Dessert of the Week: Chocolate Earl Grey Cake

This was a recipe I pulled from Real Simple magazine a few years back and may have made once. The process of making it is delightful, as it makes this wonderfully fluffy chocolate brown batter that looks good enough to eat by itself. The cake comes out chocolately with a little bergamot spice to it and not as sweet as cakes from a boxed mix. We had it with vanilla ice cream and strawberries and it was quite nice!

I've learned the hard way over the last year that cakes and cookies at high altitudes don't always rise as they should and the recipes require some adjustments (usually in the leavening or shortening). And to complicate matters, there are no hard and fast rules for making adjustments--each recipe requires its own set of additions and reductions. But the beauty of this cake is that even if the middle sinks in (which mine did), it still looks pretty once you turn it over and dust it with confectioner's sugar!

In other news, Mom B arrived yesterday for a much needed vacation, havarti is my new favorite cheese, and I was sadly reminded this morning that my student loan payoff schedule ends in 2027. Sigh.