Coca Cola Cake

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!!

Have you ever had Cracker Barrel's Coca Cola Cake? We don't eat at Cracker Barrel a lot but when we do, it's for breakfast. Usually I don't eat cake for breakfast, notice I said usually. There's quite a few copy cat recipes for this cake. When I found this recipe, using diet coke and a low fat cream cheese frosting, I couldn't pass it up.

I was skeptical, just cake mix, coke and two egg whites? Would it rise or cook properly? Don't be skeptical. This cake is so good. It is so moist and the frosting is delicious. I am looking forward to trying some of the other versions of this cake.

Diet Coke Cake
Recipe adapted from Erin of grin and bake It

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 can Diet Coke
2 egg whites

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Bake according to the directions on the cake box. Makes 24.

Flavor Variations

Chocolate cake mix and Diet Coke
Spice cake and diet root beer
Vanilla cake mix and diet root beer
Pineapple cake mix and 7 Up
Vanilla cake mix and 7Up
Vanilla cake mix and diet orange

Low Fat Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
1 c. marshmallow cream
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, lemon juice and vanilla until well combined. Then gradually beat in the powdered sugar.

Makes 1 3/4 cups

NOTES: The use of marshmallow creme instead of butter in this easy frosting recipe keeps the fat, calorie and cholesterol counts low. To simplify clean-up, spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray before attempting to measure out the marshmallow cream!

I am linking this to Tuesday's at the Table and Tasty Tuesday's.

Brrr-ownies

Brownies are like chocolate chip cookies, there are a zillion recipes out there. Do you have a favorite recipe you always make? Or are you like me and you keep trying new recipes? I first saw this recipe on my friend Susan's blog. I bookmarked it and bought the mints immediately. Then what do I do? I forget about them. I was looking for toffee chips and burried in the basket were the mints. These are my favorite kind of brownie, gooey, chocolately with the addition of the flavor of mint.

The gooeyness of these made it hard to cut them into nice squares. I wonder if chilling them would have helped? Regardless they were delicious. This recipe goes in the make again soon file!!

Brrr-ownies (found on page 103 of Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan).
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 pieces
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup (6 ozs) York Peppermint Pattie Bites (or equal weight of patties) chopped into bits
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with foil. Butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with chopped chocolates and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted - you don't want then to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
With a whisk, stir in the sugar. Don't be concerned when your smooth mixture turns grainy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and whisk vigorously to bring the batter together and give it a shine before gently stirring in the salt and flour; stir only until incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the peppermint pieces. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the rubber spatula.
Bake the brownies for 30 to 33 minutes, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out almost clean. (The tip of the knife may be a touch streaky) Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
When they are completely cool, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board. Cut into 16 2 inch squares.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Icing - MSC

Do you like snickerdoodles? Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. I was so excited when I saw the September recipe for MSC was Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. YUM!!!!!

I've been baking with the MSC cupcake group for about a year. Many of the cupcakes have been too dry for my tastes. I think at first I was leaving them in the oven too long. Even after I corrected that, I still felt like they were too dry. Sue Woodhouse of Cupcakes Actually was on Living Today on Martha radio a couple of weeks ago. She addressed the subject of cupcakes being too dry. She suggests adding canola oil and buttermilk. I must admit, I adapted this recipe to include those two ingredients. I still think I left them in the oven too long, when will I learn? They're not as dry but still not as moist as I would like.

The Martha recipe calls for the cupcakes to be frosted with Seven Minute Frosting. I wanted to continue with the cinnamon theme. I made Martha's Honey Cinnamon Frosting. It was the perfect compliment to the cinnamon flavor of these cupcakes.



This month's recipe was chosen by the talented Katie of Katiecakes. You can find links to the other MSC bakers here.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Cherry Crisp

Don't forget to join Gnee of Singing With Birds and me for our End of Summer BlogBBQ!

I've never baked much with cherries. Last summer I purchased a few cherries from the Farmer's Market and made this. I used an opened up paper clip as my cherry pitter. While it worked okay, I wanted a real cherry pitter. I bought this one. If you have a lot of cherries to pit, get this one, it's awesome!

I was looking forward to making a cold soup with those cherries. When Tim heard that, in a very disappointed voice he said he was hoping I would make a dessert. Since I am challenged, when it comes to pie crusts, I decided to make a crisp.

Cherry Crisp

4 cups pitted sour cherries
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, combine cherries, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, and 4 tablespoons flour. Pour into 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Sprinkle over cherries.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound!

A Little Late Plum Clafoutis

I am late with my posting for Sweet Melissa Sunday's. We went camping this weekend (more on that later). My intent was to bake this on Sunday after I got home. Seriously, I should know better. I don't know about you but baking when I am tired spells disaster.

Clafoutis...don't you just love the name? It's interesting you find this recipe in the breakfast section of Melissa's cookbook. When I made this clafoutis last year, I remember thinking it would make a wonderful addition to a brunch.

I baked one fourth of the recipe in two ramekins. Other than omitting the almonds (because there were none in the freezer), I prepared the recipe as written. The plums are cooked in a cinnamon sugar syrup. The syrup adds a wonderful sweetness to the egg base of the clafoutis. This recipe is a keeper!! I can see changing the fruits, using different nuts and even making this savory instead of sweet.




You can find the recipe over on Michelle of Flourchild's blog. Thanks Michelle for choosing such a fabulous recipe. If you want to see the other SMS baker's clafouti's, go here!

Since I am posting Sunday's recipe on Monday, I decided I might as well really mix it up and link to Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday's.

Hello Snickers!

No SMS for me this week. This weeks recipe, Sweet Almond Cake, is presented by the talented and creative Katiecakes.

Instead I am sharing a recipe I found on my blogging friend Gnee's site, Singing With Birds. If you haven't been to her site, check it out. She takes amazing photos and shares the best recipes.

What’s your favorite candy bar? Mine is Twix. My husband’s is Snicker’s. He loves to keep the mini ones in the freezer for a cool summer treat. These cookies had Tim's name written all over it.

This recipe is so fun and easy to put together. My only challenge was unwrapping all of the caramels, which took much longer than I anticipated. Tim said his mom used to put them in the freezer. They would unwrap easier when frozen. A concept I plan to try next time. I had a little trouble getting my caramels to melt smoothly. In turn, I had a few spots in the bars with a piece of hard caramel.

These are delicious! Almost too delicious, I had to put the last piece together like a puzzle in order to have a picture to post!!

Hello Snickers!
Recipe courtesy of Singing With Birds

1 stick butter
1 cup chocolate wafers, crushed
1 cup caramel, melted
1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1 cups chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Melt 1 stick of butter in a square 8x8 pan. Layer over this chocolate wafer crumbs, caramel, peanuts, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, (350 for a glass pan). Cool and cut into 16 squares.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte - SMS

Our friends Karen and Larry are visiting this weekend. When I read this week's SMS recipe, I knew it would be the perfect dessert for Saturday night's dinner. Chocolate and Raspberries...YUM!!

This recipe is fairly simple to prepare. It doesn't have a lot of ingredients or a long preparation time. I had a hard time deciding when my eggs had reached soft peaks. I think I stopped before they had reached that point. As I folded in the first half, they seemed really runny. At that point, I decided to continue. As I combined the eggs with the chocolate mixture, the texture was strange. Almost lumpy but not actually lumps. Did some of my eggs cook when combining with the chocolate? I had one of those "Oh No" momemts where I thought this was going to be a flop. I used a 9" pan, which was too big. My torte was thin with raspberries poking throught. As well I think I should have cooked it for a shorter time. The texture was almost crumbly. Despite the texture and how thin it was, the dessert was delicious. I would have liked it with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Thanks to Jennifer of The Rookie Baker for choosing this week's recipe. You can find the links to take a look at all of the other SMS baker's torte's here.

Rhubarb Cake

I am not a rhubarb fan, so my recipe files don’t contain rhubarb recipes. Tim loves rhubarb, especially rhubarb desserts. On an envelope in his scribbles is his mother’s rhubarb dessert recipe.

I didn’t have cream so I substituted evaporated milk. I remember Tim’s daughter making this a few years ago and thinking it was a little runny, so I didn’t put in two full cups of milk.

Tim says this dessert is a yummy combination of cake and rhubarb. Even with the decreased amount of milk, it was still a little runny. Maybe it’s just supposed to be that way? Since this recipe was scribbled on an envelope, it didn’t have any instructions for storage. I think it keeps longer if you store it in the fridge.

Rhubarb Cake

Yellow Cake Mix
4 cups rhubarb, sliced
1 cup sugar
1 pint of cream or half and half

Mix cake mix as directed on the box. Pour in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Put rhubarb on top of cake mix. Sprinkle sugar over rhubarb. Pour cream over the top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.

Triple Berry Crisp

Tim requested a crisp for Father's Day dessert. With berries reasonable and plentiful, a crisp seemed like the perfect dessert. You can use any combination of berries, I used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I served this with my favorite homemade vanilla ice cream, Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla Ice Cream.

Triple Berry Crisp
Adapted from All Recipes

1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, gently toss together blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and white sugar; set aside.
3.In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Cover with berries. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the berries.
4.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.



I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.

Honey Rhubarb Betty - Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday!!!

Did you know rhubarb is really a vegetable? I always thought it was a fruit!! Rhubarb is one of those foods I've always said I don't love. Maybe it's because of how I ate it as a kid. My mom always stewed it for my dad. She just cut it up, added a little water and sugar and cooked it until it was mushy. YUCK! As an adult, I've discovered lots of the other delicious ways to use rhubarb. Last Spring I made this Rhubarb Crisp. I talked about the yucky stewed rhubarb in that post, too. I've always heard talk of a betty but I hadn't ever made one. I wasn't even sure I knew what it was. A betty is similar to a cobbler but reminded me more of a bread pudding.




Honey Rhubarb Betty
Adapted from Southern Food
1 pound rhubarb, cut in 1/2-inch slices (about 4 to 4 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash salt
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup honey
4 cups bread cubes (about 5 slices)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Combine sliced rhubarb, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and water. In a small bowl, blend butter and honey; stir in bread cubes. Spoon bread cubes in the bottom of a 8 x 8 baking dish. Pour rhubarb mixture evenly over the top of the bread crumbs. Spoon the remaining bread crumbs over the top of the rhubarb. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bread topping is lightly browned. Cover with foil and bake an additional 10minutes. Makes 6 servings.

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound.

No SMS - Strawberry Trifle

We're in Kansas City this weekend. I wanted to do some shopping and Tim wanted to see the Twins play the Royals. A perfect weekend away! I didn't have time to bake SMS before we left. Stop by and check out this week's SMS recipe, Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Pie, chosen by the very talented baker, Tracey at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. In addition to being a great baker, she takes amazing photographs.

I do have a delicious recipe to share with you. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted my first trifle recipe? The Chocolate Banana Trifle was wonderful, except for one thing. It is way too big of a dessert unless you are serving a group. Last weekend, Tim's family was here for Tim's son Michael's confirmation. This was the perfect dessert. Strawberries are plentiful and inexpensive right now. This dessert was delicious and the perfect compliment to our dinner. It was just sweet enough but not too filling.





Strawberry Trifle

2 pint baskets strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water - divided use
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (3.5-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups whipping or heavy cream, whipped
1 angel food cake, cubed

Slice berries, reserving 6 for garnish. Place 1 cup of the sliced berries in saucepan with sugar and 1/4 cup water. Bring to boil. Cook 3 minutes; remove from heat. Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Stir into strawberry mixture. Cook and stir until thick (about 2 minutes). Add lemon juice. Cool to room temperature.
Combine sweetened condensed milk and remaining 1 1/2 cups cold water in a bowl. Add instant vanilla pudding mix and beat well. Chill for 5 minutes.
Cut cake into bite-size cubes.
Meanwhile, beat cream until stiff. Fold into the pudding mixture.
Layer pudding, cake, sliced strawberries, and strawberry mixture. Repeat the layers; garnish with reserved strawberries.
Makes 12 servings.

Chocolate Banana Trifle - Foodie Friday

I've wanted a Trifle dish for years! I was thrilled when I found this one at Wal Mart for around $6.50. I couldn't resist. Making a trifle is on My Top 50. Cross one more off the list. 3 down, 47 to go!

The original recipe called from vanilla pudding. I subsituted chocolate pudding because that was what I had on hand. You know, Use It Up!!

Did you know those little bottles of liquor, like the ones you get on the airplane, are exactly 1/4 cup? Perfect!

This dessert was awesome!! The texture of the pudding mixture is just thick enough so the angel food cake doesn't get soggy. The bananas and chocolate are a wonderful combination. The only downside to this type of dessert is the size!! I think now I need individual trifles so I can make smaller portions.





Chocolate-Banana Trifle
Adapted from Cooking Light
16 Servings

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated fat-free milk
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur)
1 (16-ounce) angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup toffee chips
3 cups fat-free milk
3 (3.4-ounce) packages chocolate instant pudding mix (not sugar-free)
2 cups sliced banana, divided
1 (12-ounce) container frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed and divided

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick (about 3 minutes), stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in Kahlúa. Cool.

Combine chocolate mixture and cake in a large bowl; stir in toffee chips, reserving 1tablespoon for topping. Set aside.

Beat 3 cups milk and pudding mix at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in cake mixture. Cover; chill 15 minutes.

Spoon half of cake mixture into a trifle dish or bowl. Arrange 1 cup bananas evenly over cake mixture; top with half of whipped topping. Repeat layers; end with whipped topping. Sprinkle with reserved 1 tablespoon toffee chips. Chill one hour.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Chocolate Canneles - Chocolate With Francois

I haven't been a very good Chocolate With Francois blogger. I've missed the past two months. My fellow bloggers have baked some beautiful dishes. I am sure this month will be no exception. Sarah at Teapots and Cakestands chose this month's recipe. When she first made her pick, she was quick to note if we didn't have cannele molds, this could be made in a muffin tin.

Canneles are a specialty of southwest France. I can't say that I've ever eaten one, so I was anxious to try these. I decided to make this in my mini bundt pan. We've had plenty of sweets at our house lately, so I chose to cut this recipe in half and in half again. My idea was to get two cannales. This batter looks devine, almost like creamy hot chocolate.

This recipe is quick and easy to put together. However, it does require a little planning because it has to chill overnight. The recipe calls for baking these 60 - 75 minutes. I checked them after about 50 minutes. They appeared to be done and as I looked closer, I was afraid they were overdone. As I removed them from the pan, my fear was confirmed, they're overdone!

Not sure if it was because these were overdone but they were terrible. They were very dry, which I know was because they were overdone. The flavor wasn't what I would have expected from the wonderful chocolate batter. I am anxious to see how my fellow CWF bloggers fared with this recipe.

Lavender-Lemon Pound Cake

Two of my favorite things are lavender and lemon. When I saw this recipe on Savoring Time in the Kitchen, I knew I had to make it.

I've been wanting a mini bundt pan. We're making Chocolate Canneles on Chocolate With Francois in March. I don't own the molds but Sarah, our host for the month says we can use muffin tins. Wouldn't mini bundt pans be perfect? Two recipes, for sure I need the mini bundt pan. I bought this pan and I just love the different shapes. I bought mine at The Kitchen Connection and only paid $19.99.

We're lucky enough to have a Pezney's in Omaha. A few months ago, I purchased culinary lavender. I made Lavender Simple Syrup, a wonderful addition to cocktails.





This pound cake is a delightful recipe. The beautiful lemony batter is lightly scented with lavender. It doesn't have a typical pound cake texture. The texture was much more like a traditional cake. This cake was great with a small scoop of the Lemon Sorbet I made last week.

Recipe Courtesy of Monica Glass, Pastry Chef
12 miniature cake molds or cupcake molds

For the cake:

2½ cups sifted all-purpose flour*
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dried lavender, coarsely crushed or ground
¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature

For the sugar glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Generously grease two 6-cup mini Bundt pans or muffin cups with butter or non-stick cooking spray and dust lightly with flour, knocking out excess. Do not preheat oven.

Sprinkle the lavender into the buttermilk and let sit for 10 minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating only until incorporated after each addition. Mix in the zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Beat the final addition only until smooth. Do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into each cup, filling it only ¾ full and distributing it evenly between the 12 Bundt or muffin cups. Tap each pan several times on the counter to eliminate air bubbles and level the tops. Place both pans in the cold oven and turn the oven to 325? F. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tops (which will eventually become the cake bottoms) are risen and golden. Do not open the oven until at least 30 minutes into baking so your cakes will not fall.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then run a thin knife around outer edge of each cake to loosen and unmold by inverting the pan over onto a wire rack. The cakes will be right-side-up at this point.

Prepare the glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula until the glaze is smooth and of drizzling consistency. Spoon the glaze over the top of each slightly cooled cake, letting some run down unevenly on the sides. Zest the lemon over the tops of the glaze and serve.

Wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil, the cakes will keep for 3-5 days at room temperature and for up to 3 months in the freezer.

*Sift the flour, then measure for accurate results.

Lemon Buttermilk Sorbet

Participating in Sweet Melissa Sunday's, Chocolate With Francois and Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club have encouraged me to try recipes I wouldn't have tried otherwise. It's also increased the amount we spend on food. I buy ingredients I don't normally stock in my kitchen. I always try to "Use It Up". It's fun searching for a recipe to use the rest of those ingredients.

I found this recipe for Buttermilk Sorbet. Four ingredients, three really since lemon zest and lemon are the same ingredient. How simple is that? Speaking of simple, Santa brought me one of these. This makes squeezing a lemon quick and easy!

This sorbet is amazingly delicious. It has a nice hint of lemon but isn't too lemony. It's so creamy, you would think you are eating ice cream. I can't wait to make this sorbet with summer berries. I am just loving anything these days that reminds me of summer!

Lemon Buttermilk Sorbet
Recipe from Bon Appetit

Makes approximately 7 cups
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 cups buttermilk

Stir sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Add buttermilk, stir until sugar is dissolved. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours. Process mixture in ice cream freezer, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer to contained with lid; freeze. (Can be made 3 days ahead.)

My notes on this recipe: I added about 1/4 cup of vodka to this recipe. I drizzled it in while it was in the ice cream freezer. You know how homemade ice cream can get too frozen to scoop? I think the little bit of alcohol helps prevent it from freezing so hard. The recipe says this can be made three days ahead. I made this a week ago and it's still good.

Flourless Chocolate Mint Cake

As you read this we are enjoying a sea day aboard the Crown Princess. Sailing towards the Princess Cays, the ships private island in the Bahamas.

I love flourless chocolate cakes. They're so rich and decadent. And of course, they just scream chocolate! In keeping with my Use it Up theme, I had mint chips in the freezer. I checked out the Andes website and found this recipe.

The recipe says don't bake past 12 minutes. At the end of 12 minutes this cake was what I would call soup. I couldn't bring myself to take it out, fearing it wouldn't turn out. I left it in another 5 minutes. At the end of the 17 minutes, it was still very liquid in the center. I let it cool at room temp and it still was somewhat soft in the center. I was concerned if I removed the sides of the pan at this time it would crack and break, so I put it in the refrigerator. After three hours, I removed the sides. It did crack just a little and it was a little hard to get it off the bottom. I'd love to make this for a party but before I do I want to perfect getting it out of the pan.

We loved this cake, so rich and chocolately with a nice mint flavor. I can't wait to try this recipe with some different flavors, maybe peanut butter?



Flourless Chocolate Mint Cake

12 oz. dark chocolate (60% cocoa recommended)
2 cups (10 oz.) Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
3 1/2 sticks of butter
5 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup sugar

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325° degrees. Prepare a removable-bottomed cake pan, 9 inches in diameter, lined with parchment or wax paper and buttered.

In a 2-quart saucepan, over very low heat, gently melt butter, Andes Baking Chips and chocolate broken into small pieces. Stir occasionally until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until mixture becomes three times the original volume (about 3-5 minutes). Through a strainer, add 1/4 of the chocolate mixture into the bowl. Using a spatula, mix gently until thoroughly incorporated. Add remaining melted chocolate through strainer to catch any solid pieces and fold in gently until well mixed.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. The cake will be slightly soft to the touch, not firm. Don't be tempted to bake it for any longer than this. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan. When cool, cover pan and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Remove pan sides, invert cake onto large plate and remove pan bottom and peel away parchment paper. Invert cake again on another plate or serving platter. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.

Serves 16 -24

Chocolate Cheesecake - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

I love cheesecake! Cheesecake is one of my signature desserts. My friends and family have always said they are good enough to sell. I always bake those cheesecake recipes that are my favorites. Trying a new one isn't something I do very often. So true to form, this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's has helped me to think outside the box. (Does any one say that anymore or was that a 90's term?) It also occurred to me, I haven't blogged about cheesecake before so I blogging is challenging me to try recipes I wouldn't normally try.

I did make quite a few changes to this recipe. If possible, I try to use the ingredients I have on hand rather than buying them. I used almonds instead of hazelnuts in the crust. I didn't use any expresso powder, I thought I had some instant coffee but didn't seem to find it. Also, in reading how rich this is, I decided we didn't need a whole cheescake. I cut the recipe in half and used a 4" mini cheesecake pan. However filling made enough for two 4" cheesecake pans. Wouldn't that be an 8" pan? Interesting! Anyway, since there was only one crust, I poured the extra filling into some custard cups. I'm anxious to see how they turn out. I decided not to make the glaze and just dust with powdered sugar.

When I checked the cheesecake at the end of the baking time, it didn't seem to have the same "crust" all of my other cheesecakes have. I hope it is done.

Thanks to Shandy of Pastry Heaven by Shandy for choosing this week's recipe. You can find the links to all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers here!


The Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers are taking a break until January. Check back to see January's delicious creations. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to all of my fellow Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers!!

Pear Crumble Pie

To keep them cool, I've been storing the pears that a co worker gave me in the garage. Due to an unseasonably warm weekend my storage area is a little warm, so I need to use the rest of the ripe pears.

I love crumbles! This recipe is a pie with a crumble topping. This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was Pear & Cranberry Muffins with a Gingersnap Crumble. The crumble was my favorite part of this recipe. Perfect! I can use some of the leftover gingersnaps for the crumble for this pie.



Pear Crumble Pie

6 medium pears, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 9-inch baked pastry shell

Crumble
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine
12 gingersnap cookies, crushed
Combine flour and spices for crumb topping and cut in butter till crumbly.

Sprinkle pears iwth lemon juice. Mix sugars, flour, cinnamon and lemon peel; stir into sliced pears. Spoon into pastry shell. Sprinkle with Crumble Topping. Bake at 400♂F. for 45 min. or until pears are tender. Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Devils Food Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting - SMS

I can't remember the last time I made a layer cake. I was digging in the cabinet where I keep the baking pans and pulled out the round pans. Apparently I've never baked a 9" layer cake...my round pans are 7". I had enough for the two 7" rounds and 6 cupcakes.

We went to see our friends Karen and Larry in Kansas City this weekend. We had this cake for dessert last night. This recipe called for strong black coffee. I was a little concerned because Larry doesn't like coffee at all. I tried one of the cupcakes and couldn't even tell, so I knew we were good!! I made the frosting as Karen from Karen's Cookies, Cakes and More suggested. It was sooooooooo good! I can't imagine following the frosting recipe in the cookbook, seriously 6 sticks of butter???!!! I am all about rich, decadant desserts but that would have been too much, even for me!!! The cake was fabulous! This was my favorite SMS so far and you can bet I will be making this cake again...SOON!

This weeks recipe was chosen by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon. Holly you rock! This recipe was the best! Visit the SMS site to see what finishing touches all of the creative SMS bakers put on this delicious cake!!

Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble - SMS

A quick note before we get to this weeks Sweet Melissa Sundays. I love chocolate and want to start a baking group around Chocolate Epiphany. I'd like to keep the group small and bake once a month. If you're interested, please leave me a comment.

When I saw this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble, the timing couldn't have been better. I have two buckets of apples from our tree and I needed a dessert to serve Saturday night. Recently I was listening to Martha Stewart Radio and the host was talking about how we tend to not use our dining rooms and our good china. As I was setting the table for last night's dinner, our friend Larry said I've never eaten in your dining room. Karen and Larry have been my best friends for more than 30 years, they're more like family. I tend to use my dining room for holiday dinners and large dinner parties but I've never used it when Karen and Larry come to visit. I immediately set the table with the good china and the candles. It was a lovely dinner and reminded me we should use the dining room more often.

Melissa Murphy suggested serving the Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble with Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream or whipping cream. I decided to make the homemade ice cream and I am so glad I did. The ice cream was a wonderful compliment to the crumble.

Thanks to Christine of Cooking With Christine for choosing a recipe that was a delicious ending to our lovely evening. You can find all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers here.