Baking with Julia ~ TWD ~ Boca Negra

The very decadent, very delicious Boca Negra, which literally translates to “black mouth"

This has been a dessert laden week. OK, maybe two weeks! First, we had our valentine cookie exchange for French Fridays.  That meant baking cookies to send to my secret Valentine, and while I was at it,  baking a bunch more to send to my grandchildren. Of course, I put a few aside for my hubby! How could I not? Even though I knew I would be receiving a box of cookies from my secret Valentine! On top of all those cookies, our FFWD recipe for last week was Coure a la Creme. I made it the weekend before Valentine’s day, while I was visiting with my son and his family in Atlanta. It was a big hit!

That brings us to this weeks pick for TWD ~ Baking with Julia, the very decadent Boca Negra, contributed by Lora Brody.  I almost didn’t make it. We have been indulging in way too many sweets.  However, we are staying on the beautiful Gulf coast of Florida, and my cousin and her husband (who live on the east coast) were coming to visit for a few days.  It was Valentine’s Day, and she made a wonderful Shrimp Scampi, with gorgeous fresh shrimp she brought from home. So, dessert just seemed appropriate!

Absolutely luscious…Perfect for Valentine’s day 

Right from the start, I made a big mistake with the batter.  Because my cousin and I were deep in conversation, solving the worlds problems, I didn’t read the part that said make a syrup…OH NO!!!  I added the melted chocolate to the sugar and liquor ( another oh no ) but, by then it was too late to retreat.  I decided to continue, and if it didn’t come out I would start over again.  After all, it was a whole bag of very good chocolate!  I put my mixture over low heat, and heated it until it started to melt and blend.  At that point I added the butter, one piece at a time until fully incorporated.  It didn’t look bad, it was coming together nicely, so I continued. My cousin beat the eggs with the remaining ⅓ cup of sugar, and I whisked them into the batter.  It still looked good to me so, into the oven it went!  Thirty minutes later it was done, with a thin crust, just the way it was described.

Beating in the butter…this was where my cake started to come together

Beating eggs with ⅓ cup of sugar

Mixed together and poured into 9 inch pan to bake

I turned this cake onto a platter immediately after taking it out of oven…it cracked

I turned the cake out onto a platter and it cracked a bit, but still looked good.  It smelled amazing! 

What could be bad?  It’s pretty much pure chocolate mixed with butter, sugar, eggs and rum (I didn’t have rum, so I substituted some chocolate wine).  I also didn’t make the cream. I served mine with vanilla gelato and blueberries! If you love deep chocolatey desserts, this one’s for you!! Simply irresistible!!

OMG…this was amazing….a keeper for sure

So, my Valentine’s day was perfect!! We had a scrumptious dinner with great company, and we had a luscious dessert to follow!! Oh, and my hubby bought me a lovely orchid, my favorite flower! 

Just beautiful!!

Our host for the very decadent, very delicious Boca Negra is Cathy of A Frederick Food Garden.  The recipe is posted on her blog.  To see what the other bakers are doing, check it out on the Tuesdays with Dorie site.  Have a great day everyone!