Anyway, the message I received today simply said,

“Recipe for you, cola chocolate cake!”

Note that this recipe is a cake recipe, and a super soft moist one at that. Therefore if you choose to make cupcakes, they will not become rounded. Simply so you don’t feel like you have made a mistake if they come out flat.

Makes 24 cupcakes or 1 cake of approximately 10 slices… Depends on how big you like your slices.

What you need:
Cake
- 250g self-raising flour
- 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 heaped tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 300c caster sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 250g butter
- 200ml cola
- 75ml milk
Icing
- 200g icing sugar
- 100g butter
- 2tbs cola
- 2tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

What you do:
Cake.
- Preheat the oven to 180degrees Celsius.
- Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, add the vanilla extract. Stir this into the dry ingredients.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat. Stir in the cola and the milk. Be careful not to boil.
- Slowly add to the dry ingredients, whisking the whole time. Whisk until smooth but be wary not to over do it.
- Pour the mixture (which is very wet, don’t stress) into a prepared 24cm cake tin, or into 24 prepared cupcake cases. I highly suggest the use of patty pans, as this are so soft they may split while you attempt to pull them out of the tin.
- Bake for 40 minutes for cake, or 25 minutes for cupcakes.
- Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the icing.
Icing.
- Sift the icing sugar into a bowl.
- Over a low heat melt the butter. Add the cola and the cocoa. Bring to the boil while stirring continuously. Remove from the heat.
- Add to the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Leaving the cupcakes / cake in the tin, ice.
- Allow to cool completely… COMPLETELY (honestly, this is how damn soft the cake it, if you do it any sooner it will fall apart) before removing from the tin.

On a side note, I have a fancy new cupcake carrier so I can take these easily to work with me! One of the girls are leaving our workplace so hopefully she will enjoy these!

Dark chocolate. Sweet, chewy coconut. Crunchy almonds. All atop an amazingly moist bar.

RESISTING IS FUTILE.

I like to cook, but I LOVE to bake. Yummy desserts make for joyful times – smiles, chocolate-smeared fingers, and happy tastebuds. Perhaps baked goods are the way to world peace? Or just, “Can I have another piece?”

These have been on my to-do list for a long while. I bought the dark chocolate chips and coconut two months ago and proclaimed to Casey (the other Almond Joy lover in the house) that we were going to embark on this Almond Joy adventure. He was more than on board with it. Then, Thanksgiving and Christmas hit and it seemed we had cookies, cakes, and pies EVERYWHERE. That was not the time to roll it out. No, no, no. This baby needs top-billing, all the spotlight, and 100% of the attention. (Can desserts be needy?)

THIS ONE CAN.

Now, mid-January, we seem to be having a dessert shortage (oh, the horror) and today was a great day to go for it. I started with my sure-fire congo bar recipe, which is already packed with coconut. I decreased the chocolate chips a bit to account for the extra chocolate that would be drizzled on top. Then concocted a topping out of more coconut and almonds. Once it baked and cooled, I melted the dark chocolate along with some vegetable shortening and drizzled it over the top.

STUPENDOUS. A dense, moist bar reminiscent of a blondie, speckled with semi sweet chocolate chips and packed with coconut. A top sprinkled with toasted coconut and crunchy with almonds. And the kicker? A dark chocolate drizzle to tie it all together. Good golly, Miss Molly!!!

To be honest, I debated for a long time which way to go with this — muffins, scones, cookies, cupcakes, bars? There were so many possibilities!! WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE??

Almond Joy Bars
Makes 24 squares

For the batter:
2/3 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet morsels (I used mini morsels)
1 cup sweetened coconut

For the topping:
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dark chocolate morsels or chunks
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 13×9 baking pan with pan spray.

1) Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes on medium speed).
2) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture bit by bit to the butter/sugar mixture, and beat on low between each addition.
3) Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate and 1 cup of coconut. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth over with a spatula to ensure it is evenly distributed in the pan.
4) In a small bowl, make the topping by combining 1/2 cup coconut with 1/3 cup sliced almonds. Sprinkle the mixture over the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The bars are done with a toothpick inserted 1″ from the side comes out clean, yet the center is still a bit sticky. Set aside to cool for about 30 minutes.
5) Once the bars have cooled to room temperature, prepare the chocolate drizzle. Melt the dark chocolate morsels and shortening over a double boiler (or in the microwave for 30 seconds, then 10-second intervals, stirring in between each). Using a spoon, drizzle the melted chocolate all over the bars. Let cool and harden before slicing into squares.

One massive difference I find between current cakes, and cakes of back in the day is the amount of beating required. Current cakes have a tendency to flop and fall if beaten too much. While cakes of old thrive on being beaten at high speeds for minutes on end. I am beginning to think it is the addition of 1tsp of bicarbonate of soda… *curious*

Devils food cake… It is in the name!! This cake is so deliciously naughty! So sweet, moist, chocolately…*drool*

I chose to only make half the recipe that I will give you, because it is designed to be made as two cakes that you put on top of one another with cream in the middle. It was this decision to only make half that was the beginning of my demise. Explanation later.

What you need:
- 2 and 1/4cups self-raising flour
- 1 and 3/4cups castor sugar
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2/3cup cocoa
- 155g butter, softened
- 1cup water
- 1tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs

What you do:
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl of an electric mixer.
- Add softened butter, water (and here was my muff up… I halved everything but the water!!! At least the flavor wasn’t compromised though!), and vanilla.
- Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, increase speed slightly and beat for a further 3 minutes.
- Pour into two well-greased deep 20cm cake tins. (does anyone else retain the wrappers from the blocks of butter and use them to line cake tins? I do!)
- Bake at 180degrees Celsius for 35 to 40 minutes.
- When cold, sandwich together with whipped cream, top with your favorite chocolate icing. Or with chocolate glacé icing!

Chocolate glacé icing recipe.
What you need:
- 45g dark chocolate
- 1tsp oil
- 2tbs water
- 1 and 1/4cups icing sugar, approx

What you do:
- Combine chocolate, oil, and water. Melt chocolate carefully (over water or in microwave). Stirring.
- Gradually beat in sifted icing sugar, beat until smooth and of good spreading consistency.
- Spread on cold cake.

Astronomers searching for the building blocks of life in a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way have concluded that it tastes vaguely of raspberries.  The unanticipated discovery follows years of work by astronomers who trained their 30m radio telescope on the enormous ball of dust and gas in the hope of spotting complex molecules that are vital for life.

Finding amino acids in interstellar space is a Holy Grail for astrobiologists, as this would raise the possibility of life emerging on other planets after being seeded with the molecules.  In the latest survey, astronomers sifted through thousands of signals from Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud at the centre of our galaxy. While they failed to find evidence for amino acids, they did find a substance called ethyl formate, the chemical responsible for the flavour of raspberries.

“It does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries,” Arnaud Belloche, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, told the Guardian.

Curiously, ethyl formate has another distinguishing characteristic: it also smells of rum.  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/apr/21/space-raspberries-amino-acids-astrobiology)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In honor of such fantastic scientific news, I’ve created this Galaxy Brownie, because it has raspberries, rum and it tastes out of this world.  Chocolate never hurt anything either!!

Froggie’s Galaxy Brownies

Ingredients

1 box Duncan Hines dark chocolate fudge brownie mix (mix as prepared on back of box, add ¼ cup French vanilla creamer )

1 box Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge brownie mix (mix as prepared on back of box, add ¼ cup French vanilla creamer )

1 (21 oz) Duncan Hines premium raspberry pie filling and topping

1 shot Captain Morgan Spice Rum

1 cup ghiradelli white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare brownie mixes in separate bowls, keep them separate.  Butter/grease 13×9 pan.  Spread dark chocolate fudge brownie mix on bottom.  Reserve ½ cup of raspberry pie filling.  Heat the rest in microwave for 1 minute to warm/thin it.  Add rum and blend in.  Spread evenly by spoon onto dark chocolate mix.  Sprinkle white chocolate chips evenly on top of that.  Take chocolate fudge brownie mix and spread that evenly on top of that.  Bake in oven for 35-45 minutes, watching carefully in last ten minutes to make sure center is done.

Remove from heat.

I used an easy powdered sugar, milk glaze on this. (1 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, and then folded in the remaining ½ cup of raspberry pie filling) and then drizzled on top.

Options:  You can omit the rum if desired.  You can also use any ol brownie mix you’d like.

These dark, rich, decadent chocolate pots have a hint of tart passion fruit, which seems to make the chocolate even richer, and a background note of basil. They are the perfect Christmas dessert. They only take a few minutes to make. A bit of slow melting, gentle pouring and chilling, that’s it. You can stash them in the fridge for your guests to dive into when ever they are required.

I am a complete chocolate weirdo. I love it. I would make the recipe below for 2 chocolate fiends, but you can easily get 4 ‘normal’ portions out of it – I will leave this up to you and I certainly won’t judge!

These lovely little chocolate pots were inspired by the McCormick 2013 Flavour Forecast. Do let me know what you think of my chocolate pots and this delicious flavour combination @mightyspice

Serves 2 chocolate fiends or 4 more sensible people

100g/3 ½oz dark chocolate 70%
125ml/4fl oz./ ½ cup double cream
2 tsp. honey
¼ tsp. dry basil
2 passion fruits
1 free-range egg

1. Smash the chocolate, still in the packet, onto a chopping board to break it up. Tip the chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and pour in the cream and the honey. Add the basil and place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes until the chocolate and cream have melted together, then remove the bowl from pan and set to one side.
2. Meanwhile place a fine sieve over a mixing bowl. Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop the seeds and any juices out into the sieve. Using the back of a spoon, mix the seeds around the sieve to push all of lovely the juices out into the mixing bowl.
3. Tip the passion fruit juice into the melted chocolate and crack in the egg. Mix really well so the chocolate goes beautifully smooth and velvety. Pour the rich mixture into serving glasses, as required, and place in the fridge for 4 hours, or over night, to set. Remove from the fridge 10 minutes before serving.

-All thoughts and spelling mistakes are mine-

DESSERT BONUS: COOK: Chocolate Covered Pretzels with Crushed Candy Cane

Ingredients:
1 lb Bag  of your Favorite Salted pretzel
1 Bag Dark Chocolate
1 Bag White Chocolate
1 Small Box of your  Favorite Candy Cane

Tools:
Plastic fork  or old metal fork
Double Boiler
Hammer
Wax paper

Step 1: Using a double boilers melt slowly melt the dark chocolate.

Step 2: While chocolate is melting, use a hammer to crush the candy canes (while still in the bags). Make sure the pieces are very small to be chewed easily.

Step 2.5: Brake the  middle 2 spokes of the plastic fork or bend back the 2 middle spokes on the metal fork.

Step 3: One by one drop pretzels into the melted chocolate and coat well.  Using the fork, fish out the pretzel.  Tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to eliminate excess chocolate. Place on wax paper.

Step 4: Sprinkle crushed candy cane on top while chocolate is still wet.

Step 5: Repeat Steps 3&4 until you run out of chocolate.

White Chocolate: Melt white chocolate as directed on the package. Repeat Steps 3&4 with white chocolate until you run out of chocolate.

Step 6: Allow pretzels to dry completely.

Step 7: Line container with fresh sheet of wax paper. Add chocolate covered pretzels. 

Give as gifts or serve at your holiday party, either way it will be the hit of the season.

Happy Holidays.

RECIPE

• 1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil for dairy-free option)
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup nut butter (I used almond butter.)
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup of nuts* (Your choice: pecans, almonds, peanuts, etc.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a pot, combine butter/oil, agave nectar, and cocoa powder.  Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly.  Remove from the heat.
2. Stir in nut butter, salt and vanilla.
3. Stir in coconut flakes and nuts.
4. Scoop cookies onto a parchment lined sheet tray.
5. Refrigerate to set.
6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week and freezer up to 1 month. (Makes 3 dozen)

*You can make this guilt-free goodie nut-free by using 3 cups of coconut flakes instead. It turns out more like a chocolate macaroon.

Manda’s Almost Healthy Brownies

Preheat oven to 350

Grease 8×8 pan with oil or butter (I used coconut oil)

Ingredients:

1/2c brown sugar

1/2c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2c unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4tsp aluminum-free baking soda

1/4tsp salt

1/2c unsweetened applesauce

2 mashed bananas (or about 1 cup)

2TB olive oil (or coconut oil)

1 large egg

1/2 bag of Hershey’s dark chocolate Kisses

Combine sugar, cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt, and unwrapped Hershey kisses in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine egg, applesauce, mashed banana, and olive oil in another bowl. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry. Pour into greased pan. Bake for about 30min until firm to touch. Enjoy.

*Note: The banana adds a subtle flavor. It is not overpowering (imho).

And I will add a photo later.

For 4 persons

• 200g dark chocolate (one bar)
• 4 eggs
• 1 table spoon creme fraiche
• a pinch of salt

Make the chocolate melt in a bain-marie.

Once the chocolate is melted, add the creme fraiche.

Divide the yolks and the whites and add the yolks to the chocolate. Stir until well combined.

In a mixing bowl, add the pinch of salt to the egg white and whip them up.

Mix one third of the chocolate with the eggs very carefully. Then add the remaining chocolate, mix well but very slowly to have a nice mousse.

Pour the mousse in a big bowl or in ramekins and keep refrigered fro at least 2 hours.

I always do my mousse one day before eating it.

Seeing my family, hanging out, sharing time together that is hard to come by is by far my favorite part of the holiday season, but a close second is the food. If it hasn’t become obvious, I am a huge fan of food, and the holidays are such a great time for trying new things and to enjoy the classics everyone loves.

My pumpkin cake with chocolate pecan filling

My brothers, sisters and I are all getting old enough to contribute to the holiday feasts, so we are starting to tug at those traditional strings a little bit and add some personal flair to the table. My brother’s baked macaroni and cheese is starting to become an annual thing, as well as my cousin Jeff’s fried turkey.

My mom always makes her pumpkin pie from scratch, and no one touch that, but this year I wanted to put something a little different on the dessert table. Flipping through Food Network Magazine, I stumbled upon a beautiful pumpkin spice cake with a chocolate pecan filling and a chocolate glaze on top. Pumpkin? Yum. Chocolate? Double yum. DONE!

So here is what I didn’t know going into this cake: that it was going to take TEN HOURS TO MAKE. Regardless, I was committed to this dessert, and I was committed to making it amazing, so I went for it.

The end product on my mother’s lovely table

All things considered, it went fine. The pumpkin spice cake was light and moist, with just the right amount of spice. The chocolate pecan filling was rich and crunchy, and the glaze on top didn’t harden like a ganache, it was kind of a thick, soft chocolate blanket covering the cake.

The most difficult part of this cake was the filling. It just took a ridiculously long time. The filling itself took about an hour to make, then another hour or so for it to set. BUT WAIT! There is more. THEEEEEEEEEEN after assembling the cake, the filling had to set for another hour. SOOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOOOOONG!!! Seriously, I wanted to go to bed.

I do have a new respect for the slow food method of baking. I have never made a filling like that from scratch before, and it was definitely worth the experience. Baking is my never-ending test of patience.

The end result was delicious. Everyone enjoyed it, and the pumpkin and chocolate combo was one that hadn’t been done at one of our holidays before. I definitely plan on making the cake again. It was just too delicious. Next time, I think I will make a cream cheese frosting and top it with the toasted pecans.

Or maybe the next time I have an ENTIRE day to devote to baking, I will take this on again.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chocolate Pecan Filling

What you will need:

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp salt

1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree (I used my own pumpkin puree)

1 ½ cups sugar

2 tsp grated orange zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

For the filling:

1 cup sugar

1 quart heavy cream

¼ cup dark corn syrup

2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

For the glaze:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tsp honey

My brother Jared grabbing himself a piece

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9-inch-round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, orange zest and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each one. Add the vegetable oil in a steady stream. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until incorporated. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans; lightly tap the pans on the counter to distribute the batter.

Bake until the cakes about 30 minutes or until the cakes begin pulling away from the pans and the centers spring back when lightly pressed. Transfer to a rack and let cool 10 minutes in the pans, unmold the cakes on the racks and let cool completely.

To make the filling: Combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a large deep saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer and cook, without stirring, until deep amber, about 8 minutes. Carefully whisk in the cream and cook, whisking, until smooth. Add the corn syrup and bring to a boil. The cream froths pretty quickly, so quickly reduce the heat to medium low and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in the butter, chocolate, vanilla and salt until smooth. Make sure to let the chocolate cool completely, then fold in the pecans. Cover and refrigerate until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour.

Toast pecans in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees at home!

To assemble the cake: Cut each cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife to make 4 layers. Lay one cake layer down and spread one-third of the pecan filling on top. Layer the remaining cakes and filling on top, ending with cake. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

To make the glaze: Combine the chocolate, cocoa powder, butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 1 minute; uncover and whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature, spread the glaze on the cake, letting the excess drip down the sides. Refrigerate until the glaze sets, about 10 minutes.

Layers of moist pumpkin and decadent chocolate

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful this cake turned out delicious.

RECIPE

• 2-1/2 oz. of unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 jar (11.5 oz) Kettle Hazelnut Butter
• 1/2 cup of almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• Optional: hazelnut or macadamia nuts for decoration

1. In a baine-marie, melt chocolate. Add in hazelnut butter and almond butter. Mix until smooth. Let cool for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven at 350˚ F.
3. Transfer chocolate hazelnut mix into a medium bowl. Add eggs, sugar, salt and baking soda and stir until the mixture turns into batter.
4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto Silpat or parchment-paper lined cookie sheet.
5. Place a macadamia nut on top of each mound.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Let cool then enjoy.

It’s a delicious chocolate mixture which works well on its own, but is even better with fresh cream and strawberries. Not to blow my parents’ horn or anything, of course, but their home grown strawberries are pretty amazing and flavoursome – as you can see in the picture above. It’s also a mixture which a friend of mine rightly pointed out could work well as icing or ganache on a very rich cake if you spread it very thinly, but in little ramekins it’s a real treat.

One problem I did have was that the vanilla – we think, caused the chocolate to freeze up so it became stiff and crumbly. I have since cooked this recipe a second time – using standard nestle old gold dark chocolate instead of baking chocolate, and Fragoli instead of vanilla, and the mixture was as smooth as it was meant to be. I take from this a theory that when using vanilla and melted chocolate it might be better to try regular chocolate instead of baking chocolate, and perhaps to be prepared for a stiff and slightly drier mixture. It was certainly delicious even though it was stiff, but I got taste testers (my friends) for the second, much smoother batch and they preferred the second lot due to texture. Overall they said the taste was the same – excepting the Fragoli, but the texture was an improvement!

Cheat’s Chocolate Pots Recipe – Which is Not Mine!

Serves 8-10, prep 5 mins, chill at least 20 mins, overall time 25 mins

Ingredients

• 140g plain chocolate, baking chocolate not recommended as it can turn out to be quite dry.
• 400ml double cream
• 1tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl over simmering – not boiling, water, or in microwave.
2. Gradually stir in cream and vanilla until mixture is smooth.
3. Pour into ramekins or small coffee cups and leave to chill until ready to serve.
4. Garnish with cream and fresh strawberries, or whipped cream and crumbled flake chocolate. (my suggestion)

Extra

Pros: Quick, easy, cheap, fun, delicious.

Cons: Can be dauntingly full of chocolate for some so I recommend smaller portions.

Handy Links

Just Ten Minutes

Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate

300 Best Chocolate Recipes

Peanut Butter Cups
(Makes 12 Peanut Butter Cups)

So, a lot of people keep asking me for more ways to eat healthy during the holidays but still feel like they are treating themselves.  Well, here is another one for you out there. One of my candy favorites are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but they are packed with sugar and empty calories. So, when I found this recipe, I was ecstatic! Give this a try if you are a fan of chocolate and peanut goodness! Plus, there is a nice surprise to make it more suitable for the holidays – pumpkin! Enjoy!

¼ cup dark chocolate chips
2 scoops Chocolate Vegan Shakeology
1 Tbsp. psyllium husk powder
½ cup pumpkin puree (canned)
8 mini cupcake liners
6 tsp. natural smooth peanut butter,

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chocolate chips in small oven-proof bowl and heat in oven for 15 minutes or until melted.
2. While the chocolate is melting, place Shakeology, psyllium husk, and pumpkin puree in food processor. Pulse until it forms a dough.
3. Divide dough into 12 small balls and portion into each cupcake liner. Press dough down into a flat disk with depression in the middle. Place ½ tsp. peanut butter into each depression.
4. Remove chocolate from oven and stir to melt completely. Drizzle evenly over each cup and spread to create a thin chocolate layer on top (about ½ tsp. chocolate per cup).
5. Freeze for 30 minutes or until chocolate hardens.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 75
Carbohydrates: 9g
Protein: 4g
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 43mg

Most of the week, I look pretty grubby. I actually get to wear a chef’s coat at my job, but it’s not a flattering, fitted one like the celebrity chefs wear on the food network. It’s considered a good day if I’m not forced to quadruple-roll the sleeves of an XL coat because that was all that was left on the store’s rack due to laundry day. My hair is shoved up into a hat, I don jeans that are permanently stained by sheetpan grease, and my 5 am alarm clock leaves me little time to spend on a dazzling makeup job.

All that to say, I need just a little bit of fancy in my life when I’m not at work.

When I think of fancy, I think of France. If I had it my way, I would be magically transported to a quaint Parisian cafe on my day off. As the boundaries of physics clearly do not allow for this, I must do what I can to bring fancy to my Sonoma county life.

French macarons have been on my mental baking bucket list* since I first laid eyes on them. And at my first taste of one, I knew I had come across something magical. Their crisp and subtly sweet exterior contrasts beautifully with a soft and typically more flavorful interior. Perfect all on their own or dipped into a mug of steamy cafe au lait, the balance they strike is something that only the French could have come up with.

For my first attempt, I decided to go with a classic combo: chocolate and chocolate ganache. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, with the exception of one substitution I had to make: the recipe called for blanched, slivered almonds, and I only had sliced. Next time, I would definitely like to try the blanched almonds to see if that makes a difference in texture. My macarons ended up have little bits of crunch throughout due to the not-fine-enough ground almonds. I actually liked this, but I would like to try it the correct way next time.

Another tip the recipe suggests is to allow the piped macaron dough to sit for one hour before baking. This supposedly creates a crisper shell. I skipped this step due to time constraints, but next time I will know to allow for the extra time.

For all the time I spent intimidated by these sweet little cookies, they were not very difficult to make. To make them perfectly, however, is another story…

As for sharing the recipe? I am going to leave that to the expert, as I am just a student sharing with you my progress! Go visit Annie’s Eats to get the recipe.

But if you need a fancy treat… you’ve found it!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Kids can be ungrateful little turds.  I was that kid.  My mom would make us this delicious chocolate pudding cake when we were kids.  It didn’t matter that it came from a box.  Honestly, the stuff was super delicious.  I bet they still sell it in Canada.  It was from the company Robin Hood which is known to make amazing flour…so much so that my mom would bring in flour from Canada when she would make pie dough while living in Florida.  I can’t make pie dough to save my life (as we all know) so my flour is still All-American and I can work with that.  I think even my friend Marlys from “This and That- my love of cooking and photography” blog also brings in her flour to the US…I hope that wasn’t a secret…ooops…

ANYWAY…(dang I hate it when I wander around with my thoughts) the Cake.  It was something my mom would make on a weekly basis.  Nothing fancy just a quick dessert to satisfy our little family.  I ate it with no fuss….well I pretty much eat everything with no fuss…except mashed potatoes…YUCK YUCK YUCK….don’t bother…I hate them.

THE CAKE….darn…so, I have been missing this cake.  A lot more than I would have imagined.  I decided I should come up with something along the same lines.  Maybe I miss my mom, maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s because my kids often make me question my own sanity…yep….that would be the one!

THE CAKE…it’s about the cake!

Note: Adapted from: Chocolate Cake, The Louisiana Proud Collection of Home Cooking

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (American all-purpose flour seems acceptable here!) 

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoon cocoa

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup warm water

How to:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease or spray an 8 X 11 baking dish, set aside.

In a large bowl combine your flour, salt, sugar (first 3/4 cup), baking powder, and cocoa (first 2 tablespoons).  Add your milk, melted butter and vanilla, combine well.  Pour into your prepared pan.  In a small bowl combine your sugar (other 3/4 cup) and cocoa (other 3 tablespoons).  Sprinkle over your cake batter.  Pour your warm water on top of sugar mixture.  DO NOT STIR.  (yes it will look ugly…fight the urge to touch anything!)  Bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes or until cake part is done.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

layer #1, the batter

layer #2, cocoa and sugar…yummy

and finally the warm water

not pretty and water is not even BUT DO NOT TOUCH IT…trust me!

fresh out of the oven, smelling amazing and hiding the most important part…

the pudding underneath it all…simply perfect and so delicious

Printer Friendly: Chocolate Pudding Cake

creamy & chocolaty…cake and pudding together what a great union!

To my mom: “I am sorry Mom if I didn’t appreciate how delicious this was as a child.  I love all your food, all except your mashed potatoes, I hear they are delicious…I think I might be allergic to mashed potatoes but not to chocolate.  Love your favorite (and only) daughter, Isabelle”

Peace and don’t be ungrateful little brats,

Isabelle

I have a recipe for you that will take 10 mins to make, cost less than $15 and will make people like you. If this people already like you, they will like you more than they did before.

I approve this message. In fact, I wrote this message so of course I approve it. It is a common misbelief that making tasty food takes ages, is difficult and is expensive. You can be the cheapest, most time-poor and inexperienced cook for miles around and make great food. This blog is here to tell you to not believe the myth. If this particular post doesn’t convince you that anyone can cook, and cook well, then I have truly failed in that mission.

Without much further ado…

Mexican truffles (adapted from http://www.channel5.com/shows/mexican-food-made-simple/recipes/chilli-chocolate-truffles)
500g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
200g chocolate (at least 40% cocoa solids if you can find it, but I used 30% and it was fine)
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
2 allspice berries
10 cloves
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
425ml double cream/thickened cream
30g butter
50g cocoa powder (for dusting)

Grease a baking tin (approx. 30cm by 12cm) with vegetable oil and line with glad wrap
Break the chocolate into small chunks to make it easier to melt
Grind the spices and chillies with a pestle and mortar and heat with the double cream in a heavy-bottomed pan
Once very warm but not boiling, add to the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and stir till combined
Stir in the butter
Pour the mixture into the tin, ensuring it is flat and has filled the corners, and freeze for 1 hour
Turn the frozen chocolate out onto a chopping board and cut into cubes, tossing them in cocoa powder as you go so they don’t stick together

These store for ages in the fridge or freezer and make great presents

If you melt the chocolate with cream that is too hot, the chocolate will split. If this happens you might be able to save it by stirring a few tablespoons of cold cream into the melted chocolate. If the chocolate does not melt straight away (which is more often my problem), suspend the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water until it melts enough to combine.