Chatbug Karen

Shhh. Don’t tell my son but I made his birthday cake and will be bringing it to him tomorrow. Oops. Look at the time. It is tomorrow! Yikes it is the 21st day of June. That means that my son is now 23 years old. You can wish him happy birthday over at Speakerg.

My baby boy will be 23 this weekend. It is hard to believe. Everyone tells you to enjoy them while they are babies because the time will go fast. They were right. Time has flown.

I am trying to think of a cake to make for him. He likes my cake that uses a cup of cold coffee. I might make that but I thought about making:

Chocolate Pound Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 large eggs, at room temperature
2 egg large yolks, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
12 ounces unsalted butter (3 sticks), room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Chocolate Glaze:
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 tablespoon honey

Equipment: 10 cup bundt pan

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour the bundt pan.

Sift the flour, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk the eggs, yolks, vanilla, and espresso powder together into a bowl and set aside.

In a heavy duty mixer, beat the butter with the paddle attachment, on medium speed for 1 minute, or until smooth. Gradually pour in the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, until the butter begins to lighten, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat, on medium-high, until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes more.

Adjust the mixer’s speed to its lowest setting. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until completely absorbed before adding the rest. Scrape down the sides of the mixer then beat on medium-high for 30 seconds more.

Adjust again to low speed and add half the egg mixture, mix until blended and smooth. Add the remaining egg mixture and beat until almost blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and fold in the chocolate by hand. Take care not to over mix the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan, on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out of the pan, and cool right side up on a rack. If not serving the same day, wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Glaze just before serving. Cake can be frozen for 1 month.

For the glaze: Put all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 minute more. Remove from the microwave and whisk until fully combined, smooth and glossy. While warm, pour glaze over cooled cake and do not spread. Serve as desired.

I will be going down memory lane a bit as I go through pictures and sort them. You will just have to bear with me.

I have pictures from every year of my kid’s birthdays. Who doesn’t take pictures on their kid’s birthdays? I was reminded of a special party my son had on his tenth birthday. Unbeknownst to me, he had told of the invitees to bring their dogs. Imagine my surprise when little boys began arriving and brought their dogs. LOL Greg had already planned to serve ice cream with a dog biscuit to each of the dogs, which we did. There was our dog, Charlie, a Boston Terrier. Morgan’s dog, Princess, Dacshound I will call a wiener dog for lack of spelling ability , and Matt’s dog, a Skipper Ki. I don’t remember the name of Matt’s dog. Ryan had a poodle but for some reason she did not attend. When I call this party a zoo, I mean it. It was a real zoo.

I’m not afraid of birthdays! Birthdays mean presents. Hey! Today is my birthday. Fifty two years ago my mom gave birth to a little baby girl and named her Karen.

We are just outside Orlando and stayed in an awesome Marriott Residence Inn. It is like a miniature apartment. It is just fancy enough with beautiful navy blue carpet. We are headed into Orlando to find the Randall Custom knive this morning. My husband collects custom knives.

Back to the important subject, MY BIRTHDAY!

Elizabeth, over at Table4Five tells me that something great “might” happen or it will just make me smile if I get at least 52 comments on this post. So, help me out. Shout it from the roof tops. Please. Leave a comment. Smooch.