The Barefoot Contessa (& Friends) Treat Me Like A Prince

17 Jun 2012
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Barefoot Contessa's Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

May I take a moment to talk about myself (without you rolling your eyes)?

I have good friends. Very good friends. I was recently invited to dinner at their home– they cooked for me. An entire French meal. So many courses I can't name them all. It ended with a mousse-like Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake from The Barefoot Contessa. The cake you see here.

Not only was the cake and entire meal very delicious. It was a very big deal to me.

"What's the big deal?" you may be thinking... friends cook for friends. It's what they do. But you know what? The longer this blog goes on the further and more far between my dinner invitations have become. Really. I can't tell you how many times I have heard, "Oh, I can't cook for you, Greg. You're too good a cook".

I laugh it off. Because, it's not important that you cook for me. It's not why we're friends. But what I really want to say is "you can cook for me– if you want to. But you don't have to."

In fact I am always telling people to entertain the people they love by sharing something they themselves are good at. It doesn't have to be cooking. Some of the best parties I have been to did not revolve around a meal. If you're athletic– arrange an afternoon of something sporty. I may not be all that sporty, but I want to love what you love. So I will certainly give it my best shot.

L'uvallaIf you know the hills outside Los Angeles like the back of your hand– invite me on a hike. I'd love a little of your inside information.

Maybe your kids are adorable (and whose aren't)... well then invite me to their school play. Yes. I'll go. Yes. I'll give a standing ovation. All kids deserve standing ovations.

Even if your greatest asset is, well your assets. Then invite me to dinner at a fab restaurant. I'll eat it all up. And give you a hug to boot.

But if you're a great cook, like my friends Yuval and Alla (owners and innovators of L'uvalla, a luxurious line of organic skin care products). Then hell yes, cook for me. I'll eat it all up. And give you a hug to boot. My point is. Everyone is good at something. The best parties I have been to are when someone gives the best of themselves through love.

Which brings me to this cake. It may be a Barefoot Contessa recipe. But it was made with love by my friends and offered to me (and Ken) over dinner. We accepted it eagerly and I choose to share it with you here. Though I may be a good cook, what I really love is sharing. So welcome to my after party. I hope you enjoy this cake. GREG

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake serves 8 CLICK here for a printable recipe

  • 2 c cold heavy cream
  • 12 oz italian mascarpone cheese
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1/4 c kahlua
  • 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 t instant espresso
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies, such as tate's bake shop
  • 2 oz shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.

To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan, covering the bottom as much as possible. (I break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate, cut in wedges, and serve cold.

Greg Henry writes the food blog Sippity Sup- Serious Fun Food, and contributes the Friday column on entertaining for The Back Burner at Key Ingredient. He’s active in the food blogging community, and a popular speaker at IFBC, Food Buzz Festival and Camp Blogaway. He’s led cooking demonstrations in Panama & Costa Rica, and has traveled as far and wide as Norway to promote culinary travel. He’s been featured in Food & Wine Magazine, Los Angeles Times, More Magazine, The Today Show Online and Saveur’s Best of the Web. Greg also co-hosts The Table Set podcast which can be downloaded on iTunes or at Homefries Podcast Network.

  • Follow Greg on Twitter @SippitySup
  • Follow The Table Set on Twitter @TheTableSet
  • Like Sippity Sup on Facebook
  • Look for Greg's book Savory Pies coming Nov 2012, from Ulysses Press

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This happened to me too...

when I graduated from LCB.  From that day on nobody has wanted to cook for me.  Like you I'm not fussy, a boiled hot dog would do, but this cake would be even better!

Oui, Chef (not verified) | Jul 3rd, 2012 at 8:59 am | Reply

I know what you mean, Greg ...

... so I've started simplifying my menus for company dinners to up my chances of an invitation! And when I make something easy, I tell them how easy it is and that they could sooooo make this. Hasn't worked yet, but here's hoping!

Jean | Delightful Repast (not verified) | Jun 23rd, 2012 at 7:29 pm | Reply

it's the blogger's doom...

...rare invitation for me too, as far as cooked dinners. So this sounds like a wonderful treat!!! I have started relaxing more when I invite people over though lately, so to "un-timidate" them, cooking on the fly, with less and less prep...so they feel encouraged to do the same :)

amelia from z tasty life (not verified) | Jun 22nd, 2012 at 12:14 pm | Reply

I have the opposite effect. 

I have the opposite effect.  The more I blog, the more pressure I feel when I have to cook for other people who read my blog.  Well, I did attend a BBQ class last year when the instructor told me before class that he was worried I was taking his class because he follows my blog and thought I could teach the class. 

Hope you're doing well, Greg.  We've both been busy and I feel like we have been a little out of touch :( 

Chris (not verified) | Jun 21st, 2012 at 5:11 pm | Reply

delish

I make this all the time...most recently, on Father's Day.  Tate's chocolate chip cookies are just so perfect for the recipe!

Stephanie (not verified) | Jun 21st, 2012 at 2:40 pm | Reply

Friends

Hello, it's me again, a fellow Dorothy Thorpe devotee.  Many ears ago - back in the eighties, I noticed that our dinner invitations had become fewer and fewer.  And then I heard out the the same thing you did ,"Oh, Adri, I can't cook for you.  You are just too good a cook..." And on it went. I was shocked, not hurt, just shocked.  I racked my brain trying to think if I had ever uttered any unkind or judgemntal comment about someone's culinary ability. Surely the very last thing I would have wanted to do.  But I reached the conclusion that, well, they had reached their conclusion all on their own.  What a pity, I thought.

Time has passed, and things have changed.  Now there are lots of invitations.  But the odd thing is that never once was I ever at dinner at a friends' home where I even thought "Oh, this is just terrible.  Isn't there a small dog under the table somewhere..."   I was and remain thrilled when someone opens his or her home to me and takes the time and trouble enough to entertain.  I enjoyed this post.  It surely hit nome for me. 

AdriBarr (not verified) | Jun 21st, 2012 at 8:42 am | Reply

Thanks

It's good to know I am not alone! GREG

jgreghenry | Jun 21st, 2012 at 8:57 am | Reply

Well said, the best thing you

Well said, the best thing you can offer is your hospitality and making your friends feel a part of your life in whatever form that may be.

Sylvie @ GITK (not verified) | Jun 19th, 2012 at 4:23 pm | Reply

On cooking

The funny thing is, I would have had the same thought. Thinking "well this guy is such a good cook, he may look at my combination of ingredients and presentation, and be thinking how he could improve it." But I'm glad you don't feel that way.

This cake looks delicious, what a treat!

ATasteOfMadness (not verified) | Jun 19th, 2012 at 8:21 am | Reply

Similar Problem

I sort of have a similar problem with friends.  No one ever wants to make me dessert a) because I am a diabetic and no one wants to see me go into a diabetic coma (kidding, sort of!), and b) because I bake better than most people I know.  Not kidding, on that score.  So I am almost always charged with bringing dessert for gatherings. 

Now, if I can just find a way to make this low carb, I would bring it to all my gatherings.

Carolyn (not verified) | Jun 19th, 2012 at 3:21 am | Reply

I'm still trying to figure out...

...the best way for me to arrange to move into your kitchen. I'm a semi decent dishwasher, you know...that's my gift. :)

jenjenk (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 12:59 pm | Reply

On the positive side...

At least you get invited to dinner where friends still tend to cook, when I usually arrive at friends place for dinner, I find out that I'll be the one cooking the dinner as well... (Having said that, this is one georgious cake!) :)

Gourmantine (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 12:44 pm | Reply

The best part

Well, the best part of an icebox cake is that you don't have to cook it! ;) I hope that people are realizing more and more that great food can be made/assembled without that much cooking skill if the ingredients are fresh and great quality. A simple meal can be just as enjoyable!

Healthy Living Val (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 12:43 pm | Reply

I am so glad you wrote this

I am so glad you wrote this Greg since I was developing a complex!! The last time someone said that to me I told them that I didnt' care if they served me take out from Rubio's - the point is just to be together!!! I also told them that when I cook for them it isn't to impress them but to show them how much they mean to me - a point I've found a lot of people don't always get - and that includes my husband (I finally had to let him in on that "secret").

I know Ina gets a lot of flack from people, but I've always enjoyed every recipe of hers that I've tried and I know I would adore this cake!

nancy@acommunaltable (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 8:09 am | Reply

Rings true!

This sounds so familiar in my life. Thanks for making me feel not so weird. I want to come to the cursing party! I have everything to make this cake, except I don't have choc chip cookies but I have those dark chocolate wafers. I'm thinking they will do just fine! Do you agree?

Dorothy at Shockinglydelicious (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 7:36 am | Reply

yep

I agree. GREG

 

jgreghenry | Jun 18th, 2012 at 7:48 am | Reply

You're right... we're all

You're right... we're all good at something and we all need friends. This cake sounds wonderful and I like that it's served cold. 

Karen (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 7:05 am | Reply

Gorgeous Cake!

That cake looks so good! Oh, and my kids are having a school play... lol, jk! 

Shawn @ I Wash...You Dry (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 6:47 am | Reply

I feel ya!

I get this ALL THE TIME too! Recently I went to see a long lost friend in Atlanta and she said "I'm not cooking ANYTHING for you!I haven't seen you in years and I don't want you judging me on my cooking" I felt so terrible! I would never judge anyone for their cooking and I certainly don't want to make anyone uncomfortable in their homes. In fact, sometimes I get tired of doing all the cooking and wish someone would cook for me! It's good to know I'm not alone XO

Betsy (not verified) | Jun 18th, 2012 at 6:35 am | Reply

Cook for me...

The best dinner parties are the fly by the seat of the pants affairs where the meatballs are pulled fom the recesses of the freezer and the wine uncorked.

bellini (not verified) | Jun 17th, 2012 at 11:08 pm | Reply

Cursed

I'll invite you over and we can curse. I'm good at that and doing it right now because I don't have a piece of this cake.

Lentil Breakdown (not verified) | Jun 17th, 2012 at 9:34 pm | Reply

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