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.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Weird Spaghetti

Have you ever had Cincinnati style chili? I first experienced it years ago at Skyline Chili. I loved the flavor. It's a combination of chili and spaghetti with a unique, cinnamon flavor. I've made Cincinnati chili before but it's been years. Recently, while browsing The Food Network site, I found Guy Fieri's recipe for Weird Spaghetti! Weird Spaghetti is Cincinnati style chili.

I am always looking for ways to adapt a recipe for the crock pot. Since I am lucky enough to work close to my house, most days I come home for lunch. I made this sauce at lunch and cooked it on low in the crock pot for the rest of the afternoon. Then all we had to do when we got home was boil the noodles. The night we had this I had yoga class after work and Tim and Michael were going to the baseball game . They boiled the noodles and ate before I got home. I forgot to ask how they liked it until the next morning. They both really liked it but couldn't figure out the spices. If you're looking for a fun and easy meal, give this one a try. Stop back and let me know if your family liked it as much as mine did.





I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and Presto Pasta Nights.

In My Garden

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.

And The Winner Is!

As chosen by random.org, the winner of the CSN stores gift certificate is the talented blogger, Chaya of Sweet and Savory!

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

Pink Saturday & Chocolate With Francois

It's not often that I have two blogging events on the same day! Today's one of those days. Both of these events deserve their own post. However, this blogger saved Chocolate With Francois until the last minute and after a long week at work didn't have the energy for two posts.

First we have Pink Saturday! Today I am featuring a beautiful pink flower from my garden. I have seen these called "Dinner Plate Hibiscus". This description is so fitting, these flowers are the size of dinner plates.

Now we're switching from beautiful pink flowers to delicious chocolate treats. This month's Chocolate With Francois creation is Chocolate Beignets. I love beignets but I have never made them. They're actually on my Top 50.

Since these need to be eaten right away, I decided to make 1/4 of the recipe. I had a little trouble with my math skills and ended up making the yeast mixture three times before I got it right. I know my division was accurate but the batter was way too thick. There was no way you could dip anything into the mixture. I added more beer until it was the consistency of a batter to be used for frying. I didn't feel like my ganache set up like it should but that could have been because of the heat and humidity. Once the ganache is set you roll the balls in egg, dip them in bread crumbs and then in the batter. This seemed more like something you would do for a main dish than a dessert but I assume it's to help keep the chocolate together while frying in the oil. The recipe called for a creme anglaise as a dipping sauce. It was already getting late so I skipped the creme anglaise.

Finally after an hour in the freezer, time to fry them. A couple of mine, exploded in the oil, maybe I didn't get enough bread crumbs around the chocolate? I had quite a bit of leftover batter. I put it in the fridge and am hoping to thin it down just a bit and make onion rings tomorrow night.

The verdict...I liked them but I didn't love them. They didn't really taste like a traditional beignet.This recipe is the pick of Julie from Always Leave Room for Dessert. If you want to give these a try, you'll find the recipe on her blog. Stop by Chocolate With Francois and see what the other members had to say!