Mini Champagne Cakes

One of the funniest novelty cookbooks I've seen is the one my parents presented to my brother when he moved into his own place. It's called A Man, A Can, A Plan and it's constructed of the sort of thick cardboard normally reserved for children's picture books. My brother's edition even came with its own can opener.

The beauty of the book lays in its caveman-simple directions and the use of no-muss no-fuss ingredients that could be found laying around a bachelor pad. One ingredient that figures prominently, unsurprisingly, is beer. The instructions for a recipe might go something like this: "Dump half a can of beer into a pot, then drink the other half..."

When I was making these Mini Champagne Cakes, I kept thinking about A Man, A Can, A Plan. "Dump half a bottle of champagne into a bowl, then drink the other half..." It was tempting but then again, so are these Mini Champagne Cakes and I needed all but about a glass for the recipe. So what was this sober cook rewarded with in the end? Light and delicate mounds of champagne-infused bliss, perfect for a festive occasion. Luckily, I already have an event in mind. My friend Sarah is having a baby girl this fall and her upcoming shower motivated me to test out some recipes, including this one. 

To be honest, I've actually made Mini Champagne Cakes a couple times before and have always adored them. Unfortunately, the last time I made them they got horribly stuck in the pans and while they were still delicious, they weren't exactly the sort of thing I would want to present to an expectant mother and all her friends. I decided to do a test run to see if I could remedy the sticky situation. 

This time I greased the pans well, floured them and only filled them about two-thirds full. I let the cakes cool in the pan and then inverted them onto a flat wire rack which I menacingly banged against the metal sink edge a few times to help the cakes release. Guess what? It worked! I hope the ladies at the shower like boozed up cake! 

Disclaimer: Men can't control themselves around these cakes. If you wish to save them for a photo shoot or a special event, consider making a sign since verbal warnings may prove insufficient. In fact, some men may interpret anything you say regarding these cakes as an invitation to eat one. 

Mini Champagne Cakes

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cups shortening
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• A few drops of red food coloring (optional)

• 6 egg whites

• 2 cups champagne

Directions

1. Let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
3. Grease and flour 12 mini bunt cake pans (they come in groupings of six.) Grease and flour 4-6 muffin cups for the extra batter. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and if desired, 8-10 drops red food coloring. Slowly add egg whites. 
5. Alternately fold in flour mixture and champagne to shortening mixture until just combined- Avoid over-mixing as this will make the cake tough. 
6. Spoon into prepared bunt pans to a height of 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool, then invert on a wire rack and thump against counter to release. 
9. Drizzle with Champagne Icing and allow to dry. 

Champagne Icing

Ingredients

• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons champagne, plus additional
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Red food coloring, if desired

Directions

1. In medium bowl, combine all ingredients. 
2. Slowly stir in more champagne, one teaspoon at a time, until icing is a drizzle-able thick glaze consistency. 

Recipe Credit: From Simply Perfect Celebrations, 2003. I can't find any record of this publication. I'm not sure if it was a book or a magazine, all I have is the stained, photocopied pages the recipe appears on. 

Easier-Than-Pie Grilled Peaches

Sometimes, I've found that being too much of a perfectionist about things can lead to not doing them at all, whatever the project may be.

For just that reason, I was putting off fixing up a rustic dining bench I bought. Finally, I decided to just slap on a couple coats of white paint and call it a day. It looks beautiful now and I love it. Sometimes good just has to be good enough. The same thing can go for cooking. Planning something overly ambitious when a simple solution will do the trick can be a recipe for failure. 

Speaking of, I've had a few cooking failures lately, including an aborted attempt at late-night meringues, so when we grilled out Saturday night I wanted to make something extremely simple for dessert. We had a couple peaches laying around so I did a quick Google search and found a recipe from Salon that uses only three ingredients: peaches, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. It doesn't get much easier than this folks. Sweet brown sugar paired with the tangier notes of balsamic vinegar gives them a subtle complexity that pairs well with the grilled smokiness.

When you're feeling fairly ambitious, make a peach pie. When you're feeling a little less ambitious, make a peach cobbler. When you don't feel like cooking at all, make these grilled peaches (or go through the McDonalds drive-through and get a hot apple pie.)

Easier-Than-Pie Grilled Peaches

Ingredients

• Fresh peaches, fairly firm, halved and pitted
• Balsamic vinegar
• Brown sugar

Directions

1. Halve and pit the peaches
2. Drizzle, face up, with Balsamic vinegar
3. Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar
4. If possible, allow to soak for as long as an hour, although not necessary
5. Dab the grill with oil and place peaches face down on the grill. Turn after 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle more brown sugar on the flat side (now facing up.) Remove after a few more minutes when they're soft when poked with a fork. 

Serve as-is, a la mode, or sprinkle some granola on top for a satisfying crunch. Salon recommends enjoying them with a hefeweizen, which conveniently happens to be my favorite beer.

Note: These peaches can also be prepared in a frying pan. I heated up my cast iron pan today and made a second batch, thus the absence of grill marks in my picture.