My dream cake

This past Friday, my boss brought in the most delicious, scrumptious, divine chocolate cake I have ever eaten. The cake itself was perfectly moist and fudgey while the frosting was creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey goodness. I always hate when chocolate cakes are lacking flavor and taste like straight sugar instead of chocolate.

This cake knows whats up. This cake is my idol.

I asked her where she got it from and she said her friend owns a bakery where she specializes in only making chocolate cake. It is here in Charleston and is called Chocolate Cake Charleston.

By the way, sorry there are no pictures, but we pretty much demolished the cake at work, so there really wasn't anything left to photograph. But there are pictures on the website.

Also, now you know what to get me for my birthday, but that is not until November, sooo there is always Valentine's Day? Anyone?

Scrumptious Holiday Truffles

Every year at work we do a cookie swap along with a white elephant gift exchange. This year I decided to make dark chocoloate truffles instead of cookies and OH MY GOD, I think I will make these EVERY year for the holdays.

I found the recipe for the ganache on Ghirardelli's website and then created my own variations:

Dark Chocolate Truffles
Yield: 30 Truffles

    * 1 3/4 cup(s) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (I mixed bittersweet chocolate chips with semisweet chips...about a 2 to 1 ratio...and I of course bought Ghirardelli chocolate)
    * 1/3 cup(s) Unsweetened Cocoa
    * 1/3 cup(s) heavy whipping cream
    * 6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Add the butter and stir until melted.

Gradually add in the chocolate chips.

 

Stir until completely melted and smooth.

 Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow bowl (9 x 13 pyrex dish works--I tripled the recipe so I used the largest pyrex dish I had).

Cool, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until firm, at least 2 hours.

Using a melon baller or small spoon, roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. I promise you that your hands will be covered in chocolate by the end of this and there is absolutely nothing wrong with licking your fingers.

Roll each ball in the cocoa. Enjoy immediately (trust me you will) or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Variations

Pecan Truffles
I bought a small bag of pecans, crushed them and laid them flat in a pan and toasted them at 375 degrees until fragrant. Then I rolled some of the truffles in the pecans.

Smore Truffles
Break marshmallows up into small chunks (about the size of the tip of your pinky) and crush the graham crackers into a dust. It was difficult to wrap the ganache around the marshmallow, but just keep forming the ball around the marshmallow, you will get it eventually. Then roll the ball into the bowl of graham cracker dust and voila! You have smore balls!

To make them extra special, I bought some silver candy cups from AC Moore (about $3 for 100) and cookie tins from the dollar store (they have some great ones with holiday prints).  Slap on a bow and you have a simple Christmas gift to hand out to your friends and family.

'Tis the season for baking!

First attempt at making a cake from scratch = Epic Fail?

I know, I know, it has been forever since I have written on this blog, but what better time to start again than the holidays. I have baking A LOT the past few weeks and part of it is because I decided to take a baking class at Charleston Cooks downtown. Totally worth the 60 bucks by the way! What better way to spend a an evening—baking delicious desserts and breads, drinking wine, and then ingesting the goodies you created while the instructors clean everything up for you! It was magical.

One of the recipes we made was a Classic Chocolate cake with Buttercream Frosting. Since we only had a few hours in the class, we didn't get to participate in baking all of the items, so I decided to take on baking the cake from the comfort of my own home. 

Little did I know all of the idiosyncrasies of making a cake. Let’s just say when your husband comes home and eats a piece of your hard work, “Chocolate Slim Jim” are not the words you want to come out of his mouth.

Let me explain. The flavor of the cake was not like a Slim Jim, it was actually quite tasty. But the texture was like a dense brownie that someone smashed to make even more dense. When the cake came out of the oven and I pressed gently on the center, there was no give, no tender push back to say “Hello, I am fluffy”, it was solid…like a Slim Jim.

The sample I gave to Mike was strip of cake from the edges I trimmed off. I hope this helps to explain his comment:

 

Items I learned for next time:

1. Cold ingredients are the enemies when making a cake. Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
2. Be sure to beat the butter until fluffy BEFORE adding the sugar. I added them together and THEN tried to beat them to be fluffy.

Cold butter + sugar = butter balls      Nobody wants balls in their cake batter.

3. Do not over mix the batter after the flour is added. Part of this was because there were still lumps from the butter, so I definitely over mixed to compensate. You only need to mix until the flour is barely incorporated.
4. No air in the cake batter means your cake is not going to rise. So the fact I could find hardly any air holes in the cake was not a good sign.
5. I think this would make a good base for an ice cream cake
6. OR this would be really good with a raspberry glaze in the center and maybe cream cheese frosting

Added some chocolate shavings to make it pretty. I figured if the presentation is there, maybe people won't notice how dense it is :)

Turns out the fail was actually a success. I brought the cake to work for my friend’s birthday, and it was devoured by the end of the day. Some people said they liked that it wasn’t fluffy like a normal cake and it was very moist. 

 

If you want the recipe, just comment on this blog and I will scan a copy for you.

I am still determined to make a fluffy cake dammit.

Nutella: A Monster’s Summer Romance

First of all let me start by apologizing for my laziness in writing this blog. It has been way too long and I blame it on remodeling our bathroom and the Spoleto Festival coming up (Mike is working crazy hours). Anyway, enough of my excuses, it is almost the summer, so there will be plenty to talk about. But let’s start with Nutella.

Nutella is the East Family drug. Typical pre-dinner snack scenario: Mike goes to the drawer, grabs a spoon, and sucks down the large spoonful of hazelnut chocolaty goodness in one fell swoop…Who wouldn’t fall in love with this upscale version of chocolate frosting? Nutella takes me away to the summer I spent in Italy where I would sit outside with my friends gazing at the “scenery” while stuffing our faces with biscuits smothered in the Italian goodness. It never lets you down and can make a simple piece of bread seem like tiramisu.

Recently we had a potluck at work and I was determined to come up with a concoction using whatever I had in the pantry. So, I had Nutella, vanilla wafers, and 3 very ripe bananas. Hmmm, ah yes, why not…banana cupcakes with Nutella frosting and crumbles of wafers on top, BRILLIANT! I don’t have any pictures and I didn’t write down any measurements, but here is a picture I found online. I like the idea of topping them with slices of banana too...it just depends on how much you like bananas.

The details:

1.      1. Buy a box of vanilla cake mix. (okay, so I had to buy one ingredient, give me a break)

2.     2.  Mash up the 3 ripe bananas, follow the instructions on the box for the cake mix, and add the banana mash   to the batter.

3.     3.  For the frosting, put a couple spoonfuls of Nutella into a bowl, add a little milk or heavy whipping cream, half a stick of butter, and some powdered sugar.

4.     4.  Mix well and add a little more of whichever ingredient you think is necessary to get the consistency you desire.

5.      5. Place cupcake liners in 2 cupcake pans (total of 24 cupcakes) and pour in the batter about ½ to ¾ full. Bake according to the directions on the box.

6.      6. Let cool and spread on the Nutella frosting mixture.

7.     7. Top with vanilla wafer crumbles (I just put a few in a Ziploc and smashed away with my fist) 

8.      8. Taste test about 2 cupcakes, you don’t want anyone to get sick and 1 cupcake isn't enough to give accurate results.

Oh yeah…summer romance here we come!

Recipe of the Day: Broccoli, Ham & Pasta Salad (minus the ham)

Let me start out by saying I really hate doing dishes. I mean, is there anyone out there who actually LIKES cleaning up after they cook? Because, personally for me, I absolutely despise this chore. I don’t know if it is because my parents always made my brother and I do the dishes almost every night growing up (in our house the rule was, you cook, everyone else cleans), but I rather stick a fork in my eye than do the dishes. It doesn’t help that Mike hates doing dishes as well. But, the other issue is I can’t stand if they sit in the sink, so I end up doing them anyway…grrr, it is a constant circle of madness.

Anyway, enough of me venting…down to the important part of my day, eating. I am dedicating this recipe to my ole buddy/coworker, Julian, who not only has decided to give up sugar, but is now in the process of becoming Vegan. Now that I think about it, this recipe wouldn’t work for him because it has dairy in it. Whatever, it is the thought that counts. Check out his sugar free blog.

This is a home made pasta salad recipe which I made vegetarian by leaving the ham out. If you want ham, then go for it, I am not stopping you. For the full recipe, click here.

Here is how it all went down:

Step 1: Boil the pasta. I like this pasta I found at Whole Foods made by “365”:

Step 2: While the pasta is boiling, combine the ingredients for the cream sauce (I only use 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar instead of 3 like the recipe calls for; 3 is too much for me)

I found our rice vinegar at the H and L supermarket. This place is AWESOME! They have everything you need for Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. I have spent $4 there to make a meal that lasted me for 4 days!!!

Step 3: Mix it up

Step 4: Drain the pasta when it is finished boiling and add the chopped onions, peppers, and broccoli (I like to steam my broccoli first before adding it, but I am sure it is good raw too)

MMmmmmmmm...

Step 5: Add the cream sauce and stir it up. Add as much or as little as you want, then refrigerate for at least an hour, and enjoy! It is great to have for lunch during the week or as a little side dish for a cookout.

The Sushi Experience

For the past couple of months, Mike and I have been going to O-ku for happy hour because all of their rolls are half off and you know how we Monsters love a good deal.

They also have Hendrick's Gin martinis and their cocktails are $3 off (I think happy hour runs from 5-7). Hendrick's Gin is the only type of Gin that I will actually drink straight. All you need is a cucumber slice on the side of your glass and you are golden (Thank you to Mike for introducing me to this drink...or should I thank the bartender who introduced HIM to the drink in Scotland, let's go with the bartender).

It is a dangerously smooth drink, so be CAREFUL because you will get drunk FAST.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent there, back to sushi. I would say our favorites are the Firecracker roll, Avocado wrapped roll, Tuna Tataki roll, and the Filet Mignon Tataki Roll. They also have this potato wrapped roll which is a shrimp tempura, avocado roll wrapped in shoe-string potatoes and deep fried. It is insanely delicious, but it gets to be a little much with all of the fried potatoes around it, definitely one you want to share with someone else. So in the end, O-ku is what I would call the "City Mouse" of the sushi world...very "swanky".

On the other end of the spectrum is The Oriental Garden in Mt. P. ...this is the "Country Mouse" of sushi. It is this little hole in the wall place off of Coleman Boulevard that, from what I have heard, used to be a Hardees. When we walked in, the place was completely packed out. We seated ourselves in the 1970's booth and reviewed the laminated menu layered under the glass table top. The waitress later came out with the full menu and we ordered two house salads with ginger dressing, 3 orders of Nigiri, 1 spicy tuna roll, and 1 shrimp and avocado roll...we walked out of there spending only 29 bucks!!!

I am sorry O-ku, but your fancy shmancy ways are low priority on our list... I think Mike and I have found our new hot spot to get our sushi fix. The Charleston population was correct, The Oriental Garden is by far the best sushi we have had in town. The rolls were so big, I could hardly pick the pieces up with my chopsticks...or maybe that is just because I suck at using chopsticks.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is if you want the "City Mouse", night on the town, where you get dressed up and look at hot waitresses all night, then go to O-ku. If you want the authentic "Country Mouse" sushi experience where you get more bang for your buck, then go to The Oriental Garden...NOW!

Recipe of the Day: Pillow Cookies

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while now. It all started when my friend introduced me to the website www.bakerella.com. I was flipping through the site with my mouth gaping open, as I salivated and stared, eyes glazed over, at these decadent objects referred to as pillow cookies. This great invention consists of baking a batch of brownies, mixing up some cookie dough (Bakerella uses chocolate chip), creating monstrous sized balls with the dough, stuffing them with the baked brownie, and THEN baking the cookie. I couldn't resist.

SO, I started thinking, what would be even better than brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies? WHY YES!!! Brownie stuffed PEANUT BUTTER cookies. It would be like an inside out Reese's Peanut Butter cup times ten.

Last night I decided to take on this endeavor to create my own pillow cookies. Now don’t get too excited, I did not make these from scratch. I bought one box of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chunk brownie mix (yeah, that’s right) and 2 pouches of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix.

I mixed up the brownies and popped them in the oven. I made sure to bake them about 5-10 minutes less than the time on the box so they would be a little fudgey. While they were baking I licked the brownie bowl…I mean, I mixed up the 2 bags of peanut butter cookie mix, did a couple taste tests and placed the dough in the refrigerator (the dough is suppose to refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour.)

Once the brownies were done, I pulled them out to let them cool and then turned the oven down to 325 degrees. Then the fun began. I ate a couple brownies, I had to do a taste test again, I didn’t want to kill anyone. Then I pulled the peanut butter cookie dough out of the refrigerator and formed about 10 extremely UGE (no H) balls.

I pushed my thumb down in each of them to make a hole to place the brownie in.

I cut the brownies into 1 x 1 in. chunks and stuffed them in each ball of dough, then folded the dough over the top to cradle the brownie bites. Oh my god, I wanted to eat them just like that, it was so tempting.

AND THEN…popped them in the oven for about 13 minutes or so. Just be careful because I screwed up the first batch. I don’t know if it was the pan or what, but the bottoms turned black. I was so upset that I cut the tops off so I could still eat them.

WHOOPS!

For the other batches (I could only fit about 4 or 5 cookies on one pan), I cooked them for half of the time on the middle rack and then moved them to the top rack for the rest of the time. But, you have to consider that our oven is freakin’ 100 years old, so I am sure it will be better if you have a newer model.

 Look how big these things are

Voila! Obscenely delicious brownie stuffed peanut butter pillow cookies. I was sick by the end of the night from all of the taste testing.