Amanda Takes Off...

Normally on Tuesday nights I go to a math class. However, tonight it was canceled.

Good Man also had class tonight, so we had decided to celebrate his birthday (which is today) tomorrow (which is his legal birthday and the date I have to remember for all immigration paperwork). Since class was canceled though, I decided to make him a nice dinner.

Good Man asked for 돈까스 (deep-fried pork cutlet) about a month ago. I told him I don't deep-fry things. Then I saw Jeanny's post about it and decided that maybe I could deal with deep-frying something. It is, after all, his birthday.

So tonight I made 미역국, 옥수수, 밥, 돈까스, and 초코 게잌 (seaweed soup, corn, rice, deep-friend pork and chocolate cake).

I only got a photo of the 돈까스 part of dinner.

돈까스

For dessert, Good Man claimed he wanted a "crappy cake" from Safeway. Well, that just would not do. I found a recipe for a chocolate cake made in the slow cooker. When it's done, you get a sort of runny, gooey sauce at the bottom of the pot. I served it with vanilla ice cream. It was very good.

Crock Pot Cake

Crock Pot Chocolate Mud Cake
(with my edits)

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 C whole wheat and 1/2 C white)
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2/3 plus 1/3 cup white sugar
3 Tablespoons plus 1/3 cup cocoa
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup hot water

cooking spray
vanilla ice cream

Generously coat the inside of a 2 1/2 to 5 quart crock pot with cooking spray or butter (I used butter).

Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave. Whisk in 2/3 cup of white sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, vanilla extract, salt, milk, and egg yolk. Add the flour mixture to the melted chocolate mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.

Pour this batter into the crock pot and spread it evenly (or...just kind of leave it lumpy...)

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa, and hot water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour this mixture over the batter in the crock pot.

Cover and cook on high for 1 to 2 1/2 hours. (I started cooking it around 6:30 and it was ready around 8:00 in a 4-qt crock.) The larger the crock pot, the less time this cake will take to bake. (I don't know what that line means. The more surface area, perhaps?) Check the cake after one hour. The cake is done when nearly all of the top is set and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pot. There will be a layer of molten chocolate on the bottom and around the edges. (I let mine cook past the done mark with no ill-effect that we could find.)

When the cake is done turn off the power of the crock pot and remove the lid. Let it cool in the crock pot for at least 30 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Makes 6 to 8 servings. (Or 4 servings if you're like us.)

This is how Good Man felt about his birthday dinner:

생일 축하합니다!