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| View from the park across King St. toward the lake. |
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| Our first prime minister peering through the mist. |
Gave Isabel the finished Hitchhiker scarf at her birthday dinner yesterday evening. It was hard to give away, since when I tried it on myself, the green in the scarf made my green eyes pop. When you're over 50, anything that makes you look better is an asset. I think Isabel sensed my difficulty because after she thanked me for it, she offered to let me borrow it now and then.
The chocolate cake lived up to expectations. For those of you interested in the recipe for what we think is the world's best chocolate cake, here's the recipe. Note that it is butter and egg-free--not because I'm opposed to butter and eggs, just because it is. The cake is a moist, dense, rich dark chocolate. We like it made 2 ways: 1) as a layer cake with de-seeded raspberry jam between the layers (this is how we had it last night), or 2) as a bundt cake with a dusting of cocoa powder.
Chocolate Cake
3 c unbleached flour
½ c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ c dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2/3 c canola oil
2 ¼ c water
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare pan(s) with cooking spray. Choose either one bundt pan or 2 layer cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix well, using an electric mixer for best results. The batter should be quite smooth. Pour into the prepared pan(s). For a bundt cake, bake for about 45 min; for layer cakes about 30 min. When done, the edges of the cake will pull away from the sides of the pan.
Now the sun is shining and the mist, like magic, is completely gone. A good day to begin the spring garden cleanup.
