My Return To Blogging and Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Hi! Remember me?! I've been away for some time. It wasn't planned, I just got burnt out. I worked so hard on the cookbook and was making and photographing 2-3 recipes a day. Once it was all done, it was a huge relief but I really didn't want to do it anymore and that meant blogging was put on hold. That also meant that I didn't pick up my camera for a long time either. I am still baking and trying new recipes and am taking pictures with my iphone to share on Instagram (monica_h30) and Facebook. It's easier and faster and much less pressure and I get to post daily pics of my growing curly haired boy! 

Christmas 2014

I've been getting emails and comments asking when I'm returning and posting a new recipe, so here I am! I am so thankful for you guys and your support. I'm feeling motivated and I'm learning to use my camera once again (I sort of forgot how to use it and felt lost and confused when I picked it up...which also led to me not wanting to take pictures of food or anything else, for that matter). I took pictures of Hayden's 3rd birthday in September and was disappointed with how they turned out. The lighting was off and things were out of focus but I think I'm getting the hang of it again and I'm feeling inspired to try new recipes....which is kind of thrilling. 

These cookies were my "practice cookies". I took so many pictures of them, relearning the camera as I went. Some were too dark, some were over exposed and many were blurry and out of focus. But in the end, I think this is what I needed to do. I just needed to sit and shoot until it felt comfortable again. Thus I bring you, hard boiled egg chocolate chip cookies. 

I know what you're thinking and you're probably making faces at your screen right now but trust me on this. This was a way to use up some of the leftover boiled eggs I had from Easter. It's a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of raw eggs, you use finely chopped cooked eggs. I chopped the eggs, then I used a pastry cutter to chop them up even finer. You can see the bits of egg in the raw dough but once it's cooked they kind of melt away into the cookie. In the end you're left with a buttery, slightly chewy cookie, reminiscent to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We all really liked these and they seemed to stay fresher than most other recipes. I didn't tell hubby what was in these until after he ate them but it didn't make any difference. We all loved them!

These look much different than the cookies from Cookies and Cups. Her cookies were fluffy and thick while mine were thin. I made one batch on a Silpat mat and they spread into each other and were super thin. The other batch I baked on an unlined metal sheet pan and I preferred them much more. They were still thin but they looked better. The edges crisp and the center chewy. Also I baked them a little longer, I'm not a big fan of underbaked cookies. Bake them however you like, but definitely give this unique recipe a try!

Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies

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• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and brown sugar, approximately 2 minutes until light and fluffy. 

Add in vanilla and finely chopped eggs and continue mixing. (You will still see bits of egg in the batter, this is okay.)

Add in baking soda, salt and flour and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop onto pan using a medium cookie scoop.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden. 

Allow to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Makes about 2 dozen. 

Chocolate Fudge Oreo Bundt for National Chocolate Day!

I had a major craving for chocolate cake one night. It was almost time to start dinner, so I didn't really have time to search for a recipe or bring butter to room temperature so I pulled out one of my favorite baking books- Bundt Classics. I immediately found a recipe that looked good to me and I had all the ingredients on hand. Of course, I added my own touches to it and it took this cake to a whole new level of chocolate deliciousness!

This recipe starts with a chocolate cake mix but you'd never know it. I took the help of the mix and got this cake in the oven in less than 15 minutes. It baked while I made supper then we had it for dessert. Win! I have to be honest, when I was making this, I had no intention of adding Oreos to the batter. I was getting the ingredients from the pantry and Hayden grabbed the Oreos- positioned right at his eye level. He said we needed to add Oreos, so I did! I keep that little genius child around for a reason ;-).

This cake was over the top, a chocolate lovers dream! I mean really, there's the chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips and chocolate cookies. Then I had the audacity to top it off with silky ganache and even more chocolate chips. This was fudgy and decadent and cured my cravings. Coincidentally, it's National Chocolate Day, so make this Bundt! 

Chocolate Fudge Oreo Bundt adapted from Bundt Classics

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Cake:

• 1 (18.25 oz) box chocolate cake mix
• 1 (3.4 oz) box instant chocolate pudding
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 10 Oreos, coarsely broken

Ganache: 

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Decoration: 

• Mini chocolate chips or Oreos, optional

To Make The Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a 12 cup Bundt pan with non-stick baking spray (with flour). Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the cake ingredients except the chocolate chips and Oreos. Blend with a hand mixer over medium speed until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl down and stir in the chocolate chips and crushed Oreos. 

Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes. Unmold cake onto a cooling rack or a serving platter and allow to cool completely. 

To Make The Ganache: In a small mixing bowl, heat cream in the microwave until hot and steamy, about 60 seconds. Add the chocolate chips to the hot cream and let them sit for 5 minutes. With a spatula, gently stir the chocolate chips and cream together until the mixture comes together and becomes shiny and silky. Do not use a whisk or stir too vigorously, this will cause air bubbles in the ganache. If tiny lumps of chocolate remain, let the mixture sit a little longer, then stir again until smooth. 

The longer the mixture sits, the thicker it becomes. Allow ganache to thicken a bit before pouring onto cooled cake. You want it pourable but not so thin that it runs off the side of your cake. 

Immediately top with additional mini chocolate chips or Oreo cookies, if desired. Allow ganache to set before serving. Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature.

Pillsbury Holiday Giveaway (CLOSED)

Remember those ooey gooey dark chocolate caramel pecan brownies I shared with you a couple weeks ago? They were made with a Pillsbury® Dark Chocolate Cake Mix. So easy! Today, Pillsbury® is giving one lucky reader a chance to win a Celebration Starter Kit including all of their new holiday baking mixes and frostings, plus a $100 gift card.

Included in the Celebration Starter Kit is:

• Pillsbury Chocolate Peppermint Premium Cookie Mix
• Pillsbury Traditional Sugar Premium Cookie Mix
• Pillsbury Dark Chocolate Premium Cake Mix 
• Pillsbury Peppermint Frosting 
• Pillsbury Funfetti Frostings in Rudolph Red and Garland Green
• $100 Visa or American Express Gift Card

Visit Pillsbury on Facebook, PillsburyBaking.com and Pillsbury on Pinterest to learn more ideas about how you can Celebrate More with Pillsbury® and their new Holiday line. 

To enter this fabulous giveaway, simply leave me a comment on this blog post telling me what new Pillsbury® product you're most excited to try. That's it! 

One entry per person. Open to U.S. residents only. 

*I was provided with product samples and compensation by Pillsbury®, though the opinions I express here are my own. ©/® The J.M. Smucker Company. Pillsbury is a trademark of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license. 

Brownie Points!

When we were kids, my step mom, Olivia, used to make my brother and me caramel brownies. She didn't make them very often and I remember them being really good (they were my brother's favorite) but I thought maybe it was a difficult recipe so they were only made for special occasions. I was wrong! She shared the recipe with me and they could not be simpler to make. I took the liberty to tweak things here and there (that's what I do) because the amounts were a little vague and I like to be specific when it comes to baking. Specific amounts in baking lead to consistent results, am I right? Here we go!

Pillsbury® recently sent me their new seasonal line of cake and cookie mixes just in time for holiday baking. I received Chocolate Peppermint Premium Cookie Mix, Traditional Sugar Premium Cookie Mix, Dark Chocolate Premium Cake Mix as well as Peppermint Frosting and Funfetti Frostings in Rudolph Red and Garland Green. My step mom's recipe for caramel brownies called for German Chocolate cake mix, but I opted for the Dark Chocolate Cake mix for these rich and gooey brownies. To learn more about these products, visit Pillsbury on Facebook, PillsburyBaking.com and Pillsbury on Pinterest. 

Dark Chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips, gooey caramel, crunchy pecans. You know these were good...and decadent! These brownies are for sharing. After making these and being left with an entire pan of brownies, I now understand why my step mom only made these about 1-2 times a year. They are dangerous and so much better than I remembered. I'm typically a "plain jane" brownie person and don't like anything but cocoa in my brownies but these are excellent. Thanks for the recipe and the trip down memory lane Olivia :-) I hope you'll seek out these new Pillsbury® products and make these brownies!

Dark Chocolate Caramel Nut Brownies 

adapted from my step mom, Olivia Luna

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• 14-16 oz. package caramels (50-60 caramels)
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1- 15.25 oz. box Pillsbury Dark Chocolate Premium Cake Mix
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and line it with a sheet of parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over the edges. Spray the paper once again with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the caramels and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Stir occasionally over medium heat until the caramels melt and the mixture becomes smooth. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the brownie batter. 

In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, melted butter, vanilla extract and the remaining evaporated milk. Mix until well combined. 

Press half of the brownie batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 6 minutes. 

Remove the pan from the oven and gently and evenly drizzle the caramel mixture over brownie base. Evenly distribute the chocolate chips and the chopped pecans over the caramel. Crumble the remaining brownie batter evenly over the nuts and chocolate and return back to the oven. 

Bake for an additional 20-22 minutes. It will be hard to tell when it's done because the brownies will be really gooey in the center and don't firm up until they have cooled completely, but don't bake any longer than the recommended time. 

Cool completely until the brownies have reached room temperature. Using the handles of the overlapping parchment paper, lift the brownies out of the pan. Cut the brownies into squares. Store in an airtight container. 

I was provided with product samples and compensation by Pillsbury, though the opinions I express here are my own.

©/® The J.M. Smucker Company. Pillsbury is a trademark of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license.

My First Catered Party and A Spooktacular Halloween Cake

Last week I catered my first party for 40 people. My friend Holly asked if I would make a cake and heavy hors d'oeuvres for her 40th birthday extravaganza. I immediately said "yes!" then began brainstorming recipes and  ideas. Holly said she wanted a Halloween themed chocolate cake and sliders. I pretty much had carte blanche with the menu and decorating and I had so much fun. Here's what I made. 

I made 1). Ham wrapped Asparagus Spears with Boursin Cheese 2). Cream Cheese with Red Pepper Jelly and Spicy Saltine Crackers 3). Sausage, Garlic and Mushroom Pizza Puffs with Herb Red Sauce 4). Pork Tenderloin Medallions on Hawaiian Rolls served with Pesto Mayo.

I also made 7 Layer Dip with a Sour Cream Spiderweb served with corn chips and Sweet and Spicy Smoky Meatballs (that I forgot to take a picture of). And birthday cake!

My friend Holly doesn't actually turn 40 until December but she wanted to celebrate early with a "Happy Hollyween" party. I wanted to play up the "over the hill" theme so I did a graveyard scene and dug an early grave for her. I used Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies and a black edible marker for the tombstones. I used Peeps Marshmallow ghosts, Brach's pumpkins and edible chocolate rocks for decorating. I used melted dark chocolate and Wilton leaf sprinkles to make the tree. I used this Chocolate Cake Recipe, this Vanilla Buttercream Recipe and Chocolate Ganache to make the 2 layer 12-inch cake. It was a success! 

Spicy Saltine Crackers
(recipe given to me by my aunt Melinda)

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• 1 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
• 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon dill weed
• 3 Tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix
• 1 box (4 sleeves) Unsalted tops Saltine crackers

In a measuring cup, combine the oil and seasonings. Mix well.

Place the crackers into a 2 gallon Ziploc bag. Pour the seasoned oil over the crackers and shake vigorously until well coated. Let crackers soak up the seasonings for at least one hour or overnight. Leave them in the sealed bag until ready to serve.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Our Last Vintage Cake

For the past year, The Cake Slice Bakers and I have been baking from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. I missed a baking a few of the recipes when I was writing the cookbook, but the ones I did bake were quite tasty. This is a beautiful book and full of great recipes. If you're a cake fiend like I am, I would recommend you check this book out. 

Next month, we'll be baking from a new cake book so this month, rather than voting on and baking a specific cake, we had the choice to bake any cake we wanted from this book. I narrowed it down to two cakes but eventually decided on Texas Sheetcake because it's my hubby's favorite. The other cake I wanted to make was the Kentucky Bourbon cake. I still intend to make it, I just got busy and ran out of time. My friend Maranda from Jolts & Jollies made it and shared it on her blog if you're interested in the recipe. It looks delicious! 

It's not very often that Hayden falls asleep with Daddy on the couch- he hasn't done that since he was an infant. How sweet is this though? Those curls, my goodness!

This cake was very simple to put together and feeds a crowd. That's the beauty of sheet cakes. I divided the batter between to pans and took some to my mother-in-law. The cake was very moist although it was a little crumbly, in my opinion. Perhaps I could have baked it a couple minutes less or added a tad more oil or an extra egg next time??? There are so many recipes to try though, so I don't feel the need to remake this one. If you make it, I hope you'll let me know how you like it!

Texas Sheetcake from Vintage Cakes

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Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup lightly packed premium unsweetened natural cocoa
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup  lightly packed premium unsweetened cocoa
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup toasted chopped nuts

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 15 by 10 by 2-inch baking pan.

To make the cake, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa. Add the oil and water and bring to a rolling boil for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool slightly. 

Meanwhile, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, then whisk the ingredients by hand to ensure they are well mixed. Pour the warm cocoa mixture into the sifted ingredients and whisk until just combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula, stir the buttermilk mixture into the batter. Pour the batter into the greased pan and place in the center of the oven. 

Bake until the top is firm and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbs, 32 to 35 minutes.

While the cake is in the oven, make the frosting: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa and bring the mixture to a rolling boil; boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in the milk and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time while whisking continuously. 

Immediately after the cake comes out of the oven, pour the frosting over the hot cake and sprinkle with the nuts. Try not to jiggle the cake before it sets or you'll leave waves in the frosting. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Well wrapped and stored at room temperature, this cake keeps for up to 5 days.

Want a bite?

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes & The Pillsbury Giveaway Winner

Yesterday, October 15th, was Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day. It's a day to remember all the babies that left this world too soon. I lit a candle for my boys and set out a few things that remind me of them. In my cookbook, I shared my story about how I got into blogging, and my struggle with becoming a mom to a live baby. I questioned whether or not to add this to the book because I know many people are uncomfortable with death and some will think that it's irrelevant to baking. However, for me, this is my reality and I never would have started this blog or have written a cookbook if it weren't for the loss of my sons. Losing them made me see things differently, made me love deeper, and opened my life up to so many more opportunities. 

To stabilize the cones, line a cupcake pan with foil, cut a small hole in the center of each indention and place the cone snugly in the center. Don't make the hole too big or the cones will wobble. 

I made these ice cream cone cupcakes for my first born Sam's 6th angel birthday. I've always wanted to make cupcakes in ice cream cones for him and this was finally the year. I had some leftover vanilla buttercream that was tinted a lovely shade of sky blue from a previous project, so I used that to top them. The chocolate malted cupcakes come from Martha's Cupcakes. They were good but the malt flavor was very mild. A malted frosting would be nice on these, maybe even a few malted milk balls, if you're a fan of those. I opted for colorful sprinkles because I imagine any 6 year old boy of mine would love that. 

I love you Sam. Thinking of you and Jack, today and always.

Chocolate Malted Cupcakes 

from Martha's Cupcakes

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• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups malted milk powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, the baking soda and salt together.  Whisk the milk and malt powder in a measuring cup.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil, flour mixture and milk mixture until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice.  Beat in the sour cream and vanilla, mixing just until combined.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans, filling each well about half full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cupcakes cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pans.  Cool completely before frosting.

Makes 28 cupcakes.

NOTE: I made 1/3 batch of this cupcake recipe and yielded 10 ice cream cone cupcakes. To make the ice cream cone cupcakes, fill cones 2/3 full and bake til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. 

The winner of the Pillsbury Celebrate More Fall Celebration Kit and $100 gift card is....

Commenter #4 Lisa Ghenne from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary. This is what she said she loves about Fall...

"EVERYTHING! I can't wait for autumn to arrive. Sweaters, cozy socks, pumpkins, apples, chilly nights by the fire pit, soups, stews, casseroles! I love it all! Thanks for the chance at this sweet prize! Pun intended!"

Congratulations Lisa! Please email me with your address to claim your prize!

The S'mores Cookbook and The Novica Giveaway Winner!

I was recently sent a cookbook for review of The S'more Cookbook by fellow blogger Susan Whetzel of the blog Doughmesstic. I'm always thrilled when I see a blogger come out with a cookbook. I know some people think it's kind of overrated, but I know how hard bloggers work and how much time goes into running a website, cooking, baking, photographing, and recipe developing. If you're a blogger then you know it's hard work! 

I like s'mores. I don't love them because I think they can be a little too sweet at times, but I like them just fine. When I was sent this cookbook, I was intrigued, because I was hoping for s'more flavored/s'more inspired desserts and this book is filled with them. Granted, the first chapter of recipes is pretty basic. I wouldn't necessarily call them recipes, as much as they are s'more suggestions- using chocolate grahams with white chocolate instead of regular grahams and milk chocolate isn't that novel of an idea to me. Her recipe's include using different types of candy such as peanut butter cups or chocolate caramels in place of the milk chocolate. Tasty? yes. But I need more substance. Luckily, this book has several chapters of s'more goodness including Cakes and Pies, Cookies, Brownies and even s'mores for breakfast. If that's not you're thing, perhaps a S'mores milkshake will cure your cravings. 

I opted for oatmeal chocolate chip S'more cookies as the first recipe I made. I also wanted to make S'more Frappuccinos but was out of marshmallow cream- that was a sad day. These cookies made it better though. I made a couple minor changes, but it didn't not affect the taste or outcome of the recipe. I used regular sized morsels instead of mini chips and used Stacker marshmallows instead of cutting large marshmallows into thirds. I didn't want to change anything about the recipe so I left it as is and just made my notes in red below. I would definitely make these cookies again because my husband LOVED them. I packed a couple in his lunch box. He's on the road a lot, so he left his cookies on the dash board to warm them and he said they tasted like they had just come out of the oven. They were crispy yet chewy, sweet and gooey. If you like S'mores you'll love these slightly less messy cookies. 

Hayden loves stars so I cut out a few star shaped marshmallows for him. 

Other recipes from this book I'd like to try are Toasted Marshmallow S'more Ice Cream, S'more Frappuccino, S'more Danish and the Chocolate Graham Pancakes. There's even a section on Giftable S'mores and ideas on how to package them. Every recipe has a full size color photo and there are lots of options for the S'more lover. In fact I know someone who would love this book. Hey Heather! I'm talking to you :-)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip S'mores Cookies 

from The S'mores Cookbook  from Susan Whetzel

• 1 cup softened salted butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 1/2 cups quick oats
• 2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)
• 12 giant marshmallows, sliced into thirds (I used the small stacker marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. 

Using a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment, cream the butter and sugars at medium-low speed until well combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla; combine well. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and graham cracker crumbs. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter. Mix on low until just combined. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips. 

Scoop rounded balls of batter onto the prepared sheets. (The directions don't say what size scoop to use to make the balls of dough. I used a medium ice cream scoop and got 40 cookies). The batter will spread, so be sure to leave ample space between. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned. 

Remove from the oven, and immediately top with a slice of marshmallow. Allow to cool on baking sheets. Before serving, place the pan under the oven broiler or use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows. (This step was a little strange to me because the recipe makes 36-40 cookies. And it doesn't make sense (to me) to put a pan of cookies under the broiler every time you want a cookie, unless you're serving them to a crowd all at once. It's easier to use your torch, but not everyone has a kitchen torch. So I went ahead and toasted all the marshmallows at once after they were done baking. When we wanted a cookie, I just popped it into the microwave for 10 seconds to warm the chocolate and make the marshmallow gooey, and since they were pre-toasted, they still had that slightly charred toasted flavor.) 

The winner of the $50 Novica Giveaway is commenter #118 The Mommy from Long Daze Short Years. Congratulations! Please email me to claim your prize!

Chocolate and Roses

 There are so many ways to frost a cake. You can spoon it on, schmear it on with a butter knife, you can create swirls and dips with the back of a spoon, you can create an ultra smooth exterior and you can pipe it on. I'm a big fan of super smooth frosting- it's the perfectionist in me that gets all giddy by flawless buttercream :-) I generally only pipe frosting when I'm doing a border on a cake or when decorating cupcakes. But I've wanted to try the piped "rose" look on a cake for awhile and I finally had the opportunity to. It's so easy!

I used a Wilton 2D tip to pipe this. I use this one the most because it makes great flowers and ruffles depending how much pressure you apply. This was my first time trying this so it's not perfect but this technique is good for hiding flaws too. You can go to Bella Cupcakes for a step-by-step on how to do this. 

I made a Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake recommended by my friend Paloma and covered it in Berry Buttercream. The recipe for the cake is below, but you'll have to get my cookbook if you want the mixed berry buttercream recipe :-) You can use any buttercream recipe you want though to create the swirled roses on this cake or any other cake or cupcakes. Though I have to say, this cake was really good (and stayed moist for several days)!

Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake 

slightly adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle via Food.com

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• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Position oven rack in the center of the oven; preheat oven to 325°. Grease bottom and sides of a 9x3 inch round cake pan; dust the pan with flour and set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar, and using the paddle attachment, mix at low speed until blended.

Add the oil and mix a few seconds, until the dry ingredients are crumbly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until blended.

Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract until blended.

With the mixer at low speed, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.

Gradually add the boiling water and mix just until blended and smooth; scraping down sides as needed.

Pour batter into cake pan.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a pick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Invert cake onto the wire rack and cool completely. Frost as desired.

Makes 1 9-inch round cake

If you missed it, I announced the winner of the Smucker's giveaway HERE!