(Almost) Better Than Sex Cake

Kate Kelly Hodsdon

This dessert is best served at church potluck dinners with many priests and religious present. My friend, Sr. Joan persistently asks, “Is it? Is it?”

  • 1 pkg. Chocolate butter cake or deep chocolate cake mix
  • ½ C toasted, chopped pecans
  • 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 – 4oz pkg. Instant chocolate pudding
  • 1 c sour cream
  • ½ c oil
  • ½ c water or part coffee
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • Dark Chocolate Glaze

Grease well and flour a tube, bundt or 13x9x1½” pan. Coat nuts and chips with 1 T cake mix and set aside.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, oil, water and vanilla and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

Turn into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cake tests done with cake tester. Cool for 15 minutes and, if tube or bundt pan is used, turn onto a rack. Cake should be cool before glazing.

Dark Chocolate Glaze

  • 1 lb. Semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 C water
  • 1 t vanilla

Combine chips and water in top of double boiler over simmering water. Stir until smooth, shiny and well blended. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature or chill until slightly thickened. Pour over cake or apply with spatula.


A Food Fest

We have friends in town.  It's 6pm...  We've been eating since yesterday...  There's still more to come!

It started with New England Clam Chowder yesterday.  I was so excited to have them here I forgot to put the potatoes in the chowder.  So much for pretending I know what I'm doing!

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And I forgot the cukes for the salad...

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Breakfast this morning was our spin on Eggs Benedict - poached eggs on whole wheat English muffins, with andouille sausage and langostino, topped with a jalapeno hollandaise sauce...

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We skipped lunch so we could start dinner at 3pm. We invited Victor's mom over to meet the girls and have dinner with us; Brasiole, Italian sausage, meatballs, pork, rigatoni and sauce, salad, tomato basil bread... and later tonight a puff pastry and apple dessert...

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Brasiole...

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Meatballs and the homemade Italian sausage

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Pork

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Rigatoni

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The simmering sauce...

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Fresh-baked croissants and omeletes tomorrow for breakfast...

We are having so much fun!


Pierogi and Pumpkin

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It's the All-Pumpkin, All-The-Time channel!  Just be the 4th caller with the correct answer and you, too, could...

Ooops...  I got carried away, there.  Pumpkin can do that to me.

In my (seemingly) never-ending quest to find new and/or different uses for pumpkin puree, I definitely thought a pasta sauce of sorts should be in the running.  Trouble was, I didn't feel like pasta tonight.  I did have some pierogi in the 'fridge, though, and they are always good (and only 250 calories for FOUR of them!)

They were potato and spinach, we had spinach in the freezer, pumpkin and walnuts go with everything...  I had a plan.

I browned a handful of chopped walnuts in a pat of butter, added a cup of pumpkin puree and some chicken broth to thin.  Salt and pepper.  That was it.

That was the second sauce.  The first one I threw away.  The above really was what I was looking for, but I had some leftover tomatillo sauce from the other night, so I thought I would see if I could rework it into a pumpkin sauce.  It didn't work, and it would have taken too much work to make it work.  It wasn't worth the effort, especially because it really wasn't what I wanted in the first place.  Live and learn?  I doubt it.  Down the drain.

A petit pan-fried steak finished the plate.

And to finish us, a pumpkin pie in a bowl!

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Here I made my basic pumpkin pie recipe and added an oatmeal and maple topping.  Into 8oz souffle cups and into the oven for about 30 minutes.

And what pumpkin treat will tomorrow see?!?

Stay tuned.


Delectable Dessert

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Dessert was calling me tonight.  I've been a pretty good boy in the dessert department.  A piece or bowl of fruit has usually been satisfying my after dinner sweet tooth.  Tonight, though, I wanted more.

The secret to losing weight for me is to not deny myself anything.  If I want something, I can have it if I so choose.  The goal is to make the right choices.  So far, so good.

I don't keep a rigid account of daily calories, but since I'm not eating between meals, it's pretty easy to keep a bit of a mental tally.  I knew I had some spares today, so it was time to cash 'em in - within reason, that is.

I decided that fresh fruit was going to be the centerpiece and we just happen to have some great nectarines in the house right now.  A Nectarine Crisp was born - but with a few less calories than my normal creations...

The first thing I did was get out the individual gratin pans.  2 desserts, not a big ol' pan.  Portion control, here...

I cut up 2 nectarines (67 calories, each) and put them into a bowl.  I sprinkled them with 2 teaspoons of sugar (15 calories, each) and then placed them in the gratin dish. For each, I then mixed a tablespoon of whole wheat graham flour (25 calories) with a tablespoon of oats (20 calories) with a tablespoon of brown sugar (a whopping 50 calories) and a teaspoon of melted butter (36 calories).  I mixed it all together and sprinkled it on top of the fruit.  Into a 350° oven for 25 minutes.

A 213 calorie dessert that did the trick.

Yes, it could have easily been enhanced with a pint of ultra-premium vanilla ice cream on top, but I really hadn't banked enough calories to go for it, tonight.

Choices.....


Fresh Cherry Cobbler

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We don't have a lot of "one-use" kitchen gadgets.  Almost anything can (and should) have multiple uses.  One exception?!?  The Cherry Pitter.  It's one of the greatest inventions of all time.

I've had several over the years, but I think this particular one came into our possession because of the Cherry Pie Bake-Off I entered at the San Leandro Cherry Festival in 2000.  Have I ever mentioned that I won 2nd Place in the "Non-Traditional Pie" category?!?  Oh?  I have?  LOTS of times?!?  Oh well...  Here's the winning recipe, again, just in case you missed it the first dozen times or so...

Tonight's cobbler started with three pounds of cherries from Washington State.

Cherry Cobbler Filling

  • 3 pounds cherries, pitted
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • splash grenadine liqueur
  • pinch allspice
  • pinch salt

Mix all ingredients, place in buttered casserole and bake at 425° for 15 minutes.

While cherries are heating, make cobbler dough:

Cherry Cobbler Dough

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat graham flour
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch salt

Mix flour, oats, graham flour, and salt.  Rub in butter.  Add egg, vanilla, and cream.  Mix.

Scoop onto top of hot fruit.

Return to oven for 15 minutes at 425°.  Lower heat to 350° and bake an additional 10 or so minutes.

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This one is definitely a keeper!  The cobbler topping is really light but also really rich.  The filling is just sweet enough.

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The perfect ending to the day...


Flourless Chocolate Cake

 

Victor made dessert tonight.  A totally delicious Flourless Chocolate Cake.

He found the recipe last year from Tyler Florence.  He tweaked it just a bit, added a bit of coffee, and this year's cake totally rocks even more than last year's!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

  • 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 9 large eggs, separated
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1/4 cup strong black coffee
  • 2 cups heavy cream, cold
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.  Add the coffee and mix well.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.


Strawberry BBQ Sauce

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I knew at 7:30 this morning I was making a Strawberry BBQ Sauce tonight.  What I didn't know was how I was going to make it.

I was looking at 2 full pallets of absolutely beautiful strawberries... "The possibilities are endless",  thought I...  I must have had a dozen or more ideas going through my head simultaneously - such is the curse of a cook.  Of course, half the fun of being surrounded by food all day long is figuring out fun things to do with it, and being presented with "an ingredient" really is fun.

The barbecue sauce came together really easily, and was perfect atop grilled pork chops.

Strawberry BBQ Sauce

  • 1 pound strawberries, hulled and roughly sliced
  • 1 small bell pepper, diced
  • 1 8oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup lingonberry vinegar
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • salt and pepper

Add strawberries and bell pepper to saucepan and cook until strawberries release theiur juices and peppers soften.

Add  brown sugar and then lingonberry vinegar.  Add tomato sauce and remaining ingredients.

Bring to boil and then simmer.

Blend everything with an immersion blender until smooth.

Continue simmering until thickened.

I used the smooth sauce to grill the chops, and then added some sliced strawberries to about a half-cup of the sauce to serve over the chops after they were cooked.

And a whole fanned strawberry on top because, well...  it's all about the picture, right?!?

And the cooking continues...  We're having a Salad Throwdown at work tomorrow, so I decided a Whole Wheat Salad was in order.

Whole Wheat Salad

  • 1 pound whole wheat grains
  • 1/2 yellow squash, diced
  • 1 small zucchini, diced
  • 2 large radishes, diced
  • 6 green onions, diced
  • 1/2 small bell pepper, diced
  • 8oz dried mixed berries, plumped with sour apple schnapps
  • 1/4 cup lingonberry vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped assorted fresh herbs
  • salt and pepper

Cook wheat in salted water about 45 minutes, or until chewy-tender.  Drain and cool.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

And right now, there's an angel food cake in the over awating more strawberries and some whipped cream.

Angel Food Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup sifted cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 11 large)
  • 2 teaspoons warm water
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt into medium bowl.  Beat egg whites in large bowl until foamy. Add 2 teaspoons warm water and cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff but not dry. Sift sugar-flour mixture over whites 1/4 cup at a time and gently fold in.

Place batter in an ungreased 12-cup angel food cake pan with removable bottom (do not use nonstick pan).

Bake until cake is light golden, top springs back when touched lightly and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 minutes.

Remove cake from oven. Turn cake pan upside down; place center tube of pan over a funnel and cool completely.

I think I'm going to split the cake into three layers and add a bit of whipped cream and a lot of strawberries...

We shall see.....

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I split individual slices...  I also made strawberry whipped cream. It was yum.


Tonight's Dinner and Last Night's Dessert

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I've been working at cleaning out the fridge and the freezer.  Tonight was all about finishing off those pieces of cheese collecting in the cheese bin and the hunk of ham in the freezer from Easter.  There was going to be a cheese sauce, definitely, but there was too much for rarebit, so mac and cheese, it was!

My mother made the best macaroni and cheese.  We never-ever had the boxed stuff growing up, and to this day I can honestly say I have never purchased one.  Mac and cheese is just too easy to make! I make it like mom did - a medium white sauce with whatever-cheese is in the house, a shot of tabasco and worcestershire sauce, ham if it isn't Friday... and elbow macaroni.  Buttered crumbs on top.  350° for about 30 minutes.  Comfort-food simplicity.

It was everything I knew it would be - and more.  I was bad and even went back for seconds.

I did save juuuuuust enough room for dessert, though!

Victor made this last night from his apple cake recipe.

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Victor's Banana  Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 2 large bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°.  Mash bananas.  Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.

Beat together eggs, milk, bananas & vanilla.  Add oil, mix in flour mixture.

Pour into a well-greased tube pan.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.

Cool before slicing.

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It's really good!


What's Wrong With This Picture?

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If you guessed "That brownie isn't cooked!" you win the kewpie doll!

I was in the mood for a peanut butter chocolate brownie.  I went to Epicurious and found several.  This one seemed easy enough, so I copied it down and in just a few minutes, they were happily baking away.

What I failed to do was pay attention to the reader comments that said 33 minutes wasn't enough time to bake them.  My favorite type of brownie is a bit chewy in the center, and I thought the folks commenting were just whining because they like cake-like brownies, better.

I was wrong.

The brownies were RAW in the center.  I did the requisite toothpick check, but moist crumbs mixed with melted chocolate pieces gave me a false reading.

After cutting into them and seeing how undercooked they were, I put the pan back into the over for another 30 minutes - knowing that I really wasn't going to cook them any more, but I felt good doing it.

So out from the oven they came - still under-baked - but we ate them, anyway.  They actually tasted pretty good - and I'm sure they would have been wonderful had they cooked correctly to begin with.

Besides... Even a bad dessert is better than no dessert at all.

If you do decide to make these, make one of these changes.  Bake at least 55 minutes in an 8x8 pan, or try baking for the 33 minutes in a 9x13 pan.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Brownies   Bon Appétit | January 1996

ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup nutty old-fashioned-style or freshly ground peanut butter
  • 1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. If oil has separated from peanut butter, stir to blend. Add peanut butter to butter; beat until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in brown sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Add to peanut butter mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate.

Transfer batter to pan. Using spatula, smooth top. Bake until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge of pan comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 33 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.)

Cut brownies into squares.


It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Cookies and candy everywhere!  We were up bright and early this morning and started right off making Aunt Emma's cookies.

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Gino started rolling out the dough and then Uncle Tim took over.  Uncle Victor and Gino filled and formed.  They actually may be the best batch we have made, yet.    Gino has the forming down to a science and we had virtually no leakers or splits. (Uncle Tim always has several...)  The pastry is perfectly light and flaky, the filling really rich apricot...  We did good.

After a nice bacon and egg breakfast, we started in on the biscotti.  We made the traditional anise, and will make some others later in the week.

We made a variation of the Christmas Turtles last night, and chocolate-dipped them today.  Yum.

And then it was non-stop Rum Ball Rolling-And-Dipping.

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It's time for a bit of a breather and then round three (or is it four?!?  I love this time of the year!


Christmas Cookies - Part One

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'Tis the Season to bake cookies!  What started out two years ago as the Boys Cookie-Baking Weekend has morphed into Elizabeth coming over for a while on Saturday to learn some cookie-making, as well.

While I was working, Uncle Victor and Elizabeth made Nonna's biscotti, macaroons, and candy cane cookies.

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She did a pretty good job, for a rookie.

Tasty, too!

The girls all left, and we got down to business - the dough for Aunt Emma's cookies.  It needs to refrigerate overnight, so Gino got right on it.  Well - right after we had Pizza, that is.  We do have our priorities.

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The secret to the dough is working it with a light hand.  You need to learn the feel of the dough.  This is Gino's third time making them, now...  he's starting to get it.

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We also made Aunt Dolores' Rum Ball filling.  Alas, when we were halfway done, I found out we didn't have any rum, so while Victor ran to the liquor store, Gino and I finished up the caramel turtles.  We'll chocolate-cover them tomorrow.

It is such a blast having them down here.


A New Spin on an Old Recipe

Victor got a recipe for an Apple Cake years ago.  It's really, really good.  Today, however, we were home - without apples - and Victor wanted to make a cake.  What we did have was a lot of dried fruit we had bought for our train trip home.

Apple Cake became Dried Fruit Cake.

Here's the original recipe and Victor's tweaks, after:

Apple Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 5 large apples

Preheat oven to 350°.  Peel and cut apples into small chunks.  Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.

Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla.  Add oil, mix in flour mixture.

In a well-greased tube pan, pour alternate layers of batter and apples.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.

Cool before slicing.

Dried Fruit Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups chopped dried fruit (an assortment of pears, pineapple, apricots, dates, cherries, and peaches)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Peel and cut apples into small chunks.  Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.

Beat together eggs, OJ & vanilla.  Add oil, mix in flour mixture.  Dust fruit with flour and stir into batter.

Pour batter into a well-greased tube pan.  Top with pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.

Cool before slicing.

It smells divine!

As soon as we finish our soup.....