Salivating in Rememberance

I think it's imperative to discuss the culinary delights of Matt's birthday party on Friday night. When I learned of the party, my mind starting spinning at all the possibilities. I settled on three recipes from my obsession. What, you don't remember? A Homemade Life guys. I shouldn't have to say it again. (P.S. Orangette is BACK! I'm dying with joy.)

I made the Winning Hearts and Minds cake twice last week once for random fun, and another time for the party. A delectable flourless chocolate cake/torte. Oh it is so rich. And there are only five ingredients. Chocolate (not cocoa), sugar, butter, eggs, and flour-- all of 1 tablespoon of flour. The flavor is so deep I couldn't even eat an entire piece, which is shocking. At Matt's party, people would ask me what it was, and I would say, "it's a rich chocolate flourless cake." A couple times people would say, "like a brownie?" and I would reply "no." simple as that, no explanation, as if I wouldn't lower myself to further explanation. Please. A brownie? Flourless cakes everywhere are insulted.
Ok, but my one confession is that I have no idea if that cake was baked all the way through. I mean, I guess it doesn't matter, because it was delicious and no one died of salmonella, but I still feel a bit unsettled.
Also, the batter is so delightfully gelatinous from all the eggs. I wanted to swim in it. Unfortunately, the only picture I have is this:

Though I do love the weirdness of that picture.

Also, I made little corn cakes with bacon, tomato, and avacado (it was like I was reproducing Molly Wizenberg's wedding menu . . . ahh, if only). When I read about the corn cakes, I was imagining things shaped rather like miniature hockey pucks. These were like pancakes. But made from corn. Hence, corn cakes. So that really threw me off for a bit, and I overcooked the first batch. But once I realized the beauty and genius of it, they turned out lovely. And once assembled, they were beautiful! So artistic. (Alas, I forgot to photograph them.) It was this perfect little disk with these gorgeous little wisps of color. And the flavors were fantastic. A perfect medley. The bacon. The avacado. The tomato. The basil. The mayonnaise. The corn cake. Oh man. It was heaven. (though I did substitute fresh tomato for the roasted ones in the recipe. I liked it this way, and it saved me time.)

And lastly. The macaroons. *Cue Angel Chorus.* I showed them off to everyone. And they were so delicious. And so beautiful! I was in awe. They were so fun to make, even though the recipe scared me just a little bit. And I felt like the fact that they were coconut macaroons with chocolate ganache was so lovely, because it my first time making ganache since the inception of this blog. So, Blog: I dedicate this recipe to you. Don't they look fantastic?
Pre-ganache:

Post-ganache:

Now after the party (which also featured fried artichoke, bacon, cheese balls; a cheese platter; and sausage, basil, artichoke, bell pepper skewers; and a DQ ice cream cake among other things) I am dying to throw a dinner party. It might be a while before it gets to happen, but I am already planning.

Lastly, Sam was finally reunited with me for a couple days, so thank goodness we got to go together, and he also snapped the pictures of the macaroons and the cake.