Max Lavoie, president and co-founder of BBQ Québec, celebrated his 35th birthday last November. To surprise him, his wife Ariane took advantage of their presence in Québec in February to gather his friends and celebrate it properly.
A few weeks ago, Ariane asked me if I wanted to create a personalized dessert for her to celebrate her birthday. I often say that my way of showing people that I love them is by cooking for them. So here are the reasons why I accepted!
To begin with, Max, I am unable to call him Max. For me, Max is Maxime. With Ariane, there are a grand total of 2 people who call him that. So Maxime is the guy I invited to eat at my place, several years ago, completely intimidated. For the occasion, I served him a tartare. There was no question of me cooking meat for him! Having learned to play in fire since then, thanks to him among other things, it is with pleasure that I cook for him or with him now!
Maxime is the passionate guy with whom I can talk for hours. Ask the passengers sitting next to us on a plane, they will be able to testify (poor them)! Inventing recipes, sharing ideas, dreaming of conquering the world, admiring our children, debating how to use the stuffer or maintaining our little Quebec-Montreal / guy-girl rivalry... All this animates us and ignites our common passions!
Maxime is also a disarmingly simple guy. The kind of guy who appreciates good company, good food and for whom a piece of meat cooked on an open fire makes you happy. Like really happy. He actually made me shed a tear for that during the last BBQ Camp. For that, and for making me push my limits by choosing me as his BBQ competition partner last year.
Finally, Maxime is the guy who always has a word to make you laugh and with whom you have a good time. I have memories of epic lightsaber battles with the kids, of becoming his cousin during a prestigious evening, of admiring a rainbow by the lake, of eating gelato straight from the ice cream spoon, of cooking on the beach in San Francisco and more recently, of having put the flower in his buttonhole a few minutes before he got married...
Maxime is a real sweetie. The inspiration for my cake was easy. I think that every time I saw him in the last few years, he was eating Reese's pieces. And since he once ate a Reese's Easter egg intended for his daughter in the car, secretly from her (sorry Eli; he owes you one!), it was obvious to put one on his piece of cake. So I chose to make him a chocolate sheet cake, cooked on the BBQ, with peanut butter frosting and decorated with Reese's candies. I'm pretty sure he'll like it!
So there you have it, happy birthday Maxime!
Julie, your friend and BBQ Jedi!
For the recipe, it’s here!
Chocolate cake
Servings: 15
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients :
1 box of Devil's Food chocolate cake, store-bought
According to the instructions on the box:
1 ¼ cups milk
½ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
Preparation :
Preheat the BBQ to 350℉, ideally by opening the burners at the ends of the BBQ.
Invert a large, deep baking sheet onto the grill to place the cake pan on. This will create a large indirect cooking area and place the cake in the center of the grill.
Line an 11 x 17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix ingredients according to directions.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes then unmold by pulling on the ends of the parchment paper.
Place on a serving board.
Carefully remove the parchment paper.
Allow to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients :
½ cup butter at room temperature
½ Cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups icing sugar
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp milk
Preparation :
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
Spread on the cake.
Decorate with Reese's Pieces, Reese's Miniatures, melted chocolate or Reese's Easter Eggs; let your creativity run wild!
Tips:
You can definitely make this cake with a homemade cake recipe. When I'm in a hurry, store-bought cakes work wonders!
It is best to use regular peanut butter for frosting. Natural peanut butter will not work as well.
