Dark Chocolate Cake

(Attempting to make a 'cute' decoration on the cake, I created this ghostly looking cupcake/muffin/mushroom creature out of powdered sugar and Halloween cookie sprinkles! Can anyone say decorating on a budget!? Thankfully Jose got a kick out of it, he said it looked like a nintendo character :).)

After taking a trip to Houston and celebrating Jose's birthday and Father's Day this weekend, I feel a little wiped out. But I am so happy that Jose enjoyed his birthday yesterday! More than anything else, he really wanted a dry aged steak from Whole Foods for dinner...so that's what I made him. The 1 1/4 pound piece of meat made him very happy, I could see the hair growing on his chest as he savored the manly and very meaty meal ;)! Thankfully, I didn't burn the darn thing.

Jose always requests a chocolate cake for his birthday, but this time around, I thought I'd spice it up a little with extra chocolate and a heaping tablespoon of coffee. The chocolate cake recipe I followed the first time I ever made Jose a chocolate cake was my inspiration. He really liked how chocolatey and dark it was; Jose's the kind of guy that drinks good coffee black and dark chocolate more than dark, somewhere in the 75% range. He appreciates the rich earthiness of both flavors, so I made sure to showcase them in the improvised recipe :)...and when I say improvised, I mean practically re-done; completely tweaked...thankfully, for the better!

Yep, despite the fact that I loaded it with dairy products (I really wanted to make this cake super delicious and, let's face it, nothing beats the real thing!) I managed to sneak in a taste and it was deeeelish. Rich, earthy, stuck-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth thick and ooey gooey, this is a cake you'll definitely need to wash down with a tall glass of refreshing milk or soy milk...or chocolate beer! Chocolate beer?! Yes, that was Jose's birthday drink of choice. I'm not a beer fan, but the chocolate beer was tolerable - it had a really nice chocolatey after-taste that didn't make me want to gag the way most beers do.


Take a look at all the ingredients that went into this cake, and you'll see why it's so tasty. It's loaded with everything...except too much sugar. If you take a really good look at the cake, you'll notice that only the middle and top layers are frosted; I dabbed some powdered sugar around the edges with a moist paper towel to give it a simple and not-too-sweet look and taste. I didn't want the sugar to overpower the cake :). If you're having a bad day, call it your birthday and make yourself this dark chocolate cake...believe me, chocolate is a miracle worker!



Want to see the original recipe? Check it out here!

Warm Summer Cake and Peach Blackberry Pie

I promised that I'd post recipes for a yummy cake and pie...so here they are :). The first recipe is for a Lowfat Warm Summer Cake. I was in the mood for a fresh and summery cake last weekend, so I opened up the refrigerator to see if anything in there would cry out to me, in fear of going to waste and getting thrown in the trash. I noticed that we still had quite a bit of orange juice left over, and it was already a week old, so I thought I should definitely include it in the cake. I've learned that a great way to make a cake moist and rich without using butter is by adding some kind of flavorful juice. We also had a huge lemon that was lonely sitting next to a bunch of bananas and a handful of kiwis, so I had to add him to the recipe as well. The only fatty ingredient in this light cake is the one egg I used. There isn't even a teaspoon of oil in this cake! Now, if only I could have that kind of success with every baked good! It seems it's easier to make some desserts healthier than others. (You'll notice, after eating one piece of the cake, my husband and I decided it wasn't enough, so we just picked up a fork and helped ourselves to a little more :)

I'd like to note that the pecans on the cake are Texan grown, we picked them ourselves!



The pie recipe I've posted is also packed with fruit, it contains blackberries and peaches. This is a recipe I found on Key Ingredient. The recipe calls for fresh ginger, but I didn't have any, so I added ginger powder instead :). Thankfully, it still tasted yummy, but I think the juicy peaches and ripe blackberries had something to do with that :). I was really pleased with this pie recipe. This is another dessert that's perfect for summer; the ginger really adds flavor, making this a pie that's far from plain. Plus, peaches are on sale right now! It's hard to say no to a dessert that's tasty, affordable to bake, and easy to make. (Just throw the peaches in there with the blackberries. They're such pretty fruits, they don't need to be organized in a fancy way!)

TGIF! Now that I've posted this recipe, it's time to relax, at least for the night. Since we only have a few more months left here in Austin, Jose and I plan on visiting a few cool foodie spots around town before we leave. Of course I'll take pictures and feature them on the blog :). This weekend we're going to a very Austiny spot that resembles an old candy store/soda shop, I can't wait! Hopefully the next time I post, I won't come back with cavity #2; I can barely handle the one sweet tooth I already have :)!

P.S. I'd like to say thanks to all of your for leaving so many kind comments on my first Daring Bakers cake :). There were tons of beautiful entries this month! Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next!

Daring Bakers May: Fruity Lemon Orange Opera Cake

So I'm having trouble figuring out if this is truly a dairy free cake! I didn't use any milk products but the cake itself does contain eggs. I checked Wikipedia and it said that the term dairy is usually attributed to milk products, but that eggs sometimes qualify as dairy products too. Please correct me if I'm wrong for calling this cake dairy-free!

This is my first Daring Bakers Challenge/post! This entry is going to be brief (wow! That's a first, Sophie!) but I only have a few minutes to spare before I have to finish getting ready for work :D! Knowing me, I'll probably come back to this post later and add something to it; it seems I just can't publish a short entry! Hehe!

Anyhow, yesterday, when I visited Lemonpi's blog, I noticed she posted her L'Opera cake...I was so worried! Earlier that day I made it a point to check the calendar, because I knew we had to submit this entry on the 28th. So, clearly, when I saw the date on her post and noticed that it said the 28th right below the title, I thought I was losing my mind...then I re-checked my calendar and thought to myself, "Oh! She's in Australia!". Anyhow, she did a wonderful job on her cake. It looks so pretty and elegant, ya'll should really check it out. (Ok... so I swore to myself that I'd never use that word - never ever - after moving from CA to TX, but now that I only have 2 months left in this lovely state, I figured I needed to get it out of my system. So there it is, I've temporarily adopted Texan lingo. I promise, you do not want to hear my sorry Boston accent! Hopefully it won't be that bad 3 years from now, when I've had plenty of time to practice. ;)

As for the cake, I decided to keep it simple and somewhat healthy. I didn't add the chocolate (including it was optional) and I decided to make a lemony/orange glaze that pretty much disappreared after I topped the cake with it (btw, this cake is also somewhat lowfat and dairy-free; I'm signed-up as an alternative Daring Baker b/c of the absent gallbladder *:). I added a few kiwi slices to give it some color...and that's pretty much it. Looking at it, I bet you'd never guess it took me about 3 hours to put this little cake together, but it did! It was a fun process, though, and I learned so much. For instance, it never occured to me to use Almond meal instead of all-purpose flour! It gave the cake a better taste, I think, and even a heartier texture. Initially, like many others, I was a bit intimidated at the thought of putting together a cake that literally had pages and pages of instructions...but once I made an outline (I really did :), it wasn't that bad!

As you can see, this post is already getting lengthy...so I should probably leave well enough alone and get ready for work (thank goodness I work at a company centered around food, at least I'll have a good excuse if I'm late)! Hope you all have a wonderful day! Make sure to squeeze in some baking time!



*I forgot to note that I didn't add white chocolate because it contains milk solids :). I also used Earth Balance vegan butter and shortening (for the buttercream frosting) to make this cake: http://www.earthbalance.net/product.html

Traveling the World One Plate at a Time: Karahi Chicken with Mint and Dessert!

I didn't get the chance to cook this meal last weekend, so I made it a point to make it today. Thankfully, it only took a little less than an hour to prepare and cook, which is great for a lazy Sunday evening. I feel like I need a weekend for my weekend!

Friday night, Jose and I saw the second Narnia movie at Alamo Drafthouse; it's definitely a place you should check out if you're not from around here. They serve pretty good food and even feature a special menu for some movies; Turkish Delight was on the menu for Prince Caspian :)! Of course, we ordered some. On Saturday we checked out IKEA. Jose and I think it might be best to purchase boxed, unassembled furniture instead of driving to Cambridge with a bunch of bulky furniture that can't be taken apart. (We're trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to move to Cambridge from Austin...any ideas? We did the numbers. Paying a moving company would be too expensive; if we flew there, we'd still need to figure out a way to move our stuff. So it seems driving to Cambridge in a large van with our stuff is the best idea, at least this weekend it is :)...we only have 2 more months to figure it out, though! Oh, but I can't wait :)!) As for today, we cleaned the apartment, sold a few of our many books to the folks at Half-Price, and went shopping for pants and shoes. So, as you can see, or read, it was a very busy weekend and I didn't have much time to cook dinner. Now I'm starting to feel myself catching Jose's cold; it seems my body always gets sick when I take the time to relax and slow down!

At least I got to squeeze in a bunch of baking last week. I was craving a healthy dessert earlier, so I made an apple and carrot cake that's moist, cinnamony, and milk-free. I made a blueberry peach pie too, but I'll post that recipe little later :).

Pineapple Rightside uP Cake!

Usually I don't post two days in a row, but I'm really excited about this delicious cake! Oh, I know I'm supposed to blog about some fabulous ethnic recipe today, but I want this blog to accurately represent who I am! I'm usually all over the place; sporadic in a somewhat organized way :). For instance, when I walk into my kitchen, my world temporarily gets turned upside down, not because I end up with disasters (though sometimes that is the case!) but because my kitchen temporarily transforms into a place resembling a mad scientist's lab. I'm even able to pull off the look! So, while sporting raggedy PJs, pink hello kitty socks for good luck, and a disheveled hairstyle with flyaways in all the right places, I begin my cake baking adventure.

I call this a Pineapple Righside uP Cake because I think the name accurately captures what went on this morning; my kitchen was turned upside down, so the cake came out rightside up! (And my cake just so happened to come out with a bald spot on the bottom because I didn't spray the pan enough...but noone has to know! ;) Heather from Sweet Sins 2 Share inspired me to create this recipe. Her cake came out moist and mouthwatering, and ever since I laid eyes on the pineapple upside down cake she posted on her blog, I've had an overwhelming craving for a slice! I have to admit, Heather's cake is much healthier than mine. I was feeling rebelliously unhealthy when I put my recipe together, but I felt bad afterwards so I made a fat-free glaze!

(I couldn't decide which pic I liked better, so I posted both :P)

This cake was so fun and easy to make! It's flavorful and, thankfully, quite moist too. Here are the ingredients I used to bake the cake that my hubby referred to as Spec-Tac-Uuuularrr (that's exactly how he said it ;). I'm quite critical of my baked goods, but I have to say, this is one of the tastiest pineapple desserts I've had to date. It's not the least bit dry and it's quite pineappley. Of course, my grandma's version really does take the cake ;)!

Pineapple Rightside uP Cake
2 heaping cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup half & half
1 1/3 cup sugar
8 oz can crushed pineapple, pureed w/ a hand blender
1 egg
Zest from 1 large orange

First I mixed the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl
Then I added in the canola oil, egg, orange zest, and half and half
I pureed the crushed pineapple with a hand blender
Then I mixed all the ingredients together with a hand mixer
I baked the cake in a square 9 inch pan
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes

Glaze/Topping
1 8 oz can pineapple slices
Juice from the above 8 oz can of sliced pineapples
1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
1 TBSP corn starch
2 TBSP marachino cherry juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
a handful of marachino cherries
a handful of macadamia nuts


Initially, I mixed everything together (with a hand mixer) aside from the cherry juice in a medium sized bowl
I used half of the glaze to cover the cake
I used the pineapples, cherries, and macadamia nuts to create a flower on the cake
Then, I added the marachino cherry juice to the bowl with the glaze
As I served the cake slices, I covered them in a little more of the cherry/pineapple juice glaze

(...later this week, I will blog about my Traveling the World One Plate at A Time recipe, the post will be about a fresh Japanese dish called Saka-Muchi!)

Lemon Spice Cake with Ginger Vanilla Frosting

I am so excited, not only because I actually made an edible lemon based cake, but also because I talked to an advisor at Le Cordon Bleu in Boston today! Off and on, for a few years now, I've thought about going to culinary school. When I finally moved out of the dorms and into an apartment a year before graduating college, I couldn't stop cooking...I cooked out of necessity and desire. I love making things. Whether it's painting, drawing, writing poetry, making a card, or putting a fun dinner together, I always find that time goes by oh so fast when I'm doing any of these things.

I can honestly say that I enjoy cooking more than any other hobby, though. I feel like being able to go into a kitchen and whip up a tasty dinner or treat is a real blessing. Not only does it help me appreciate all the beautiful edible things God made from scratch, but cooking, in general, is an art form that I respect because it awakens all the senses. I get to inhale the aroma of the herbs I use to enhance the flavors of the simple foods that are simmering on the stove, I get to stick my hands into the gooey dough that the oven will magically turn into a loaf of bread, I get to play the official household food taster role while I'm cooking - and my taste buds love that...see what I mean? I also love how, no matter what, everyone needs to eat - so as long as there are hungry tummies, I'll be cookin'! That's a pretty long time, but I look forward to every second of it.

I do realize that my knowledge of food is very limited, but I just so happen to have an insatiable hunger to learn more...hence my desire to attend culinary school. I don't plan on being a chef at a 5 star restaurant (at least I don't intend on making a life-long career out of it - though I do plan on working as a chef to pay off the debt I'll aquire during culinary school). Still, some time in the distant future, I'd like to open up a fun and inviting restaurant right here in Austin, one that serves healthy, delicious, and eclectic food at a reasonable price. Food can be pretty and tasty without being pricey, but I haven't learned all the secret tricks of the trade yet!

I know I could probably pick up a few books and teach myself a few things, and I have done that, but I have a desire to know even more...I'd really love to get formally trained. Who knows if I'll end up going to culinary school in Cambridge (Boston) while Jose's attending law school, or here in Austin ( a few years later, when he's establishing his career). Thankfully, I have a loving husband who wants me to pursue my dream; he's been incredibly supportive and is leaving the "when and where" decision up to me, for the most part (we have to see what the financial aid dept has to say...and I'll have to look into those scholarships too!). We're both the type to throw ourselves into our passions/interests, so I have a feeling we have a pretty exciting future ahead of us! Oh, if only money grew on trees - that's the 'minor' setback...but I've learned that I most appreciate the things I have to whole-heartedly work at and patiently wait for :).

This is a cake that doesn't require much patience! It bakes in 15 minutes, a few minutes more or less, and tastes like it took hours to make! I love how a few spices and sprinkles of this and that can make a huge difference in the flavor of a baked good. Here's the list of ingredients and very brief prep instructions :)...because I've already written such a lengthy entry!

Lemon Spice Cake
3 Cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 large eggs
2/3 c nonfat milk
1/8 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil
2.5 tsp pure lemon extract
1/4 c apple sauce

All of these ingredients eventually come together. If you're like me and try to get away with using one bowl, first add all the dry ingredients, including the leaveners...then make a little whole in the middle of the flour mix, and add the wet ingredients right before you fold everything together.

Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes in 2 round nine inch pans

I shaved off the poofy part of the cake, the little dome on top. It tastes pretty good without frosting...but if you want a light glaze-like frosting...here's a simple recipe:

Ginger Vanilla Frosting
2-3 tsps dried egg white (I get the one in the can, it's great for creating a solid finish)
4 TBSP butter
1 TBSP vegan shortening
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP freshly grated ginger (fresh is best with ginger :)
3 TBSP water

This recipe can be easily tweaked. If you want it less watery, add more powdered sugar. Want a bit more flavor? Add a tsp of lemon extract. This makes a very thin layer of frosting; I prefer tasting more cake than frosting. If you'd like a thicker layer of frosting, just double the recipe and it'll yield enough to create a traditionally frosted cake :). To dress-up the cake a little, I added a few sprinkles of grated ginger on top, a slice of lemon, a mint leaf, and also a few pistachios for color. Happy Baking!

Mr. Egg Easter Egg, the Lemon Custard Cake with Vanilla Cream Frosting, is the Pillsbury Doughboy's Latest Victim

The recent economic downturn has taken it's toll even on one of America's most iconic figures: the Pillsbury Doughboy. Struggling to make ends meet, doughboy has been forced into 'cake burglaring' to feed his well known obsession with baked goods. This photo, taken by an eye-witness, shows doughboy engaging in one of his most recent acts of cake vandalism, with a suspicious vintage vehicle parked in the background. The expensive detailing on the vehicle suggests that doughboy may now be involved in a lucrative underground sugar ring. A thorough police investigation is sure to follow.
Story By My hubby, Jose A. (hehe! This is what we do at 11 PM on Thursday nights)

Vanilla Cream Frosting Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp dried egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 stick very softened butter
1-2 tsp cold water

(I've yet to make a healthy version of this! At least this one uses less shortening than most others - I will keep experimenting!)

Berry Vanilla Cake

I love berries. They not only taste delicious but they look beautiful, even when they're sitting in a plain white bowl. I'm not much of a berry pie fan, but I do find that berries add a freshness to desserts when they're mixed into something like cake or muffin batter. I came up with this berry cake recipe about a month ago, but never got around to posting it. The nice thing about this cake is that it tastes great with something as simple as a glaze; a creamy frosting would take away from the natural flavors the berries offer. (To make the glaze, I mixed a bit of melted butter, powdered sugar, and blackberry jam in a bowl and poured it on top of the cake.) So if you're a big fan of berries, this cake is for you. It's colorful, flavorful, and comes together in a flash :).

3 cups flour
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt 2 cups mixed berries (these can be frozen)
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1 cup nonfat milk
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda


Since baking soda was involved, I mixed the dry ingredients in one bowl, then the wet in another, and later combined the two. I baked the cake in two round 9" pans, in a 350 degree preheated oven for 20-23 minutes.

celebration chocolate marshmallow cake

This is not a very original name for this chocolate cake, but it's appropriate considering how the recipe came about. Jose looooves chocolate, and to celebrate the fact that he was recently accepted into Harvard Law (woohoo!), I made him this very rich chocolate cake. It's not all that healthy, but, of course, sometimes you just have to savor the exciting moments that come your way...and savor them all the way, especially with your taste buds :).

Here are all the ingredients that went into the cake:
3 cups cake flour
1 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 cup butter
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips

I mixed all the ingredients together, then baked them in 2 round 9" nonstick pans for about 18-22 minutes in a 350 degree oven.


As for the frosting, I melted about 1 cup of dark chocolate chips in a pan over a low, low flame. Then I crushed about 10-12 Newman-O's by putting them in a freezer/storage bag and going over them with a rolling pin a few times. After that I took the container of marshmallow cream I purchased earlier and poured it all into a cup before placing it in the microwave for a few seconds. (I microwaved it on the setting I normally use to melt a stick of butter...make sure you keep an eye on it or your microwave will look something like a marshmallowy North Pole). Once the cake cooled, I lathered on a generous amount of the marshmallow creme to the bottom layer. Then I sprinkled on the O's before adding the top cake layer. I did the same thing with the top layer, except I dressed it up with powdered sugar (this isn't necessary, though, I discovered the cake is sweet enough without it!) then drizzled the cake with that bittersweet chocolate I melted earlier.

The finished cake looks a lot like a huge oreo, too bad we didn't have a large enough glass of milk to dunk it into :).

orange cake with a cinnamon sugar glaze

I was craving cake last night, but I was too tired to make something fancy so I whipped this up really quick. It hit the spot; it was lightly sweet and citrusy, from the orange peel, and the cinnamon sugar glaze works very well with this simple cake. Oh, and of course I have to mention that I used soy milk to make the glaze...not too much, though. Anyway, here's the recipe...and this also tastes pretty good with fruit, as the picture suggests.

orange cake recipe:
2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup nonfat milk
2 eggs
2 1/2 TBSP canola oil
1/8 tsp, or a little less, fresh orange zest
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

This baked in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes. While it baked in a 9 x 13" pan, I prepared the glaze...this is what went into that (I also kept it in the refrigerator until the cake cooled):

cinnamon glaze
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 TBSP butter
1 1/4 TBSP soy milk
1/2 TBSP cinnamon

I drizzled the glaze over the cake before devouring almost half the cake a few moments later... :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Last year for Jose's birthday, I made him a cake from a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. It's called "Crazy Chocolate Cake"; I was surprised he loved it, considering I didn't have much time to work on it, it called for absolutely NO butter, milk, or even eggs...I thought it was a weird recipe, but was grateful that he liked it, no less. I wasn't too happy with it, so of course I tweaked the chocolate cake recipe; I was happier with it after a few alterations...then I discovered that the "base" of the recipe made for a great cake, you just have to change a few of the ingredients depending on the kind of cake you want to make. I made a chocolate chip cookie cake using the main components of the chocolate cake recipe, including my changes...it came out with an interesting taste, considering I added a lot of the ingredients that are usually added to the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. Again, Jose likes it, and I actually like it too; adding those extra dairy products really does make a big difference in both the texture and taste of the cake. So here's the recipe...too bad the picture doesn't look as yummy as the cake really tastes, but that's why I'm not on the road to being a professional photographer, I just don't have the knack for it; I'll stick to cooking, baking, and writing, thank you very much!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
3 Cups Cake Flour
2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Nonfat Milk
2 eggs + 1 egg white
2/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/3 Cup Crushed Walnuts
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

Topping:
1 Graham Cracker (crushed)

Basically, mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ones in another, and then mix them together, including the crushed walnuts and chocolate chips. After baking in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes in 2 round baking pans, then letting it stand to cool-off for about 15 minutes, the cake should be ready to frost! I made a really cool frosting (it's actually on the cake) but I did not bother measuring the ingredients. All I know is that I used about 1/4 of the amount of butter than was called for...guess what I used in its place???? Plain flavored organic rice milk! It was pretty unbelievable how much healthier it came out (since most frostings call for a ton of shortening and/or butter) but we literally couldn't taste the difference! I will forever use plain rice milk in place of an entire stick of butter whenever I make frosting! Oh, almost forgot, sprinkle the crushed graham cracker on top of the frosted cake, then place a few chocolate chips on top; it'll really look like a chocolate chip cookie cake if you do!