Dark Chocolate ‘Beer’ Cake with Sour Cream Caramel Frosting
It’s official! I finally had my first beer – in a cake that is. 😉 In all the hundreds of cakes I have eaten to date, not one had beer in it. My Dad was an incredible cake baker, and although he was forever pulling one from the oven, I don’t ever remember him baking one with beer. Which is ironic since my Dad loved his beer. I vividly remember begging sips of brew from him as he enjoyed a can or two after a long day’s work at the factory. Dad was a perfectionist when it came to the glass he used for his beer. Not the shape, rather the cleanliness. Once, he even gave me a demonstration on the proper way to clean a beer glass. ‘You have to clean it really well with hot soapy water, then rinse it with cold water. Cold water kills the suds. Any soap residue left on the glass will make the beer go flat, and a great glass of beer has to have a nice head of foam’. Those were his precise instructions. Continue reading
Around this time of year, I start flipping through my ‘Passover’ file to get reacquainted with the recipes I have collected specifically for the celebration of Passover – most of them are recipes for desserts that don’t contain flour. There are tons of great gluten-free sweets available these days but since I’m not gluten intolerant, I don’t usually give the subject much thought. Occasionally a gluten-free recipe will show up here on the blog, but on average, flour is a constant in my everyday recipes. So when faced with the question ‘ what to make for Passover dessert’, I’m always looking for something new and interesting. 
I promised myself I wasn’t going to bake and write a post while I was on vacation. Although I packed my camera and tripod, it would strictly be used for practicing landscape photography. After all, we were staying in a charming beach house just steps from the water, all I wanted was to take photos of the sand, waves, and any sea creatures willing enough to be my subject. 
The months pass and I am drawn back to my kitchen and camera over and over again. It’s been three years now, and still I find baking to be as enticing and intoxicating as ever. Sure, there are days, many days, when I ask myself why I continue writing a blog. Some days I have answers, some days not. Nevertheless, I return. This blog, this space I have created to share my deep passion for baking continues to feed my soul, and that is the best answer I have at the moment. It is enough. 
Even though I live three thousand miles away from my family, I see them a lot! I journey to Kentucky four or five times a year, and when I’m very blessed, one of my family members makes it to California to visit me. Having a brother, sister, niece, or nephew in MY home is a precious gift. There were trade-offs in choosing a life in Los Angeles, living so far from family has been the most difficult by far.