"Something tells me...

...I'm into something good." I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits

So, my roommate, Jolly Berry, is in law school. She comes home and tells me the cases they are studying and when she is confused I make her explain it all to me because then she sees what REAL confusion looks like, and she usually, as it happens, actually DOES know what she's talking about. :) I get to learn little bits of law in the process and we're both happy. This semester she is studying torts.

All this talk about torts made me hungry so I got out my Blonde Chicana's Cookbook and found a recipe which I altered slightly for my own purposes, and created a Chocolate Torte To Die For.

Unfortunately, I had a little trouble with a few of the steps--due to lack of proper dishes, ingredients, etc, so what I ended up making did not, perhaps, look like a torte you would normally see...but who decided that tortes should be all smooth and cakelike anyhow? Really, they're meant to be more of a pudding anyway...or a parfait, or something.

So mine ended up in a bowl, be be scooped out in spoonfuls of delicious goodness. Delicious CHOCOLATEY goodness.

And then I cleaned up the glorious mess that was the kitchen.

So Jolly Berry and I ate it after she finished a take home exam tonight to celebrate. It was very YUM.

So here is the vague recipe (with alteration options) for my fabulous Torte de Chocolate.

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1/3 cup sour cream

Filling:

1 lb. sweet or semisweet chocolate [I used semisweet]

1/4 cup cream [I use heavy whipping cream, and whip up some of the leftover to put on top]

1/2 cup butter

5 egg yolks, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift dry pastry ingredients together. Cut in butter until consistency of cornmeal.

Add sour cream and knead into a ball (VERY MESSY). Divide into fourths and refrigerate for two hours.

On a floured board (or wax paper for easy transfer to baking sheet) roll each portion into a 10x10 square (or whatever shape you want the torte to be...but roll it quite flat, is the point, to about a 1/3 inch or slightly less thickness--and be warned, pastry dough will be sticky). Place each square onto a buttered cookie sheet and bake ten minutes at 400 degrees. Cool on wire racks. CAUTION: baked pastry will be very fragile, so treat gently.

Place chocolate, cream, and butter in a pan. Stir over low heat until melted. Beat eggs into chocolate mixture. Add vanilla. Cool to spreading consistency.

Place one pastry on platter [I chose to use a bowl so it was more puddingish) and cover with filling. Repeat, stacking until all pastries are used, ending with filling.

To decorate/garnish, options include whipped cream (which is MY favorite...) powdered sugar, strawberries, raspberries...

To change this into Aztec Chocolate Torte, simply add 1 tsp of cinnamon to topping mixture, and 1/2 tsp to pastry mixture. Also sprinkle some on top, if desired. :)

I decided that if I had a pretty parfait dish, where the layers would be visible, that would be ideal for this desert, because it simply is messy, that's part of the charm. But with the layers on display, it would look more intentional. Also then I could put sliced strawberries on top which would add a pleasing effect. :) As it was, we didn't have strawberries, but we DID have strawberry preserves and...yes, that was very worthwhile. It was so rich, though, that I couldn't even eat my whole piece. :)

So that was our hugely unnecessary (but delicious) culinary adventure of the week. :) I'm trying to branch out, you see.

Finally, before I sign out tonight, I have two brief notices. First, we have named our apartment. It is "RuraJura" which to get a full explanation, you'll have to ask Jolly Berry. :) I will post the illustration which will officially inaugurate this name when I finish it. Second, I was so sleepy tonight that, as I was trying to brush my teeth, I almost put deodorant on my toothbrush. I noticed before it was too late, thankfully, so nothing bad happened. :P

Isn't life ironic? :)