I goofed and need your input to save me: Wife's Birthday
 

Nope. I didn't forget. I made a nice dinner. Got her a gift. But you know what I didn't do? Put up the "Happy Birthday" banner. (strike one) or make a dessert, (strike two) which really was dumb. Because I probably never do either and she sort of noticed - after 3 1/2 decades.

So hit me up with a MIND BLOWING CHOCOLATE dessert please. I would like to try to salvage this.

TIA.

Individual chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream

Recipes and how to videos are easy to find

Brownie, warm

Ice cream, vanilla

Hot fudge, applied to the ice cream on top of the brownie

Rookie mistake(s).

Shaving cream bikini.

Wrap yourself in foil and tell her you’re a Hersheys Kiss.

I've done this:

Have a birthday party, wrap a gift- have her open in in front of her parents- inside a brand new Snap On torque wrench :). Watch their faces.

(Then a real gift, of course...)

Get ramekins, make her a creme caramel. A very romantic dessert, not common trashy chocolate ewww.

Lava cake for the win at this point. I did specifically ask what she wanted. Answer: chocolate. Brownie / ice cream is a top choice for me. It isn't about me this time.

Lava Cake in the shape of a vacuum cleaner, a chainsaw or mebbe an Igloo dawg house?

Yer welcome ;)...

If your wife likes hazelnuts, I'd make a chocolate buttercream based dacquoise. Can do 2-3 different chocolate buttercream layers (bittersweet, milk...), drape it with ganache and have strawberries or raspberries on the side to balance the fat.

If she likes a chocolate souffle, this is my go-to:

https://www.christianchefs.org/newsletters/2000/04recipe.html

Personally, I prefer a chocolate gateau but that's just me.

These are fantastic! She has a gateau recipe that is a huge family favorite. I will leave it for her.

But the scuffle and dacquoise (WTH is that anyway? Sounds amazing!) are appreciated. As is the lava cake!

Go get the Ghirardelli brownie mix. Red box top.
45 minutes later you'll be forgiven.

I make almost everything from scratch, but that one is so good it's simply not worth the effort.

Serve with raspberries and whipped cream.

Martha Stewart dark chocolate creme brulee,

use raw or demerara sugar for making the blowtorch crust and throw a raspberry and a mint leaf on top. Game over!

https://www.marthastewart.com/332279/chocolate-creme-brulee

The triple chocolate? 48 minutes, no more, no less in my old oven but that's with a metal brownie pan.

The downside of cooking for one is that things like that are dangerous to leave sitting around. I'll need to look for an opportunity to share them so I don't have a tray of brownies calling my name.

Serious question , is she in menopause ? You cooked her dinner and bought a gift . And she's angry because no birthday banner and dessert ? Something doesn't sound right .

My wife made dark chocolate creme brulee over the weekend (don't know if it was the Martha Stewart recipe or not). It was good...but I prefer the original variation.

I always make mine in the form of a sammich!;)

After thirty five years of banners, Hamburger Helper, and doing the dishes after, maybe she expected more. Like jewelry, a trip to France, or at least dinner out.

(Just teasing JWL. I'm sure you're a fine chef, she enjoyed the attention, and she didn't say boo about dessert. ;))

What makes dacquoise unique and special is texture. What other dessert can you get elegant creamy, dense, crunchy, airy, chewy sweetness in every bite?

There is only one that I know of and that's an innovative variation on bread pudding where fresh french bread is torn and toasted first, the pieces loosely mixed with heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and laid out on a sheet pan in a convection oven. Once the crispy pieces have brown, pull, mix with milk chocolate and shards of dark chocolate, let cool on the pan, mix in strawberries and loosely pack in a bucket and refrigerate. Bites are sweet, gooey, crunchy, chocolaty and a strawberry, again, cleanses the palate from the fat and carb goodness.

I always wanted to make a line of savory bread puddings (lamb, feta, tomato, rosemary) that you would get in your grocer's freezer but texture was a problem in freezing and then baking.

To me a home cooked meal for a birthday is more personal and loving . You are celebrating that person's birthday . Anniversary is different, both are celebrating a milestone . You go out to dinner . Everyone is different I suppose .

Oh Dixie. She isn't complaining about the lifestyle.

When I want to REALLY tick Mrs. LWJ off? I reminder her that not only her every dream has come true but most of her dreams have been wildly surpassed. She grew up poor.

I have made a point of ticking off most all of the items on her bucket list over the years. With one exception: She has always wanted to hold a baby chimp. Which, we accept probably isn't ethical or smart.

Takes 42 here. But I make a double box in a 13x9. The kids inhale it so it doesn't last long.