Flourless chocolate espresso cake with berries

From Denny: A flourless chocolate cake is always awesome. How about kicking it up a notch by adding rich dark expresso to it? Then pile on some wonderful berries to finish. Skip the usual Christmas suspects of fruitcakes soaked in bourbon for the past year, go chocolate! :)

If you don't have time to fit this into your holiday plans, keep it in mind for New Year's or Valentine's! I know I will! Guess I have a lot of chocolate on my brain as I just finished making 84 cookies today for some of my husband's accounts who requested them - and by the time I'm finished it will be around 400. Nothing like last minute requests to slow down your posting! :)

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake with berries

From: Chef Jim Nuetzi, Capital Grill

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. Guittard semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 lb. Unsalted butter, diced
• 1 C. Freshly-brewed espresso
• 1 C. Golden brown sugar
• 8 Eggs, beaten to blend
• Bath of hot water
• Fresh raspberries For garnish

Raspberry sauce

• 1 1/2 lbs. Raspberries
• 1/4 lb. Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a 9-inch diameter cake pan with 2 inch high sides with parchment. Place all chocolate in large bowl.

Bring butter, espresso and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Add chocolate; whisk until smooth and cool slightly.

Whip eggs till blended. Stir eggs into chocolate mixture until blended. Do not whip.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Place cake pan in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.

Bake until center of cake is set and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes.

Remove pans from water and chill cake overnight.

Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Using oven mitts, hold pan bottom over low heat for 15 seconds, warming slightly to release cake. Place platter over pan. Hold pan and platter together tightly and invert. Lift off cake pan, peel off parchment and dust top of each cake with cocoa powder.

Cut cake into ten slices and garnish with fresh raspberries and raspberry sauce.

Raspberry sauce:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the raspberries, sugar and salt.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Combine all ingredients in a blender, puree, and pour through a strainer.


*** THANKS for visiting and have a great holiday!

New Austrian Zoo Photographer is Fruit Happy Orangutan

From Denny: This is pretty funny and downright humbling to those of us who enjoy taking photographs and fancy ourselves as artists! :) But hey! It's long been known many a "starving artist" will work for food and this one happens to love fruit.

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

*** THANKS for visiting!

Sweet! Make a Fun Gingerbread House

From Denny: OK, so when was the last time you made a gingerbread house for the holidays? These can range from the very simple to the extravagant and are a lot of fun, displaying your holiday spirit for all to enjoy and admire.

Just think of all the edible items around your house you can use to decorate. A chef shows us how to make an awesome one! I went and got the recipe and the stencil pdf file links for you all in one place should you decide to make this particular one. Even if you don't have time this year, think about doing it for next year!

Every year I love to watch the White House specials that display the White House chef's Christmas gingerbread house. It sure is spectacular and quite an artwork.

This video will make you smile! Take a look:

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Gingerbread house

From: Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner of Wallse restaurant

INGREDIENTS

For gingerbread dough:

• 2 sticks butter
• 1 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1/2 cup golden honey
• 6 eggs
• 7 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons all-spice
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

For icing mixture:

• 1 pound of powdered sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Materials to assemble:

• 14x20 inch base for house. Can be a piece of wood or cardboard.
• Exacto knife
• Offset spatula
• Pairing knife
• Pastry bag
• Cornet
• Pastry tip
• Template
• Decorations: pretzel rods, hard candies, marshmallows, nuts, candy canes, shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS

For gingerbread:

In a stand mixer on a medium speed, mix together the butter and sugar until well incorporated, then add the molasses and honey. Next, slowly add the eggs until well mixed. Finally, add the sifted flour, spices, baking soda and mix this for 5 minutes.

Wrap in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Use cutting board to roll out dough 1/4-inch thick. Place template over rolled out dough and cut out your shape with knife. Don't throw out excess dough; instead save this to make gingerbread cookies later!

Tip: Keep in mind your dimensions will be restricted to a 12 x 18 baking sheet and your templates should be made accordingly. Templates can be purchased from craft stores, found online, or traced from an architecture book you admire.

Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until nicely browned (about 15 minutes).

Tip: Add a shiny pearl-like finish to house. Remove gingerbread from oven, while still warm use pastry brush to coat with sugar mixture. For sugar mixture, place 3 parts sugar and 1 part water in a pot and bring to boil. Stir around with a wooden spoon along the rim of pot until the liquid becomes a light milky color. Then it is ready for use. This gives the house a shiny pearl-like finish.

For icing:

After your gingerbread pieces have cooled (preferably overnight), you are ready to begin assembly using the icing mixture as glue. This icing mixture should be prepared just before its use and placed in pastry bag. Simply mix the powdered sugar, egg whites, and vinegar in a mixer until smooth.

Tip: Adding vinegar to your icing mixture producers a very strong glue-like power. You can also add food coloring to this mixture to create icing in your favorite holiday colors!

To assemble:
Coat your entire base (either piece of cardboard or 14x20 wood) with icing and place the back wall of your house on the base, coating the edges again with icing.

Next place the side walls on, again coating all the edges with icing, followed by the front piece. The roof, which is in 2 pieces, goes on last, again coating the edges with icing before applying. If you like you can coat all of the exposed edges with icing for a finished look. Now we are ready to decorate.

Tip: Building your house from back to front allows easier mobility while working and ensures that you will leave enough room for the "front lawn" of your house.

Decorating can be done with several items you can find around the home. Hard candies like peppermints, Red Hots, and Smarties work well. Marshmallows, wrapped Hershey Kisses, yogurt pretzels, cotton candies, and nuts can also be used. Simply use your icing to attach all décor, as you like.

Tip: Use assorted nuts to create a cobblestone path. Shredded coconut works great for snow and cotton candy can be used for smoke coming from your chimney. Yogurt cover pretzels and candy canes (cut in half and turned upside down) can be used to make a fence surrounding the house.

Display and enjoy!

front of house pdf file

side panels pdf file

roof pdf file

*** THANKS for visiting and have a fun filled holiday!

Funny Christmas Quotes and More Holiday Fun

From Denny: Here's an excerpt and a sampling of this week's Cheeky Quote Day post over at my other humorous blog, The Social Poets, enjoy! Just so you won't miss out on more grins, there's a link at the end of this post to take you there. :)

5 Funny Christmas Quotes

* The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. - George Carlin

* Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it. - Richard Lamm

* Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven. – W. C. Fields

* Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas. – Johnny Carson

* Let me see if I've got this Santa business straight. You say he wears a beard, has no discernible source of income and flies to cities all over the world under cover of darkness? You sure this guy isn't laundering illegal drug money? - Tom Armstrong

Funny Christmas Story

Saying the Holiday Prayer

A four-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before Christmas dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food.

He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited ... and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?"

Then there's the "local" version of the famous Christmas classic "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

The Night Before Christmas in Brooklyn, New York


'Twas the night before Christmas,
Da whole house was mella,
Not a creature was strirrin',
Cuz I had a gun unda da pilla.

When up on da roof
I heard somethin' pound,
I sprung to da window,
To scream, "YO! Keep it down!"

When what to my
Wanderin' eyes should appear,
But da Don of all elfs,
And eight friggin' reindeer!

Wit' slicked back black hair,
And a silk red suit,
Don Christopher wuz here,
And he brought da loot!

Wit' a slap to dare snouts
And a yank on dare manes,
He cursed and he shouted
And he called dem by name

"Yo Tony, Yo Frankie,
Yo Vinny, Yo Vito,
Ay Joey, Ay Paulie,
Ay Pepe, Ay Guido!"

As I drew out my gun
And hid by da bed,
He flew troo da winda
And slapped me 'side da head.

"What da hell you doin'
Pullin' a gun on da Don?
Now all you're gettin' is coal,
You friggin' moron!"

Den pointin' a fat finga
Right unda my nose,
He twisted his pinky ring,
And up da chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh,
Obscenities screamin',
Away dey all flew,
Before he troo dem a beatin'.

Den I heard him yell out,
What I did least expect,
"Merry Friggin' Christmas to all,
And yous better show some respect!

- (Understandably) Anonymous

*** For the full post over at The Social Poets go check out The Funny Side of Christmas - Cheeky Quote Day! 16 Dec 2009

*** THANKS for visiting and have a great holiday!

Fun Kid Friendly Holiday Breakfast and Candy Recipes

From Denny: Living in south Louisiana we are kid friendly when it comes to food. Kids here learn to cook and bake at an early age. So, let's use this holiday time as both a teaching moment and for fun and family bonding. After all, that's what the true Spirit of Christmas is all about.

Here are a couple of delightful holiday food projects you and the kids can enjoy together as they are that simple! There are candy Santa lollipops you can wrap in colorful cellophane or plastic wrap and give to friends and neighbors.

Even the smallest children can join in the fun by helping to add the little candies for Santa's eyes or the mini marshmallows for his beard. These are the kinds of magical moments that children remember for a life time!

And what about Christmas breakfast? You can turn this into a traditional family time with relaxed ease. This refrigerated crescent roll breakfast Christmas Tree is sure to become a family favorite for the holidays!





Photo from Pillsbury

Crescent Christmas Tree

From: Pillsbury

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

Bread
2 (8-oz.) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
2 tbls. butter, softened
2 tbls. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbl. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Garnish
Red and green candied cherries, halved

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. Spread each rectangle with margarine.

2. In small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over rectangles.

3. Starting at shorter side, roll up each rectangle; seal edge.

4. Cut each roll crosswise into 3 equal slices. Put slices cut-side down on greased cookie sheet to form tree. Begin with 1 slice for top; 2 slices just below, with sides closely touching. Continue arranging a row of 3 slices, then a row of 4 slices. Use the last 2 slices for the trunk.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 3 minutes; carefully remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly.

6. In small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth; drizzle over tree. Garnish with candied cherry halves.



Santa Lollipops

From: The Reynolds Kitchens


Makes: 8

Ingredients:

Color plastic wrap
Parchment paper
2 (1 oz. each) white chocolate baking bars
8 popsicle sticks
Red sugar sprinkles
Minimarshmallows
Candy-coated chocolate pieces
Gumdrops

Directions:

1. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Melt baking bars following package directions. For each lollipop, pour a free-form shape of melted candy onto lined cookie sheet to make Santa’s face and point of his hat. Insert a popsicle stick at the bottom. Drizzle on more coating where the stick joins with the lollipop.

3. Sprinkle hat with red sugar sprinkles. Use mini marshmallows for beard and brim and tassel of hat. Add candy-coated chocolates for eyes and nose; use gumdrops for cheeks.

4. Place cookie sheet in refrigerator until candy coating hardens. Lift lollipop from parchment.

5. Wrap with color plastic wrap. Gather plastic wrap around stick; tie with ribbon.

*** THANKS for visiting and have a fun filled holiday season!