They Just Go Together

Sunday was my sweet boy Jack's 3rd Heavenly birthday and yesterday was Mr. H's 30th birthday so I've been busy and haven't had a spare moment to visit your blogs. So if I haven't visited you and I regularly do then please bear with me while I get caught up. I hope it's sooner than later but I'm also experiencing difficulty with my laptop. It started right before we left DC and it freezes on me every 15 minutes and stalls until I restart it. Very frustrating.

Last week I was chatting back and forth through email with Coleen from Coleen's Recipes and she mentioned that she had a holiday issue of Sweet Cakes from Fine Cooking that she was really enjoying and making a lot of recipes out of. Like her yummy almond cheesecake apple bars, doughnut muffins and upside down pear cake just to name a few. Well I realized I had the same magazine and also loved it but I had only made one recipe from it, the Easy No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls. That was about to change. Coleen mentioned the next cake on her list to bake was the Coffee Cocoa Cake, and it just happened to be one that I was wanting to try as well so we baked it "together" last week and we have both our versions to share with you today!

Most of the time I pour with one hand and take pictures with the other to get those action shots but this time my honey volunteered to hold the bowl for me. I think he just wanted a slice of it as payment later on :-)

This cake was really simple to put together. The hardest part is brewing the coffee and waiting for it to cool down enough to add it to the other ingredients. It's made in one bowl and packs an ample amount of cocoa and coffee giving it a rich, slightly fudgey cake that is good enough on it's own without frosting or a sprinkling of powdered sugar. The coffee wasn't totally apparent on the first day but it intensified the chocolate flavor in the cake. On the second and third day the coffee flavor shone through and it was still delicious and moist. I served it with a scoop of Starbucks Java Chip ice cream and a cup of hot coffee. I was bouncing off the walls later that day :-)

Coffee-Cocoa Cake from Fine Cooking

• 10 Tbs. very soft unsalted butter; more for the pan
• 1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; more for the pan
• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 cups good-quality brewed coffee, cooled to warm

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment, butter the parchment, and then flour the bottom and sides of the pan. Tap out any excess flour. (I used cocoa powder instead of flour to coat the buttered pan).

If mixing by hand, put the softened butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a wooden spoon, cream them until smooth, about 1 minute. Switch to a whisk and blend in the eggs one at a time. Stir for another 30 seconds, until the batter is smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve. Mix in the vanilla and salt. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder directly onto the batter. Pour in the coffee. Gently whisk the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and mostly free of lumps.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs clinging to it, 40 to 43 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack, and remove the pan. Invert again onto another rack and let cool right side up until just warm.

NOTE: This can be made in any 9-inch pan just make sure the sides of the pan are at least 2 inches high since this is a pretty substantial cake with a lot of batter. A Pyrex dish would work as well.

Be sure to go check out Coleen's version of this yummy cake! __________________________________________________ And here's something fun that Michelle of One Ordinary Day passed on to me. It's a Creative Writer Blogger Award and it's perfect since I placed 3rd in a Creative Writing contest when I was in elementary school. I even won a medal :-) Thanks Michelle!

• Thank the person who gave you the award.
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
• Link to the person who nominated you.
• Tell us up to six outrageous lies about yourself and at least one outrageous truth.
• Allow your readers to guess which one or more is true.

1. I placed 2nd in a Spelling Bee in 4th grade. TRUE
2. I took naughty photos for my husband one year ;-) TRUE
3. St. Patty's Day is my favorite holiday! FALSE
4. Chocolate and PB is my favorite sweet/salty combination. FALSE
5. I learned to cross stitch when I was a kid. TRUE
6. Groundhog Day is my favorite movie of all time! SO FALSE

Hint: There are 3 true and 3 false statements above. Guess which ones are which!