The Gleason's

There were some requests for the ginger punch recipe (served at the shower and expertly made by Darcy) and the flourless chocolate cake I made for Brian and Doug's birthday celebration last Saturday night...so here you go...

Ginger Punch

One batch makes 8-10 servings
Takes ~1-1/2 hours total to make 2 batches, if squeezing juice by hand (plus at least 24 hours to chill)

5-6 lemons (includes 1 for garnish)
4 oranges (includes 1 for garnish)
¾ c. peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger
¾ c. honey
¾ c. sugar
4 c. sparkling mineral water, chilled

Grate 2 Tablespoons each of lemon and orange zest. Reserve one lemon and one orange for garnish. Squeeze 1/3 cup lemon juice, and 1-1/4 cups orange juice, and set aside.

In food processor, pulse the ginger, honey, and sugar until just combined (if making 2 batches, you will have to process in 2 batches or else it won’t fit). Add the lemon and orange juices and mix. Transfer to a large lidded container. Add the lemon and orange zests and 2 cups boiling water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 5 days.

To serve, strain the ginger-beer base into a pitcher (use very-fine mesh strainer, or cheese-cloth-lined colander). Thinly slice the reserved lemon and orange to form circles. Add the slices and mineral water to the pitcher and stir. Serve over ice.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

16 oz Belgium Dark Chocolate or good Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
3/4 cups boiling hot water or very hot coffee
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature - cut into pieces
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
8 large eggs - room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and buttering it.

Break up the dark chocolate into pieces and pour the chocolate into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until the chocolate is in small bits. Add the sugar. Pulse until the chocolate and sugar turns into an even, sandy grain.

Pour the hot water or coffee into the feed tube as you pulse again. Pulse until the chocolate is melted - Magic!

Add the butter pieces and cocoa powder - pulse to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla and process until smooth. The batter will be liquid and creamy.

Pour the batter into the lined springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F in the center of the oven, until puffed and cracked and lovely - about 55 to 65 minutes.

Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool - the cake will deflate. When cooled a bit, press down on it with a spatula to make it even if that's the look you are going for. When cake is completely cooled, cover and chill for three hours until serving.

So....the big bash baby shower was last weekend. I was so excited to see so many wonderful friends and family there in support of baby "B-DOG" as he has been nicknamed by the Gleason's. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful and I am lucky to know each and every one of you and have you in my life.

There have been lots of name guesses so far. He does have a name, but we are not sharing in case he looks like someone else when we meet him. But the guesses have been fun and downright side splitting on occasion. I will try to turn the edit function on this one so you can have a guess too if you like.

So for the name clues are as follows:
- Starts with a "b"
- Not in any name book I've seen so far but doesn't sound like a crazy name
- 2 syllables
- More likely to be found in an encyclopedia than a dictionary