Devil's Food Cupcakes (Christmas style)

Yay! I survived! ;)

I hope everyone reading had a fantabulous holiday, despite any mad rushing around or last-minute baking.

We had a relatively quiet Christmas. My aunt and uncle came over. Food was delicious, loud conversations ensued. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was on all day on AMC. No matter how many times I see it, when the squirrel jumps out, I'm busting up with laughter.

The present-opening part held two good surprises for me. I've spoken in the past of wanting to get one of those vhs-to-dvd recorders, to preserve all the home movies and dance recitals and such; Dave got me one, which was a really, really big surprise. Secondly, between four gift cards, I've got about a hundred dollars worth to Barnes & Noble. :D

It's the end of the year, which means my annual 'end of the year' book. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is my FAVORITE book. I've lost count how many times I've read it over the past ten years. In order to, well, make my own tradition, I decided to read it but once a year. I'm quite confident that I'll finish it before midnight on the 31st; currently on page 363, out of 876. Slightly worried, yes, but I'm still posting this before it's a week old - woohoo! ;)

Anyways, I first made these about a year and a half ago? I wanted something simple and chocolatey. And who doesn't love cupcakes? :)



(Sorry, Mel, the duck didn't fully make this picture. But Stitch did!) ;)

Ingredients:
½ cup boiling water
6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour
½ + 1/8 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

½ cup butter, softened
10 Tbsp. brown sugar
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk boiling water into cocoa until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with cocoa mixture; beginning and ending with the flour. Fill liners about halfway full.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Heat the cream until boiling, then pour over chocolate, stirring to melt, adding the corn syrup. Dip each cupcake into ganache upside down to get a good coating on it.

Chocolate Agave Cake

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. :) Mine was good. Except for the whole "working the next day at an ungodly hour" part. The joys of working in retail, right?

Mu aunt has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, so I sought out a lower-sugar dessert that everyone would enjoy. Having heard about agave nectar on a few different blogs - how it's lower on the glycemic index than even an apple - the quest began for a recipe using it. It was surprisingly harder than I had expected. Monday turned up results, though. Over at Baking Bites. (I really need to write a post-it to order myself one of the cookbooks)

The cake was SUPER easy to bring together, and I was happy to discover that agave nectar moves faster in the pouring process than honey does. The cake is very fudgey, but not as chocolatey as I had hoped. The frosting isn't very sugar-free, but I did use far less confectioners' sugar than the recipe called for. Everyone else loved it, though. Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing it again after I went to bed so early. Hmm... :)



Ingredients:
2¼ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
¼ cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round pans and line them with greased parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by agave nectar and vanilla extract.

Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the milk, before stirring in the remaining flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. Divide evenly into prepared pans.

Bake at 350F for 22-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry or with some moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake. Turn cakes out onto wire cooling racks, peel off the parchment paper, and let cool completely.

Agave Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup butter, room temperature
3 tbsp honey
¼ cup milk
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat at high speed until smooth, gradually adding the confectioners' sugar until a thick and spreadable consistency is reached. More milk can be added to thin the icing, if necessary.

Chocolate M&M Cookies

Whew! It seems like it's been ages, hasn't it?

Well, first, vacation was WONDERFUL. Somehow squeezed in seeing everyone that I wanted to see, as well as nearly 12 hours of driving on the way to Oregon and back to the Bay Area. Not only was it great seeing friends again, but also the food that I can't get out here! LOL I really did pack a box and mailed it to myself, full of stuff that I can't readily get over here. (Why, yes, that did include vanilla from the Ferry Marketplace Building in SF lol)

In other awesome news, last week Southwest Airlines had a big 72-hour sale, with one-way flights as low as $25. Naturally I couldn't pass that up, so come January, as a little birthday present to myself, I'll be heading out there for a few days. And Amelia mentioned those wonderful words of "road trip" and "Disneyland." Quickest way to make this little girl smile. :)

Halloween was fun. My friend Leslie has been having a Halloween party with her daughter for quite some time, and I was able to go this year. Of course I volunteered baked goods, and cookies wound up being the choice. The regular chocolate chip stand-by and this one, which is based off a recipe I used a few years back. (So out of it tonight; I do apologize lol)

I did a half batch only because it was Halloween morning that I was making these and time was limited. The recipe's quite easy, mostly one bowl (I got lazy and just mixed the flour and stuff in the actual measuring cup *shrug*. The dough is a bit on the sticky side, and very yummy, so you might want to chew some gum while making this, just to resist the dough-eating. ;)



Ingredients:
1-1/8 cups flour
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
½ butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
6 oz. M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add egg. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in M&M's. Place teaspoonful-sized dough at least 1-inch apart on prepared sheets.

Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on sheets for two minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Chocolate Layer Cake

Confession time: before yesterday, I had never made a layer cake today.

Yeah, there was the "helping" as a kid when my mom was baking, but at six, how much help can a kid be? Other than licking the beaters afterwards, of course. And once I started baking, out in CA, I never made layer cakes because so often it was just me and my roommate, or me and Dave. So, thus, my layer cake virginity is no more.

My family, for the most part, loves chocolate. So when it was official family would be coming over for Easter, chocolate cake was a must. Hershey's website was most helpful for the cake recipe, but, alas, when standing in front of the confectioners' sugar at the grocery store, I got lazy and went with the pre-made frosting. *cringes* I know, I know.

I did get creative, though. Vanilla frosting between the layers, then covered in chocolate frosting. And everyone loved it, enough to bring home some for later. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, applesauce, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Brickle Bars

As evidenced before, Dave loves cookies using the Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits. These can and will be gone in no time. I offered to make something similar for him as a treat, but in bar form. I still can't trust myself not to overdose on cookie dough. When I feel that I can face the dough without devouring so much, then I shall make the cookies again. :)

This is based off an older Snickerdoodle blondie recipe, with the only main difference being the addition of the Heath bits. I think they taste wonderful. The brown sugar is very evident and the toffee flavor goes wonderful. Dave says it tastes like there's raisins in it. *shrug* Makes no sense to me. They're yummy as far as I'm concerned.



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
½ Tbsp. vanilla
½ cup Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the egg, then vanilla, beating until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in Heath Bits. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes

Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

The other day, my mom comes up to me in a store, holding a jar of The Peanut Butter Co.'s Dark Chocolate Dreams (don't worry, we paid much less for it lol), saying that I should make brownies with it, like the Nutella ones that she so loves. I wanted to do something slightly different, thus this post and recipe. Based on this recipe, I switched out the unsweetened chocolate and then, obviously, used the peanut butter as the frosting.

If you make this, definitely don't overbeat, as I wound up with that kind of light crust on the top of the brownies, particularly on the edges. They do taste moister on the second day, and I actually liked them better then.

I'm curious about their other peanut butters. Anyone else use them? The cinnamon sounds particularly intriguing. Could this be the end of my love/hate relationship with peanut butter? *suspenseful music* Find out next time!

(Not really; I was just going for the dramatics. I've got something else planned for my next baking, and I'll even give a hint. It involves a soda that originated in Chicago in 1919.) :)



Ingredients:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 cup Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
Chocolate chips and nuts, if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Melt chocolate and butter together, either on stove or in microwave. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.

Beat chocolate mixture with sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add flour, but do not overmix. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Once out of oven for 15 minutes, spread the chocolate peanut butter on top, sprinkling with chocolate chips or nuts, if desired. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Peanut Butter Munchies

For all the warnings of the big, bad Internet, I think I've been really lucky. Over the past... 16 years (holy moly!), I've made some really great friends. Friends that I know will be around my entire life. Two, in fact, have been around for more than half my life already.

Ivy (originally from CA) and Sandy (from IL), these girls have been my best friends since were 11 and 12 years old. It started out as a mutual love of Mickey Mouse Club, which then progressed into being penpals, and then back to the Internet again. We don't talk all the time, but I know that no matter where I am in life, they can always be considered a friend. I finally got to meet Ivy this past summer, when Dave and I drove through Phoenix. No awkwardness or anything. In fact, I think Dave might have felt a bit left out, what with all the inside jokes and memories that were shared. Oops. Sorry, honey. :)

My other lifetime friend is Courtney, also in IL. By best reckoning, it's been about ten years now. I was doing fundraising for RAINN and what began as her ordering some tshirts (was that it?), lead to emails and eventually "conversations" over the computer. Anyone remember v-stream, where you could call up an 800 number, say whatever you wanted, then email the confirmation number to the intended? Yeah, we did that for a while. We've been through a lot in life, and I've never, ever felt that she didn't support my choices 100%, and vice versa. :) She was the one who passed on this recipe, originally from Midwest Living, describing them as a "mouthgasm". The girl does not lie, let me tell you. These are fan-freakin'-tabulous.

They're very reminiscent of a Girl Scout cookie, the tagalongs, I believe? The ones with the peanut butter inside the chocolate dough. Just minus the chocolate coating on the outside. They're definitely worth the work. And they're the first cookie that I've made in nearly a year. At least it was something worthy. ;)



Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
½ cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Set flour mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and the ¼ cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1¼ inches in diameter. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and remaining ½ cup peanut butter till smooth. Shape into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.

Slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling.

Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Lightly flatten with bottom of glass dipped in remaining sugar.

Bake at 350F for 8 minutes, or until just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Makes 32 cookies.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Thus the Christmas Baking has begun. :)

For the select few, I send out baked goods for Christmas, usually something that's specifically chosen for them. For Amelia, my "twin" in both looks and baked goods-taste, chocolate and mint was the first thing that came to mind. And I'm hoping that she won't check out the blog until after she gets this, because these are for her.

I saw these over at Baking Blonde and just fell in love. And what timing, I had just bought the Andes Mints the weekend prior. The only change made to the recipe is in using 8 ounces of just semi-sweet chocolate, since I didn't have any bittersweet. And oh my god, the batter alone is orgasmic. Seriously. Whoever first put chocolate and mint together totally deserves to be sainted.



Ingredients:
6 Tbsp. butter
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ tsp. mint extract
¼ tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup Andes Mint chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease (or line with parchment) an 8-inch baking dish.

Melt together butter and chcolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until smooth. Allow to cool for 5 mintues.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Add eggs and mint extract, mixing until combined and smooth. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Gently fold in 3/4 cup Andes chips. Pour batter into prepared pan, and evenly sprinkle remaining Andes chips over the top.

Bake at 350F for 25-20 mintues, or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.
Allow to cool before cutting and serving. Makes 16 brownies.

Chocolate Mascarpone Pie

Quiz time!

What do you do when handed an Oreo cookie crust?

A. Run away screaming obscenities about the blasphemy of pre-made crusts.
B. Place it on your head and start tap dancing.
C. Make the best of it, eat it, but still complain about the sweetness and taste of the crust.

While the first two sound fun (and possibly believable lol), I decided to go with option C. That old adage about the mouth of a gift horse, after all.

After some researching, I remember the mascarpone cream filling that I made for some tartlets back in the summer. Somewhere along the way, the idea of using chocolate in it got involved, and, as they say, the rest is history.

The texture wasn't the light and fluffiness that was the non-chocolate version, but it was definitely well-received. Maybe a little bit less sugar would have been better; Dave and I found it to be sweet. My mom, ever the chocoholic, loved it, and my dad happily ate the remaining two pieces after lunch the next day. :)



Ingredients:
Chocolate pie crust (pre-made or your own)
8 oz. mascarpone, softened
1/3 cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:
Beat mascarpone, cream, and sugar until stiff peaks are held. Add chocolate, beating until completely combined. Spread into crust. Top with cream, fruit, or whatever else you may desire. ;)

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Before I get into reading another book (have I mentioned that I'm as much of an avid reader as I am a baker? So far, I've read 114 books this year alone), I'm going to post about the other bars I made yesterday.

Oh, as a quick aside, the pumpkin you saw in the previous picture and the one you'll see with these bars, his name is George. And George went through Pumpkin Puberty tonight, with Dave guiding him through....



Isn't he cute? I'm very proud of both of them. ;)

Alright. Onto the food. It was a Hershey weekend, as this came up while searching for brownies. Dave loves the Heath Toffee Bits and Chocolate, so I thought he'd enjoy these. At this point, I don't seem to recall anything particular in the making of them. LOL (It's been a long day) Oh! I did a half-batch, that's what I changed! Oh, goodness. Anyways, my mom really likes them. They're very soft, and using both the toffee and the chocolate, it gives it a little bit more sweetness. I'd make 'em again, I think. :)



Ingredients:
3/4 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups oats
4 oz. Heath Bits with Chocolate, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Set aside a handful of the Heath bits. Stir remaining toffee bits and oats into batter (batter will be stiff). Spread batter into prepared pan; sprinkle reserved toffee bits over surface.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.

Chocolate Gingerbread

They all laughed at her.

The girl, very full from dinner (Mom made American chop suey), going from room to room, trying desperately to get some decent lighting, when it was rainy and dismal outside. Dining room, den, bedroom, kitchen, where the girl went, the giggles and comments followed. But did that deter her? No, it did not. She persevered. And while it might not be winning any awards any time soon, gosh darnit, the picture is the best that she could get.

All drama aside now. I came across Nigella's recipe for chocolate gingerbread well over a year ago. But whenever I was in the mood to make it, of course I was lacking in ingredients. A few web searches later, Scharffen Berger came to my rescue. I never realized they had recipes on their website, let alone exactly what I was looking for. :)

This comes together easily and oh, did the kitchen smell good while it was baking. I don't usually do gingerbread so early in the season, but with the rain we've had ALL weekend long, it works. It's a very dense cake, and would do well with some whipped cream. The chocolate is a nice addition to traditional gingerbread, and I think I'd like to see it in cupcake form, too.



Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups + 3 Tbsp. flour
2½ tsp. ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. allspice
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup boiling water
10 Tbsp. butter, softened
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
½ cup molasses

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8-inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Put cocoa in a small bowl, stirring in 1/3 cup of boiling water.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add molasses. Stir in cocoa mixture. Gradually add half of the flour mixture, then the remaining 1/3 cup of water. Beat in remaining flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan before cutting. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

I decided that this weekend would be the day that I would finally use the new mini muffin pan. My mom got it for me from a co-worker who does Pampered Chef stuff on the side. Good deal. :)

After some fruitless searches, both in book and internet form, I found myself over at Baking Bites, and came across this recipe, and decided to half it. It's another one that comes together super-duper easy, although it does create a very sticky batter. I was a bit concerned, but it worked out well.

I only frosted half of them, and well, within ten minutes, they were all gone. I'm sure between Dave being home tomorrow and my dad, the rest will have "mysteriously disappeared" by the time I get home from work. :)



Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
¼ cup cocoa
1 tsp. instant coffee powder
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. (325F if it's a darker colored pan) Grease or line 24 mini muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, coffee powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl, making a well in the center.

In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Fill muffin cups 3/4s full.

Bake at 350F (/325F) for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla
½ to 1 Tbsp. milk
1 to 1½ cups confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and milk, adjusting for consistancy. Add confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time, until smooth. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

Blueberry Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Since moving, my work schedule hasn't been all that predictable. The first few weeks were, a nice 7a-4p, with weekends off, but of course that didn't last. This week, I have today and Thursday off. I have no idea for next week. But not having the sense of predictability is hard for me. I'm a routine kind of a gal.

Today had some semblence of normalcy that I did on my days off in CA. Went to the library (albeit by bus and not walking), got myself a chai, then came back home. Which is exactly what I would do on my first day off. So, some comfort there, at least. :)

So! The idea originated with blueberry cheesecake bars. But I never found a recipe that suited what I was imagining. Out of nowhere, while Dave was watching a baseball game, I believe, I said aloud, "Chocolate-covered blueberries! I wonder if I could make cheesecake bars using that flavor?" Dave then turned to look at me, simply saying, "What?!". You'd think after three years, he'd be used to random outbursts on food. Hmm.

Anyways, I put together a few different recipes, and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how I feel about them. I had a small piece earlier, and I have mixed feelings. Thus, no picture. LOL It's denser than the average cheesecake, and that might have something to do with it. I'm hoping that they'll be better tomorrow. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. cocoa
½ tsp. vanilla
Blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

For crust: Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and butter. Press onto bottom of pan.

For filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cocoa and vanilla. Pour onto crust. Place berries on top of the cheesecake, pressing down just slightly.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

Chocolate Decadence Cake

I had a very simple, very direct request from my mom for baking this weekend. Chocolate. A self-described chocoholic, she started hinting at it on Wednesday or Thursday. By yesterday evening, it became a flat-out, "Are you baking something with chocolate yet?" So I thought I'd be a good daughter and make something super chocolatey for her.

One of my earliest food-related memories involves chocolate. I can still easily see myself stirring the pudding, standing on my stepstool, and wanting so badly to taste it. And then the absolute HORROR of having to wait for it firm up! But what I remember even more? Licking the wooden spoon. There are pictures of three-year-old me, with chocolate smeared all over my chubby cheeks.

And, hey, sometimes when licking the spoon or the beaters nowadays, sometimes chocolate still makes its way onto my face. ;)

Found over at VeryBestBaking.com, it pulls together VERY easily. The batter is very light in texture, almost mousse-like. As a finished product, it's very fudgey, very rich. Definitely meeting my mom's chocolate criteria. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
¼ cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan.

Microwave 1 cup of chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 1 minute, then stir. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, then beat for 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate. Alternately add flour and milk. Stir in remaining morsels. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack.

York Peppermint Brownies

I am so freakin' tired. The trailer is loaded. And I mean loaded. We're taking a break now, and let me tell you, that shower has never felt so good. We still have the cleaning of the bathroom and the kitchen to do. The computer's the last thing to be packed, of course. :) Right now I'm sitting down and I do not want to move for at least half an hour. Oh, sitting gods, please smile upon me and let me sit for half an hour. Pretty please?

I thought last night was pretty busy, between running to Whole Foods and wanting to bake some things. Wanted to do one or two more than what I did, but I ran out of sugar. That's the quickest way to finish up baking. LOL

At our last trip to Big Lots, I found miniature York Peppermint Patties. I guess Hershey isn't making them anymore? Which is a shame. They taste just like Junior Mints, but flatter. I went with this recipe because I had exactly half a cup left of cocoa. In fact, I purposely sought out a brownie recipe needing that amount.

These are a very moist, cakey brownie. And unfortunately, some of the patties sank and stuck to the bottom of the pan, despite greasing it first. But they're yummy. Half of them are going to our usual Starbucks tomorrow morning, and we've gone through the other half today. It's good refuelling, energizing food. ;)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1¼ cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 bag Hershey's York Peppermint Patty Baking Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth, then add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in baking bits. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 brownies.

Chocolate-Caramel Chip Cookie Bars

Dave and I both have two days left of work. Which is oddly comforting at times. LOL I knew that I'd be bringing some treats in to work (which I'll post about after this), so I asked Dave if he wanted something to bring in. Who's going to say no to that, right?

I went for simple and for using up another bag of morsels. Sure, there was a trip to Whole Foods since the brown sugar decided to skip town early, but for the most part, it could've been done while sleeping. Tastes just like a regular Toll House cookie, but with a hint of caramel from the swirled morsels.



Ingredients:
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate/caramel swirled morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Stir in chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before cutting into bars. Makes about 4 dozen.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Yesterday did not start off well. At all.

Around 7:30a or so, as Dave was leaving for work, I closed the door and locked it, as normal. Something told me to turn, and I'm really glad that I did. Because my stack of book boxes (all eight of them) were falling right towards me. Thankfully I had turned, because otherwise I would've been hit in the head and back, instead of just my arm. Which has a lovely multi-colored odd-shaped bruise now. Not a good way to start the day. So I went back to bed for a few hours. LOL

Thankfully the day improved. :)

I wanted to make something specifically for Henelyne and that girl loves cheesecake more than anyone else I know. So that part was the easy part. I remembered her love of Ferrero Rocher, and figured I could do a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, and it would also use up the rest of the hazelnut extract.

After debating a few recipes, I went with this one from the Kraft Foods website, just using hazelnut instead of vanilla. It came together very easily and I'll definitely use the recipe again. No picture of the actual cheesecake, but I did make Henelyne pose outside with the piece she was eating. :)

Oh! And the hazelnut flavor was actually recognizable this time! Yay! :)



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used the Newman's Own Chocolate Cookies)
¼ cup butter, melted

2 pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. flour
1½ Tbsp. hazelnut extract
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F (300F if using a darker colored springform pan).

Mix together the cookie crumbs and butter until moist. Press onto the bottom of pan.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream, sugar, cocoa, flour, and hazelnut extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake at 325F for 50-55 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

Chocolate Mint Brownie Sticks

Every Monday (or whatever my first day off that week is) I walk over to the library. Usually I'm just in and out, returning and picking up more books, but today I decided to peruse the cookbook section. Having heard of Maida Heatter before but never making anything from her books, I sat down with her Book of Great Desserts today and proceeded to drool. LOL These caught my eye rather quickly... I'm a firm believer that whoever first put chocolate and mint together deserves to be sainted. I grabbed a pencil and paper and started copying. (Because the copy machine never came to mind. lol)

They come together very easily. I had some concerns, as the color of the batter was a little light. Almost caramel colored, but I popped it in the oven, hoping for the best. They kept that color after baking, too. Instead of mini chocolate chips, I used the Andes Mint Baking Pieces, for an added minty kick. The mint layer came together easily and made me think of Junior Mints. And I finally had a use for the Guittard Unsweetened Chocolate Chips that I bought - woohoo!

Altogether, they're pretty good. Even after being in the fridge for an hour, the brownie base part is very sticky. I had a hard time cutting them apart, between the sticky base and the foil. But they're minty and chocolatey and cool. And incredibly easy to put together.



Ingredients:
2 oz. dark chocolate
½ cup butter
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a small bowl in the microwave, stirring after every 30-second interval until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a mixer bowl, beat eggs with sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth. Beat in chocolate mixture, then stir in the flour at low speed. Mix in chocolate chips, then pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Mint Icing
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp. milk or cream
½ tsp. peppermint extract

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Spread evenly on cooled chocolate base, then refrigerate for exactly 5 minutes while you make the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 Tbsp. butter

Melt together chocolate and butter in a small bowl, in the microwave, stirring after every 30-second interval until smooth. Immediately pour the chocolate glaze over the chilled base. Tilt the pan around to coat the mint layer as much as possible, or drizzle over evenly. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before removing foil and chocolate bars from pan and cutting into 24 thin bars with a sharp knife.

Sticks can be served at room temperature, but are best when chilled or frozen.

Hazelnut Cupcakes

(This is going to be a brief post, as Dave's waiting for the computer)

Oh, I had such high hopes for these. After what seemed like forever, I finally got my hands on some hazelnut extract, so of course, I had visions of these cupcakes ever since.

Finally was able to make them today. And despite adding more hazelnut extract, I still can't taste it! They just taste like chocolate cupcakes. Good cupcakes, sure, but not what I had hoped for. Hmph. Back to the drawing board.



Ingredients:
½ cup boiling water
6 Tbsp. cocoa
¼ cup milk
½ tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. hazelnut extract
1 cup flour
½ tsp. + 1/8 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
10 Tbsp. brown sugar
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a bowl, whisk water into cocoa until smooth. Whisk in milk and extract.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Alternately add flour mix and cocoa mix, starting and ending with the flour. Fill liners halfway full.

Bake at 350F for 18 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache
½ cup heavy cream
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tsp. hazelnut extract

Heat cream until boiling, then pour over chocolate, stirring until melted. Add corn syrup and extract, until well mixed.

Cupcakes Spectacular

I'm posting this now in hopes of making the deadline. Arfi, of HomeMadeS, who is hosting the Cupcake Spectacular responded to my email with a positive answer: Yes, I could use a cupcake that I made about two weeks, so long as I posted it in a new post. Good deal!

Seeing as I don't currently know what time it is in New Zealand, I'm posting this hurriedly, just in case. :D

Devil's Food Cupcakes!



Ingredients:
½ cup boiling water
6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour
½ + 1/8 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

½ cup butter, softened
10 Tbsp. brown sugar
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk boiling water into cocoa until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with cocoa mixture; beginning and ending with the flour. Fill liners about halfway full.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Heat the cream until boiling, then pour over chocolate, stirring to melt, adding the corn syrup. Dip each cupcake into ganache upside down to get a good coating on it.