Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: My tiny kitchen
Source: L
(Original recipe taken from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandpops-Special-Chocolate-Cake/Detail.aspx)

“For every delicious cake, there are 9 bad cakes”, such is the insightful comment L uttered as she passed me one of her all-time-favourite cake recipes. I have known L for almost a year and she continues to impress me every time we talk about baking. I’ve been doing pretty well though; I have managed to dig out at least 3 foolproof and extremely delicious cake recipes from L.

It was my first attempt to bake a chocolate cake and using L’s chocolate cake recipe, it turned out to be a huge success. The cake was very moist and there was a intensive chocolate flavour. Being a novice baker, I have had a lot of bad baking experience. Of course, each failed attempt was always because I used a bad cake recipe. I’m sure my poor, or plainly lack of, baking techniques bear no fault

Because I had such back luck in baking (yes, it’s always safe to blame luck), I was jumping with joy when I had a success with L’s chocolate cake recipe. I’m even happier when I realized the cake has a dense and yet very moist texture that is similar to the High Five cake at Death By Chocolate’s. This is the kind of chocolate cake that you won’t be able to stop after taking one bite.

You will need the following ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the brand Brute, a dutch-processed cocoa powder with a high concentration of cocoa)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup full fat milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup room temperature coffee
- 2 eggs warmed up to room temperature
- A dollop of room temperature butter and 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to grease and dust a 9” pan

- Heat oven to 325F.
- Shift all the dried ingredients into a large bowl.
- Pour all the wet ingredients into the bowl.
- Mix all ingredients until just combine. I always try NOT to over-mix.

Pour batter into the square pan. Shake the pan gently to let the air bubbles escape. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the skewer comes out clean after inserted into the cake.

After the cake is taken out of the oven, place it on a wire rack to let it cool down to room temperature. The cake could be enjoyed as is but I decided to turn it into my own creation of a four layer “High Four”.

I iced the cake with a cream cheese icing and a dark chocolate ganache.

Cream cheese icing:
- 1 block (250 g) or cream cheese warmed up to room temperature
- 1/2 powder sugar

- In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese over high speed until it becomes fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Add powder sugar one tablespoonful at a time.

Chocolate ganache:
- 1 cup of coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I use the Callebaut baking chocolate)
- 1/3 cup of heavy cream

- Warm heavy cream in the microwave until it gets hot but not boiling
- Mix cream into chocolate. If there are chunks of undissolved chocolate, heat the chocolate in the microwave for 20 second at a time until all chocolate has been dissolved.

Cake the cake into 4 layers:
- If you are like me who cannot cut straight, it would be easier to cut the cake vertically in half first. This is a trick that L taught me.
- If the cake has risen up during baking, trim off the raised top horizontally to make it even.
- Take each half and cut it horizontally in half.

Using a spatula, spread a good amount of cream cheese icing on the first layer. Put the second layer on top of the cream cheese and put on the ganache. Repeat with the cream cheese on the third layer. Finally put the ganache on the top layer.

Place the cake in the fridge and let it set for 5 hours before serving. Before I cut the cake, I usually let it sit at room temperature for half an hour. I find it easier to cut through the layers when the icing and ganache have become soft.

Drizzle a little amount of raspberry sauce on a plate and dessert is ready.

Location: My tiny kitchen

I always pay attention to the side dishes that comes with fried food. KFC sells their finger linking goods with potato salad and coleslaw. Greek restaurants always serve calamari with tzatziki. But when it comes to fried pork chops, I never see a consistent combination. The Taiwanese are one of the experts at making cutlets. Their pork chops are thin and the batter is never too thick. I like the Japanese Tonkatsus as well, but I never care for the sweet brown sauce served on the side. Eating all these different kinds of cutlets make me wonder: what if I eat my cutlets with coleslaw and tzatziki? The combination turned out to be amazing.

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This recipe serves 2 people who hungry people who really love pork chops.

Try to buy pork chops with a thin cut. The chops I used are about 1/3” thick, bone in. Make an incision near the bone without cutting the bone entirely off; doing this will ensure the chops get fully cooked during frying. Place 5 pork chops on a plate and put in:

- 1 tsp of salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp of onion powder (onion is the best blessing for pork)
- 1 1/2 tbsp of coarse grain mustard

Marinate the chops in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Fill a quart pan with oil up to 1/3 of its height. Do not pour more oil than half full. Insert a candy thermometer (one that reads up to 400F) into the oil. Do not let the bottom of the thermometer to touch the bottom of the pan. I learned this when my last thermometer exploded in a pan of boiling oil, which was not a fun experience My thermometer now has a clip that clips to the side of the pan. Let the oil temperature to rise to 350F.

Panko is a Japanese breadcrumb that can be found in most Asian grocery stores. Pour the panko onto a plate. Drench the chops into the panko, dust off any excess. Slowly place one pork chop into the quart pan. Fry the pork chop for 2 minutes. During frying, keep the oil at 350F.

Place the chops on a plate lined with paper towel. Let chops cool for a few minutes. Remove the bone from the chops and cut them into strips.

To assemble, put coleslaw, tzatziki and lemon wedges (if desired) on a plate. Chops taste best when served warm. My favourite part of a pork chop is the tiny piece of meat located at the top of the L shape bone. It’s the tenderest part of the chop because it usually has a tiny bit of fat. Since I cut off the bones, I usually save the bones all to myself and pig out in the kitchen before the strips are served. Oink