Scratch Yellow Cake

Category: Cake > Butter > Yellow Cake

Store cake mix versus scratch. To be honest, I haven't yet found a cake recipe from scratch that I think is great. If you know one that is wonderful, please leave a comment with the recipe. I'd love to try it. The following one is decent but nothing superior to a cake mix.

Note that it uses cake flour not regular flour. This makes a big difference. Scratch cakes made with regular flour tend to be denser. If you are looking for a scratch cake that tastes similar to a cake mix, look for a recipe using cake flour.

Cake mixes use dyes which scratch cakes do not. So even though this cake is a yellow cake, it will be much lighter in color than a yellow cake mix. Coloring will resemble more of a white cake. This cake is also a bit more crumbly than a cake mix cake.

Recipe:

• 2 cups Cake Flour
  
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 3/4 cup Milk
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until completely combined. Slowly add flour alternately with milk. At end of addition batter should be smooth. Divide between 2 pans.

Bake Yellow Cake Recipe for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then invert onto a rack and cool completely before frosting.

For a 9 x 13 pan - Baked at 350 degrees. for 30 to 38 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter > Pound Cake > Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

My mother found this recipe in a magazine and wanted me to make it for her. It's not quite a true pound cake since a real pound cake is a pound of egg, butter, flour, and sugar. As such, it isn't quite as dense and a little more crumbly. It tastes like a chocolate chip cookie with the texture of a cake.

It's good, but personally, I think I rather just make a real pound cake and add chocolate chips to it =)



Recipe:

• 1-3/4 cups Flour
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 2 Egg Yolks
  
• 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1-1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3" loaf pan.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 6 minutes). Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time and mix well between each egg. Add vanilla. Mix until about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add the flour and salt. Mix just until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

Gelatin Rolled Fondant

Category: Filling > Gelatin Rolled Fondant

In my last post, I mentioned that I made my own gelatin fondant for the carnation cake. The Wilton's fondant tastes pretty bad. Other pre-made fondant tends to be a bit better than Wilton's. Duffs, for example, is better. However, to give Wilton's their due, their fondant is very pliant. If you are looking to make special designs with your fondant, like a bow, Wilton's works much better than a homemade fondant will. But if you just need to cover a cake, I would make your own. Not to mention that pre-made fondant is ridiculously expensive.

Many people shy away from making their own fondant because they think it is hard or messy. It can be a little messy if you are kneading and mixing it by hand. However, I found the following recipe, mixed with the bread hook attachment for the mixer, works well and isn't messy at all.

Recipe:

• 1 (.25 oz) Package Unflavored Gelatin
  
• 3 tbsp. Cold Water
  
• 1/2 cup Corn Syrup
  
• 1 tbsp. Glycerin
  
• 3 tbsp. Shortening
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 1/2 tsp. Butter Flavor
  
• 8 cups Powdered Sugar (2 pounds)
  
• Food Coloring
  

Combined gelatin and water and let sit until the gelatin thickens. It shouldn't take too long. In a double boiler, heat gelatin over medium heat until dissolved and turns into a clear liquid. Add the corn syrup and glycerin and mix. Stir in the shortening. Just before the shortening as completely melted, remove from the heat and add the vanilla and butter flavor. If you want to add a color, add it now.

Place 4 cups (1 pound) of the powdered sugar in your mixing bowl. Create a well in the middle of the sugar. Allow the rest of the shortening to melt in the gelatin mixture and for the mixture to cool to almost room temperature. Once cool, pour it into the well in the middle of the powdered sugar.

Using the bread hook attachment, mix the sugar and gelatin mixture together until it is a liquidy consistency. Scrap the sides of the bowl as needed. Once it is all mixed, slowly add the remaining powdered sugar. Hold back about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Remove fondant from bowl, onto a clean surface and knead remain powdered sugar in by hand.

Once done, store fondant in a zip lock bag. You can use immediately but it is best if you let it sit for a few hours before you use it.

Baking Tips:

• You can use any flavoring you like, you don't have to use the vanilla/butter combination.
  
• You don't have to add food coloring. If you want white fondant, don't add any food color. If you want your fondant many different colors, create white. Once your fondant is done, you can break off as much as you need and knead the food color into it.
  
• You can find glycerin at Micheal's or Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.
  

Marzipan

Category: Fillings > Marzipan

Marzipan has been around for a long time. It is a sweetened almond paste. Marzipan can be used to cover a cake, like fondant. If can be covered in chocolate and eaten as a candy or it can be a cake filling. However, probably the best known usage of marzipan is shaping and coloring it into little fruits and other sculptures which are then eaten.

Many people wonder what the difference between almond paste and marzipan is. Almond paste is just a paste made of almonds. Marzipan is almond paste which has had sugar and egg whites added to it. The only flavoring that is allowed in traditional marzipan is maybe a little rose water but a lot of modern marzipan has almond extract added to increase the flavor.

After you make marzipan, it will look and fill kind of like play dough.



You can add food coloring to make different colors. If you knead marzipan too much, it will become oily. This almost always happens as you mix the coloring into it. If it gets too oily, you can wipe off the oil with a paper towel. I suggest letting your marzipan sit in the refrigerator a little bit after you add the color before you shape it to help with the oil.

Marzipan sticks together well, so you don't need any adhesive when sculpting.







Recipe:

• 2/3 cup Water
  
• 2 cups Sugar
  
• 1/8 tsp. Cream of Tartar
  
• 4 cups Almond Meal
  
• 2 Egg Whites
  
• Powdered sugar for dusting
  

Sprinkle powdered sugar over a clean counter or work area where you will be kneading the marzipan. Fill a large pan with cold water. Make sure your pan is large enough that the pan you are cooking your marzipan in can fix it.

Place water and sugar is a large saucepan and heat on low until the sugar dissolves.
Add the cream of tartar and increase heat to medium. Bring to a boil and cover for 3 minutes. Uncover and boil until the temperature reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Place the bottom of the saucepan in the cold water you’ve prepared, stirring the sugar mixture constantly until it becomes thick and creamy. Stir in the ground almonds and the egg whites, the place back over low heat and stir for 2 minutes more until the mixture is thick.

Place the marzipan onto your prepared work surface, and turn it with a metal spatula until it cools down enough to touch. Coat your hands in powdered sugar and begin to knead the marzipan, working it until it is smooth and pliant.

Your marzipan can now be used immediately or stored by wrapping it in plastic wrap and keeping it in an airtight container.

Spritz Cookies

Category: Cookies > Press Cookies > Spritz

You may have noticed no post yesterday. I decided to use the day to proof read and fix some typos on the older posts. Ironically, it turns out it was 8:30 PM before I got around to it. =/ It took two hours but I did read through all the posts. Hopefully, I caught everything that needed fixing.

A little while back, my cousin's daughter of four came over to be babysat. I thought it would be fun to make cookies with her. At first, I wanted to make sugar cookies but my mom suggested press cookies. So, I pulled the old cookie press out to see if it would still work. It looked like it would so that was decided.

We made the dough, and for some additional fun, decided to divide the dough up, mix it all different colors, and throw it all back into the big bowl to create rainbow spritz.

The effect was cool but sadly, our dough was too soft and the press didn't work too well. Our spritz cookies came out like blobs. In the end, I started to just roll the dough into circles.



Afterwords, my mom and I decided it was time to invest in a new cookie press. After a bit of research, I decided this one would do.



I tried a new recipe with the new press and it worked wonderfully. We put sprinkles (both store brought and homemade) on the cookies before baking them and the cookies turned out looking good and tasting great.



Recipe:

• 1 cup Soften Butter (2 sticks)
  
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
  
• 1 Egg
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 2-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/8 tsp. Baking Soda
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Beat until it is creamy. Separate the egg. Add the yolk and vanilla. Reserve egg white in a bowl and set aside. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add it to the mixture and blend well.

Take the egg white, add about 1/2 tsp. of water and beat well to create an egg wash.

Shape dough into the rough shape of your cookie press and place inside. Press dough through desired cookie press disc onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush cookie tops with the egg wash.

You can add sprinkles to the cookies as desired.

Place cookies in oven for 8 to 10 minutes. When removed from oven, let sit 1 minute on cookie sheet and then gently loosen them. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.

Baking Tips:

• There are two tricks to getting good spritz cookies. 1. Make sure your dough is the right consistency. It should be firm kind of like sugar cookie dough. 2. Make sure you are using a good cookie press.
  
• You can refrigerate the dough for a few minutes if it gets too soft.
  
• You can refrigerate the cookie sheets to help get the dough to stick better.
  
• Don't use parchment paper on your cookie sheets. The cookies won't press out well.
  
• You don't have to add any decorations to your spritz cookies. However, if you do there are several things you can do. You can color the cookie dough. You can add sprinkles before you bake your cookies. You can add sprinkles after you bake your cookies.
  
• Don't use sugar cookie dough in a cookie press. It might break. Make sure your dough is a spritz dough.
  
• Store brought spritz dough tends to be really hard. Some people complained that it broke their cookie press. I recommend making your own. It is really easy.
  

Hamburger Pie

Category: Tarts > Savory Tarts > Quiche > Hamburger Pie

No picture for this dish. Turns out the pan I wanted to bake it in was dirty so I had to use a different, deeper one. This, of course, made it not very picture worthy. It was still tasty though =).

Anyways, Hamburger Pie is a quiche made with ground beef. It's an easy to make, fast and filling dinner.

Recipe:

• 1 pound Ground Beef
  
• 1 small Onion
  
• 1-1/2 cups Milk
  
• 3/4 cups Bisquick
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. Pepper
  
• 1 cup Shredded Cheese
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium skillet, place ground beef, chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook until beef is browned. In a medium mixing bowl, add Bisquick, milk, and eggs. Beat well until combined.

Place ground beef in a pie pan and pour the Bisquick mixture on top. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle with cheese. Continue baking for 5 to 8 minutes until cheese is melted and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Bisquick Dumplings - Chicken and Dumplings

Category: Breads > Quick Breads > Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings makes for a good lunch or dinner dish. There are many different ways to make dumplings but this recipe uses Bisquick dumplings. Yes, you might be able to tell by now that I am a fan of Bisquick!



Recipe:

• 1 pound Boned Chicken
  
• 1 cups Carrots
  
• 1 medium Onion
  
• 1 cup Peas
  
• 1 cup Celery
  
• 1 tbsp. Dried Parsley
  
• 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  
• 1 tbsp. Corn Starch
  
• 1-1/2 cups Bisquick
  
• 1/2 cup Milk
  

Place uncooked chicken in a large pot. Fill pot with water until the chicken is covered. Sprinkle water with salt and pepper. Chop up the onion and add it to the pot. Bring water to a boil and then cover. Cook until chicken is done, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Once the chicken is done, take the chicken out of the water (chicken broth) and remove the meat from the bones. Throw the chicken meat back into the pot with the chicken broth. Add the carrots, peas, celery, parsley, and chicken bouillon cubes to the broth. Let simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add salt and pepper if needed.

In a small bowl, mix the Bisquick and milk together. Don't over mix. Mixture should be a little runny. If mixture is too thick, you can add a little more milk. Pour mixture into the chicken pot about 1 tbsp. at a time to create the dumplings. Once you have added all the Bisquick mixture, cover pot and let cook for 10 minutes. You will know the dumplings are done when they float to the top of the pot.

The dumplings will thicken your broth but if you wish for it to be thicker, take 1 tbsp. of corn starch and mix it in a small glass with water. Pour starch/water mixture into pot and stir. Your broth will thicken.

Baking Tips:

• The longer the chicken and dumplings sets, the thicker it will become. So allow your broth to simmer and thicken a bit before adding more corn starch.
  

Cheese Pastry

Category: Pastry > Savory > Cheese Pastry

A cheese pastry is a plain pastry (a dough, often used for pie crusts) that has cheese mixed with it. You can do anything you want with a cheese pastry. I took this cheese pastry and twisted them into bread-sticks. Plain pastry is not meant to raise, so these are crunchy bread-sticks.



Recipe:

• 1 cup Bread Flour
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 2 tbsp. Butter
  
• 1/8 cup Shortening
  
• 1/4 cup Grated Cheese
  
• 3 to 4 tbsp. Ice Cold Water
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift flour and salt and place in a large bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, shortening, and cheese until the butter and shortening are the size of peas. Add in water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a ball.

Roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper. Cut dough into strips and twist/braid them together. Place bread-sticks on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes until bread is nicely browned.

Baking Tips:

• Do not over knead or mix the dough or it will become tough.
  
• The less amount of water you add, the crispier and flakier the bread will come out.
  
• You can brush the top of the bread-sticks with an egg wash to give them a nicer finish.
  

Jello Cake

Category: Cakes > Butter Cakes > Jello Cake

One of my favorite desserts growing up was the Jello Cake. Not only did I think it was pretty (always a bright pink) but it tasted really good. Also referred to as a poke cake, a Jello Cake is a white or yellow cake that has had jello poured over it and then chilled.

Since it is a chilled dessert, it's a great dessert during the summer. The only draw back to this cake is that it requires time to make and so you need to plan ahead if you want to eat one.





The cake pictured is made with Black Cherry Jello so it is a bit darker than normal for me. I personally prefer plain cherry jello and think it makes the best jello cake.

Recipe:

• 1 White or Yellow Cake Mix
  
• 1 3 oz. Packet of Jello (Any flavor)
  

Bake cake according to instructions on the back of the box. Leave cake in pan and cool completely. Once the cake is cool, start the Jello. Bring one cup of water to boil and then dissolve the Jello in it. Once dissolve, add one cup cold water and stir. Poke large holes into the cake, making sure you poke all the way to the bottom. Using a skewer works well. Once holes are placed, slowly pour the jello over the cake. Allow the Jello to soak into the cake and into the holes. Chill cake for 4 hours and serve.

Baking Tips:

• You want your holes on your cake to be large enough that the Jello will go into them.
  
• Poke your holes in a uniform pattern to make the cake look nicer.
  
• You can cover the cake with whipped cream if you like.
  
• You want to pour the Jello slowly so the cake has time to soak up the Jello. Otherwise the Jello will fall all to the bottom of the pan.
  
• For storage, you will want to keep this cake refrigerated.
  

Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Category: Fillings > Puddings > Vanilla

Who knew that homemade pudding was so easy to make. I never did but if I knew how easy it was, I wouldn't have been purchasing store pudding mixes. Homemade pudding is as easy as any cook and serve pudding. Instance pudding is still faster but has a different taste.



Recipe:

• 2 cups Milk
  
• 1/2 cup Sugar
  
• 3 tbsp. Cornstarch
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 tbsp. Butter or Margarine
  

In medium saucepan stir and combine milk, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into serving dishes. Cover and chill before serving.

Baking Tips:

• When covering, press the plastic wrap right on top of the pudding. That will help prevent a film of skin from forming.
  

No Bake - Key Lime Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Key Lime Pie

What are Key Limes? Well, they are just a specific variety of lime. This is a no bake key lime pie which can be whipped together in minutes. Taste-wise I think this key lime pie is only average, but if you are in a hurry for a dessert it works.



Recipe:

• 2 cans Key Lime Pie Filling
  
• 1 bag Graham Crackers
  
• 1/4 cups Sugar
  
• 1/3 cups Butter, melted
  

For Graham cracker crust: Crush graham crackers in a blender until very fine. Mix sugar in with the graham cracker crumbs. Pour into pie pan and then add melted butter. Mix until the mixture starts to combine and then press into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Pour Key Lime pie filling into the crust. Best served chilled by refrigerating for 4 hours.

Baking Tips:

• You get best results if you let your graham cracker crust sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before you fill it.
  
• Don't press your graham cracker crust too hard to the pie pan. Doing so can make it hard to get out of the pan when you slice the pie.
  

Garlic Cheese Biscuits - Red Lobster Style

Category: Breads > Quick Breads > Garlic Cheese Biscuits - Red Lobster Style

If you have never tried Red Lobster's Garlic Cheese Biscuits, you have been missing out. They are so good that if you Google them up, you will find several copycat recipes for these delicious biscuits. So, which one do you try? Well, I tried a couple and the recipe below is pretty close. So now, if I get a craving for these biscuits, I can just make 'em at home.



Recipe:
Biscuits

• 2-1/2 cups Bisquick
  
• 3/4 cups Milk
  
• 4 tbsp. Cold Butter or Margarine, cut into 6 slices
  
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
  
• 1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
  
• 1 tsp. Parsley Flakes
  
• Pinch of Salt
  

Brush on Top:

• 2 tbsp. Butter or Margarine, melted
  
• 1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
  
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, add Bisquick, cheese, and butter. Use a pastry blender to mix until butter is the size of small peas. Measure out milk and add garlic and salt to the milk. Stir milk and then add to the Bisquick mixture. Mix until combined but don't over mix.

On an ungreased cookie sheet or pan, drop about 1/4 cup of mix for each biscuit to be baked. Bake 15 to 17 minutes until biscuits start to brown on top.

In a small bowl, mix together butter, parsley, and garlic powder. Use a pastry brush to brush the mixture on top of the biscuits.

Baking Tips:

• You can add a little paprika to the brush on sauce to give the biscuits a browner look. Biscuits pictured have paprika on them.
  

Old Fashion Fudge

Category: Candy > Chocolate > Fudge

Let's talk a little bit about the difference between chocolate, chocolate cake, brownies, and fudge.

Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean. In its pure form, it is bitter rather than sweet. It is the addition of sugars that gives chocolate the flavor that we know and love.

Chocolate cake is a cake that has had chocolate added to it.

Brownies are like a chocolate cake but lack leavening to make it rise. Hence it is more dense and chewy.

Fudge is a milk-based candy. Fudge is usually associated with chocolate but you can make fudge that doesn't have any chocolate in it. If you see a recipe for fudge and it doesn't have any milk in it (evaporated, condensed, whole) then you are not looking at a true fudge recipe.

There are two types of fudge. The first type is the old fashioned original type. It is called crystallized fudge. It is made from sugar and requires that you heat it just right or it won't set correctly.


Picture of Fudge cooking.


The second type is call "No-Fail" or "Easy" fudge. It is made from marshmallow cream and a lot easier to make than the first type because it comes out right almost every time.

Crystallized fudge tends to be a little softer and crumblier than the marshmallow cream fudge. I don't really think crystallized fudge is all that hard to make. You just need a candy thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct and a little patience so that you don't rush things too quickly.



Recipe:

• 2 cups Sugar
  
• 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
  
• 1 cup Milk
  
• 4 tbsp. Butter
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• Little Extra Butter for Greasing the pan.
  

Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan with butter. Set aside.

Combine sugar, cocoa and milk in a medium saucepan. Stir to blend, then bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer. Do not stir again. Place candy thermometer in pan and cook until temperature reaches 238 degrees.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to 150 degrees. Add butter and vanilla extract. Beat with a wooden spoon until the fudge loses its sheen. Do not under beat.

Pour into prepared pan. Mixture will be thick and hard. Press into edges of pan with a spatula. Let cool.

Baking Tips:

• Because you need to bake Fudge to extreme temperatures, remember to use a wooden spoon.
  

Gingerbread

Category: Breads > Quick Breads > Gingerbread

Despite its' name, Gingerbread is usually served in cookie or cake form. It goes in and out of style in grocery stores. Today, you can find gingerbread mixes all over the place. A few years ago, the only time I could find gingerbread was around the holidays.

This gingerbread, shaped and baked in a bread pan, was made from a cake mix. It is a moist, spice cake-like treat.



Recipe:

• 1 Gingerbread Mix
  

Mix and bake as instructed on the back of the mix box.

Apple Crisp

Category: Pastry > Sweet > Crisp

A crisp is like a crust-less pie. Apple crisp is one of the most common types of crisps. It is good served warm or cold (and with ice cream!).

Not all apples are made equal. Some are made for eating raw and some are made for baking. When you get ready to bake apples, like for a pie or crisp, make sure you get a good baking apple. Some good apples for baking include: Cortland, Empire, Mutsu (Crispin), Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Jonagold.

For this apple crisp, I used 7 Jonagold apples.

• 1-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
  
• 3/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 2/3 cup Unsalted Butter, cut in pieces
  
• 8 cups Peeled Apples, sliced 1/2" thick
  
• 2 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  
• 1/4 to 1/3 cups Sugar
  
• 1 tbsp. Flour
  
• 1/4 Salt
  
• 1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt. With your fingers or pastry blender work in butter until mixture starts to cling together.

In a second large bowl, toss together apples in the lemon juice. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 to 1/3 cups sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, 1/4 salt, and nutmeg. If your apples are sweet you will want to use the lesser amount of sugar. Sprinkle apples with the sugar-nutmeg mixture. Place apples in a 2-quart baking dish. Cover the apples with the crumb mixture.

Cover the crisp with parchment paper and then with aluminum foil. Place covered apple crisp on a foil lined cookie sheet. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and the aluminum foil from the top of crisp and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes until top is golden and apples are tender. Let cool 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Apple crisps go well with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.

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.
  

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.