1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake

Do you recall what your mother used make when you were a kid? Did it have fruit and jiggle? Did she make the house smell like Nestle Tollhouse? Was your birthday cake homemade or processed from a box? Mine was processed and pink. Always. Betty Crocker still crashes my birthday party every year with her Cherry Chip cake in a box. Mixed with eggs, water, and oil and baked for 45 minutes, it is so candyland delicious, especially a la mode (vanilla a la mode).

But on Sunday, I did something different. I made the Mother's Day menu from my next Second Shelf book, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The menu includes my mother's favorite, chocolate cake. It is appropriately named 1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake. The entire menu - pea soup, lobster salad, grilled skirt steak, and the cake with homemade vanilla ice cream - took me two days to prepare and it was worth it. Sunday Suppers is one of the more advanced cook books I own and I save it for special occasions. I admit that I skipped around with the ingredients in the recipes to make it more do-able (and I need to learn how to pronounce aioli). But the fact that I was able to skip around and still succeed with this menu, makes me more advanced than I thought. I did not, however, skip with the 1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake. That would be a sin.

While chocolate is not necessarily seasonal, I love that this cookbook is organized by season. Each chapter begins with a glossary of in-season, market fresh ingredients. It is much easier and cheaper, for example, to make pea soup with fresh peas in the spring than it is in the winter and this book helps you realize that. Fresh ingredients just makes your cooking better and it is helpful to know what is in season for your recipes.

Despite the difficulty of her recipes, Suzanne Goin, owner of Lucques in Los Angeles, is forgiving. In her recipe for the bundt cake, she notes that this cake sinks every time, so don't try to make it perfect. She says, "While it's not the glamourpuss of the pastry kitchen, it's so rich and delicious you won't care!"

1970s Moms' Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

5 oz bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped, plus 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into small slivers

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus a little more for greasing the pan.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 extra-large eggs

3 extra-large egg yolks

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

Vanilla ice cream (homemade or store-bought)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly butter a Bundt pan.

Place the 5 oz of the coarsely chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract in a small oven-proof saucepan. Put the pan in the oven to melt the ingredients as the oven preheats. When melted, remove from the oven, and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, whisk together 3/4 cup water and the cocoa powder in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly to avoid burning the cocoa. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in the salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and yolks together for a few seconds to combine. Pour in the sugar and whip at high speed 5 to 6 minutes, until very pale yellow and thick enough to hold a ribbon when you lift the whisk away from the bowl.

Meanwhile, add the coca powder mixture to the melted chocolate (using a rubber spatula to be sure to get all of the cocoa). Transfer the egg mixture to a large bowl, and fold in the melted chocolate and then the creme fraiche.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the batter in thirds, being careful not to deflate it, but making sure to combine them well.

Pour half the batter into the Bundt pan and sprinkle the chocolate slivers on top. Pour in the remaining batter and bake 25 minutes, until the cake is just set but still very moist. Cool for 30 minutes, and invert onto a plate. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

I'm still on my Ina kick. The next cookbook from the shelf is Barefoot in Paris (also autographed by the great cook). What I like about her is that she takes simple ingredients and turns them into something special with relatively easy recipes. In the one I'm about to share with you, she takes a simple roast chicken and adds lemon. Okay, so that's pretty common. The kicker is the croutons that soak up all the delicious goodness that comes out of a roast chicken. In Ina's words: How good is that?

This chicken is perfect to surprise your mom for Mother's Day. She will be pleased, thinking that you did listen to her all these years when she told you that roasting a chicken will bring comfort and happiness into your home. When she tells you how good this is, remind her that she's always right.

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

1 (4- to 5-pound) roasting chicken

1 large yellow onion, sliced

Good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, quartered

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

6 cups (3/4-inch) bread cubes (1 baguette or round boule)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and wash it inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers. Toss the onion with a little olive oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels, brush it with the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, but the flavor is good.)

Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until very hot. Lower the heat to medium-low and saute the bread cubes, tossing frequently until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add more olive oil, as needed, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the croutons on a serving platter. Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the croutons. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

I served this chicken with easy fresh green beans sauted with olive oil and salt and pepper.