2014 Baking Challenge Update

Well, I am officially a terrible food blogger. I've actually already accomplished several of the dishes I intended to try in my personal 2014 baking challenge... and I haven't blogged about (or photographed) any of them. In summary:

 Chocolate Chess Pie



Tried this. Terribly disappointed. Have another recipe I plan to try. I probably didn't document it because it was hideous. And just okay. I did cut the recipe to a smaller size, which may have effected it. Either way, it wasn't pretty enough to document.

2. German Dark Rye Bread



Another failure. Didn't turn out at all. With that said, I had bought all this rye flour and was determined to be successful. I did find a recipe I liked, in the end. It wasn't amazing, dried out quicker than I would have liked (that could be the desert air), but it was pretty tasty. The successful recipe was from An Edible Mosaic.

6.  Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Skillet Cookie



This wasn't beautiful. I didn't have the same sized skillet, so I used two smaller ones and they spilled over a bit (I had them on a pan, so no harm to the oven!). I can't remember why I didn't take pictures, except maybe that I was too busy eating. Because this was sooooo repeatable. It was scrumptious. It was terrible--I didn't want to stop eating. Yummy. Extra good with ice cream.

So, really, I'm 3/7 on my challenge already! Go me! Now I just need to be better about the pictures!

Daring Baker's Challenge: June - Cinnamon Rolls

The Daring Baker's Challenge for June was to make CINNAMON ROLLS! I love cinnamon rolls, and make them every Christmas morning, per tradition, using the same recipe. So I wanted to take this opportunity to try something different.

I searched a few options. In the end, I opted for a chocolate cinnamon roll. I mean, YUM, right?! I found the recipe on Bakingdom and it was pretty good. I almost liked it better a day later, even.

Recipe:

Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls:
adapted from Bakingdom

Ingredients:
Filling - 
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. Cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips

Dough -
2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tbsp. butter

Icing -
2 Tbsp. Cream Cheese OR Butter, softened
2 Tbsp. Buttermilk
1 cup Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Combine all of the dry filling ingredients (except chocolate chips). Add melted butter until like coarse sand and set aside.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add buttermilk and 2 Tbsp. butter and mix until just combined. Knead until smooth and a little sticky.
3. Flatten into a 8"x12" rectangle and cover with 2 Tbsp. butter, spreading with fingers. Pour filling over and spread evenly, leaving a 1/2 inch border and pressing filling into dough. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top and press in slightly.

4. Roll up dough along long edge, pinching seam closed. Cut into 8 pieces and place in cake pan, gently pressing down on each and brushing with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, cream butter/cream cheese and sugar. Add buttermilk and whisk smooth. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

A Minnie Mouse Birthday

My daughter requested a Minnie Mouse party for her 4th, complete with PINK cupcakes! Well, I'm a chocolate girl, myself, and I don't think any birthday is complete without chocolate cake. So I made her both--pink cupcakes, pink frosting, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting--and mixed and matched.

 For the pink cake and pink frosting, I used a raspberry cake and raspberry buttercream recipe. Both were okay--again, I'm a chocolate girl.

 For the chocolate, I used my default, go-to, straight-from-mom recipe I've been making and eating for years. It is always amazing, even when you screw it up. I eat the batter by the spatula-full, and the frosting won't last long in a container on my counter. Usually I'm good and sick by the end of the process.

 The finished result was darling! I spent several days molding pink candy bows in a mold I bought on Etsy (using pink white-chocolate candies), and paired them with semi-sweet baking discs for Minnie Mouse ears.

And for the recipes:

Recipes:

Raspberry Cake
adapted from Sugar and Cloth

Ingredients:
1 cups Sugar
1 cup Butter
3 cups Cake Flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs, room temperature
3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup raspberry jam
Pink food coloring

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift together cake flour and baking soda and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then add raspberry jam. Add dry ingredients and milk in alternating batches (at least 3), beginning and ending with the dry. Add food coloring and fold batter a few times to be sure everything is incorporated.
3. Pour into prepared pans (recipe makes 3 cakes) and bake 17-22 minutes.

Raspberry Butter Cream

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Powdered Sugar
1 lb. butter, room temperature
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 tsp. vanilla
Pink food coloring

Directions:
1. Cream butter until fluffy, and then add sugar, two cups at a time.
2. Add vanilla and food coloring. Whip until good consistency and apply to cooled cake.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
4 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate
1/2 cup Butter, softened
2 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 cup Boiling Water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt chocolate.
2. Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time. Add melted chocolate.
3. Stir in sour cream and then add dry ingredients. Add boiling water; you must work quickly once water is added.
4. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for 35 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
4.5 oz. Unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 lb. Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Melt butter and chocolate together. Meanwhile, combine milk and sugar in a food processor.
2. Add chocolate and mix until combined. Frosting will thicken as it cools.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cake

A friend of mine gave me this recipe after I oogled over her picture on Facebook. And it's yummy! AND, it uses stuff I regularly keep around the house, so it was easy and fast to make! It looks pretty gooey and rich in the picture, but it has a great texture and taste--I recommend it!

Recipe:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup Quick Oats
1 3/4 cup Boiling Water
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Butter
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 cups Flour
1 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 cups Chocolate Chips
3/4 cups Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Place oats in large bowl and pour boiling water over. Slice butter over the top and let stand 10 minutes. Prepare a 9x13" pan.
2. Add sugar and brown sugar, stirring until butter is melted. Stir in eggs, baking soda, cocoa, cinnamon, and flour. mix until combined.
3. Fold in half of the chocolate chips and pour into a pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and nuts.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have found. I used to use a different one, but moving to high altitude wreaked havoc on my cookies, and it took a while to find a new, BETTER recipe. The secret isn't so secret anymore... cornstarch! Perfect, fluffy cookies. With that said, the batch made on this post weren't the best I made (appearance-wise, they always taste great), and they still look pretty darn good!

Anyway, this recipe is like fool-proof. I will admit that I decreased the amount of chocolate chips, and that IS saying something (I'm always for more chocolate). It was just a little too much! They were rattling around in the bowl with nothing to stick to!

Recipe:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups Flour
2 tsp. Cornstarch
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line pan with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter with sugars and add vanilla. Once creamy, add egg and mix.
3. Add dry ingredients (flour last) and mix until combined.
4. Add chocolate chips and place in tablespoon-fulls on pan (makes about 24 cookies).
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Bars

I already have myself a go-to chocolate chip bar, and this is a slight variation on that, but it was a recipe I decided to try. And I did... it was pretty good, although I'll confess that I think it is much better right out of the oven. However, I do live in a very dry climate and things dry out easily (it was too dry for me on day 2... maybe if I had done a better job wrapping it?).

Anyway, these are yummy and chewy right out of the oven, and you'll eat more than you should!

Recipe:

Chocolate Chip Bars
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
2 1/8 cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
12 Tbsp. Butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cups Flour
2 cups Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line pan with foil or spray.
2. Whisk together melted butter and sugars until combined, and then add egg and yolk.
3. Add vanilla and baking soda. Fold in flour until just combined (do not over mix).
4. Fold in chocolate chips and smooth into pan.
5. Bake for 24-28 minutes. Cool to room temperature (or eat them hot, how I like them).

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

These are amazing. Amazing. They are like chocolate truffles. I know, that's what they're called. But seriously, they are! So soft and smooth... so chocolaty....

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

They are delish. That's all I have to say.

Recipe:


Chocolate Truffle Cookies
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Butter, room temperature
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cups Flour
2 cups Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup Cocoa for rolling
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar for Sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line pans with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Strain in the cocoa and salt into the butter mixture.
3. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Blend in flour and add chocolate chips.
4. Shape into 1 inch balls (may need to refrigerate first) and roll in cocoa before placing on the pan. Do not flatten.
5. Bake for 10 minutes - DO NOT OVER BAKE. Cool on the baking sheet 3-5 minutes. Once completely cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cheesecake Challenge #10: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This one I do have a picture of, although I confess that I didn't remember to take a picture until we were in the car on the way to the family event I was taking it to! So I also included a picture from the source, not taken with an iPhone in the car.

From What the Fruitcake?!

This one was a lot of fun to make, and I really like the garnish as well. Something to remember for the future, no matter what's beneath it.

This one was yummy. Very good. But not quite the exceptional-ness that was the Cafe de Leche Cheesecake, so I gave it 4.5 stars.

Here is the recipe, no variations made. It is, unfortunately, a worldly recipe and thus I had to convert from grams, etc, so a lot of ounce measurements:


Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
from What the Fruitcake?!

Ingredients:

Crust:
7 oz. Graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
4 oz. Melted, unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Cocoa

Cheesecake:
32 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Heavy Cream, room temperature
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Vanilla
3.5 oz. 70% Dark Chocolate
3.5 oz. Milk Chocolate
3.5 oz. White Chocolate
1/2 tsp. Salt
Dark, Milk and White Chocolate for Garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients and press into a 9" spring-form pan.
2. Combine cream cheese and sugar, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.
3. Divide equally into 3 bowls. Melt the 3 types of chocolate separately and mix one each into each of the 3 cheesecake batters.
4. Pour about 1 cup of the dark chocolate mixture into the pan, followed by 1 cup of the milk chocolate and 1 cup of the white chocolate. Repeat the pattern until all the batter is in the pan.
5. Place in water bath and bake 75-90 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting for an hour. Cool completely on counter and refrigerate overnight before serving.
6. Garnish by using a potato peeler to make flakes of the three types of chocolate and sprinkling over the cake.

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte

Time out from the Cheesecake Challenge: I tried out another new recipe called the double chocolate mousse torte. I was looking for something chocolaty that didn't take quite as long as cheesecake. And something different and new, too. This is what I went for:

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

This cake was YUMMY! I loved how rich is was and also the creaminess of the mousse. But mostly I loved the flourless chocolate/torte like cake on the bottom. Super yum!

Anyway, without further adieu, here is the delicious recipe:

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

Cake:
8 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
5 large Eggs
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Flour

Mousse:
1/2 cup Butter
4 large Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
8 oz. chopped Semi-Sweet chocolate
1/2 cup Sugar

Topping: 
3/4 cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare 10" spring-form pan.
2. Melt cake chocolate and butter and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in sugar and then eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, salt and flour.
3. Pour into pan and bake until just rises at center (tester inserted will NOT come out clean), about 30-35 minutes. Cool completely and let chill while preparing mousse.
4. Melt mousse butter in bowl set over saucepan of simmering water. In separate bowl, whisk yolks, 1/4 cup cream, and vanilla and gradually add to melted butter. Whisk constantly for about 6 minutes.
5. Remove mixture from heat and add chocolate. Stir to melt.
6. In separate bowl, beat egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar with a pinch of cornstarch until medium-stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of mixture into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture.
7. Pour mousse over cooled cake and chill until set, about 6 hours.
8. Run sharp knife around edge to loosen and release torte. Beat 3/4 cup cream and powdered sugar in bowl until peaks form. Spread over the torte, garnish, and serve.

Cheesecake Challenge #7: Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake

This time I tried the Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake from Mel's Kitchen Cafe:

From Source

Wow. Yum. Delish. This one was a total hit and success. It is extremely rich, but that's how I like my chocolate. It turned out beautifully, too, but we'll get to that. This one is a 5 start, creamy, rich, chocolaty concoction:

And you know what else was wonderful about this cheesecake? Mine was actually quite pretty! We took it to dinner at a friend's house and they thought the cake was bought! That's always a compliment when it looks store-made pretty.

So here is the recipe for this awesomely chocolate cake:

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake:
(from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Ingredients:

Crust:
9 oz. chocolate cookie crumbs (like grahams)
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. melted butter

Cheesecake:
10 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
32 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
4 Large Eggs

Topping:
3/4 cup whipping cream
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9" Springform pan. mix the crust ingredients and press into bottom of pan only. Bake until set, about 5 minutes, and keep oven on.
2.  Melt the cheesecake chocolate and cool until lukewarm. In separate bowl, blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs one at a time and then add chocolate.
3. Pour cheesecake filling over crust and bake until just set, about 1 hour. Once cooled, chill overnight.
4. At least one hour before serving, heat topping ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Cool slightly and pour over cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Chill until set.
5. Allow cheesecake to stand 1-2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Cheesecake Challenge #6: Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake

This one was a success! Here is the source material:

From Handle the Heat

My husband loved it. He devoured it. I even took pictures, although it's not quite as lovely as the one above. My motivation is much more taste than appearance, though.

The taste was great--definitely had the coffee flavor--and the texture was jackpot. I finally got the texture down! I've decided it's very important to overly whip/beat the cream cheese in order to achieve that super creamy texture. Here is my cheesecake, in my new mini-springform:

Here's the recipe:

Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake


Crust:
9 oz. chocolate wafer cookies
1/2 cup melted butter

Ganache:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/4 lb. semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup Kahlua

Filling:
32 oz. softened cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 T flour
3 T instant espresso powder
1 T vanilla
2 tsp. molasses
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9" springform pan.
2. Grind chocolate cookies in food processor and mix with melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan and bake 7 minutes
3. Simmer whipping cream and then remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlua and stir until thick and smooth. Pour ganache over prepared crust and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve some ganache for the top, if desired.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar, then add flour, espresso powder, vanilla, and molasses. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Pour over cold ganache. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Allow to cool 3 hours and then chill overnight. As desired, use remaining chilled ganach as a garnish.

Cheesecake Challenge #5: Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

This time I tried out the Chocolate Espresso variety, from UseRealButter.com:

It turned out pretty good! I want to compare it to my mom's chocolate cheesecake recipe, which could possibly just use the espresso (she uses Amaretto), but it was tasty. Just needed more kick.

I didn't take a picture. It wasn't very pretty. I need to work on that....

Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake


24 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
4.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 T. Espresso Powder
1 T boiling Water
1 T Vanilla
1 T Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream cream cheese and sugar, and then add eggs one at a time until mixed.
2. Mix espresso and water. Continue to whisk/cream, and add cream, melted chocolate, espresso, vanilla, and Kahlua.
3. Pour into a prepared pan (with appropriate crust). Place in oven in water bath and bake for 45-55 minutes. Allow to cool in oven with oven off and then refrigerate overnight.