Windows To The Spirit

Rich
and dark.
Chocolate.
Hot and fudgy.
Cold, whipped, and creamy.
Wholesome extravagance.
Addictive deliciousness.
Guilty pleasure with benefits.
In its purest form, a healthy choice,
but dangerous when tainted with craving.
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Who would not love this recipe?!:)

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso Glaze 

For the Cake:
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. instant espresso powder
1/4 Tsp. coarse salt
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

For the Glaze:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
1/4 Tsp. coarse salt

To Make the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350*F.  Butter the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan, and line the bottom with parchment, cut to fit.  Butter the sides too.  Melt the chocolate and butter over very low heat, stirring and keeping close eye on it so as not to burn.  With a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar, until thick and pale, about 3 minutes.  Add espresso powder and salt, and beat for 1 minute.  Add vanilla and chocolate mixture and beat for 1 minute more.  Transfer this mixture to a large bowl, and wash the  mixer bowl and whisk with hot soapy water.

In a clean bowl, add the egg whites and whisk until foamy.  Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form and hold their shape.  Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, in three additions.    Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until set, about 40-45 minutes.  Let cool completely on a rack, and then carefully remove pan from sides.  Lift cake with spatula and remove parchment.

From:  SweetSugarBean.com
www.sweetsugarbean.com/2011/02/flourless-chocolate-cake-love-affair.html

Act
not in
spite of your
fear but because
of it.  Your fear shows
you where potential for
greatness is hiding. Your fear
is a window shade over the
window that has the very best view.
Remove your blindness and embrace your fear.

The essence of this poem comes from a horoscope I read in a newspaper.  But the message is a powerful one and I end it with a gentle reproof.

Three
in one.
Father, Son,
Holy Spirit.
Indivisible
yet uniquely umbral.
Strong, empowering embrace.
Manifestation, full of grace.
Source of all that is, the unity.
God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

I
never
learned to
dance, not really.
To lose myself in
the joy of the moment,
to let the spirit move me,
letting go of self consciousness,
embracing the rhythm of the dance.
I hope it is never too late to learn.

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I never danced in church, until today, and the angels would have been pleased or at least entertained!  Thanks to the sermon from my good friend and kindred spirit, Catherine, here is a quote from St. Augustine that will make you want to put on your dancing shoes.

I PRAISE THE DANCE…

I praise the dance,
  for it frees people from the heaviness of matter
  and binds the isolated to community.
I praise the dance,
which demands everything:
  health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.

Dance is a transformation of space, of time,
  of people,
who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will, or feeling.
Dancing demands a whole person,
  one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life,
  who is not obsessed by lust for people and things
  and the demon of isolation in his own ego.

Dancing demands a freed person,

  one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers.
I praise the dance.
O man, learn to dance,
  or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you…


– Saint Augustine