No Pudge Fudge Pie

I'm reaching waaaay into the archives with this recipe. It's one I definitely haven't made in a long time, so you won't find many vivid adjectives to desccribe this pie, but trust me it was GOOD! If you're a regular around here you know I've got a killer sweet tooth, and I'm a serious chocaholic. I don't experiment with the lower fat, more guiltless versions of recipes as much as I should, but you'll catch a few guiltless recipes around here from time to time. This yummy chocolate pie is one of those recipes. I found this recipe for Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Pie on the Cooking Light website. I keep the recipe as written, with one minor change - instead of whipped cream, I wanted to top the pie off with some delicious, fluffy meringue. I love whipped cream, but the meringue was absolutely the perfect touch. Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Pie 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury) 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 3/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk 1/3 cup light-colored corn syrup 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 large egg whites 1 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed* 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa (optional) *Substitute whipped topping for 1 recipe meringue (see recipe below) Preheat oven to 350°. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold edges under; flute. Place pie plate in freezer until ready to use. Combine brown sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and flour in a large bowl. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through egg whites); stir with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to brown sugar mixture; stir until combined. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until just set. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Cover; chill at least 4 hours. Spread whipped topping evenly over filling; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon cocoa, if desired. (Or top with prepared meringue.) Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge) FAT 8.6g per slice Meringue 3 egg whites 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 3/4 cup white sugar In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks. To bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Bake pie in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Black Bottom Goodness

I tasted my first ever black bottom cupcake when I baked up a batch several months ago. The earlier version was covered in chocolate glaze and known by another name, cream cheese-stuffed chocolate cupcakes. From that first cupcake I knew I was a fan. Chocolate, cake in the form of a cupcake, and cream cheese, what isn't to love? This recipe got rave reviews on allrecipes, and truly couldn't have been easier. The recipe as it appears on allrecipes yields twice as much cream cheese filling as it does cake batter, so through trial I ended up making two batches of cake batter. Next time? I'll just make one double batch. Even with a double batch of cupcake batter, which ends up with about 30 cupcakes you still have a generous amount of filling in each cupcake. They were delish the first day, but after refrigerating them over night I thought they were even better. I don't know what it is, but something about cold chocolate cake, all moist and dense, it's hard to resist. Yum! Black Bottom Cupcakes Filling 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 egg 1/3 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips Cake Batter 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cup water 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoon cider vinegar 2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Halloween, The Recap

With all three of my children covered in fur and having four legs there was no trick-or-treating for us this year. There was also sadly no dressing up simply because I never found just the perfect costumes for my boys, and believe me, I searched. There is also an on-going debate in our house as to whether putting clothing on a dog for any reason other than warmth is appropriate. I say there are certain circumstances where it is suitable, such as they just look to freakin adorable not to dress them up. The Big Bad Dad? He has his feet firmly planted in the belief that dressing up a dog for more than warmth is completely stupid and degrading. Psssh, whateva. So, we were sans costumes and opted not to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. And before you even think it. NO. I'm not the Grinch who stole Halloween. Having the doorbell ring and opening the door every five seconds would be pure and total chaos in my house. We would have had to lock the kids in their rooms in an effort to keep them from licking the trick-or-treaters to death. And Duncan. Well, let's just say Duncan would have lovingly stolen candy from each and every child who rang our doorbell. I had to get in on the holiday somehow though, and ever being the baker I use every occassion possible to whip up something sweet. I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes with buttercream, and some sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. All of which were old standby recipes, no experiments, but as my Big, Bad Dad says, sometimes ya just gotta leave well enough alone. So that I did. My weeks have been busy, looking back, I can never seem to remember with what, but nonetheless all my projects seem to leave me short on time lately, the cookies and the cupcakes included so they didn't turn out to be my most adorable or my most creative. But they tasted great and still received high praises.

Hot, Fudgy Goodness

Although fall has crept up on us, in my neck of the woods it certainly doesn't feel or look anything like it. So with the sun still blazing hot it is a perfectly suitable time to endulge in ice cream and treat yourself to a batch of decadent hot fudge sauce. But then again, if the craving hits, you I think any time is a suitable time for the aforementioned. Besides, think of all the wonderful things, other than ice cream, that would make the perfect accompaniment to hot fudge sauce. You could get creative and have waffles for dessert topped with hot fudge sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. Or you could slather the stuff on a slab of pound cake and, just for the sake of being healthy, top it off with some fruit. (I was, of course, joking about the healthy part.) I made this recipe for the first time early last spring and featured it in an article I wrote for Sugar Savvy. Until then I was a bit leery when it came to making hot fudge sauce, I didn't want to suffer disappointment. I worried that I would have the misfortune of trying a recipe that would yield more of a chocolate syrup than a thick, rich hot fudge sauce. I wanted a real hot fudge sauce. You know, the kind you find in the neighborhood ice cream shop, one that goes on hot, melting your ice cream slightly and thickening as it covers the frozen goodness. Well folks, this is it! The sauce is a great consistency with a rich chocolatey flavor. Best part of all? It's the exact hot fudge sauce served in Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shops! This hot fudge sauce recipe, along with other authentic and delicious Ben & Jerry's recipes can be found in their book, "Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Book". Now, run along and whip up a batch for yourself. If you don't love the stuff I'll be shocked. Hot Fudge Sauce 4 oz unsweetened chocolate 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream In double boiler, melt chocolate and butter, stirring frequently. Whisk in cocoa powder until dissolved. Gradually stir in sugar; the mixture will resemble wet sand. Cook over simmering water for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check water level of double boiler, adding more if necessary. Gradually stir in milk and cream. Continue stirring until completely blended. Continue cooking for 1 hour, stirring and checking water level occasionally. The sauce is ready when completely smooth and all sugar is dissolved. Yields 1 quart

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." I understand the saying, and yeah I've experienced it plenty of times, like most people. But as a baker? Nope, doesn't happen. Well, except for the occassional failed recipe. But usually I can have my cake and eat it too. Just not too much or I'll have an expanding waistline, which I do NOT want. If you are a chocolate lover like me and looking for a great chocolate cake you might want to give my go-to chocolate cake recipe a try. I searched high and low for what would become my "tried and true" chocolate cake recipe and wouldn't you know it was under my nose all along? On the back of the Hershey's Dutch Proccessed Cocoa container I found euphoria in the form of cake. Want the ultimate sinfully delicious cake? Definitely top the cake off with my "tried and true" chocolate frosting - Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting. Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake 2 c. sugar 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 3/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 c. milk 1/2 c. vegetable oil 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 c. boiling water Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting 1 1/4 c. sugar 1 c. heavy cream 5 (1 oz each) squares unsweetened chocolate 1 stick unsalted butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract Bring sugar and heavy cream to boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring so that it doesn't boil over. Remove pan from heat and add unsweetened chocolate, stir until completely dissolved. Add butter and stir until melted, then add vanilla, stir to combine. Refrigerate. When icing is cold, beat with an electric mixer or wooden spoon. Frost cake. Frosts 1 2 layer cake or single layer medium size sheet cake. *All credit goes to Ayun Halliday author of Dirty Sugar Cookies for original frosting recipe. Oh, and if you're wondering if "Merfday" is some unusual little known holiday yet undiscovered by you, the answer is no. Well, sorta. I made the cake to celebrate my long-time friend Meredith's recent birthday. Together we're two very silly girls, always coming up with goofy nicknames for our friends and family, and for as long as I can remember we've all known her as Merf. Me? Well, I'll just leave y'all to wonder about my alias...

Best Brownies? Or is there one better?

Continuing my search for my ideal brownie I tried out another recipe, this time for Allrecipes' Best Brownies. I often turn to the site when looking for a new recipe because I find the reader reviews and ratings to be helpful. But are they always accurate? I'm not so sure they are. Ever the chocolate lover, how did these brownies turn out? Well, for over 1,000 allrecipes members they are pretty fantastic, racking up a whopping 4 1/2 stars. The important question, how did these brownies rate with me? The recipe was easy enough and by all accounts a success. Still they are not my ideal brownie. The batter was nice and thick like a brownie batter should be, but the brownies themself were very thin. I also thought they were pretty sweet, which I'm not so much complaining about, but they weren't chocolatey enough for me. When I think of brownies I think of deep rich chocolate flavor, with a fudgy texture. This recipe falls somewhere nicely in the middle of cakey and fudgy, which was fine by me, but I definitely need a richer chocolate flavor. I generally don't add icing to my brownies, and since these were so thin I skipped icing. I'll likely give this recipe a shot again since the batter was mixed up and in the oven in less than 15 minutes, but next time I'll double the amount of batter used for the pan size and I'll use dutch process cocoa powder in place of regular cocoa powder. Reviews: 1,611 Rating: 4 1/2 stars Best Brownies 1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons butter, softened 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup confectioners' sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Two Years Strong and Going

I'm a few days late celebrating the two year anniversary of the launch of my beloved blog. Okay, six days to be exact, but much better late than never right? I'm kind of sad that life is often so busy and rushed that milestone dates often slip my mind until after the fact. But I suppose a blog anniversary isn't quite the milestone that a wedding anniversary or a loved one's birthday is, so this isn't quite a tragedy. But, I digress. What better way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other special event than with cupcakes? Devils food cupcakes with chocolate coffee buttercream..I made these cupcakes for the first time last year as part of an article for A Nice Cuppa. The recipe comes from the book 500 Cupcakes. The book lives up to the name, but to my disappointment, most of those 500 cupcake recipes are slight, sometimes very slight, variations on a basic recipes. After hitting the two year mark with my blog it makes me wonder what lies ahead. I hope that my blog will be here for many years to come, that my skills in the kitchen will continue to grow and grow. That I will be able to build party planning and catering business into everything I dream of. Only time will tell, but you my dear readers, I thank for the last two years with me, even during the slow times when it seemed that I may have disappeared. Devils Food Cupcakes 2 c self rising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 cup brown sugar 2 sticks butter, softened 2 eggs seperated 3 1/2 oz semisweet choc, melted 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 medium size muffin cups with paper liners. Sift flour & baking powder together in medium bowl, set aside. In bowl of mixer, cream together sugar and butter. Add egg yolks, beat well. Add melted chocolate & vanilla, mixing well. Add flour & milk alternately, beating well with each addition. Beat egg whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form and gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into cups filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pans from oven & cool 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan & cool on rack. Chocolate Coffee Buttercream 1 stick butter, softened 1 tbsp milk 3 1/2 oz semisweet choc, melted 1 tsp vanilla 2 c confectioners sugar, sifted 1 tsp hot coffee + 2 tbsp instant coffee granules Beat in milk until smooth. Stir in melted chocolate & vanilla. Beat in confectioners sugar until thick and creamy. Stir in cooled coffee mixture. Spread over cupcakes. Store unfrosted in airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. The original frosting recipe called for 3/4 c confectioners sugar, but the consistancy seemed a bit thin, and honestly I like a generous amount of frosting on my cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves were pretty good, but not as moist and dense and I like. And considering that I had to seperate the eggs, beat the egg whites then fold them in, I think next time I would opt to use another cupcake recipe.

Chewy Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

So I don't know what it's like where you my dear readers are, but here it's HOT, HOT, HOT. We broke record temps yesterday and it's looking like there's a good chance we will do so again today. It's even mid-afternoon yet and we've already reached 101 degrees. Guess what? With our southern humidity it feels like it's 104, but hey what's another 3 degrees when it's already over 100 right? It's more than I want to deal with! With all this heat and the air conditioners working overtime the last thing I want to do is heat up the oven or turn the stove on, so I thought now would be the perfect time to reach into the archives and share some recipes from the past. Before my illness when I was still doing some freelance writing I tried out a recipe for chewy chocolate, chocolate chip espresso cookies from Short and Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less by Gale Gand.. The cookies great. They were a delicious cross between a cookie and a fudgy brownie. And I loved the fact that the recipe brought together the flavors of chocolate and espresso - two of my faves! I made a few minor changes to the recipe using instant espresso instead of regular finely ground espresso as called for. Gand offers the option of scooping the batter out onto the cookie sheets and freezing before baking, which I did. When opting not to freeze the cookies pre-bake the baking time is decreased to 5 minutes per the original recipe. Unless I wanted to eat my cookies with a spoon the bake time definitely had to be increased. My oven is pretty right on so if you skip the freezing step keep an eye on these yummy little cookies as they are baking. If I closed my eyes while I was eating these, I'd swear I was eating the world's perfect fudgy brownie. Shaped like a cookie of course. If you like chocolate these are a must try. Be warned though, they are not for the faint of heart, so if you can't handle a good serious dose of chocolate use caution. Chewy Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies 1 3/4 cups plus 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 4 Tbsp unsalted butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 large eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp instant espresso powder (original recipe calls for 1 tsp finely ground espresso) 1. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. Melt the 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave for 1 minute, stir and continue microwaving in 1 minute intervals until melted and smooth. 2. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the instant espresso powder and mix, then mix in the chocolate mixture. Mix in the dry ingredients and the remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Let the dough firm up in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. 3. Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoon onto a sheet pan and freeze. If you don’t have room in your freezer for a sheet pan, simply scoop the cookies into a smaller pan, then freeze, making sure the cookies do not clump together. 4. When ready to serve, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Without thawing the cookies, arrange them 2 inches apart on a sheet pan that has been generously buttered or is lined with parchment paper. Bake for 7 minutes. Serve warm. *Note: You can also bake the cookies without freezing them, to do this reduce the baking time to 5 minutes.(I found the cookies needed a longer bake time than 5 minutes.)

Back In Action

Hey y'all! As I sit here writing this it really sinks in to me how long it has actually been since I blogged - since I've been able to blog. I haven't abandoned my blog out of sheer laziness or even lack of desire to share recipes. I've been ill - I'm not talking a bad case of the flu ill. I spent months in the hospital, sometimes not knowing if I would make it home, and as I finally turned the corner on the road to recovery, I spent weeks aching to be home, wondering when the day would finally come. I don't want to go into further details, but believe me when I say I thank the Lord for each new day - now more than I ever have. And I'm so glad to be back on my feet able and wanting to be in the kitchen. Last Friday night was the most fun I've had in the kitchen in a very long time. A friend came over so I could help her bake cupcakes for her boyfriend's birthday party. I can proudly say I'm often the person my baking-challenged loved ones turn to for help when they want to show lovin' with something from the oven. The verdict from the party-goers was that our Cream Cheese-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes from "Chocolate & Vanilla" by Gale Gand, were a hit. We certainly enjoyed them during our tastetest! The cupcakes were incredibly moist and rich with chocolatey goodness. My only complaint was the tiny amount of cream cheese filling in each cupcake. I would definitely repeat this recipe, but next time I would double the cream cheese filling recipe. The frosting recipe made a HUGE and I do mean huge batch. We had a ton leftover. Try these out and let me know what you think! Cream Cheese-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes for the filling 4 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 large egg yolk 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/3 c. sugar 2/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips for the cupcakes 3 c. all-purpose flour 2 c. sugar 1/2 c. cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 2 c. hot water 3/4 c. vegetable oil 2 tsp. white vinegar 1 Tbsp. instant cofee crystals (optional) 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract for the chocolate frosting 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1 1/2 c. superfine sugar 1 1/2 c. cocoa powder, preferabley Dutch-processed Pinch of salt 1 c. heavy cream 1 tsp. instant coffee crystals (optional) 1/2 c. sour cream 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract To make the filling, in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl often, and then blend in the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the sugar and chips and mix for a few seconds on low to fold them in. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 (12 cup) muffin tins with cupcake paper liners. To make the cupcakes, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a large measuring cup, combine the water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee, and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined (don't worry if there are a few lumps). Fill each cupcake liner two-thirds full of batter. Drop a heaping tsp. of the cream cheese filling into the center of each. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cupcakes have puffed on top and are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the tins. To make the frosting, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the sugar, cocoa, and salt. The mixture might look grainy or sandy and this is fine. Whisk the cream and instant coffee into the cocoa mixture and cook over low heat, while stirring to dissolve the sugar grains. The mixture should get hot to the touch but never simmer or boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Let cool until the frosting thickens an becomes spreadable, about 1 hour. If it seems too thin, stir in some powdered sugar. Remove the cupcakes from the tins. Spread the frosting on the tops of the cupcakes.

I'll gain more than a pound from this cake..

Here goes a super late Happy Birthday shout to my big bad dad. Yup so pop's is another year older, a little bit crankier and thanks to the cake I made him, I'm a little bit fatter..lol ok, so he's not a little bit crankier - thank goodness!! but I swear I couldn't help but be a little bit fatter, after indulging in all those sinfully delicious calories.. It doesn't matter how many different types of cakes I bake, no matter what flavors or fancy new recipes I find, my dad always says.."why can't you just bake something normal, like a pound cake?" Normal?? Yup, I guess growing up a southern boy, pound cake was normal..Pound cake is definitely a traditional dessert in the south, a culinary staple even. But yanno what? Pound cakes aren't the easiest thing to make. Yes the recipes are pretty straight-forward, there aren't alot of complicated steps or special ingredients, but the outcome is what's tricky. It's not uncommon for a pound cake to sort of colapse in the middle, resulting in what my grandfather always called a "sad streak", ironically in our family, those sad streaks were usually our favorite part of the cake. It certainly doesn't ruin the taste of the cake, it just doesn't look very pretty. Luckily there were no sad streaks to be found in my big bad dad's birthday pound cake. For me, a pound cake should be moist with a dense crumb. This cake came close, but wasn't quite as dense as I think a pound cake should be. The batter was pretty thick, so I actually expected the cake to be dry, but much to my surprise it wasn't. Would I make this cake again?? Definitely! I'm still on the look out for a lemon pound cake with lemon glaze like my grandma used to make. So if anyone has a recipe you recommend let me know! The Bag Lady's Favorite Chocolate Pound Cake 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons cocoa 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 3 cups sugar 5 eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. 2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa and set aside. 3. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add flour and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and mix well. 4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 3/4 hours, or until cake is done. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto cake plate and serve. Chocolate Ganache 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 4 oz semisweet chocolate 1 cup heavy cream 2 tsp vanilla extract 1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a medium sized bowl, set aside. 2. In small saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium-high heat, bringing just to a boil. 3. Remove cream from heat, and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit until chocolate has melted completely. 4. Add vanilla extract and stir using a whisk until completely combined. Pour over cake.

The holidays are here: SHF/IMBB Cookie Swap

I know Christmas is the season of giving. It's not about the presents & what cool gifts we get. But Lord forgive me for saying this, Christmas is also the season of eating. Then again, what season isn't a season of eating for a food obsessed person like me? lol So I started my holiday baking brainstorming sessions well before Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact, I think I started as soon as the first Christmas editions of my favorite magazines hit the stands. So far this year, I've bought 2 "special interest publications" from BH&G, a Christmas edition Family Circle & the infamous Martha Stewart "Holiday Cookies" issue. Believe me, I've got my eye on a few more..lol Do you think I will ever end up baking even a fourth of the yummy items in these magazines?? NO!! As a matter of fact, for the most part, I'll probably stick to my usual holiday cookies. But it's fun to daydream about all those yummy smells & delicious flavors. MmMmMmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. lol Of course, we've established my obvious obsession with food and baking. So you know I was thrilled when I read that this month's edition of Sugar High Friday is a joint project between Jennifer over at Domestic Goddess, and Alberto over at Il Forno. They came up with a WONDERFUL idea for this month's SHF/IMBB - a virtual cookie swap!! Isn't that fantastic?? It gives everyone a great excuse to get a jump on their holiday cookie baking, testing out new recipes a few weeks in advance. Not to mention the swap is a fantastic way to get new holiday cookie recipes, with reveiws to go along with them. For those of us in the US, the swap has fallen on a pretty hectic week for many of us - Thanksgiving!! It hasn't been too crazy for me, but the fact of the matter is, we have TONS upon TONS of leftovers and mulitple batches of cookies would just go to waste for us right now. So for the actual cookie swap I have only baked 1 new recipe. BUT!!! I'm including my recipe for the best homemade chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I LOVE chocolate, pretty obvious from previous posts right?? Yes!! lol And I LOVE marshmellow stuffed inside most anything chocolate, so I found the perfect recipe for me as I was flipping the pages of MS's Holiday cookies magazine. There they were on pg. 89 in all their "cakey and tender" glory - Surprise Cookies. Ohmygosh!! These cookies are divine!! And I'm soooo proud they came out looking JUST LIKE MARTHA's!!! My only complaint?? You can't really taste the marshmellow. Would I make them again?? In a heartbeat!! Surprise Cookies ~ makes 2 1/2 dozen For the cookies: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp coarse salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1/2 whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract About 15 marshmellows halved crosswise For the frosting: 3 cups confectioners' sugar 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole milk 3/4 tsp vanilla extract 1. Make cookies: Preheat over to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into medium bowl; set aside. Put butter & sugar into bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium high speed until pale & fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk & vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. 2. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 8-10 minutes. Immediately press a marshmellow half on top of each cookie. Bake until marshmellows begin to melt, 2 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. 3. Make frosting: Put confectioners' sugar in medium bowl; set aside. Melt butter with cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occassionally. Add butter mixture to confectioners' sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Spread about 1 Tbsp of frosting on top of each cookie to cover marshmellow. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days. Now..on to the best homemade chocolate chip cookies ever!! Move over Mrs. Fields here I come..using your recipe..lol I know we've all seen those copcat recipes right?? Well, I think this one really is because when I eat one of these cookies fresh from the oven, if I close my eyes I swear I'm standing in the middle of the mall foodcourt loaded down with arms full of shopping bags. Ahhh heaven isn't it? lol Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

Hay, hay! It's Donna Hay

Time for another fun food blogging event!! This event is hosted by winosandfoodies and is centered around Donna Hay, the wonderful Australian domestic goddess, and her self frosting cupcakes. I absolutely LOVE her, so of course I was excited & jumped at the chance to participate in this event. She has a fabulous style. All her books & recipes are so elegantly simple, I just love that! So the idea of this event was that everyone participating follow the same basic recipe, either exactly how Donna Hay created it or add their own little twist to it. The recipe is featured in her book Modern Classics 2. The original calls for peanut butter as the "frosting", but as many bloggers before me have done I chose to use Nutella as my "frosting" and believe me I didn't go wrong with that decision. The cupcakes were delicious! I tried them out on my usual test group - the family, with the focus as usual on my niece & nephew. Not a crumb was intentionally left, but they are 3 & 6 years old, so a few crumbs ended up on the floor I'm sure..lol I sent the remainder of the cupcakes to school with my nephew the next day for his snack time and have been told they were a big hit, even with the teacher. I will definitely make these again, experimenting with different "frostings", I'm thinking I'll try apple butter next time. Maybe substitute brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar, maybe add some cinnamon. YUM-O! That would make a nice winter snack no?? I think yes!! My only complaint, I think I got a little generous with the Nutella in a few of the cupcakes because I notices a few of them split & looked a tad bit hollow in the very center. I think the Nutella is to blame for that. Recipe taken directly from Modern Classics 2. Self-Frosting Cupcakes aka Nutella Cupcakes (Originally known as Peanut Butter Cupcakes) 6 oz butter, softened 3/4 c. superfine sugar 3 eggs 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, sifted 2 tsp. baking powder Nutella (can substitute jam or peanut butter) Preheat the oven to 324 F/160 C. Place very soft butter, superfine sugar, eggs, sifted all purpose flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix, using electric beaters, until smooth. Line 12 muffin tins with paper cases. Spoon in the mixture and swirl 1 1/2 tsp Nutella (can also use jam or peanut butter) through each cake. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 12 standard size cupcakes.