Marble Molasses Pound Cake

"Don't overestimate the decency of the human race." - H. L. Mencken

Every once in a while, I receive a phone call from a certain someone that annoys the crap out of me. It's just one specific person that thinks he still knows how to push my buttons. Do you have someone like that in your life? For most people, it's an ex, or a bill collector, or an in-law. In my life, it's unfortunately exhibit Z: a person out there that has no polite category, but one that can only be described by vulgarity which I won't elaborate on now. Anywho, whenever that person calls, it reminds me of how fucked up (pardon the French) people can be. One minute, you're trusting someone with everything, every secret, every worry, every good moment, every sad one, etc. You catch the drift. You feel as if there's a deep connection there, but then over the course of time, things happen that end the relationship or friendship. Then, all hell breaks loose. Words are said, revenge may take place, atomic bomb fights occur. What does that end up in? Pure annoyance. Those people turn into a kind of parasite, one that thrives on your downfall, on your weaknesses, on pissing you off. In going with the quote, those parasites lose all their decency and along with it their right to be called human. Why should we put up with people like that? How do we benefit? Are they helping us in any way? No, probably not. They're probably just aiding in the loss of patience and money. So you know what? I declare today "Goodbye Parasite" day. Me estoy purgando. I forgot how to translate it literally, but it basically means I'm deworming myself. Did any of you see this year's MTV VMA's? Well, if you did, you may be figuring out what I'm going to say next. In the words of Kanye West:

Let's have a toast for the douche bags.
Let's have a toast for the assholes.
Let's have a toast for the scumbags.
Every one of them that I know.
-Runaway

Marble Molasses Pound Cake
adapted from: Southern Cakes: Sweet & Irresistible Recipes For Everyday Celebrations

"I always thought marble cake was a fifties twist on the familiar layer cake, but I was wrong. The custom of swirling two contrasting shades and flavors of batter into a marbled design dates back to the pound cakes of the 1800s. Molasses or another kind of syrup often provided the color and flavor, boosted by a generous hand with spices, which were always freshly ground. The resulting cake is delicious as well as gorgeous. Getting the swirls and whirls just right is an extra pleasure for the cook."

serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:
2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
3 tbsp molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
1) Heat the oven to 350F. Generously grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, line the bottom of the pan with waxed or parchment paper, and flour the pan.
2) Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.
3) In a large bowl, beat the butters with a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat to combine the ingredients well. Add the beaten eggs and continue mixing until the mixture is light, fluffy, and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Stop several times to scrape down the bowl.
4) Add about a third of the flour mixture, and then about half of the milk, beating at low speed after each addition just long enough to make the flour or the milk disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and then the last of the flour in the same way.
5) Scoop out about a third of the batter into a medium bowl, and add the molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Stir with a wooden spoon or fork to mix everything into the batter well.
6) Quickly add both batters to the pan, a few tablespoonfuls at a time, alternating between the plain and spiced batters. Run a table knife through the batter in a figure-eight pattern to swirl the batters together. Bake at 350F for about 1 hour, until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched lightly at the center, and until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
7) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Use a table knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Then turn out the cake onto a wire rack or a plate, remove the paper carefully, and cool completely, top side up.

Chocolate Pound Cake

"We do not remember days, we remember moments." - Cesare Pavese

Looking back on my 21 years of life, I can't say I honestly remember full days at a time. Yes, I remember the past couple of days because of how recent they are. But past days, no. Let me take it back to last year when I went to Colombia. One weekend during that trip, I went to the city, Medellín, with my cousin. I remember the car ride, and going to the mall with him, amongst other little bits, but one of the most memorable things I remember was going to this rave called BlackDance Toxic. It was at the local airport right in the middle of the city. I don't really remember the music, because after a while all techno sounds the same. What I remember is sitting out in the open air, looking up, looking around. You see, Medellín is located in a valley so the mountains rise up around it, and at night, the mountains are all lit up. I remember laying there on the grass with my cousin and his friend, and just seeing all those lights blend in with the stars. Something about being in that environment made me forget about where I was, and the mountains became one with the sky, and lights and stars were one giant galaxy surrounding the Olaya-Herrera airport. I remember tuning everything out, and just thinking, "Wow, this is fucking gorgeous." On another occasion on another day of another year, I remember having a kind-of grown-up lunch with a friend I hadn't seen or talked to in a while. I felt like a real person, meeting someone for lunch, to talk about life and all that had happened over the course of a year or two, basically since graduation. The point is, you don't really remember whole days at a time. You remember moments that made you who you are, moments that stood out from the normal, moments that make you happy or sad, or moments that make you crack up when thinking about them (such as meeting your favorite singer and crying uncontrollably while he's hugging you, or doing yoga at a club, or yelling out "I heard you say, Hey! Hey!" as if you were the one who actually recorded the song). What are your moments like?

Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate-Pecan Frosting
adapted from: Southern Cakes: Sweet & Irresistible Recipes For Everyday Celebrations

"This handsome cake has a deep, rich, chocolate flavor without too much sweetness. But if sweet pleases you as it does me, do spread that frosting on top. You could also dust the cake with confectioners' sugar or serve it with a generous dollop of whipped cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream."

serves 8 to 10

Ingredients:
3 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
5 eggs
Chocolate-Pecan Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:
1) To make the cake, heat the oven to 325F. Generously grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl, or stir with a fork to mix them well. Stir the vanilla into the evaporated milk.
2) In a large bowl, combine the butters and the shortening and beat well with a mixer at high speed until they form a smooth, fluffy mixture. Add the sugars gradually, beating well to combine them evenly.
3) Add the eggs one by one, beating well each time. Add about one third of the flour mixture, and then half the milk, beating each time at low speed only until the flour or milk disappears into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and then the last of the flour in the same way.
4) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 325F for about 90 minutes, until the top of the cake is firm and dry, the sides are pulling away from the pan, and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
5) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for 15 minutes. Loosen the cake from the pan with a table knife, and turn it out onto a wire rack or a plate to cool completely, top side up.

Chocolate-Pecan Frosting

Ingredients:
1/8 cup salted butter
1/8 cup unsalted butter
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions:
1) To make the frosting, in a small saucepan, combine the butters and the chocolate. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla, and stir well until the glaze is smooth.
2) Spread the glaze over the cake while it is still warm, or cool to room temperature and use it to ice the top of the cake. Quickly sprinkle the chopped pecans over the frosting on the top of the cake.

Classic Pound Cake

"We have to start teaching ourselves not to be afraid." - William Faulkner

It's funny how sometimes you can be get so involved with something that you forget how things were before it. As of late, everything's been crashing down and overwhelming me, making me forget how things were before the downpour of work and school. I generally manage stress pretty well, but for some reason I didn't handle it so well this time around. I was a huge wreck and couldn't manage my time well, I've been bitter and mean to some people, grouchy in general, and very very tired. All it took was one brief 20 second phone call to bring me back down to reality. That one phone call put me at ease with myself, and it was a major reality check. I calmed down, breathed, looked around, and continued with business but with a better perspective of things. I think that can happen to a lot of people. Life just sometimes gets so hectic that breathing and being in the moment is kind of kicked to the side and becomes something forgotten. Also, everyone seems to be in a crazy super-hectic world around the holidays, so why not take a quick break, bake something, cook something, watch a quick movie, read a chapter or two from a good book, or just sit and people-watch? You'd be surprised at rejuvenated you'll feel after that little break from your fast-paced life.

Waddad Habeeb Buttross's Classic Pound Cake
adapted from: Southern Cakes: Sweet & Irresistible Recipes For Everyday Celebrations

"This recipe comes from Mrs. Waddad Habeeb Buttross of Natchez, Mississippi. Her cookbook, Waddad's Kitchen: Lebanese Zest & Southern Best, blossomed from a family keepsake collection into a handsome book reflecting both her Lebanese ancestry and her family's deep roots in Mississippi's fertile soil. Fried corn bread and turkey-bone gumbo share the pages with lamb kibbi, fresh pita bread, and homemade feta cheese. A world-class desserts chapter opens with this genuine pound cake, composed of equal weights of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Mrs. Buttross's six children say it is excellent, and they are correct."

serves 8 to 10

Ingredients:
1/2 lb salted butter, softened
1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened
1 lb confectioners' sugar
6 eggs
1 lb sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Heat the oven to 325F, and generously grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
2) In a large mixing bowl, beat the butters with a mixer at high speed, scraping down the bowl once, until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating to combine well, scraping down the bowl often, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just enough each time to mix the egg into the batter.
3) Add the flour and beat at low speed, or stir with a large spoon, until it disappears. Stir in the vanilla, and then scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
4) Bake at 325F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the cake is golden and springs back when touched lightly in the center, and until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
5) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for 10 minutes. Use a table knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Carefully turn out the cake onto a wire rack or a plate to cool completely, top side up.