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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Video: Making the Best Burger from the 21 Clubs Famous Chef

From Denny: It's still summer and Labor Day weekend is coming up quickly! Take some tips from this famous chef at the 21 Club about their famous burgers. And invite me over to your place, pahleez! :)

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Shrimp Festival: In Delcambre, Louisiana Starts on August 12

Shrimp Festival is from August 12th to 16th outside Lafayette

From Denny: Looking for more Louisiana Bloggers. One new blogger friend posted up today on one of my blogs. She had a problem being able to leave a comment - turns out Blogger now knows about the issue. Same goes for the Followers from Blogger widget acting weird and not showing your friends and links to their blogs.



Anyway, put Marguerite on my blog list so you can visit her blog, Cajun Delights. She lives in Lafayette, about a 45 minute drive from Baton Rouge. That's the beauty of south Louisiana for a tourist: you can fly into New Orleans, drive to the capital city Baton Rouge (Red Stick)in an hour 15 minutes, stay over a day or so and visit various attractions and eat well, then take a day drive to Lafayette in 45 minutes and definitely eat well when you arrive there! :)



Delcambre Shrimp Festival, go here. Delcambre is about 20 miles outside Lafayette where this time of year they perform the annual blessing of the ever so productive shrimp fleet. Many other attractions like yummy cook-offs (there goes my diet: again...) and as is typical in Cajun Country there is fun toe-tapping live music the whole family can enjoy!

Funny Chocolate Poster

From Denny: StumbleUpon is an endless source of amusement for us. There are some fellow low-life downright snarky chocophiles lurking over there too and here is one funny I found today and thought I'd share. Try saying this joke with a straight face at your next party! :)