Tag Archives: Chocolate

Jan8

Sweets to Celebrate the Playoffs…

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Sweets to Celebrate the Playoffs…

Sadly, our home team will not see the NFL playoffs… again, at least not from field level. Actually, I really don’t care much about NFL football, I am more a high school and college fan. I just can’t appreciate the site of grown men running around knocking each other down. That is not the point of this post however…. Have you ever had a Oreo Truffle? They are an easy, three ingredient candy that is rather difficult to screw up. They can be easily adapted for different affairs. I’ve seen them at birthday parties, baby and wedding showers and holiday events.

This “adaptation” fits right in with the ongoing playoffs and would be a great addition to your Superbowl party. You could even choose candy melts in your teams colors for dipping. I didn’t have any colored melts, just some chocolate bark. Shaping them like football’s makes an unbiased candy that can be enjoyed by both teams.

Classic Oreo Truffles (original recipe from Kraftfoods.com)

Ingredients:

  • 1 package Oreo cookies (originals)
  • 1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
  • Dipping chocolate: Milk Chocolate and White

Directions:

Finely crush the Oreos and mix with the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls*. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then remove and shape into oval football shapes. Return to fridge until the chocolate is ready for dipping.

Melt the dipping chocolate according to the package directions and dip the balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour or until the chocolate has set. Melt white chocolate and pipe on as pictured. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

*I used my food processor to both crush the Oreo’s and to combine with the cream cheese. The Kraft recipe doesn’t call for them to be refrigerated, but this is helpful in keeping the shape and setting the chocolate.

Dec23

Chocolate Fix – Fixed

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Chocolate Fix – Fixed

 

Need a boost this time of year? A chocolate indulgence? This little number here will keep milk farmers in business. It’s the classic sheet cake and it delivers. I’ve made a similar cake before but the base was from a cake mix. I’m really trying to convert to a non-cake mix baker, but often time does not afford me that opportunity. Thankfully, this is a straight forward recipe with ingredients most likely in your pantry. It is Ree Drummond’s, a.k.a. “Pioneer Woman”, recipe which she refers to as “The Best Sheet Cake. Ever.”

Prep. Bake. Enjoy…

Here’s the recipe taken directly from her site. I left out the pecans, I am not a nut lover, sorry. She has some beautiful step by step pictures at the link too…

  • FOR THE CAKE:
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
  • 2 sticks Butter
  • 1 cup Boiling Water
  • ½ cups Buttermilk (I used the vinegar/milk method too)
  • 2 whole Beaten Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • _____
  • FOR FROSTING:
  • ½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
  • 1-¾ stick Butter
  • 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
  • 6 Tablespoons Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

    • Preparation Instructions

    In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

    In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
    Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

    In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

    While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

    Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

    Dec12

    Flat Broke Chocolate Cake

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    Flat Broke Chocolate Cake

    Back in September, King Arthur Flour’s baking blog “Baking Banter“, posted this long time favorite recipe… They refer to it as a Cake Pan Cake, but I’ve heard it call Krazy Cake, Emergency Cake, Funny Cake etc… I allude to this being a “Flat Broke” cake because of its origins to the Great Depression, when the price of butter and eggs gave this recipe a boost of popularity.

    Call it what you’d like, it’s really good, and really easy… it’s even allergy friendly because it doesn’t contain eggs. I made the recipe “last-minute” in place of a sour cream pound cake that my husband had requested… seeing as I had no sour cream, eggs or softened butter.

    If you want a moist, chocolate cake that yields “frosting optional” results, this one’s a keeper…

    One Pan Cake ~ A King Arthur Flour Original

    • 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup cocoa
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 tablespoon vinegar
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • 1 cup cold milk (other suggestions on their site)

    Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

    Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8″ or 9″ round or square cake pan; if you use an 8″ pan, make sure it’s at least 2″ deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

    Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the vegetable oil into the third.

    Take the cup of cold liquid (water, coffee, milk, etc.) and pour it directly over everything in the pan. Note: If you’ve used espresso powder, adding coffee will make this a mocha cake. Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended.

    Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven. Yield: 12 to 16 servings.

    I doubled the recipe, making two 8″ rounds, and layering and frosting with a cream cheese frosting. And in preparation, as suggested for “clean release”, I used a mixing bowl and poured the batter into prepared pans.

    Nov14

    Pillsbury Crescent Layer Bars

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    Pillsbury Crescent Layer Bars
    Pillsbury Crescent Layer Bars

    Recently, I received the opportunity to participate in a Pillsbury Crescents “Holiday Entertaining” Recipe Swap hosted by Pssst and My Get Together. There were four recipes and many perks to participate. One of the recipes is no stranger to the dessert or blog world. That being said, I wanted to “spiff up” these Crescent Layer Bars. My thought was to thicken the crust a little. Instead of reducing the pan size, I chose to use two rolls of crescents instead of one. That is boring though, so I added a twist of my own. I took 3 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened) and combined it with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. I followed the initial directions of pre-baking a roll layer, then spread the cream cheese over that, topping with another roll of crescents.

    Don’t be confused, it isn’t as complicated as I just made it sound. These bars are already quite rich and I believe the cream cheese mixture compliments the bars. Also, the cashews were honey roasted… not intentional, just what I had on hand. Here’s the recipe, taken directly from the recipe cards. My changes are listed at the end:

    Crescent Layer Bars

    Prep Time: 25 Min
    Total Time: 2 Hr 20 Min
    Makes: 36 bars

    INGREDIENTS:

    • 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
    • 1 cup white vanilla baking chips
    • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    • 1 cup slivered almonds
    • 1 cup cashew halves and pieces
    • 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

    DIRECTIONS:

    1. Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark pans). Grease bottom and sides of 13×9-inch pan.

    2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough. Place in pan; press over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. Bake 5 minutes.

    3. Remove partially baked crust from oven. Sprinkle vanilla chips, chocolate chips, almonds and cashews evenly over crust. Pour condensed milk evenly over top.

    4. Return to oven; bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.

    NUTRITION INFORMATION:

    1 Bar: Calories 160 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 8g (Saturated Fat 3 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 75mg; Total Carbohydrate 17g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 13g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 6%; Iron 4% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1

    © 2010 General Mills.

    *My additions:

    • Combine 3 ounces of softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Mix this well, set aside.

    Follow step one and two and remove the first crust from the oven as directed above. Now spread cream cheese layer over the first crust and top that with the other roll (make sure to have that one open, unrolled and seams pressed). Throw that in for another 5 minutes then continue as directed.

    Sep5

    Back and full of Spice!

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    Back and full of Spice!

     

    I have been anxious to get back to baking, however spare time has been sparse. This week though I got a new camera, and decided no matter what, that I would set aside some time this weekend to bake and take (photos that is). With literally millions of options on the WWFB (world-wide food blogs) I came across this recipe on one of my favorites, Get Off Your Butt & Bake. This is an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, but it is put together in a way I haven’t seen before. That is you boil the raisins and the flour is added with the butter and sugar prior to adding the soda and salt… The aroma of the spices in there was tantalizing and made the house small like Christmas… which by the way is coming sooner than you would believe.

    But I digress. I did change-up a few small items, but otherwise stuck to the original recipe. My husband and youngest daughter were my taste testers. After the first bite, my husband had this like “pregnant pause”, which alarmed me. Then he stated, “Those are good, really good!” My daughter said the same and didn’t even complain about the raisins (which she swears she hates).

    So here is the recipe and some practice photos taken with the new Rebel T2i (which so far is amazing).

    Mom’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

    Slightly adapted from Get Off Your Butt & Bake

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cup water
    • 1 cup raisins
    • 1/2 cup softened butter, cubed
    • 1/4 cup shortening (I only had 1 stick of butter!)
    • 1 1/2 eggs*
    • 2 cups original oats
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 cup mini chocolate chips (or nuts)
    • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1 tsp each: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom
    • Sea salt to top if desired

    Begin by combing the raisins and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely. Once cool, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

    Combine the raisin mixture with the butter, sugar, eggs, oatmeal,  flour and chocolate chips (or nuts) and salt. Mix well with a wooden spoon and/or your hands. Add the remaining ingredients until well blended and drop by tablespoons onto parchment or non stick pan, sprinkle some sea salt on cookie tops if desired. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on baking sheet just long enough to not fall apart 1 – 2 minutes.

    *Note: in halving the recipe I had to use 1 1/2 eggs. I used my kitchen scale, but you could just open one egg, beat it lightly, and use half of it.

    My changes in the cookies were:

    1. I halved the recipe and mixed it with my hands, not a mixer
    2. I used 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening because I ran out of butter!
    3. I used chocolate chips instead of nuts
    4. I didn’t have allspice, so I used cardamom
    Aug15

    Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cake

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    Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cake

    Surprisingly enough, photo’s taken with my iPhone while driving down the road!

     

    Last minute cake, literally…

    Earlier in the week I volunteered to prepare a cake to sell in a fundraiser. I thought about many options for a “go to cake” and just couldn’t settle on one. I needed something sturdy, climate safe and eye-appealing. This cake kept coming up, but it wasn’t until about 6:00 this morning, (2 hours before it was due) that I finalized the selection. Of course this required a store run… At any rate, long story short this cake is easy to prepare, and delivers a simple, yet beautiful cake. It is moist and rich, but not overly sweet. I chose to just dust it with powdered sugar versus a glaze.

    I would suggest serving this cake with a cold glass of milk, or for a more delicate occasion, a nice cup of tea would do well. I rank this “cake mix” cake in my top 5, maybe even top 3… Try it!

    Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake (adapted from a McCormick recipe)

    What you need:

    • 1 box (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
    • 1 box (4 serving size) vanilla pudding
    • 1 cup sour cream
    • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 4 eggs
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup miniature chocolate chips

    Directions:

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.

    Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips in a large bowl on low to moisten, then on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into pan.

    Bake in the center of the over for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert cake onto wire rack. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or glaze (powdered sugar and milk mixture).

    *Note: Using miniature chocolate chips ensures that the chips are evenly dispersed throughout the cake. You can also dust the chips with a little cake batter before adding to the batter.

     

    May31

    Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

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    Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

    I was drawn to the original post of this recipe by the its title “Stupid Delicious“. Obviously it must be pretty good to earn that title. I prepared this for a Memorial Day Cookout we attended today – which by the way was a pool party and the beautiful weather of this three-day holiday weekend ended at 3:00… the time the party began. Being a native Floridian however, I know that in 30 minutes, the sun will probably be shining, so we waited… and waited… The sun never came out, but the lightning stopped, so the kids got their swim in.

    Anyway, I digress. I hesitate to take new recipes to parties, but after reading this post, I felt strongly it would be good. It was. The oohs and aahs were strikingly exclaimed. Try it, you will not be disappointed.

    Don’t be afraid of the larger amount of ingredients, it is actually very easy to prepare, and once it’s in the oven, your work is done. No layers, no frosting, nothing but a beautiful, rich chocolaty cake ready to be devoured.

    Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake

    From Shauna at Piece of Cake 

    • –       2½ cups sugar, divided
    • –       ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
    • –       ¼ cup light corn syrup
    • –       2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
    • –       2 2/3 cups flour
    • –       2 teaspoons baking powder
    • –       ½ teaspoon salt
    • –       1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • –       4 large eggs, at room temperature
    • –       1 cup milk, at room temperature
    • –       1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli)

    1.) In a small saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cocoa powder and corn syrup with ½ cup hot water. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in ½ teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside.

    2.) Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

     3.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

    4.) In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the remaining 2 cups sugar until light in color and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining 2 tsp vanilla.

     5.) Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in a third of the flour mixture just until the flour begins to disappear into the batter. Beat in half the milk. Beat in another third of the flour, then the rest of the milk, and finish with the remaining flour until the batter is smooth. Stop the mixer and gently fold in the chocolate chips.

     6.) Scoop out a third of the batter into a medium bowl, whisk in the chocolate syrup and set aside.

    7.)  Pour another third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth it with a spatula. Evenly top this layer with the chocolate batter. Finish by pouring the last third of the vanilla batter over the top.

    8.) Lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a “marble” effect–a continuous figure-8 motion while going around the pan works well.

    9.) Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 60-70 minutes.

    10.) Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving if desired. Store any leftovers in a cake dome at room temperature for 4-5 days, maybe more.

    *I didn’t have time to wait till the cake was completely cooled and turned it onto a plate while still slightly warm. There was a very minor amount of thin cake layer remaining “here and there” in the pan, so if you can’t wait, it should be ok.

     

    May9

    Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Layer Cake

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    Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Layer Cake

    Today I came across a wonderful cake that incorporates a little bit of this and that. While surfing for a cake to prepare for a birthday party I found this recipe at Picky Palate. I love Jenny’s site and her recipes. I had nearly all of the ingredients so after a quick trek to the store, I was off to bake. The differences that I made were not using the brownie layer (more on that in a minute) and adding a layer of cherry pie filling under the cheesecake layer. For the frosting I prepared a chocolate buttercream frosting from Recipezaar. With over 300 positive reviews I knew I could count on this recipe. I doubled it for this cake.

    Now as for the brownie layer in the cake, I had to omit it due to the massive size of the cake. I’m sure that it would make a wonderful addition, but next time I will bake the brownie layer in two pans, so I can easily only use a layer of 1/2 the height. So I am going to make brownie pops tomorrow with the brownie batch.

    So, now for the how to:

    Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake, Cake
    Adapted from Double Chocolate Cheesecake Layered Cake @ Picky Palette
    • 2 – 8 oz packages softened cream cheese
    • 1/2 Cup sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 brownie mix 9×13 inch size (I baked but didnt use in this cake)
    • 1 chocolate cake mix
    • Chocolate Frosting Recipe, prepared

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cream cheese and sugar into a stand or electric mixer bowl. Beat until softened. Beat in the eggs until smooth. Pour into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch springformpan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until middle is set and not jiggly. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for 2-3 hours. Carefully remove sides and transfer to wax paper. **I placed the cheesecake in the freezer for about 30 minutes before removing from pan.

    Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and divide evenly into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.

    Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour into 2 wax paper lined 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.

    Kittencal’s Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
    Doubled from the original recipe

    • 1 cup butter, softened
    • 3/4 cup cocoa
    • 1 tbl vanilla
    • 1/2 – 2/3 cup milk
    • 5 1/3 cup powdered sugar

    Cream the butter in stand mixer. Add the cocoa and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and milk alternately ending with the sugar. depending on the consistency you are looking for, you may not need 2/3 cup of milk, so don’t dump it all at once.

    Putting it all together: (without the brownie layer)

    Trim domed part of both cakes. Place one layer of cake, trimmed side down on serving plate and frost. Place a thin layer of the pie filling on top of frosting then top with cheesecake layer. Add another layer of pie filling then a layer of frosting. Place other cake layer cut size down, on top of the cake and finish frosting completely. Refrigerate to set the cake. Keep leftovers refrigerated.