So I love to check out other peoples food blogs. And I have to admit I gloat a bit when I see ones that are lame and I also have to admit to having little baby professional jealousy temper tantrums when I see others successes. However, I quickly get over it when I start falling in love with these writers personalities and their recipes. Well I have a new temper tantrum jealous based love affair-Joy the Baker. She has an awesome food blog-www.joythebaker.com and she is also on Facebook and Twitter if you want to follow her. She just came out with her first cookbook...which I haven't purchased yet...so if anyone wants to surprise me my birthday is August 16th and this would be a great gift...yes I know I am super subtle. Anyway I found an article about her in Sunset magazine so I decide to look her up and also try one of her recipes and to be honest what is not to love about her. She is an LA based writer who is sarcastic just like myself. She has a kind of a retro housewife look and she makes amazing food. Now if I can only figure out where she lives...she said near the water in L.A....hmmm Manhattan Beach? Venice? Santa Monica? Oops now I am starting to sound like a stalker and not a fan. Don't worry I am joking about this last part...none of you should get any late night phone calls from me asking if you can bail me out of jail because I got arrested for trespassing, stalking or the like.

Here are a few of the quotes that made me fall in love:

"Peanut butter is like the little black dress of the kitchen world. Dress it up with dark chocolate or dress it down with crackers and a spoon." -Joy the Baker

"I'll just come right out and say it: I'm an excellent house guest. I usually come with an edible treat that usually involves butter and sugar. Heck...I'll even bring a pink box of doughnuts and champagne if the mood strikes me. If I don't have anything edible in tow, rest assured that I come bearing The Gift of the Dance...meaning that I'll shake my groove thing all over the house (this may or may not involve a cartwheel or two)." -Joy the Baker



So I decided to try and make her recipe for Single Girl Melty Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. The title made me laugh and it sounded perfect for tonight...I am home alone and tired after a crazy day of 5 year old birthday party fun....let me just say you all will be happy to know that I opted not to wear my pirate costume even though it was a pirate themed party and I also opted to stay out of the jolly jump even though I swear that thing was calling my name. Hey another great bday idea....let's get me a jolly jump...again its August 16th...and if its my birthday I think I am allowed to get in a jolly jump...unless I exceed the weight limit because could you imagine how friggin embarrassing it would be to pop a jolly jump...ugh definitely bad for the ego.

Anyway back to cooking...this recipe makes 1 cake and I had visions of red wine, chocolate and peanut butter dancing through my head as I was baking. I also had the theme song from Snow White and the Dwarfs running through my head...ya know the hi-ho one.  Whatever that was all about!!



I have to say this is one of the fastest and easiest chocolate fixes I have had in a long time. I did cheat a bit and I melted the butter and chocolate in the microwave instead of the bowl over boiling water thing. However, I am sure both techniques would work equally well. I also decided that this recipe was meant to be as it called for one ramekin and that is exactly what I have...1! Yeah I don't know why I have 1 ramekin...maybe I stole it from a friend or someone left it at my house or it just magically appeared via the cooking fairies or I guess in my case cooking pixie since all of you keep telling me I look like a pixie. Yeah don't ask me if looking like a pixie is a compliment or not...due to my positive nature I have decided duh of course its a compliment...seriously everyone wants to look like a pixie. Right?

I also have to confess that my cake didn't turn out aesthetically pleasing. The recipe lists various baking times depending on how molten you want the center of your cake. I went with 7-10 minutes for the molten center however when I inverted the cake the molten center melted right out of the cake and across the plate (as seen in the picture above). However, this did not impact the flavor of the cake in the least it has an intense chocolate flavor with a hint of peanut butter and its extremely decadent. I actually only had 2 bites and decided that I needed to stop unless I wanted to find myself in a food and/or diabetic coma within the next 15 minutes.

Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 teaspoon plus 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• About 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa (or use flour or sugar)
• 1/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg 
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter or 1 tbsp. bourbon
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 teaspoon flour

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 375° and set a baking sheet on rack in center of oven. Grease a 3/4-cup ramekin with 1/2 tsp. butter, then dust with unsweetened cocoa. Set aside.
2. 2. Put 1 tbsp. butter and the chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl set over a small pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring, until chocolate melts; let cool a few minutes.
3. 3. Whisk egg, sugar, and peanut butter in a small bowl to blend. Whisk in chocolate mixture until well incorporated, then stir in salt and flour just until combined. Pour batter into ramekin. Set on baking sheet and bake until as done as you like, 7 to 10 minutes for a molten center (a 3/4-in. ring around the edge will look dull) or 10 to 12 minutes for a soft center (cake edge will puff slightly).
4. 4. Let cake cool 2 minutes. Protecting hands, invert onto a plate. Eat right away.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend full of good karma, good wine and good food. Cheers my friends!