This is a great breakfast cake. Goes well with tea or coffee.

Mix in bowl:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup partially melted (very soft) butter or margarine

Whip in:
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Set aside:
3/4 cup chopped almonds
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (or 1/3 cup chocolate chips)

Spray a non-stick cooking spray into a 9 inch loaf pan. Pour half the mix into it. Sprinkle half the chopped almonds and two tablespoons cocoa powder (or chocolate chips) across the top. Pour remaining mix into the loaf pan and spread across the top. Sprinkle remaining cocoa powder and almonds across the top.

Bake at 350 for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness.

I’ve had black forest cake that I like, but usually they are far too sweet. This recipe doesn’t have any liquor and uses raspberries instead of cherries.

6 eggs
scant 1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup margarine or unsalted butter

Filling/Topping

2 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp vanilla

1 to 1 ½ pounds of fresh blackberries or raspberries or mix of both

To decorate:
Grated chocolate (take a high quality milk chocolate bar–such as Lindt Milk Chocolate-and grate little frills. Sprinkle frills on the cake).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two round 9 inch cake pans. Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and beat with electric mixer until very thick. Sift flour and cocoa and fold in lightly. Gently stir in melted butter. Divide the mixture between the two cake pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cakes are springy. Cool for five minutes and turn onto wire racks and cool completely.

Using a hand held mixer, whip the cream until it starts to thicken and then gradually beat in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until the cream holds it shape.

Assemble

Spread whipped cream on bottom layer of chocolate cake. Spread a thick row of berries across the cream. Add second cake layer and spread with sweetened cream. Spread the sides with cream as well. Lightly decorate the top of the cake with berries. Sprinkle the side of the cake with the grated chocolate. Add a few berries around the plate and you have a masterpiece!

Time Saving Note: You can make a boxed chocolate cake instead of making chocolate cake from scratch. Another good chocolate cake that can be used in this recipe is: Buttermilk Chocolate Cake. Simply make the cake in two pans instead of one, and substitute the whipped cream and raspberries for icing.

Note: For the more traditional Black Forest Cake, after they have cooled, prick the tops of the cakes with fork and drizzle with 1/8th cup of Kirsch. Use fresh pitted cherries instead of raspberries or blackberries.

Brownies are difficult to make–some people like poofy ones, some like gooey ones. In Texas, there’s the additional problem of it being so freakin’ hot in the summer, you don’t want to run the oven! As a result, I created/coerced this recipe so that it can be made in a small brownie pan in the toaster oven. Use an 8 x 8 pan or in my case an 8 by about 9 inch glass pan.

If you are using a toaster oven, you *must* preheat the oven. The heat elements heat very quickly and tend to overshoot–so preheat to 350.

In microwave melt:
1 70 percent Lindt fine chocolate bar (3.5 oz)
1 stick of margarine (1/2 cup)

In mixing bowl mix:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar

When the sugar and eggs are well blended, add:

1 cup flour
(If you want fluffy brownies, add 1 tsp baking power to the flour before adding the flour. For gooey brownies, leave out the baking powder.)

Stir well. Add the melted chocolate and margarine and stir well. Add:

2 tablespoons buttermilk

Add pecans if desired.

Spread in the 8 x 8 pan. Cook at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn the down oven to about 325 and cook until the middle is firm about another 5 to 10 minutes depending on your oven.

Remove from oven and cool.

The key here is to keep the oven from reheating too many times–or you can end up with burned marks right where the toaster elements heat. I put the pan up as high away from them as possible.

You all know I am ever in search of the perfect brownie. I study recipes. I try them, I tweak them. Ultimately, I keep looking. But now. Now, I have found one that at the very least is a keeper. It may, in fact, be The One. I’ve made this recipe about four times now. I’ve made the full recipe; I’ve cut it in half. The secret? The one thing that makes the brownies get that high gloss, that look on top as though the chocolate froze in time in a delicious lava-like flow?

It seems to be related to melting the butter and sugar before mixing into the other ingredients. I’ve melted the butter before and even melted the chocolate. But sugar gets hotter and stays hotter. In this case, it allows the chocolate chips to melt into a wonderful gooey substance.

I found the recipe here thanks to my sister-in-law, Kelly. I tried the recipe with and without chocolate chips. I decided I liked the recipe better with the chips in. In the end, the only thing I changed is that I don’t put in espresso powder. I’ve used espresso powder before and sometimes it makes the dish taste like coffee, other times it adds a nice unidentifiable bottom richness (such as can be found in tiramisu). However by and large, I just don’t need those bottom notes where chocolate is concerned.

Here is the recipe cut in half for baking in a small toaster oven:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/8th cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt butter and sugar in pan or in the microwave—get hot enough to melt chocolate chips–some of the sugar will be dissolved in the butter, but it won’t be boiling. While the sugar heats, crack the 2 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, baking powder and vanilla till smooth. This is a little stickier than it sounds.

Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Make sure your toaster oven is preheated to 350. Put the brownies in an 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. During the last ten, you might want to turn the oven down to 325 depending on your heating elements! Cool and cut. They are very, very good brownies. Not gooey, but incredibly moist.

I highly recommend them.

I haven’t tried any of the products for sale at the King Arthur Flour site, but I was intrigued. They have great pictures and some other intriguing recipes.

A very moist carrot cake with cream cheese icing; the best I have ever eaten! The original recipe came from a friend of mine, but of course it has been severely tweaked. He put raisins in his. Ugh. You can also use all granulated sugar or all brown sugar in this recipe. If you like coconut, you can double to a full cup. If you don’t like coconut, leave it out!

Ingredients:

3 beaten eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda

1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained–I put it through the food processor again to avoid any large chucks as I have found the crushed isn’t always as crushed as I would like.

2 cups grated or shredded carrots
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans
½ cup flaked coconut (optional)

Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk sugar and vanilla and mix well. Then stir in all the dry ingredients and mix. Stir in pineapple, carrots, nuts and coconut.

Pour into sprayed (no-stick spray) 9×13 oblong pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. Do not over bake. Frost when completely cooked and refrigerate.

Cream Cheese Icing

I recommend that you cut this recipe in half, but I do that with a lot of frosting recipes. I have no idea where people use the icing from the full recipe because it makes so much!

½ cup butter or margarine softened
8 ounce package softened cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla

16 to 20 ounces of powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients, using about 16 ounces of sugar to start. Beat until creamy. Add more sugar to get the desired consistency. Spread on completely cooled cake.

Let’s talk about Chocolate. I know you want to. Sure, it would be even better to EAT the stuff, but that’s essentially what we’ll be talking about anyway!

Have you noticed that grocery stores (including Wal-Mart) are starting to carry better chocolates? Instead of just low-end Hersey’s there’s the high-end Hersey bars. Even better, there’s Lindt chocolate and some very nice Ghiradeli bars. I didn’t like Ghirardelli all that much the first time I tried them years and years ago. I drank their cocoa because it was one of the few decent ones on the grocery shelves–easy to obtain. Several years ago the internet made it possible for me to order from anywhere and I’ve tried a number of cocoas:

Scharffen-Berger: This is a lovely cocoa, especially for cooking. Very rich, non-dutched, deep cocoa. My favorite recipe for this cocoa is: Chocolate Buttermilk cake with chocolate buttermilk icing. Be prepared to swoon.

Guittard - I believe they supply chocolate to See’s Candies (My all-time favorite store candies). They also have some dynamite chocolate bars for baking or making your own chocolate. They have single region chocolates and mixed. Quite a selection to choose from. Single region chocolates have really unique notes. Many have what I describe as “fruity” notes–a blackcherry or an undefinable fruitiness that just…melts into your sense.

They also sell a wonderful dutched cocoa that is very similar to the more expensive French and quite well-known Valrhona cocoa. I have a cup of Guittard cocoa almost every morning.

What are your favorite chocolates? Where do you get your chocolate fix?

Me, I usually order the cocoa in bulk from www.Chocosphere.com. I enjoy the Ghirardelli bars from my local grocery story. The Citris Sunset has tiny bits of orange scattered throughout a luscious dark-chocolate; the Toffee Interlude is perfect for just a bit of crunch and when you want that extra sweetness; And their Twilight Delight is a wonderful 72 percent creamy chocolate bar with a hint of fruitiness that is all about chocolate’s deep base flavor. All of these bars are just dynamite. Expensive too. But really, really satisfy that chocolate craving.

I like the Lindt bars too, but they’ve gone up in price recently, so I don’t buy them nearly as often. Hersey’s has some new “fine” chocolates out as well, but I haven’t tried them.

Here’s my favorite chocolate recipe book:  Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate: Alice Medrich, Deborah Jones (Photographer)

I got this recipe from a lady that I used to work with. It is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made or eaten! It is very rich and buttery, a true chocolate lover’s chocolate. Splurge and buy a high-end cocoa for this recipe–I like Scharffen Berger Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder Bulk, 4.4-Pound, but there are many good ones out there. (I buy the bulk but here’s a smaller size: Scharffen Berger Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder Canister, 6-Ounce (Pack of 2)

In bowl sift:

2 cups flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour , 5lb but most people use all-purpose, regular flour!)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Over low heat, stir until margarine is melted:

1 cup water
4 tablespoons cocoa
2 sticks of margarine or butter (1 cup)

Stir into the flour mixture until smooth.

Add:

2 beaten eggs
½ cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla

Beat with rotary beaters or mix until well-blended.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes in 9 by 13 inch baking pan.

Chocolate Icing

I have cut this recipe in half from the original because when making a “sheet” cake, I didn’t need anywhere near the amount of icing that the original ingredients produced.

Melt in pan until smooth:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons cocoa

Remove from heat and mix in powdered sugar to desired consistency. (About 8 ounces or so.)

You can icing the cake while hot, although I usually wait until it has cooled. Icing it while hot creates a top “gooey” layer. When icing after it is cooled, the cake is more like a regular cake. Either way, it is delicious and decadent!

I love the taste of fresh, hot, melt-in-your mouth cookies without the agony of having to make dough each time, so I store the dough in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for longer. When I’m in the mood for a cookie, I simply bake about four at a time in a little toaster oven. Cookies are my thinking food—I can barely write if I don’t have my cookies available!

This recipe comes from a modified recipe I learned from my grandmother. Hers was a high altitude recipe and contained two eggs, 2 1/4 cups of flour and 1 cup of oatmeal. The recipe below is adapted to Austin, Texas and is also a “gooier” cookie! Add up to another 1/4 cup of oatmeal if it’s humid or the cookies are too gooey.

Blend in bowl until creamy:
1 cup soft margarine
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar

Beat in:
1 egg

Stir in:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp water

Finally stir in:

¾ cup uncooked oats (not the fast cook kind)
Half to three quarters of a bag of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
1 tsp real vanilla extract

My husband likes pecans, so I cut the batch in half and put pecans in his half. Cook at 350 degrees on tin foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray until done, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Refrigerate leftover dough until the dough is cold (probably a couple of hours or overnight). You can then make cookie logs with the remaining dough, roll it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. To cook after frozen, just cut off a cookie-sized chunk, flatten slightly with the palms of your hands and cook in the toaster over!

Enjoy!

I wish I could say this recipe was mine. I wish I could say that I tweaked it. But other than possibly adding more chocolate than it called for (and forgetting to add vanilla), I didn’t change much. I did bake a pie shell and pour the mousse into it, so that is a bit different, but it’s all in the mousse!

Here’s a link to the original Scharffen Berger page where I found it.  As I’ve mentioned before, I use the Scharffen Berger cocoa for hot chocolate and cooking.  It’s a wonderfully rich cocoa and perfect for baking and drinking.  This recipe was my first try using their 62 percent chocolate bars (it was a freebie sample, but it was good so I wouldn’t hesitate to order more!)

Here is the recipe, reproduced for those that want to check it out without following the link.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE/62%

Ingredients:

* 8 oz. Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao Semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cup water, divided use
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 3 large egg yolks
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, whipped
* Method:

1. In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160*F (70*C), about 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes.

5. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

I wasn’t certain why I had to get the eggs to 160 degrees. I’m not sure if that was a kill possible salmonella or if getting the temperature right keeps the chocolate from setting up.  I know other recipes complained about how difficult it was to keep the chocolate from seizing.

This mousse was light and fluffy–melt in your mouth, delicious!!!  I highly recommend it.   I’ll be trying their pudding recipe soon.

It is time for some decadence! These are half cookie, half pie. Easier than pie, harder to make than a normal cookie,

3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups flour

Cream sugar and margarine. Add flour and mix well. Spread in a 9 by 9 inch greased pan (think pie crust). Bake at 350 until just golden brown about 12 minutes.

Mix:

2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup (or more) chopped pecans
1 cup of 60% (semi-sweet) chocolate chips

After mixing, spread on top of the crust and bake about 20 minutes at 350.

If you *really* need these to be more decadent, make an orange-lemon frosting and drizzle on top:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon melted margarine, 1 and a half tablespoons orange juice and 1/2 tsp of lemon.

But really, they are pretty good without the icing on top!!!

April is strawberry season in Texas and we always go to a self-pick farm and stock up. This year, in an ever-expanding effort to create delicious, simple strawberry concoctions, I’ve managed a nice little chocolate pudding pie with strawberry whipped topping.

You’ll need:

1 9-inch graham cracker pie shell
1 package of chocolate cook and serve pudding (3.4 oz)
heavy whipping cream
sweet strawberries
cocoa powder

Mix two tablespoons cocoa powder and the package of chocolate pudding in a saucepan. Cook according to directions on the package (2 cups of milk, stirring constantly.) I use a high quality cocoa addition to the packaged pudding to get a dark chocolate flavor–you can leave the extra cocoa out if you don’t like darker chocolates. I also wouldn’t recommend adding extra cocoa if you decide to substitute instand pudding in the recipe–the cocoa needs heat in order to dissolve properly.

When the chocolate pudding is ready, pour it in the pie shell and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Prepare the strawberry puree:

In blender puree enough strawberries to get 1 to 1.5 cups of puree. I don’t add any sugar because we pick the berries fully ripened and they don’t need it. With store berries, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of sugar. If you aren’t going to use the puree within a day, squirt a bit of lemon juice into the puree to help preserve color.

When the pie is set, whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until soft peaks have formed. About a quarter cup at a time, add one cup of the pureed stawberries. (You can add more, but be careful not to let the peaks get runny–add some, stir, then add more if the cream can handle more liquid without losing its shape.)

Cover the pie evenly with the strawberry topping and serve. To decorate, add slices of strawberries to individual plates and dust with cocoa powder.

I know. It’s easier to open a can. BUT, it isn’t as good as this recipe–which is made the day before, so is well-worth the quick effort. Thanks, Renee, for sharing your fabulous recipe!

Frozen Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 can of crushed pineapple in its own juice (about 20 ounces)
16 oz bag of miniature marshmallows
1 pint whipping cream
½ C sugar

Directions:
Chop cranberries in a food processor or blender. Mix with sugar and put in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix pineapple and marshmallows.

Refrigerate both bowls for an hour.

After the hour is up, whip cream until it’s nice and fluffy. Mix in the contents of both bowls. Pour everything into a 9×13 pan. Freeze.

Remove from freezer about 30 minutes before serving. It is supposed to be served partially frozen.

Easiest, best pumpkin pie ever–not too strong a pumpkin taste and quick to prepare.

Bake and cool one 8 or 9 inch pie shell.

Prepare:
1 package Dream Whip: 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla prepared as on package.

Mix:
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix (The big package, or if you have 3.4 oz packages, use 1 and a half packages)
2/3 cup milk
1 (generous) cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine 1 cup of the prepared dream whip with pudding mix, milk, spices and pumpkin. Beat slowly until mixed well, about 1 minute.

Pour into baked and cooled pie shell. Refrigerate about 2 hours until set. Top with remaining dream whip.

This pie is quick to make and pleases even people that don’t much care for pumpkin pie!

One of the benefits of a garden is fresh herbs. (If you grow mint, grow it in pots–otherwise it will take over any area that is watered including grass, garden, the side of the house if wet enough, the dog’s water dish…)

When making mint icing from fresh mint, it is going to have a lighter mint flavor than if you use extract. It’s quite subtle and delicate; a top-note to the chocolate.

To make fresh-mint chocolate icing, you need to prep the night before:

Cut three or four fresh sprigs of mint, wash, pat dry with a paper towel and then discard the stems, saving the leaves. I use about ten leaves.

Chop the leaves or fold and crush them a bit.
Place the leaves in a very small container with about 4 tablespoons of buttermilk.
Leave the mint in the buttermilk at least overnight in the refrigerator. The fat in the buttermilk will soak up the mint oils. The longer you soak and the more leaves you soak, the stronger the mint flavor will be.

The next day, when you are ready to make the chocolate icing, strain the buttermilk from the mint into a saucepan. You need about two tablespoons of buttermilk, which will make plenty of icing to cover an 8 to 9 inch brownie or cake pan. Discard the rest of the buttermilk or use it all if you want to double this recipe.

Add to the saucepan:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Heat over low heat, stirring until all butter is melted and the chocolate is mixed in well. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar until icing is desired consistency (about 16 oz of sugar makes a pretty standard icing. Less sugar creates a nice drizzle.)

Use the icing on brownies, on cakes or cookies. You can make a layer of mint icing without the chocolate by leaving out the cocoa. I’ve seen recipes that do the layer without the cocoa and use green food coloring. You can then layer another layer of chocolate icing on top for effect.

Another great icing is orange/cocoa. Substitute minced orange peeling in place of the mint (about a tablespoon). You’ll need more buttermilk when you soak the orange peelings because the peeling soaks up a bit of the moisture. Orange/chocolate icing is a great treat, especially on shortbread or sugar cookies!

These brownies cook with a brownie layer on top and form a rich chocolate syrup in the bottom of the pan (the hot fudge). The brownies are great served warm with vanilla ice cream and when cold, just with the rich chocolate syrup poured over the top! I’ve also seen a similar recipe with instant coffee added to the chocolate/sugar sprinkle, but any way you make this one, it’s GREAT.

Sift together the following dry ingredients:

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
¾ cup sugar

Stir in:

½ cup milk
2 tablespoons melted margarine
Blend in half-cup of pecans (optional)

Spread in a 9 inch loaf pan.

Mix together the following ingredients and sprinkle on top of the brownie:

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa

Pour 1 ¾ cup hot water over all and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. The syrup forms on the bottom of the pan. Serve the brownie over ice cream drizzled with the syrup.