Chocolate

Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Frosting

My friend Jackie had a birthday this past Friday, so she was getting a dozen cupcakes whether she liked it or not.

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I used a boxed chocolate cake mix for the cupcakes.  I know…baking from a mix is not my style.  But cake mixes are always reliable, and I haven’t yet found a terrific chocolate cupcake recipe.  So, cake mix it is!

I added a tablespoon of instant coffee to the batter, but it wasn’t a dominant flavor in the cupcake.  I might try to add some brewed coffee next time in place of some of the water in the recipe.   (more…)

Here comes the Groom…

Groom’s Cake Ice Cream!  Groom’s Cake is chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake pieces, chocolate coated strawberry hearts, swirled with strawberry sauce and chocolate icing.  Most of the groom’s cakes I’ve seen at weddings are some combination of chocolate with strawberry, so the name fits the flavors here.

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Blue Bell Ice Cream has been a staple of my diet since I was allowed to eat ice cream.  It breaks my heart that there are people out there who can’t get Blue Bell in their local grocery store.  Blue Bell is only sold in 17 states, with their headquarters in Brenham, Texas near Houston.  You can visit the creamery, take a tour of the facilities and get a scoop of ice cream at the end!  The tour is only $3 for adults and $2 for kids.  Not a bad deal.

I highly recommend visiting Blue Bell if you find yourself in Houston this summer.

Ok, back to the new ice cream flavor.  Whenever I pass through the frozen food aisle I check the freezer for new flavors of Blue Bell.  There are times when I am excited about the new flavors and other times when I ask “Who decided that this was a good idea?”  I don’t always buy the new flavors that are offered.  Sometimes I just find it too hard to spend $5.99 on a half gallon of ice cream that I’m not sure I’ll like.  But this new flavor intrigued me.  I am not the biggest fan of chocolate ice cream in general.  I’d rather have vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips or chocolate fudge than just plain chocolate.

I like this ice cream.  The cake pieces are yummy, the strawberry is not overwhelming and adds a different type of sweet than the chocolate flavors, so it works.  Look for this new creation from the “little creamery” in Brenham at your local grocery store and try it.  You know you want to…

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Texas Sheet Cake

In April of 2005 I was living in College Station, Texas going to Texas A&M.  My roommates and I took the Houston Chronicle, and I pulled this recipe from the newspaper and stashed it away in my recipe box one day in late April of 2005.  I found it this weekend…roughly 4 years later.  

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I am not sure why this is called Texas sheet cake…but I am proud that it is!  I did find a little information about the history of this cake, but nothing saying it actually originated in the Lone Star state.  This excerpt is from TheFoodTimeline.org.

Question: Where does Texas Sheet Cake get its name? 
A) From the super-chocolatey taste, as big as Texas. 
B) From the fact that the taste is so intense, people can eat only a small piece – meaning one cake will serve a Texas-size crowd. 
C) From its overall richness – a big taste in a big cake from a state that was super sizing things long before fast-food places were. 
D) All of the above. 
The answer, if you’ve ever tasted the famous cake, has got to be D. Texas Sheet Cake is chocolate through and through, rich and decadent. As for whether it originally came from Texas, I couldn’t find a definite answer. But Lone Star cooks were smart to get their state’s name on something that tastes so good.
— “A chocolate cake from the land of the super-sized,” Ann Burger, The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), January 28, 2001, G, Pg. 6

This cake is so moist and chocolatey.  The cake itself is sweet, light and moist.  The fudgy frosting is spread on to the cake while it is still warm, so some of the frosting melts a little into the cake.  The sprinkle of toasted pecans on top are not only a good textural contrast, but add some Texas (or at least Southern) flavor.  A cold glass of milk or scoop of vanilla ice cream are great accompaniments.

Texas Sheet Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Grease and flour a 9×13, 10×15, or 2 9-inch round pans.  Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  3. Combine water, butter, oil, cocoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  4. Pour the cocoa mixture over the flour mixture and stir together just until smooth.
  5. In a small bowl whisk eggs, buttermilk and vanilla then add to batter and stir together.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
  7. Baking Times: 9×13 – 25 minutes, 10×15 – 20 minutes, 9-inch rounds – 25 minutes.  Check cakes about 5 minutes before baking is completed to avoid over baking.
  8. Let cake cool for 5-10 minutes, then frost with chocolate frosting and sprinkle with chopped, toasted pecans.

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Chocolate Frosting

frosting

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 pound powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans
  1. Cream butter and cocoa in a large bowl.
  2. Add the milk and beat until smooth.
  3. Add powdered sugar in 3 additions scraping down sides of bowl between additions.
  4. Add vanilla and beat well.