Part of it was taken up with the honing of a co-written script called VOODOO MAGIC. The film, co-written with and directed by Elom Bell @HmmmElom on Twitter, then went into production and is now going through the process of being edited. More about this a little later!
On the soundtrack today
The wonderful Anthony Dominick Benedetto singing Yesterday I Heard the Rain.
Never heard of him? 'course you have! It's the legendary Mr Tony Bennett!
As an added bonus, Mr Bennett also sings' People' from that wonderful musical 'Funny Girl.'
http://youtu.be/Ozj1HSw-l8A
It was written by the profilic mexican composer, Armando Manzanero.
Quote for today
' Write while the heat is on you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts, uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.' Henry David Thoreau
Featured Website, Article or Blog
I'm really pleased to be able to feature Eric B. Thomasma's blog:
http://ericbt.webs.com
You can find him on Twitter @seams16 Eric is not only a husband, a father and a very busy author, he is also a pretty damn decent human being. Inspite of all that he does, he always has time to promote other writers and direct readers to their blogs! He does this all the time, and I think that is pretty amazing!!
I recently bought his book And So it Begins. Haven't had a free moment to read it, but I will, and promise to review it.
Recipe for today
The Best Chocolate Cake I've ever eaten!
If you're looking for a light, airey fairy sponge-type chocolate cake, then this recipe is not for you!
This recipe is for a heavy, solid, 'stick to the ribs' kind of cake. You know you've eaten a choclate cake after eating a slice or two of this!
I first ate this cake years ago, when a male colleague brought one he had made, to work. One slice, and I was hooked! A few months later, I paid him to make me one for my birthday. I am not at all ashamed to say that I ate most of it! Over a period of a week or so, mind you! The family knew better than to mess with my cake.
Then, horror of horror, before I could get the recipe, the maker of the cake disappeared and I spent the next year or so, (on and off) trying every damn chocolate cake recipe I found, hoping to be able to recreate that dark, dense, taste sensation. Eventually, I found it, and it has become a firm favourite amongst friends and family.
Several years later, I met my cake making friend on a London Underground tube. "It's easy," he said, when I told him about my search. "You just take an orange..."
I'm going to share the recipe with you , and hope you will try it and love it as much as I do.Recipe at the bottom of the page.
Writing and stuff
So what have I been doing that has prevented me from blogging? Told you a bit right at the beginning of this piece of writing. Writing and re-writing bits of the script for VOODOO MAGIC. If it had only been that, it would have been OK, but due to the size of the budget, I agreed to provide the food for the cast and crew! I was told, that it would be a maximum of 15 people per day. That sounded 'do-able'! One main meal, sandwiches and snacks, breakfast stuff, etc. etc.
In reality, we never had 15 people on any day! The average was around 30, and on the days when all the extras were in, it rose to beyond 50! It was done, but OMG what a nightmare! I kept having nightmares (I kid you not!) waking up from a sleep (in the day time) thinking that the runner had come to collect the food and I hadn't even started cooking it! Cooking was done at night in readiness for a 6/7/8 am pickup!
Only managed to get to the location on the very last day. Was totally impressed! Production team in one room, costume/make up elsewhere, walkie-talkies going off, summoning people to the set! WOW! Professional!
Film is in post production now. Here's hoping...
Bookwise: WHY isn't my first novel SMALL FREEDOMS out as yet? Ask @HmmmmElom Next week is the promise. It never comes bearing my book trailer! Just may go without it! Have started up with ALWAYS NOT FOREVER again. Passed the 77,000 word mark yesterday!
Spend a fair amount of time thanking etc. my dear friends on Twitter. Haven't gone 'automated' on that. Thank each and everyone, personally. Am grateful for their encouragement and support. Have bought few of their books as well! Quite a backlog on my Kindle now!
Finally, the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 orange
- a little melted butter , for greasing
- 100g plain chocolate , broken into pieces
- 3 eggs
- 280g caster sugar
- 240ml sunflower oil
- 25g cocoa powder
- 250g plain flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- orange candied peel , to decorate( optional, but a good idea. 'Tells' people it's a chocolate/orange cake!)
Chocolate & orange cake
A dense, dark and divinely delicious cake. This will be gone in sixty seconds!
Method
- Pierce the orange with a skewer (right through). Cook in boiling water for 30 minutes until soft. Whizz the whole orange in a food processor until smooth; let it cool. If there are any pips,I'd remove them at this stage.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C. Grease and line the base of a 23cm/9in round cake tin. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. You could microwave it for 2 minutes on High. Stir after 1 minute. I don't like using a microwave too much, but it's up to you. Let it cool.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and oil. Gradually beat in the puréed orange, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate. Sift in the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour the mixture into the tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. (Check after 45 minutes and cover with foil if it is browning too much.) Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the chocolate ganache: put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Set aside until firm enough to spread over the cake - usually up to 1½ hours, but could take longer!
- Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Using a palette knife, swirl the ganache over the top. Decorate with strips of candied orange peel if using.
- Slice and eat and go straight to chocolate heaven!
