, chocolate quickly came back into royal favor. When William and Mary came to the throne in 1689, they had a special chocolate kitchen built at Kensington Palace. Cadbury has been supplying a special dark chocolate to the British royals since Victorian times. The recipe is a trade secret. Maybe Elizabeth’s chocolate sweet tooth is in her genes.

Here is the recipe for the Queen’s chocolate biscuit cake. To my taste, it is more like a candy bar in the shape of a cake. Fresh out of the refrigerator, let it sit on your counter for a while before cutting it. It is rich. Serve it in small slices. A scoop of high-end vanilla ice cream would be a good accompaniment.

This cake recipe was adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe. Here is the link: Bon Appetit’s Chocolate Biscuit Cake .

Here is the recipe:

Yields 16 Servings

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

20 minPrep Time

20 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 C. plus 6 T. (4 sticks minus 2 T.) unsalted butter
• 30 oz. bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped (do not exceed 61% cacao)
• 3/4 C. heavy whipping cream
• 6 T. Lyle's Golden Syrup
• 2 7.5 oz. packages of Rich Tea Biscuits coarsely chopped
• (or butter biscuits like Le Petit Beurre)
• For Glaze
• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
• 1 C. heavy whipping cream
• 1 T. light corn syrup

Instructions

1. Use a springform pan that has been lightly-coated with vegetable oil spray. Put a round of parchment paper on the bottom of the springform pan.
2. Melt butter and chocolate over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add cream and golden syrup to the pan and stir. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully mix in the coarsely-chopped biscuits. Pour this mixture into the prepared springform pan and tap on the counter to settle and smooth the mixture. Refrigerate overnight (until set).
3. For the glaze, put your chopped chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the whipping cream and corn syrup until it simmers. Pour the simmering cream/syrup mixture over the chocolate and let the mixture sit for about five minutes. Stir until the ingredients are totally melted and the mixture is very smooth. Let the glaze cool slightly but it should still be pourable when you apply it to the cake.
4. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Remove the cake from the pan. (You will probably need to run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to dislodge the chilled cake.) Invert the cake onto a wire rack that you have positioned over a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Remove the bottom plate of the springform pan and the round of parchment paper from the cake. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it dribble down the sides of the cake. Use a spatula to smooth the glaze onto the cake. Refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes until the glaze sets. Remove from refrigerator and let the cake sit on your counter for a while to make it easier to cut. Garnish with a sliced strawberry.

Notes

I halved this recipe with no problems.

I used Scharffenberger bittersweet chocolate. It was 70% cacao rather than the 61% (max) called for in the recipe. The cake is very rich. I will try it with a lower percentage cacao the next time I make it.

Amazon.com carries the Lyle's Golden Syrup called for in this recipe.

I was able to find Rich Tea Biscuits at Stater Brothers in the imported foods section.

Nutrition

Calories

77 cal

Fat

8 g

Carbs

1 g

Protein

1 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

58

https://bluecayenne.com/mr-bates-queens-cake

You know how you put stuff off?

Me, too. I don’t usually sing my own praises but I’m not shy about saying that I excel (I mean really excel) as a procrastinator. In fact, I’m the Serena Williams of procrastination.

So, today I decided it was time to check some long-overdue stuff off my list.

Brushed Juliet’s teeth. Check.

Organized the clothes in my closet by color. (People who know me will snicker at that one. I wear black. Every. Single. Day. I think I must have been a theatre tech in another life.)  In any event, my closet is now arranged with my black clothes neatly separated from that one pair of (yet-to-be-worn) red pants I bought during a moment of wild abandon. Check.

Made cauliflower rice. Check.

The truth is that I’ve been putting off making cauliflower rice for the longest time. I certainly have no excuse. I’ve been intrigued by the concept. I love cauliflower. Heavens knows I’m  a food adventurer. For whatever reason, I’ve kept the recipe on the back burner.

Let me shout it from the rooftops.  Cauliflower rice is delicious!

This recipe is adapted from one that appeared on the My Food Story blog and on Pinterest. Here is the link: Mexican Cauliflower Rice

Yields 3-4 servings

Cauliflower Rice

13 minPrep Time

4 minCook Time

17 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 3-4 C. cauliflower florets
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 jalapeno (finely chopped)
• 2 medium tomatoes (deseeded and chopped)
• 3/4 C. diced bell peppers (mix up the colors)
• 1 t cumin powder
• 1/2 t. red chili powder or paprika
• 1 T. chopped cilantro
• Salt to taste
• More cilantro, sliced avocados, black olives, sour cream, jalapeños, lime juice, etc. for garnish

Instructions

1. Pulse cauliflower florets in our food processor until the cauliflower resembles fine grains of rice. Set aside,
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onion, garlic cloves and jalapeno for 3 to 4 minutes until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
3. Add tomatoes and spices to the pan. Stir and cook for several minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the spices are fragrant. Add the chopped bell peppers, chopped cilantro and cauliflower rice to the pan. Mix and stir fry for several minutes until the cauliflower is tender.
4. Garnish and serve.

Nutrition

Calories

239 cal

Fat

15 g

Carbs

24 g

Protein

9 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

56

https://bluecayenne.com/serena-williams-cauliflower-rice

I love bread pudding. It is my idea of a soothing comfort food–right up there alongside refried beans and candy corn. That said, I guess it’s pretty clear that carbs whisper sweet nothings in my ear when the pressure’s on in my life .

While I have many fond memories of eating bread pudding over the years, two recipes in particular stand out in my memory–a decadent whiskey-sauced bread pudding I learned to make at a cooking school in New Orleans and an Indian version (Shahi Turka) made with almonds and saffron that we devoured every night during a wonderful stay in New Delhi. 

Over the years, however, I’ve learned that there is another kind of bread pudding, a savory one, that rivals its sweet cousins in the wonderfulness department. ( Yes, Virginia. Wonderfulness is a real word according to Merriam Webster.)This is a post about one of those savory delights,  a bread pudding that features leeks sautéed in butter and bits of butternut squash suspended in a creamy gruyere-flavored custard. Are you drooling yet?

This beautiful casserole would be a perfect dish to serve at an elegant breakfast or brunch. It also would be excellent served as a main dish any night of the week.  Just pair it with a green salad and you have a satisfying meal.

Here is a link to the original recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Bread Pudding with Gruyere

Yields 8 Servings

Savory Bread Pudding

An elegant savory bread pudding made with leeks and butternut squash cubes.

30 minPrep Time

40 minCook Time

1 hr, 10 Total Time

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Ingredients

• 1 pound day-old French baguette cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 T. unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 C. whole milk
• 1 1/2 C. heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 t. freshly-ground nutmeg
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pound butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice)
• 1/4 C. olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 leek (white and light green parts only) halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch cubes
• 3 C. baby spinach
• 1 C. shredded gruyere cheese
• 1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Butter a large 2-quart baking dish.
3. Mix eggs, milk, cream and nutmeg in a medium bowl to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cut baguette into 1-inch cubes. Add bread cubes to the milk/cream mixture stirring well to combine. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes to give the bread cubes an opportunity to absorb the custard mixture.
5. Cut off an inch or so on each end of the squash and then cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds and strings from the inside of the squash and brush the squash generously with olive oil. Salt and pepper the squash and bake in a 400 degree F. oven until it is tender. This takes about 20 minutes. Test the squash for doneness and, when done, remove from the oven and cool. When the squash is cool, peel it and cut it into 1-inch cubes.
6. Wash leek in cold water and trim off the tough green stem. You will only be working with the light green and white parts of the leek. Cut the leek into thin slices and soak in a bowl of cold water to remove any residual sand. Lift leeks out of water, drain and pat dry.
7. Wash spinach, drain and pat dry.
8. Melt butter in a large pan and sauté the leeks until they are tender (about 5 minutes). Add the spinach to the leeks and cook only until the spinach begins to wilt. Add this leek-spinach mixture to the bowl of bread cubes. Add the roasted squash, gruyere cheese and 1/4 C. grated parmesan. Mix well with your hands.
9. Pour the pudding into the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining 1/4 C. parmesan cheese. Bake in 400 degree F. oven for approximately 40 minutes. The pudding will be set and the bread cubes will have golden brown edges when the pudding is done.
10. Remove from oven and set on your counter for a few minutes. Serve hot.

Nutrition

Calories

199 cal

Fat

15 g

Carbs

6 g

Protein

12 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

50

https://bluecayenne.com/savory-bread-pudding-sauteed-leeks-butternut-squash