Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

I always hating making cupcakes for school when the girls were younger. I would much rather make a whole cake. I've changed my mind a little bit about that and it wasn't due to that stupid cupcake craze. I used to hate spooning the batter into the papers! I think what changed my mind was that using an ice cream scoop to portion the batter makes it easier and the cupcakes themselves are portion control (providing I don't eat several). Triple Chocolate Cupcakes (Adapted from ???) 2 c cake flour 2/3 c cocoa powder 1 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1 1/2 stick butter 1 3/4 c sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 t vanilla extract 1 t chocolate extract (optional) 1c buttermilk 1 c chocolate chips (feel free to be more generous) Frosting: 7 1/2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped 1/2 c heavy cream 3 T butter, cut in small cubes Chocolate sprinkles (optional) In a small bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a mixer bowl beat bu...

So I didn't learn my lesson with that bundt pan did I ? Really and that was back in May. Sometimes I just need to give up. I convinced myself that maybe it was greasing the pan. Maybe I should've used spray and that would work better. Really? Uh NO! It didn't work better. All the chocolate in the world is not hiding that mess. I've also decided I'm not a good drizzler. What a hot mess! Chocolate Swirl Cake (Adapted from Cooking Light ) 2 c sugar 1/3 c canola oil 6 T butter 2 eggs 1 t vanilla extract 1t canola oil 1 oz bittersweet chocolate melted 2 T cocoa powder 2 c flour 3/4 c white whole wheat flour 1 t baking powder 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1c buttermilk 1/4 c milk Combine the sugar, oil, and butter in a large mixer bowl. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs; beating until incorporated. Stir in vanilla. In a small bowl mix oil, melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Stir until smooth. Set aside. In a separate bowl mix flours, baking...

This recipe is so easy, I wouldn't even consider it a recipe. It does, however, look like you spent hours working on this and is quite impressive. It has the right balance of salt and sweet. Chocolate and orange are always a nice combination. Clementines & Chocolate (Adapted from Health ) 2 oz bittersweet chocolate 2 T salted pistachio nuts, chopped finely 4 clementines, peeling and sectioned Melt chocolate either in a double boiler or microwave. Dip clementine sections halfway into the chocolate and place on silapt (or parchment paper). Sprinkle chocolate edge with pistachios. Chill for 1/2 hour to set chocolate. Lined up like little soliders I preferred to put the chocolate on alternating edges so that you could line them up in opposite directions for serving. I highly recommend using a silpat for making these as they did not stick at all. Although I guess you can put them directly on the plate but it does get a little messy with the pistachios.

I'm always trying new brownie recipes. Often I'm disappointed but sometimes I'm not. I'm a little on the fence about this one. The taste is delicious but the removal from the pan was a bit of a challenge.  What attracted me to this recipe was that it was a large batch. Often brownie recipes are in 8x8 pans not 9x13. This was a 9x13er. Chewy Brownies (Adapted from America's Test Kitchen ) 4 T butter (1/2 stick) 1/3 c cocoa 1 1/2 t instant espresso 1/2 c + 2T boiling water 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1/2 c + 2T canola oil 3 eggs 2 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract 2 1/2 c sugar 1 3/4 c flour 3/4 t salt 6 oz bittersweet chocolate chips Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil. The easiest way to do this is form fit a piece to the outside of the pan and then fit it inside. Grease the foil and set aside. Melt the butter in a bowl. Whisk in the cocoa, espresso, and boiling water. Add the unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Add...

These cookies come out really pretty. BUT they should come with a warning: Do not wear black while eating these cookies. You will have white all over you. I saw these in the November/December 2014 Cook's Illustrated magazine and knew I needed to make them.  They are very soft and sort of gooey - just what I needed. Get ready to wash a bunch of bowls but you don't need a mixer. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (Adapted from Cook's Illustrated ) 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 4 T butter (1/2 stick) 1 c flour 1/2 c cocoa powder 1 t baking powder 1/4 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1 1/2 c packed brown sugar 3 eggs 1 T espresso powder 1 t vanilla extract 1 t chocolate extract 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c confectioners' sugar In a bowl melt butter and chocolate in microwave at half power, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool while preparing the other ingredients. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl - set aside. In a separate bowl mix brown sugar, e...

Well I told you I had a lot of cream cheese. There was no other choice but to make another cake. I had already made the baked pierogies . That only used 1/3 c but they were delicious. I must plan better next time when I made homemade cream cheese. Well I had some bananas that were getting a little past their prime... Banana Chocolate Cake (adapted from JoyofBaking ) (with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from my brain) 2 c sugar 1 3/4 c flour 3/4 c cocoa powder 1 1/2 t baking powder 1 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 2 eggs 1 c mashed ripe bananas (about 2) 1 1/2 c milk 1/2 c canola oil 1 1/2 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract (optional) Frosting 1 1/2 c cream cheese 1 1/2 c chocolate chips (bittersweet or semi) 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract Grease a 9x13 pan. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl mash the bananas. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and extracts. Whisk together.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry an...

This is what happens when you buy.... 1lb of yeast. You start to look for recipes. This one intrigued me because it has meringue in the center??!! It was in one of the cookbooks that my mother's friend gave me (which reminds me I got some more loot from her - the cake pan that I used for this recipe, a nice sheet pan, a food sealer, 8" square metal pan, and a mandolin - sorry no pics). You can just see the meringue peeking through on the bottom left and up at the top Chocolate Meringue Coffeecake  (adapted from Favorite Recipes from All Saint's Church - Margaret Green) 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks) 1/2 c milk 3 T sugar (separated) 2 pkgs yeast (4 1/2 t) 1/4 c warm water 2 1/2 c flour 1/2 t salt 3 eggs, separated 2 t cinnamon 1/2 c raisins 1/2 c chocolate chips 1/4 t cream of tartar (opt) 1 c sugar The night before: Melt the butter either in a saucepan or in the microwave. Add the milk. Set aside to cool for a bit.  Dissolve ...

This mud cake is not a heavy cake but it is rich. So get the milk ready as a side. I know it sounds strange to say that it's not heavy but it isn't. The cake is really light in texture.  It was so good that the Sous Chef had a second piece and you know the Sous Chef is not one for ooey gooey stuff (although he lied and said it was still his first piece - he "was just eating slow"). Chocolate Mud Cake (Adapted from JoePastry ) 8 oz butter (2 sticks) 8 oz semisweet chocolate 1 c flour 2 t instant espresso powder 1/2 c cocoa 1/2 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 2 c sugar 4 eggs 1/2 c buttermilk 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract Grease a 9" springform pan. Line the bottom with a round of parchment. Combine the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Melt them in the microwave stirring every 15 seconds or so.  Stir until completely smooth. Sift and combine flour, cocoa, espresso, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir in sugar.  Whisk eggs and b...

This was one layer So now I had 1/2 c of Mascarpone left and I was going away for a few days to a conference. I needed to use up the remainder of the Macarpone. What to do? What to do? Brownies of course! Adapted from Food 1 c butter (2 sticks) 3 oz semisweet chocolate 1 1/2 c sugar 1/4 c cocoa 1/2 c Mascarpone 3 eggs 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract 1/2 c flour 1/2 t salt Ganache: 6 oz semisweet chocolate 6T heavy cream 3T butter 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract 1/2 t salt Line a 8" square pan with aluminum foil. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave (or on stove top). Sift in sugar, cocoa. Stir in Mascarpone, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate extract until smooth. Gently fold in flour and salt. Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes at 325. Let cool. Meanwhile, melt chocolate, heavy cream, and butter in microwave (or on stove top). Remove brownies from pan. Spread ganache over brownies.  Place in refrigerator until firm.  Slice into serving sizes....

So now I had the Mascarpone cheese, what was I going to do with it. I know I could have gone with the traditional Tiramisu but I was looking for something a little different. Well Chocolate Mousse sounded like a wonderful idea to me. Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (Adapted from Epicurious) 12 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped 1 1/3 c heavy cream 1/3 c water 1/4 dark corn syrup 5T dark rum 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract (optional) 8 oz Mascarpone 2 bananas, sliced 1/2 c strawberries, sliced Place chocolate, 1/3 c cup cream, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan.  Heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Is there a better sight than chocolate melting into cream? Let cool about 20 minutes, stir occasionally. Whisk in rum and extracts.  Whisk in Mascarpone until smooth. Beat 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Gently fold chocolate mixture into cream in two additions.  Looks like we'll need some more rum for maki...

Glaze pools in the center - yum! This cake made me realize a few things: 1.  I need a new bundt pan. 2. When a cake sticks to the pan (see item 1), chocolate sauce hides a multitude      of sins. 3. Patience is a virtue I don't possess - waiting for this cake to cool seemed an     eternity. 4.  If you gave me some cold milk, I could probably eat this entire cake by      myself. So what is this marvelous cake? It is the Tunnel of Fudge Cake from Cook's Country. I changed it up a little-slightly.  I saw this suggestion after I had the cake in the oven. Mixing 1T of butter with 1T of melted butter and coating the pan. This might have helped me with item 1, but I still think I need a new pan. It is a good brand pan (Nordic Ware) and a pretty fleur de lis design. I see they now offer it with a different coating. Chocolate cakes seem to stick worse than yellow cakes. My pan has a black coating and I'm wonder...

I was in the mood for chocolate cookies - OK when basically am I not? OK really I had some bananas that were getting a little overripe and I didn't feel like banana bread.   I started to peruse my cookbooks for a new recipe when I came across this one.  It sounded interesting because it had raisins in it and I thought hey at least there are 2 types of fruit in the cookies - that's healthy* Chocolate Banana Cookies (Adapted from 201 Chocolate Treats ) 6 oz semisweet chocolate (melted) 2 c flour 1/4 c cocoa powder 2 t baking powder 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) butter 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c brown sugar 1 t vanilla extract 1 t chocolate extract (optional) 2 eggs 1 c mashed bananas (about 3) 12 oz chocolate chips 1 c raisins (or dried currants or dried cherries) Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.  Cream butter and sugars in mixer until fluffy.  Beat in extract(s) and then add ...

This cake sounded so good.  I love cinnamon, caramel, and chocolate so this sounded like it would be great. It's been on my to-make list since 2008. So was it worth the wait?  I think the caramel overpowered the cinnamon flavor and you couldn't taste the cinnamon at all. I think next time I wouldn't even bother with the cinnamon. The cake was very light and tasted good. I think I would  maybe use a different chocolate for the icing.  I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% Belgium dark chocolate . It was a little too strong tasting. I generally use this for dark chocolate in baking but for some reason, it was a little too dark for this recipe. But the Sous Chef said he liked the contrast. A few hints: 1.  They didn't say to grease the pan. To grease or not to grease - GREASE.  I was so glad I did. I think the sides would have really stuck had I not. 2.  Seriously be careful when you pour the caramel into the cream mixture. You could totally end...