Moroccan Mole with Maple-4/19/10

I really can't imagine what a Moroccan mole with maple would taste like and to be honest, I doubt it would taste good. But tonight, I pulled off a combination of flavors that would put the fusion restaurant fad to shame. I combined 3 recipes from this month's Bon Appetit that in the logical world had no business being served together. But I think I pulled it off!
My mom and dad have stopped back by on their way home from visiting friends in Florida. I had a doctor's appointment today and didn't get home until 4:00. I didn't feel like hiking back out to the grocery store so I looked through the fridge and matched stuff I had with recipes. Here it is; Carrots, Moroccan Carrot Soup. Steak, Steak Mole with Cilantro. Maple syrup, Maple Cake with Maple Syrup Frosting.
Mom had mentioned when she was here last week that the recipe for Moroccan Carrot Soup on page 53 looked excellent. My mom loves healthy vegetarian or near vegetarian recipes and often makes meals for us in New Hampshire that have no main meat dish. She was not disappointed. I left out the yogurt drizzle at the end and it was not missed. This is a fresh pleasantly spiced soup that starts any meal well.
In a nice touch of continuity, the Steak Mole with Cilantro was rubbed before grilling with cumin, the key spice in the carrot soup. The steak was then served with a side of quick homemade mole, made with canned crushed tomatoes and chocolate chips. This quick version of mole doesn't have the same complexity of authentic Mexican mole but it had some of the same flavor components. I probably wouldn't make this sauce again though because of the prevalence of excellent jarred moles, even at our local grocery store.
With Mom and Dad here, I wanted to take advantage of the extra people to eat cake. Richard, Eyrleigh, and I would not be able to walk if we ate the 6 cakes in "The Great American Cake" article all by ourselves. Mom and Dad bring us maple syrup from a friend's sugar house in Vermont every time they come to visit so we have no shortage of real maple syrup. The cake portion of this recipe used no sugar, just 2 cups of maple syrup. The batter seemed pretty runny but it baked up beautifully. The maple flavor was pretty mellow and I thought the chopped nuts added a nice touch. I had worried that I chopped the nuts too fine but they baked in well and added flavor without too much texture. The frosting was good too. I was a little shy on powdered sugar, had only 2 cups not 3, so my icing went on a bit thin as you can see in the picture. The flavor didn't appear to be affected though and using less powdered sugar even allowed the maple flavor to shine through. I wouldn't recommend this combination for everyone but for us, for tonight, this meal was a great combination.

Moroccan Carrot Soup-A-
Steak Mole with Cilantro-B
Maple Cake with Maple Syrup Frosting-A

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