My mom sent this recipe to me. I discovered in talking with her today that the reason she sent it to me is because she was too scared to try it out herself. I have become the recipe guinea pig, and I am totally OK with that.
There’s always a little bit of uncertainty when trying a new recipe and it helps to know that someone else has tried it with good results. It really helps to know that someone you know and trust has tried it. I am often skeptical of some online reviews because I don’t know if the people writing the reviews are clueless in the kitchen and totally botched a perfectly good recipe, OR if the person likes anything they eat because they lack good taste and taste buds. So, send me your iffy recipes and I will try them and give you my honest opinion…if that means anything.
This cake is half chocolate cake and half flan. Well, more like 60% chocolate cake and 40% flan. Regardless, chocolate cake + flan = crazy delicious. A bundt pan is filled with a thin layer of cajeta, topped with a chocolate cake batter and finished off with a flan type mixture that makes it way down to the bottom of the pan during the baking process. This creates the layer of creamy flan on top of the cake which when inverted is topped with the sweet and decadent cajeta.
I topped the finished cake with toasted pecans. It could be served with some sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. This cake was a hit at the small group we had at our house last night. It was such a hit that we had a mere slice left over. (more…)
First thing’s first…I cheated. I did not make the graham wafers. I am a terrible person. I promise to make them another time, pinky promise! I just did not have the time. Well, that is only partially true. I could have had the time if I’d actually looked at my January commitments and planned ahead. This last week of January finds me in San Diego for 3 days for a conference for work, two days at home in Amarillo and then I head to Austin for 4 days for my sister’s baby shower and grandpa’s 90th birthday celebration. AND I have to somehow fit in the baking of a few dozen cut-out bird cookies for the shower. When it rains it pours, people.
The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.
Now you’re thinking, “She’s a double cheater!” You’re right. I didn’t even consider trying to make anything gluten free. Again, the lack of time and my laziness got the better of me! Also, I think I like gluten. It sounds like glutton…
I had to make the bars before I left for sunny (sorta) San Diego in order to get them done before the craziness began. When you’re a cheater like me and you use store-bought graham crackers these bars come together very quickly. You have to give them some time in the fridge before enjoying them, but other than that they are quick and simple.
After chilling in the fridge they have a beautiful hard chocolate-y layer which innocently hides the sweet soft vanilla layer beneath it. I was not thinking about this HARD chocolate layer when I took a knife to these bars. All, or almost all, of the chocolate cracked and popped off the top of the bars. I should have waited a few minutes after taking them from the fridge to let the chocolate soften a bit and adhere to the creamy layer. You live, you learn.
Even with the shattered chocolate layer, which I managed to somehow replace on a few pieces, these were very delicious. I will be making these again. Delicious.
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)
Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar
Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter
Directions
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.
A while back I lost my Canon camera in a horrific flood. A water bottle mysteriously opened in my purse, drowning and destroying my camera. Anyway, for a while I took pictures with my iPhone. Not spectacular, but sufficient photos. Then, Ben bought me a Sony camera that has served me well for the last 4 months. Two days ago the screen went bright white resulting in a visit to Best Buy where they told me there was nothing they could do, and that I would have to send it in for repair.
I can still take pictures, but just can’t see what the pictures looks like until I load them onto my computer. The photo below is the result of such a photo session. Two usable photos out of about 25 total taken. Not a great ratio. I could not tell what was in the shot, how the lighting was, if I needed flash, if the zoom was too much, or how the focus turned out. This is just not a way to take pictures!
Despite my camera woes, this cake was fun to make, not too terribly complicated, a great presentation cake, and quite delicious. The marshmallows dusted with cocoa make the cake look like an actual mug of hot chocolate.
I absolutely love Fine Cooking magazine. I have yet to make something from it that I haven’t liked. This cake is on the cover of the current issue, and I could not resist its rich chocolate-y layers and fluffy white marshmallows. I made it for Christmas dinner. Here is the link to the recipe.
The cake is moist, the frosting is rich and creamy, and the marshmallows are heavenly, ooey-gooey goodness. This is a rich and decadent cake.
The marshmallows are the most time consuming aspect of this dessert, but well worth the time and effort. I considered buying pre-packaged mallows, but my wise mother-in-law convinced me to make the real thing. It does make a difference, and the marshmallows are a lovely contrast to the rich chocolate cake and frosting.
Hot Chocolate Layer Cake
(courtesy of Fine Cooking magazine and Rebecca Rather)
For the cake
6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter; more for the pans
13-1/2 oz. (3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pans
3/4 cup canola oil
4-1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 cups granulated sugar
2-1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
For the frosting
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
6 oz. (2 cups) natural unsweetened cocoa powder; more for decorating
1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
For the marshmallows
Three 1/4-oz. envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar; more as needed
Make the cake
Position racks in the bottom and top thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter three 9×2-inch round cake pans and line each with a parchment round. Butter the parchment, then dust with flour and knock out the excess.
In a 3-quart saucepan, combine the butter, oil, chopped chocolate, and 1 cup water. Heat over medium heat until melted.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder. Pour the hot chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.
Set two pans on the top rack and the third on the lower rack. Stagger the pans on the oven racks so that no pan is directly over another. Bake, swapping and rotating the pans’ positions after 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on racks for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks, remove the parchment, and cool completely.
Make the frosting
In a 4-quart saucepan over low heat, combine the cream, butter, and vanilla bean and seeds and stir until the butter is melted.
Remove the vanilla bean and whisk in the chopped chocolate until melted.
Whisk in the sugar, cocoa powder, syrup, and salt until smooth—be sure the cocoa powder dissolves completely.
Pour into a 9×13-inch pan and freeze until firm, about 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight.
Make the marshmallows
Pour 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fit it with the whisk attachment.
Clip a candy thermometer to a 3-quart saucepan; don’t let the tip of the thermometer touch the bottom of the pan. In the saucepan, boil the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water over medium heat without stirring until it reaches 234°F to 235°F, about 10 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin in a slow, thin stream.
Add the vanilla, carefully increase the speed to high, and beat until the mixture has thickened and cooled, about 5 minutes (the bottom of the bowl should be just warm to the touch). Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Sift 1 Tbs. of the confectioners’ sugar into the bottom of the pan, then pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan and sift another 1 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar on top. Let sit at room temperature until set, at least 2 hours.
Assemble the cake
Remove the frosting from the freezer or refrigerator. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes to soften. Change to a whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Put a cake layer on a flat serving platter or a cake stand lined with strips of waxed paper to keep it clean while icing. Top the layer with 1-1/2 cups of the frosting, spreading it evenly with an offset spatula to the cake’s edge. Repeat with another cake layer and 1-1/2 cups frosting. Top with the last cake layer.
Put 1-1/2 cups of the frosting in a small bowl. With an offset spatula, spread this frosting in a thin layer over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until the frosting firms enough to seal in the crumbs, 20 to 30 minutes.
Spread the remaining frosting in a smooth layer over the top and sides of the cake. If necessary, you can rewhip the remaining frosting to loosen and lighten it. Remove the waxed paper strips.
Use the foil overhang to lift the marshmallow from the pan. Using a knife that has been dipped in cold water, cut along the edge of the marshmallow to release it from the foil. Transfer to a cutting board and remove the foil.
Put the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.
Cut the marshmallow into cubes of different sizes, from 1/4 to 3/4 inch (you will need to continue to dip the knife in cold water as you cut the marshmallows). The marshmallows will be very sticky—dip the cut edges in the confectioners’ sugar to make them easier to handle. As you work, toss a few cubes at a time in the sugar to coat, then shake in a strainer to remove the excess.
Mound the marshmallows on top of the cake (you’ll need only a third to half of them). Sift some cocoa powder over the marshmallows.
These little, unassuming bite-size goodies made quite an impression last weekend. I brought them to a Christmas party where they were completely devoured and raved about. I saw one of the party guests 2 days later and she asked me for the recipe. I hadn’t had such a great response to a dessert in, well…ever! I wish I could say they were my own creation, but alas, they were not. I got the recipe in my 12 Days of Cookies email from the Food Network. This was Day 10: Sunny’s Crunchy Peanut Butter S’more Bites.
If you go to the Food Network site and read the review on these cookies, you will wonder why I made them. Bad reviews on taste and preparation. What was I thinking? Well, I wasn’t. However, with a few modifications to the recipe, they taste yummy (still very sweet of course) but still make quite a mess of your kitchen. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good!
When things start to fall on you when you open the pantry door, you know some action must be taken. A box of Rice Krispies came sliding out of the pantry yesterday while I was trying to reach something else that was stashed underneath it. As fate would have it, my Martha Stewart cookie of the Day recipe was Crispy Chocolate Marshmallow Treats. The ingredient list is simple and short: butter, marshmallows, cocoa, rice krispies and semi-sweet chocolate.
I wasn’t expecting these to be anything special, but they were so much better than a normal rice krispy. These are more adult in flavor, and not as gooey and sticky as the original. I used Hershey’s dark cocoa and drizzled semi-sweet chocolate on top. The chocolate makes them decadent, dense and delicious.
Last week I made 3 batches of blondies hoping to create something irresistibly delicious. I originally planned on making a Candy Bar Blondie with a variety of candy bars chopped into chocolate chip sized pieces. I used a basic blondie recipe and then just replaced the chips and buts with the candy pieces.
Attempt #1 resulted in a yummy treat filled with chopped Snickers, Rolos, Reeses and Twix. The problem was that the edges rose up on the sides and stayed there after the blondies cooled creating a sunken and sad looking baked good. A blondie sinkhole. I used a metal 8×8 inch pan which I’d greased. The middle of the blondies were incredibly gooey, but the edges were hard and caramelized. Hmmm. I decided to try again.
Attempt #2 used the same combination of candy bars, sans the Twix because I ran out. I tried to bake this one in a glass pan which I greased and floured. I assumed the problem was my baking pan preparation. Same basic recipe. New pan. Same problem. Intriguing…and a tad bit frustrating.
It was 70° two days ago. Right now it is 39°, cloudy and misty. I’m wearing long pants, a sweatshirt and my fake fur lined boots…and I like it.
I am starting to truly like cool weather and I’ve always loved the things associated with this time of year. Changing leaves, pumpkins, sweaters, warm socks, soup, and before you know it, it’s Christmas! Anyway…
The cooler weather inspired me to bake something warm, rich and chocolate-y yesterday, so I found a basic and easy brownie recipe, halved it to better serve 2 people, and made use of what I had in my pantry.
I saw this confection at Wal-Mart the other day, and I was intrigued. I was also impressed that Wal-Mart was selling something so trendy and chic… in the world of chocolate anyway. The bar is made by Chuao Chocolatier.
Online this bar goes for $6.00 a piece. I got mine at Wal-Mart for $4.00! Anyway, I was not expecting to like this combination of dark chocolate, chipotle, salt and popping candy…aka Pop Rocks! Pop Rocks? Even if I didn’t like it, I didn’t care. How could someone not at least try something with Pop Rocks in it? I hadn’t had Pop Rocks in a while, and I knew there was no better time than now to have them as an adult. This is an “adult” candy bar. The dark 60 % cacao chocolate, spicy chipotle and salt would not appeal to many kids.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
This challenge really snuck up on me. I guess I could blame it on the fact that last week was my first week of school, but really I am just a little forgetful sometimes and I have a bad habit of putting things off. This week was really too busy to make this cake, so I had to wait until yesterday. I have never baked and assembled a cake this involved so quickly! It still took me a while, about 3 hours start to finish. This is an accomplishment, in my opinion, especially when you consider the 6 sponge cake layers, chocolate buttercream, the caramel coated triangle cake pieces and assembly.
These little “cookies” are pretty tasty and incredibly easy to make. Since these cookies are ball shaped they reminded me more of a truffle and less of a cookie. From start to finish, including the 30 minutes chilling time, these were ready in less than an hour. Pretty close to instant gratification. I used a 2 1/2 quart saucepan and it was big enough to do all the melting and mixing so clean up was a breeze. Well, we are dealing with melted marshmallow, butter and chocolate so clean up isn’t really a “breeze” but it’s just one sticky pan, not half a dozen, like some recipes require. So it isn’t too bad. Great for a lazy day when I want to do a little cleaning as possible.
The cookies on the left were just scooped, the center cookies were scooped, then rolled between my palms, and the far right were rolled in my palms then in coconut.
The combination of flavors and textures is terrific. The sweetener in these candies/cookies is marshmallow instead of the usual white sugar typical in no-bake cookies like this. The oats make the cookies hearty, the coconut gives them a nice chew, and the toffee pieces add a nice crunch. So, if you need a sweet fix and you’re not in the mood to bake a batch of cookies, try these.
Coconut, Oatmeal, Toffee Chocolate No Bake Cookies
6 ounces chopped milk or semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup butter
16 large marshmallows
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup toffee pieces
2 cups rolled oats
Melt butter, chocolate and marshmallows over low heat in a saucepan (or you can use a double boiler). Stir until mixture is smooth, 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Mix in in peanut butter, vanilla. Stir in coconut, oats and toffee pieces until well combined.
Scoop by tablespoons onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Optional: You can roll the mixture into smooth balls and then roll the balls in coconut or toffee pieces for a fancier looking cookie.
My mom sent this recipe to me. I discovered in talking with her today that the reason she sent it to me is because she was too scared to try it out herself. I have become the recipe guinea pig, and I am totally OK with that.
Attempt #1 resulted in a yummy treat filled with chopped Snickers, Rolos, Reeses and Twix. The problem was that the edges rose up on the sides and stayed there after the blondies cooled creating a sunken and sad looking baked good. A blondie sinkhole. I used a metal 8×8 inch pan which I’d greased. The middle of the blondies were incredibly gooey, but the edges were hard and caramelized. Hmmm. I decided to try again.
