The Best Chocolate Cake

January and February are by far the two craziest birthday months in our family. I did 5 out of 7 cakes in just 2 months! Everyone is still managing to stick to their diets though, so I don't feel that guilty!

I've been saving Barefoot Contessa's Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe for months so when my dad asked for chocolate cake- I had a plan. I think I'm safe to say that I will never need another chocolate cake recipe ever AGAIN. It was amazing!! I could go on and on about this cake because it seriously was the best I think I ever had. The Contessa does it again!

I used Scharffen Berger cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate which is a bit pricey, but very high quality and totally worth it for this recipe.


Sorry for the sloppy picture. I almost forgot to take one.

Here are my slight changes to the recipe:

Cake: I used a 1/2 cup of coffee and added a 1/2 cup of water to it.
Frosting: I used 1/2 tsp. of instant espresso powder instead of 1 tablespoon.

You can add as little or as much as you like, but since my dad hates coffee I was afraid to add the whole thing. I plan on making it again with the entire amount because being the coffee lover that I am, you can never have too much!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

For Valentine's Day I whipped up these cute cupcakes in no time at all- thanks to my Cake Mix Doctor cookbook. Once in a while when I need a really quick recipe I'll use this book and nobody can ever tell that it came from a box mix..which is most important, right?



Basic Sour Cream White Cake
Adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook

Ingredients:
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package plain white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Generously grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan or line a cupcake tray with paper liners
3. Place cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla in mixing bowl.
4. Blend with mixer on low speed for 1 minute
5. Stop machine, scrape down sides of bowl.
6. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more.
7. Scrape down sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined and thickened.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
9. Place pan in oven.
10. Bake the cake until it is light brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35-40 minutes. OR for cupcakes 20-25 minutes.
11. Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.
12. Run a dinner knife around edge of cake and invert it onto wire rack.
13. Allow cake to cool completely, 30 minutes.
14. Prepare the frosting

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temp.
1 stick of butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 cup fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed, capped, and mashed to make 1/2 cup, then drained well

Directions:
1. Blend together the cream cheese and butter using an electric mixer on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
2. Add 3 cups powdered sugar, gradually, and the mashed strawberries; blend frosting again on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute.
3. Increase mixer speed to medium and blend frosting until fluffy, 30-45 seconds more, adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar to make desired spreading consistency. (You may need to add more than that if you will be piping the frosting).
4. Use as desired.

Mini Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

This is the first time I baked the same thing twice in the same week! It was that good! First, because I recently came to discover that my little brother loves chocolate and orange as much as I do so I wanted to make it for him. And second, because my mom liked it so much she wanted it for her Birthday.

If you recall, I made the bundt version of this cake awhile back, but something about these little minis was soooo much better! The recipe can be found here.

I used a Martha Stewart mini bundt pan, made by Nordic Ware that was only $8 on clearance at Kmart. These baby cakes slid right out of the pan-it was incredible! I must buy more Nordic Ware soon!

I took a lot of pictures this time because I couldn't resist. They are just so darn cute!

Crock Pot 16 Bean Soup

I love my crock pot especially for soups and stews. This soup is also called holiday bean soup and I've been making it ever since my first year of marriage. It started after a visit to PA when my mom handed me a bag of 16 bean mix and a leftover holiday ham shank to take back home. I didn't really know what I was doing, but the soup is now one of Justin's most requested so I must of done something right!

Crock Pot 16 Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 package 16 Bean Soup (about 2 cups)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. chili powder
2 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots diced
1 large onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1 ham hock or shank
1 28 oz. can tomatoes stewed or diced
6 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place the beans in a large pot or bowl and cover with water until above the bean line. Soak overnight. Drain in the morning.

2. In a crock pot, place all of the ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3. Remove the ham and shred or chop the meat and add back into the pot. Continue cooking until ready to serve.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

I crave brownies ALL the time so I'm always looking for that perfect chewy brownie recipe that will turn out just like the boxed mix. I came across this recipe and thought how perfect since I already had a tub of mascarpone that needed to be used up. So far every other recipe I've tried has failed me until now. Well, sort of...

These brownies win for taste, but are still lacking the right consistency- in my opinion. High quality chocolate is suggested for this recipe and makes all the difference in taste. I used Valrhona cocoa powder that I bought online from Chocosphere.

If you are craving something really rich and indulgent, these are for you. In the meantime my hunt will continue for the ultimate chewy and fudgy brownie. Anyone want to share their favorite recipe?

New year, New mixer

I am so excited I can barely stand it! I received the best Christmas gift this year a girl could ever ask for. Here she is... my beautiful, ruby red KitchenAid Mixer. It's a total dream come true!

My husband is the absolute best and totally shocked me on Christmas morning. I could not believe he pulled it off. I seriously find out about EVERYTHING. I had no idea what was in the box under the tree for 2 whole weeks and the thought did not even enter my mind. So needless to say, I was very surprised and it was great!

Now I have some serious baking to do this year!

**Update 1/19/2009**

So, I have decided to go with a different color- crazy huh? I have always had an issue when it comes to picking a color for my wish list, so this should not come as a surprise. I battled with this decision for over 2 weeks, but have finally settled. This Ice blue color is gorgeous and on it's way!

Sugar Cookies

If you're like me and don't have the patience for roll-out sugar cookies, you must try this recipe. These turned out so soft and amazing, not hard like most I've had. The frosting was really good as well. I didn't change a thing about both of these recipes and they were just perfect.







A little messy though. I had food coloring all over the place!