THANK YOU to everyone who offered suggestions on these two topics. Here's how it went down:
First off, the chocolate conversion topic was a complete waste of everyone's time because when I opened my chocolate drawer (yes, I do have a drawer dedicated to chocolate. Doesn't everyone?) there was only a 4 oz chunk of 70% left--forgot that I'd made a batch of Dyslexic sauce to take home to PA. However, I DID have a Trader Joe's 72% Pound Plus bar. What I DIDN'T have was any more time to waste doing math. So I used 12 oz of 72% and 8 oz of milk chocolate and conched the melted blend with a stick blender because milk chocolate does not melt with the same grace that higher chocolates do. In other words, the dark had already melted but the milk was procrastinating and I didn't want any unmelted bits. Tasting the butter/chocolate blend, I was fine with the flavor.
The cake preparation had a little hiccup when the eggs wouldn't foam up, but then I realized I was using the paddle blade and switched to the balloon whip. Two minutes later my eggs had filled up 3/4 of the KA mixer bowl. I let it beat for the proscribed CathyZ amount of time and then slowly drizzled in the barely warm melted butter/chocolate. The batter deflated to about half the mixer bowl but still had lots of air in it.
I used a 10" springform pan, cutting a circle from waxed pastry board and lining the bottom, then lining the sides with buttered parchment. Then I basically put a diaper around the pan by wrapping it in a turkey roasting bag rubber-banded to hold it to the pan. I've had springforms leak when used in a water bath, in this case, a half-sheet cake pan bain marie.
I think I baked it 5 minutes longer than Cathy's 40 minutes, but certainly nowhere near the insane times I read online when I was searching for an internal temperature. Bon Appetit says to bake theirs for 1 hour and 20 minutes???
Cake did not deflate or collapse AT ALL and only develop one small circular crevice. Happily, it was topped off by a mound of whipped heavy cream, raspberries and white chocolate curls so no one was the wiser. I made a raspberry puree to plate and dipped some fresh strawberries in white chocolate.
I started the focaccia bread ferment at midnight on Friday and then started the final process at 3:30 PM for a 5:30 finish time. It went like clockwork. I found my fingers were sticking to the dough during the "impression" step so I just dipped it in excess oil around the edges and that smoothed everything out. Used Frantoia olive oil (my absolute favorite and difficult to find now) and have sadly found that I like this bread even cold now. The taste of the oil makes all the difference. Had my Maldon salt here, but found the flakes were just too big...like, 1/4" per chunk. So I broke the big ones down and then lightly sprinkled with the pink Himalayan fine salt. A word of caution: this bread develops a hard bottom and top crust and a thin, serrated knife WILL NOT work. It just slides across the surface. I know. I tried. Instead, I switched to a heavy chef knife and pressed down using the palm of my hand to--basically--sever slices. Worked great.
And I made a tapenade to go with it. I wasn't all that crazy about the idea because I'd bought a jar of tapenade once and HATED it. It was too salty, too bitter, too chemical tasting and overall too too. But then I realized that I already liked THESE particular ingredients because they were, after all, in MY pantry. Plus time was running out because that focaccia is a time-driven whore who demands attention at the end game to deliver it fresh out of the oven.
Here's what I diced up:
3 roasted (not sun-dried) tomatoes that were packed in olive oil with olives
1/2 roasted red pepper
12 green UNBRINED natural olives, the only kind I really like.
2 regular brined green olive (for the salt)
1/4 of a clove of garlic, slivered to molecular levels.
1 tsp smashed capers
fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, bit of basil)
ground pepper
olive oil
Good grief, is that stuff good! I tried it on a cracker while the focaccia was baking and actually BLINKED in surprise.
All in all, a success. The host was having difficulty finishing up the standing rib roast out on his grill (while the hostess was in the kitchen fuming) but the guests were all "we'll just have bread and wine for dinner."
Compliments don't get any better than that.
First off, the chocolate conversion topic was a complete waste of everyone's time because when I opened my chocolate drawer (yes, I do have a drawer dedicated to chocolate. Doesn't everyone?) there was only a 4 oz chunk of 70% left--forgot that I'd made a batch of Dyslexic sauce to take home to PA. However, I DID have a Trader Joe's 72% Pound Plus bar. What I DIDN'T have was any more time to waste doing math. So I used 12 oz of 72% and 8 oz of milk chocolate and conched the melted blend with a stick blender because milk chocolate does not melt with the same grace that higher chocolates do. In other words, the dark had already melted but the milk was procrastinating and I didn't want any unmelted bits. Tasting the butter/chocolate blend, I was fine with the flavor.
The cake preparation had a little hiccup when the eggs wouldn't foam up, but then I realized I was using the paddle blade and switched to the balloon whip. Two minutes later my eggs had filled up 3/4 of the KA mixer bowl. I let it beat for the proscribed CathyZ amount of time and then slowly drizzled in the barely warm melted butter/chocolate. The batter deflated to about half the mixer bowl but still had lots of air in it.
I used a 10" springform pan, cutting a circle from waxed pastry board and lining the bottom, then lining the sides with buttered parchment. Then I basically put a diaper around the pan by wrapping it in a turkey roasting bag rubber-banded to hold it to the pan. I've had springforms leak when used in a water bath, in this case, a half-sheet cake pan bain marie.
I think I baked it 5 minutes longer than Cathy's 40 minutes, but certainly nowhere near the insane times I read online when I was searching for an internal temperature. Bon Appetit says to bake theirs for 1 hour and 20 minutes???
Cake did not deflate or collapse AT ALL and only develop one small circular crevice. Happily, it was topped off by a mound of whipped heavy cream, raspberries and white chocolate curls so no one was the wiser. I made a raspberry puree to plate and dipped some fresh strawberries in white chocolate.
I started the focaccia bread ferment at midnight on Friday and then started the final process at 3:30 PM for a 5:30 finish time. It went like clockwork. I found my fingers were sticking to the dough during the "impression" step so I just dipped it in excess oil around the edges and that smoothed everything out. Used Frantoia olive oil (my absolute favorite and difficult to find now) and have sadly found that I like this bread even cold now. The taste of the oil makes all the difference. Had my Maldon salt here, but found the flakes were just too big...like, 1/4" per chunk. So I broke the big ones down and then lightly sprinkled with the pink Himalayan fine salt. A word of caution: this bread develops a hard bottom and top crust and a thin, serrated knife WILL NOT work. It just slides across the surface. I know. I tried. Instead, I switched to a heavy chef knife and pressed down using the palm of my hand to--basically--sever slices. Worked great.
And I made a tapenade to go with it. I wasn't all that crazy about the idea because I'd bought a jar of tapenade once and HATED it. It was too salty, too bitter, too chemical tasting and overall too too. But then I realized that I already liked THESE particular ingredients because they were, after all, in MY pantry. Plus time was running out because that focaccia is a time-driven whore who demands attention at the end game to deliver it fresh out of the oven.
Here's what I diced up:
3 roasted (not sun-dried) tomatoes that were packed in olive oil with olives
1/2 roasted red pepper
12 green UNBRINED natural olives, the only kind I really like.
2 regular brined green olive (for the salt)
1/4 of a clove of garlic, slivered to molecular levels.
1 tsp smashed capers
fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, bit of basil)
ground pepper
olive oil
Good grief, is that stuff good! I tried it on a cracker while the focaccia was baking and actually BLINKED in surprise.
All in all, a success. The host was having difficulty finishing up the standing rib roast out on his grill (while the hostess was in the kitchen fuming) but the guests were all "we'll just have bread and wine for dinner."
Compliments don't get any better than that.
