Chocolate Cake Balls

Have I mentioned that I love chocolate? Well, I do. These cake balls are perfect for chocolate lovers. The main focus of my picture is a white chocolate covered cake ball with crushed walnuts. The only reason it's the main focus is because it's prettier than the plain chocolate cake balls. Although they are yummy, the semi-sweet chocolate covered cake balls are the stars of this post. I don't know how much it matters which cake recipe you decide to use, but I've had cake balls before and these were amazing. Credit for the superb cake goes to "Sandy" from allrecipes.com.

Before starting this recipe, I searched the web and my baking books for a chocolate cake recipe that didn't involve baking chocolate or vegetable oil (didn't have any on hand) and I came across this recipe. Lucky for me, it ended up being perfect. After baking, I scraped my cake pans clean to get the bits of cake that stuck to the bottom out. Then, I ate those little bits of extra cake. It was delicious. I actually only made half of the cake recipe because it was supposed to make a three layered cake. My first thought was, "that's going to be a lot of cake balls." There was no way I was going to make that many. Half of the recipe made about two dozen golf ball-sized cake balls, and that was definitely enough for me. My first plan was to cover the cake in Wilton candy melts. That failed miserably. Wilton candy melts are the last thing you want to use when trying to coat things in chocolate. They are good for making molded chocolates. The consistency is all wrong for dipping and will never (unless you're magical) work. Even Toll House chocolate chips and Hershey bars don't work (tried and failed). If you ever need to dip things in chocolate, use baking chocolate squares. Doing this will save you a lot of time and money.


Chocolate Cake Balls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/8 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cups sour cream

2/3 cups boiling water

for the frosting:

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

splash of milk, if necessary

16oz Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares (or any other chocolate you would like to use)

nuts, cookie crumbs, or any other toppings you want

Directions

I made the cake the night before to save time.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream. Mix on low speed until combined. Stir water in until combined. Pour batter into two 9 inch cake pans. You don't have to worry about greasing the pans because you need to shred the cake. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

for the frosting

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Beat to combine, adding milk if the frosting is too stiff.

for the cake balls

Make sure the cake is completely cooled. Place all of the cake in a large bowl and, using a knife, stir/chop it until it turns into crumbs. Next, add half of the frosting and mix until combined.Continue to add frosting until the desired consistency is met. The cake should hold its shape on its own but not crumble. Roll the cake into balls about the size of a golf ball and set on a plate or cookie sheet (whatever will fit into your freezer.) Freeze the cake for about 30 minutes, or until firm.

In a heatproof bowl, melt half of your chocolate in the microwave. Try melting it in about 30 second increments, stirring inbetween each one. Once completely melted, set up an area to dip the cake balls. One by one, drop the cake balls into the chocolate. Coat each cake ball completely, then rest on a fork and tap on the edge of the bowl to rid the cake ball of excess chocolate. Using a second fork, slide the cake ball off of the first fork and onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. If you want to add cookie crumbs, nuts, etc, this is the time to do it. Sprinkle whatever toppings you want over the cake balls before the chocolate is set. Continue this process until all of the cake balls are coated in chocolate. Put the cake balls in the fridge to set.

Source

allrecipes.com

Pancit

This has to be the easiest dinner recipe I have ever tried. I made it once and I can easily recall all the ingredients and steps involved. I don't even need the recipe anymore to make it. I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you the best part about this recipe. There are three different types of meats in it. That is awesome. But, the cabbage is really yummy. And so are the carrots. And the noodles. See what I mean? So. Good. I could've eaten it all night if my stomach could handle that much food. Even my boyfriend, who had just recently had this same dish in the Philippines, said it was really good. (Yay!)

This recipe was supposed to feed four people, but I think it really meant six. Or seven. Possibly eight or nine, depending on how much you like to eat at a meal. Although that may be because my head of cabbage was slightly bigger than "medium." What does a "medium" head of cabbage look like anyway? I've only ever seen one size and obviously, that's the size I bought. It didn't seem very big to me, but I guess it just depends on what's available in your area. Well, anyway, I may have also used a little more than half a pound of chicken, but those factors shouldn't add three (five) extra servings to a meal. Maybe, when the recipe said "serves 4" it actually meant "serves 4 ravenous 6' 10'' teenage boys." That would make a lot more sense. My mom and I had two good-sized servings. My boyfriend had one enormous serving plus another smaller serving (he needed those carbs for hockey!) Then my step-dad came home and he and my mom each had a serving before they went to bed. Even after all of that, there was enough for two of us to have more for lunch the next day. We still have more in the fridge. So, adding all of that up, there are at least...10 average-sized servings in this recipe. I wouldn't cut it in half though. It's definitely something that you'd like to have two or ten servings of.  


Pancit
serves...a lot

Ingredients:

8 ounce package thin rice noodles

1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 pound pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup soy sauce

ground black pepper to taste

1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, shredded

2 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water. Soak for 15-20 minutes, or until soft. They will feel a little bit underdone to the taste, but will soften when cooked with the rest of the ingredients. Place the noodles on a cutting board and give them a few chops to shorten them and make them more manageable.

Pour a small amount of olive oil into a very large skillet and brown the chicken and pork. Make sure no pink shows on any of the pieces. Add the soy sauce and pepper. Remove everything but a small amount of soy sauce from the skillet.

Saute the carrots and cabbage until tender (use a lid to make this go faster.) Stir in the noodles, green onions, and shrimp. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the shrimp are nearly cooked, then add the chicken, pork, and soy sauce. Mix everything together then cook for 5 more minutes.

 

Source

Ozzyzmommy - Allrecipes.com

Danish Pastries

What happens when your mom wants you to use the rest of the puff pastry that is sitting in the fridge? Danish pastries happen. I received a Christmas gift in the mail last week - Illustrated Step-By-Step Baking by Caroline Bretherton. It. Is. Beautiful. That is where I came across the idea for these pastries. In the book, it gives a recipe for the pastry dough, but for a quick and easy treat, I used a premade dough. It also shows pictures of how to mix the dough, roll it out, and cut it. It makes recipes that are more advanced much easier to understand. The book also has variations of most of its recipes. Instead of only having a chocolate fudge cake ball recipe, it has strawberry and coconut too. The recipes range from whoopie pies to chicken pot pie. I can't wait to try every last one of them. I'm going to be doing a lot of baking from now on!

Personally, I really like raspberries. They're good with just about any dessert, which is why I chose to use red raspberry preserves for these pastries. Add cream cheese, and you have a creamy filling that isn't too sweet or overpowering. Of course, the cream cheese is optional. This recipe will work just as well with or without cream cheese. Another idea for this dessert - serve it with ice cream!

Danish Pastries
makes 9

Ingredients:

One sheet of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry
1/3 cup red raspberry preserves
about 1 1/2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
egg (beaten, for egg wash)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400° F

Warm the cream cheese in the microwave for about ten seconds if it isn't at room temperature. Mix the preserves and cream cheese together. Set aside.

Place puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the pastry into 3 1/2 inch squares. Cut each square, starting at the corner, about 3/4 inch out from the center. Place about a teaspoon of the raspberry mixture in the center and fold the corners into the center. It should look like this when you begin to fold...

After folding all of the corners towards the center, drop a little more of the raspberry mixture over the center. Brush the dough with egg wash and place on a baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. After taking the pastries out of the oven, use a metal spatula to detach the pastries from the cookie sheet. Let set for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Kale with Portobellos, Onion, and Red Pepper

Over the years, I've noticed how much my TV-watching habits have changed. When I first started out watching TV on my own, I would watch Looney Toons. I would wake up early and if my dad came in and saw Looney Toons on the TV, he wouldn't change it to the news, sports, etc. From there, I switched to Nickelodeon, Disney, MTV, TLC, and finally, Food Network. Basically everything I watch has something to do with food. Before this year, I never put much thought into watching Rachael Ray, Barefoot Contessa, Giada at Home, or Paula Deen. I never understood why someone would watch them cook a meal for half an hour. I always wondered how anyone was supposed to keep up with what they were doing. I'm not sure when it clicked for me, but I'm now well aware that just about everything they make is online, complete with directions and ingredients. I know which shows are on when I come home from school and what order they are in. Rachael, Ina, Giada, Paula. I usually can't catch all of Rachael Ray, but one day I flipped the TV on and saw her finishing her "Cauliflower Sauce with Whole-Wheat Penne" with a side of "Kale and Portobellos." I had just had kale for the first time the week before and thought the dish would be a good thing to try out. 

After putting a little thought into it and considering what was in my fridge, I decided the kale would taste better with onion and red pepper. This is because I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms and I wanted to add a few more flavors to the kale.
Personally, I enjoyed this recipe. Hopefully, anyone that gives this recipe a shot enjoys it too.



Kale with Portobellos, Onion, and Red Pepper

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a small onion, sliced
1/2 of a red pepper, sliced 
2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
1 pound of kale, stemmed and chopped
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup dry red wine

Directions
In a large skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they begin to get soft. Then add the peppers and saute until they begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and heat until tender. Add the kale, turning until it begins to wilt. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add wine and stir. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve warm with any bread you prefer.

Source
slightly adapted from Rachael Ray

And Now For a Story...

Do you see that picture up there? Well, DO YOU? That, my friend, is a Triple Double Neapolitan Oreo. See that halo of light around it? There's a reason for it. These cookies are heavenly. Now, personally, Golden Oreos are my absolute favorite type of Oreo. Normal Oreos are good too, as long as I have a jar of chunky peanut butter or a glass of milk to go with them, but I could eat Golden Oreos all day long without any accompaniment. There's actually a story about how this lovely cookie ended up in my possession...

Awhile back, a friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of a package of Triple Double Oreos (the regular kind). I immediately ventured over to the closest Walmart to find the crazy cookie but was at a loss to find it. I asked my friend about it and what do you know, he knew a person that was a test person for new products...in other words, he was one lucky guy who got to try the Triple Double Oreos before anyone else. So not fair. Well, I had to wait for the cookies to pass taste-testing and hit the market. The wait was a long and painful one. Finally, one day another friend of mine mentioned the cookie and said it was at Walmart. Three minutes later I was there. And I saw the cookie. And I was happy. And I went home. The End.

But not really...see, for some strange reason I loved just showing the stupid packaging to anyone that was at Walmart with me. I would say "Have you seen the Triple Double Oreos yet?" They would respond with a "No." I would immediately drag them five aisles over to where the immense selection of Oreos were kept. "Look," I would say, "Oreo, cream, Oreo, chocolate cream, and ANOTHER OREO!" It was a beautiful sight that nearly brought me to tears each time. Now this is where the Oreo in the above picture came into my life.

My dad and I were at Walmart and, of course, I asked him if he had seen the wonderful Oreos yet (I had been there two days before with my boyfriend and we had seen them right before the fire alarm went off, but that's another story.) I was about 95% sure that he had already seen the cookies, but once again, I just wanted to look at them. He wanted to buy them before we even saw them. "NO." I said, "No way. If you buy those cookies, I will eat all of them. And then I will be very mad at you. Very mad." I told him this as we made our way over to the Oreos. I took a look at them and was pretty sure I'd be perfectly fine with not eating them even if my dad did buy them. I became more okay with the idea. Then fate took over. I glanced up, for I had noticed the unmistakable yellow packaging of the Golden Oreo, and laid my eyes on the one, the only, Neapolitan Oreo. "Oh. My. Gosh." I thought, as a pool of drool formed around my feet, the skies parted, and the angels began singing. I looked at the picture on the packaging. Golden Oreo, strawberry cream, Golden Oreo, chocolate cream, Golden Oreo. I would have been fine with just one cookie, but of course, you can't do that. We walked out of Walmart that day with a marvelous package of Oreos. It was opened before we made it out of the parking lot and was half gone by the time we got home. That's not saying much, considering there were only eighteen cookies in the entire package, but each cookie is the equivalent of 5/3 of a normal Oreo. So, applying my super-mega-awesome math skills, nine of those monsters equal fifteen normal Oreos. Nevertheless, they are sacrément délicieuse. According to Google Translate, that means "damn delicious" in French, which makes me wonder what people were thinking when they named Sacramento. Just a thought.

Soft Pretzels

Walking through the mall in my town has created a problem. The mall isn't very big and the food court is at the center of it all, which means no matter where I go, I can smell Auntie Anne's pretzels. The smell is to die for and tempts me everytime I pass by. Occasionally, I will give in and buy cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks to share with my friends, but I think the raisin and icing pretzels may be the best.

This made me think about making my own pretzels at home. I hadn't made a baked good of this sort before and was curious as to how it was done. The pretzels need to be boiled in water with baking soda before being baked. I wasn't sure what the purpose of this was, so I did a bit of research to find out. The baking soda is what gives the pretzel its brown, shiny crust. Without that crust, what would the pretzel be? Twisty bread. Not very exciting if you ask me. These pretzels are very yummy if made the right way and are delicious with cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the top. If you are confident enough, you can try adding raisins and icing to the pretzels for an even sweeter treat.



Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

 For the dough:
1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl
For finishing:

 Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Pretzel (or kosher) salt
Cinnamon sugar (optional)
(1/4 cup sugar and 4 tsp cinnamon)


Directions
To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan.

In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope.
Make a U-shape with the rope. Holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt (or cinnamon sugar). Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Wait until the pretzels have cooled completely before putting them in a bag or container.

Source
Annie's Eats

Cuban Sandwich

So in case you end up with leftover roast pork, here's the recipe for you! I don't know about you, but there's just something about a hot sandwich that screams "YES!" to me. The combination of melty cheese, generous amounts of meat, and a good homemade bread makes for a deliciously hearty meal. And hey, what better way to use leftovers?

I planned ahead and prepared a starter for the Cuban bread two nights ago, because it had to set in the fridge for 24 hours. The bread was a little bit dense (in a good way) and very yummy. The bread soaks up butter and juices beautifully. If you have a panini press or anything of the sort, making this sandwich will be made that much easier for you. I, on the other hand, used a pot to press down on the top of the sandwich. Pressing the sandwich really wasn't hard at all, but it's just a matter of convenience. Make sure you use enough butter for grilling the sandwich, it makes the crust nice and crunchy. I am also including the recipe for Cuban bread in this post, but you can use a French baguette as well.

Cuban Bread

Starter

Ingredients:

3/4 tsp active dry yeast(1/3 envelope)
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup bread or all-purpose flour

Directions
The day before baking; mix the starter ingredients, dissolving the yeast in the water first. You want a thick paste when you add the flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let "ripen" in refrigerator for 24 hours. Leftover starter will keep for several days in the refrigerator and can be frozen.

I only made half a recipe of the starter and it worked just fine - the dough recipe only calls for half of a starter recipe

Dough

Makes 4-6 sandwiches

Ingredients:

4-1/2 tsp active dry yeast - (2 envelopes or 2 cakes of compressed yeast)
1 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 cups warm water
3 to 4 Tbsp lard or solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 batch starter (see above recipe)
1 Tbsp salt
4 to 5 cups bread or all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3 tablespoons of water in a large mixing bowl. When the mixture is foamy (5 to 10 minutes), stir in the lard, the remaining water, and the 1/2 batch of starter.

Mix well with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Stir in salt and flour, 1 cup at a time. You want to get a dough that is stiff enough to knead. You can also mix and knead in a mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a food processor fitted with the double blade, as the processor dough hook will not handle this job easily.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary. The dough should be pliable and not sticky.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles its' bulk, about 45 minutes. Punch down.

I improvised on the steps below. Instead of dividing the dough into four pieces, I divided it into two. This resulted in two normal-sized loaves.

To form the loaves, divide the dough in 4 pieces. Roll out each to form a 14-inch long tube, with rounded ends (sort of like a long meat loaf) Put 2 of the loaves on a baking sheet, about 6 inches apart. Cover with dampened cotton dish towels and let rise in warm, draft-free spot until double their bulk, about 1 hour. If you want to let it rise at a slower pace, you can do it in a cooler spot and even in the refrigerator, but give it 3 to 4 hours instead.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Lay a dampened piece of thick kitchen string or twine (about 1/8 " thick) all along the top length of the loaf. Bake until the breads are lightly browned on top and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 30 minutes.

Let them cool slightly and remove the strings. They will leave a distinct little ridge on top. Transfer loaves onto a wire rack for cooling.

I was curious about the reasoning for the string on the bread and this is what I found (history of the Cuban Sandwich).

Cuban Sandwich

Ingredients: use generous amounts of each

Butter for grilling, panini-style

Cuban bread

Roast pork

Ham

Dill pickle slices

Butter or mustard (optional)

Directions

Cut bread in half (like you would to make a sub). Spread desired amount of butter/mustard on inside of bread. Layer (in this order) pickles, pork, ham, cheese (The more the better!). This sandwich can be served hot or cold. For a hot sandwich, heat a frying pan and add butter - make sure its not too hot so you don't burn the bread before the cheese melts. If you're using a pot to smash the sandwich, make sure you have a firm grip on it and press directly down for a few minutes. You want to squish the sandwich so it's at least half its original size. Flip the sandwich and press again.  

Sources

3 Guys From Miami

Taste of Cuba