Author: Chocolate Castles

Welcome to Chocolate Castles, a blog about food, family and stories that hopefully will bring a smile to your heart. Thanks for reading chocolate castles and may the recipes and stories help bring your family and friends a little closer around the table! Remember that Princess On The Porch is still available on Amazon! Makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen and needs a little laughter in their lives.
Daily Thoughts

July 4th & Just Some Thoughts

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

We are sitting here, watching news before heading out with some of our kids to watch fireworks. We love fireworks and picnics. It is truly one of the most fun activities that I look forward to every summer. As we were watching the news and listening to warnings regarding possible threats by terrorist across the country, we are reminded to be aware of our surroundings, and report any suspicious behavior.The last several years, it has been such a  heavy thought to me that our leaders choose to not see how our country has spiraled down to become a country that sees more and more violence. They try to tell us that it is because we need more “programs”.

We have continually pushed God out of our country, our schools and our families. We then wonder why we are seeing more school shootings, more violence against churches and constant rising in crime across our land.

Talking to teachers, we hear that things are very different now. Years ago, when they talked to parents regarding discipline problems they are having with the child, parents use to ask what they could do to show support to the teacher and offer their help in disciplining the child. Now. more times than not, when teachers have to have a parent teacher conference, it results in the parents placing blame on the teacher, because “the child certainly is not to blame.”

Times have changed. We no longer have the freedoms that we once did, because everything we say or do seems to violate another person’s comfort or “rights”. The days we live in seem to have escalated into days of people having no respect for themselves or others. Children are not taught boundries.

When we look back over the last 10 years, it is easy to see the results of a nation which doesn’t allow discipline in schools. We are no longer teaching our children to honor the real heros. The heros that the children hold in high esteem, seem to have no morals themselves. It amazes me that our leaders all over the country do not recognize that when discipline left the schools, new problems arose. We have more gangs, more drugs, more children being bullying, more kids ending up in prison. Families have changed. Because of the times which allow any thing that seems ‘right” we have a nation that confuses truth with “rights”.

This post might sound pretty negative, but our nation is no longer a nation “under God”. As we continue to spiral down, troubles continue to spiral out of control. News is full of stories of people being killed, some by even family members

.Our wonderful Nation that was formed by men who truly were heros, knew that sacrifices were being made for others. Their Godly convictions were convictions that were based on God’s truths, that we were given to guide us.  If we followed those laws and commands given to us by our Creator, our Country would still have problems, but we would be a blessed people, with God as our model.

Why, in the 40’s and 50’s when we allowed God in our schools and taught respect in our homes, did we not have the problems which we have today? Hum….

It is with these thoughts that I thank the many many people who have sacrificed so much for the freedom that we still celebrate. It breaks my heart that the Country which they have fought for has abused so many of the freedoms. That America has become a country full of people who feel entitled to “things”, which in the past, people worked hard to receive. This has created a generation of people who don’t like to work or respect those who do.

It is great that our forefathers cannot see what American has become. America, from sea to shining sea….let’s realize our mistakes and turn our country back to what it is suppose to be, One Nation, Under God!

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Love, love, love blueberries! This recipe is taken from Food Network Summer Favorites!

Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for the pan.

3 cups plus 2 tables all purpose flour

2 1/2 teas baking powder

1 1/4 teas salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs, at room temp

1 teas vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups fresh blueberries (about 1 pint)

For the toppings

1 pint strawberries, halved or quartered

1 to 2 tables sugar

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tables unsalted butter, at room temp

4 to 5 tables milk

To make the cake, preheat oven to 350. Generously butter a nonstick 12 cup bundt pan.

Whisk 3 cups flour, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat 2 sticks butter, the granulated sugar and the oil with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk, beating until incorporated. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat, scraping down sides as needed, until all is combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat 30 seconds. Finish blending the flour to avoid overmixing.

Toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tables flour in a bowl. Spoon 1/3 of the batter evely into the prepared pan. Sprinkle in half of the blueberries, then top with another 1/3 of the batter. Scatter the remaining blueberries on top and cover with the rest of the batter, smooth the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and tests done by inserting knife in center of cake and it comes out clean. It will bake about an hour to hour and 5 min. Transfer to a rack and let cool 30 minutes in the pan. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert onto the rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the toppings; Toss the strawberries with the granulated sugar in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes.

Just before serving, make the glaze: Whisk the powdered sugar, butter and 4 tables milk in a bowl. If glaze is still to thick, add up to 1 more tables milk. Pour the glaze over the cake. Serve with the strawberries and their juices over cake.2015-07-03 10.01.44

Uncategorized

Randy, Peter & Frosty It’s All About You

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Today my sweet husband turns a year older. As I stated in a previous post, it angers me that we eat the same foods, yet he is healthy as a horse. He just returned from getting pictures taken of his heart to find any plaque that has accumulated. Any number under 5 is good. His number was 1.35….HOW DOES THIS WORK? I’m sure if I got up the nerve to go have the same test, my number would be 10, (but hey, I will take being a number 10 anywhere I could get it, even if it means plaque build up in my heart).

It seems that the older he gets, the healthier he gets. The older I get, well….let’s not go there.

He requested his traditional birthday dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, hot rolls and German Chocolate Cake. He will sit and digest several plates of this food, along with the cake and ice cream, wake up, stand on the scales and probably find that he has lost a pound or two. I will wake up and find that not only will I not fit in anything that is in my closet, but will certainly have added 25 points to my cholesterol count.

At least he apologizes now for being so healthy. During the first 10 years of our marriage, he would come in the door smiling, after his yearly check up and throw down  in front of me,all the Dr reports, telling how great all his numbers were, “yelling, “boo ha….beat these numbers!!!” It was then than I began to change my will and begin to add a stick of melted butter to his morning “health shake”. After all, I can’t let him outlive me long enough to find some little 70 yr old to begin enjoying senior aquatic swimming with.

So besides our birthday celebration with family coming over this evening, we will sit and plan our next adventure for this coming year. We have done this traditionally in the month of July, since both of our birthdays are in the same month. Lord willing, we will be going to Italy for a few months hoping to experience “life in Europe”. It will be so exciting to spend our next birthdays there. Since I won’t be able to get my daily Dr Pepper or bake, maybe by the time we get back to the states, my numbers will have fallen into at least the high normal range, and we will have a little more in common.  Not that I have any hostility towards this very healthy precious husband of mine, but I have already planned his tombstone to read, “Here lies Randy, with no plaque in his heart, his cholesterol count shows good on the chart. There is no cellulite to be found, so then why in the world is he laying here beneath the ground?”

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world, even if your numbers make mine look bad.

2015-07-02 11.23.00

Salads

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

I’m stepping out of my dessert mode for a day and posting a recipe that I love to make during the summer. I have discovered that I like broccoli raw, more than cooked.  So this recipe is a favorite of mine. Sometimes, I add a chopped green onion for more color and a 1/2 of a red bell pepper.

1 good size bunch of fresh broccoli, cut into small bite size pieces

1 medium cauliflower, cut into small bite size pieces

1 jar real bacon bits, or 10 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1 cup golden raisins

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

2 teas white vinegar

Mix dressing ingredients and blend until thoroughly blended. Can be made the day before pouring over salad mixture.

Mix all salad ingredients, except bacon. Combine with dressing ingredients. Toss gently. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight. Add bacon just before serving.

Breads · Salads

Italian Bread Salad

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Toasted Bread

1 loaf of 2 day old country Italian or sourdough bread

extra-virgin olive oil

Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup EVOO

Salt and pepper to taste

Salad

1 container red grape tomatoes, or 4 or 5 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped

1/2 container yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1 large cucumber, seeded and diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 cup pitted and halved olives or 1/4 cup rinsed capers

chopped fresh basil to taste

chopped fresh parsley to taste

salt, finely ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Trip some of the crust from the bread, but not all and then cut into large crouton size pieces. Toss with a little bit of olive oil, spread on a cookie sheet and bake in the  oven until lightly toasted. (approx. 5 to 8 min).

Check every 5 min so the bread doesn’t get overly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

Whisk together the garlic, red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup EVOO, salt and pepper to make a vinaigrette. Set aside.

In a bowl, gently toss together the bread cubes, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and olives. Season the salad with the fresh basil, fresh parsley, salt and pepper.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. You may not use all of it/. Toss to coat and then let salad sit for about 20 minutes, so the bread soaks up the dressing.

Taste before serving and add more of the seasonings, if needed.

This recipe is taken from Plano Profile magazine and it will be on our table this week. Sounds perfect for these hot summer days.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Brown Sugar Fudge Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Summer is suppose to be all about the fresh fruit, cool ice box pies & ice cream. But in my world, any season is perfect for chocolate. The combination of the brown sugar with the unsweetened cocoa, makes for a moist, delicious flavor that creates a great chocolate cake.

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teas baking soda *see below

3/4 teas salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teas vanilla

3 eggs

3 envelopes (1 oz each envelope) Nestle Chocolate Unsweetened Bake (If you cannot find these, use 3 squares of 1 oz each unsweetened chocolate, melting as per directions on box)

1 cup buttermilk

*If you don’t use your baking soda regularly, test it to be sure it is still good by dropping in about a 1/2 teas in a glass of warm water, if it doesn’t fizz up, replace the baking soda)

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the melted chocolate.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9″ round or square pans. Bake 30 to 32 minutes  or until cake tests done. Cool on wire racks. Fill and frost with your favorite frosting.

It is wonderful with browned butter frosting or the chocolate frosting that is on the blog. Just put in chocolate frosting in the search engine.  The browned butter frosting is under the Fresh Apple Cake post, so just put that in the search space.

Chocolate · Desserts

Nestle Tollhouse Heavenly Cream Cheese Pie

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Taken from a Tollhouse Cookbook from 1980, this chocolate cream pie is a great and a little different pie. Just finished making the Fresh Peach Miracle Pie for family tonight, but as soon as it is gone, will be making this pie…

Chocolate Nut Crust

1 6 oz package (1 cup) Nestle Toll House Semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tables shortening

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans

Filling

1 (6 oz) package (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1/8 teas salt

2 eggs, separated *(If you worry about the egg yolks, buy imitation eggs for this recipe but you will still need 2 egg whites)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teas  vanilla

Chocolate crust:

Line a 9″ pie pan with foil. Over hot (not boiling) water, melt 1 cup of the semi-sweet chips with the shortening, stir in nuts.

Spread evenly on bottom and side of prepared pie pan. Chill in fridge until firm, about an hour. Lift out of pan, by the edge of the foil.

Remove foil and place back in pan. Chill until ready to fill.

Filling

Melt the other 1 cup of the chocolate chips over hot (not boiling) water; cool 10 min. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and the salt. Beat until creamy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in cooled chocolate. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat cream and vanilla unit stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream and beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture. Pour into chocolate crust and place in fridge for about 4 hours. Garnish with more sweetened whipping cream.

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit

Key Lime Coconut Angel Cake

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

I have a cookbook from the ladies of First Bapt.,Jacksonville, Florida. A friend gave this to me years ago and it is still one of my favorite books to sit and look through. This recipe had not popped off the page at me until now. As much as I love Key Lime anything, I cannot believe I have not noticed this. But I have now and am buying an angel food cake next trip to the store.

Summer is here and all that is sounding good is cold desserts, full of lemon, strawberry or lime! This one is totally up my alley.

1 round angel food cake (store bought so you don’t have to heat up the kitchen)

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated) ex: Eagle Brand

1/3 cup key lime or regular lime juice

12 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed, such as Cool Whip, Extra Creamy (or use real whipping cream, which you would only need 2 cups whipped)

1 cup flaked coconut

sliced kiwis and strawberries, if desired

Using a serrated knife, slice cake horizontally into 3 layers with a sawing motion, or use an electric knife, if possible.

Beat milk and lime juice in a large bowl with a wire whisk until smooth and thickened. Fold in whipped topping. You may use a little more juice for added flavor, but be careful not to make it to thin.)

Frost layers of cake as you assemble. Sprinkle with coconut and garnish with the fruit.

Place in fridge for several hours, to enhance flavors…Enjoy and be cool!

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Princess Payton Cupcakes

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Last week, our daughter in law, Mandy had ask if I would make the cupcakes for our granddaughter’s 1st birthday party. All the relatives would be coming into town from near and far and it was a joyous occasion. Of course, we wanted everything to be pink so the cupcakes were going to be strawberry. I began to look for cupcake pics that would go with the theme, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and found these precious pink netting with glitter piks at Hobby Lobby and then made star pics for some cupcakes as well.

Thought a post of some of the ideas that helped might be helpful to you, if you are so inclined to be giving a party for a princess in the near future.

Cupcakes: Made from a strawberry cake mix, substituting strawberry juice for the water that the mix called for. Also, buy a package of Dream Whip and make the cupcakes according to the recipe on the Dream Whip Box. They will be so much lighter and fluffier.

1 envelope of Dream Whip (it is boxed whipping cream which is found on the baking good aisle at grocery store)

4 eggs

1 cup cold water (I used cold strawberry juice)

1 strawberry cake mix

Beat on medium for 4 full minutes and pour into cupcake lined cupcake pans. Bake about 13 minutes or until they test done. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 stick butter

1 box or 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teas vanilla

Enough strawberry juice (I got the juice from thawing out frozen strawberries that you get in a container in the frozen food aisle and just draining off the juice after they have thawed)

Beat all until creamy adjusting the powdered sugar and juice until the frosting is able to hold its shape when placed in a cake decorator to be piped onto cupcake. *I doubled the amount of frosting, as I was making 48 cupcakes! Had just enough after doubling recipe for frosting.

Take about 1/2 cup of the frosting and place in a glass bowl. Place it in the microwave for about 10 to 15 seconds, until it is melted. Take each cupcake and turn them upside down, dipping the tops in the melted frosting. This seals the cupcake and keeps it fresh longer. Then, using your star tip cake decorator, fill tube with frosting and make a big enough swirl to put a cupcake pic in the middle of it.

Repeat until all cupcakes have been frosted. If you have a container that will hold the frosted cupcakes, cover them and place in fridge until about an hour before serving. This also helps to keep them moist. Then remove from fridge and place a pic in each cupcake. The cupcake stand also came from Hobby Lobby!

Princess Payton Cupcakes
Princess Payton Cupcakes

Daily Thoughts

RC & TK’s Bed & Breakfast

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

We have had out son-in-law, Eric, here this week, having just left this morning. Rushing into the guest room, I pulled the sheets from the bed and began to clean the bath room to get ready for our kids that are coming in from Florida tomorrow. This week has been so much fun, having the opportunity to cook for more than just 2, it has been a delight to shop for the 4 yr old that will be here tomorrow. Instead of the usual basketballs, dinosaurs and Matchbox cars, we have in our basket at checkout, for our 4 grandsons, we had fun picking out cute little coloring books with pink ponies on them, blanket throws with Frozen characters and books about fairies. What fun it will be to serve pink frosted cupcakes out of pink dishes.

Last night, Eric had been taken out to dinner by some work vendors, as was the case the night before. When he came in last night, we began to talk about the two different steak houses that he had been taken to. We ask him which restaurant he liked the best. He thought for a minute and said, “you know, actually the food was pretty much the same, but what made the difference was the server. At the first restaurant, our waiter acted as though he was so glad we were there and made attempts to visit with us and participate in some of the conversation, as he would come back to help replace drinks or bread. The second restaurant’s food was good as well, but the server had no interest in us at all. He acted as though it was just his job and he did the minimal task that was required of him.  No warm conversation, and nothing extra. Just did what was necessary.”

That made me stop and think. How do I treat people that come into my home? Do I go the extra mile to make them feel wanted? Do I just do what is necessary to check off a list of required tasks?

Both Randy and I have always felt that we are so blessed to have homes through the different seasons of our lives that allowed us to entertain friends and family. I remember one lady whose house we bought. She had told us that she was selling the house because she would have liked to entertain, but that house was simply too small to have anyone over. We bought it and had numerous people there all the time. We had groups of 12-16 there for dinners and I was so excited to host luncheons for ladies from church, which numbered sometimes 30 plus. We found out from one of her new neighbors that she never entertained in the new home either.

What I am saying is this. When we like to do something, we find a way. Don’t use the size of your home, apartment or condo not to open up to people. The times around the tables are some of the best memories you will ever make. I pray that anyone who visits our home, will feel that they were served with the kind of hospitality that made them feel so welcome, that they can’t wait to come back. They might not remember what you served them, but they will definitely remember how you treated them!