Monthly Archives: June 2024

Goals

by in #365grateful, Everyday Life, Inspiration, life, Random musings, reading, Running and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

At some point during the first Covid lockdown, I found my running mojo. Finding my mojo was unintentional, but for the first time in my life, I found a consistency and rhythm to my running which had thus far not existed.

In my 50s and for the first time since I was in my 20s, I ran a full no-walk 5k. Then, I ran a full no-walk 10k. I also managed to maintain running streaks extending well into double and then triple digits, only ending them because of debilitating injuries or thanks to a rogue appendix and an emergency appendectomy.

This year, I reached another long-term goal, managing a full one-year run streak. That streak continues today. Beginning on 16 February 2023, I have run at least one mile (or at least 1.6 km) every single day, a milestone and achievement I’d never dreamed possible. My run today — run streak day (RSD) 489 — places me tantalisingly close to RSD500. Absolutely crazy! But, I now know that I can reach that milestone, so long as I train smarter and run smarter. So long as I believe in myself. Mostly, I must believe in myself.

Since reaching my one-year runniversary in February, I’ve struggled to define my next running goals. Partially, I’ve simply been too busy with work to think much beyond the day-to-day grind. My daily runs have allowed me to empty my head and simply cope with the stress and mental exhaustion I’ve felt. Sounds silly, I know, but running helps me enormously with my mental focus. Anyway, initially and after I reached my first and primary goal in February, I next aimed to run a full no-walk 10k again, something I had not done since January 2022 when I twisted my ankle. The ice of Helsinki winter defeated me when my dull Icebugs and over confidence left me rather humbled. On 28 April, I ran a full 10k again, besting my previous fastest 10k time by a fairly decent margin. That was a rather unintentional achievement, and demonstrated to me that I am stronger now and a better runner now.

But, now what?

I’ll never be a Jasmin Paris as inspiring she is nor do I have any desire to become an ultra marathoner. But, I’ve had the Torremolinos Half Marathon on my mind since I passed a few runners in 2023 when we were on holiday in Spain. Plus, I really, really love running there, something I have enjoyed immensely on our holidays but found a new joy in this past year.

Years ago, I had signed up for the Helsinki Half, planning my training with the help of Hal Higdon and a healthy dose of ‘I have plenty of time’. Well… my training went off the rails when we were on holiday in Cuba and I never really resumed it after our return to Helsinki. I could have likely walked the half, but self-doubt and shame got the better of me.

That was then; this is now.

I have not yet signed up for that half in Torremolinos. But, I have signed up and officially began training for the Helsinki Midnight Run in mid-September, setting the goal of running it in one hour. Right now, my fastest ever 10k clocks in at 1:12:07. Clearly, I have some work to do, which began today with my first run with a clear training plan and targets.

And, then? We shall see. Borrowing from a book on writing, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, I’ll take it run by run, goal by goal. Today, I absolutely believe in myself much, much more than I did several years ago when I struggled to finish the c25k programme. Today, I know that I can do hard things. Particularly if I take it step by step, run by run, and week by week.

And, for now, I’ll start with that 10k. Then? We shall see…

  • The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This was step one on my journey towards my next goals.
  • My training calendar from 2023. Green circles indicate a walk, yellow circles indicate a run and red circles indicate yoga. My current runstreak began on 16 February and has continued to today, runstreak day (RSD) 489.
  • My training calendar for this year, 2024, thus far.

One Cake To Rule Them All

by in cooking, Random musings and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Some time during Covid-19 and lockdown, I lost my cooking mojo. And, finding the joy of cooking of any sort once again has been difficult if not impossible. Too little time, too little inspiration and a general boredom with food in general have limited my time in the kitchen over the past several years.

Recently, however, I decided to make my most favourite chocolate dessert at the end of a challenging and intense academic year, partially simply to celebrate surviving the last year, but also and more importantly to celebrate my colleagues and let them know I am enormously grateful for their support, kindness and overall loveliness.

After posting a few pics of the cake to shame all other cakes, several friends asked for the recipe. I finally sat down and wrote it out and put all of the various links in one place.

Here it is….

This is actually several different recipes combined to create my version of the New York Times Cooking’s Mississippi Mud Pie, which The Cuban and I now call The One Cake to Rule Them All.

Layer 1: Chocolate Shortbread Crust

Start by making a chocolate shortbread crust. I used this recipe, but doubled it to make one larger pie crust and another smaller crust. I also use a bit less than 1/4 c of sugar the original recipe or 1/2 c when doubling the recipe.

Once the ingredients are mixed together, I place the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to the desired thickness (I prefer thinner, but thicker works as well). Once rolled out, place the dough on a flat baking sheet and chill it for a few moments (~5 min). Then, use the centre of the springform pan(s) to cut the bottom of the crust, and trim a long straight strip for the side of the tin. You may need to repeat rolling out the dough a couple of times to line the springform. You’ll want the crust to extend to a bit more than 1/2 up the side of the tins.

This is perhaps the hardest step and takes the most patience, to my mind. You may need to use scraps  from the shortbread to fill in gaps. It’s fairly easy to work with, but once it warms up and reaches room temperature it is a bit trickier to roll out. The important point here is to get the crust as even as possible and press it in to the tin so that you have a full crust. If it isn’t exactly straight at the top, that’s fine. It doesn’t need to be perfect. 🙂


Layer 2: Chocolate Fudgy Brownie

This layer and the next are fairly consistent with The New York Times Cooking’s original recipe, which is also available here if you do not have a NYT subscription. Here are my notes:

  • I use 95% dark chocolate throughout the recipe. At a minimum I would use at least 80% dark chocolate, but darker chocolate seems to make this even better to our mind, particularly if you like chocolate and want the chocolate flavours to really shine through. I prefer to weigh the chocolate and use a bit more rather than a bit less than the recipe calls for.
  • I use about 45 g of light brown sugar rather than 67 g dark brown sugar.
  • I also use about 50 g of granulated sugar or less than the 100 g called for in the recipe.
  • I recommend slightly underbaking this layer so that it is rather chewy and a bit more fudgy.

Layer 3: Chocolate Custard

This layer is also fairly consistent with The New York Times Cooking’s original recipe, which is also available here if you do not have a NYT subscription. Here are my notes:

  • Again, I use 95% dark chocolate throughout the recipe. At a minimum I would use at least 80%, but darker seems to make this even better to our mind, particularly if you like chocolate and want the chocolate flavours to really shine through. Use at least as much as you need in the recipe rather than just under the amount. I prefer to weigh the chocolate as well.
  • I use about 50 of granulated sugar.
  • If you need to smooth out the custard, you can run it through a fine mesh strainer.
  • Chilling this before adding it to the to of the brownie layer is crucial. Let it chill completely and then whisk it a bit before pouring it over the baked brownie. I would also recommend chilling the brownie and shortbread layers completely before adding the custard. Tap the pan a bit to smooth it over once you’ve added the custard.

Layer 4: Mocha Mascarpone Frosting

This is an addition I introduced to my version of the Mississippi Mud Pie a few years ago, and I think it makes it an entirely new and extra special cake. I use a modified version of this recipe, which doesn’t come out as dark as it looks in the picture, but it tastes a-maz-ing. Added bonus: the cake recipe in this link is also rather tasty if you need a chocolate cake. 😉 Here are my notes on the frosting only:

  • I do not make as much frosting as called for in the recipe, and even with the amount I normally make (which is roughly half what is needed), it will be enough to cover two pies (one large and one small). So, you may have some frosting left over, which goes great with brownies or mixed with strawberries and blueberries or… by the spoonful if you need a late night snack a la Nigella Lawson. It’s a great chocolatey cream cheese-like frosting.
  • I do not normally add the espresso powder for this recipe.
  • I use about 1/2 of the heavy cream called for, warming up 1/2 c and setting aside 1/4 c of cream.
  • I use about 1/4 c of sugar total. We prefer less sweetness and less sugar in general.
  • I use 1 container of mascarpone.
  • It’s incredibly important to let the warmed cream cocoa mixture to cool completely before mixing in the mascarpone.
  • If you want to add a bit more wow to this layer, when warming the milk, split about an inch of a vanilla bean and add it to the cream when you warm it up. Then, remove the vanilla bean strip and scrape it into the cocoa mixture.
  • After whipping the mascarpone into the cocoa-infused cream frost the cake top only — that is the brownie layer. You can add as much as you like, but only frost to within about a cm from the edge of the cake.

Once you’ve assembled all of the layers, chill the cake completely before serving. I normally make this the day before we slice it up.

When you do serve this, you’ll want to offer rather smaller slices. Less is absolutely more with this cake. It is rich AF. Folks can always go back for seconds. 🙂 When you serve it, make sure you get all four layers out of the tin. The first slice will be hard to remove from the tin. But, it still tastes fantastic even if looks messy.

It also tastes brilliant with strawberries especially and blueberries.

Enjoy! And, if you do make this, let me know how it turns out for you!