Sam's New Chocolate Cake

Dry Ingredients

3 cups flour (431 g)
1 1/3 cups white sugar (284 g)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (35 g)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips (286 g)

West Ingredients

3 large eggs, beaten (159 g)
1 1/2 cups milk (370 g)
1 1/2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (24 g)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (116 g)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Butter and flour two round cake pans.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients, then add to dry ingredients.  Mix.

Pour into 2 round cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Check for doneness--a toothpick in the center should come out clean.

After cooling in pans for 10 minutes, dump onto cooling rack.  Frost when cool, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Sam's New Chocolate Cake

Grandma Burn's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream:

1 cup softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (room temperature, add one at a time)

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients together before adding slowly to wet ingredients until just combined:

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon)

2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (add just before dry ingredients are fully incorporated)

Bake 350 degrees 10-12 minutes.

Grandma Burns is Ainsley Timothy's grandma. This recipe reminds me of the cookies I made when we lived in California--but somehow they never worked when we lived way above sea level.

Tamra's Creamy Chocolate Poke Cake

Bake a devil foods box cake as per directions.

 While warm out of the oven, poke holes with the handle of a wooden spoon about every 2". You want those holes big, not a skewer.

 Microwave a can of sweetened condensed milk and a can of dulce de leche in a bowl for 30 seconds and stir. Pour slowly over hot cake. Spoon around to hit the holes which will suck it up fast. Let cool. 

Frost with a tub of cool whip (or homemade sweetened whipped cream - 1 cup cream, 2-3 T sugar) and smash 2-3 Heath or Skor candy bars and sprinkle on top.

Carmelitas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, combine (stirring until completely smooth--then set aside):

• 30 Kraft caramel squares
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In a mixing bowl, combine:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Stir in:

• 3/4 cup butter, melted

Pat half of oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8"x8" pan (optional: line the pan with parchment paper).  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and sprinkle over the crust:

• 1 cup chocolate chips

Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips.  Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel.  Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes (until lightly browned at the edges).  Let the carmelitas cool completely before cutting.

Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (can't be melted at all)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips*

Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until fluffy.  Add eggs seperately, beating until fully incorporated.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix with butter/sugar mixture until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Measure dough using medium scoop (1 1/2 Tablespoons) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Freeze dough 15-20 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 while waiting.

Bake 9 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft).  Let sit two minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

*This batter is also good for white chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies.  Someone should try raisins, maybe raisin walnut? Just the dough (without any chips in it) weighs 1420 grams.  You could split the dough for two different batches (710 grams each), or three (473 grams each).

Want a half batch?

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened (can't be melted at all)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla
1 eggs
2 cups and 2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

pretzel rods

chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk, or dark)

white chocolate bark or candy coating

wax paper

tall, straight glass

fork

Pour chocolate chips into the glass.  Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute.  Stir with a pretzel (this will be difficult at first--don't force it).  Continue to microwave 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Using the pretzel, pull chocolate to the rim of the glass and begin twisting the pretzel, leaving a generous amount of chocolate.*  Place on waxed paper.

After you have dipped all the pretzels and lined them up on waxed paper, microwave a block of white chocolate bark for 15-30 seconds, stirring with a fork until melted and smooth.  Drizzle back and forth over the pretzels.  Let dry for a couple of hours or overnight.**

Bag one or two pretzels in Wilton Pretzel Bags (they can be found at Walmart in the cake decorating aisle).  They come with silver ties, but I usually tie the tops with curling ribbon and a little Christmas card.

I've found you can get about 20-24 pretzels per bag (dip the broken ones too though!) and that you need about 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips per pretzel bag.  Kathryn and I dipped four bags of pretzels in about 35 minutes, resulting in 92 pretzels!

*If you like TONS of chocolate, just dip the pretzels and pull them right out of the chocolate.  But this will make it necessary to use A LOT more chocolate.  I prefer a lighter coat of chocolate--and I even like the pattern made by twisting the pretzel out of the chocolate.

**Warning!  You have not tempered the chocolate, so it may bloom!   It's still okay to eat--but if you pass them out within the next day or so, they're usually fine and get eaten before any blooming happens.  But no guarantees here.

Mint Brownies

1 c Hershey's Cocoa
1 c + 2 T all purpose flour
2 c - 2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
6 eggs, whisked
2 t vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag Andes Creme de Mint baking chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or grease it with butter).  Whisk together first 4 ingredients.  Make a well and fill it with eggs, vanilla, and melted and cooled butter.  Mix until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips, the batter will be stiff.  Spread batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with mint chips.  Return to oven for one minute.  Remove from oven and spread mint chips with the back of a spoon.  Lick that spoon and let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares with a hot knife.

This recipe was inspired by the book Pie in the Sky:  Successful Baking at High Altitudes by Susan G. Purdy.

Want a half batch?  Use the following measurements and bake in an 8x8 pan for 20-27 minutes.  The brownies are a little thicker.  Make them without the mint topping and they are still delicious.

½ c cocoa
½ c + 1T flour
1 c - 1T sugar
¼ t salt
3 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
8 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
 

Chocolate Honey Almond Tart

The third gift of chocolate was a Chocolate Honey Almond Tart I saw made on "Giada at Home" on Food Network TV. It was delicious and the crunchy crust was perfect with the rich, smooth ganache filling. What you see pictured here is the single tiny slice I had left when I realized I never took a picture of the final product. And while I do suggest small slices, because it is very rich, this may seem a bit stingy. Then again, you could justify a second helping that way. :) Also, I thought this could have been enhanced by some fresh raspberries and whipped cream, or a raspberry sauce. But like I said, by the time I got to this third round of chocolate--I was beggin' for something else! If you'd been in a chocolate desert, it would absolutely quench your thirst!


Chocolate Honey Almond Tart

• 1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature, plus extra for coating the pan
• 9 chocolate graham crackers, 5 1/2-ounces total
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup honey
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Place the graham crackers and almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture forms fine crumbs, about 15 to 20 seconds. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, whisk the cream and honey together over low heat until the honey has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to just below a boil. Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is smooth. Pour the chocolate filling over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

Loosen the tart from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the edge. Unmold the tart and transfer to a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve.

Fabulous Frosting with Truffles left over

The next chocolate gift was truffles. These are as easy to make as fudge, except you have the extra work of rolling each truffle. I just use my Fabulous Frosting recipe--I don't remember where I got the recipe originally. I think it's an amalgamation of a bunch of frosting recipes I have tried. Here it is:






Fabulous Frosting with Truffles Left Over!
1 c whipping cream
1/4 c honey
3 T butter
12 oz mini chocolate chips

(Okay, mini chocolate chips seem to melt completely, while the regular chips always seem to have tiny pieces of chocolate running through it--not that tiny pieces of chocolate running through it is bad! Seriously, I could say I meant to do it and everyone would think I was genius! So if you want everything totally smooth--which I usually want for frosting, use mini chocolate chips. But if you want my favorite flavor, use half 60 percent cacao Ghiradelli chocolate chips half Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips--and tell everyone you had to cook everything just right to have those delicious bits of chocolate running through it!)

In a small saucepan, whisk the cream, honey and butter together over low heat until the honey has dissolved and the butter has melted. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to just below a boil. Remove from heat and add the chips. Stir until chips are melted and the frosting is smooth and beautiful! Let cool to frosting consistency.

I've also used the double boiler method and just thrown everything together until it melts completely. This is good for when you have distractions. :) Now for the truffles. I'll use instructions from Giada De Laurentiis' Balsamic Chocolate Truffles Recipe--which is also really goood:

Cool the chocolate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, until firm but moldable. (If you're impatient, you can roll them straight out of the fridge--they just won't be perfect little balls--which some say makes them look more like real truffles.)

Use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate. Use your fingertips to shape into balls about the size of a cherry. Set the chocolate balls on a parchment-lined tray. Place the cocoa powder in a small shallow dish. Place 6 truffles at a time in the cocoa powder and roll the truffles around to coat, and return the coated truffles to the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining truffles. Place the truffles in a serving dish or airtight package. (I also like to use finely chopped nuts or Nilla Wafer crumbs.)

Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge

My entire presidency's birthdays were in the past few weeks and I wanted to give each a small gift. The first was this delicious fudge. The cinnamon makes it unique and gives it warmth. I saw it made on Food Network's Giada at Home. The recipes shared on that show are delicious and family friendly. It has inspired Kathryn as well. I'll post her adventure making an Italian soup and crostini soon.  Anyway, here's my review:

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pan
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) bittersweet (60 percent cacao) chocolate chips (recommended: Ghiradelli) see Cook's Note (I used 1-1/2 cups 60% and 1 cup semisweet [Ghiradelli--most excellent, dude])
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
• Kosher or flake salt, optional

Directions

Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch baking pan. Line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper, about 14-inches long and 7-inches wide, allowing the excess to overhang the sides. Set aside. (This makes it really easy to lift out the fudge--it's worth the effort.)

In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips and butter. Put the bowl on a saucepan of barely simmering water and mix until the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, about 6 to 8 minutes (mixture will be thick). Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm. (Someone I gave this recipe to said her salt dissolved--maybe because she didn't store it in the fridge?--Confirmed!  It's true!  So keep them chilled!  They taste better that way anyway.)

Run a warm knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the fudge. Remove the fudge to a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the fudge into 1-inch pieces. Store refrigerated in an airtight container or freeze.

Cook's Note: The fudge can also be made using 1 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) of semisweet chocolate chips.   

I've made these a few times without using cinnamon.  It's still excellent fudge, and if you are giving any to Grandma Carlene, she actually prefers it that way.