Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

Texas Style Chocolate Sheet Cake (More Chocolatey than Original One)

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Sunday evening we had some couples over to just visit and have cake. Going through a few of my cookbooks, I found this new version of the Texas Sheet Cake and decided to make it. I will never go back to the original recipe. The brown sugar and the chocolate squares make such a difference. Out of 9 people here, I think I was the only one that didn’t go cut a 2 or 3rd piece and that was simply because I had had one even before company arrived.

1 cup butter

5 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teas vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

Poured Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350. spray a 13×9″ baking pan with baking spray and flour.

In a small small saucepan combine butter, chocolate and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium-low heat until chocolate and butter are melted, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool for 15-20 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat sugars, eggs and vanilla with mixer on medium until mixture is fluffy.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Stir in chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tests done in center. Pour over warm Chocolate Frosting while cake is still warm. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and store in fridge up to 3 days.

*I ended up making the homemade caramel sauce from the chocolate-caramel filled cupcakes recipe and poured it over the cake, topped with vanilla ice cream then drizzling the caramel sauce over all. Was delish….

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teas vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (opt)

IN a medium saucepan, combine butter, chocolate and buttermilk. Cook over medium low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and pour over powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the 1 teas vanilla and stir in pecans if desired. Pour over warm cake.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts · Fruit

Chocolate Cherry Creme Cake

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Last weekend had me making several cherry pies to help celebrate our son, Cameron’s 30th. He is a cherry pie addict. I guess I had really never noticed recipes on the backs of Oregon Fruit Product Pitted dark sweet cherries in heavy syrup but for some reason, last Saturday I did. This recipe was written on the back of the label. I never thought I would be able to say that I didn’t have cream cheese in my fridge, ready to bake in an instant, but today, I have no cream cheese. As soon as I can get to the store, I am making this cake. I might even add a little hot fudge to the individual pieces when serving.

1 Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake Mix, baked according to directions on box for 9×13 using the eggs, oil and water.

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 teas vanilla or almond extract

2 cans Oregon Dark Sweet Pitted Cherries, drained, reserve syrup

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cake according to directions on box and pour into prepared and greased 9×13″ pan. Bake as directed on box. Let cake cool completely. Make cream cheese filling.

Cream Cheese Filling

In small bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in Eagle Brand milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and extract. Spread on cooled cake, leaving an edge of the dark cake showing all around for a nice presentation. Refrigerate until set.

Topping:

Drain cherries, reserving syrup. In small saucepan, combine syrup from cherries, cornstarch and sugar. Mix until smooth. Heat and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the cherries. Let cool. with a small spoon, arrange the cherries only on top of the cake. Do not use the thickened syrup, only what stays on the cherries. Keep cake in fridge. When serving, use syrup to spoon over individual pieces and top with whipped whipping cream if desired.

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Your Will Be Done

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This morning as we were having a quiet moment before jumping up and making breakfast, I glanced over the coffee table and the book of poetry that Jodi, my daughter wrote, just seemed to be saying, “pick me up”. So I did and leafing through I began to really take to heart some of the words that she had written many years ago. Some of the poetry was written when she was going through a really rough time but this poem was one that, no matter the season we are going through, is applicable at anytime. It dawned on me that many of these well written poems should be shared with others so I called Jodi and told her that each Friday, I will be posting a poem from her book, “Cries of My Heart”

Your Will Be Done by Jodi K Dupree

I usually desire immediate gratification.

But, often Your timing is different than mine.

Please help me to remember in my struggle for pleasure, That Your will be done, not mine.

Everything done my way is done in vain, Everything done You way is for Your glory and my gain.

So, rain down Your will on me today.

I bow on my knees and slowly surrender my life to You.

One detailed area at a time.

I lift up my hands and offer my thanks to You.

For being so patient when I am so stubborn and blind. Please help me everyday to ask…

Your will be done, not mine.

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

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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.

Daily Thoughts

30 Somethings

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Yesterday our son, Cameron celebrated his 30th birthday (which is actually Wednesday, but since that is a work day I guess he figured that he needed a few more hours to celebrate other than just after work). Cameron was 9 years old when Randy and I married but he was so easy to love that I felt like he was one of mine from almost the beginning. His wife, Mandy is pg with their first child, due on Randy’s birthday, July 2nd, but after yesterday it is hard to believe that she will actually wait until July 2ne to give birth. This 8 month pg girl planned an all day celebration for Cameron which ended last night at their home with a back yard barbeque for 20 of their closest friends. And us. The old geezers. We were the only ones that was over the age of 30 and well, we are way past the age of 30.I felt so old, I almost made Randy go to CVS to buy us a package of Depends.  As we drove away at the late hour of 8 p.m., headed home to dive into our jammies, we recapped the days events. We had met at a restaurant around noon to begin the celebration and once again, being the only ones over 30 we were allowed to listen in to how they felt a birthday celebration should be held. I wish I had recorded the conversation. These poor kids, barely past college, think that the years are all about them. Most of them are just married or engaged and don’t realize that this might be  the last year that they will actually be allowed a party until their little ones, are given away in marriage.  Just when you think that maybe after raising your children for 18 years life can be about you again, life and celebrations become about grandkids. Randy proceeded to tell Daddy Cameron to enjoy turning 30 and to make the most of it because the next year, their money will all go to giving “Princess Payton” her 1st grand birthday celebration and all he will be doing is cleaning up the cake from the floor that Princess will be throwing, trying to capture the once in a lifetime event on video and taking out the dirty diaper pail. Cameron laughed. Poor guy, he just doesn’t realize that his life, as he has known it, is over.

When we gathered at their house last night with their friends we noticed several things. The guys that didn’t have babies yet were sitting outside with a celebratory cigar and holding a beer. The ones who were already “dads” were inside, squatting beside their little darlings, cutting up the hot dogs on animal shaped paper plates trying to get the little ones to hurry and finish so they could join their friends outside. As soon as the little ones discovered the “doggie door” which led to the back yard, the dads spent the entire evening getting the kids unstuck from the doggie door, which the “undads” just looked on and laughed and gave thanks that they were still allowed to sit and “party down”. Well, we were informed that in the past these sweet couples who bonded while in college would party until the wee hours of the morning. This party ended at 8 After all, most of them had to take the kids home to put then to bed, which made us look pretty good. We weren’t the only ones that needed to leave early. As we stood around last evening it gave us reflection of years gone by. Years when we were the ones going from newlyweds to parents and thinking that we had the whole world ahead of us. Did we feel old last night? A little, as we would listen to stories of childbirth and problems with day care and schedules and being tired all the time we listened to the moms talk about things their little darlings would never do, well, I just smiled. Bless their hearts, can’t wait to hear some of their stories a few years down the road.  But it also made us grateful that we are blessed with some incredible kids. That in spite of our mistakes, failures and not so perfect decisions, God has given us adult children that we enjoy being with as not only family but as friends. Also on the ride home we talked about some of the dreams that we had for our kids and realized that they are now the ones who will be going down that path of wonder and acquiring dreams for their kids. It is great to watch them begin to realize that life is full of promise, full of hope and that in each season of this life, we create memories, not only for ourselves, but for those who are now watching this new generation grow into the dreams that we had for them.

It makes us happy to see that our children have learned that life is to be celebrated, whenever given the chance…take it! All the celebrations make the best memories. So when Randy and I really are in Depends and too old to actually attend celebrations, we will have the best of memories. Thank you Cameron and Mandy for including us.

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Chocolate thumbprints

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Am trying to write blog from new phone and cannot figure out why it will not post the picture

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Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

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Cookies that I posted on Wednesday! Delicious but next time to get more of a caramel flavor I will use caramels instead of caramel filled kisses!

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

 

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Dutch -Processed Cocoa Powder vs Natual Cocoa Powder

Chocolate Castles4 Comments

I have been baking for more years than I care to reveal but have just learned something about cocoa. Being a true Paula Deen follower and a admitted chocoholic, I thought I knew more than I ever wanted to know about cocoa. It just goes to show you that there is always something to learn in the world of chocolate. Our daughter, Christi had just brought me a couple of new magazines from Orlando a few weeks ago. One of the magazines is Amazing Cakes & Cupcakes and I have had a ball finding new recipes that I had not seen.

In the back of the recipes I found  a section called, “What’s The Difference?, where it gives info between unsalted butter vs salted, etc. The cocoa vs Dutch Processed caught my eye immediately. The author says that the two are not interchangeable. Here are the facts:

“Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder-is made from cocoa beans that have gone through a treatment process to neutralize acidity. This process darkens the color of the powder and leaves it with a milder flavor/ It should be used in recipes that call for baking powder because they have both been neutralized.

Natural Cocoa Powder-is made from beans that have not gone through the acid-stripping process. It has a lighter color but a more intense flavor. It should be used in recipes that call for baking soda because the cocoa powder helps balance out the acidity in the baking soda.

Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder and Natural Cocoa Powder should never be substituted because the acidity levels in each need to be balanced out with the proper leavening agent-baking powder or baking soda. Use the ingredients called for in the recipe.”