Chocolate Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting

*** Made from scratch a hearty cake with an intense chocolate flavor in the icing for a man's birthday. Just make sure to cut those slices thinner for women to enjoy. Cream cakes are tasty desserts of the past but tend to be heavy by modern standards. But oh, the flavor! :)




Photo by Tommy Simmons, Food Editor @ The Advocate


From Denny: Our local newspaper's food editor has decided to learn how to bake cakes. She is brave to chronicle her baking journey as it happens in real time. This is her first cake.

Most of us these days bake with cake mixes which are lighter versions of cakes our mothers and grandmothers used to bake. The difference is usually in the type and amount of flour utilized.

When I was eleven years old I made my first simple white cake recipe but doubled the dose of butter by mistake. It was awesome! My Cinderella style evil stepmother, a real killjoy personality, fussed about the expense of an extra stick of butter. I didn't see her in the kitchen trying to help guide the process as she hated kids, even her own grandkids. Of course, the funny part was the cake was a huge hit at the dinner table with the rest of the family. I've kept that recipe of beginner's luck with me all these years because the story still makes me smile.

So, when I see an adult food writer brave the cold cruel world of criticism to learn how to bake, well, I just have to support her! :) Tommy Simmons goes on to talk about this cream cake as "so dense and sturdy it would not dream of crumbling." A good cake for a beginner as it's easier to get these kinds of cakes out of the cake pans after baking.

She learned all the basics a novice learns about baking like not to leave the baked cakes in the pan for too long or you practically "have to get a crowbar to pry the cooled layers from the cake pans. The problem was I had left the cakes in the pans overnight." Been there and done that mistake! :) The reason for that issue is because the greased pans had oil that solidified, holding the cake in place.

An easy fix to that problem is to reheat your oven and pop the baked cakes back into the oven for anywhere for 2 - 5 minutes at 300 degrees F. to melt the oil on the sides of the pans to release the cake. Once the metal of the pan is reheated, but the cake is not hot or warm to the touch, the job is done. You don't really want to re-bake the cakes. You could also reheat the bottoms of the pans over the stove burner though I've found you can still encounter issues with the sides of the pans not releasing well so I use the oven method.

How do you know the cake is ready to be released from the pan? Run a knife around the edge of the pan, then shake gently, you will feel a little give from the cake which means the oil has softened. That's when it's time to invert the cake onto the cooling rack.

Food editor Simmons goes to to remark that the cake's flavor improves the second day. Such is the case with most cream cakes. That's why they are still so popular in south Louisiana and the American South in general. They are forgiving cakes, easy to make and store well in the refrigerator.

Simmons did not enjoy the Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa in the frosting as she found it too assertive and downright bossy for her favorite chocolate taste. She thought it was too much chocolate. When she bakes this cake in the future she made a mental note to herself to substitute Hershey's Cocoa, the regular one.

As an experienced cake baker who adores chocolate what I would do is use the lighter version of cocoa for the layers and use a thinner layer of the dark chocolate icing just for the top. You just divide the icing by 2/3 and 1/3, using the 1/3 as the dark chocolate. Or to keep it really simple just make two chocolate icing recipes, one light and one dark. Icing keeps well and you know you are going to be making another cake in need of icing very soon! :) Besides, Simmons advised you to make two recipes of the icing to have enough volume to properly ice the cake anyway.

Any time you have an assertive taste for a cake, it's best to use it in moderation. Lemon cakes are like that too. When using lemon curd, just use it on the filling and use a lighter lemon taste for the icing.





Cream Cake With Hershey’s “Especially Dark” Chocolate Frosting

From: “Cake Keeper Cakes” by Lauren Chattman and “The Fannie Farmer Baking Book” by Marion Cunningham

Serves: 12 to 16

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbl. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 large eggs, room temperature
2-3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tbl. vanilla extract
2 cups whipping cream, not whipped, room temperature
Hershey’s “Especially Dark” Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)


Directions:

1. Grease and flour 4 (8-inch) layer-cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Beat eggs and sugar together in large bowl until mixture is thickened (about 5 minutes). Stir in vanilla.

4. Alternate adding flour mixture with the cream to the egg mixture. Don’t overbeat at this stage. Beat for about 1 minute just to make sure everything is combined.

5. Distribute batter evenly among the 4 cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Let cake layers cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

7. When cooled, you can slice each layer in half crosswise if you like thin cake layers and then frost and stack to assemble the cake. To store, seal the cut surface with plastic wrap and cover the whole cake with additional plastic wrap or a cake cover and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.





Hershey’s “Especially Dark” Chocolate Frosting

From: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa can label

Makes: about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa (very intense chocolate flavor, you may want to just use Hershey's Cocoa, the regular one, for the normal level of chocolate flavor if you are not used to deep dark intense chocolate flavors.)

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, if desired


Directions:

1. Melt butter and stir in cocoa.

2. Alternate adding confectioners’ sugar and milk. Beating to achieve a smooth, spreadable consistency.

3. Stir in vanilla.

4. Frost between cake layers, sides and the top of the cake.

5. Press chopped pecans onto top of cake.

Note from Tommy Simmons: Double the frosting recipe so you have plenty of frosting. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Easy Moist Chocolate Mayo Cake From Bon Appetit

From Denny: Have you ever made a chocolate cake without butter but with mayonnaise as the substitute for oil? It's surprisingly good too while it creates an extra moist mouth-watering chocolate treat! Bon Appetit was on The Today Show this week touting their latest cookbook.

Well, it gets better. I've made this kind of chocolate cake - once out of desperation - only to find it was a great idea to substitute mayo for butter. I was about to pass on the video and recipe until I saw the cool update Bon Appetit came up with to create one awesome presentation: a chocolate collar to wrap around the cake.


Here's the new cookbook and already discounted at Amazon:




Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz


Review from Bon Appetit: Trained as a baker in France and Belgium, Lebovitz spent 12 years in the pastry department at Chez Panisse (his strongest baking influence was Lindsey Shere, founding pastry chef of the restaurant). He has authored three cookbooks including Room for Dessert and The Perfect Scoop. The Paris-based baker also writes an award-winning blog, davidlebovitz.com, where he shares recipes, cooking tips, and his picks for culinary experiences in La Ville-Lumiere.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here's the demo on how easy it is to dress up a holiday cake or use this chocolate collar band on this cake:









Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

From: Bon Appetit magazine

10 to 12 servings

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61 percent cacao), chopped
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 13/4 cups boiling water
• 23/4 cups all purpose flour
• 11/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cups mayonnaise (do not use reduced- fat or fat-free)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (measured, then sifted)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Special equipment:

• Three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides

DIRECTIONS

* Mayonnaise replaces the oil that is typically used in chocolate cakes. It makes this cake — which would make the ideal birthday cake — incredibly moist and tender.

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine chocolate and cocoa powder in medium metal bowl. Add 1 3/4 cups boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and mayonnaise in large bowl until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with chocolate mixture in 3 additions, beating until blended after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Divide batter among prepared cake pans (about 21/3 cups for each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 20 minutes. Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely.

Frosting:

Place chopped chocolate in medium metal bowl; set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; let chocolate cool until lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add melted chocolate and beat until well blended and smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over top of cake layer to edges. Top with second cake layer; spread 3/4 cup frosting over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over top and sides of cake. Cut cake into wedges and serve.

Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.


Here's the new cookbook and already discounted at Amazon:




Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz



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Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

From Denny: Chef Sandra Lee specializes in great tasting recipes made simple and easy to do in a short amount of time. This chocolate cake with a frozen ice cream as a filling is a real show stopper for holidays, entertaining or your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. She uses cookies and cream ice cream flavor in this recipe but we could easily substitute any flavor we love.

What I like about this cake is its versatility. For Valentine's Day or Christmas you could add a little raspberry syrup drizzled on top or on the plate for color. In the summer you could use chocolate mint ice cream for the filling. To satisfy total chocoholics like myself you could make it with chocolate almond ice cream filling! :)

The greatest beauty of this cake is that you can freeze all the components until it's time to assemble and frost with the awesome ganache. That's a real time saver in my book with the way we are all busy these days!

And remember, this cake allows us yet another excuse to eat ice cream in the winter besides the fact we need the calcium... :)

Chef Sandra Lee gives great instructions! Food Network does not yet allow embedding of their videos so I can only provide the link, go here.


Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

From: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Desserts, Miramax Books, 2003.

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 1 cake, about 12 servings

Ingredients:

Ganache and Filling:

1/2 gallon cookies and cream ice cream, softened
1 cup heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels

Cake:

Butter, for pans
Flour, for pans
1 (18.25-ounce) box devil's food cake mix
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Directions:

Line 1 (9-inch) cake pan with plastic wrap, with 3 inches overhanging. Spread softened ice cream into lined pan in a smooth, even layer. Freeze for 3 hours, or until frozen solid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour 2 (10-inch) round cake pans and set aside. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until well blended. Using a spatula, divide batter between the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each pan to loosen cakes and remove from pans.

While cakes are cooling, heat heavy cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbling around the edges. Remove pan from heat, add chocolate morsels, and stir with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, until cool and slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spread ganache on top of and around sides of both cake layers, keeping layers separate and not fitting together yet. Refrigerate entire cake for 1 hour, or until ganache is set.

Place 1 cake layer, ganache side up, on a serving platter. Remove ice cream from pan, peel off plastic wrap, and place on top of cake layer. Place second cake layer on top of ice cream, ganache side up. Freeze until ready to serve, but let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before serving.



*** ALSO: 5 Tasty and Weird Bacon Recipes

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Chocolate Cake Recipes at Romancing The Chocolate

From Denny: Thought I'd start cataloging these chocolate recipes so you can find them faster than a blog search! This is going to take a while so be sure to check back often for added links. Why waste time looking for a chocolate recipe when you can be digging into it with your fork and enjoying it? :)

CAKES

Most Popular Web Recipe: Double Chocolate Cake

Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

Valentines Day: Impressive Four Chocolates Cake

Flourless chocolate espresso cake with berries

3 Quick Awesome Chocolate Recipes for the Holidays:
Almond Fudge Topped Shortbread
Easy MINI KISSES Cookie Torte
Really Chocolate Chocolate Cake
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING

Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake

Calorie Monster Chocolate Truffle Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Recipe: Easy Black Russian Cake





Recipe: Easy Cocoa Chocolate Sheet Cake

Recipe: Swiss Chocolate Cake

Recipes: Chocolate Alcoholic Drinks That Taste Like Favorite Foods!

Recipe: Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

Recipe: University Club's Skillet Chocolate Gooey Cake

Recipe: How to Make German Chocolate Cake Without a Mix

Recipe: German Chocolate Cake and Coconut Pecan Frosting

Recipe: Triple Chocolate Mess in a Crock Pot


*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big thank you and shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!

Valentines Day: Impressive Four Chocolates Cake

From Denny: Looking through some old magazines today I found quite an impressive chocolate cake that was a category winner in the contest Your Best Recipe. What are the four chocolate tastes that converge all into this one gorgeous cake?

There is bittersweet and semisweet chocolate used in the cake batter. Then to "gild the lily" she dresses this cake with a mocha cream filling and the final adornment is a coffee liqueur ganache icing, topped with dark chocolate curls.

What makes this cake so special is the brown sugar in the cake batter that adds that mysterious hint of caramel flavor that goes so well with intense chocolate.

Awesome! I'm telling you this is THE cake to make for Valentine's Day! I hope I can wait that long...:) You will definitely get rave reviews for this beauty.

From: Category winner of Your Best Recipe, Florence Neavoll of Salem, Oregon - Southern Living, re-published January 2006

Prep: 30 min.
Bake: 30 min.
Cool: 10 min.

Yield: Makes 12 to 14 servings

Ingredients:

cooking spray
vegetable shortening
1/2 (4 ounce) semisweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
1/2 (4 ounce) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing
Mocha-Chocolate Cream Filling
Garnish: chocolate curls

Directions:

Coat 3 (8-inch) round cakepans with cooking spray. Line bottoms of pans with wax paper; grease wax paper with shortening, and set aside.

Melt chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth; set aside.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla.

Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating at low speed just until blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

Bake at 350° for 28 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread top with 4 tablespoons Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing. Spread half of Mocha-Chocolate Cream Filling evenly over ganache on cake layer. Top with second cake layer; spread top with 4 tablespoons Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing and remaining Mocha-Chocolate Cream Filling. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining Coffee Liqueur Ganache Icing on top and sides of cake. Garnish, if desired.


*** THANKS for visiting!

3 Quick Awesome Chocolate Recipes for the Holidays

From Denny: The holiday season is upon us and I'm on the hunt to find easy convenient recipes for us to enjoy during the holidays. Baking should be fun - and most times fast - so we can get down to the business of savoring that chocolate bite with a cup of steaming hot tea or coffee! Who's with me on this? All together now, everyone raise their virtual hands all at once! :)

Shortbread is often a holiday tradition in Europe and America. This almond fudge topped version is a new and wonderful twist as another way to use chocolate rather than the standard dipping and coating a cookie. The Chocolate Kisses Cookie Torte is a real show-stopper in the eye candy department and perfect for the holidays. While they do require some chilling time they can easily be made a day or two ahead of your big day.

The Really Chocolate Chocolate Cake is an easy basic cake to make with all purpose flour so you don't have to jump through hoops or run to the grocery store to make it since it comes from basic ingredients. We all know who follow this blog that chocolate is one of the major food groups and is always stashed in some form in our pantries. :) All I do with all purpose flour is sift it a few times to fluff it up so the cake is lighter, similar to using cake flour. It isn't exactly the same but is close enough.

Another quick note for beginner bakers: When using eggs in any baking recipe (unless otherwise noted) the standard is to use size large eggs. Use AA grade eggs when you can find them as those are the freshest and will give the best flavor and loft to your cake.

As to vegetable oil, when combining with chocolate I go for a neutral tasting oil like canola (also called rapeseed in Europe, correct me if I'm wrong on that one) so that the chocolate shines through to be the main player in the taste game.





Almond Fudge Topped Shortbread

From: Hershey's
Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli brand is wonderful too - feel free to use your best quality chocolate available)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Beat butter, powdered sugar and salt in large bowl until fluffy. Add flour; stir until well blended. With floured hands, press evenly into prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Shortly before end of baking time, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted. Remove from heat; stir in almond extract. Spread evenly over baked shortbread. Sprinkle with almonds; press down firmly. Cool.

4. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature. 24 to 36 bars.





Easy MINI KISSES Cookie Torte

From: Hershey's

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/3 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 package (11 oz.) pie crust mix
2-1/2 cups cold whipping cream
1-3/4 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S MINI KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates, divided

Directions:

1. Place sugar, cocoa, coffee, shortening and cinnamon in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 minute; stir. Continue microwaving, 30 seconds at a time, until mixture is smooth and creamy when stirred with wire whisk. Remove 3/4 cup of mixture; set aside remaining mixture.

2. Stir together pie crust mix and reserved 3/4 cup cocoa mixture, blending until smooth. Shape into ball; cut into 4 pieces. Shape into patties; wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for 10 minutes or just until firm, but pliable.

3. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with foil; mark two 8-inch diameter circles on each. Place one patty in center of each circle; press with fingers into marked circles. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost set; cool completely on foil.

4. Gently peel foil away from cookies. In bowl with remaining cocoa mixture, pour whipping cream; beat until whipped cream consistency, about 3 minutes. Place 1 cookie on serving plate; place chocolates all around the outside edge of cookie. Place one-fourth of cream mixture in center; gently spread out to chocolates.

5. Repeat layering with remaining 3 cookies, cream mixture and chocolates, ending with cream. Place remaining chocolates all over top of torte. Cover: refrigerate 4 hours until filling has softened cookies. Refrigerate leftover torte. About 10 servings.





Really Chocolate Chocolate Cake

From: Hershey's

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean and the top springs back when touched gently. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.


CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place melted butter in large mixer bowl. Add cocoa, stirring until smooth.

2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, beating until smooth. If necessary add additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, beating until spreading consistency. About 3 cups frosting.


*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, and come back often! :) Looks like I'll have to ramp up and start posting more than twice a week on the recipes during holiday season. And chocolate food hound is on the move...

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana Cake

From Denny: While I must admit the title had me curious, I just had to take a look at this delightful recipe over at the Jif site - and then laugh. Someone really knew what they were doing by giving it this title with the idea of dessert nirvana! :)

What are its awesome ingredients? Chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, Devils Food Cake and peanut butter are the winners combined to create dessert nirvana.

You might want to try out this easy recipe as a trial baking run before the holidays begin. After all, we do need to make sure it really is that good, right?! :) And practice makes perfect...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana Cake

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 55 min

Ingredients:

CAKE

• Crisco® Flour No-Stick Spray

• 1 (18.25 oz.) box Pillsbury® Devils Food Cake

• 1/2 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil

• 1 1/4 cups water

• 4 large eggs

• 1 (3.9 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix

• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

FROSTING

• 1/2 cup Pillsbury® Whipped Supreme® Vanilla Frosting

• 1/2 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter

• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

• 1/2 cup milk

• Chocolate curls or shavings for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup fluted pan with flour no-stick cooking spray.

2. COMBINE cake mix, oil, water, eggs and pudding mix in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. BAKE 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.

4. BEAT frosting, peanut butter, almond extract and milk in medium bowl with electric mixer until well combined. Spoon frosting over cooled cake. Garnish with chocolate shavings, if desired.

Recipe: Easy Cocoa Chocolate Sheet Cake

Image by Lonnon Foster via Flickr

From Denny: Do you need a simple cake recipe that doesn't require a whole lot of fuss? This easy recipe is the answer! What I like about it is that you don't even have to take it out of the pan to frost it. Better yet, while the cake is still hot, you pour hot frosting on top of it. How easy is that?

The frosted cake stays in the pan and you serve from there or you can "make it and take it" to a family gathering or school function for your kids. Try baking it in a disposable aluminum pan and then you can just throw away the pan after they gobble up this chocolatey goodness! :)

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 9x13-inch sheet cake

1 stick butter or margarine

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup cococa

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Frosting (recipe follows)


Directions:

1. Combine butter, oil, cocoa and water and bring to a boil.

2. Mix sugar and flour together and add boiling cocoa mixture. Mix well. When mixture has cooled down a bit, then add the eggs.

3. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and add to mixture. Add vanilla and cinnamon.

4. Spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray a 9x13-inch sheet pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree F. oven for 30 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and frost immediately.


Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar (granulated)

6 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk

1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup pecans


Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter, half-and-half or evaporated milk and chocolate and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Continue boiling for about 4 minutes until mixture reaches soft ball stage like in candy making. Remove from heat.

3. Sprinkle pecans over cake. Pour hot frosting on top of cake.

Note: Hide all the forks in your house because this cake won't last long! :)


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Recipe: Swiss Chocolate Cake

Image by norwichnuts via Flickr

From Denny: When this gorgeous photo pulled up for another chocolate recipe I just had to investigate for the recipe. Turns out the recipe is for a special diet when people can't tolerate too much cholesterol or animal products: vegan!

This cake is flourless and eggless. Give this recipe a try if you have diet restrictions or allergies.


From: norwichnuts @ flickr

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

1 cup vegetable margarine, melted

1 1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup water

Egg Replacer for 6 eggs

Garnish of your choice (used Soy Whip and a couple pieces Swiss Chocolate with powdered sugar but some other excellent choices are: whipped kreme, mixed berries and sauce, caramel sauce)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put chocolate in a bowl and add melted margarine. Boil water and 1 cup sugar. Add to chocolate and whip well, stirring until smooth.

Whip the replacer with remaining sugar. Fold in chocolate. Pour into prepared 8 to 9-inch cake pan (line bottom with parchment paper and "grease" sides with margarine).

Place on cookie sheet and add water to cookie sheet to create a bath. Bake 50 minutes. Cool and refrigerate overnight. Remove from pan, garnish and serve.


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Recipe: University Club's Skillet Chocolate Gooey Cake

Image by culinary.curiosity via Flickr

From Denny: For all you folks who like to try a different way of doing something, here's a way to cook a cake on top of the stove in a skillet! It has to be energy conscious rather than turning on the big oven to bake a cake. It looks like a real calorie monster so you know it tastes divine! For those of you who like gooey cakes and eat raw cake batter this cake is for you! :)

University Club's Skillet Chocolate Gooey Cake

Ingredients:

10 Tablespoons Butter

1 pound chocolate pieces

8 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

melted butter as needed

powdered sugar as needed

Directions:

Melt butter and chocolate pieces in double boiler. Stir until melted and smooth.
Add eggs to the chocolate mixture and whip until smooth. Add sugar and stir until smooth. Fold in the flour. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate the flour.

Lightly butter the skillet. On low to medium heat, add chocolate batter to skillet. let cook until sides are firm and firmness starts to move toward the center. Carefully turn cake over to cook top. Remember to keep the cake on low to medium heat. The bottom will burn if the fire is too high.

When cake is done all around the outside, place on plate and top with powdered sugar.

The cake will be gooey on the inside. Enjoy.


Baking and Confections, cake, chocolate, Cook, Cooking, Home, skillet cake, chocolate cake

Recipe: Sour Cream Chocolate Spice Cake With Penuche Fudge Frosting

From Denny: Featured recently in our local newspaper, this retro recipe was a big hit. I'd include the link to the newspaper except that it's useless as a link since they started archiving their recipes after a week and then force you to pay for them. For years the recipes were easily available and always free - long before this economic downturn.

This is a cake that would taste better the second day so the cinnamon and chocolate flavors could mellow out some. The flavor notes are brassier the first day, calming down to perfection by the second day. Try making the cake layers first and frosting on the second day (takes up less room in the fridge).

I've always had a soft spot for a chocolate cake made with sour cream as they play well together. Give this version a try! The brown sugar in the icing is a divine pairing with the chocolate cake portion. Maybe it's the molasses spun back into the processed white sugar to make the dark brown version. A small amount of molasses does not over power but rather adds a note of depth to food. (I even use dark brown sugar in my spaghetti and marinara sauces! Oops! The Secret is out...)

Enjoy this yummy cake. If you are a huge frosting fan you might want to double up on the batch for this cake as the news folks complained the frosting recipe was a bit skimpy. I'm not a fan of frosting unless it's a ganache so this recipe of a thin amount of frosting is fine with me. You decide what you like, enjoy!


Sour Cream Chocolate Spice Cake With Penuche Fudge Frosting

From: “The Country Fair Cookbook” by Alison Boteler

Makes: one (8-inch) 2-layer cake

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa

1-1/2 tsps. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsps. cinnamon

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sour cream

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Penuche Fudge Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two (8-inch) round pans with baking parchment.

2. Combine flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in large mixing bowl.

3. Add butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla and beat at low speed of electric mixer for 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula and beat at high speed 2 minutes. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and beat 1 minute longer.

4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

5. Cool layers completely. Remove from pans and peel off baking parchment. Fill and frost sides and top with frosting.

Testing note: Cake is moister and mellower tasting the second day. It does not need to be stored in the refrigerator, but it does need to be covered with a cake dome or plastic wrap. I found that 35 minutes was an adequate baking time.

Penuche Fudge Frosting

From: “The Country Fair Cookbook” by Alison Boteler

Makes: enough for one (8-inch layer cake)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large saucepan. Blend in brown sugar and bring to boil, stirring constantly.

2. Simmer over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring.

3. Stir in milk and return to boil. Remove from heat and cool until mixture is lukewarm to touch.

4. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar. Place pan in bowl of ice water and beat until frosting is of spreading consistency.

5. If frosting becomes too stiff to spread, beat in a few drops of milk.

Recipe: Chocolate and Pistachio Surprise Cake

From Denny: If you haven't heard of the fabulous blog Chocolate and Zucchini, written both in English and French, then, "Honey, you ain't living!" :) Seriously though, this wonderful site has been around a few years on the web (since 2003) and is written in a friendly manner, stuffed full to the rafters with awesome recipes! The writer is a Parisian woman by the name of Clotilde Dusoulier who started this blog to share her passion for all things food-related. Over time her passion for food writing made it possible to quit her day job and write full time!

While I'm putting up her recipe here, you really do need to go read what all she wrote before giving you the recipe. She's a wonderful and chatty writer, brimming over with information and good times. Take a little extra time and check out the rest of her site. She gives her recipes in both metric and American measurements.

Here is a small excerpt of her humorous writing: "To me, cakes pretty much fall under two categories, chocolate and non-chocolate, so I asked the birthday-girl-to-be (her sister) which kind she wanted. Her reply was that she simply wanted a surprise cake, so I followed my deeper instincts and went, well, the chocolate route."

Now does this sound like a woman after our own chocolate hearts or what?!! :) She also suggests you bake this cake a day ahead as she believes that dark chocolate cakes taste better on the second day, talk about making our life easier!

Chocolate and Pistachio Surprise Cake

Ingredients:

- 270 g (2 C) flour

- 2 tsp baking powder (1 envelope)

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 150 g (2/3 C) butter, at room temperature

- 300 g (1 1/4 C) white sugar

- 4 eggs

- 1 1/2 C (3 x 125 ml) plain yogurt or sour cream

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

- 60 g (1/3 C) chocolate chips

- 2 Tbsp pistachio paste

- 60 g (1/3 C) shelled pistachios, chopped


Ganache:

- 120 g (3 oz) baking dark chocolate

- 125 ml (1/2 C) whipping cream


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180°C (360°F). (350 degrees will do if your oven is not this exact.) Grease a 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan, preferably nonstick with a removable bottom.

Prepare the chocolate batter. In a food processor, mix together half of the sugar and half of the butter until fluffy. Add in two of the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each. Add in half of the yogurts and all the vanilla extract, mix again. In a medium bowl, combine half of the flour with half of the baking powder, half of the baking soda and all of the cocoa mixture. Add the flour mixture into the food processor and mix again until just combined. Pour the batter into the cake pan, and reserve in the refrigerator.

Rinse the bowl of the food processor, and prepare the pistachio batter: mix together the rest of the sugar, the rest of the butter and the pistachio paste. Add in the two last eggs, one at a time, mixing between each. Add in the rest of the yogurts and mix again. In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the flour with the rest of the baking powder and baking soda, and all of the chopped pistachios. Add into the food processor and mix again until just combined.

Take the cake pan out of the fridge, and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the surface of the chocolate batter. Gently pour the pistachio batter on top, and smooth out the surface with a spatula. Put into the oven to bake for about an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let rest for five minutes on the counter, then turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Prepare the ganache. Melt the dark chocolate with the whipping cream in a double boiler (or in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water), stirring with a spoon regularly until completely melted and velvety. Let the ganache rest until it has thickened a bit, about 30 minutes, and frost the cake using a small spoon.

You can either wait until the ganache has cooled and set before serving, or frost the cake just before you serve it, but the cake itself needs to have cooled down completely, it tastes better that way.

Recipe: Tunnel of Fudge Cake

What's left: half of a chocolate bundt cake! Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Now here's a perennial favorite with a lot of people besides yours truly! Bundt cakes are so easy to make and involve as many variations as your mind can conceive.

Tunnel of fudge cake

From: Chris Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated

Serves 12 to 14

INGREDIENTS

Cake

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan

1/2 cup boiling water

2 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped fine

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Chocolate glaze

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup light corn syrup

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Do not use a cake tester, toothpick, or skewer to test the cake — the fudgy interior won't give an accurate reading. Instead, remove the cake from the oven when the sides just begin to pull away from the pan and the surface of the cake springs back when pressed gently with your finger.

1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. Pour boiling water over chocolate in medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Whisk cocoa, flour, nuts, confectioners' sugar, and salt in large bowl. Beat eggs and vanilla in large measuring cup.

2. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. On low speed, add egg mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Add chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth batter, and bake until edges are beginning to pull away from pan, about 45 minutes. Cool upright in pan on wire rack for 1 1/2 hours, then invert onto serving plate and cool completely, at least 2 hours.

4. For the glaze: Cook cream, corn syrup, and chocolate in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in vanilla and set aside until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Drizzle glaze over cake and let set for at least 10 minutes. Serve. (Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

Recipe: Chocolate Sin Cake

Image by Bev (Sugarbloom Cupcakes) via Flickr

Photo of another kind of chocolate cake as it was so beautiful!

From: Café Sbisa

Ingredients:


2 lbs chocolate chips

1 1/3 lb butter

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup water

16 eggs


Directions: Heat chocolate and butter (chunks) in double boiler. Combine sugar and water in a sauté pan and simmer until dissolved, combine with chocolate mixture. Blend until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk eggs lightly, avoiding excessive air. Gently combine egg and chocolate mixtures.

Using 2 loaf pans lined with parchment, pour cake mix about 1 ½ inch thick. Place pans into a large roasting pan. Place in oven and fill the pan with water being careful not to float the cake pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Remove and let cool.

Refrigerate to remove from parchment, slice prior to service.

At Café Sbisa, we whip 1 teaspoon finely ground espresso with heavy cream and powdered sugar and top the cake. Add berries and a mint sprig for garnish.

Recipe: Alberta Fudge Cake

Basically, this cake has a thick layer of real pecan fudge laying on top as the icing. This cake is so very rich you might want to serve only in very small portions or keep it for the holidays.

Note: Be specific about cooking the fudge until it registers 236 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Alberta Fudge Cake

From: Michael Doumit, from Lafayette, Louisiana, originally featured in Travelhost Magazine.

Yield: Makes a 9x13-inch cake.

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1-1/2 cups flour

6 tbls. cocoa

2 tsps. vanilla

2 cups chopped pecans

Fudge Icing

4 cups sugar

1 stick butter

1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk

12 ozs. semisweet chocolate chips

1 (7-oz.) jar marshmallow crème

3 cups chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla


1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a (9x13x2-inch) baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In mixer, blend butter and sugar until thoroughly mixed and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and blend.

3. Sift flour and cocoa together and add to above mixture. Add vanilla and chopped pecans.

4. Pour into greased or parchment-lined pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool, then top with Fudge Icing.

Fudge Icing

1. In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture registers 236 degrees on candy thermometer.

2. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and marshmallow crème. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in pecans and vanilla and pour over cake. Cool until fudge sets.

Recipe: Nigella Lawson Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake

Nigella Lawson Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake Recipe #303266
From the chocolate cake chapter in her book 'Feast'. This is one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made. I sometimes add the juice and zest of half a lemon to the batter.
by Flowerfairy
3¼ hours | 2½ hours prep

SERVES 12 , 1 cake

2 small thin-skinned oranges, approx. 375g total weight (or 1 large)

6 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

200 g ground almonds

250 g caster sugar

50 g cocoa

orange peel, for decoration

Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft.

Drain, and when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips.

Then pulp everything - pith, peel and all - in a food processor.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C Butter and line a 20cm springform tin.

Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mixture, but slightly knobbly with the flecks of puréed orange.

Pour and scrape into the cake tin and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven.

Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the tin. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.

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