Tag Archives: Baking powder

Ina Garten’s Chocolate Cake

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As I told you in my first vlog, I made Ina Garten’s chocolate cake the day I got sick. I made it into cupcakes instead of a cake, but I was only able to eat one before the flu of 2012 took over. I had to toss the whole tupperware of them since they’d been sitting there for so long. A true tragedy.

For those of you who don’t foresee becoming sick, I suggest making this recipe. The one I did try was heavenly.

Cake Ingredients

  • 1 + 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 extra large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup hot coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350*.

2. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix.

3. In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

4. Add wet to dry in a mixer on slow. Or mix yourself (that’s what I did).

5. Add coffee and stir to just combine. Batter will be delicious.

6. Bake 35-40 minutes in 2 greased, 8-inch rounds. Cool 30 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients

  • 6 oz of semisweet chocolate (not chips!)
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 1 extra large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 +1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside and let cool to room temp.

2. Beat butter in a mixer for 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes.

3. Add sugar and keeeeeeep mixing!

4. Dissolve coffee in 2 tablespoons of hot tap water.

5. Add in coffee and chocolate. Mix till incorporated and frost your cake!

Then devour. Yum.

 

Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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On a lighter note from this morning…

I don’t normally post recipes before I make them, but I just can’t resist sharing this delight with you. I hope I can make it this weekend! Original recipe here.

(source)

Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
  • 1 cup shredded zucchini
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 (8 oz) pkg reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, honey, and vanilla.  Don’t worry about clumps of the brown sugar, those will dissolve as it sits while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Then fold in the carrot, zucchini, and walnuts
  2. In another bowl combine add the flour, baking powder, ginger, and baking soda.  Whisk to blend together.
  3. Add to flour mixture to the wet mixture. Stir just until combined. Spread batter into an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
  4. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
  5. Once the cake is cooled prepare the frosting.   In a medium mixing bowl, beat the fosting ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Spread or pipe the frosting over the cooled bars.  Makes 36 bars.

If you make them before I do, please let me know how they turn out!

Vegetable stew

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I know the weekend weather here in Atlanta probably won’t last. The cool temperatures will give way again to upper 80s soon. Nonetheless, I wanted to take advantage of the fall-feeling weather while I could, so I made a vegetable stew and some fluffy biscuits to go along with it.

For the stew you’ll need:

  • Half an onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 medium potatoes cut into bite-sized chunks
  • 3 cups of baby carrots, coined
  • 4 cobs of corn, corn cut off
  • 6 stalks of celery
  • Half an eggplant (I used what was left over from my vegan shepherd’s pie)
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 cup of mushrooms
  • 2 cups of fresh green beans
  • 1 1/2 cans of tomatoes in oregano, basil, etc. (again, left over from the shepherd’s pie)
  • 1 box of vegetable stock (you know, the boxes with the spouts)
  • seasonings of your choice (I used garlic salt, basil, oregano, and LOTS-O-ROSEMARY!)

Put a little bit of canola oil in a large stock pot and sweat the diced onions until translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook just until you smell it (if you let it go too long, it will burn). Add the whole box of vegetable stock.

Add the vegetables in the order listed above (so the hardest go in first, and the softest go in last). Add your seasonings, stir, and let it cook on medium-low until the harder vegetables are soft (no one likes crunchy potatoes in a stew). Serve warm in large mugs!

Now on to the biscuits:

I found this recipe on Bakin’ & Eggs.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used almond milk and it turned out just fine)
1 tablespoon milk or cream for brushing tops of biscuits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sift together twice flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until dough just forms (dough will be moist). Do not over mix.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured (as in A LOT of flour, because the dough was super-wet) surface and knead gently 6 times with (SUPER) floured hands. Pat out dough into an 8- by 5 1/2-inch rectangle, reflouring work surface if necessary. Using a floured knife, cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then into thirds crosswise to form 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet (I put parchment paper down), leaving 2 inches between each biscuit. Brush tops with milk or cream and bake on middle rack until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Yield: 6 biscuits

The result: a yummy, warm dinner for a chilly night!