Motor city madhouse

But, lucky me, my work is play. -Terrible Ted

Last night we had a birthday party for my friend, Sally, and we had so much fun it refueled my flagging desire to host parties.
While planning, I asked Sally about some of her specific likes/dislikes in tastes, and then planned accordingly. Two inspiring details were that she likes the color red, and loves chocolate. I therefore set out a red tablecloth & red votives; got red balloons, red napkins, and concocted a drink using raspberry puree. I also bought flowers, and put them in a vase but kept the bag for them so that, at the end of the night, Sally could take them home.
One time we went to this birthday party, held at a Ritz-Carlton, for a very spoiled girl I'll call Sydney, and they had a drink named "The Sydney," which I thought was so funny. I reminded Troy of this, and we knew we had to make up a drink for the occasion. After a thorough discussion, I decided on Champagne, raspberry sorbet, and a maraschino cherry, and Troy christened it "The Sally-Bo-Bally."
I couldn't find any raspberry puree or syrup whilst shopping, and was pressed for time, so I bought raspberry fruit sorbet, and thought "this is the same thing w/out the cooking down & straining." Theoretically, the idea seemed sound, but in actuality, I think the sorbet made the Champagne bubble up more than a puree would have -- certainly more than a syrup would have. So, a lot overflowed and there was spillage mess. But the Sally-Bo-Bally was still a tasty cocktail, despite the volcano effect.

The cake had to be chocolate, Sally's favorite. Furthermore, she and I both grew up in Detroit, where there were these ice cream parlors called Sanders. One of the specialties of Sanders was "bumpy cake," which is chocolate cake covered with buttercream bumps and then a chocolate ganache icing. I found the recipe for the cake, and decided to forego the bumps b/c I didn't want to experiment w/a new recipe. I used a ganache recipe I knew worked, and luckily the cake turned out perfect. It was delicious.

Here's the recipe.

Chocolate cake
1/2 c. hot black coffee or water
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour

In large bowl, combine coffee and cocoa; beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add oil; beat for 30 seconds; add buttermilk; beat for 30 seconds; add baking soda; beat for 30 seconds; add salt; beat for 30 seconds; add vanilla; beat for 30 seconds; add eggs; beat for 30 seconds; add sugar; beat for 30 seconds. Add flour; beat for 5 minutes. Batter will be very bubbly. Pour batter into greased round tins and bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes.

Ganache frosting
1/2 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 stick (1/8 cup) unsalted butter
Spread a layer of ganach between the cooled cake layers, and then pour the remainder over the whole cake.



Before everyone arrived, I put together a party playlist w/a Detroit theme, with music ranging from Aretha Franklin to Iggy Pop to the White Stripes. Oh -- and don't forget Madonna (who celebrates her birthday today)! We made Sally guess what the thread was tying all the tunes together, and it took her a little while, but the lightbulb went off when "Workin' Hard, Playin' Hard" by Ted Nugent came on. The inspiration for this idea comes from Rachel, who makes me a great CD every year for my bday. I always love it, and -- as our man Colin Cowe says -- these thoughtful details make all the difference in life! Sally said she had so much fun & felt very special, which made me, in turn, very happy.