Chooooocolate Caaaake (s)

Ok Ok Ok, I'm late on this blog... But here I am, so, better late than never, eh? So I made that cake that i mentioned in my last post for my friend, Holly. Oh WOW was THAT an experience. Everything that could go wrong TRIED to go wrong... So let me start by saying that I was using all new recipes for the cake AND for the frosting. (Because it was a new recipe I cant just make this cake and send it out without knowing if it tastes good or bad- so thinking ahead- I made a miniature version of the cake, also.)  So, I mix everything up and make the cake. The kitchen is smelling orgasmic.... **twiddle my thumbs** Hmmm... Cake smells done. But wait- there is still 20 minutes left on the timer. (?!?!) It's fine.. **twiddle thumbs some more** NO- this cake DEF smells done. If I leave in in there its going to burn. So I take the cake out. Test it with the handy dandy toothpick test... Oh yeah- it is DEF done. Whew- I seriously avoided a catastrophe there... I mean, I wouldn't want to have to start all over and make a WHOLE other cake, now would I? I mean.... would YOU? LOL

3:30 am : Time to make the Ganache and the frosting...  OK, crap. I don't have heavy cream. No, no, it's OK... I know how to make a substitute. So I add 3/4 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of butter and heat it up and let it cool... SUCCESS. OK... *reading recipe*... Sweetened Condensed Milk. Alright, no problem. *Opens cabinet* UGH! I have No Sweetened Condensed Milk. Seriously??? Alright, I can make a substitute AGAIN. No problem. So I make my Sweetened Condensed Milk substitute. All good. Whip up the frosting and the Ganache. (*yawn* I'm sleeeeepy.)

By now its about 5:30 am. I'm tired, but i need to finish this cake so that i know if it turned out well or if i need to have an emergency baking session... So I make the frosting, which was DELICIOUS. It was a Butter cream to rival any store-bought butter cream frosted cake. In fact, it was a Chocolate Fudge Butter cream. Mmmmmm.... Sooooo freaking good. I'm STOKED. Since I've been up all night- I think it's time to take a lil nap while this stuff is chilling....

Fast forward two hours... So I assemble my cake. Frost it up... Cut into the little "taster cake." OMG IT TASTES AWFUL! What happened? Ohhhhh, this is what I get for not trying the recipe out first. Craptastic! I have.... ohhhh.... 6 hours or so before she needs this cake. What do I do? What do I do?? Whaaaat do IIII dooooo??? What now, you ask? NOW, I start from scratch and make a WHOLE nother cake. **SIGH** **Panic Panic Panic**

I make another cake. With a recipe I know and trust. My mom comes home and asks "What happened?" I tell her and she says "Where is it? Let me try it, maybe it's not that bad..." I assure her- it IS that bad. LOL So she slices a piece of the taster cake..... Wait for it......wait for it.... waaaaaaaaait....

.....SHE FREAKING LOVES IT!!!!!! "It's FANTASTIC!" She raves. HUH??? So I take another teeny slice and give it another try. Would you believe that after chilling in the fridge for a while, it truly does taste amazing?!? **ROCKS BACK AND FORTH** Now, I'm not about to waste a cake. So i finish making Cake #2 anyways. No problem, My friend will have her choice of cakes. LOL So I finish decorating the second cake. Worried tho because in my haste to make the second cake, I really hadn't decorated the first cake with anything other than some chopped dark chocolate on top.

So, Holly comes to pick up the cake, I explain that she has her choice of cakes and why. I let her taste a slice of the taster cake. "OMG. Either cake I choose will be delicious. OMG" she says... OK, I feel better. Disaster avoided. AND she chose the first cake. LOL So weeeee had a delicious cake for dessert. WHOOO HOOOO.

I have NEVER been so frazzled while baking. EVER. But this whole situation taught me some priceless lessons.

1. If you are going to try out a new recipe and it is for someone else- TRY it out first. Make it way ahead of time to allow yourself time to make a new one if it doesn't turn out well. (Yes, I already KNEW this- hence making it the day before. However, if it would've been done a bit sooner, I would've tried it a while after its sabbatical in the refrigerator and would've known it was awesome BEFORE making a whole nother cake.)
2. Pace yourself AND get some sleep. Long into my baking session, I'm telling myself jokes. Literally. OUT LOUD. Telling myself jokes out loud AND laughing at them. HAHAHA Really. I'm so glad no one was around to see that. But it was my way of.... ummmm... blowing off stress? Staying sane? idk, but I'm telling you-  they were some funny frickin' jokes. 
3. DON'T STRESS OUT! Even if the cake hadn't of turned out amazing, it would STILL have been leaps and bounds better than what you could go get at a grocery store. (Thank you, Teresa, for that reminder. <3 )

Soooo.... With all of that... Here they are. (I will post recipes later for them, as I ...am...tired!)

CAKE #1

CAKE #2

MY DESSERT THAT NIGHT:

OK.... I can breeeeeathe now. :)

Decadent Chocolate Cake...

So tonight I am baking a cake for a friend... Again, I am feeling those damn butterflies rumbling around in my tummy trying to make their way up my throat in hopes of an escape through my mouth. (Nervous, much?) LOL Now, usually I am very laid back when it comes to baking. I mean- that's when I am most in my element. Its just... idk, i suppose it's kind of different when you are baking for someone else. In my mind, it has to be perfect when it's for someone else. And i have a tendency to turn out lopsided cakes. They are still delicious, but you know, looks DO count when it comes to food.

So, I have no doubts that tonight will be a long night for me. A long night well spent, but long nonetheless. :) I am going to do my damnedest to make it nice and even and am also trying out a really awesome sounding new recipe. Looks to be a very decadent chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling and a dark chocolate ganache frosting.

Sooooo.... we shall see how this turns out. Success or failure, pretty or lopsided as fuck, I will be sharing pics of this cake with you tomorrow when it is totally finished. Wish me luck! :D

Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Tart Cookies

I was in the mood for a cookie. I was in the mood for chocolate. Aaaaand i was in the mood for something strawberry. What's a broad to do? Throw em all together, damn it! THAAAAT'S what you do! :) With no further ado- here it is.

Let the drooling commence. :)



Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Tart Cookies:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Strawberry Jam

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray mini muffin tins.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix until dough forms a ball. I use my (CLEAN!) hands. It's easier that way.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a log.
4. Divide log in half and divide EACH half into about 15 pieces.
5. Roll each piece into a ball and place each into a mini muffin well.
6. Press down the middle of each ball until dough reaches the top of each well, forming a lil cup. (I used the bottom rounded edge of an ice cream scoop- but you can use your fingers if you want.)
7. Spoon about one Tbsp of Strawberry Jam into each cookie. (not TOO full)
8. Bake for 25- 30 minutes. (i go for the higher end of time- otherwise the cookies are TOO soft and fall apart)
9. COOL IN PANS FOR 30 MINUTES. (see the caps there??? This step is important. Wait the FULL 30 minutes.)
10. Remove to finish cooling on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and then drizzle with melted chocolate. :) Mmmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm.

The Blizzard of 2011....

Nothing makes me wanna bake some yummy shit like a lot of snow. I generally am NOT a fan of snow- but throw a blizzard in there, keeping me stuck in the house, and I'm STOKED! That was the situation here Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon. Seriously- we got around 20 inches of snow in a matter of about one day. Here are some pics.



Our Driveway about halfway through the blizzard.



Back of the house. Those windows are on the second floor.

THIS is my mom's van right outside our door. And it was STILL snowing.

L, walking in a winter wonderland. :)

M, face first on a pile of snow! LOL

L, sitting at our patio set.

This is our fence. So a good 6 feet of drift!

WAS  I  KIDDING??  :)

So, like i was saying... We got A LOT of snow. And I baked my ass off. LOL But I also thought it was important to take a baking break and get out there with the kiddies. I hadn't slept, so I was too tired to REALLY play, to be honest- but I was out there laughing, joking, throwing snow and taking pictures. Just enjoying my kiddies. They had SO much fun. This was the most snow either one of them had EVER seen at once and they were both floored and couldn't waaaait to get out there and play in it.

Sometimes it is TOO easy to get wrapped up in everything we are trying to do, and we tend to push our kiddies off. "I cant read right now, baby, I'm doing laundry." "No, I can't color right now, I'm cooking dinner." This was a wonderful chance for us to step back and reevaluate our priorities. Push the cleaning off. Let the kiddies stay up late for some more quality time, even if its just watching some TV together. Hell- there was DEF not going to be school the next day!  :)

So, in short- I want to thank the Blizzard of 2011 for forcing us to stop, take a cleansing breath and have some family time. I wish that would happen more often.

White Chocolate Cake

A good friend asked me to bake a cake for her husband's birthday.... He LOOOOOOVES white chocolate. Like, really REEEEALLY loves it. So i figured i would do a White Chocolate cake with a White Chocolate frosting... He likes raspberries, so i figured i would work that in there somewhere, too. And i think every cake should have some freaking Ganache... so i threw that in as well. I was very nervous taking this on. I mean- it was for a friend and if it tasted like shit i was going to feel REEEALLY bad. LOL But, I dove in before i could chicken out. :) And I am SO glad i did- because let me tell you- while it may not have LOOKED all that great (when i look at it- all *I* see is how lopsided it is and the fact that the raspberries were uneven. UGH!) but it tasted FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!!!!!

On a side note here- i will say that this cake tastes the best the day after you make it. This way all the flavors have time to meld together. So if possible- I would make it the day BEFORE you need it. You can frost it the day after, too.

So.... anyways... Here it is:

White Chocolate Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 oz of White chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup HOT water (it must be very warm or hot or it will seize the chocolate)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• fresh raspberries to top cake with

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Sift together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small sauce pan melt the white chocolate and hot water together over low heat. Stir until smooth and set aside until room temperature.
4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Stir in your flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. (about a cup or so at a time)
6. Mix in the cooled, melted white chocolate and vanilla.
7. Pour into two, nine inch round cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until it passes the "toothpick test."
8. Let cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 9 oz dark chocolate, chopped (seriously- use the BEST chocolate you can find)

1. Place chocolate into a medium bowl.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat the heavy cream. Bring JUST to a boil and turn off immediately.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for a minute to temper. (this just makes it quicker and easier to stir smooth)
4. Whisk until smooth. Let this sit for a couple minutes to thicken up just a little bit.
5. Now what i did- was slice each cake into 2 layers. I then spread some Ganache between each layer. THEN i poured more Ganache over the entire cake letting it drip down the sides. Smooth the sides out, adding a little more ganache as needed. (Save some for decoration, tho!) Place in fridge until you are ready to frost it. (Try and give it at least 30 minutes in the fridge, tho)

White Chocolate Frosting:

• 6 oz white chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar (you may need a little more if frosting comes out too thin. I needed a bit more... just eyeball it)

1. Heat your cream in small sauce pan over low heat until warm. Add white chocolate. Let sit for a minute to temper and then stir til smooth.
2. COOL COMPLETELY!!!!
3. After your white chocolate mix has cooled, add butter and sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy. (if too thin, just add a lil more powdered sugar)
4. Frost your cake. Top with fresh raspberries. Spoon some leftover ganache into a Ziploc baggie, cut small corner off and drizzle over cake. Decorate however you like. :)

Now- pat yourself on the back! You did a daaaaamn good job!  Now dig in! :)