For a work assignment, I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico to prepare for a sponsorship with the Indian Market. An amazing find was Eloisa’s, a new restaurant at the Drury Hotel. From the roof top bar overlooking the great panoramic that is Santa Fe, to the excellent meal which was art on a plate. If you are ever in the area, be sure to stop by!
Brownies are always a good choice, add frosting on top and it’s almost a cake but less (almost no) crumbs. Perfect! These brownies are so moist and rich, and did I mention really good?
Ingredients
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9×13 pan and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine butter, cocoa and sugar. Mix in flour and beat well. Add in eggs and vanilla, mix just to combine.
3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Batter will be thick so you’ll have to use a spatula to make sure you get to your corners.
4. Bake for 22-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Frost while still warm.
5. For frosting, sift together sugar, cocoa and salt. Cream butter in mixing bowl. Gradually add in sugar to butter, alternating with milk. Mix until creamy. Spread over warm brownies.
Happy Sunday!!
A cake reminiscent of a Snickers bar – chocolate cake with a peanut nougat filling, covered in a salted caramel buttercream and topped with a milk chocolate ganache and chopped peanuts. It’s a fabulous cake – a moist, chocolate cake with a river of cheesecake running through the middle and topped with sugared walnuts. It’s a very worthy birthday cake. I have no doubt that you will be completely smitten with this cake and find every excuse in the world to eat piece after piece.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
2½ cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1½ cups strong black coffee, hot
¾ cup vegetable oil
4½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Nougat Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup evaporated milk
1½ cups marshmallow fluff
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups salted peanuts, roughly chopped
For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup salted caramel sauce
2 cups powdered sugar
For the Milk Chocolate Ganache:
8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
4 ounces (½ cup) heavy cream
For the Assembly & Garnish:
Additional salted caramel sauce
Chopped peanuts
Directions
1. Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, grease the parchment, then flour the insides of the pans, tapping out excess; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand mixer), sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 20 seconds (the batter will be very thin).
4. Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pans in the oven. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool the cakes (in the pans) on wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
5. Make the Nougat Filling: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring until dissolved, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and add the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, and vanilla extract, stirring until completely smooth. Fold in the peanuts. Let the nougat mixture cool to room temperature before using it in the cake. You can do this leaving it at room temperature or you can pop it into the refrigerator to speed up the process. Be sure to give a stir occasionally as it cools.
6. Make the Frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 5 minutes (I like to use the whisk attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it’s not necessary). Pour in the salted caramel and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional two to three minutes, until light and fluffy.
7. Assemble the Cake: If your cakes baked up uneven or have domed on top, level off the tops. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Cover with half of the nougat filling and then spread a couple spoonfuls of the salted caramel sauce over top to evenly cover the nougat filling. Top with a second cake layer and cover with the remaining nougat filling and top with caramel sauce. Place the final cake layer on top face-down. Frost the cake with the salted caramel frosting, finishing it as smoothly as possible. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour, until the frosting is set.
8. Make the Chocolate Ganache: While the cake chills, make the chocolate ganache. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside. Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and warm until it just comes to a boil. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Begin whisking the mixture in the center, gradually working your way outward until the ganache is completely smooth. Set aside to cool, whisking occasionally, until it has thickened slightly, yet still a pourable consistency.
9. Garnish the Cake: Transfer the ganache to a 2-cup measuring cup. Slowly pour the chocolate ganache into the center of the cake, letting it push itself outward and flow over the sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes, giving the ganache a chance to set up. To finish garnishing, drizzle some additional salted caramel sauce over the top and side of the cake, and top with chopped peanuts. Keep the cake refrigerated, removing it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to serving.
Have an amazing Sunday and week #friendsofTenaciousM!!
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Bars-Buttery Oreo crust, creamy chocolate cheesecake then garnished with rich Chocolate Ganache. When you slice these bars up and put them on a serving plate all you’ll see is elegance.
Ingredients
2 cups crushed Oreo cookies (about 24 cookies)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
24 ounces cream cheese (3 8 ounce bars) softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
for ganache
1/3 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
1. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil, lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine crushed Oreo cookies with melted butter until all crumbs are moistened. Press crumb mixture into prepared pan. Set aside.
3. Place 1 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high in microwave for 45 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Heat an additional 15 seconds if needed. Let cool.
4. Cream cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar and vanilla, beat well.
5. Add cooled chocolate and beat again until combined.
6. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined. Make sure to scrap down sides of bowl.
7. Spoon cheesecake mixture over prepared crust and smooth to edges.
8. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, until only center of cheesecake jiggles. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with door to oven cracked for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove cheesecake to rack to cool completely before refrigerating. Let cheesecake chill for 1 hour before adding decorative ganache.
9. To make ganache, place chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute. Let chocolate rest for 5 minutes before stirring. Stir until completely smooth. Let cool. Spoon ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip or you can use a plastic freezer bag with a small hole cut out of one corner. Drizzle chocolate ganache over cheesecake in any design.
10. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to completely chill before slicing.
Yesterday was International Nelson Mandela Day, a day for service to mankind in honor of a great leader. What better way to acknowledge the day than to spend it working to bring health insurance to under-served populations. #Time2Serve
Many thanks to my lifelong friend, Pamela (middle), for using her birthday the serve!!
Sharing that someone else knows that chocolate should be celebrated!! Enjoy!
Happy Sunday #friendsofTenaciousM!!
Just looking at this cake with the sweet vanilla buttercream covered in rich chocolate ganache sprinkled with buttery Heath chips… it just makes me happy. It’s perfection.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I use decaf)
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans (it will be very thin) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Egos & Buffaloes 