Spatchcocked Chicken followed by Sachertorte

WOW! A sharp learning curve that required sharp poultry shears! To spatchcock a chicken, I had to cut either side of the backbone, remove it, flip the chicken over and crush the body by pressing down on the middle. (The backbone made a delicious stock!) Brutal yet satisfying, especially whilst skewering the chicken from left leg to right wing and vice versa.......times 3! I marinaded the chickens for 1 hour and used the remainder to brush over the meat on the BBQ. It took about an hour to cook including resting time. The chicken was beautifully moist with a chargrilled crisp skin. We served the meal outside with roasted cauliflower, tomato and onion salad and potato salad. A perfect summer meal for 12!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2186/spatchcock-barbecue-chicken

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Sachertorte is a specific, dense, bittersweet type of chocolate cake (or torte), invented by 16yr old Austrian 'Franz Sacher' in 1832 for Prince Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties. The 5th of December is National Sachertorte Day (there actually is such a thing!) On that evening in 1832, Franz was in the mood for something dainty and made his famous chocolate cake that was the origin for a confection business and the Hotel Sacher.
Sachertorte is a cake with lots and lots (and lots and lots) of dark chocolate. The cake has a shiny and smooth finish with 'Sacher' piped on the top also with chocolate. To achieve this you have to spread the chocolate glaze while it is still warm; if it cools too much it will thicken. I had a special girly day with my grandmother and stayed at home and mastered the Sachertorte. Neither Granny or I had made one before, so we followed the recipe and made no changes. I am printing my 2nd allowed recipe from the Masterchef Cookbook (I am only allowed to print 7 in total due to copyright restrictions)

Ratings:
Taste: 6 (it was a bit overdone)
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 8