Chocolate Truffle Cake

=)

"Mousse like cake"

I just found this post....blogger said that it was a draft....hmmm....well, clearly I did start to work on it.

Notes: 

...I remember that it was quite good...but that is all I remember, lol!

 I remember I would make it again! =)

Chocolate Pudding Pies (recipe link too)

How do you like these little baby Chocolate Pudding Pies?  I made them for an upcoming lunch date. I've never made a chocolate pie before, but during the last lunch I was (good-naturedly) requested/ordered (by a 4-5 year old) to bring chocolate pie next time....so I did...it was easy and SO, SO tasty!  I thought that I could see more such pies in my future... (Recipe HERE) ...It was one of those times that mine did NOT look like the picture. Oh, well. 
It was also one of those recipes that acted like pudding, not pie. It would not thicken, and I don't know what I did wrong. BUT, IT TASTED REALLY GOOD!!!!

 (I just love this new blog I found!  Monet has such a way with photographs and words...! )

http://www.anecdotesandapples.com/chocolate-pudding-hand-pies  

Notes:

~I baked the 2.5" circles of dough over the bottoms of an upside-down pan: find instructions here
~We had no milk, so I used Cream

~Per Mom's suggestion I increased the Cornstarch by 1 Tablespoon

~Used one of Mom's Famous Pie Crusts (recipe here)
~If I was making them for children, I think that I would cut the cocoa powder a bit, for adults, use it all! 

Brownies for 2-4 (recipe too!)

Get the recipe HERE!

I found Christina over at "Dessert For Two" while looking for Baby-Cakes back in February, and now I subscribe to her blog.  (She grew up in Texas!) I'm even thinking of getting one of Christina's cookbooks- probably check them out at the library first.

This was an easy recipe to make completely Organic! 
(It's also vegan, and could be Gluten Free.)

Notes:
~ We doubled the recipe (making 2 - 9x5 pans), and froze some.
~ Used half and half Almond Butter & Fresh made Pecan Butter
(Mara Hubbard's Organic Pecans).
~ Butter in place of Coconut Oil.
~ I could not bring my self to use SO much Maple Syrup, so I used half Honey.
~ The Fair Trade Organic Dark Chocolate  chips came from Azure Standard- HERE. 

Next time:
~ I'd cut the sweetener, and add an egg.
~ Maybe add some pecan chunks.

Get the recipe HERE!

Gluten Free & Paleo Baked Doughnuts (recipe too!)

Hi everyone! It's been a long time

 I was having a movie party (Anne of Green Gables), and wanted something fun but not not too "bad" to eat...I've been thinking Doughnuts lately, so I did an internet search for paleo doughnut recipes.  

The third blog I looked at was Shannah @ Just us Four.  Her recipe (HERE) is a winner! 

 See notes the below...

 Notes:
~I did not have a "doughnut pan"...what I had was a "Whoopie Pie Pan". One recipe made 9.
~ The recipe did not call for Salt- I added 1/4t.
~I completely forgot to add the melted butter...it was trickier to mix, and I was prepared to butter them before I ate them, but that was not necessary- they were that good!
~ Oh,  I did not pipe the batter, I just carefully scooped/scraped..
~ I only baked the Doughnuts for about 10 minutes- maybe I could have pulled them a few minutes earlier. (I let them get a little golden, so the edges are just a tad crisp (not much), but the egg whites make them SO light- not dense!!!)
~ After cooling them (not as long as Shannah said), I tried to dip them in the chocolate, but it was NOT coating. (next time- cut the coconut oil) At all...so, I dumped a little chocolate into each cavity, and set the doughnuts on top, and popped them back in the fridge- took a while to harden.
~ If they are not hard/cold enough they will not pop out- they will brake.
~STORE IN THE FRIDGE!!!!!  =)  DO NOT LEAVE THEM OUT!!!  =)

Chocolate Frozen (Greek) Yogurt (recipe too!)

Hi friends!  Long time no see!  ;)  How are you all???  I'm good, I've not been baking/cooking much because: I've been sewing new clothes!  =)

Chocolate Frozen (Greek) Yogurt

I found this recipe on allrecipes, and tweaked it....I hope that you enjoy it!  =)

• 1/4 cup White Sugar
• 10 drops Sweet Leaf liquid Stevia
• 1-2 Tablespoons Organic Cornstarch (3T is too much)
• 3 Tablespoons Organic Cocoa Powder (Frontier)
  
• 12 oz Cream
  

• 1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  
• 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
  
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
  

Directions

1. Place some of the Milk in a jar, add the Cornstarch & Cocoa Powder- shake it up good (like you were making gravy). 
2. (now think pudding) In a saucepan: stir up the remaining plain Cream, the chocolate Cream, the Sugar and Chocolate chips. Cook over medium heat until chocolate is melted and the mixture is thickened. Stir constantly to prevent burning. (You have to cook the cream concoction til it boils, but not too long!)
3. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the plain yogurt, butter, Stevia and Vanilla. (I used a whisk, because the yogurt was hard to incorporate.)
4. Refrigerate until chilled. 
5. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.   (click here for our preferred method)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:
~YUM!
~3T Cornstarch is too much, unless you want to eat it like pudding, and not try to freeze it.
~I'd add more Butter next time. =)

Notes from allrecipe commenters I'd like to remember:
~My family loves this recipe and I think next time I'll try adding 1/4 peanut butter or a few peppermint sticks for a change. Excellent ice cream.

~I used Truvia sweetener and nonfat GREEK yogurt.  Wow oh wow, this was incredible! Everyone loved this, even my froyo hating husband. This recipe will be made a lot this summer, I can tell you that!

~I used sweetened condensed milk (didn't have cream), 1 cup yogurt, 3 tbs of cocoa, and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Omitted the sugar and the cornstarch because the condensed milk was sweet enough and thick enough.

1940's kitchen

Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Orange Frosting (Recipe for frosting, too!)

Week 26, recipe 23 ~ Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Orange Frosting  found on page 100

This cake was nothing to write home about- not chocolatey at all, but the frosting- that was something else!  My first ganache~ I'm in love!

Maggie's Ganache (frosting) recipe:

 Ganache is so nice- it stays soft & moist- does not dry out, it's also VERY easy to make!
Ganache can also top cupcakes or donuts.  =)

Heat (to simmer, not boil):  3/4 cup heavy cream
Remove from heat.
Add chocolate and stir until melted: 7 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli's 60% chocolate chips--I got mine at Wal-mart)
Then stir in: 2 teaspoons (or so) of grated orange peel- mine was SO moist it was wet & juicy!
Keep stirring until the frosting thickens- then you can let it sit a bit to cool & thicken.  
 (Martha Stewart's recipe & technique can be found HERE)

Notes:
~Recipe calls for an 8" cake pan...I would recommend using a 8" spring-form pan, or an extra deep 8" cake pan.  A regular pan was NOT deep enough!
~Be careful to not over bake- at 50 minutes, this cake was a little over  baked.
~Add salt! 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon I think.
~It's really not a chocolaty cake---I would wonder about substituting some cocoa powder for flour.

I love this picture!

Only 4 more days to enter the cookbook giveaway! (click HERE)

The drawing will end at midnight on the 2nd of March, and the winner will  be announced on my birthday, the 5th of March!

Double Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Week 22, recipe 19 ~ Double Chocolate Chunk Brownies found on page 47

Well....to be truthful with you, this was my second attempt to make these brownies- the first time, I assumed that the recipe called for an 8X8 pan, so they were WAY too think, and burnt on top, and generally overdone.   The second time, I got the pan size right!  BUT the recipe states that the brownies will be firm to the touch...well, they were firm at 26 minutes, but they where NOT done. No were near done~ sigh!  So, I popped them back in the oven, and the top ended up super burnt...my eyes are burning! =p   So, we cut the tops off and served them with spray whipped cream.

Notes:
~I'm not sure how you would know when these were actually done...more than 26 minutes and less than 40 minutes is all I can say.

Coffee Pot Cafe in Ponca City

~They are chocolatey...1 & 1/4 LB of semi-sweet chocolate went into this 12 serving pan of brownies!

 ~A lot of Mara Hubbard's Organic Pecans (that we soaked and dried) are IN these brownies!


~While this recipe calls for a lot of butter, you really can't taste it. 

~For the everyday kind of person: If you want a chocolatey brownie that tastes buttery, just buy a "Pillsbury Family-Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix" and instead of the oil & water that it calls for use: 1 stick of melted butter & the little bit of water that you would need to make the total right....those are super good! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone~ I'm giving away a copy of the cookbook I've been baking from! Be sure and use the widget below to enter to win! 
(or follow this link) 

 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Week 21, recipe 18 ~ Chocolate Chip Muffins found on page 50

 
 I've never made Chocolate Chip muffins before- I've made Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips, but never Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins!  They were good - needed salt, and maybe a dash more sugar.  Serve with butter! =)   They were the perfect complement to a soup & salad luncheon with Rachel & Lizzy.

I have only about 6 more cakes if my count is right...should I work on another cookbook after this?

Notes:
~ NEEDS salt.  
~ Maybe add a few more chocolate chips, too!
~Stay tuned for "Piece of Cake" cookbook Giveaway!  =)

With this baby, all your cakes will be SO much fun to bake!

Chocolate and Raspberry Torte (NOT!)

 Week 18, recipe 15 ~ 
                  Chocolate and Raspberry Torte found on page 64
 

It is hard to tell the size of this cake- the whole thing was 3" X 8"!

Never again. NEVER AGAIN, I tell you!!!!!

The Genoise cake is supposed to be a basic cake...I've made 3- two chocolate & one coffee (here)....I'd like to pull my hair out or cry. Maybe both. 
(the situation made me think of Julie's meltdown while trussing the chicken...or whatever it was that she was doing).....Heavy Sigh.......just so you all know (and so you don't accidentally ask me to bake a Genoise) it is the last cake of this type that I'll ever bake.

This week's cake was supposed to to look kind of like a large Oreo cooky- simply bake a chocolate sponge cake, slice it in half horizontally, place half the cake in an 8" spring form pan (waxed paper lined), add a mound of Orange whipped cream with Raspberries & Dark Chocolate shavings...top with the other half of cake, press and freeze!  Easy right?!   My cake was SO flat. Mom encouraged me to make another...so I did.  Again, SO flat...sigh.

How should it be fixed? Mom and I thought just turn it into a Frozen Trifle!  =)  My Friends & Family enjoyed it, and said that had I not told them it was "not right", they would not have known.

Notes:
~I did not cry.
~ Make a regular chocolate Sponge Cake.
~Again we did not have "Orange Liqueur", so we used 1T. Brandy and 3T. Organic Orange Juice Concentrate.

Filling recipe:
   Whip into soft peaks:
     1 Tablespoon Brandy and 3 Tablespoons Organic Orange Juice Concentrate
     1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar
     2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
   Fold in:
     about 6oz fresh or frozen Raspberries
     2 oz (or 50g) Bittersweet Chocolate, at least 50% (I used 70%), grated
If you are making it like mine, fold in one layer of chocolate cake, too.
Freeze for 4 hours in a wax paper lined 8" spring-form pan, remove from pan and slice and serve!  

 Makes 8 generous servings. 
 

Gooey Chocolate Cake (recipe, too!)

Week 9, recipe 8 ~ Gooey Chocolate Cake found on page 108

 The first thing that came to my mind was from the movie "Back When We Were Grownups"....Poppy was trying to nicely say that he did not want Biddy to make his birthday cake- so he said: 
"I don't feel that cakes are Biddy's strong point.". 

Unforgettable is the one word that I would use to describe this cake!    
A delicious, oozy, rich, sticky, dark chocolaty, messy, flour-less-almond cake!

 We declared it done at 45 minutes, and after the un-molding it stood tall for maybe 30 seconds.  I dumped the frosting on top, and the poor guy's legs began to bow...and then just as I was desperately trying to finish the frosting, one side had an avalanche/landslide/blowout...sigh...Mom and I worked fast and used our hands and fingers, scraping and eating what would have otherwise been lost. 

As soon as the cake was "stable", we popped it in the freezer to set the frosting in a hurry, and then moved it to the fridge to finish setting up.  =)

Notes:
~This is so far the only cake that I would say should have been baked a little longer (maybe 3-5min) than Ms. Mayhew had said...
~I think that I may have mastered "folding in the egg whites"! =)
~Twas a Birthday Cake for Mom!
~I would try this one again...yes, I would for sure.
~Serve topped with Sour Cream  =)
~I used Ghiardelli 60% dark chocolate chips in the cake- it was perfect!
~The frosting was really good- like the filling of a truffle or bon-bon.

Festive Chocolate and Hazelnut Roulade

 Week 7, recipe 6 ~  
            Festive Chocolate and Hazelnut Roulade found on page 88

Had this cake actually turned out "right" this would indeed be a "festive" cake,  but, as it really is: it is a tasty eye-sore!  =/

....think of Julie's Aspic....I take comfort in the fact that my cake tasted better than Julie's Aspic.  =)

Notes:
~ I would like to try my hand at baking this cake again.
~ This was supposed to look like a jelly roll, and I borrowed a cake pan from Mrs. Hale...which did not end up being not the right size, and next time, I would ask around for the right size.
~ I like that this recipe is Gluten/grain/starch-Free!  It used 1/2 c. ground Hazelnuts!

For your amusement:

 The prettiest moment!

The roll up....

...and the flop!