I know there are a million and one devils food cake recipes out there, but this one is one you will treasure and proudly serve over and over. It begins with a cooked chocolate custard base which you add dry ingredients, which lends the very moist texture.
3 (1 oz) sqs unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 cups cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Combine 1/2 cup milk, chocolate,whole egg,and 2/3 cup sugar. Cook over low heat until thick. Cool. Cream shortening, remaining sugar. Add egg yolks and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients alternatively with 1 cup milk and vanilla. Stir in cooked chocolate mixture. Pour into 2 8″ pans which you have lined with wax paper and greased. Bk for about 22-25 min in a preheated 350 oven. Cool and remove from pans. Frost with chocolate frosting of your choice. Mine is on the blog and is a really good dark chocolate frosting.
Month: October 2011
Ghirardelli Chocolate Cheesecake
I have been in Dallas exactly one week today and both Randy and I have gained 5 lbs. We are back in a world of fast foods, drive thrus and a land where chocolate is King. As soon as I arrived my son in law( who we affectionately call SIL) asked me to bake a chocolate cake, a red velvet cake, chicken and dumplings, tacos and heavenly hots). I have had the great experience of frequenting the huge grocery stores here until I have spent our retirement. BUT…..Jodi now has plentybof cocoa, cake mixes, cream cheese and lbs of butter. She can bake anything she would ever want….or wait until I come back thanksgiving and let me bake. I think I know which choice she will make. In lolly gagging around the grocery stores I have been going crazy buying things I cannot find out in Sushiville. This cheesecake is so good, so easy and you will think you have had Paula Deen in your kitchen baking for you.
Crust
1 1/2 cups thin chocolate wafers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 bar (4oz) Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking bar, melted
Topping
1 bar (4oz) Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking barm melted
1/2 cup sour cream
Crust: mix wafer crumbs with butter and press with spoon onto bottom and half way up sides of a 8″ springform pan.
Filling: blend cream cheese with sugar. Add eggs and beat until well mixed.
Add melted chocolate, beating until thick and smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 30-40 min or until firm in center. Chill 4 hrs or overnight.
Topping: stir melted chocolate into sour cream and spread over top. Chill until firm.
Frisco Frenzy
This has got to be one of the most memorable days in many years. We are back in Texas for Randy’s mom’s funeral and to celebrate her life. We will be having lots of dinners with family and close friends. Hence the grocery store stop this morning. I dropped off my daughter at work to keep her car to do some grocery shopping, not realizing at the time that this day would be such a most memorabie day. Knowing that tomorrow would have me running back and forth to the airport 3 different times to pick up family, I thought I would go ahead and do the shopping for food today to get a jump start. As I walked in to the WallMart store, which in itself, took my breath away, that there was one within a mile of my daughters house….(let me just pause for a minute and reflect on that, one mile away, that is just so beautiful), I headed straight to the frozen food section, just to hold a bag of frozen Sister Schubert rolls in my hands before tackling the shopping lists. There, in the frozen bread section, my eyes fell on shelves of Sausage rolls, cinnamon rolls, yeast dinner rolls, whole wheat or white, it was just such a Hallmark moment. I had to pull out my phone and take a picture of all the rolls that were sitting there just waiting for me. After I took that in, I headed straight for the frozen veggie isle, and there they were, the cutest little sacks of frozen breaded okra, just looking so sourthern….I quickly opened the door to the veggies and just couldn’t decide how many to take, but then I realized that maybe I should leave them right there until I was through with the lists, that way, they would still be frozen for the trip home to fix for dinner tonight. I want to be sure that they are at their peak when I take them out of the package and lower each little pod into the hot frying pan. As I slowly make my way up and down the grocery isles, I remember where I am, I am in Dr. Pepper Land, oh my gosh, what was I waiting for……I pushed the little grocery cart as fast as I could, closer, closer…..there they were….life’s little treasure..Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Peppers….i bought all they had….it was at this moment that in the midst of what the next couple of days will hold, which will be sadness at saying goodbye to Hazel, but knowing that she and Howard are finally together again, in the presence of our Lord, we would be together as a family, joined by memories of the years that we had with Hazel, lots of memories shared with her around the table, talking and enjoying holidays and hearing her tell us that “oh my, this is just too much food” that we will once again be reminded that it is the little things in our lives that we remember most, the Diet Dr Peppers, the fried okra with chicken and dumplins, the banana pudding that she loved to make, these are a few of the things that will be a treasure in our hearts about her as we sit around the table this weekend and enjoy, once again, the best of all times, being with family.
I found a recipe last night that blew me away. It was in a book that our daughter, Christi sent me that she found in Branson, Missouri and it is most unusual, simple but now, one that I will be making over and over. I had to get up and make it. It makes two layers but it was hard not to eat one whole layer even without frosting (this coming from ms frosting queen) this cake is so light and fluffy , you won’t believe it. The only change I made was using almond extract instead of vanilla extract because I just love almond flavoring. You could even frost this and chop Almond Joys over the top layer after frosting with your favorite frosting!
Whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream until firm. Add 2 eggs,one at a time beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and beat until mixed well. Add 1 teas vanilla or almond extract. Sift 1 1/2 cups cake flour with 2 teas baking powder and 1/2teas salt. Stir flour mixture into whipped cream mixture until no lumps remain. Pour into 2 8″ or 9″ if you don’t have 8″ lined with wax paper and greased pans. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until top feels done to the touch. Should not dent when touched.
Pineapple Cheesecake Pies
This recipe is from my neighbor who was from NYC and who cooked some of the best desserts and Italian food ever. She shared each and every recipe I requested back in the 70’s and 80’s and this recipe was just one of her best. It is so good to serve at dinner parties, as it makes 2 9″ pies and very easy and quick.
Crusts:
1 pack (6 oz Zweiback cookies ground into crumbs (I use Keebler Sandies (the ones without pecans)Cookies to equal 6 oz. (about 1 cup crushed cookies)
2 tables sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
Mix crumbs, sugar and melted butter until blended. Using back of spoon, pat mixture into 2 deep pyrex pie plates, covering bottom bottom and sides. Drain a #303 can of crushed pineapple. Carefully put half of pineapple in each pie plate, covering bottom crust.
Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tables flour
1/4 teas slt
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup small-curd cottage cheese (or another 8 oz cream cheese)
1 teas vanilla
4 egg yolks, separated from whites
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 cup whipping cream or undiluted evaporated milk
Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. Mix cream cheese an cottage cheese until well blended. Add sugar, flour, salt and vanilla. Add egg yolks, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add milk or whipping cream and blend well. Fold in beaten egg whites. carefully pour mixture into pie plates, dividing evenly between the two plates. Bake at 350 about 35 min until knife inserted comes out clean. Store in Fridge until ready to serve. Top with whipping cream or Cool Whip….makes 2 pies
Flautas
I am so excited. Tonight I am trying my first homemade flautas. Watching the today show the other morning, a lady was on there showing the difference between yellow, white and blue corn tortillas and I learned that the yellow corn held up much better than the white corn for frying nanchoes, taco’s and flautas. So tonight we are having flautas. Because I had some roasted chicken left over from another meal, I am shredding that and placing a tablespoon in the middle of a “Yellow” corm tortilla, then spooning a tablespoon of cheddar cheese over the chicken. Will then roll up the tortilla, put a toothpick in it and drop in in oil to fry until crisp. Then spoon some hot sauce over the flautas, place some shredded lettuce over that, some chopped tomatoes and we-la, you have homemade flautas. What an easy and quick supper this will be. I know it will be so much better than the frozen ones they sell at Costco….will report tomorrow on how Randy likes them. Happy Fall Ya’ll!
Rainey Wednesday
Wow,what a glorious day, it rained all day with temps in the 50’s. Energized me to clean out closets to make room for fall/winter clothes. Moving furniture the night before and now getting to wear jeans with sweater and jacket made for a most wonderful day. Randy even called to say the weather had got him in the mood for enchiladas so off we went tonight for Mexican food. A friend and I went for lunch today and ended up sitting there all afternoon. As the rain continued to fall, we would go get another bowl of soup and just continue our talking. This was the first “feel” of fall since moving to California. I was beginning to wonder if there would be days when there would be no sun, just clouds and rain and cool temperatures that would propel me to just bake all day. Today was the first of many “fall” days, I am hoping, to arrive all this month. The pantry is stocked with cream cheese, butter, bags of powdered sugar, plenty of cinnamon, chopped dates, pecans and enormous size bags of chocolate chips. Tonight I will go to sleep with thoughts of waking up, looking through recipes to choose which ones will start off my “fall food freenzie”. Something tells me that one of the first things in the oven will be blueberry apple cinnamon rolls! Sister Schubert, move over, Sister Trudy is in the kitchen.
Ginger-Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfaits
Straight out of a Paula Deen Magazine, this recipe combines the wonderful flavor of pumpkin, ginger and cream cheese. Use decorative glasses to serve your family and guests this gorgeous and flavorful dessert.
3 tables butter
1/2 of a 1-lb box gingersnap cookies, coarsely crushed (1/2 of the box, crushed)
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup pump0kin puree (you can use canned if you desire to do so, but the fresh is definately worth the trouble)
1/2 cup plus 2 tables sugar, divided
2 teas pumpkin pie spice
1 teas vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Gingersnap cookies
In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add crushed gingersnap and cook, stirring constantly for 2 min or until ilghtly toasted. Remove from skillet immediately and cool.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until smooth; add pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla, beating just until combined. In parfait glasses, layer crushed gingersnaps and cream cheese mixture as desired, starting with gingersnaps. Cover and chill for a least 1 hr.
In a small bowl, beat whipping cream and remaining 2 tables sugar at medium-high speed with mixer until soft peaks form. Dollop cream over parfaits. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, if desired. Cover with plastic until ready to serve and then top with a gingersnap cooking sticking out of parfait, right before serving.
A Blessed Sunday
This has just been a very blessed day. We began our day with church, which just was such a wonderful way to celerate this glorious day. In spite of several decisions which we will be having to make regarding my parents, it was a grand reminder of how faithful God is to our burdens and meets us at our point of need. This beautiful Fall day is full of just little reminders of how we can find joy in the midst of pain, because of our Lord and Savior. We are having a new couple over tonight for dinner. They moved here from Colorado, but were in Ft. Worth several years before that and have family in Plano, where we moved from in January. They live 5 blocks down from us and her husbands name is Randy. So we already have so much in common it will be interesting to see how much more we have to talk about.
We decided to keep it simple tonight. Thus, homemade vegetable soup is in the oven and fresh bread will be awaiting them. Mushroom Tarts to much on and finish with homemade chocolate pudding with whipped cream.
It is so nice to know that you don’t have to have a gourmet meal spread out over the table to have friends over. A simple meal is fine, when you realize that it is not the meal they are coming for. It is the excitement of gathering around the table with new friends and talking about your lives and families that were both left behind when our husbands jobs brought us to California.
It is so thrilling to realize that no matter the part of the country, the table seems to be he gathering place. When you are around the table, boundaries are removed as each person shares stories about their past and hopes for the future. This will be a great evening. Breaking bread with new friends and ending the evening knowing that 5 blocks down, we have some new friends who will answer when we yelll “git on over here and let’s have some grits and greens, we’re “fix-in to put them on the table.” Ah……that will be music to our ears when they respond, “ya’ll ready for us to come on down?” We most certainly are!
Chocolate Castles 