More Cake? With Custard! Or when to draw the line...
You will have to bear with my story (oh yes! today, I have one) because at the end of it... There is CAKE!! But, more importantly, also Custard, or, if you want to be fancy, Crème Anglaise (English cream). The latter is important because that is the crux of this story that spirals out like Arabian Nights in sequence. So, rewind to Saturday evening.... {Read the story from the link below}
Now about that cake. This would be my go to chocolate cake. It is simple. Flour, cocoa powder, egg, milk, raw sugar, butter or oil. Typically, I would make it with regular flour but since my wheat allergy, I have been playing pantry with gluten free stuff.
This is a simple chocolate cake. I mix olive oil and butter in equal parts for the fat part. Oil makes it moister and the butter tastier. But you can equivalent volume of one or the other. I like eating it right from the cake pan (hence the missing chunk in the photos). But you can just easily, frost it or serve with custard. Pretty much do what you want with it. It is a basic recipe.
For the love of chestnuts
Ok, let's go with cake.
Fact: This one I have today is from sometime ago. But, it is still awesome. Only this morning someone mailed me asking to happily share on of my chestnut recipes with all the photos for... wait for it ... blog credit! Woot? NOT!
Fact: Chestnuts are really cool. And, really warm. What?!! Yes, they are. I love them. I may have eaten them everyday when I was Istanbul last December.
It is gluten free too. Yay!
Fact: I want this cake now. Hmmmm.....!
A Druze experience in Israel
The high point of my recent trip to Israel was an evening spent in a Druze home, sipping tea, learning about their life and beliefs and of course, delighting in some amazing home made delicacies.
Arranged through Galil Eat, our guide was Paul himself, who runs a supper club of sorts. Paul arranges up close and personal experiences in Israeli homes in the Galilee region, where one can be immersed into the hosts' culture through food and conversation. You get a lot of information about their life while enjoying a wonderful at-home culinary experience. Talking to Paul I realized there are several religious and ethnic minority groups that live and love Israel. He arranged for an evening with the Druze community and cuisine in the home of Pinina (and her daughter Rana).
The fact is, this was not my first experience with Druze. One of my favorite and oft frequented lunch spots in NYC is Gazala Place, which, as it happens serves Druze cuisine. Not that I had noticed the tiny print stating that on their menus. The spark of connection was ignited during the tea when we were served their distinctive 'pita'.
Moravské Koláče (Moravian Koláče)
