Chocolate Buttermilk Cake!!

So who doesn’t like Chocolate!! 🙂

I do know some people that don’t, and that is okay.  It’s January and what comes in January every year…people getting on the band wagon about losing weight.  Now don’t get me wrong I have no problem in that what so ever, and at work there is a small group that are in a contest the “Biggest Loser”.  I wish everyone on them great success!!! 
With that there has been a discussion in the office about people bringing in “Sweet Treats” and putting them in the ‘Lower Kitchen” area.  We have two kitchens, a big one upstairs next to the break room and a smaller one on the main office level.  Putting sweets in the lower kitchen is being frowned upon, leading to temptation.  My opinion on that is…

Temptation is everywhere…when you walk out of your house, driving past a drive-thru, when you go shopping, you have to learn to avoid temptation and if you are trying to lose weight then you need to walk pass the “Donuts” or the “Cake”.  Not putting “Sweets” in the lower kitchen is not going to teach anyone to avoid temptation, will it help at the moment…yes, but as anyone knows its something that has change in your lifestyle.  We all are “Big Boys and Girls” and all know what’s good and bad for us and we need to take that responsibility.  

Now for those of us that love a sweet indulgence any time of the year, I made this cake and those that got to taste it here in office absolutely LOVED IT. 

And its quick and easy 🙂

Ingredients

In medium bowl whisk, eggs, buttermilk, oil & vanilla

Mixed

In a large bowl whisk, flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, cinnamon and baking soda

Mixed

Add liquid to flour and stir

 

stir in hot coffee,

batter will be thin

Pour into a sprayed 9×13 pan

Bake

Let cool

for the frosting you need

in a medium sauce pan add sugar, milk and butter

once it comes to a boil pour over Chocolate chips and vanilla

Let sit for about 5 minutes, when whisk until smooth

Let set at room temperature for about 3 hours until it becomes thick
you can also but in the fridge, just keep stirring and checking of the thickness
I just about every 1/2 hour I gave it stir, until the cake was cooled
you can see how thick I let it get

With a hand or stand mixer, blend until fluffy, about 2 minutes

 

Then spread over cooled cake and serve 🙂

 

 

Recipe

Cake
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup Buttermilk
3/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup strong hot coffee

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean.

In a large bowl whisk together, flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, cinnamon and baking soda, set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil and vanilla

Pour buttermilk mixture in flour and stir, then pour in hot coffee and stir until smooth.  Pour into a sprayed 9×13 pan and bake.  Let cool completely

Frosting

2 cup sugar
1/2 cup regular milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup Chocolate chips
2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, sugar, milk and butter stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl add chips and vanilla, once mixture on stove has come to a boil pour it over chips and vanilla, let stand for 5 minutes then whisk mixture until smooth.  Let stand for 3 hours, stirring every 1/2 hour, while your cake cools.  Then beat mixture with hand or stand mixer for 2 minutes until fluffy, then spread on to cooled cake.

 

You can see how moist and fluffy the frosting is…yum!!

Enjoy!!

 

“The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”…PIE!!!!

If you are reading this post saying to yourself…what is “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” Pie?  

Then I would say 1. maybe your are not from Kentucky or surrounding states or 2. you don’t follow horse racing 🙂

Yes horse racing, and not just horse racing “The Kentucky Derby” 

The Kentucky Derby is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. 

This Saturday (first Saturday in May) May 4th, 2013, will be the
139th running of The Kentucky Derby!!

 The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” (hence the name of my recipe)  for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner.

It is the first leg of the US Triple Crown and is followed by the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes.  

A horse must win all three races to win the Triple Crown.  Which in it’s 138 years of running only 11 horses became “Triple Crown Winners”, the last one in 1978 the horse was Affirmed ridden by Steve Cauthen, a local boy 🙂

The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup

Location- Churchill Downs    Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Inaugurated 1875
Race type – Thoroughbred
Website http://www.kentuckyderby.com/
Race information
Distance 1¼ miles (10 furlongs)
Track Dirt, Left-handed
Qualification 3-year-old
Weight Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg)
Filly: 121 lb (55 kg)
Purse –  US$2 million
1st: $1,425,000
Bonuses US$ 200

Oh… you say you are asking me who I pick in this years race, well I like 2 horses…1 – Java’s War, yes for he’s name because you know I love JAVA!!
2 – Verrazano, he’s beautiful dark brown in color (like my pies) and his post position is 14th and that’s me favorite number 🙂

Okay so now that you know all about “The Kentucky Derby” let’s talk PIE!!!

Now you say why not name your pie recipe, Derby Pie…Well there is a “Famous” Derby Pie and click here and you can read about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_pie  We also sell this “Famous” pie in our stores 🙂  Here in Northern Kentucky (Remke bigg’s)

If you clicked and read about it you now know that I don’t want to be sued…for using the name 🙂  Yes you heard me sued!!! 😦

And there are so many recipes out there named Ky. Derby Pie, Run for the Roses Pie, First Saturday in May Pie, May Day Pie…oh I could go on and on!!! 

So that’s why I decided that this recipe would be named for what is known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”

I am going to make 2 pies, one with a pie crust and one with a puff pastry crust.  One with flour, one without flour…Let’s see which is better 🙂

Pie #1 – no flour

Everything in the bowl, except nuts & chips, then whip it

    

for about 4 minutes, then add Nuts and Chips

     

Mix up, and then pour into pie shell (below is Puff Pastry)

     

Bake and done

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (I use pure sugar cane)
2/3 cup light corn syrup
4 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup Kentucky Bourbon…yes it must be made in Kentucky 🙂
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 – 2 cups walnuts, rough chopped
1 pie crust or puff pastry sheet (directions below)

In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, add to large bowl, all ingredients except walnut and chocolate chips.  Mixer on medium to incorporate  then mix on high for 4 minutes.  Then fold in walnuts and chocolate chips, pour mixture in to your pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until top is a luscious brown in color.

Cool at room temperature for at least 4-5 hours before serving.

Pie #2 with flour

In bowl add dry ingredients  and wet in another

        

Whisk wet into dry, it looks like this

         

add nuts and chips and fold in

          

Pour into pie shell, (below is with Pie Crust)

Bake and done

Pie #2

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar,(I used pure cane sugar)
1/2 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup Kentucky Bourbon, again this must be bourbon from Kentucky 🙂
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 -2 cups walnuts, rough chopped
1 pie crust or puff pastry sheet (directions below)

In a large bowl add flour, salt and sugars, whisk to combine, in small bowl add butter, eggs, bourbon, vanilla, whisk to combine, add egg mixture to flour mixture, whisk to combine.

Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips, pour into pie shell, bake at 350 degrees for 35-37 minutes, it should be golden brown and look set.  

Let cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours before serving.

Crust directions: 1 puff pastry sheet or 1 pie crust

Just showed you the puff pastry, pie crust will work
the same way, you just would not trim the edges

Puff pastry on work surface, roll out

    

place over pan, then trim edges

    

fold under the edges, then flute/crimp your edge

     

prick with tines of a fork all over
Puff Pastry on right, Pie crust on left

      

Blind bake with pie weights or dried beans
you want your crust light brown, par baked
or that is what I did here

       

Roll puff pastry/pie crust out on a floured work surface, roll out enough to have a 1 inch hang over your pie pan.  Spray pie pan, place pastry/crust over pan and gentle push to form to the pan.  Take knife or scissors and trim the corners off leaving 1 inch of the pastry, the pie crust you should not have to cut anything away (unless you made it from scratch, then you may need to trim)

Tuck pastry/crust under about 1/2 inch all the way around, then with your fingers, flute/crimp edges of the pastry/crust.  Take a fork and prick the pastry/crust lightly all over on the bottom and sides.

Now you will blind bake your pastry/crust, take a piece of parchment paper lay over pastry/crust, add on top of the parchment pie weights or dried beans.

Bake at 350 degrees just until crust is light brown in color about 20 minutes, then remove let cool for 15 minutes  then add your pie filling.  Bake as directed above in recipe you will be using.

Okay they both were very good in there own way, the one I made with the pie crust, was recipe #2 with flour.  Crust was great but can you go wrong with Pillsbury 🙂

The filling was nutty, chocolaty, and had that good taste of bourbon, it was lightly firm, seemed to hold together very well, that was due to flour.

Puff Pastry crust with recipe #1 no flour, was very good as well, it was in my opinion a little more richer and gooey.  And I loved the Puff Pastry crust too…

It’s really do hard to choose which was better, they both were “DELICIOUS” in their own way 🙂    Hope you will make them!!!  

Plus I must say that you certainly can taste the Kentucky Bourbon in these pies, which is why I used 1/3 cup, you can defiantly use less or leave it out.  But here in Good Ole Kentucky…we are leaving it in 🙂   Enjoy!!

Chocolate and Coffee!! …cookies!!

Chocolate and Coffee what really could be better!!

I really don’t think I could live with out coffee, I just love it, give it to me hot, cold, over ice, in a cup or in can  ———>    

I just love any kind of coffee drink and will seek out them out even if its International, but I do usually hit my local Starbucks for an Iced Venti 3 splenda Americano.   I also like to spread myself out and give all coffee shops  a fair shot.
I particularly like visiting this one Caribou Coffee shop, these girls that work there are a lot fun.  So when I go there all I ask is for a Medium size with 4 shots, and then tell them to work there magic with whatever they want to make me.
Then once its done, comes the taste test as I try to guess what they made me, well it is really a lot of fun and I’ve never had a bad drink yet.
My last one was  Dark Chocolate syrup with hazelnut, so I thought why not try to make a cookie with the same flavors.

So here is what I came up with and I will call it!!

Dark Chocolate Coffee Nut Cookies and it went like this…

Ingredients (plus the nuts, which I forgot in the picture)

add butter and 1/2 cup chips to saucepan and melt

whisk in espresso powder, set aside

add flour, salt, baking powder & cocoa, whisk together, set aside

In a large bowl add both sugars, vanilla and eggs, whisk together

pour chocolate mixture into sugar/egg mixture, combine

add flour mixture to wet mixture and combine

I took a handful of walnuts, chopped them up and it was 3/4 cup (didn’t have any hazelnuts)

add chips and nuts

scoop out on baking sheets

and here you have cookies…Yummy!!!   

Recipe

Dark Chocolate Coffee Nut Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp. espresso powder or instant coffee (heaping)
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (1/2 cup) stick butter
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a small sauce pan add butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips, heat over medium heat whisking as they melt, once almost melted remove from heat.  Continue whisking until smooth, then add espresso powder mixing to combine and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl add flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa, set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl add sugars, vanilla and eggs, whisking to combine, then add chocolate mixture, whisking to fully combine.  Stir in Flour mixture all at once, stirring and folding until flour is fully incorporated.  Stir in remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips and walnuts.  I used a medium scoop (1 1/2 tbsp.) for these, baked them at 350 degrees for 11 to 13 minutes, you want them to look a little crackled.

Have them with a nice ice cold glass of milk or like me with more COFFEE!!!!    Enjoy!!!!

Heart Shape Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheese ball

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Yes once again it’s the time of year that love is all in the air!!!  I hope everyone has a moment today to make someone’s day, even if it with a smile or just a Hello!!!

As as a sweet treat for the occasion I decided to make this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheese ball and shape it into a Heart.  Now of course you could just form it into a ball or make any shape you want, you can also roll it in extra chips or nuts on the outside instead of the sprinkles like I used.  I’m serving this today with pretzels, but you could use vanilla wafers, Teddy Grahams or regular graham crackers.

So here we go, I used these ingredients

Mixed dough folding in the Chocolate chips

Form into the shape and add colored chocolate sprinkles

Recipe:  Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheese ball

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips, divided 3/4 cup added to mixture, 1/4 cup for rolling, unless  you are using sprinkles

In a large bowl add peanut butter, cream cheese and butter, beat together until smooth, add vanilla and salt, mix, then on low speed add 1 cup of sugar at a time, until well combined.  Then fold in Chocolate chips.  Shape as you wish.

In these pictures I doubled this recipe since I was taking to our offices today…I hope you try it and enjoy!!