Mocha-Cream Roll

The following recipe was brought to a Christmas gathering a few years ago by my future sister-in-law.  Of course we loved it and so of course she had to bring it again the following Christmas!  It's super yummy.  Not too mocha-ey (is that a word?) and full of melt in your mouth goodness!  An added bonus is that it's gluten free so my mom can eat it!  Hope you enjoy it, too!

Mocha-Cream Roll
5 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa
Mocha-Cream Filling (below)
One can of Chocolate Frosting
Confectioner's sugar (for dusting)


1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease 15 ½” x 10 ½” jelly-roll pan (or rimmed cookie sheet); line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beating at high speed, gradually sprinkle in ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, beating thoroughly after each addition. Continue beating until egg whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl with same beaters and with mixer at high speed, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Reduce speed to low; beat in salt, ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and 3 tablespoons cocoa, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With wire whisk or rubber spatula, gently fold yolk mixture into beaten whites just until the mixture is blended. (Add the sugar and cocoa to the yolks little by little or you will have a dust storm on your hands.)

4. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Prepare a clean cloth towel by sprinkling it with cocoa (about 1 tablespoon). (The cake will get very poofy in the oven, but it will settle back down when you take it out. It’ll have darkened just slightly when it is ready to come out. If the edges start to crisp up, take it out right away.)

5. When cake is done, with small spatula, immediately loosen edges from side of pan; invert cake onto prepared towel. Gently peel waxed paper from bottom of cake. (Loosen the paper around all of the edges first, and then start to peel it back from the cake. A small amount of cake will probably stick to the paper, but that’s fine as long as you’re not taking chunks out. I usually end up pulling one corner up then kind of working around in a circle until the whole thing is off. )

6. Roll towel with cake from narrow end, jelly-roll fashion. Cool completely, placing it seam side down, on wire rack. (If you’ve overcooked the cake a little bit, the edges will be brittle and crack as you try to roll it – if that’s happening, trim those edges off before rolling.)

7. Prepare Mocha-Cream Filling. When cake is cool, unroll from towel. Evenly spread Mocha-Cream Filling on cake almost to edges. Starting at the same narrow end as before, roll up cake without towel this time. Place the cake, seam side down, on platter.

8. Spread frosting over top and down sides of roll. (Putting on a big scoop and then spreading it out works better than trying to be delicate about it. Also I usually cut off the ragged ends before putting on the frosting. (Makes for a good mid-cake-making snack!) )

9. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Mocha-Cream Filling:
1 ½ cups heavy or whipping cream
½ cup cocoa
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ tablespoon of instant coffee.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with mixer at medium speed until stiff peaks form.




photo credit

Brownie Pizza

Another treat that would be perfect for Super Bowl no matter if you're rooting for the good guys or the bad guys!  Super easy and yummy to boot!

Brownie Pizza

-Prepare a family size fudge brownie mix as directed on the box(I love Betty Crocker's Triple Chocolate Chunk -- I use two mixes, though)

-Spread onto a greased 12-inch pizza pan (round is best -- for the pizza effect)

-Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.  (Cool completely for the next step)

-Spread 1 can Chocolate Fudge Frosting over the top

-Chop up 2 Snickers bars (or any other candy bar you like) and sprinkle over the frosting

-Heat a jar of  Hot Fudge topping (I like Smucker's), and a jar of Carmel topping (again...Smucker's) -- I put them in the microwave (one at a time) with lid removed for 1 minute

-Drizzle toppings over the top of the candy

Enjoy!

Oh...and GO PATRIOTS!  *wink*


*photo credit

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

We made these over Christmas break.  They were deelish!  You can also make them as peanut butter balls, but the bars were so much easier.
 

photo credit

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
adapted from Amy's Finer Things

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed (about 20 crackers)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate is our favorite!)

Melt butter.  Blend with peanut butter and crushed graham crackers (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer).  Sift powdered sugar into peanut butter mixture, one cup at a time (I sprinkle it through a strainer).  Mix until well blended.  Batter will be stiff! 

Press into a 9x13 pan.  Melt chocolate chips; spread over bars.  Refrigerate before cutting into small squares.  (They are as rich as fudge!)



Enjoy!

Gooseberry Patch Review and Giveaway: Triple Chocolate - Sour Cream Cake

As promised I have another yummy recipe to share with you from the Gooseberry Patch Big Book of Home Cooking.


This recipe is super yummy!  It will definitely satisfy any chocolate craving that you may have!

Triple Chocolate - Sour Cream Cake

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 1-oz. sqs. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 T. baking cocoa
1/3 c. boiling water
2 eggs
3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
1 t. vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl; set aside.  In a food processor or blender, mix chocolate, sugar and cocoa; process until crumbly.  Add boiling water to chocolate mixture.  Blend until chocolate melts.  Break eggs into food processor and mix well.  Add butter, sour cream and vanilla; process again.  Place flour mixture into food processor; pulsing until all ingredients are well-blended.  Lightly grease and flour an 8" springform pan; pour batter into pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan.  Remove cake from oven; let cool on a wire rack.  Remove cake from pan.  Frost cooled cake with Icing.  Serves 10.

Icing
1/2 c. whipping cream
6 1-oz. sqs. bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped

Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat (do not boil).  Add chocolate and stir for one minute.  Remove pan from heat and stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Cool icing to warm temperature, then spread on cake.  Refrigerate cake to allow icing to set before serving.

Notes:  I used an 8x8 square greased cake pan since I naively gave away my P. Chef springform pan many years ago.  Back in the newlywed days when hubby volunteered to cook every meal but then we had stir fry every night for a week.  Yeah...it was at the beginning of that week.

I also misread the recipe and bought all unsweetened chocolate instead of some bittersweet for the icing.  As you can imagine it would have been really bad so I had to be creative. This is what I came up with for the icing:

1/2 cup whipping cream
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
Follow the directions like above, but when the chocolate is mostly melted stir in 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar.  It has a bit of a dark chocolate taste to me, but was deelish on this cake!

*shh* Don't tell anyone, but our oldest daughter and I really enjoyed dipping banana into the left overs icing in the sauce pan! 

**GIVEAWAY**

Go HERE for the recipe for Caramel Crunch Apple Pie and to enter the giveaway!
Giveaway ends Saturday September 17th at midnight!

Gooseberry Patch provided me with a copy of this book.  No additional compensation was received.

Find out more about Gooseberry Patch HERE!

Fudge Cake

Here's another 4-H Blue ribbon winning recipe!  Our Hannah's Fudge Cake.  Very moist and delicious!!  Made with real chocolate!

Fudge Cake

2 c. all-purpose flour 

1 3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder 

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt 

1 1/3 c. water

1/2 c. shortening 

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 eggs 

3 squares (3 oz.) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

In a bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add water, shortening, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed till combined. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and melted chocolate; beat 2 minutes more.

Pour batter into 2 greased 9x1 1/2 - inch round baking pans. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean.

Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans. Cool thoroughly on wire racks.

Tip:  Make this a Black Forest Cake.  Fill the middle with cherry pie filling and frost with fudge frosting!  Yum!

Peanut Butter Balls

Some people around here call these "Buckeyes".  Not in this home.  You see, to us a Buckeye is an Ohio State fan and since hubby is a University of Michigan grad the word "buckeye" can not be uttered in this home.  (FYI, OSU and U of M are totally not BFF's. *wink*)  So in this home they are simply Peanut Butter Balls.  K? Glad we're all clear on that.  Moving on...

These are a must in our home around the holidays.  We have a couple of girlies with peanut allergies so I always make sure to make something else that's yummy and melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey for them to eat.  Early in our marriage (after I'd learned to cook) hubby assisted me (ie., coated the pb balls in chocolate) in making a TON of these for Christmas gifts.  It was like an I Love Lucy episode.  I was Lucy and he was Ethel.  There was chocolate everywhere.  We were definitely well preserved in chocolate!  So we packaged them up and rolled our ways to our home town for Christmas where everyone loved their gifts!   I say rolled because our packaging efforts were more like "one for them, two for me" sort of deal.  I think I gained 10 pounds that night!  It was o.k., though, because I was expecting our first baby. *wink*

So...anywho...here's the recipe!

Peanut Butter Balls
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 T butter, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 11 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T shortening

Stir together peanut butter and margarine.  Gradually add sugar, stirring til combined.  Shape into 1-inch balls and place on waxed paper.  Let stand about 20 minutes.  Melt chocolate chips and shortening.  (I place it in the microwave for 30 second increments stirring each time until melted.)  Cool slightly.  Dip balls into melted chocolate; let excess drip off.  Place on the waxed paper and let stand until it's dry and solid.

Makes about 30 or 10 if you make it the way we do... one for you, two for me.  *wink*

Cracker Cookies

Photo from Tracyscreations.com

This "recipe" is so easy and ooooh so yummy!

Layer a greased cookie sheet with saltine crackers (about 40-ish).  In a small saucepan over low-medium heat melt 2 sticks of butter and 1  1/2 cups brown sugar.  Once the mixture is gooey (5 minutes or so) pour over crackers.  Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes, until bubbly.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle 1 package of chocolate chips (milk choc. or semi sweet...butterscotch is good, too!).  Press evenly so they "stick" in the sweet goo.  Put in the fridge until set.  Cut apart and place in an air tight container.


Makes great gifts tucked inside little decorative containers!

Chocolatey Oat Bars

My kiddos love these ooey gooey oatmeal bars.  I love the chocolate on top!  *wink*

Chocolatey Oat Bars

1/2 c. butter, softened
1  c. light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, beaten
4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats, uncooked

Topping:
12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine butter, milk, choc. chips, vanilla and salt in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stir constantly as not to scorch, until chocolate is melted.

- - - - -

Blend together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl.  Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.  Add to the butter mixture.  Add oats and stir.  Press into a greased 13x9 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Add the topping and bake another 10 - 15 minutes.  Let it cool completely and slice into bars.  Makes 2 dozen.

*Note:  You may find the topping to be too much chocolate for one pan of bars (Not me, though...I can never have too much chocolate!).  In this case make a double batch of the bar and split the topping between the two.

Triple Chocolate Cake

I know this is supposed to be Kitchen Tip Tuesday but I had to tell you about this recipe!  Consider this your kitchen tip...make this!  This is from Goosberry Patch's Fall, Family, & Friends cookbook.  It's a lot like the crockpot Lava cake that I make (that recipe's HERE), but this is sooo much better!  It's the sour cream that makes it so divine! 

Triple Chocolate Cake
18-1/2 oz. package chocolate cake mix (I used chocolate fudge!)
8-oz. container sour cream
3.9-oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
12-oz. pkg. chocolate chips
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. oil
1 c. water

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker; mix well.  (I mixed it in my KitchenAid mixer first.)  Cover and cook on high setting for 3-4 hours.  If desired (and I think it's a must!) serve with ice cream!  Makes 8-10 servings.


Enjoy!

Brown Bottom Cupcakes

Lynne, author from Queen of the Castle: 52 weeks of encouragement for the uninspired, domestically challenged or just plain tired homemaker, has recipes in her book here and there. This one looks very yummy!

Brown Bottom Cupcakes

Cream together:
8 oz. package cream cheese 1 egg 1/3 cup sugar 1/8 tsp. salt

Add: 1 cup chocolate chips

Set aside. In separate bowl, sift together:
1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup cocoa

Add:
1 cup water 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola) 1 T. vinegar 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Fill cupcake papers about half full of batter. (Make sure to use papers, by the way; cupcakes will stick to the muffin pan if you plop the batter in directly.) Drop one full tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of batter. Bake thirty minutes at 350 degrees. Makes twelve to sixteen.

No frosting needed. Honest.

*Note: Fill any empty muffin cups with water as you bake, to prevent bottom of empty cups from burning.

Duggar Recipes: Layered Ice Cream Cake

In continuing with recipes from the Duggar book here's a yummy treat!

Layered Ice Cream Cake

24 ice cream sandwiches
8 ounces Cool Whip
2 king-size Butterfinger candy bars, chopped up
1 squeeze-bottle Hershey's chocolate syrup
1 squeeze-bottle Smucker's caramel topping

Arrange in six layers in a 9x13 pan:

First layer: 12 ice cream sandwiches, placed over bottom of pan
Second layer: half the container of Cool Whip
Third layer: half of the chopped-up Butterfinger bars topped with half of the chocolate syrup and half of the caramel topping
Fourth layer: the rest of the Cool Whip
Sixth layer: the rest of the chopped-up Butterfinger bars, topped with the rest of the caramel topping and the chocolate syrup.

Freeze and eat as desired.

Enjoy!

Duggar Recipes: Chocolate Sheet Cake & Icing

Our family loves Netflix.com. We quit renting videos months ago after forgetting to renew or return videos to the library. We've saved money by getting an account with Netflix. (FYI: You pay Netflix a once a month fee depending on if you want to have one, two, or three videos out at a time. You can keep them as long as you want and then when you return one they'll send you another one. You have what's called a "queue"; a list of videos you've chosen in sort of a shopping cart. They not only have new releases but old movies (we have "Singing in the Rain" here to watch at some point) and educational ones, too. My point with this whole explanation is that we've recently watched the Duggar family on dvd, courtesy of Netflix. The kiddos and I loved watching how their big family worked. It also made our large family look miniscule in comparison! I checked their book out from the library to read up on this curious family. I gleaned lots of tips and encouragement as a parent in the fields of discipline, organization, and cooking from The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America's Largest Families--How they Do It. Over the course of the coming weeks I'll share with you some recipes that sound yummy and easy to make. I'm sure they will become favorites at our house.

Grandma Mary Duggar's Buttermilk Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) margarine (I use butter)
1 cup water
3 T. cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk (go here for my substitution)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a sheet-cake pan (18x24 or as close to that size as you have).

Put the flour and sugar in a bowl. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine, then add the water and cocoa. Bring to a boil, then pour the mixture over flour and sugar and mix. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until well blended. Spread in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. When done, toothpick inserted in center of cake might pick up a crumb or two, but will not come out coated with batter. While the cake is still warm, top it with Grandma Mary Duggar's Chocolate Icing.

Grandma Mary Duggar's Chocolate Icing

1 stick (1/2) cup margarine (again, I use butter)
3 T. cocoa
6 T. milk
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan, melt the margarine at medium heat, then add the cocoa and milk. Stir. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. While the icing is warm, spread it over the warm chocolate sheet cake. Delicious served with vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy! I know I will!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER!!

I found this many years ago, of all places, on the back of a store brand bag of chocolate chips! These cookies bake so moist and chewy. My family loves them and pretty much eat them as they come off the cooling rack! Even when they've been in a container for a few days they are still scrumptious!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream together butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Sift together flour, soda and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture mixing until blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons (I use the P. Chef medium scoop) on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Makes about 3 dozen 3" cookies.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pie

This is one of my most favorite-est desserts in the whole wide world!! ; )

1 chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup peanut butter
8 oz. cream cheese (room temp)
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz. Cool Whip
1- 11.75 oz. jar Smucker's Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping, divided (see below)

Drizzle:
2 T Hot fudge
2 T peanut butter

In a medium-ish bowl, beat together the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Gently fold in 3 cups of Cool Whip. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell. Smooth mixture to edges of the pie.

Set aside 2 T hot fudge from the jar (put it in a baggie). Microwave the jar of hot fudge for 1 minute. Stir. Spread it over the pie to cover the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until serving time.

Just before serving, spread the remaining Cool Whip over the hot fudge layer. Be careful not to mix the layers! Remember you want it to look pretty and all!

Place the 2 T hot fudge in a small baggie and knead it for a few seconds. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle over the pie. I do it in lines about an inch apart. Do the same thing with 2 T of peanut butter going in the opposite direction of the hot fudge stripes.

Enjoy! Someone pass me a fork!!

**photo from Bliss Tree