A Chocolate Cake for an 80th Birthday

I have a dear friend who turned 80 this month. She is an artist and writer and ecology instructor, she sings in her church choir and does square dancing and loves to play Rumi cubes. I feel very lucky to have her in my life.

For her big round number birthday party she wanted a chocolate cake. Since our group...one of at least three celebrations!... only numbered six women, I decided to bake a smaller Bundt cake. The pan holds 2/3 of the recipe, so I baked the rest in a loaf pan...to freeze for another time. The second Bundt cake will be used for a tea party next week.

This is a great Ina Garten recipe, slightly altered by me...as is often the case...to use coffee and Bourbon instead of orange zest and juice. I also eliminated the chocolate chunks the recipe called for in the cake originally, to make it easier to serve, left out the syrup soak in the original recipe, but I did keep the ganache on top. With some sprinkles and a few extra decor sprinkles, it looked like a party!

Chocolate-Coffee-Bourbon Bundt Cake

• Servings: 12 to 16
• Time: 2 hours
• Source: Barefoot Contessa Parties!
• Altered slightly by me 

You can make this as a bundt (as written below) or two loaf pans (8 1/2×4 1/2-inch is ideal; baking time is 45 to 55 minutes). 

• 1/2 pound (8 ounces or 225 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
• 4 large or extra-large eggs, at room temperature (Ina calls for extra-large but large works fine here)
• 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) (or 3 cups flour (390 grams) mixed with 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder for a chocolate version)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1/4 cup Bourbon
• 3/4 cup (175 ml)  plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

Ganache:

• 8 ounces (225 grams) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or espresso powder (optional)

 

Make the cake: Heat your the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

 Cream the butter and  sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and very fluffy.

 Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.

 Sift or whisk together 3 cups flour, dark cocoa powder, the baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the Bourbon, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour into the pan, smooth the top.

Bake: For 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. If using smaller, multiple pans, start checking at 25 minutes.

For the ganache: Melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

 Do ahead: This cake keeps very well for four days in the fridge. (I only chill it because of the cream in the chocolate. If skipping the ganache, wrap in foil at room temperature.)

 

Grandad's Applesauce Cake

My grandad lived in New York City, but on occasion he would come visit us in Virginia. When he did, my Mom always made this cake...it was his favorite.

Early in the month I harvested some Gravenstein apples from our tree. For some reason there aren't many this year but the ones on the tree are really large, so five of them made a good sized pot of applesauce. I did peel them (which I don't usually do) so the applesauce was a bit chunky, but not chewy. I seasoned it with cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar. It was delicious all by itself, but also great for making this seasonal cake.

The recipe calls for a Bundt cake pan, but I decided to bake the batter in two loaf pans. That way I would have a cake to share with our neighbors across the street and one house down. They are a younger couple with two lovely daughters and are really kind. Chris has been keeping the bank of grass and weeds along the road trimmed all summer so it seemed like a good idea to surprise him with some cake.

This cake does call for vegetable shortening...like Crisco. I had some in the fridge, so that's what I used, but you can also use room temperature butter. Just be sure to beat it until light before adding the sugar to it, and them beat some more with the sugar. This makes a moist, tender cake with a lovely apple and cinnamon flavor. Bake it in the Bundt cake pan and you will have dessert for a crowd! 

Applesauce Cake

Makes 1 Bundt cake
Recipe from Nancy, my Mom

3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup shortening
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten lightly
1 ½ cup applesauce
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts - chopped (walnuts are good)

Sift flour with soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

Cream shortening and add sugar gradually; cream until light. Add beaten eggs and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture alternately with the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Fold in the raisins and nuts. Turn batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan.

Bake in Bundt pan in preheated 350 0 F oven for one hour or until done. Toothpick inserted will come out clean or with only a few crumbs stuck to it.

Cool on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool.

Historic Washoe House

I live in the western part of Sonoma County, CA. A lot of the area where I live was settled with Americans (as opposed to the native Americans who lived here for centuries before we took their land) in the 1850s.

Sweetie and I like to have breakfast now and then at the Washoe House, a bar and restaurant that has been in business, one way or another, since 1859. 

“The legendary Washoe House was constructed in 1859, and over the years - in addition to being one of the most iconic saloons of Sonoma County - the building has served as a stagecoach stop, a hotel, a community hall, and depending on who you ask, everything from a post office to a Wild West brothel.” This bit of history is from their website.

If you go, be sure to look up as soon as you walk in. They are locally famous for their ceiling covered with dollar bills...and maybe some older kinds of money.

They have great breakfasts. This week we met up with some neighbors there and this is what my plate of the Senior Platter with pancakes looked like. For a few dollars more you can get the same thing, larger pancakes, and more bacon, but the senior specials are a great deal and plenty of food for me.

Thursday through Sunday they also have oysters from 8 am to 8 pm if that's your preferred morning treat! They have plenty of choices of egg dishes including omelets and benedicts, great French toast, and Sweetie's favorite, blueberry crepes. It can get loud, especially on the weekends (when there is no Senior Specials), but it's a great place, has wonderful service, and the bar is open from 8 am, too if you want a mimosa to go with your breakfast.

Here is their website: https://www.thewashoehouse1859.com. They are located at Roblar and Stony Point Roads in Petaluma, CA.

Sometime on September 12, 2026

Sometime on September 12, 2026 this blog had it's 4 millionth view. They say that blogs are passé, but people are viewing my posts, including many from the past, especially Daring Baker ones and Bread Baking Babes posts. Thank you to you, dear Readers, for keeping things active her at Feeding My Enthusiasms! 

In a little over a month I will have been blogging for 20 years. Hard to believe that cooking, baking, writing, photography, recipes and blogging have continued to hold my attention for so long. It's fun to dip back into past posts to be inspired by old recipes and to see what my life was like then. It really is a journal. Now that we are almost to Fall I expect to do more baking and to make soups and braises and more things chocolate. Since we are just at the beginning of tomato season here there will still be some summer-inspired cooking, too.

Let's see how long it takes to reach 5 million views!

Caprese Bites and Sweetie's Boat

Do you know how sometimes you take a photo and lose track of it...and then 'find' it weeks later in your digital photos? That happened to me yesterday. I was looking for a photo from early August and came across one that I took during our visit to Redmond, WA to visit our daughter and her family. It's above. The recipe is below.

Kate made an appetizer/starter one evening when we were cooking dinner. It's the perfect summer bite - a Caprese Bite made with a slice of tomato topped with basil leaves and a slice of fresh mozzarella, then drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar. Make it now when tomatoes are at their peak of availability and flavor in the northern hemisphere.

Caprese Bites
serves 4-5

2-3 medium tomatoes...the best you can find or have grown...sliced, stem end removed
enough slices of fresh mozzarella for each slice of tomato
a bunch of fresh basil
balsamic glaze or about 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar reduced over low heat in a small pot on the stove. Stir often to prevent scorching. It's ready when thick enough that it doesn't run off when drizzled over the bites.

On a plate or board, spread out the slices of tomato. Top each with a basil leaf or two. Top that with a slice of fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Serve at once.

 

Sweetie had been working this summer on a wooden boat. As usual he has made some changes, including on this one adding a cabin. It's careful work. Each of the think pieces of wood for the hull were steamed and fitted to the ribs of the boat, which took a lot of time. This isn't a finished boat, but it's getting close!

Applesauce and Hand Pies

So much fun to have a bearing apple tree. Sometimes I don't have enough free time to harvest many of them, but when I do, I often make applesauce. My tree is a Gravenstein, a type of apple that turns to mush when it ages...or cooks. The first year we lived here I collected a bankers box (cardboard) of them, planning on making something with them when the weather was cooler. This is because Gravensteins ripen in August, when it is often hot! I left them in the basement and went to get them in October. All I found was a soggy box full of apples that had turned to mush. These are not keepers. They need to be prepared or eaten within a week or so of picking.

So, I made applesauce. Washed the dust off 'em, peeled them, halved them, removed the seed part and the stem and flower ends, then cut each half into about 5 or 6 slices. Into a big pot they went. I think there were about  4-5 cups of fresh apple slices. I put in 1/4 cup water to keep them from scorching and sprinkled on about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. A tablespoon of brown sugar was added, just because. Once covered, I simmered them until they were soft. Once they cooled a bit I mashed them some, but they had mostly mashed themselves they were so soft from cooking.

That's it! I chilled mine and had some for breakfast, but in the evening I made Applesauce Hand Pies.

1 rolled out pie dough circle - I use Pillsbury ReadyCrust and roll it to about 12 inches in diameter.

Cut the circle in half and stack.

Cut each stack into 4 wedges. Try to get them about the same size.

Take the first wedge stack (2 pieces of dough). On one of the pieces scoop some of the applesauce, leaving a 1/2-inch all around that has no sauce. Take the second piece and roll it out a bit to make it bigger. Using a finger you've run some water over, wet about a 1/2-inch all around the outer edge and then place, wet side down, on top of the applesauce wedge, press down all around so it sticks to that 1/2-inch plain dough part.  That seals the applesauce into the hand pie!

Use the tines of a fork to press down gently but firmly all around that 1/2-inch edge to further seal it. Place the wedge, now a hand pie, on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Preheat the over to 425 degrees F.

Repeat with the remaining three wedge stacks. You'll end up with four hand pies on the parchment.

If desired, brush a little cream or egg wash on the top of each pie. Cut a vent slash (about an inch) in the top of each.

Bake in the preheated over for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake 10-15 minutes, or until pie dough is golden brown. 

Let cool on a rack until cool enough to eat without burning your mouth. It will smell so good that you'll want to eat it right away! If desired, drizzle with an icing made with a couple tablespoons confectioners sugar, mixed until smooth with a few drops of milk or hot water. You can add another drop, or two, if it's too thick. If you ice it, let the hand pie cool completely so the icing can set. Then enjoy!!!