Soap Mom's Kitchen

Hershey's Chocolate Vegan Snack Cake

2013-04-29T12:59:00.002-04:00

This is simple to make, yet a perfect little snack cake to have for an after-school treat, or tucked away in a lunch box. Your kids will be grateful! There are no eggs, milk or butter in this cake.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

3 Cups Flour
2 Cups Brown Sugar (Packed)
1/2 Cup Hershey's Cocoa Powder
1 T. instant coffee
2 Rounded Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Water
2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 T. Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Powdered Sugar (to taste)
Optional: I added 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

Oil a 9x13 pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with the rack set to the center.

Place all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, instant coffee & salt) into a large, round bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Break up any clumps that form.

Create a "crater" at the center of the pan, and add all liquid ingredients (water, oil, vanilla, & vinegar). Mix entire bowl well, ensuring to scrape the sides and bottom. Add vegan chocolate chips. I also sprinkled a few chips on top of cake before baking.

Pour into oiled pan. Bake for 35 minutes (your oven will vary some), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Lightly dust top of cake with powdered sugar.

Bridal Shower Sample Cake

2013-04-17T11:53:00.000-04:00

This is a sample bridal cake with a vintage theme that I just made today. The cake is covered in Wedgwood Blue Fondant, Ivory and white gum paste roses, fondant pearls and lace. The actually lace that wraps around the cake, I purchased about 30 years ago in a antique shop. I am so glad to actually use it on this cake. It will be a two tier cake. This sample is a lemon poppy seed cake with strawberry jam and French Custard Cream filling. The cameo I made out of polymer clay.

Coconut Bakalava Rolls

2013-03-21T14:59:00.001-04:00

I love Baklava and being of Greek heritage, I grew up with it. Every holiday we had to have Baklava at the dessert table. The great thing about Baklava, it has a very long shelf life. It is a great make a head dessert. You can really make this dessert your own. Feel free to take the basic recipe and change it up. You can use pistachios, dried fruits finely chopped such as apricots and cranberries. I love adding mini chocolate chips. Go ahead and experiment. It is pretty much full proof. Anything you put in phyllo dough with layers of butter and syrup is bound to taste good. Have fun!

Coconut Baklava

Filling ingredients
1 package #4 phyllo dough
2 to 3 sticks unsalted butter (melted)

2 cups ground walnuts
2 cups ground almonds
1 cup shredded sweet coconut
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. clove
4 T. sugar

Mix all the nuts, coconut, sugar and spices in a bowl set aside.

Syrup:
31/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 cups water
Juice of 1 lemon
Peel of 1/2 lemon
2 cinnamon sticks

Make first: Place syrup ingredients in heavy sauce pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for at least 35 minutes or until slightly thick. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peel. Set a side to cool.

Brush you 9 x13 pan with butter. Open you phyllo package and unroll phyllo. Cover with a damp tea towel. Prevents phyllo from drying out. Take one phyllo at a time and brush with melted butter. Do this a total of 5 times. On the long side of the phyllo, place about 2 tablespoons of nut mixture across the length of the phyllo and sprinkle more nut mixture over the entire sheet (this will ensure that there is nuts with in each layer of the roll and not just the center, roll up jelly roll style. Cut 1 inch pieces and put a whole clove on top. Push clove into the phyllo dough. Place them in your greased pan. Keep on rolling and cutting until you fill your pan. You probably will have left over phyllo, you can save for another day or make spinach pie.

Bake baklava rolls in a preheated 350degrees for about 55 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven when golden brown and immediately pour cold syrup over baklava. Makes about 60 pieces.

Optional: Whole cloves for decoration
Must be removed prior to eating

Happy Birthday Penelope

2013-03-15T18:48:00.000-04:00

It is my wonderful niece's Birthday today.

She is 22 and I baked her a cake to celebrate. She is a lovely, young lady with a big heart and deserves a special cake. This is a banana cake with cream cheese pastry cream and French Butter Cream Frosting.

I will be posting the recipe at a later date, going to the party now.

These are my sister's three kids Chris, Eleftheria and Penelope.

Penelope is the one on the far right!

They are awesome young adults and I love them so much!

Happy Birthday Penelope!

Love You!

Black Forest Cherry Buns

2013-02-22T11:40:00.002-05:00

I love Black Forest Cake with moist chocolate layer cake, cherry pie filling and tons of fresh whip cream. It really is an old fashion, wonderful cake and should be made more often by home bakers. I will be making my version soon and posting it.

This bun is in honor of that wonderful cake. They are perfect for breakfast or brunch. They are not overly sweet like cinnamon buns. They are just right. Love them with a good cup of strong coffee. Enjoy!

Beautiful!

Ready to be rolled jelly roll style

Dough Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 T. melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 room temperature egg
pinch salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups all purpose flour and a little extra to form dough into ball

Filling Ingredients:
1 large can of cherry pie filling (I used Comstock)
Chocolate Cake Crumbled about 3 cups (recipe below) or 3 large cupcakes

Icing Glaze
Powder Sugar 1 cup
Add about 2 T. heavy cream or a little more to make
a thick paste that is able to drizzle from a spoon

In a glass measuring cup slightly heat water and milk about 5 to 10 seconds in microwave. You should be able to put your finger in the milk and it should be slightly warm. Add from the 1/2 cup sugar, one teaspoon sugar and add to the milk/water mixture. Stir well. Add yeast and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to activate yeast about 5 minutes. When yeast is bubbly your ready to go.

In a food processor, add flour, salt, melted butter, egg and milk/yeast/water mixture. Process, you may have to add a little extra flour to bring the dough together into a ball. It should be a soft dough ball. You can do this whole procedure by hand or using a heavy duty stand mixer. I love doing it in my 14 cup food processor. It is super fast.

Grease a big bowl with butter or oil and place dough into bowl. Must cover with plastic wrap and place in warm spot, preferably. Let rest until double in bulk about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Punch down, and let rise another 1/2 hour. Your ready to roll the dough. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a rectangle about 16x22. Place 1 can of ready made cherry pie filling, and add crumble up chocolate cake. I used about 3 large Texas size chocolate cupcakes. Roll the dough from the long side like a jelly roll. Slice into 1 1/2 inch slices. Place into a well greased pan, I used 11x15. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake at a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for about 30 minutes and drizzle with icing.

My favorite Chocolate Cake
1 cup strong coffee
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

In a Pyrex bowl. Add coffee, sugar, chocolate chips, butter and microwave until every thing is melted. You can do this in a sauce pan. Add flour baking soda and mix well with a whisk. Add egg quickly and whisk. You must do this quickly as to not cook the egg. Add vanilla and mix. I used a large Texas size muffin pan, lined with paper liners. Place in preheated oven 350 degrees. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Make about 6 large cupcake or 12 regular. You will have a few left over from this recipe, but freeze them for next time or just enjoy an extra sweet treat.

Dig in!

Coconut Marshmallow Dream Cake

2013-01-09T10:58:00.001-05:00

Just imagine layers of moist coconut cake, coconut pastry cream and homemade marshmallow frosting, topped with sweet shredded coconut for good measure.

If you love coconut cream pie, you will love this dreamy cake. This is one of the most requested family favorites and the good news, the frosting is fat-free!

I know my daughter and nieces will appreciate having this recipe. It is a combination of recipes that I have used for years. You can interchange the flavoring. I have done lemon, orange, banana, strawberry, spice, etc. using these base recipes for the cake and the pastry cream. You can even flavor the pastry cream with flavored coffee creamers. Use your imagination, it is endless. What I can promise you by using a cake mix with other ingredients is, you will have a very moist, wonderful cake every time. It has turned out every time and is never the dreaded word, DRY!

Cake Ingredients

Preheat oven to 325 degree

Prepare pans: 3 (8 inch round) cake pans, greased and lined with parchment

1 box yellow or white cake mix

(Duncan Hines without the pudding in mix)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

4 egg whites room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup full fat coconut milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup full fat sour cream

2 tsp. coconut extract

Directions: Mix all dry ingredients using a hand whisk in large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and beat on low speed for 4 minutes. Bake at 325 degree preheated oven until cakes are golden and tooth pick comes out clean. I usually check after 25 minutes for 8 inch round cake pans. Cool and remove from pan.

Easy Pastry Cream
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 large package of instant Vanilla Jello pudding or
2 small packages
2. tsp. of coconut extract

Mix the whip cream and pudding mix in a big bowl. You can use a whisk or hand mixer. Add extract. Mix until pudding texture is achieved. Place in fridge for one hour to set. It should be very thick like pastry cream.

Marshmallow Frosting
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
4 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Directions
In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes or until a candy thermometer reads 242 degrees F (firm-ball stage). Meanwhile, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl until foamy. Slowly pour in hot sugar mixture; continue to beat on high for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add extract. Continue beating until frosting reaches desired consistency, about 2 minutes.

Assembly: Take your first cooled cake layer and spread some of the pastry cream to make an even layer. Place second cake layer on top of that and do the same with the pastry cream. Top with remaing cake layer bottom side facing up. Frost the entire cake with marshmallow frosting and cover with shredded sweetened coconut. Enjoy!!!!

Greek Avgolemeno Chicken Soup

2013-01-07T11:07:00.001-05:00

Everyone in my house has the flu. When I was a child and was sick my lovely mother would always make me this chicken soup and she still continues to make it for the grand kids when requested. My heritage is Greek and our version of chicken feel good soup is called Avgolemeno Soup. It is so comforting and delicious. The lemon chicken broth goes down real smooth and the eggs give extra nourishment to the ill. You don't have to be sick to enjoy this comforting soup.

I wanted to post this recipe for my wonderful nieces, Eleftheria and Penelope who are now of the age to start cooking for themselves and for my teenage daughter, Athena. I am sure down the road they will appreciate this recipe when they start having families of their own, they can make this soup for their children. It is our duty to the pass the knowledge and the family recipes! Enjoy girls!!!!

Ingredients:
10 cups chicken stock (homemade or organic ready made)
1 split chicken breast on the bone (salted, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil)
1/3 cup long grain rice, uncooked
1 T. olive oil
1 T. salted butter
1 onion (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste, very important to season your soup!

2 T. corn starch
4 T. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. dried dill or fresh

2 eggs, separated
pinch salt
2 lemons (juice)

Sprinkle with dill, if desired

Directions:
Take your split chicken breast, salt and pepper it. Place on a well greased roasting pan coated with olive oil. Drizzle additional olive oil on top. Roast for 35 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Remove from oven when done. Cool. Remove chicken from bone and chop into small size pieces to add to soup later. This method produces a tender, moist piece of chicken. It will not be tough in texture when added in your soup. This can be done in advance.

In your soup stock pot, add butter and olive oil and sautee onions, celery, carrot and garlic until tender and translucent. Add dried herbs. Add 10 cups of stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until all veggies are tender. Using an immersion blender. Blend until vegetables are still visible but fine in texture and size. Add rice and simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Adjust seasoning.
*If you don't have an immersion blender, just make sure you chop you veggies really fine when you add to the pot or ladle them out and add to a blender or food processor for a quick finer chop. Place back into stock pot, add your rice and continue with directions.

Take 2 T. cornstarch and 4 T. heavy cream and blend with a spoon until smooth and no lumps are visible. Slowly stir this into soup. Mix well. Add dill and chopped chicken pieces at this time. Adjust seasoning if need be. Continue to let soup cool for about 20 minutes. You can now start to make the egg and lemon mixture. You do not want to add this mixture to very hot boiling soup. The egg/lemon mixture will curdle and we do not want that to happen.

Using a hand mixer. Separate the eggs. Start with the egg whites first, whip until frothy and foamy, not stiff. Add a pinch of salt. Slowly add the egg yolks one at a time. Continue to whip to a frothy texture. Add lemon juice from the 2 lemons, slowly into the egg mixture while the mixer is still whipping. When it is all mixed and frothy. Take a cup of warm soup and slowly add this to the egg mixture to temper the eggs while the mixer is beating.

Slowly pour egg mixture into the stock pot with the broth/chicken and with a large wooden spoon stir the pot gently to incorporate the egg/lemon mixture into the soup. You can reheat the soup to a low simmer, do not bring to a boil. Remember to always check for seasoning, salt and pepper.

Simple Cranberry Cake

2013-01-04T08:29:00.002-05:00

I had left over cranberries from the holidays and this is a perfect recipe to use them up. Special note: Cranberries do freeze well. This is a simple cake to put together. It taste even better the next day. I love this recipe for its simplicity, and it is wonderful when last minute company is stopping by for coffee. If you love cranberries, I know you will like this cake. It is perfect for a morning cake or brunch.

Simply Cranberry Cake

3 room temperature extra large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 soften butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. fresh cranberries
Optional: Dust with sifted powder sugar when cake is completely cool. It looks very pretty!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a mixer, beat eggs with sugar until thick and creamy about 7 minutes. The mixture should be double in size and lighter in color. Do not skip this step it is crucial for the cake to rise. Add the soften butter, a little bit at a time to incorporate. Add vanilla and orange zest and continue to beat to incorporate. Sift the flour with baking powder and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and continue to beat. Add fresh cranberries and stir to mix through out batter.

Butter a 9x13 aluminum pan. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before cutting. I like to cut into small 1 x 2 inch pieces. Enjoy!

*Remember you can make this in advance, taste better next day.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

2012-11-29T06:59:00.001-05:00

I love Tiramisu and there are endless ways of making it up in different variations. I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit. This would be wonderful for a Christmas party. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

from Soap Mom's Kitchen

Step One: Whip in Stand Up Mixer place in fridge:
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powder sugar

1/2 tsp. gelatin

2 T. water

Step Two: Mix in a stand up mixer:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
8 oz container mascarpone cheese

(Do not substitute cream cheese)

15 oz can pure pumpkin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. all spice

Coffee Syrup

3 tablespoons rum
1 T. coffee liquor

3/4 cup strong espresso coffee

1/3 cup sugar

1 package Italian lady Fingers (The hard ones)

Preparation:

Make your espresso coffee, add sugar, rum and coffee liqueur. Place in fridge to get cold.

(Do not have an espresso machine, can buy instant espresso)

In microwave safe bowl. Add water and mix gelatin heat for a few seconds to melt set aside. In Mixer bowl add very cold whipping cream, gelatin mixture and powder sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Place in a a new bowl and put in fridge.

In same mixer bowl you do not have to clean it. Add pumpkin puree, mascarpone cheese, spices and sugar beat until well combined and creamy. Gently fold pumpkin mixture into whip cream mixture by gently folding with a spatula. Be careful not to deflate. You want your filling to be light and airy. Place in fridge.

Assembly:

I use a 10 x 12 aluminum pan with 2 inch sides. I usually make Tiramisu for potluck and aluminum pans are great for that. I am sure you can use a 9 x 13 pan.

Take one lady finger cookie and dip both sides into coffee mixture (2 second dip on each side). Place cookie on the bottom of pan. Continuing doing lady fingers this way, until you cover the bottom of the pan. Take half of pumpkin cream mixture and spread with an offset spatula to smooth. At this point, I sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top of the pumpkin mixture. Continue with the next layer of lady fingers dipping in coffee, then a second and last layer of pumpkin puree, spread again until smooth with offset spatula. Sprinkle more cinnamon on top. I place in fridge uncovered for at least 8 hours or overnight. The longer it sits the lady fingers get soft and wonderful.

Hershey's Dark Decandent Cupcakes

2012-10-18T16:48:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Melanie

This is the one recipe that has gotten the most comments on my blog (Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe) and is the most requested recipe from my family. Well, today is a very special day and warrants a very special cake. It is my best friend's Birthday. Happy Birthday Melanie, and many, many more! I hope you love the cupcakes. You deserve only the best!!!!!

Recipe from Hersheys.com
Ingredients 8-10 Large (Texas size cupcakes)
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water ( I used hot, strong coffee)

Directions for cupcakes:
1 Heat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into cupcake tins.

3 Bake 25 minutes for large cupcakes and adjust time for smaller cupcakes 15 to 20 minutes (Do toothpick test). Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting. Decorate anyway you want. I made chocolate swirls. Enjoy!!!!!

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
8 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat room temperature soften butter in medium bowl until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk or less may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

New England Chocolate Whoopie Pies

2012-10-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

A little history on the Whoopie Pie. It has many names Black Moon, Gob, Black and White, Bob or Big Fat Oreo. It can be considered a cookie, pie or cake. It is made either from chocolate batter, pumpkin, basic yellow batter, gingerbread and just about anything you can imagine. It is traditional to have a creamy white fluffy, marshmallow filling, but I have seen many variations on that as well. What so great about a Whoopie? Well, for me it feels good in my hand. It's like holding a sandwich, but this one is sweet and comforting.

The origin of the Whoopie is somewhat disputed, but from what I know it comes from the Pennsylvania Amish. Amish women would bake these treats known as Hucklebucks or Creamy Turtles, (I love those names) and put them in their hubbies lunch pails. The men work hard farming in the fields all day, so I am sure they would burn those extra calories off in no time. Anyways, when the farmers would find these delights, they would shout out "Whoopie!" I have to say I can't blame them.

Well, the official state treat in Maine is the Whoopie Pie, not to be confused with the official dessert, which is blue berry pie. Anyway you slice it cookie, pie, or cake they are yummy!

I found this recipe in an AARP Magazine. I also like to add a layer of seedless raspberry jam on mine with the addition of the frosting below.

Makes 7 to 8 large Whoopie Pies or 15 mini pies
Ingredients:
1 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)

Filling
3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar sifted
1 1/2 cups prepared marshmallow fluff
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, than add egg and vanilla, beat until light and creamy. In another bowl, mix the cocoa, baking soda, and flour; then blend alternating with buttermilk into the creamed mixture until you form a thick cake like batter.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto greased baking sheet and bake 7 to 9 minutes. (You can do a trial one to test bake the size you want). Remove from the baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

To make filling cream butter, add confectioners sugar, continue mixing until creamy. Add vanilla, fluff and salt and cream until well mixed.

To assemble: sandwich a heaping tablespoon of cream between two cakes, dividing cream evenly among the pies. Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cookies

2012-09-29T09:09:00.000-04:00

I am in cookie mode. The holidays are around the corner and I am trying out some new recipe ideas for holiday gift giving. This is a lovely cookie for the fall months and has all the components of a carrot cake. You can fill these cookies with cream cheese frosting and sandwich them. Yum!

Carrot Cake Cookie Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cookie Sheets

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. clove
pinch salt
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
2 T. wheat germ

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Wet Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted margarine
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Add ins:
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cups crushed pineapple (juice drained)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients except sugars.

In an electric mixer cream margarine. Add sugar and continue to cream until creamy and smooth. Add eggs, Vanilla and continue to cream. Add dry ingredients slowly and mix well to form a cookie batter. Add grated carrot, pineapple, nuts and raisins. Mix until incorporated.

Drop by rounded tablespoons on to cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 13 minutes until cookie is done. Do not over brown. Immediately transfer cookies on to a cooling rack.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Vegan Gluten Free Cookies

2012-09-21T11:59:00.004-04:00

The holidays are around the corner and I am thinking of cookies. I always do a lot of baking for the holidays and it is never to early to try out new recipes. This one is great because it is vegan and gluten free. Makes great gifts for those on special diets. So get ready, you will be seeing many post on cookies.

Enjoy this with a cold glass of soy milk! Yum! They are delish!

Posted on my vegetarian blog: Cookin Veggie

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan, Gluten Free

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

¾ cup peanut butter

½ cup Earth Balance vegan butter

1T. ground flax seed

1 tsp pure vanilla

1T. agave nectar

1 ½ cups gluten-free flour blend (I love Bob's Red Mill)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 cup mini vegan chocolate chips

cane sugar for rolling

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, soda & xanthan gum. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, combine all other ingredients and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.

Roll the dough into balls then roll in cane the sugar. Flatten the cookies with your palm. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Vegan Cookies

2012-07-28T12:10:00.000-04:00

Do you have any Vegan friends? Make a batch of these cookies for them. They will be so appreciative. I made these for my Vegan Blog, but they are so good I had to share these.

Taste like a Brownie. We absolutely love these in my family. This is guaranteed to fix your chocolate cravings and please a crowd.

Double Chocolate Vegan Cookies

Preheat oven 350 degrees

2 sticks unsalted margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 T. ground Flax seed mixed with 3 T. warm water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 rounded tsp. baking soda
1 cup vegan chocolate chips

In a stand mixer cream margarine and brown sugar, until creamy and smooth. Add flaxseed/water mixture to mixer, continue creaming. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Sift. Add slowly on low speed to cream mixture. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. I use a small spring loaded ice cream scoop and I put a small mound of cookie dough onto a silpat lined cookie sheet. Press slightly with palm to flatten cookie a little. Bake for 12-13 minutes. You do not want to over bake. They should be slightly soft to the touch. Let cool before eating.

Almond Chocolate Toffee

2012-07-12T19:59:00.001-04:00

Evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over hot toffee.

When chocolate has melted, spread with an offset spatula.

When chocolate has been evenly spread and still sticky, sprinkle sliced almonds.

Chocolate, nuts and buttery toffee, yummy! A super easy recipe that assembled rather quickly. I make this a lot during the holidays and put into cellophane bags with ribbon. They make great gifts for teachers, friends and co-workers.

I have made different variations with different nuts, milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate and sea salt. Have fun with it.

Almond Chocolate Toffee Recipe
recipe: received from a potluck years ago.....

Ingredients:
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped almonds

Directions:

1. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber color, and the temperature has reached 285 degrees F (137 degrees C). Stir occasionally.

2. While the toffee is cooking, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray with grease release, like PAM.

3. As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it set for a minute or two to soften. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer once it is melted. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and press in slightly.

4. Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.

Apple Pie Slab Bars

2012-06-26T04:49:00.001-04:00

This is a wonderful recipe for potluck.......

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
Milk * addition of milk see asterisk below paragraph
1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal
8 to 10 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (8 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 cup powdered sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons milk

Directions

1. In a food processor; process flour and salt. Add cut up butter and process until a meal is formed. In a liquid measuring cup, beat egg yolk lightly. *Add enough milk to make 2/3 cup liquid. Stir well to combine. Add milk mixture into flour mixture in processor and process until a ball is formed (dough will be slightly sticky). Divide mixture in half. Put in fridge for 20 minutes.

2. On a well-floured surface, roll half of the dough to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Fold dough crosswise into thirds. Transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan and unfold dough, pressing to fit into the bottom and sides of the pan. In a bowl add sliced apples, oatmeal, sugar and cinnamon and toss well. Place apple mixture on top of bottom crust in pan. Wet the edges of dough with a pastry brush and water. Roll remaining dough to a 15x10-inch rectangle. Fold dough crosswise into thirds. Place on top of apples and unfold dough. Crimp edges or use the tines of a fork to seal. Cut slits in the top. Brush top with beaten egg white. I added a sprinkle of raw sugar on top of egg white.

3. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 50 minutes or until golden and apples are tender, covering with foil after the first 25 minutes of baking time to prevent over-browning.

4. In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons milk to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm bars. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 32 bars.

I am sure you can use cherries, blueberries and peaches as a substitute for apples.

Happy 40th Birthday Celebration Cake

2012-06-07T13:46:00.000-04:00

It was my hubby's birthday and he turned 40 years old. He is a few years younger than me, I'm hoping he will catch up to me soon. His birthday cake request was Hershey's decandent, moist, dark chocolate cake. It is truly a chocolate lover's dream.

The candles are made from white chocolate and I made the birthday flags out of clay.

Easy Cherry Kuchen

2012-06-04T10:07:00.001-04:00

What is a Kuchen? It is a traditional german coffee cake. This is a very quick and easy way to make Kuchen. It literally is put together in under 10 minutes. It keeps well for a few days, and can be made in advance. Great for Potluck, bake sales and after church get togethers.

Easy Cherry Kuchen

Recipe:
Bake: 350°F 42 mins Cool: 10 minutes
Ingredients

All ingredients should be room temperature.
2 sticks butter, very soft
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 21 ounce can cherry pie filling or any favorite flavor

1 recipe Powdered Sugar Icing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour and mix until well incorporated. Reserve
1 1/2 cups of the dough. Spread remaining dough in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.

2. Bake for 10 minutes. Spread pie filling over crust in pan. Spoon reserved dough into small mounds on top of pie filling and smear into pie filling using an offset spatula or back of a spoon. I use a cookie sheet under my cake pan to prevent over browning.

3. Bake about 30 minutes more or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Drizzle top with Powdered Sugar Icing. Cool completely. Cut into bars to serve.

Powdered Sugar Icing
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
3 - 4 teaspoons milk

Directions
In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, vanilla or almond extract, and enough milk to make a smooth icing of drizzling consistency. You can add a few toasted sliced almonds on top of the icing sugar.

Classic Tiramisu

2012-05-31T09:33:00.002-04:00

Layering the ingredients.

This is a classic Tiramisu that I have been making for 20 years. It is always a big hit. I usually make it in a disposable aluminium pan 10x12x3 or use a 9x13. The above Tiramisu was made in a 9" spring form pan. This is a great potluck dessert or something to bring over a friends house. Can be prepared 2 days in advance. It gets better with age.

Recipe:

Liquid for dipping lady fingers:

1 1/2 cups strong coffee

2 tsp. instant espresso coffee

1/4 cup coffee liquor

2 T. dark rum

3/4 cup sugar

Mix everything in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Cheese Filling:

6 eggs separated

1 (17.5 oz.) container mascarpone cheese

2/3 cups sugar

Beat egg yolks and sugar together until pale yellow. Put into another bowl and set aside. In a clean mixing bowl beat whites until soft peaks form ( Make sure there is no runny liquid of egg white on the bottom of bowl. If so, continue beating). Gently fold whip egg whites into yolk mixture. Set aside.

Assembly ingredients:

1 package 17.5 oz. Italian Lady Fingers (Savoiardi)

1 bar of semi sweet chocolate

2 T. cocoa powder

I used a spring form for the Tiramisu in this post above, but typically, I used an aluminium pan for easy assembly and transport.

Dip the lady fingers into the coffee mixture for a quick second and line the bottom of the pan with lady fingers. Sift grated cocoa on top of lady fingers than grate chocolate on top. Spread half of the egg cheese mixture and smooth out evenly with a offset spatula. Sift more cocoa on top of cheese filling and grated chocolate bar. Dip more lady fingers into coffee mixture and do another even layer on top of cheese mixture. Sift cocoa and grated chocolate and do one more cheese layer, smooth out evenly. Sift one last time with cocoa and grated chocolate. I decorated with whip cream piped shells. Recipes follows:

Piped Whip Cream Shells:

1 cup cold heavy cream
3 T. confectioner's sugar
Whip with mixer until stiff peaks form. Pipe using a large star tip and piping bag.

Mama's Banana Pudding

2012-05-13T12:04:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

I am going to a potluck barbeque today at my sister's house to enjoy my Mother's Day with my adorable Mother who is 76 years old and awesome. This is a wonderful recipe for potluck. It is easy to transport, prepare and everyone loves it. My mother has had this recipe for years and it was a very popular dessert back in the 70's made with the Nilla Vanilla Wafer Cookies.

Banana Pudding Recipe

1.5 cups cold water
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 regular size package of instant vanilla pudding powder
4 cups very cold heavy cream
1 1/2 boxes Nilla wafers
5 to 6 medium bananas plus drizzle 1 to 2 tsp. of lemon juice over bananas to prevent discoloration

Directions

One the low speed on an electric mix, blend the water, milk and pudding powder until thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight) until firm.
Whip the heavy cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form If planning on piping some whip cream shells follow recipe below. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well incorporated. Try to deflate the whip cream.
In a large bowl or disposable aluminum pan (Great for Potluck), starting with the wafers, make five to six layers with Nilla wafers, sliced bananas and then the pudding mixture until all of the pudding mixture is gone. End with the pudding and decorate with crushed wafers and extra whip cream on, if desired. Refrigerate about 2 hours before serving, and refrigerate (or freeze) any leftovers.

Piped Whip Cream Shells:
1 cup cold heavy cream
3 T. confectioner's sugar
Whip with mixer until stiff peaks form. Pipe using a large star tip and piping bag.

Lemon Blueberry Tea Bread

2012-05-10T19:03:00.000-04:00

This is a lovely tea bread to make when you have blueberries on hand. It is quick to put together and even taste better the next day. My hubby loves this bread.

Lemon Blueberry Tea Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; beat into creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries.
Pour into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth; drizzle over warm bread. Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices).
Special Note: If using frozen blueberries, use without thawing to avoid discoloring the batter.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins

2012-05-04T06:04:00.000-04:00

This is a wonderful muffin with a strong cup of coffee for Sunday morning breakfast.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
Large muffin tin; lined with paper liners
Makes 8 to 10 large size muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dry Ingredients
1 stick butter, plus 2 Tablespoons (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt

Combine in liquid measuring cup and mix well
1/2 cup whole milk (room temperature)
1/2 cup full fat sour cream (room temperature)

Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake Mixture
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup ground walnuts (optional)

Reserve a few tablespoons of Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on top of each muffin before baking.

Cream your butter with sugar, until light and fluffy, add eggs continue to cream until lighter in color. Add extract. Combine all dry ingredients and sift. Combine milk and sour cream. Alternate between dry and wet and add to cream butter mixture, mix until well incorporated, do not over mix the batter. Add cinnamon sugar mixture and gently fold in to batter. Do not over mix you want to see ribbons of cinnamon sugar throughout the dough. I use liners for easy removal. Let batter sit out for 30 minutes. Scoop into liners, 3/4 full. I use an spring-loaded ice cream scoop. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of muffins. Bake 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Glaze for Drizzle
Mix a 1/2 cup of powder sugar with a few teaspoons of water until you have a medium to thin glaze. Drizzle on top. Add water one teaspoon at a time to reach desired consistency.

Sesame Almond Roasted Asparagus

2012-05-02T15:27:00.001-04:00

This vegetable dish is spicy and tasty. The almonds, toasted sesame seeds, chili flakes and sesame oil add a level of complexity that is really appealing to me in flavor. It is also very appealing visually. I think it looks elegant.

Sesame Almond Roasted Asparagus
1 lb Asparagus Spears, trimmed
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
1T. olive oil
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
1 T. toasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
pinch salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a shallow greased baking dish place all ingredients and toss with hands to coat asparagus. Roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Cheesecake bars

2012-04-17T13:59:00.001-04:00

Creamy and Delicious

I saw this recipe on Lynda's Recipe Box. It sounded delish. I did make a few changes, because I like the added richness from the sour cream and butter from a New York Cheesecake that I made recently. Like I really needed to gild the lily here. Well, you can never have enough butter or sour cream, right? This one is definitely a keeper and I know I will be making this all the time. Thanks Lynda:)

CHEESECAKE BARS

adapted from Lynda's Recipe Box
I doubled Lynda's original recipe and made a few more fattening changes.
Click on the link above to see her recipe.

Ingredients for crust:
2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup soft butter
2 cup flour

Cream the brown sugar and butter together. Then blend in the flour until crumbly. Separate 1 cup for topping. Place the rest in a 13x9 inch spray baking pan with spray release and press down to make crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool.

Ingredients for filling:
4- 8 ounce bars of cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
8 tablespoons sour cream
1 stick butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, milk, lemon juice and vanilla and beat well. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust and spread out evenly. Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture (topping), over the cream cheese filling. Bake at 350 degress for about 25 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Simple Apple Pie

2012-04-09T13:10:00.002-04:00

This apple pie will win any red-blooded American over. When I eat apple pie I feel like I'm walking through an apple orchard feeling alright. I have had a very stressful few weeks and I needed some lovin from the oven. Apple pie makes me feel loved. I adore the smell of apple pie baking in the oven. It just makes me feel happy!

Pastry dough - double crust
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup ice cold water
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cold corn oil

Apple Filling
6 cups tart apples, peeled and cored
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Apple Pie Directions:

Prepare the pastry: In a food processor add flour, salt, sugar and process. Add 2 sticks of butter cut up into cubes and process until the size of peas. In a measuring cup, measure water and add oil. While processing slowly add water/oil until a dough ball forms. Form into a disk and wrap in clear wrap, refrigerate for 30 minutes. *If you do not have a food processor just mix the dry ingredients and cut the butter into the flour. I use my fingers and rub the butter with flour until I get pea size butter pieces. Slowly add the cold water/oil mixture. Gently form into a ball, wrap and place in fridge.

1. Roll the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate with the bottom crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Chill the pastry.

2. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Apple Pie Filling

3. Prepare the filling: Pour the fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Add your lemon zest to the bowl. Peel, halve and core the apples. Be sure to remove seeds. Slice them evenly about a 1/4 inch thick into the bowl, coating them with the lemon juice as you go.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugars, flour or cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Add them to the apples just before you want to bake the pie, mix gently. If your apples are really tart you can add more sugar or use less. This is a personal preference.

Assemble the Apple Pie

5. Scrape the filling into the bottom crust, dot with butter and cover it with the second crust. Trim and crimp the crust; You can get fancy with your pie pastry, I cut out an apple with stem and leaves and egg washed it. I sprinkled with coarse sugar. Chill the pie for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

Cut vent slits in the top crust. It is your option to sprinkle it with sugar or brush the top with egg wash.

Baking the Apple Pie
Make sure to place pie on cookie sheet.
Juices will leak out and make a mess in oven.

6. Bake the pie on a baking sheet for 10 minutes at 400° F or until the crust looks dry, blistered, and blonde. Turner the oven down to 375°F, and bake for at least 45 minutes more or until the crust is golden brown, and visible juices are thickened and bubble slowly through the slits in the top crust.

Check if the bottom crust has darkened. If not, bake a little more and cover the top crust with foil, so it does not burn.

Let the pie cool.

7. Cool the pie completely before cutting at least a few hours. Serve it at room temperature. Store the pie uncovered in a cool place up to three days.