Category: Chocolate

Cakes · Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Sweet & Salty Caramel-Chocolate Cupcakes

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On our last trip out to California a couple of weeks ago, some friends and I celebrated a good friend’s birthday at a well-known restaurant in downtown Pasadena called, La Orange, where they have platters of the best(and free, which I know you are suppose to only take one, but since I don’t live there anymore and if they kick me out, well,) chocolate chip cookies that have sea salt sprinkled on top. So I candidly kept making excuses to pass the front door and took a cookie each trip I made. I told the hostess I was just going to go look outside to see if any more of our party had arrived., I wonder if she noticed that as soon as the platter was empty, I didn’t come to see If any more friends would be arriving? All that to say that I have come to love the flavor of salt on desserts. When I saw these cupcakes, I knew that they would be awesome. When my son comes over and teaches me how to download pics from my new Note 3 to my computer will post a picture. These cupcakes have a simple homemade caramel sauce that can ben made up to 2 weeks before so when you have a minute, whip the filling up so when you are ready to make the cupcakes, the filling will be ready for you to use.

*If you are in a time crunch make a box of Duncan Hines Fudge cupcakes because with the homemade filling and frosting, no one will guess the cupcakes are from a box. I do this sometimes and just substitute milk for the water the directions call for, and add about 1/4 cup sugar to the boxed mix before mixing.

Cupcakes

1 cup butter

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa

3 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 tables vanilla

2 3/4 cup flour

2 teas baking soda

1 teas salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups boiling water

Salted Caramel Filling:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tables light corn syrup

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 tables sea salt

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

3 (4 oz) boxes semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

6 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 (12 cup) muffin pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla with mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in butter mixture.

In a medium bowl, c.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beating until just combined after each addition.

Spoon Salted Caramel filling into a squeeze bottle with a long narrow tip. Insert tip of squeeze bottle into center of each cupcake and allow about 1 teas caramel to fill center of each cupcake.

Spread or pipe frosting over cooled filled cupcakes.

Frosting:

In a small saucepan cook chocolate and cream over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat butter with mixer on medium speed with the chocolate mixture until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until combined and smooth. Frost cupcakes immediately.

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cupcakes tests done in center. Remove from pans and cool completely

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Peanut Butter Candy Cheesecake

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

It is so strange that as a child I really didn’t like peanut butter. My mom didn’t like it and I’m sure I probably heard her talk about how awful it was so never even tried it. During one of my pregnancies I developed a love for peanut butter. The older I get the more I enjoy anything made with peanut butter. When I saw this recipe I knew that it would be made the next time we have people over.

Taken from All American Amazing Cakes:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers

1/4 cup granulated sugar

5 tables tables butter, melted

Filling:

4 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 3/4  cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 large eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teas vanilla

10 fun-size (I get these at Walmart, I think you get either 8 or 10 for a dollar) chocolate covered crispy peanut buttery candy bars like Butterfinger, chopped

Garnish: crushed Butterfingers

Preheat oven to 300.

To prepare crust in a small bowl combine crushed graham crackers and sugar. Add melted butter, stirring to combine. Press mixture into bottom and 1″ up the sides of a 10″ spring from pan. Bake for 6 min. Let cool completely.

For filling, in a large bowl and beat the cream cheese, brown sugar and peanut butter with mixer until very creamy. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time beating just until combined before adding the next egg. Stir in cream, vanilla and chopped candy. Spoon batter into cooled crust.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 min. Turn oven off and leave cake in oven with door closed for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cheesecake cool completely. Then cover and chill for at least 4 to 6 hours before serving. Garnish with more whipped whipping cream and crushed candy bars.

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

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Before leaving Phoenix last Saturday, we stopped at a place called Kneaders to grab a bite, and a sack of cookies, just in case something should happen and we were trapped in the desert for a couple of hours with no chocolate in the car. The chocolate caramel cookie with sea salt called my name and I gladly took one with me. Whoa….a great deep chocolate flavor with melted caramel sprinkled with crushed pecans and sea salt. Why had I not tasted it before leaving the parking lot to where I would have known to buy 2 dozen of them to get us through the desert. I savored each and every bite. I told Randy how great it was, but I was not about to offer him a taste. I wanted the whole cookie to myself. (I reasoned that if he would have wanted one, he should have bought it instead of the boring oatmeal cookie)

Immediately after arriving at home, I began a search for a deep chocolate cookie that I could combine with caramel and sea salt with pecans. Am making them this time using Hershey’s Caramel-filled kisses, but next time I will use Kraft Caramels which I will cut each on in two and place in the indention when the cookies come out of the oven. By George, I think we have it. I found in my Holiday Cookies a deep chocolate thumbprint that I will use as a base…here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teas baking powder

1/4 teas salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teas vanilla

1 egg yolk

bag of Hershey’s Caramel-filled kisses (Have them unwrapped and ready to place on hot cookie)

Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 325. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.. Set aside.

Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Mix at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix until well blended.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture. When flour is completely mixed in with butter mixture, shape dough into 1″ balls.

Place 2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Make indention with Thumbie (which can be purchased from Chocolate Castles for $5 plus s&h) or finger (which will get cookie dough under your fingernails, which in turn will make you wish you had ordered a Thumbie)

Bake in preheated oven 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and place a caramel kiss in center of indention immediately. As the kiss begins to melt, sprinkle with sea salt and crushed pecans.

Makes approximately 3 dozen

 

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

We are traveling again back to California to see friends, stopping at our kids home in Phoenix, AZ.  As soon as we walked in the door my SIL(son-in-law) met me with,”when are you going to bake and what are you going to bake?” I bypassed him to grab my sweet grandchildren and trying to sit and catch up on their latest episodes of Spongebob, SIL walks over to tell me he had the oven ready for baking. I have been in their house for 10 min, but know that if I’m going to get a minute to sit with my babies, I’m going to have to go bake something if for no other reason than to stuff it in SIL’s mouth. When I discover that their brown sugar is as hard as a piece of iron and there is no flour or granulated sugar in the house, I quickly pull out a chocolate cake mix. 

Realizing that I need to bake something quick and something that will hopefully enable SIL from making any more demands, I remembered that the kids always have peanut butter in the house so I throw Noah off my lap (anything for SIL to keep him happy as we told him that since he got Jodi on discount (she was, after all, over 25)she could not be returned thus, making it necessary for us to keep him happy so we don’t open our front door one morning and find Jodi standing there with 3 little hellions, oops I mean precious little grandchildren waiting on our front porch! So off the couch and into the kitchen! I made the chocolate cake according to directions for the 2 layer cake! After the layers are cooled I sliced them in half horizontally making 4 layers! Setting layers aside mix up the following:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cream or half and half ( 1 tables at a time)
Mix these ingredients until well blended. Spread between the layers but not on top ( making 3 layers of peanut butter filling). Frost top and sides with chocolate frosting:
1 1 lb box of powdered sugar
1 stick softened butter
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teas vanilla
Cream to make desired spreading consistency
Mix all frosting ingredients together and mix until all limos are gone and mixture is well blended. Spread over sides and top of cake. Store in fridge until ready to serve.

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

Southern Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake Bars

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Yum…these are addicting and as I am thrilled that Paula Deen announced her 20-City Tour yesterday, I thought I would post a recipe that I found in her Chocolate Celebration special edition magazine, to welcome her back.

Makes 2 doz bars
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter
2 cups finely chopped pecans, divided
2 (8oz) bars cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs, divided
4 (1 oz) squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 teas vanilla
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9×13″ baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil.
In medium bowl, combine the flour and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Cut in butter (the 1/2 cup), with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped pecans.
Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
In medium bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; beat on medium speed with mixer until smooth. Add 1 egg, beating until combined. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth; pour over prepared crust.
Bake for 15 minutes; remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.
In another medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup brown sugar, corn syrup, 1/3 cup melted butter and remaining 3 eggs. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups pecans. Pour oven cream cheese mixture.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center is set. Let cool in pan completely before cutting into bars.

Cakes · Chocolate

Yes, Another Chocolate Cake Recipe

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Just saw this recipe on Just A Pinch and cannot wait to get back to Texas to make it. Randy loves cakes without frosting and this one sounds like a cake that will be a hit with him.

1 c guinnes draft beer

3/4 cup sour cream

1 stick unsalted butter (you can add up to 2 Tables more if you like, “I like”)

2 eggs

1 tables vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups all purpose flour

3 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 teas baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line a 9″ springform pan or a bundt pan.

Pour the beer into a large wide saucepan; add the butter (that you have sliced)and heat until the butter melts. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar.

Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla; pour into the saucepan; whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Pour the cake batter into greased pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.

Place over platter and allow cake to fall onto platter. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup powdered sugar or leave plain.

 

Breads · Chocolate · Desserts

Cherry Almond Biscotti

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

2 c flour

1 teas baking powder

1/4 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1 cup sugar

4 tables unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas almond extract (I actually like to use 1/2 teas vanilla and 3/4 teas almond extract)

1 cup almonds, finely chopped

1/3 cup sugar (sugar crystal course)

1 cup dried cherries, slightly chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Place parchment paper on large baking sheet. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Crack and place eggs in a small bowl. Add vanilla and almond extract. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together with mixer for 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs with extracts one at a time until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrap down sides of bowl as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low (very important0 and slowly mix in flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in chopped almond and chopped cherries and incorporated any remaining flour on sides of bowl.

Using floured hands, split the dough in half. On the parchment paper lined baking sheets, press each half of dough into two logs 12-13 inches long and about 3 inches wide. Place logs about 3″ apart. Sprinkle with course sugar crystals and lightly press into loaf.

Bake until the loaves are golden brown and just beginning to crack on top (about 30 minutes). Rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking.

Remove loaves from oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Lower oven temp to 325.

Place the loaf on a cutting board and slice each loaf into 3/4″ thick slices using a serrated knife. Lay the slices cut side down about 1/2″ apart on baking sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes and then turn the slices over and bake another 12-14 min until slices are crisp and golden brown. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack to cool completely.

OPTIONAL:

Prepare after biscotti has cooled. In a small saucepan, stir 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or white chocolate chips with 1 tables shortening until melted.

Dip bottom edge of each cookie into the melted chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over one side of the biscotti. Let stand to set.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

The Joy of Chocolate

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

This cook book…The Joy of Chocolate is the same one I talked about re: the chocolate buttermilk cake the other day.  Yesterday, I made this new chocolate-coffee pound cake. It is half gone already. I took some to 3 different friends and all of them have texted me saying that it is absolutely amazing. It is. so moist, a little dense, but the smooth flavor of coffee comes through beautifully. We will be making it again, soon.

1 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 teas baking soda

1 teas salt

2 table instant coffee

3 sticks unsalted butter

3 cups sugar

2 teas vanilla

5 eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 10″ tube or bundt pan.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter in a separate mixing bowl until it is light and fluffy. Continue beating while adding the sugar gradually. Beat at high speed about 5 mn. Add the vanilla and the eggs, 1 at a time, beating briefly after each addition.

Mix in dry ingredients alternating with the liquid, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the batter as needed in bowl.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the upper 3rd of the oven for 1 hr and 15-20 minutes, testing for doneness after an hour and 15 min. Let cake rest in the pan for 20 min before tuning out onto a platter. The cake will stay moist for days, but trust me, it won’t last more than 2….

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Sour Cream Frosting

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While packing up my cookbooks (Randy had forgot just how many I had and told me that I have more than Barnes & Noble), I sat down to look through a book that a friend had given me back in 85 with all chocolate recipes. This recipe caught my eye and tomorrow, it will be baking in our oven.

Serves 10-12

2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teas baking powder

1 teas baking soda

1 teas cinnamon

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 teas vanilla

1 tables instant coffee powder, dissolved in 1 table hot water

 

Sour Cream Frosting

1 cup sour cream

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 10″ spring form pan. Line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper and lightly butter the paper.

In the bowl of mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue beating until thick and light. Add vanilla.

Sieve together the cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and flour. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 4 portions, alternating with the buttermilk and coffee. beat until perfectly blended.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 min, or until cake tests done.

Run a knife around the edge of cake. Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Make the frosting shortly before needed.

Mix together the sour cream and the sugar. Whip the heavy cream until Is firm. Mix the cream into the sour cream/sugar mixture.

Release the cake and turn it out upside down on a platter. Use a long serrated knife to cut the cake into 2 layers. Spread the frosting generously over the bottom layer, then top with other layer. Swirl the filling over the entire top and sides of cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Red Velvet Marble Bundt Cake

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Just returning from seeing some of our kids in Florida, I am feeling in the Christmas spirit. This cake is in the new SL magazine and will certainly be just the perfect dessert after you have finished decorating the tree.

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 1/2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups flour

1 teas baking powder

1/2 teas salt

3/4 cup milk

1 teas vanilla

1 tables unsweetened cocoa

1 tables red food coloring

Snowy White Vanilla Glaze

Garnish: mint sprigs

Preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour and next 2 ingredients. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Transfer 2 1/2 cups of batter to a 2 qt bowl; stir in cocoa and food coloring.

Drop 2 scoops of plain batter into a greased and floured 10″ bundt pan, using a small cookie scoop. Top with 1 scoop of red velvet batter. Repeat around entire pan, covering bottom completely. Continue layering batters in pan, as directed until all the batter is used.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 mins. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

Drizzle with Snowy White Vanilla Glaze.

Snowy White Glaze

Wisk together 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tables plus 1 teas milk and 1 teas vanilla until smooth.

*Or you can use your favorite cream cheese frosting to drizzle over cake. Just warm in microwave for 15 sec intervals until you are able to drizzle cream cheese frosting over the cake.