Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake recipe was awesome. To be honest, chocolate cake is not my favorite, but this was really moist and really delicious. The frosting was great too, really thick and not too sweet. I used Hershey's chocolate cake recipe and altered their frosting recipe.






Ingredients for the cake:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together all of the dry ingredients. Mix in the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat for a few minutes. Add in the boiling water. Pour batter into two 9 inch cake dishes (make sure they are well buttered and flowered). Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool about 10 minutes, take them out of the dishes, then let cool completely. Frost and decorate!

Ingredients for the frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter. Beat in the cocoa powder. Add in the powdered sugar and milk alternatively. Add vanilla.

Yum!

-I

Mini French Silk Chocolate Pies

So it's been a while since my last post...and since I last baked. Today I made mini French silk chocolate pies (frankly, I couldn't find a pie dish so I used a cupcake pan instead).

It was fairly easy to make, and pretty tasty!

Ingredients for the crust:
1 and 1/2 cups crushed oreos
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 375. Mix all of the ingredients until well combined. Press into a greased pie dish, or in a cupcake pan (made 9).

Ingredients for the filling:
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
2 one ounce squares of unsweetened bakers chocolate
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Melt and cool the chocolate in a separate bowl. Combine the chocolate and vanilla to butter mixture and beat again. Add in each egg, one at a time, and beat for 5 minutes until light and whipped. Put the filling in the crust and refrigerate for at least a few hours. Enjoy!

-I

Butterscotch brownies

These blondies are from my Gramu's recipe. They are gooey, moist, and absolutely delicious. They are a great treat for someone who doesn't like chocolate, but as a chocolate lover I will vouch that these are pretty damn good! I have had tried a few butterscotch brownies, but these are definitely the best.



Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut
3/4 cup nuts


Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the butter in a pot over the stove on low heat. Stir in 2 cups of brown sugar. Take off of the heat. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift and add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend together, then add in the coconut and nuts. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake until they become browned on top for about 30 min. Let cool, and cut into bars.

-Irene

Soda v Powder

My friend Samuel Patrick Cloud sent me this article...the mystery is revealed!

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/what-is-the-difference-between-baking-powder-and-baking-soda-in-pancakes.html

The difference between baking powder and baking soda!


-I

Marbled Cheesecake

This cheesecake turned out really sweet, but had a great flavor. It went pretty fast...It was easy to make, but even though I used a spring pan, I had a little problem with the crust sticking to the pan...hence the sub par appearance. I altered this recipe from Baking Bite's blog.





Ingredients:
2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick of butter, melted
2-8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs, room temperature
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 oz white chocolate
*Alternatively you can use all bittersweet chocolate, or all white chocolate (though since white choc is so sweet, I suggest using a bit less if that's the way you go).

Preheat the oven to 350
Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until the mixture starts to get clumpy. Press the mixture into a 9' pan (I suggest using a springform one if you have it) and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
Reduce the heat to 300
Melt the chocolates in a bowl in the microwave and set aside.
Beat the cream cheese in a separate bowl until smooth. Then, beat in the condensed milk. Add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating each of them. Pour half of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate. Alternating, pour the chocolate batter and the plain batter into the baking pan. Swirl with a knife to get the marbled look. Bake for 55 minutes. The cake will still be a bit loose; it will jiggle fairly evenly. Leave out for an hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Enjoy!

-Irene

Butter Break-up Cookies

I made these cookies for Wan as his break-up cookies, because it's easier to give someone than moral support...Joking...
This recipe for butter cookies was taken from Baking Bites. It is a simple recipe that makes basic butter cookies, but it is easy to make them look all snazzy with different sprinkles or other toppings!





Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
Sprinkles, sugar, or whatever you want


Mix together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Next, add in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Slowly add in the flour until the dough becomes smooth. Divide into 2-4 logs (depending on how big you want your cookies to be) and roll them into wax paper. Freeze for at least two hours (you can freeze up to a few days to make for later!).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the logs into pieces about a 1/4 an inch thick. Place on the cookie sheet and decorate! Bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until the edges turn a light brown. Cool, and eat!

-Irene

Yellow Cake with Strawberries and White Chocolate Frosting

I made this cake for my friend Berto's birthday. I thought the frosting was pretty good (REALLY SWEET) and the cake was good, but I will continue to seek for a perfect yellow cake recipe.

Ingredients for the cake:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
strawberries (for the cake decor)
grated white chocolate (also cake decor)

Beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs in, one at a time. Add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture alternatively with the milk. Divide between two 9 inch spring form pans (or make sure to grease and flour the pans really really well.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.


For the frosting:

6 oz of white chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups of powdered sugar

Melt the white chocolate with the cream in the microwave. Then add the butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gradually at the powdered sugar until the frosting becomes fluffy. You can add more or less sugar depending on how you'd like the consistency and sweetness to be.

Frost and decorate the cake as wanted!

-Irene

Carrot Cake

My Dad came to visit last weekend and his favorite thing is carrot cake. I decided to bake him one. I used the recipe from one of my favorite blogs: Lovin' from the oven. The cake came out really moist and delicious. It was also ridiculously easy. The hardest part was shredding the carrots. I would definitely make this recipe again.








Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups shredded carrot
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
I added 1 cup of raisins, I suggest that if you like raisins

For the Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
few drops of water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all the cake ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Grease and flour a pan, and pour in the batter. Bake for about 45 minutes, maybe a little more or less depending on the pan size you use (I made a bundt and it took about 55 minutes).

While the cake is baking, make the frosting by beating all the ingredients together until smooth. Wait for the cake to cool, then frost and enjoy!

-Irene

Fruit Tart with White Chocolate Filling

Elye and I have been talking about making a fruit tart for a while. We altered the recipe from Paula Deen and it came out pretty awesome!

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup white chocolate chips melted

Topping:

Fresh strawberries, kiwi slices, blueberries, raspberries, canned mandarin oranges

Glaze:

1/2 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First, for the crust, combine flour, butter, and sugar and beat until it forms a doughy ball. Then, press this down on a 12 inch spring form pan. Bake for about fifteen minutes, or until it is very lightly browned. Let it cool!

Then, for the filling:
Beat cream cheese, white choc (melted), sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Once the crust is cool, spread the filling on top of it.

Decorate with the cut up fruit of your choice.

For the glaze:
Combine the limeade, cornstarch, and sugar a saucepan and cook it over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until thickened. Glaze the entire tart with a pastry brush (don't be shy here!)

Keep the tart in the refrigerate until about ten minutes before you want to eat it.

(I apologize the pictures for this one have pretty bad lighting)

-Irene

Banana Bundt

Everyone Wednesday night we hang out with Genna and Daniel, and tonight we decided to bake a Banana Bundt Cake. It came out really well...tastes a like banana bread, but the consistency is a little lighter. It goes great with butter pecan ice cream :)




Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ripe LARGE bananas (or 3 medium ones) mashed (about 1 cup)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Next, add in the mashed bananas. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients into the butter/egg mixture. Add the sour cream, then add the remainder of the dry ingredients. Pour into a bundt pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until lightly browned.

-Irene & Scott

White Chocolate Chip, Cranberry, Macadamia Nut Cookies

So I tried modifying a couple of recipes and ended up with a really delicious cookie recipe with white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and macadamia nuts in them. The chewability on these is pretty high :)

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of them, they were devoured too quickly! But next time I make them, I'll be sure to snap a few.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (unless using salted butter)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (or walnuts if you prefer)
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugars. Add in the egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients. Stir in white choc. chips, nuts, and cranberries.
Drop about tablespoon sized balls onto a baking sheet. Bake for about 9 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. They will still be slightly doughy when you take them out of the oven, so let them cool on the baking sheet for about a minute before transferring them onto a wire rack...or into your mouth.
Enjoy!

-Irene

Our First Post

Scott was just bitten by my snake, so I am going to start off with the first blog while he tends to his wounds. We just baked some scrumptious snickerdoodle cookies (from my NEW oven!) for my friend Naif in payment for him dropping me off at the airport last week. We found this recipe from: http://www.life123.com They must be good because my roommate Bobby likes them, and he "doesn't usually like Snickerdoodles, but approves of this batch."





Ingredients:

1 stick (half cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then cream together (in a mixer or by hand) the butter, oil and sugar. Next, add in the eggs and mix well. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar (I mixed these ingredients while I made Scott cream the wet ingredients by hand). Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until well-combined.

In a separate bowl mix together sugar and ground cinnamon. Make approximately one-inch size balls and roll them in this mixture. Place on a greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and flatten them. Bake for about 8-9 minutes. The cookies will stay pretty light in color, but will be firm when ready.

Eat and enjoy :)

-Irene & Scott