Peppermint Marble Loaf Cake

I love the combination of peppermint and chocolate. The York Peppermint Patty creamer makes me very happy in the morning. This easy marble loaf cake is like the creamer in cake form. 

Marble Loaf Cake Recipe from Baking From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients

2 Cups Flour plus 2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
1 ½ Sticks (12 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
4 Large Eggs
½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
½ Cup Whole Milk
4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, melted 

4 oz White Chocolate, melted

1/4 tsp Peppermint Extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Butter an 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½-inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or 2 regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or with hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Don’t be concerned if the batter curdles and stay curdled-it will be fine. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin with the dry ingredients), mixing only until each addition is incorporated.

Divide the batter in half and stir the melted bittersweet chocolate into one half and the melted white chocolate and peppermint extract into the other. Drop spoonfuls of dark and light batter randomly into the pan, and then plunge a table knife deep into the batter and zigzag the knife through the batter. For maximum peppermint contrast, only zig and zag a few times. 

Bake the cake for 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. If the cake looks as if it’s getting too brown during its bake, cover loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 minutes before unmolding, then cool the cake to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

This is the best PMS food, ever.  It's salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy and insanely easy to make.  Don't be afraid of the word "caramel" in the title. The sugar and butter is cooked for a few minutes on the stovetop, then the rest of the cooking happens in the oven.

I made my batch on a 11x17 sheet pan and I had *just* enough caramel and chocolate.  It would probably work better on a 10x15 pan, or you could always make a bit more caramel and use more chocolate for the larger amount.

Go and make this now.nyou won't be sorry.

Garden Birthday Cupcakes

Since the girls' birthdays are so close together, we throw them a joint birthday party.  This means combining theme preferences. Last year, we had an Emo/Transformers party, which was interesting.  This year, the girls like butterflies and ladybugs (but still like Elmo and robots) and I was able to find "Garden Girl" themed partyware at a store, so I knew they'd be happy.

I was away the weekend before and went back and forth a bunch whether I wanted to make the cake/cupcakes myself or have a bakery do it.  I remembered one of the guests has a peanut allergy, so I decided to go ahead and make it myself.  The mixes from King Arthur are peanut (but not tree nut) free, delicious and easy.  I hadn't figured out how to decorate them until the actual morning of the party.

Amazingly, my decorating tips and bags had been unpacked.  The only hitch was that I only had 3 coupler sets, but wanted to use 6 colors.  I just cut off a small bit of the tip for the yellow and red to make the bee and ladybug bodies, put a small round tip in the bag with the black icing, and used the couplers for the pink, purple and green.

From Minus Minions

From Minus Minions

Not bad for 30 minutes, a bunch of icing and no plan.

Peanut Butter Cup Mousse Cake

I made this cake years ago for a friend's birthday, then filed the recipe away for safekeeping. I found it a little while ago and just had to make it again. It's definitely complicated, but if you can spread the work out over a few days, it's manageable. I made the cake the first day, made the mousse and assembled the cake the next day, and glazed it the third day.

It's amazingly light, considering it's chocolate and peanut butter. The chiffon cake is spongy, and the mousse is creamy and not overwhelming, thanks to the whipped cream. I think the peanut topping is important, texture wise, as it adds a nice crunch to all the light smoothness.

I found the recipe in the now-gone Chocolatier Magazine, but it looks like the Godiva version is really similar. My recipe substitutes cocoa powder for the Godiva Dark Truffle Hot Cocoa Powder and decreases the amount of milk chocolate in the glaze.

Cocoa Chiffon Cake:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs plus 3 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Mousse:
1 3/4 cups (10 ounces) peanut butter chips
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Milk Chocolate Glaze:
8 oz. Milk Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Make Cake:
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350ºF. Lightly butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line with a circle of baking parchment or waxed paper. Dust side of pan with flour and tap out excess.
2. Stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
3. In large bowl, whisk together 2 whole eggs, oil and vanilla until frothy. Sift flour mixture over egg mixture and stir until smooth. Mixture will be stiff.
4. In a grease-free medium mixer bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until they start to form soft peaks. Add remaining sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time. Continue to beat until egg white mixture forms a stiff, shiny meringue.
5. Using large rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 egg white mixture into the egg- flour mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining egg white mixture. Do not over mix batter. Scrape into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when gently touched in center. Cool cake in pan 5 minutes. Invert to wire rack and cool completely.

Make Mousse:
1. Put peanut butter chips into large bowl. In small saucepan, heat milk to a gentle boil. Pour hot milk over peanut butter chips. Let stand 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth and add peanut butter and vanilla. Let stand 5 minutes or until tepid.
2. In chilled bowl, beat cream and confectioner’s sugar just until soft mounds barely start to form and cream in still pourable. Do not over beat cream. Gently fold 1/3 whipped cream mixture into peanut butter mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Do not over mix mousse or it will become grainy.

Assemble Cake:
1. Lightly oil bottom and side of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Line bottom and ides of pan with plastic wrap, smoothing out any wrinkles, and pressing it into ridges on sides of pan. Scrape peanut butter mousse into pan and spread it in an even layer, filling in all fluted indentations in side of pan with mousse.
2. Remove paper circle from bottom of cake. Place cake on top of mousse in tart pan and gently press into place. Cover layer of cake with plastic wrap. Freeze for 3 hours or until firm.
3. Remove plastic wrap from cake and invert onto a cardboard cake round. Lift off side and bottom of tart pan, using a thin bladed knife if necessary. Peel off plastic wrap from peanut butter mousse layer.

Make Milk Chocolate Glaze
1. Put milk chocolate in medium bowl. In small saucepan heat cream to a gentle boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let mixture stand for 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla.. Cool glaze until it starts to thicken slightly.
2. Place cake on a wire rack over baking sheet. Pour milk chocolate glaze over cake, covering it completely. Refrigerate on wire rack for 5 minutes or until glaze is set. Sprinkle cake with chopped peanuts and refrigerate until serving.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

This cake is delicious and easy. And gorgeous and impressive. And people will love you for it.

It's the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cake from Beki Cooks Cake blog. Her taste test on fondant was interesting and helpful. I don't use fondant, but maybe I'll start branching out.

For my cake, I baked the batter in 2 8" rounds, chopped up some of the extra maraschino cherries for the filling and used a buttercream icing mix, which had meringue powder already in it.

My ganache topping wasn't as smooth as hers, but I was more interested in getting the "drips" right than smoothing out the top. It gives it... character, right?

When my friends took their first bite, there was no sound but muffled "mmmmm"s in the room. I love the chocolate/vanilla buttercream combination and the ganache and cherries added even more texture and dimension. I almost cried when I ate the last piece the other day.

Black and White Chocolate Cake

Sometimes a recipe just jumps out from a blog, website, book, etc. For me, the latest to catch my eye was the Black and White Chocolate Cake from Dorie Greenspan's From My Home to Yours.

(Actually, I've been dying to make the cake on the cover ever since I got the book, but I need to find a good high-altitude 7-Minute Icing recipe.)

I liked the combination of chocolate flavors, that it was a little more intricate than the things I'd been baking lately, and that it had components that I could make in stages, ahead of assembling time.


I didn't have any chocolate bars large enough for shavings or curls, so I made a stencil with my Silhouette and dusted the top with cocoa powder. It's not as clean as I'd like, but it wasn't bad for a first try. The design is fairly intricate, and I needed to press the stencil into the white chocolate cream more so the cocoa powder wouldn't "bleed" underneath it.








The layers weren't as clean as I'd like. As a habit, I automatically halve the chemical leavener in any recipe to adjust for altitude, but I think I needed to leave a little more in so the layers would be higher. (Also, my cutting technique could use some help.)








It's a very delicious, fancy-looking, make-ahead cake. I definitely liked experimenting with the stencil and need to find another recipe to try it with soon.





Black-And-White Chocolate Cake

For the Cake:

• 2 cups cake flour


• 2 t baking powder


• 1/8 t baking soda


• 1/4 t salt


• 1 1/4 sticks (10 T) unsalted butter, room temp.


• 1 cup sugar


• 3 large eggs


• 1 large egg yolk


• 1 t pure vanilla extract


• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the Dark Chocolate Cream:

• 2 cups whole milk


• 4 large egg yolks


• 6 T sugar


• 3 T cornstarch, sifted


• 1/4 t salt


• 7 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted


• 2 1/2 T unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces, at room temp

For the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:

• 6 oz premium quality white chocolate (such as Valrhona Ivoire or Guittard), finely chopped


• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Chocolate shavings or curls for decoration (optional)




Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans, dust insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake:
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then unmold, remove the paper and invert to cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.


To Make the Dark Chocolate Cream:
Bring the milk to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, cornstarch and salt until thick and well blended. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk--this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle--then, still whisking, add the remainder of the milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (make sure to get into the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the melted chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the pieces of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the chocolate cream is smooth and silky. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the cream until chilled, or for up to 3 days. Or, if you want to cool the cream quickly, put the bowl with the cream into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir the cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.




To Make the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:
Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and put the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir frequently to melt the chocolate evenly. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to a boil.

When the white chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the pan. Pour the hot cream into the melted chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Using a small spatula, stir the chocolate gently until it is smooth. Let it sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature--it can't be the least bit warm when you add it to the whipped cream.

Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining 1 cup heavy cream only until it holds the softest peaks. Turn the machine to high, add the cooled white chocolate all at once and continue to beat until the whipped cream holds firm peaks. Turn the whipped cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap gently against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours.

To Assemble the Cake:
If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Slice each layer horizontally in half. Place one layer cut side down on a cardboard cake round or on a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

Remove the dark and white chocolate creams from the refrigerator and whisk each of them vigorously to loosen and smooth them. With a long metal icing spatula, spread enough dark chocolate cream (about 1 cup) over the cake layer to cover it completely. Top the cream with another cake layer, cut side up, and cover this layer with white chocolate whipped cream, making the white layer about the same thickness as the dark layer. Cover with a third layer, cut side up, and cover with another cup of so of the dark chocolate cream. (You'll have some dark chocolate cream left over--use it as a dip for madeleines or sables). Top with the final layer of cake, cut side down, and frost the sides and top with the remaining white chocolate whipped cream. If you'd like to decorate the top with chocolate shavings or curls, do it now.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Cheesecake Bars and Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Cheesecake is another one of those easy-but-takes-a-while things,but it's so totally worth it. I made King Arthur Flour's Vanilla Cheesecake Bars for a Mom's Night Out and got rave reviews. My friend V wants a standing order for each month.

I highly recommend using the lemon peel and juice in the recipe. It doesn't add a real strong lemony flavor, but it gives a nice complexity to the vanilla and creamyness that I really like. The next time I make these, I might try another marble variation, using that Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and chocolate wafers for the crust.

I had a bunch of egg whites left over, so I decided to try my hand at a Chocolate Angel Food Cake. The recipe from Pie in the Sky has consistently worked for me, so I started with that. I was a little worried about replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder, since flour is really necessary to create the proper structure at high altitudes so the cake doesn't fall. I decided to go for it, and replaced 1/3 cup of floiur with cocoa powder and made sure to underbeat the egg whites, per the instructions, so they'd have plenty of room to expand while cooking.

It worked! The chocolate flavor isn't overhwelming, but nice and light, like you'd want in an Angel Food Cake. I kept the almond extract, since I love that combination, and next time I might try the orange zest and flavor substitution.

Chocolate Caramel Pie

I'm always on the lookout for easy, delicious, chocolate-based recipes. I should clarify that, to me, there are two tyoes of easy: quick and easy and time-consuming and easy. Brownies are quick and easy. Truffles are time-consuming and easy. This insanely good Chocolate Caramel Pie is easy and time-consuming. And you should make it right away.

It's not too sweet, even with the layer of caramel. The pudding is nice and rich and the whipped cream top has just a touch of brown sugar and cocoa, but is a camy counterpoint to the rest of the components. It's also pretty on the plate, with the different distinct layers of tastyness.

It's great with coffee and also with a glass of red wine and some hysterical conversation with your friends.

Creamy Chocolate Cake

Or, what I do for PMS...

I love me some chocolate, and the cravings can be downright overwhelming sometimes. This cake, while not instant gratification, will do the trick. I found it in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets, which is a collection of pastry recipes from some of the best shops in Paris. So, if you can't afford the plane fare, pop in Amelie and bake something from the book.

This is Grandmother's Creamy Chocolate Cake from Robert Linxe.. It's dead easy, with ingredients you probably have in your kitchen. Butter, sugar, chocolate, eggs, and flour. Seriously, that's it.

It's not bake and eat, you have to wait for it to cool, then chill in the fridge, but it's totally worth it. I like to keep it in the fridge and eat it cold, so it's more fudgy, but it does lose a bit of the crunchy top that way. However, it is easier to hide from your chocolate-loving children when it's hidden on one of the upper shelves in the fridge. Because you won't want to share. Trust me on this one.

A Twist on the Marble Cheesecake

I'm in between projects right now, trying to clean up from the holidays, recover from the double-whammy of a cold and a sinus infection, and getting into a new preschool routine with the Bean. However, I realized I never blogged about the marble cheesecake I made with that Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut spread.

I started with Gale Gand's Marble Cheesecake recipe, and substituted 6 oz. of the spread for the chocolate. It was divine. (I do have to admit it cracked more on the top than I'd like, but I think that's just a high-altitude thing or not using a water bath.) All my friends moaned with delight when they ate it, so I'm guessing they liked it, too.

And on a sewing note, I've given up on trying to sew the perfect v-neck t-shirt. In all honesty, with my lifestyle and sartorial style (is that an oxymoron?), it's much easier to buy a shirt from Old Navy, then adjust the shoulder seams so it's not so low cut.

I got Built by Wendy's book on sewing with knits on massive sale and I'm eager to see what she has to say. Maybe I'll get that dream shirt after all...

Chocolate-Covered Candied Orange Peels

For me, the holidays are officially here when I watch A Muppet Christmas Carol (while decorating the tree) and when I make candied orange peels.

As I said earlier, my mom was famous for her orange peels. Her friends would hide them from their children, saving them all for themselves. They're not difficult to make, they're just time- (and space-) intensive. I usually make a double batch, using every single baking sheet I have for drying and dipping. I don't like grapefruit (unless it's mixed with vodka in a Grayhound), so I make mine with all oranges.

Chocolate Dipped Orange and Grapefruit Peel
1 large grapefruit, 3 large navel oranges
1 cup of honey
About 1 cup of sugar
16 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1. Remove peels. Cut it into 1/4" strips. Place in a 5-qt. Saucepan; cover with cold water; bring to a full boil; then drain. Repeat four times.
2. Transfer drained peel to a large skillet; add honey and 2/3 cup water. Cook slowly until all syrup is gone--about 60 min. Cook 15 min. longer, over low heat, being careful not to scorch the fruit.
3. Drain thoroughly; cool; then roll each strip in sugar. Spread out on cookie sheets in single layer; dry overnight. Next day, roll again in sugar.
4. In top of double boiler, over hot (not boiling) water, melt chocolate. Holding with tongs, dip each strip in the chocolate; drain off excess. Place on waxed paper on tray. Cool. Store in refrigerator.

A note on dipping: I'm lazy, so I only dip the peels halfway and I think the contrast between the dark chocolate and the crystallized orange is pretty. Also, I dip my peels in bittersweet chocolate, mainly because I get it in large packages at Costco. You can use milk, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, whatever taste you like best.


This year, I made fudge and almond toffee to go in my goodie packages. Looking through my notes from pastry classes, I found something interesting:

For every 1,000 feet/300 meters above sea level, subtract 2 degrees F/1 degree C from every boiling point listed in the recipe.

I'd never really thought about altering candy recipes for high altitude before, but it does make sense considering baking recipes need to account for differences in evaporation. I have to say, the fudge was creamier than the previous times I'd made it. So, try it and see if it makes a difference in your candy recipes.

Creme de Menthe Cookie Bars

I decided to go the quick and easy route with the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips and made bar cookies. I used the recipe on the back of the bag, halving the chemical leaveners. Instead of making individual cookies, I spread all the dough in a 10x15 sheet pan and baked it for 20 minutes at 375F.

They're delicious. Nice and cakey, since they didn't really spread as drop cookies would. The Boy had 3 for dessert last night, so I'm guessing he really likes them...

My Mom's Chocolate Cheesecake

Along with Buche de Noel and Chocolate-Covered Orange Peels, my mom was famous for her chocolate cheesecake. Since I'm meeting friends for wine and meal prepping tomorrow night, I decided to make one to go with the wine and good conversation we'll have.

It's insanely rich, so I like to serve it with a little creme fraiche and raspberries on the side. I don't do water baths for my cheesecakes, although I'm sure you could with this one. It's also good to make this the day before so it has a long rest in the fridge to get all nice and creamy and cold.


Chocolate Cheese Cake

Crust
1 package chocolate cookies
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cinamon
Pinch of salt
1-2 Tbs. butter to grease the pan

Filling
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. cocoa

Make crust: Combine crushed chocolate cookies, salt, cinamon, and melted butter. Grease bottom and sides of springform pan. Press crust ingedients into bottom of pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Make filling: Melt butter and chocolate. Cream the cream cheese until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Add cream and vanilla, while beating. Add sugar. Add eggs gradually. Add cocoa at low speed. Bake for 30 minutes at 350, 30 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven, open door, and leave cake in oven for 30 minutes more.

(It will rise a bit in the oven, like a souffle, then fall as it starts to cool. This is completely normal.)

Enjoy with lots and lots of friends.