Cherry Pistachio Mini Pound Cakes

Just another tinker with my favorite pound cake recipe. The cherries dominate but the pistachios add a subtle touch.  Very tasty combination.


Cherry Pistachio Mini Pound Cakes

3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 eggs
1 tsp cherry extract (vanilla also fine)
1 cup finely chopped roasted pistachios
1 cup chopped drained maraschino cherries

Mix together butter and sugar until creamy. Add in eggs, two at a time beating a minute after each addition. Add in extract. Mix in flour and cream alternatively, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in pistachios and cherries. Spoon batter into lined mini loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes or until cakes test as done. Cool on racks.

Georgian Chocolate Pound Cake

This is another recipe for the Nordic Ware 70's bundt cake cookbook.  Not a bad cake, but a little on the dry side.  I already altered the milk component to give it more moisture.  Next time I'd probably reduce the cocoa powder by about a third and possibly add a couple more eggs.  Something like a raspberry sauce added to each slice would have been perfection.....definitely more ideas for next time....hahahaha.  Yummy!


Georgian Chocolate Pound Cake

1 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 eggs
1 tbls vanilla

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.  Add eggs, beating for about a minute after each.  Mix in vanilla.  Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add dry ingredients alternately with heavy cream.  Spoon batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake at 325 for 80 minutes or until cake tests as done.  Cool in pan ten minutes before flipping out onto rack to finish cooling.

Chocolate Glaze

14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp (approx) heavy whipping cream

Mix together milk, chips, and vanilla in a bowl.  Microwave for about a minute, stirring halfway through.  Heat additional time if needed to completely melt chips and thicken glaze.  Stir in whipping cream to thin to desired glaze consistency.  Spoon over cooled cake.  Chill to set glaze before slicing.

Cheesy Cherry Bundt Cake

Another recipe from the Nordic Ware 70's bundt cake book.  I'm bundt obsessed at the moment!  Moist and delicious cake recipe....a definite make again.


Cheesy Cherry Bundt Cake

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup drained chopped maraschino cherries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter.  Add in sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy.  Add eggs, beating for one minute after each one.  Gradually mix in 2 cups of the flour and the baking powder.  Use remaining 1/4 cup flour to toss over cherries and pecans in a small bowl.  Fold flour covered fruit and nuts into the batter.  Pour into greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake at 325 for 60 minutes or until cake tests as done.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto rack to finish cooling.

Vanilla Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbls soft butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls milk (approx) to thin

Mix together all ingredients adding enough milk to reach desired glaze consistency.  Spoon over cake.

Ice Cream Topped Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ice cream cone cupcakes topped with ice cream.....it's like it was meant to be!  Just further experimentation with my last post of ice cream cone cupcakes.  I've always been a big fan of cake and ice cream, but then I can be a traditionalist at times.....rare times....ehehehehe.  

These cupcakes are so very yummy.  The drawback is having to do a lot of last minute prep topping the cupcakes right before you serve.  Definitely worth the extra scramble though.  I tossed on a little magic shell to finish it off.  Magic shell was a little messier than I was expecting.  My ice cream wasn't super duper cold though since I was going for easy scooping which probably made a huge difference.  Serving a crowd I'd definitely skip the chocolate top....serving a few at a time...I'd go for it.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

A fun cupcake to make. Any cake recipe can be used but I went with a pound cake since a spillover with a thick batter was less likely.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Pound Cake
1 cup butter,  softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips


Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting
8oz cream cheese softened
1/4 cup butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp cherry extract
Red food color

Beat together butter and sugar. Add in eggs, two at a time. Mix in vanilla and cocoa. Mix in flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour.  Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into large pastry bag or big zip lock and pipe into cones. Use muffin pans to bake cones at 325 for 30 minutes or until done. Cool. 

Mix butter and cream cheese together. Add in powdered sugar, extract, and food color. Spoon frosting into pastry bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. 

Blueberry Crunch Mini Pound Cakes

More fun playing around with my pound cake recipe.  Amazingly easy to make different flavor combinations with this one.  I also enjoy all the taste testing....I'm just saying...hahhaha.


Blueberry Crunch Mini Pound Cakes

Cakes:
1 cup butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups wild blueberries

Crunch Topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add eggs, two at a time, mixing throughly after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add in flour and cream alternately beginning and ending with flour. Fold in blueberries.  Spoon into mini loaf pans lined with cupcake liners.  (Two cupcakes liners form a decent mini loaf liner.)  Combine all topping ingredients in a bowl.  Sprinkle by hand over top of mini loaves.  Bake at 325 for 45 mins or until cakes test as done. Remove to racks to cool.

Blueberry Hootenanny!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Pound Cakes

What do you do when you find an amazing yellow pound cake recipe? Make a delicious chocolate version of course. Everything is better with chocolate. I'm almost positive that's an unwritten law.


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Pound Cakes

1 cup butter,  softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Beat together butter and sugar. Add in eggs, two at a time. Mix in vanilla and cocoa. Mix in flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour.  Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into lined mini loaf pans (two cupcake liners work perfectly as a mini loaf liner) and bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until loaves test done. Cool on racks.

Cream Cake with lemon glaze

I found this recipe on my small bundt pan package and it is amazzzzing. Simple to make but really an outstanding little cake.  The recipe will make two small bundts.


Cream Cake with Lemon Glaze

1 cup butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add eggs, two at a time, mixing throughly after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add in flour and cream alternately beginning and ending with flour. Pour into greased and floured small bundt pans and bake at 325 for one hour or until cake tests as done. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to finish cooling.

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tbls lemon juice for glaze. Add more or less juice for the consistency you desire.

Peeps Barrel Cake

I could not resist making this cake.  Peep revolution!  Peeping ain't easy people!  Hahahahhaah.

Any cake and frosting will really do for a barrel cake.  I went with two chocolate cookie layers and marshmallow buttercream frosting.  I also played around with some caramel sundae syrup...a little too thin for what I was looking for but it was tasty.


Peeps Barrel Cake

Cookie Cake:
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup water (optional....in case batter is too thick)
15 packs or so full size Kit Kats
Peeps

Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar together.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in remaining dry ingredients.  Add water if necessary to thin batter a bit.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Divide batter between two 9 inch round pans lined with parchment.  Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes or until cookie is done.  Remove cookies to racks to finish cooling.

Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
1 jar marshmallow cream
caramel sundae syrup

Beat butter and marshmallow cream together.  Add powdered sugar until the desired spreading consistency is reached.  Divide out about 1/3 of the frosting into another bowl.  Stir in 2 tbls to 1/4 cup caramel syrup.  Add additional powdered sugar if the frosting has thinned too much.

Place one cookie layer on cake plate.  Top with caramel flavored frosting.  Drizzle with caramel syrup and then top with second cookie layer.  Use remaining frosting to cover the entire cake.  Divide Kit Kats into sections and press gently, with the logo side in, around the cake to form the barrel.  Drizzle additional caramel syrup across the top of the cake.  Top with Peeps.  Wrap a ribbon around the cake and it is ready to go.  Chill until ready to serve.

Mini Cake Fun

Just a little fun with a mini cake...Chocolate curls make such a fun garnish.  Three layers of three inch chocolate cookie rounds frosted with chocolate cream cheese frosting.  A sweet surprise to give someone special.  

German Chocolate Cake

This recipe came from Betty Crocker.  I doubled the frosting so that I could cover the entire cake with highly addictive coconut topping.  I've never been fond of cake with unfrosted sides.

The original recipe called for the chocolate to be melted in water. I just couldn't do it so I used some skim milk instead.

German Chocolate Cake

4 oz sweet chocolate
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs seperated
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Melt chocolate and 1/2 cup milk in the microwave. Stir often until melted completely. Set aside to cool.

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add in yolks mixing throughly. Add in melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt alternately with buttermilk. Set batter aside.

Use mixer to whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites gently into batter.

Pour batter into three 9 inch rounds, greased and lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes test as done. Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing to finish cooling.

In a saucepan mix together yolks, sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.  Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans. Cool completely. Mixture will firm and become spreadable.

Place one cake round on serving plate. Frost to. Place second cake round on top of first and frost top. Repeat with final round, spreading frosting down sides. Enjoy.

Black Forest Cake

I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the cake until I wrapped it up....but better laye than never.  I found the recipe here. Awesome cake. Moist, tender, and oh so good.

The recipe called for coffee but I decided to try out kahlua and stout instead. Interesting flavors from both but I did prefer the stout. More complex flavor I thought.

Chocolate garnish is purely optional. It's hard to resist adding more chocolate though.  Whipped cream under the cherries is also not a must but I wanted whipped cream throughout my cake instead of just around the edges.


Black Forest Cake

1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Kahlua or stout
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 can cherry pie filling
1 large container cool whip

Beat together oil and sugar. Add in eggs, blending well. Add in cocoa powder, stout, and vanilla. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in alternately with buttermilk.

Pour batter into two greased 9 inch rounds with parchment on the bottom. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done. Cool ten minutes in pan before removing to finish cooling.

Place one layer of cake on cake plate. Top with whipped cream and cherries. Add second layer and repeat spreading whipped cream down sides of cake. Garnish with chocolate if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

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Peanut Butter Cookie Cake 2.0

The original version of this cake can be found here.  I went a wee bit overboard on this version.  I may have finally gone too far on a dessert.  ;)  I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that though.  The peanut butter cup chunks really rocket up the richness factor.  Cut the pieces as small as possible. 

You can put chocolate on both sides of your peanut butter cup chunks, but I don't think it's necessary.  I did the double sided version by spreading a thin layer of chocolate on the peanut butter...chilling it to set...flipping it over and spreading another layer of chocolate on the back.  Honestly it's going to get broken up for garnish so there's no need for the extra effort.  If you're short on time you can just chop up some peanut butter cups instead of making your own version.


Peanut Butter Cookie Cake

Cookie Layers:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
12oz semi sweet mini chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together.  Mix in eggs and peanut butter.  Mix in flour and baking soda.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Divide batter between 3 greased 9in square pans.  Spread the cookie dough out into an even layer.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 14 minutes or until cookies are done.  Remove from pans and cool.

Peanut Butter Cup Chunks:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbls butter
enough milk to make mixture easy to spread
6oz milk chocolate chips

Mix together peanut butter and butter.  Heat in the microwave until smooth and melted.  Stir in powdered sugar.  Add enough milk to make the mixture easy to spread with a spoon.  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and spread peanut mixture out into a thin layer.  Melt milk chocolate chips and spread across top of the peanut butter.  Chill to set.  Break into chunks.

Chocolate Glaze:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls milk

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Microwave, stirring often, until mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in milk to thin glaze slightly.

Filling:
8oz reduced fat cream cheese
14oz no fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz peanut butter chips
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
3/4 of the peanut butter cup chunks

Melt peanut butter chips in the microwave until smooth.  Set aside.  Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter until smooth.  Mix in melted peanut butter chips.  Fold in the peanut butter cup chunks.

Spread 1/3 of the peanut butter filling on top of a cooled cookie layer.  Spread a thin layer of chocolate glaze on top of the filling.  Top with another cookie layer and spread another 1/3 of the peanut butter filling.  Spread another layer of chocolate.  Repeat with final layer, spreading the chocolate down the sides of the cake as well as the top.  Garnish with remaining peanut butter cup chunks.  Chill to set.

Spiced Carrot Cake

I rarely make carrot cake....I'm talking every couple years I might bake one up.  ;)  I had this recipe bookmarked from long ago so it was the lucky "I have a craving" winner.  Delicious, moist cake.  The recipe is definitely a keeper.  Not the most level cake I have ever created which is why it must be eaten quickly to destroy the evidence of imperfection....that's my reasoning and I'm sticking with it...ehehehe.


Spiced Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk, soured
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded carrot

Icing:
2 - 8oz packs cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar

 

 

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Set aside.

In a large bowl mix the sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until well mixed.  Add in flour mixture, alternately with the milk.  Fold in the shredded carrot.

Pour batter into 3 8 inch round greased cake pans.  Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until cake tests as done.  Let cool in pans for several minutes before turning out to continue cooling.

To prepare frosting, mix together cream cheese, butter until smooth.  Add in powder sugar and beat until fluffy.  Frost cake and chill until ready to serve.

Orange Slice Cake

This cake is from an old recipe book....300 Ways To Use Your Bundt Pans.  Such a fun recipe I couldn't resist trying it out.  So very tasty.

Chopping the orange slices did take forever so brace yourself for that part.  Be sure to grease the dickens out of the pan because man did the top of the cake want to stick....harsh language was used to coax it out.  ;)

I didn't plan to do a chocolate drizzle, but the cake looked unfinished to me with just the white glaze.


Orange Slice Cake

Cake:
1lb orange slices, cut fine
8oz chopped dates
1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk, soured

Glaze:
14oz can non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz white milk chocolate chips
2 tsp orange extract
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (garnish)

Mix 1/2 cup of the flour with the dates, orange slice pieces, and coconut and stir to coat.  Set mixture aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Mix in eggs.  Add in vanilla, salt, and baking soda.  Alternately add milk and remaining flour to batter.  Fold in orange slice mixture. Pour batter into greased bundt pan and bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cake tests done.  Cool.

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips, and orange extract.  Microwave, stirring often, until smooth and creamy.  Spoon glaze over top of cooled cake.  Chill to set the glaze.

Melt dark chocolate chips.  Spoon chocolate into ziplock bag with tip cut off.  Drizzle chocolate over bundt in whatever pattern you prefer.  Chill.

The first slice of cake never comes out pretty.....and yet I took a picture of this slice anywho....ehehehe.

Mini Barrel Cake

I've always wanted to make a barrel cake.  They just look so fun.  You can usually pretty much any cake, cookie, glaze, frosting, ice cream combination to put it together too...nice flexibility there.  The candy on the sides and top do take this cake over the top for richness though.  A little piece goes a very long way.

I dubbed this a mini cake since I could only find snack sized Kit Kats at the store.  ;)

Sadly no sliced pictures of this cake....I couldn't preslice this one before it left the house.

My vanilla filling layer was very, very thick.  Instead of a chocolate glaze on the outside of the cake I could have done a thin middle layer and used the remaining filling to frost the top and sides of the cake.


Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup warm stout
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the warm stout and the cocoa powder.  Set aside.  Combine butter and dark chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring often.  Stir stout mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in salt and flour.  Pour into two greased 8in rounds.  Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 mins.  Remove from pans and cool.

Vanilla Cream Frosting/Filling:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups marshmallow cream
1 tbls vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Cream together butter and shortening.  Add in marshmallow cream and vanilla.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar.  Place one brownie round down on a serving plate.  Spread filling on top of round.  Top with remaining brownie round.

Chocolate Glaze:
1 14oz can non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls to 1/4 cup milk

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, dark chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth.  Add in milk to thin chocolate.  Pour over top and sides of brownie cake.  Place a ring of snack sized kit kats around the sides of the cake with the kit kat name facing inwards.  Top cake with M&M's, spreading any extras around the base if you like.  Chill.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This cake fell more into the category of hot mess than epic win.....I will comfort myself with the fact it tasted good...ehehehehe.  It should actually be a three tiered cake.  There was an "incident" that left me short one tier.  Momma didn't name me Grace for a reason....snicker.

So I decided to try making some marshmallow cream for my frosting.  I've made marshmallows.....a little adjusting of the recipe and I should be able to get a cream easy peasy.  Simple, right?  Simple until I over thought it.  I was going to halve the gelatin, but 1 1/2 envelopes gelatin didn't seem very tidy so I went with 2 envelopes...which was still on the firm side.  It wouldn't have mixed easily with the cream cheese to form a smooth frosting....which led to tinkering.  The end result was useable and darn tasty, but not the firm frosting I was shooting for.

I did have a neat mix of textures in the cake.  The firm chocolate garnish, creamy frosting, dense cookie layers with mini chocolate chips that gave it a bit of a crunch.


Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherry cranberries

Beat butter and sugars together in a bowl.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Fold in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Divide dough into thirds and spread into greased 8 inch rounds.  Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes, or until done.  Cool.


Cherry Marshmallows

1 cup water
2 1/4oz envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 pk Black Cherry Kool-Aid

Pour 1/2 cup water into a large bowl.  Mix Kool-Aid into water.  Sprinkle gelatin over water.  Let this mixture sit while you cook the syrup.

Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.  Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 240°.

With mixer on low speed, carefully pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in a slow, thin stream.  Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick.  Let stand for a while to set up.


Icing:

Cherry Marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
12oz milk chocolate, melted
16oz reduced fat cream cheese

Heat the marshmallows and the butter together in the microwave until smooth.  Beat in cream cheese and melted milk chocolate.  Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.  Chill frosting.

Place one cookie round on a plate.  Spread frosting across top and place a second round over the frosting.  Spread frosting across top and add final round on top.  Frost top and sides of cake.  Garnish with additional melted chocolate.

Never take pictures outside when it's the surface of the sun hot.  My chocolate went instantly melty and my frosting.....already less firm than I wanted....slid a bit.

A bit of a slump to this piece of cake...where's my cake eating blindfold?  I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of good cake by being critical of the view.  ;)

Monster Chocolate Stout Cake

I continue to whittle away at the mountain of recipes I've been wanting to try out.  ;)  At the top of the chocolate cake pile was this wonderful recipe I found over at Ryan Bakes.  I combined it with another really cool cake recipe from Completely Outnumbered.  A twofer....who could pass that up...ehehehe. 

I'm not a coffee drinker so I replaced the coffee with stout....and because I never take the conservative approach I used a LOT of stout.  I was a wee bit nervous about how the end product was going to taste, but it was amazing.  Seriously....dive face first in....amazing.

It was definitely an adult orientated flavor.  I doubt this cake would appeal greatly to the young ones between the dark chocolate glaze and stout.  I actually ate more cake than I intended chasing after the taste....that's my excuse and I'm totally sticking with it....ehehehehe.  A bite of this cake leads off with a lovely rush of chocolate followed by the stout....so good.

I drizzled the sweetened condensed milk over the cakes while they were still in the pans which actually made the cake bottoms quite sticky and a challenge to remove from the cake plate when serving.  Next time I think I'll flip the cakes out of the pans and drizzle from the top down.

I used candy corn and peanut butter to make my Butterfinger crumble topping instead of actual Butterfingers. Mix 1 cup candy corn and 1 cup peanut butter and heat in the microwave, stirring vigorously to create this.


Monster Chocolate Stout Cake


1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or soured milk
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups hot stout (Guinness)


2 - 14oz cans non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 tbls milk
Crushed Butterfingers & Toffee Pieces (or candy of your choice)


In a large bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugars to this and mix together lightly.  Slowly add the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and stout, mixing well.

Pour the batter into 3-8inch greased rounds or divide between a greased bundt and tube pan.  Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes at 350 or until cake test as done.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Use a skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the cakes.  Slowly drizzle one can of the sweetened condensed milk over the holes so it will soak down into the cakes.  After about 30 minutes, flip cakes out of pans to finish cooling.

Stir together remaining can of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth and melted.  Stir in milk to thin to desired consistency.  Spoon over top of the cakes.  Top with crushed candy.  Chill to set chocolate before slicing.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

I thought this was a cool dessert to try out when I saw it on Plain Chicken.  I did make everything from scratch since I was low on graham crackers and don't keep instant pudding on hand.  I made a chocolate version....because chocolate makes everything better of course.  ;)

The chocolate filling is based on a Betty Crocker recipe.  The recipe for the graham crackers I found here.


Chocolate Eclair Cake

Chocolate Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups skim milk

4 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 tbs vanilla

2oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

8 oz Cool Whip Free

Mix together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large saucepan.  Whisk milk into eggs.  Add milk mixture to sugar mixture and combine.  Stir in chocolate.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and begins to boil.  Cook one minute before removing from heat.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap to the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming.  Chill. Fold in Cool Whip.

Graham Crackers:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cups butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raw honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and honey.  Mix in all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix in milk and vanilla.  Add in whole wheat flour.  Chill dough.

Roll dough out and use a pizza cutter to slice into rectangles.  Transfer pieces to a greased cookie sheet and prick the dough with a fork.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes until cookies are lightly browned on the edges.  Cool. 

Form a layer of graham crackers on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Spread half the pudding mixture on top.  Layer in another row of graham crackers.  Spread the remaining half the pudding mixture.  Top with a final row of graham crackers.

Chocolate Fudge Topping:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
6oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
 
Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until mixture is melted and smooth.

Pour chocolate across the top of the graham crackers and spread it evenly.  Chill for several hours before serving.

Toffee Apple Pound Cake

This cake is not diet friendly...which is probably why it tastes so darn amazing.  Aaaaamaaaaazing.  Impossible to resist.  Gimmie an extra slice now before I have to get rough...amazing.  Extra treadmill time is in my future...ehehehe.

Originally I had only planed on doing a praline glaze, but I wasn't thrilled with how it looked.  Enter chocolate glaze....my go to plan for fixing the appearance of any dessert.  ;)

Seriously though....this cake would be great without any glaze at all....maybe a light dusting of powdered sugar for an extra dose of pretty would work just fine.  Sometimes simple can hit the spot.

I was short 1/4 cup of butter so I used some sour cream to fill the gap.  The substitution wasn't noticeable at all.  Running out of butter....I'm still shaking my head over the shame.  ;)


Toffee Apple Pound Cake

Cake:
1 1/4 cups butter
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 eggs
1 tbls vanilla
1/4 cup non fat sour cream
3 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced (Pink Lady)
1 cup toffee pieces

Cream butter and powdered sugar together.  Mix in eggs, vanilla, and sour cream.  Add flour, cinnamon, and allspice.  Fold in toffee and apple pieces.  Pour batter into a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 75 to 80 mins or until cake tests as done.  Cool in pan for 15 mins before removing from pan.

Praline glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup non fat evaporated milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine sugars and milk in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook mixture until is reaches 236 degrees.  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.  Continue stirring for a minute or so.  Spoon over cake.  Let stand for 10 minutes or so.

Chocolate glaze:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
 
Mix together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until mixture is melted and smooth.

Spoon glaze over top of cake.  Use a fork to drizzle some lines of chocolate across the top.  Chill to set the chocolate.

When the praline glaze didn't look as pretty as I wanted....did I go straight to my chocolate glaze?  Of course not...I tried a second round of praline.  You can see how thick that made the praline layer in spots.  Little bit more of a crunch factor than I wanted.  Experimentation....sometime it nips you in the tushie.  ;)