Friday, July 1, 2011

Guinness Chocolate Cake for the 4th of July?





Oh Yes!  I may just have to roll off the (no-fat) wagon and try this recipe for the long weekend.  More photos and information can be found here on Design*Sponge.

Guinness Chocolate Cake
Katie Quinn Davies
Cake Ingredients
  • 250 g (1 c. and 2 tbsp) unsalted butter
  • 250 ml (1 c.) Guinness
  • 75 g Dutch process cocoa ( 3/4 c.), sifted
  • 275 g (2 +  1/4 c.) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 400 g (2 c.)  sugar
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 150 ml (2/3 c.) sour cream
  • 1 tbsp. good quality vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients
  • 300 g (1 + 1/3 cup) cream cheese
  • 150 g (1+1/2 c.) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 150 ml (2/3 c.) cream, whipped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

1. Add butter, cocoa and Guinness to a saucepan. Warm over a medium heat and stir until melted. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to cool slightly.

2. Add flour, baking soda and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Pour in the Guinness/cocoa/butter mixture, lightly combine, add the vanilla, eggs and sour cream and beat everything together until well combined. The batter should be thick and dark chocolate in color.

3. Pour into a greased and lined 10″ angel food pan (or another straight-sided tube pan) and cook in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.*Note: This cake is very moist inside, so use your judgment regarding the skewer test. Do not leave in the oven until the cake has totally dried out — cook long enough so there is no uncooked cake on the skewer but there may be a few moist crumbs sticking to it after an hour of cooking.  [Please note:  Katie baked this in an 8.5" x 3.5" pan.  If you make this in a regular angel food cake pan, you should start checking for doneness at least 15 minutes early.]

4. Leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the cake tin and placing on a wire wrack to cool completely.

Frosting Instructions
1. Place the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer and beat on a low-medium speed using a whisk attachment (I find a paddle attachment tends to over-beat the cheese). Whisk until the cheese is smooth and there are no big lumps remaining.

2. Gradually, using a large spoon, add in the sifted powdered sugar and beat gently to combine. After 2 to 3 minutes, stop the machine, scrape any excess frosting from the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed until lump free.

3. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream, mixing to fully combine.

4. Place cooled cake on a cake stand and add the frosting, spreading out just to the edge without going over the side (never go over the sides of the cake) until the cake resembles a pint of the creamy black stuff! The idea is to capture the essence and simplicity of a pint of Guinness. Sláinte!

Update:  
I made this cake to take to a dinner party this weekend...

Photo credit:  David Halliday, Halliday Film Fest Quiz Master
I agree with Katie Quinn Davies--- this may be the best tasting chocolate cake I've ever had (at least without a doubt---of those I've made myself).  My froth runneth over!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Mod Doll House


















This toy house would have kept me entertained for hours!
More photos and information at Remodelista.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Tables on Wheels

Above photo:  Gae Aluenti's Tavolo con Ruote Table

I get a kick out of tables on wheels---possibly because I've rearranged my furniture so often and like the idea of making pieces more mobile?  I like the industrial look of casters as well.  I have a collection of images of tables, mostly coffee table height, on wheels in my design files and wanted to post a few.  I plan to transform an old door (with a big hole in it) that came out of the back room remodel into a mobile coffee table when I locate the appropriate casters.

An aside:  The Italian architect, lighting, interior and industrial designer, Gae Aluenti created a few tables on wheels of her own.  More about this prolific designer here.

















Above:  This one looks like an Ikea Lack table top, on casters.























Above:  Directly inspired by Gae Aluenti's Tavolo con Ruote Table?























Above:  Display case table on wheels?























Above:  Fruit crates with a glass topper?























Above:  OK, this is not really a table, but more of a daybed made from pallets and casters.



















Above:  More of the pallet-like aesthetic























Above:  Kind of a butcher block look with a well-turned wheel























Above:  A glass topper and a storage shelf below



















Above:  A nice big surface useful for all the occupants of the seating (though the table needs to creep up a little closer)























Above:  Stacked drawers on wheels as a bedside table?






















Above:  A plain old chest refreshed into an industo-chest with the addition of big casters and knotted rope for drawer pulls.

















Above: Small-ish table, BIG wheels























Above:  Another pallet-type table painted and used on the patio

Above:  Another version of a set of bedside drawers on wheels























Above:  This table makes use of "legs" (bolting on 4x4's) to raise the height before adding the casters.
Above:  I'm pretty sure this is an Ikea hack making use of a shelf unit, adding casters and a cushion on top for a mobile storage bench.

Above photo:  Gae-Aluenti-Tour-Table

And here we are back to a Gae Aluenti piece---more of a tea table height making use of bicycle wheels!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

Trestle Table is beautiful!

















The trestle table project is complete and the results are lovely.  See more photos here.  I would love for this to go soon to the right home, as I am making my way through inventory to clear more working space.  If she doesn't sell in two weeks (she's also posted on craigslist), I'll make arrangements to sell her on consignment.  Consignment marks the items higher (125%-175%) than my price and I (the person who put all the work into the piece) receive only 50% from the sale.  So acquiring an item directly from me is a win for me and for you.  And it saves me from having to round up a burly helper to aid me in delivering the table to the consignment shop.  ***If you mention my blog in response to my ad on craigslist, and you purchase the table directly from me, I will take 10% off of the asking price.    ;o)  (Don't wait till it's at the consignment shop, they require me to let them keep it for up to three months and won't let me have it back to sell to my own buyer.)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Art: June 17th, 2011 Gallery Stroll


 Above:  Painting by Erik Heybroek
 Above:  Ceramic by Mari Heybroek

Charley Hafen Jewelers Gallery will feature A Family Affairthe work of niece and uncle, Mari and Erik Heybroek. Mari’s images in her hand-built and thrown ceramics are inspired by animals encountered during her upbringing in rural Sweden. Erik’s paintings depict the magical woods and waterways around his village home in Mörtfors Sweden.


Charley Hafen Jewelers - Gallery
1409 South 900 East,Salt Lake City, UT 84105
Monday - Friday 12 – 7,
Saturday 10 – 2, Closed Sunday

Telephone:
 801-521-7711 

Contact by e-mail
: charley@charleyhafen.com



At Alpine Art Gallery 430 South Temple...
Click on image for a larger view:





















For the current Gallery Stroll list click here.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Creativity: To the max!!!



Shea Hembrey: How I became 100 artists (click on title or picture to view)


How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you're Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself -- from large-scale outdoor installations to tiny paintings drawn with a single-haired brush. Watch this funny, mind-bending talk to see the explosion of creativity and diversity of skills a single artist is capable of.  ~TED


I ran across this link on a painting...whenever blog---thank you Sandra Flood!   Shea Hembrey seems to have an endless stream of ideas and the premise in itself had me laughing out loud, and his execution of the works is impressive.   If you are at work, you'll want to watch this on your lunch hour, as it runs for sixteen minutes or so, but well worth the watching.  (I also personally find in him a comrade, an artist raised in the colorful Southern U.S..)

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