Tag Archives: Cocoa solids

Happy Mother’s Day! Plus a Chocolate Pound Cake

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Hey there! I know it’s Sunday and I normally don’t post on Sundays…but I also know that today is Mother’s Day. And I think that certainly calls for a blog post. I have a couple things to share with you all today. One is a recipe, of course! And the other is short little video.

I saw this ad about a month ago, and it really touched me. Literally made me cry. I know, I’m a baby..crying during a commercial. But hear me out. Just watch it, I promise you it will touch you too. Here is it. Mother’s Day Ad.

I hope all you mothers out there had an awesome mothers day and everybody wished their mom’s a happy mothers day, and for those of you who have mothers that have passed, I hope you have remembered all the good memories you had with them.

I feel truly blessed to have my mother in my life. She has taught me so much that nobody else ever could have. She has taught me that women will always be right. She has taught me which boys to avoid and which ones are worth a shot. She has taught me what is right and what is wrong. She has taught me how to cook. She has taught me how to bake. She has taught me who to trust and who will have my back at the end of the day. She has taught me how to tell when a pizza is truly good.

She has taught me that sometimes you have to get your “south-sider” out to get your point across (sorry for those of you who don’t know what I mean by “south-sider”, maybe I’ll explain later). She is the one who sat through countless hours of teaching me how to drive, including the days of nauseating backing-around-the-corner. She is the one who I look up to as a role model and hope to become a fraction of a mother she is. I love her to infinity and beyond, and there is nobody who will ever be able to replace that. Love you mom!

So to bounce off of that, I made a chocolate pound cake that is perfect for Mother’s Day. I know that mother’s day is practically over now, but it’s great for showing your mother, grandmother, or any other special person in your life that you really love them! This is a rich, chocolatey, delicious cake that is sure to put a smile on anyone’s face. Enjoy!

Chocolate Loaf Cake

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 1/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (6-ounce) container nonfat vanilla/plain yogurt

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan, set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, water, and vanilla extract.
  4. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time.
  5. Add half the flour mixture to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Mix in the yogurt mixture, then add in the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to finish cooling process. Enjoy and store leftovers in airtight container or cake stand with lid.

Random Fact of the Day: A lion’s roar can be heard five miles away

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Mom’s Birthday Cake

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Yesterday was my wonderful mama’s birthday! To celebrate, we ate cake :)

Of course I made a cake, by her request. It obviously included chocolate. And whipped cream. And mousse.

She’s a smart lady ;) .

Anyways, it was really great to celebrate a day dedicated to my mom. She’s a great woman who I love with all my heart. She has taught me so much in life that nobody else could have ever taught the same. She has loved like no one else could ever love. She has cooked liked no other person could ever cook!

I love my mom so much, that is hard for me to even find the right words to express how much she means to me.

She is the one who always believes in me, no matter how crazy my ideas and ambitions are. She is the one who always encourages me to go beyond my comfort zone. She is the one who always knows how I’m really feeling and how to make it all better (many times involving hugs and kisses<–including the chocolate kind). My mom means the world to me and I feel so lucky to have been blessed to have her in my life.

I love you mom!

P.S. nice choice on the cake flavor combos. deee-lish!

Mom’s Birthday Cake

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

1 cup plus 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 1 (6-inch) springform cake pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa powder, and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
  4. Cream butter and sugar together in mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. There will be extra. You can either make cupcakes, whoopie pies, or freeze the batter for later use with the extra batter.
  5. Bake batter that is in prepared cake pan in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when touched and toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. Let cool on wire rack for 25 minutes. Invert out of cake pan and onto wire rack. Cool an additional 30 minutes. Pop in fridge for 15 minutes. Cut in half lengthwise. Assemble with mouse filling, then frost with whipped cream.

Chocolate Mousse Filling

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

  1. Whip cream with mixer using whisk attachment. When cream takes on whipped cream appearance, mix in melted chocolate until thoroughly combined. Spread on top of bottom cake layer. Let set in fridge for 30 minutes before topping with top cake layer.

Whipped Cream [Frosting]

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 1/2 Tablespoons powdered sugar, or to taste

chocolate syrup, for decoration

  1. Whip heavy cream with powdered sugar in mixer using whisk attachment. Add more powdered sugar or use less depending on how sweet you want your whipped cream. Stop mixer once cream has stiff peaks and takes on whipped cream appearance. Frost tops and sides of cake. Finish cake with drizzle of chocolate syrup, if desired.
Random Fact of the Day: About 85% of the plant life on earth is in the oceans.
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Whipped Cream Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

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It’d be nice if I could come up with a shorter name for these guys…but I thought I’d go the more descriptive route.

These cupcakes were for a special crowd that I was hoping to impress, and I thought that this was the perfect flavor combination to please any palate.

I was SUPER DUPER PUMPED to make these (picture me doing a cheerleading dance). It has been so, so, so long since I got to make a cupcake. I mean like pretty much a whole month! Lent has been driving me a little wack-o and I thought I was just about to jump out of my skin when I was making these babies.

I have never been so thankful to whip cream. Or to mix a cupcake batter. I know, I’m weird. But you secretly love it…!

One little note about this recipe that I would like to mention is that I used my Gram’s go-to chocolate cake recipe. That lady sure could bake one heck of a cake. My mom adores her red devil chocolate cake recipe and I know she hold this recipe quite close to her heart, but I’m happy to share this with the rest of you all so everybody can enjoy some of Gram’s love. If you’d like to learn more about Gram, I wrote a pretty big post about her here.

Gram’s Red Devil Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Dark cocoa powder)

1/2 cup milk (I used skim)

1 cup boiling water (I just microwaved mine for about 75 seconds)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 24 cupcake tins with liners.
  2. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add salt and eggs. Mix in sifted flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Stir in milk. GRADUALLY stir in hot water by HAND! (well, with a spoon or spatula, but a mixer might make a mess)
  3. Fill lined cupcake tins about half-way and bake in preheated oven 15-18 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

4 teaspoons powdered sugar

  1. Whip cream and powdered sugar with mixer, using whisk attachment, on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and mixture looks just like whipped cream. Place whipped cream  into a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip to fill cupcakes. Stick pastry bag into cupcake and squeeze whipped cream into cooled cupcake. Repeat for all cupcakes.

Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons white sugar

5 Tablespoons water

pinch of salt

5 Tablespoons heavy cream

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

  1. Combine white sugar and water in small or medium heavy-bottom saucepan. On medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil and stir in salt. Stop stirring and let the mixture cook, gently stirring every so often, until it is a deep amber color. Remove from heat and slowly stir in cream, a couple tablespoons at a tim. Watch out because the cream will cause the caramel to get a little crazy and fizz up a bit! Set aside and let cool.
  2. Cream butter until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract. Add cooled caramel mixture to creamed butter. Mix in powdered sugar and add milk as needed until you achieve your desired consistency of frosting and piping.
  3. Pipe or frost cupcakes as desired.

Random Fact of the Day: Your body uses 200 muscles to take a single step.

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Triple Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

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Have you heard of putting black beans in your brownies? 

It’s kind of a weird idea, I know. I was a bit skeptical myself of the whole concept, but just decided to finally give it a shot. It’s not necessarily to make the brownies taste better, but more of to make them nutritionally better. However, these are very, very DELICIOUS!!! Couldn’t even tell there was a bean in there ;)

They’re super easy to make. Pureeing the beans takes literally 2 minutes. You end up with a super moist, fudge brownie that is exploding with chocolate. Using three different types of chocolate really put these guys over the top. 

I had both of my parents try these before I told them there were beans in there. Needless, to say they were shocked and said they never would have known they were actually healthy. That right there is how all healthy food should be-discreet and tasty!

Triple Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

(Adapted from Joy the Baker)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and pureed in food processor

1 1/3 cups white sugar

2 eggs plus 1 egg white

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

1/2 teaspoon salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×9 inch baking pan by greasing generously.
  2. Melt butter, chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate in double boiler. Once completely melted, remove from heat and allow mixture to cool slightly for a few minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  4. Once chocolate mixture is slightly cooled, whisk in eggs and egg white. Follow by whisking in white sugar. Then whisk in the pureed black beans and vanilla extract.
  5. Add all the sifted dry ingredients to wet ingredients and fold in gently. Once thoroughly combined, pour batter into greased 9×9 inch pan.
  6. Bake in preheated oven 25-28 minutes or until just a couple crumbs come out when a toothpick is inserted in the middle. You really want these guys fudgey! They may seem slightly underdone in the middle but they will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven and are sitting. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then slice and enjoy! Keep leftovers covered or stored in an airtight container.

Random Fact of the Day: There is more real lemon juice in Lemon Pledge furniture polish than there is in Country Time Lemonade.

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

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There are several things in life I am not sure I will ever understand.

One of them would probably have to be high school kids. Not all high school kids, but quite a few. My days in my high school consist of me seeing other high schoolers doing the following…

listening to their iPods, WHILE there is music being played in the hallway speakers. Is your music really that important to you? Ok, that’s not that horrible, it just looks pretty funky to me.

And then there are the groups of kids who insist on taking up the entire hallways by walking side by side, so their little “pack” can pretty much bulldoze anybody over who is trying to walk in the opposite direction.

Lastly, and definitely the MOST ANNOYING…is some couple’s PDA. I’m not trying to sound jealous here or anything, like truly it’s great that two kids like and care for each other. I’m sure you two will be happily married, have 3 kids and live in a mansion together in 30 years. But seriously, must you lick each other’s faces off before each class?! I don’t even really mind seeing couples hold hands, but please do not bring out the tongues into any innocent, non intentional viewers. Please. I don’t even real understand how some couples can act so excited to see each other every passing period, like HELLO?! you just saw them like 45 minutes ago…But really I’m all for high school relationships. I insist.

Okay, now that you have heard my little ramble (I promise I’ll write something happy and positive about my school some other time to make up for my complaining. PROMISE!) on my school we can continue onto something fabulous.Double chocolate chip cookies. They’re like the good ‘ol classic chocolate chip cookies, but with DOUBLE the chocolate. If that isn’t greatness in a bite, then I don’t know what is!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter, cold

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour (all-purpose will work good too!)

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars in electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs and beat until well-incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract. Beat in cocoa powder. Mix in both flours, salt, and baking powder until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
  3. Scoop cookie dough onto cookie sheet by about the tablespoonful, 2 inches apart. (I made mine a bit on the smaller side, the bigger they are though they better cookie you will have. TRUE FACT)
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 16-20 minutes. Chocolate cookies like these are easy to over cook because of their color so you can’t really see when the edges are browning, you will know they are done if you just touch the edge of a cookie and it feels firm and the tops/centers are still fairly soft. Let cool on a rack and store in an air tight container when completely cool.
Random Fact of the Day: There are more 100 dollar bills in Russia currently than there are in the United States.
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