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02/26/2012 11:00 PMLast week was a perfectly terrific one, although it didn't begin that way.
A few days after AT&T sent a technician to change my high-speed Internet from Comcast, I began to get a note on my TiVo screen to tell me my programming would end on Feb. 14. Over the past two weeks, I spoke with five technicians from TiVo. We tried everything. Nothing helped. As promised, on Feb. 14, my TiVo programs ended.
I fretted. I love my TiVo; have had it for most of this decade. I thought to myself, "Lee, 30 years ago you had no computer. Twenty years ago you didn't have a cell phone. Fifteen years ago, there was no high-speed Internet or five-way printer. Surely you can live without TiVo."
Perhaps a Higher Power, one who is tech savvy, had decided to teach me a lesson. My printer stopped working. A day later, I lost the Internet on my desktop computer (although I did have the Internet on my iPad). Now I was mighty worried. Then Andy King, my neighbor, told me about a fellow who lives in Old Lyme. I called him. He came over. It took him four hours on one day and three the next (including doing some homework over that night). I now have Internet, TiVo, and a printer that does more than it ever did before.
The next day, I began to make a cake for new friends who live close by. Something told me (that Higher Power?) to email my hosts and ask if there were any allergies. Good thing I did-the sliced pineapple in the pineapple upside down cake included citric acid. Dory is allergic. I went to my computer and found this incredible recipe for a luscious cake that is free of any citric acid. It is also dairy-free. It is moist and delicious from the time you take it from the oven up to two to three days after (if there is one crumb left).
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Need more Lee? Find other À la Carte columns and some delectable recipes online at www.zip06.com.
Emergency Chocolate Cake
From Cook's Illustrated, March & April 2009, page 25
1½ cups (7½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ table salt
½ cup (2 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
(although regular will do)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
(use the best chocolate you can find)
1 cup hot coffee
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar (for serving, optional)
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 8-inch-square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. In separate bowl, combine cocoa and chocolate; pour hot coffee over cocoa and whisk until smooth; let cool slightly. Whisk in mayonnaise, egg, and vanilla. Stir mayonnaise mixture into flour mixture until combined.
Scrap batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with few crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cake cool in pan on wire rack, 1 to 2 hours. Dust with confectioners' sugar, cut into squares, and serve straight from the pan; or turn cake onto serving platter and dust with confectioners' sugar.