Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Cake

Another birthday at work last week. This picture is just awful, but the cake turned out much better. There are probably as many chocolate cake recipes as there are chocolate chip cookie recipes. I think this is one of the easiest and best ones. So, if you're ever looking for a good one, here it is.

HERSHEY'S 'PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE' CAKE

2 cups granulated sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
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

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 8-inch round baking pans. 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 mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (This can be made in 2 9 inch pans, a 9 x 13 pan, bundt pan, or into cupcakes.

FROSTING:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Paula Deen's Grandmother Paula's Sour Cream Pound Cake

We had an early 4th of July luncheon today at work. I decided to try out my new Nordic Ware bundt pan that my son and daughter-in-law got me for Mother's Day. I have several Nordic Ware bundt pans and I love each one of them. I like to make pound cakes and these pans make them turn out really special.

I decided to try Paula Deen's Grandmother Paula's Sour Cream Cake recipe. To keep with the red, white, and blue I served it with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. The stars don't show as well in the cake picture, but I thought it was a good cake for 4th of July.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th.

GRANDMOTHER PAULA'S SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating each egg one at a time. Add the vanilla and pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Sauce Pan Brownies

When I was a girl I lived in West Texas. Within walking distance (wasn't everything back then?) was our grocery store, drug store, 5&10 store, and a bakery called the Snow White Bakery. I remember going in there and the smells were just amazing. They made the most awesome brownies. I've never really found a brownie that compared but these are fairly similar, except the ones from my past were frosted. These are so easy to make and turn out a really great brownie.

SAUCE PAN BROWNIES

2 sticks butter
4 1 ounce squares Baker's (unsweetened) chocolate
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans (toasted)

Melt butter and chocolate together in a sauce pan. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder. Add melted ingredients and stir well. Add eggs one at a time. Beat thoroughly. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool. Cut into squares.

Butter Pecan Dump Cake

Dump cakes are those kind of recipes that have so many different types but usually just consist of some sort of fruit or pie filling 'dumped' into a pan, usually some pineapple added, then a cake mix and butter. This one is just a little different but is a very good variation.

BUTTER PECAN DUMP CAKE

1 (29 ounce ) can of sliced peaches with syrup (do not drain)
1 package of (dry) Butter Pecan cake mix
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1-1/2 sticks butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour peaches with juice into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over peaches. Spread coconut over cake mix and add pecans. Pour melted butter over all slowly and evenly. Bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving. Great with ice cream.

Notes on Cooking

I was watching The View this week (well, I fast forward mostly as their talking over each other really is annoying sometimes). Anyway, they had the co-author of this book on the show, Lauren Costello. Just in the few tips she presented on the show, I am getting this book. When searching to order it I came upon the blog that they have which has even more tips. I think any cook would love this book as it really gives some great ideas. I love cookbooks, but this one has not one recipe in it, but it is filled with great tips that any cook would use.

Monkey Bread

Today at work we had a surprise breakfast celebration for a young man who is getting married and just bought his first home. I took Monkey Bread and also Banana Bread. Monkey bread is another one of those recipes that has been around for a long time and has a few variations. Pardon my retro Tupperware cake carrier plate, it's not the best picture.

MONKEY BREAD

4 cans refrigerated biscuits (not the flaky kind)
1 cup granulated sugar
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon (I used 2)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
Chopped pecans (optional) You can use raisins if you like also.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-10 inch tube pan. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. (I used a plastic container with a lid.) Cut the biscuits into 4 pieces. Place several quarters at a time in the sugar and cinnamon mixture and toss to coat. Arrange the pieces in the greased pan. Layer with pecans or raisins. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar until dissolved well. Pour over layered biscuits. Bake 35-40 minutes until brown. A good idea to put a cookie sheet under as this raises pretty high and you don't want a spillover. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

I also wanted to use my new Nordicware loaf pan I got on eBay. I love Nordicware pans. I used my usual 'go to' banana bread as it makes a lot of batter. The picture doesn't do the sliced pieces justice -- this has a really nice crumb to it. This recipe made this large loaf and also a small 8 inch loaf. You can get the recipe from an earlier post Banana Bread.

Top Ramen Salad

This is a recipe that is seen at many potluck dinners (we call them covered dish dinners down this way, but I know that is a term that not used everywhere). When I looked on Wikipedia I saw many different variations of the term, some quite interesting. In any case, this recipe has as many variations as the occasions it is served. It's a good salad for a hot summer day.

TOP RAMEN SALAD

1 package coleslaw mix
5 green onion sliced thin (tops included)
1 cup sliced almonds
2 packages ramen noodles, broken up (I used oriental flavor and poured hot water over them to hydrate them)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:
1/2 cup oil (I used a little less than 1/2 -- not quite to the top)
1/3 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar) + 2 tablespoons
1 packet flavoring mix from the noodles

Mix oil, sugar, vinegar, and flavoring packet. In large bowl, mix together coleslaw mix, onions, almonds, and broken ramen noodles. Add dressing and toss. Let stand for a few hours.

The Good Earth

A friend of mine who is still displaced from Hurricane Ike is living on a farm. When she came for a visit she brought along some vegetables she had harvested from the garden there. Here is a great squash casserole recipe compliments of Paula Deen that makes good use of squash in a most tasty way. As with all of Mizz Paula's recipes, this is not for the WW conscious.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Somehow through a frugal blog or message board I came across an offer for a free subscription to Martha Stewart's magazine. There's not a lot in there that relates to me or my lifestyle, but on the last page of each issue is actually a recipe that is 'down to earth'. This month's recipe was Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. I thought they looked pretty good for something different from the usual chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, etc. type of cookie. These went together pretty easily and are not too bad. Check out the link to the recipe here Martha Stewart's Strawberry Shortcake Cookies.

Congo Squares

There is a tea room in Fredericksburg, Texas that is named the Peach Tree Tea Room. It is a lovely place with the most delicious food. They have a gift shop and sell their family cookbooks. I was lucky enough pick up a 'like new' copy of one recently. There are some great recipes in there. I happened to have all the ingredients for this one and decided try this recipe. It's another keeper for sure.

CHRIS' CONGO BARS
1 cup melted butter
2-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and pour over the brown sugar. Let this set while you measure the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the eggs gradually to the butter mixture and beat well. Add vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool before cutting.

Bake Sale

My small community is having a bake sale today to raise funds for the Heritage Society. They do it the weekend of Mother's Day. Maybe someone will buy something so their mom doesn't have to cook. I made a few things to take over to the bank this morning. There were some beautiful goodies there for sale. In addition to taking my Lemon Jello Cake I took the following things for the sale.

NEVER ENDING CHOCOLATE CAKE
(Cake Mix Doctor recipe)

1 (18.25 oz) chocolate cake mix
1 (3.9 oz.) package dark fudge instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
4 eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, syrup, coffee crystals, and eggs. Beat on low speed to blend, then beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Gently stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into greased and floured bundt cake pan.

Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto cooling rack. Because of time constraints I just sprinkled powdered sugar. It can also be glazed as follows.

To make it look extra special, drizzle white over the dark chocolate glaze. It adds just a little extra something to the appearance of the cake.

Chocolate Glaze

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup evaporated milk

Combine chocolate and milk in small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until blended and mixture comes to a boil. Lower heat and cook, stirring constantly until thickened.

White Chocolate Glaze

Place 1/2 cup white chips and 1/2 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil) in small heavy seal-top plastic bag. Microwave at high for 45 seconds. Squeeze gently. If necessary, microwave an additional 10 to 15 seconds; squeeze until chips are melted. Make small diagonal cut in one bottom corner of bag; squeeze mixture onto cake as directed.

BANANAS & CREAM CAKE
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup toasted pecans

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla and bananas. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture alternately with sour cream. Stir in nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 10" bundt pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees for 50 minutes or tests done with toothpick. Cool, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.

CINNAMON SWIRL BREAD
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon together and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 cup sugar in a large bowl. Combine egg, milk and oil and add to flour mixture. Stir by hand just until moistened. Pour half the batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon mixture, then draw a knife through batter to marble. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack. Wrap and store bread overnight before slicing.

First Place

Well, I did it - I took first prize for my entry. I was really surprised. I won a really nice basket full of all kinds of kitchen things. We had a nice picnic. The weather was really warm and muggy, but we were under some nice trees with a bit of a breeze. I worked the 'fruit table' and filled bowls with melon, strawberries, bananas and grapes. I didn't think the line would ever end! I think my eyes are sunburned! It was really nice to win though. Our company also gave us Coleman lanterns and a $50 WalMart gift card for the upcoming hurricane season. Thank you Gulf Coast Center.

Spring Fling

This is the entry I'm taking to the picnic. I am so nitpicky (is that even a word?) I don't think this is a winner on taste, but maybe I'll get points for presentation! I made this bread back in December and I think it is a good bread -- maybe not great for a competition though. Jamaican Jungle Bread. Maybe next year I'll help organize the event and take the pressure off myself (although doing that part is hard work too). We'll see how it goes.

Mississippi Mud Bread

So, our annual company picnic (Spring Fling) is today. We enjoy barbecue, competitive volleyball, and competitive ping pong at one of our facilities which is actually a ranch. The smack talk gets pretty wild amongst the teams over who will win volleyball, but that is often nothing compared to the competition of the 'bake-off'. Last year's category was chocolate cake and I won first place. This year's category is quick breads. I have been off for a few days and have been 'practicing' some different recipes. When using my trusty Google, I came across this website Recipes for Everyday Cooking that had so many quick breads, surely there would be a winner in there. Here is one I made yesterday. It is very good. Whether or not a winner, this recipe is a definite keeper.

MISSISSIPPI MUD BREAD

2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk (I used buttermilk)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Beat together first 5 ingredients until well blended. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla. Combine and add the remaining ingredients and stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into a 9 x 5 loaf pan that has been greased. (Recipe calls for 4 mini-loaf pans. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes then remove and finish cooling on a rack. When cool, drizzle on Chocolate Coffee Glaze.

Chocolate Coffee Glaze:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds

Stir together until blended. Drizzles over bread and sprinkle almonds.

How to Peel a Potato

I haven't had an occasion to cook anything lately. While browsing around on a food message board this week I came across this You Tube video done by Dawn Wells (Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island) on how to peel a potato. It's pretty amazing. How to Peel a Potato.