Chocolate Perfection

What kind of birthday cake do I make for the ultimate chocolate lover?  Triple Chocolate Mousse cake of course.  Deep, rich dark chocolate - light, fluffy milk chocolate mousse and creamy, sweet white chocolate - bring it on.

I get requests for this cake more than any other cake that I make.  It really is that good.

This is the original version of the cake - baked in a 9" springform pan.   

This is the 4" mini version of the cake.  A perfect size for one chocoholic or a couple of chocolate lovers to share.

This is the cupcake version of the same cake.  I created this cupcake last December to serve at a party.






Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake
Bottom Layer                       
6 T. butter                   
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate                  
4 eggs, separated                 
1/3 cup brown sugar

Middle Layer
2 Tablespoon cocoa
5 Tablespoon hot water
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Top Layer
3/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin
1 Tablespoon water
6 ounces white chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Bottom :  Heat oven to 325.  In saucepan, melt butter and chocolate.  Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.  Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat egg whites with brown sugar and salt to soft peaks.  Fold 1/3 into chocolate and them fold remaining cream into chocolate.  Butter sides and bottom on spring form.  Pour batter into pan and bake 13 minutes.  Remove form oven and cool at least 1 hour.

Middle:  Combine cocoa and hot water.   Melt chocolate in microwave and cool 5 minutes.  Whip cream, sugar and salt in mixer until soft peaks.  Fold 1/3 into chocolate and then repeat with remaining cream.  Spoon over cake layer and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Top:  Sprinkle gelatin over water in small bowl.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Bring ½ c. cream to a simmer in saucepan.  Add gelatin and stir until dissolved.  Pour cream over white chocolate and whisk until smooth.  Cool 5 minutes.  Beat remaining cream in mixer to soft peaks and fold 1/3 into white chocolate mixture.  Fold in remaining cream and spoon over mousse layer.  Return cake to refrigerator and chill at least 2 ½ hours.

This cake freezes really well too.




No matter what size or shape it is, this cake never lasts long.  I adapted this recipe from a Cook's Illustrated recipe a couple of years ago and it quickly became a very popular cake.

Happy Birthday Tracy - I hope you enjoyed your cake as much as I did.

Bon Appetit!

Practice makes perfect

Last weekend we went to the Spanish Heritage Festival.  It was a super fun atmosphere.  There was great music and a lot of GREAT food.  Of course we had to sample some of the food so we shared a plate of quesadillas and a plate of chicken flautas.  I was so disappointed that I didn't have my camera with me because I would have loved to show you our food.  It was pretty impressive for fair food.  The flautas were the overwhelming favorite.  I knew that I couldn't replicate exactly what we had at the festival that day but I wanted to try and come close to that plate of deliciousness.


I had no idea how hard it was going to be to make these little chicken flautas.  I started with a batch of chicken that I grilled earlier in the week.  I put it in the food processor to shred it quickly and into small chunks.


 
I filled my first tortilla with chicken, rolled it up and the entire thing fell apart.

I warmed the next tortilla in the microwave for 10 seconds, filled it with chicken, rolled it up and it also fell completely apart.

Then I tried brushing oil on the tortilla and rolling it up.  Failure again.

I had almost given up when in a last ditch effort, I logged onto WillamsSonoma.com and read through some of their tortilla recipes.  They suggested dipping each tortilla in hot oil to prevent breakage.  Brilliant.

I poured some canola oil into my pan and heated until it was smoking.  I dipped a tortilla in the oil for 1 second, flipped it and then took it out of the oil.  I laid the hot tortilla on a paper towel and filled it with chicken. 

Then the tricky part, rolling this scalding hot tortilla into a nice tight flauta without burning my fingers.  Not easy.  It didn't take long for me to realize that this is a skill I was not going to master in one night.  I did my best to roll these flautas but mine were not nearly as neat or tightly rolled as the ones we had at the fair.




Once they were all rolled, I took 4 at a time and put them back in my oil to cook.  It worked best to put them in the pan seam side down so that they didn't unroll.  Something else that I learned the hard way.




 I laid the fried flautas in a 9x13 pan, covered them with foil and let them cool.  Only because it wasn't time for dinner yet.

When it was time to eat, I put the dish of flautas in the oven to warm at 350.  






I thinned my refried beans with chicken stock and heated them in a saucepan. 

I also shredded some iceberg lettuce and crumbled some queso cheese.

Okay so my first attempt at flautas took me well over an hour but that's mostly because I had so much trouble rolling the tortillas.  Once I figured that part out, the recipe went much quicker from there.  They were worth the effort.  We ate all but 2 of the flautas.  Now that I've worked out the kinks, I think I will give this recipe another try.

Bon Appetit!

Super Snack

What a great weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was my daughter's soccer game on Saturday.  She is so much fun to watch.  Her team won their game 2-0.  Yea! 

My kids are home on Fall break this week.  Yea!  I think I look forward to their break even more than they do sometimes.  Having them home all day also means that they will be looking for snacks about every hour.  (I honestly don't know how they make it through the school day.)  This week, I am prepared.  I baked a batch of these peanut butter fingers to help with the afternoon snack attacks that are inevitable. 

Peanut Butter Fingers

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oats
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped peanuts

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Spread into a foil lined 10x15" pan.  Bake for 18 minutes at 325.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Allow to soften for a few minutes and then spread over bars.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over chocolate.  Cool completely and then cut into bars.

Amy's tip: Put the pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes to get the chocolate to firm up so they are easier to cut.

Bon Appetit!

Pumpkin Perfection

Every Fall, I look forward to making pumpkin pancakes.  I woke up this morning thinking about warm pumpkin pancakes, sprinkled with crunchy pecans and drizzled with maple syrup.  I just happened to have some leftover pumpkin to use up from my Swirled Pumpkin Yeast Bread too - bonus.  

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes
1 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons brown sugar          
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder  
½ teaspoon baking soda 
3 Tablespoons butter, melted          
1 cup milk1 cup pumpkin         
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla             
½ cup chopped pecans

Whisk together flour, 3 T. sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, combine milk, eggs, 3 T. butter, pumpkin and vanilla.








Whisk into flour mixture.










Drop by quartet cupfuls onto a warm skillet and sprinkle with pecans. 

Flip and continue to cook until cooked through.

My husband suggested that we swirl some of the pumpkin pancake batter with some regular pancake batter to create a new pancake.  We gave it a try.

It was a good idea.



I still prefer the pumpkin pancakes drizzled with warm maple syrup but the kids liked the swirled version better.  On a cool Fall Sunday morning, these pancakes hit the spot.

Bon Appetit!

Comfort Food

A couple of weeks ago, I played a game on 104.7 the Fish and I won 2 tickets to the Make Your Move concert with Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tenth Avenue North and Trevor Morgan.  How cool is that?




The kids were bummed that there were only 2 tickets but it was nice to get away with Ben for the evening. 


Last night was the concert and it was awesome.  We had a great time. 

Now onto the recipe of the day:

There is something about the cooler Fall weather that makes me want to sit down and enjoy my favorite comfort foods.  Both of my kids absolutely love macaroni and cheese and they ask for it often.  Since I am not a fan of the boxed macaroni and cheese, I usually make my own homemade version.  Even though the kids enjoy my homemade version, I can't help but notice the slightest hint of  disappointment in their faces when I served it instead of the boxed macaroni and cheese.  My mom introduced me to a new recipe for macaroni and cheese this summer and my kids actually said it was BETTER than the boxed macaroni and cheese!  It's made with fresh wholesome ingredients and, it can be made in advance.  I've swapped my old macaroni and cheese recipe with this new one - for good. Thanks, Mom.

Make-ahead creamy macaroni and cheese
6 tablespoons butter
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 cups shredded Colby cheese
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook pasta over high heat for 3 minutes. Drain but don't rinse. Spread pasta on a baking sheet to cool. Heat butter, flour, mustard and cayenne in saucepan for 2 minutes. Stir constantly. Slowly whisk in broth and cream.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in cheeses, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir drained pasta into sauce and mix well.

Divide between 3 4x6" containers. (or 2 8" square baking dishes) cool to room temperature. Wrap with plastic wrap and then cover with foil. Refrigerate or freeze for up to 2 months.

When ready to serve, remove plastic wrap and cover thawed macaroni and cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375. Remove foil and bake another 15-20 minutes.

My mom copied this recipe for me out of a Cook's Country magazine. When she made it for my kids this summer they couldn't seem to get enough of it.   The original recipe had a crunchy, buttery garlicky topping but I chose to leave it out. Since I divided my recipe into thirds, I put 2 pans in my freezer to save for another day. 

I served the macaroni and cheese along with some grilled chicken and apple sausages.  Everyone really liked it.  I hope that you enjoy some of your favorite comfort foods this weekend too.  Stay warm. 

Bon Appetit!

Gooey Goodness

Caramel and apples ranks right up there with peanut butter and jelly as far as I'm concerned.  It is just about the most perfect combination of flavors ever created.   As soon as the temperatures start to drop, I start craving homemade caramel apples. 




 I love the fact that Kraft came out with these little mini caramel bits.  I used to dread having to unwrap all those little caramel squares.  (Look for these little caramels near the chocolate chips in your local supermarket.) 








We set out our three ingredients and we went to work.  Actually, my daughter did most of the work while I stood around snapping pictures.

We melted the caramel in the microwave for 1 minute and then carefully dipped each apple in the warm caramel. 








To finish off our caramel apples, she rolled each one in a bowl of sprinkles that we had leftover from our apple nachos. 

We set them on a waxed paper covered cutting board and put them in the refrigerator until dinnertime. 














The apples were a big hit - a super simple dessert for a cool Fall night.

Bon Appetit!

Tailgate sandwiches

 

You don't have to hang around my house very long to figure out that my husband and my son love college football.  They love football season and everything that goes along with it.  If you are planning to sit down and watch some football at home this weekend or heading out to a game, you need to try these bite size sandwiches.  They're the perfect little sandwich to snack on during the big game.  

Sassy tailgate sandwiches
12 Hawaiian sweet rolls, split
1 pound shaved ham
12 ounces white American cheese
8 ounce tub Philadelphia chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Arrange bottoms of rolls in a greased 9x13" baking dish. (I used a 9" square baking pan for 9 sandwiches.). Layer sandwich bottoms with ham and cheese. speed each roll top with cream cheese. Place over cheese. In small bowl melt butter. Add worcestershire and Parmesan. Let stand for 20 minutes. Cover dish and bake 20 minutes at 350.

With the leftover rolls, I made some mini sandwiches for my daughter's lunch for the next day.  She was super excited about the "cute" ham and cheese minis.

Send me your comments with your family's favorite tailgate food.  What do you like to munch on while you watch the game?


Bon Appetit!