Column from Thursday, March 4, 2010

Baking shouldn’t be a disaster

I was thinking about how lucky we are here in the Othello area when it comes to natural disasters.

With Haiti and Chile digging out from recent earthquakes, we are fortunate there is only about a 15 percent chance of a tremor here. And if we were to have a quake, it would be relatively minor compared to many parts of the country or the world.

We also don’t have to face major snow storms like the one that has been hitting the northeast. Just last weekend, it dumped another three feet of snow. Plus, the storm has brought hurricane-force winds that have knocked down trees and power lines leaving thousands without electricity.

Floods are also pretty rare here, if you don’t count the foot of water that collects downtown when we get a lot of rain.

Our local fire department is well-equipped in the event of wildfire, which are typically few and far between.

We don’t have to worry much about drought. Thanks to the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project we have plenty of water.

About the only natural disaster we have is the regular spewing of ash from Mt. St. Helens, but that’s only about every 10,000 years or so. The last one was only 30 years ago, so we probably don’t have to worry about that for a while, either.

Yes, we are very fortunate. Not only is Othello basically disaster-free, we also have great weather.

Look at the record-breaking warm temperatures we’ve had this past month. Who would have thought we would hit 60 degrees in February? According to the Spokane news I watched the other evening, the previous record of 51 was set decades ago.

Of course, we don’t usually get very cold weather – maybe a week or two in December or January. Our mild winters are definitely a bonus.

As for summer, yes, we do get several weeks of extremely hot weather, but is that so bad? I don’t think so. That’s what air conditioning is for!

The only drawback to the hot weather is it’s not a good time for baking. The oven can really heat up the kitchen, so this is a good time of year to enjoy homemade baked goods.

My favorites contain chocolate. I’ve had my recipe for Mississippi (where they have hurricanes that we don’t!) mud cake for many years.

It’s really tasty and easy to make.

Mississippi mud cake

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1-3/4 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 bars (1.2-ounces each) milk chocolate candy

Let butter, coffee, cream and eggs warm to room temperature (butter should be very soft). Grease and flour 11-3/4 by 7-1/2 by 1-3/4 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine room temperature ingredients with sugar, cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat at medium speed one minute. Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Break candy bars into pieces. Place on hot cake and let stand one minute. Spread to frost.