The Bad Girls Dinner

What happens when you take food and a case of wine then combine it with a bunch of naughty minded women?

Bread in cleavage.

Of course, you know these aren't my breasts.  We have already established the fact I do not have any.  This fabulous cleavage shot is Dollface.  We grabbed her bodacious TaTa's and jammed a baguette between them.  Aren't they beautiful!  Don't you just want to jammed your face in there and give her a quick motorboat.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

This past Saturday, the girls and I gathered at the Casa de Fabulous Artist to wine and dine ourselves silly.  Everyone brings a dish, everyone brings their choice of adult beverage.  I brought a dynamite bottle of Pinor Noir.  I don't remember the label, I just remember it being very tasty.  Next time I'll pay more attention for you.

Here is the table:

Here's the spread:

We had angel hair pasta with pesto, shrimp and chicken lo mein and I made a huge antipasto that had bresaola (dried cured meat), fresh mozzarella, roasted herbed tomatoes, roasted shallots, grilled zucchini and summer squash, roasted red peppers, articokes with roasted garlic cloves, portabello mushrooms and asparagus.

And we had bread:

Glorious bread from a local baker.  But, do you see what I see?

Yup.  It's penis bread.  From that point on, it was all down hill from there.

We did everything with that bread.  That phallic piece of dough became the centerpiece of all our pictures.  We even have a video of Dollface and myself doing the full intro to Sir-Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back", complete with the bread penis.  After a few glasses of wine, we became 12 year old boys.  I'm hoping that Simone does not put that video on YouTube.  Talent scouts from Hollywood will be calling me night and day. I am that good at Valley Girl speak.

On a more mature note, we were celebrating Dollface's birthday.  Being a bit of a closet pastry chef, I whipped out a delicious recipe for "That Chocolate Cake" from The Essence of Chocolate by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberge. (see below for recipe)

I think I did pretty well.  The cake was inhaled by all and Dollface brought decadent chocolate covered strawberries.  It was chocolate overload and it was good.

To all my Bad Girls, we rocked that night!  Stay tuned, lovers.  Bad Girl Dinner is becoming a monthly event. 

That Chocolate Cake

For the Cake

INGREDIENTS

Unsalted butter and flour for pans

2 cups granulated sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup canola oil

1 cup whole milk

1 cup boiling water

For the Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup heavy cream

5 ounces 99% Cacao Unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

PREPARATION:

For the Cake:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment and the sides of the pans.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing on low speed. Min in the eggs, oil, and milk.

Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the water. The batter will be soupy.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then turn the layers out onto the rack and cool completely.

When the cakes have cooled, check the frosting. It should have the consistency of mayonnaise. If it is still too thin, allow it to cool longer.

For the Frosting:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cream and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6 minutes. Add the chocolate and butter and stir until melted. Pour into a bowl and stir in the vanilla.

To Frost the Cake:

Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the frosting with a hot palette knife or icing spatula to give the frosting a beautiful shine. Run the knife under hot tap water and dry with a towel. Spread about ¾ cup of the frosting over the top of the first layer. Top with the second layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, heating the knife again as necessary.

Serves 8 to 10