Black Tie Mousse Cake

Category: Pies > Sweet > Black Tie Mousse Cake

If I was to say what my all time favorite dessert is, it would be the Black Tie Mousse Cake from Olive Garden. I feel bad for people who don't have Olive Gardens to eat from. In my opinion, Olive Garden has some of the best desserts around.

Black Tie Mousse Cake is a multilayer dessert. The bottom layer is chocolate cake, then you have a chocolate cheesecake, followed by an Italian Cheese Custard, topped with a dark chocolate ganache. The sides of the cake are covered with chocolate chips and the top is decorated with chocolate mousse. Needless to say, this is a very rich dessert - which is right up my alley. Yum!

I stumbled across this copycat recipe and decided to give it a whirl. I couldn't have been more happy with the recipe. I don't really have much to add to the recipe except a few tips to help you put it all together.





The original recipe can be found at: Meemo's Kitchen

Recipe:

Layer 1 Chocolate cake "crust":

• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bottom only of a 9" springform pan. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and mix well. Add flour and cocoa and mix well to combine. Batter will be stiff. Spread in pan. Set aside.

If you don't have or can't find Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa, regular cocoa will work.

Layer 2 Baked Chocolate Cheesecake:

• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
  
• 1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
  
• 1 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, melted and cooled
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 tbsp. Flour
  

In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and ricotta with the sugar until smooth. Add a small amount of the cheese mixture to the melted chocolate and combine well (this is called tempering). Once the little bit of cheese mixture and chocolate are mixed well, add it back to the rest of the cheese mixture and beat until well combined. Add eggs and flour and beat well. Smooth over top of cake batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheesecake is set in center. Cover with foil during last 10 minutes to prevent over browning. Remove from oven and cool.

A cheesecake is not like a regular cake. It is considered set when the center is still wobbly. After you chill the cheesecake, it will set without wobbling. At this point let the cake cool. Once it is cool, you need to chill the cake for an hour or two.

Layer 3 Italian Mousse:

• 3/4 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 12 oz. Marscapone or Cream Cheese, softened (or 6 oz. of each)
  
• 1/4 cups Sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 tbsp. Cold Water
  
• 1 tbsp. Boiling Water
  
• 1 tsp. Unflavored Gelatin
  

Once your chocolate and cheesecake base has been chilled, you can start making the third layer.

Beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff, set aside. In separate bowl, beat cheeses with sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in and combine with the whipping cream. In a small bowl, soften gelatin in cold water for about 1 minute. Pour boiling water over gelatin and stir to dissolve gelatin. Add just a touch of the cream/cheese mixture into the gelatin and stir. Cool five minutes. Fold the gelatin into cheese mixture until just combined. Spread mixture over baked cheesecake layer and chill well (freezing the cake at this point works well and makes spreading the final layer easier). Make sure you chill for several hours to make sure all the layers are set.

Layer 4 Dark Chocolate/White Chocolate Ganache:

• 10 oz. Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate
  
• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 2 tbsp. Butter
  
• 1/4 cup White Chocolate Chips
  
• 1-1/2 cups Mini Chocolate Chips
  

Place dark chocolate, chopped, in a large bowl. Heat cream and butter over low heat until just boiling. Reserve 2 tbsp. cream mixture. Pour cream mixture over chocolate and let set about 2 minutes, or until it begins to melt. Stir to combine. Repeat for white chips using reserved cream mixture. Let cool slightly until spreading consistency.

Using a sharp knife gently run blade around edge of cake to loosen. Remove cake sides from pan and place bottom with cake on serving plate or stand. Spread frosting over top and sides.

Drizzle white chocolate lightly over top. Using a knife or toothpick run it lightly over top to swirl to create desired effect. At this point, I would place the white chocolate ganache in a pastry bag and use a small round tip to decorate the top of the cake instead of trying to just drizzle it on top. You have more control.

Press mini chips (regular size works too) into frosting on sides until completely coated to create a "crust". Place cake to chill while preparing the final frosting.

Mousse Frosting:

• 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar
  
• 1/8 cups Baking Cocoa
  
• 1/8 tsp. Vanilla
  

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Place mousse mixture into pastry bag and use a large star tip to pipe generously around cake top edge and center.

Chill the cake well and serve. Serves 12-16.

Black Forest Cake

Category: Cake > Butter > Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake is a chocolate cake baked with kirsch. It is filled and covered with whipped cream and cherries. The top is decorated with cherries, whipped cream and chocolate curls.



Recipe:

• 1 Chocolate Cake Mix
  
• 1 Can of Cherry Pie Filling
  
• 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 2 tbsp. Sugar
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate
  
• 1/4 cup Kirsch
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix chocolate cake mix to directions on back of box. Substitute 1/4 cup kirsch for 1/4 cup water that is called for on the cake mix box. Pour mixture in pan and bake as instructed on cake mix box.

While cake is baking, start on making the whipped cream. Place cold whipping cream in medium bowl. Whip until it starts to get foamy, about 3 minutes. Place in refrigerator, along with the mixer beaters for 15 minutes to chill.

After the whipping cream and beater are chilled, added sugar and vanilla to bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form. Placed the whipped cream back into the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

Grate the semi-sweet chocolate with a grater and set aside to use to decorate the cake later.

Once your chocolate cake is completely cool, you can torte the cake and fill with 1/4 of the whipped cream and half the can of cherry pie filling. Use the rest of the whipped cream to frost the top and sides of the cake. Place the remaining cherry pie filling on top of the cake. Sprinkle the grated chocolate on top of the cake.

Chill cake and serve. To store cake, make sure you keep it in the refrigerator.

Baking Tips:

• The above is a very simple Black Forest Cake. You can even leave the kirsch out if you don’t have any.
  
• You can make your own cherry filling and add kirsch to the cherries.
  
• Instead of vanilla, you can add kirsch to the whipping cream.
  
• Some recipes don’t add kirsch to the cake, but rely on kirsch in the cherry mixture and/or whipped cream.
  
• It doesn’t matter what type of chocolate cake you use. Any type of chocolate cake mix will do or you can make a chocolate cake from scratch.
  
• Now-a-days cake mixes are as good, if not better, than cakes made from scratch. Don’t feel like you must make a cake from scratch for it to be good.
  
• You can decorate the cake however you would like. If you have to level the cake, you can crumble the dome you cut off and use it to sprinkle onto the cake.
  

Breakfast Pie

Category: Pies > Savory > Breakfast Pie

A Breakfast Pie is a savory breakfast meal. It is a pie crust filled with breakfast type foods such as eggs, sausage, cheese, bacon, and ham. You can fill and bake it to your liking.



Recipe:

Dough -

• 1 cups Flour
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  
• 1/8 cup Cold Milk
  

Pie Filling -

• 4 Eggs
  
• 1 tbsp. Milk
  
• 1/2 Grated Cheese
  
• 4 Strips Bacon
  
• 1 cup Chopped Cooked Ham
  
• 1 tsp. Parsley
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the oil and milk to the flour/salt mixture. Mix briskly to combine until the dough comes together into a ball.

Roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of wax paper. Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into pie plate, pressing firmly against bottom and sides of pie plate.

Beat eggs and milk together in a medium bowl. Mix in the cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper. Cook the bacon, chop, and add to egg mixture. Add the ham. Pour the egg mixture into pie crust. Bake for 30 minutes.

Baking Tips:

• Because the pastry dough is made with oil, it must be used right away. After a day in the refrigerator, the oil will start to separate and seep out.
  

Brownies

Category: Cookies > Bar Cookies > Brownies

There are a lot of different types of brownies out there. Basically, you can add anything you want to your brownies that you like. But, at the base, a brownie is a brownie.

Brownie mixes makes good brownies, but if you are interested in how to make a brownie from scratch, below is a good basic recipe. If you are interested in what the difference between a chocolate cake and a brownie is, it is usually that brownies don't have any Baking Soda or Baking Powder in them so they don't rise up.

This recipe has just a tad bit of Baking Powder so they have just a hint of a cake texture to them.



Recipe:

• 1/2 cup Butter
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Next you need to stir in the egg.

To add egg, place egg in a small bowl and beat while adding a spoonful of the butter, sugar, vanilla mixture to the egg. Continue beating and adding a little bit of the mixture. Now take the egg mixture and slowly beat it back into the butter, sugar, vanilla mixture. You do this because you never want to add an egg to a hot or warm mixture because it will cook the egg and you will get egg clumps.

Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

German Chocolate Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > German Chocolate Cake

Cake mixes today make very good cakes so most of the time I suggest just using a cake mix rather than making a cake from scratch. It tends to be faster, easier, and cheaper.

So for my German Chocolate Cake, I used a German Chocolate Cake mix and then made the icing. Traditionally, a German Chocolate Cake is iced with a Coconut-Pecan icing.



Recipe:

• 1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
  
• 1 cup Pecans
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 3 Large Egg Yolks, lightly beaten
  
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
  
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
  
• 1-1/2 cups Sweetened Grated Coconut
  

For Cake, bake based on instructions on box. Let cake cool completely before you frost.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, let cool, and then coarsely chop.

You can bake a few extra pecans if you want to use them to decorate the cake.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and when the mixture begins to boil and thicken, remove from heat. Stir in the chopped pecans, coconut, and vanilla extract. Let cool until spreadable. You can place in refrigerator to cool faster.

Baking Tips:

• If you are going to have more than one layer of icing in the cake, you might want to double the icing recipe.
  
• Dark Chocolate Icing is often used for a border on German Chocolate Cakes.
  

Peanut Butter Cookies

Category: Cookies > Drop Cookies > Peanut Butter Cookies

One of the many categories of cookies is Drop Cookies - so named because you "drop" the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake. Some examples of drop cookies include, oatmeal, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Today, I decided to make up some peanut butter cookies - recipe below.

These are soft peanut butter cookies and the recipe bakes about 3 dozen.



Recipe:

• 1-1/4 cups Light Brown Sugar
  
• 3/4 cups Peanut Butter
  
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Shortening
  
• 3 tbsp. Milk
  
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 Egg
  
• 1-3/4 Flour
  
• 3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
  
• 3/4 tsp. Salt
  

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until combined. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Drop onto cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil, about a tablespoon per cookie, 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten in a crisscross pattern with the pongs of a fork.

Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet 3 minutes and then move the aluminum foil, with cookies on it to cooling rack to cool.

Baking Tips:

• You can add chocolate chips to the cookie dough to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
  
• Shortening tends to make soft cookies and Butter tends to make hard cookies.
  
• Make sure you don't over bake your cookies. A trick to baking soft cookies is to cook them only for the minimum time suggested. As they cool on the cooking sheet, they will continue to bake.
  
• Never store hard cookies and soft cookies together as it will ruin the texture of the cookies.
  

Something a Little Different

So, I decided to start this week off with something a little different. As anyone who cooks or bakes will know, you tend to dirty a lot of pots, pans, and dishes. That goes extra for baking because of all the measuring you have to do. Before you know it, you will be facing a pile of dishes a mile high. Not to mention a dirty kitchen.

It is very important that you keep your kitchen work area clear, clean, and disinfected. This is especially important if you are making stuff for other people. I'm about to give you a few tips to help you keep your work area clean and under control.

The number one tip - Don't let it get dirty in the first place. I know boys and girls what you are saying. Duh. But hear me out. If you take 30 extra seconds to wipe something down right when it gets dirty, rather then waiting and doing it later (or not at all!) your stuff will stay clean and you won't have to spend hours trying (and failing) to clean something later.

Example, a cookie sheet. I tend to place aluminum foil on my cookie sheet and then spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. The spray tends to land everywhere, including the sides of the cookie sheet. Over time, the grease tends to bake and pile on. Now I have cookie sheets coated with baked on grease and no matter what, I can't get the cookie sheet clean. I spent a good 3 hours trying different things to no avail. If I had taken 30 seconds to properly wash off the cookie sheet after each use, I would have a clean, like new, cookie sheet instead of one I'm tempted to just throw out.

Number two tip - Put you ingredients away as you use them and put used pots, pans, and dishes in the sink to soak as you finish with them. If you are like me, kitchen space is at a premium. You will have more space to work with if you put stuff away after you are done with it.

Number three tip - Wash your dishes while your food is baking. The great thing about baking is that you can put it in the oven and go off to do something else. I tend to turn my food half way through baking and that is just about enough time to wash the dishes, load them into the dishwasher, and wipe down the counters. Then it's time to turn the cake, reset the timer for the food to finish, and I can go off to do something else - With a clean kitchen!