Tag Archives: chocolate

Birthday Bundt Cake

15 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Cake

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madmen4

So today’s my birthday.

:)

I always bake my own birthday cake.

It’s always chocolate.

I like to think of it as a special birthday gift to myself.

a.) It gives me an excuse to bake, which I love. It’s calming and utterly satisfying. And smells pretty fabulous.
b.) It gives me an excuse to throw a party. Specifically a Mad Men themed birthday party (complete with Canadian Whiskey Punch, deviled eggs, stuffed celery, bruschetta, pretty dresses, ties, and pearls.) And how can you not have a 60′s style party without a bundt cake?!?
c.) They’re really fun to frost.
d.) It tastes pretty darn good.
e.) I’m fairly certain I could make a list of reasons A-Z of why baking and eating a chocolate birthday cake is wonderful, but I’ll stop at E and give you the recipe so I can retain most of my readers.
f.) I lied. I’m stopping at F. I just had to note that I think I make too many lists.
g.) But they help me stay organized.

Anyway…

I spent last Friday night completely giddy baking this cake. I was home alone, so I cranked up the country music, put on a pretty apron, and got out my spatula, butter, and sugar. And my neighbors most likely cursed all the way ’til 11 p.m. when I was finally done with this because of a.) the blaring twang of country happening in my kitchen, b.) my singing that went along with it, and c.) the fact that they didn’t have enough courage to knock on my door and ask for a slice, which I’m positive they could smell down the hall (and yes, I would’ve shared, and then just proceeded to make another cake.)

The cake got rave reviews at the party. What homemade cake doesn’t?

I think box mixes do their job.

But you are an alien if you think box mixes win over homemade.

madmen5

Chocolate Birthday Bundt Cake

From The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs

Frosting:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp light corn syrup
  • 1-1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a bundt pan and set aside. (You can also bake in two 9 inch or 8 inch round pans, cupcakes, or 13x9x2 inch pan — but baking times will vary for each.)
  2. Stir the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl.
  3. Add the butter, buttermilk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients all at once. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed using an electric mixer, or 300 strokes by hand. If you use an electric mixer, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl often with a rubber spatula.
  4. Add eggs. Beat for an additional 2 minutes, scraping bottom and sides of bowl often.
  5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Then invert onto a cake plate and let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

  1. Sift together the sugar and cocoa in medium saucepan. Add butter, milk, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Set pan in a bowl of cold water.
  2. When the chocolate syrup is cool to the touch, stir in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. If frosting is too thin, add a little more confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. If frosting is too thick, add a little more milk.
  3. Frost the cooled cake. Decorate with candles. Sing “Happy Birthday”, or whatever song you want. Blow out candles. Slice into cake. Admire. Devour. Enjoy.

madmen14

My Two Cents

Turning 26 isn’t so bad when you’re surrounded by your amazing friends, sipping Whiskey Punch, wearing pearls, and eating this decadent chocolate cake.

Also, if you ever plan on throwing a 60′s themed party, you absolutely need to purchase The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook. It is phenomenal.

Their cocktail recipes are really fabulous, especially. I don’t have a picture of the Canadian Clubhouse Punch that I made that night because even though I doubled the recipe, it was gone very quickly ;)

Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Cake, Dessert

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chocolate peanut butter cake

You almost don’t even need me here to explain this.

Just the picture.

Sometimes pictures don’t do food justice.

And sometimes.

They Do.

I made these for Valentine’s Day. If you know me, I’m not the type of blogger that has her seasonal posts up on time. It’s a miracle I even remembered to take pictures of these. I’m the type that decides at 3 p.m. on Valentine’s Day that she’s going to run to the store and get steaks and champagne and cook an elegant meal to enjoy with her husband when he comes home from a long day at classes. And the perfect ending to all of that are molten chocolate cakes. I added peanut butter to the mix. Because peanut butter is awesome.

Wait, I said “molten”? These don’t look molten!? ;) Ummm… they’re supposed to be molten cakes. But when you’ve had two glasses of champagne and are putting away leftover steak, you might forget that there are some beautiful cakes in the oven… Luckily these can work as either individual perfectly puffy and slightly underbaked cakes, or gooey molten cakes.

I’m going to stop talking now.

Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes

Adapted from Sunset
Makes 2- 3 mini cakes (depending on the size of ramekins)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 eggs
  • 8 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp flour

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 or 3 ramekins generously with cooking spray. If your ramekins are small (about 1/2 cup size), use 3. If they are large (about 3/4 cup size), use 2.
  2. Put the butter and chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds if necessary, and continue these steps until the chocolate and butter are smooth and shiny, being careful not to scorch the chocolate. Let cool for a few minutes.
  3. Whisk the egg, sugar, and peanut butter in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until well incorporated, then stir in the salt and flour until just combined.
  4. Pour the batter evenly into the ramekins. Set them on a baking sheet and bake 7-10 minutes for a molten and gooey center, and 10-12 minutes for a firmer center (like mine).
  5. Let cake cool for 2 minutes, then carefully invert the cake onto a plate, loosening gently with a knife. (This is why it’s so important to generously grease the ramekin, or it might get stuck!)
  6. Top with drizzled chocolate, whipped cream, a piece of fruit, or all three.
  7. Die and go to heaven.

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My Two Cents

These are divine. I love molten cakes. They look so elegant, but are incredibly easy to make. Serve these at a dinner party and wow your guests, or like me, wow your date on a romantic evening for two! Or, hoard these for yourself and don’t share because they’re pretty damn good.

Enjoy ;)

A Doozy of a Boozy Chocolate Rum Cake

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Cake

≈ 9 Comments

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rum cake powdered

I never thought there was a thing as too much rum until I made this chocolate rum cake.

I love chocolate cake. And I like rum. And someone suggested I make a rum cake for the holidays. So I went trolling around the internet and came across this one from The Food in My Beard. The pictures looked amazing. The commenters were drooling. I was giddy. I had to had to had to had to make it for New Year’s Eve!  It was going to be absolutely delicious!

And so I eagerly got out all the ingredients while vacationing at the in-laws. I whipped up the chocolate batter, which included one cup of rum. That’s a lot, I thought, but baking it will bake off some of the alcohol. So bake it I did. And it smelled heavenly right out of the oven. And following the recipe to the button, I also made the extra butter/rum sauce — which consisted of almost another cup of rum — and half of it was straight up. No cooking. No boiling. Just straight rum.

rum and chocolate

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I thought. This is going to be a really, really strong cake. In fact, this has the potential to make you drunk just by eating it.

Right before I poured the butter-rum over the cake to let it soak, I hesitated for half a second. Buttttt the recipe says so. So regardless of the consequences, I’m doing this.

And in the rum went. I let it sit overnight and after a beautiful dinner of Cornish hens, asparagus, and roasted potatoes, me and my husband’s family eagerly dug into the sugar-coated, drunken chocolate rum cake…

…And were instantly HIT in the face with booze.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise. But I’ve had desserts with alcohol in them, and usually it’s a little hint of it. A nice finishing taste.

Nope. Not so with this cake. It was like taking a shot of chocolate rum. And we all had a hard time finishing our slices. My brother-in-law actually was dividing his piece into “shots” of cake.

Sure enough, I was a little tipsy after eating it…

SO the moral of the story is to follow your instincts and not add that extra uncooked rum to this cake. The cake itself was delicious and moist and dense and perfect. But in a world where I thought there could never be too much rum….there was.

;)

rum cake

Chocolate Rum Cake (From The Food in My Beard)
Makes 1  bundt cake
>> Click here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

  • 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup dark rum
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

And if you so dare… an additional:

  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark rum (OPTIONAL — do NOT add this if you want to taste something other than rum when you eat this. If your goal is to get drunk off of cake, though, do add it.)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan. (I used cocoa powder to flour mine, so that there is no white residue on the chocolate cake.)
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  3. Place the chocolate, butter, and 1 cup of rum in a large microwavable bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until it is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. This should take 3-4 rounds of microwaving.
  4. Add half of the dry ingredients to the chocolate/butter/rum mixture. Stir until incorporated. Then add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the cake is slightly pulling away from the pan and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (NOTE: At this point, the cake will be delicious on its own. You can stop here, let it cool, make your own frosting, and it’ll be dandy and delightful that way. If you are more daring, make the butter/rum sauce with 1/4 cup of rum ONLY and continue on with the directions. If you are even MORE daring, pour in that other 1/2 cup of rum, too.)
  6. Meanwhile, make the butter/rum mixture. Bring the butter, 1/4 cup rum, and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Let it gently boil for 3 minutes. Then whisk in the additional 1/2 cup of rum.
  7. When the cake is done, let it rest for 10 minutes. Do not take it out of the pan. Instead, pour the butter/rum mixture over the cake and let it rest at room temperature for about an hour until the rum has completely absorbed. Then let cake rest for another hour on a cooling rack. And finally, for optimal rum absorption, cover the cake and let it rest overnight.
  8. Dust with powdered sugar or top, serve with whipped cream, or frost it!
  9. Serve to adults only, please.

rum cake slice

My Two Cents: I pretty much covered it above, I think. The cake was good, but way, way, way too strong with the extra rum. No exaggerations when I say it was like taking a shot of rum. Next time I make this, I will skip the butter/rum addition and make a nice frosting or some whipped cream to go along with it.

Enjoy — if you dare! ;)

Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Cookies

≈ 6 Comments

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snowball cookies 3

I told you I wouldn’t be making Christmas cookies until it was actually Christmas. And naturally, a week or two later, I’m getting to posting them ;)

I love chocolate crinkle cookies. I love how seasonal they are, how pretty they are, and how delicious they are. However, I think the traditional ones are a huge pain. The dough is usually really sticky and hard to work with, so you have to chill it between batches, and in the end, it’s a big mess (but my hands are usually nicely moisturized).

So I thought, hey, maybe a brownie-mix-cookie-dough could potentially work as a chocolate crinkle cookie recipe. And sure enough, one little Google search later dropped me on the jackpot from Taste of Home — Brownie Crackle Cookies. Easy, easy, easy, and tasty. The four most important criteria for any cookie.

snowball cookies

Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (From Taste of Home)
Makes 3 1/2 – 4 dozen
>> Click Here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

  • 1 package fudge brownie mix (13-in. x 9-inch pan size)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the brownie mix, flour, egg, water and oil with a wooden spoon until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
  3. Place about 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar in a shallow dish. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls into sugar; roll to coat. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Let cool in pans to firm up a bit for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

snowball cookies 2

My Two Cents: I think these cookies are great any time during the winter, especially when it’s snowing outside :) If it’s not winter, you can actually just omit the confectioners’ sugar completely and bake these without the sugar coating. These brownie cookies are fabulous either way — and always a crowd pleaser!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Cake, Dessert

≈ 6 Comments

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I have never, ever, been more in love with a cupcake.

Cupcakes are iffy territory. They can’t have big muffin tops, or you can’t fit them in your mouth. The frosting can’t be a mile high, and definitely not too sweet. The cake has to be moist and just slightly crumbly — but not too crumbly, but not too dense.

And people.

People.

Women, Men, Children everywhere.

I am 100% certain I have found the ultimate cupcake recipe thus far in my cupcake eating career.

Several members of my family were celebrating birthdays this past weekend, and I volunteered to bring the cake.

My family is made up of chocoholics. If you put a chocolate dessert out on the table among a spread of others (vanilla, fruit, etc.), the chocolate disappears first. So I knew I had to stick to the chocolate realm.

So I started browsing my cake and cupcake board on Pinterest and saw chocolate cupcakes with a Nutella frosting. I thought, “why has such a confection never entered my mouth?!” I had to make it, and after searching for a few recipes, I settled on this cake from Taste of Home and this Nutella Buttercream Frosting from 52 Kitchen Adventures.

And they were like two peas and a pod.

This cake is perfectly moist with just a slight bit of crumble — I love using buttermilk for that reason. You get the moisture, but it doesn’t get dense. So beautifully fluffy. And the frosting was so so so superb. It wasn’t too sweet — the Nutella wasn’t clouded by powdered sugar, just enhanced.

Just try it.

Just please, please, make this.

No one could stop at just one…if that convinces you ;)

Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting (via Taste of Home and 52 Kitchen Adventures)
Makes 24
>> Click Here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup water
    Frosting
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temp
  • 1 cup Nutella
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp buttermilk (or regular milk)

Directions:

  1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line 24 muffin tins with muffin liners.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, beating well. Beat in the vanilla.
  3. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Then combine the buttermilk and water. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk mixture to the sugar and butter mixture, beating well after each addition.
  4. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they spring back when you touch them. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
  5. For the frosting: Beat the butter until smooth. Add Nutella and beat together until combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time) until mixed well. Add 1 tbsp of milk — beat well. Add another tbsp of milk and/or powdered sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
  6. Pipe or spread the frosting on each cupcake.
  7. Devourrr.

My Two Cents: If you don’t make a lot of cupcakes, here’s my advice: don’t overfill the liners. These cupcakes rise just enough so that if you fill them 3/4 full, they rise just to the rim of the liner, which = perfectly sized for biting into.

You could just make this Nutella buttercream frosting by itself and be set for life.

Make sure you keep frosting consistency in mind when making this. You don’t want the frosting to be too stiff…or you may run out of it. You also don’t want it to be too runny, or it will be a sticky mess. Start out with 1 tbsp of milk, and add it in very small amounts until you reach that perfect piping consistency.

If you want to make this into a round cake, you can do that, too!

:)

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

27 Saturday Oct 2012

Posted by in Bars, Brownies, Dessert, Easy

≈ 2 Comments

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I want to say that I have an unhealthy obsession with pumpkin.

But pumpkin is healthy for you.

So I’m just going to say I have a healthy obsession with pumpkin.

There’s actually a small OCD portion of me that fears that at some point in my life pumpkin is going to go extinct. Maybe it’s because Hurricane Irene wiped out a good chunk of the pumpkin crop last year, and ever since then, I don’t let the pumpkin supply go under 4 cans in my cupboard. Maybe it’s because I watch too many doomsday movies. Or actually, maybe I’m just crazy.

It’s probably that last one.

Uhmm….well regardless, I have yet another pumpkin recipe for you.

I’m really truly sorry if you actually hate pumpkin. Though by this time you may have stopped reading my blog if that’s the case, so I might actually be talking to my avid readers who love pumpkin just as much as me. But listen. Even if you don’t like pumpkin, these bars don’t actually have any taste of pumpkin in them at all.

Seriously.

It’s just like chocolate cake.

Except mildly healthier for you.

And since they’re mildly healthier, you can eat them for breakfast.

(At least I did.)

Pumpkin Chocolate Oatmeal Bars (Adapted from The Good Enough Girl)
Makes 16 squares
>> Click Here for Printable Recipe <<

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 cups old fashioned oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup plus 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 pan and set aside.
  2. Sift together the dry ingredients (flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and oats) in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then add in the oil and sugar and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Add in the pumpkin and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. (At this point you can add in a cup of nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips — I skipped this.)
  5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  6. Let cool completely — then cut into 16 squares — devour immediately, or wrap individually and freeze for a convenient treat whenever you need it! :)

My Two Cents: I’m obsessed. These were so fluffy and so delicious and just what I needed after a long week! However, they may be a bit too crumbly for some of you out there. (Cutting back on the amount of oil makes it crumble more.) To remedy this, add a smidge more oil if you want, or add in about 1/4 cup of applesauce, but they held together good enough for my hungry heart, so I actually wouldn’t change it if I made it again.

What’s your favorite pumpkin treat? :)