So I read about this NTTC (no time to cook) challenge over at Gel's Kitchen. It sounded like fun so I figured I'd give it a whirl!


Of course I needed to use some of the hazelnut spread I posted about yesterday! So with that as my inspiration I came up with this quick single serving dessert!


Chocolate hazelnut cake with strawberries in a hurry [Serves 1]

Checklist : small Pyrex bowl / 3 Tbs low sugar chocolate cake mix / 2 Tbs water / hazelnut spread / strawberries

Task : Mix cake mix and water in your small Pyrex bowl until smooth without lumps, microwave for about 30-45 seconds (may be more/less in different microwaves) top with a dab of hazelnut spread and a strawberry.

CHOW!



And don't forget about the giveaway... TOMORROW!!!! So come back and see!

A few weeks ago I made some fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts... And it was seriously tasty, gone in one day kind of tasty. I made the recipe again except this time I made them into muffins. :) I feel like when I make stuff like this in a pan... I tend to chow more of it. If it's in pre-portioned pieces (muffins) I feel bad going back for seconds and thirds. With a cake it's easy to just say... oh just a little inch wide piece... and another inch wide piece... (come on now I know you've done it!) Then next thing you know half the cake is gone and for some reason your belly seems to be a little larger... ;) So this is the version for the portion control lovers out there.


Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased muffin pan (makes 12) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Ahh the infamous poose cookie. What's poose you ask? Well, it's me, a nickname that is. What started as Cookiepuss (the lovable carvel ice cream cake) morphed into Cookiepoose and was then shortened to just poose... among other iterations. The name was bestowed upon me by my good friend John, who we now all know as fiance John! I'd go into all the iterations of his nicknames that I've bestowed upon him... but something tells me that wouldn't make him to happy :D

Anyway, Poose cookies, like my nickname, have morphed over time, and now I bring to you the NEW and IMPROVED PROTEIN POOSE COOKIE!!!


let the drooling begin! It's a healthy cookie, packed with whole wheat flour, oats, protein powder... eat them as a snack, eat them as a meal, just eat them! I'm in love with these cookies and so is John... I have no clue how many I've made for him to date... but I make a batch every weekend. Yeah that's right, I know how to treat my man :) Onto the recipe!

Protein Poose Cookies!
recipe by me, stephchows AKA poose

ingredients
1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whey based chocolate protein powder
1 cup Quaker oats (not the quick cook kind)
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 package (7 ounces) Gerber Prunes with Apples baby food (NOT plums and apples) (contains 2 – 3.5oz containers)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips!)
.25 cup walnuts (optional)
pam cooking spray

instructions
preheat oven to 350
In a small bowl whisk together flour, oats, protein powder and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Set aside.
In a large bowl stir together splenda sugar blend, applesauce, and prunes with apples containers.
Beat in egg.
Stir in vanilla. (if you want add a little more, mom always said a little extra vanilla never hurt anyone!)
Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until incorporated.
Drop tablespoon fulls onto a silicon baking pad on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Will vary with oven used.

Serve warm or for a summer treat transfer into the freezer and eat frozen a few hours later!

(to make these even healthier, take out some of the chocolate chips and sub in dried fruit and nuts - delicious)

John's favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie...
*bleh*

Sorry to all of you who like this pie, everyone who had a slice loved it, I just chose not to partake... I don't know, it's something about vanilla custardy pudding stuff, totally skeeves me out! Anyone else out there like me?? Or am I just the weirdo of the bunch?

*crickets*

Alright then! Last weekend was John's birthday (thanks everyone for all the well wishes!!). We were supposed to have a birthday dinner with some peeps, but said peeps were a bit under the weather... hence the postponing making the cake until this weekend. I'm not sure if it was me, or what the recipe was supposed to look like... (this is WHY all recipes should be required to have pictures!), but my cake came out... how do I say... WICKED THIN! I mean yes it's a lightened up cake, but that doesn't mean IT has to be skinny along with the eaters!! The recipe has you make 1 9" cake and slice it in half. I have a 8.5" spring form pan so used that... and let me tell you, I'm so happy I didn't have a 9" because it would have been even THINNER!!!

John came out to the kitchen while the cake was cooling, took one look and said, "so... where's the other layer?"
"that's it, I have to cut it in half"
"seriously?? It kinda looks like a big cookie, not a cake"
"oh thanks! what should I do?? Should I make another cake so it's thicker?"
"you could just cut this one in half across and then pile it ontop... so we'll just have half a somewhat tall cake"
"we can not show up with half a cake"
This went back and forth for awhile haha and in the end I said screw it! I'm going to try to slice it in half and make it like the recipe says!

So here it is...


My very thin, kinda sad looking cake. It really is more of a large sandwich cookie with frosting than anything else. I was told it tasted delicious though so that's at least good :) The cake was a bit dry, but the custard helped that out, and the frosting was wicked good. Ahhh chocolate how I love you!

The cake and custard recipe came from Cooking Light. The only thing I changes was I took half the cake batter and added some cocoa and then swirled that back into the white cake. John couldn't decide if he wanted a chocoalte or vanilla cake. So swirl it was! The other change was I used whole wheat pastry flour, which I know had some to do with the lack of big thick cake... but seriously it shouldn't have been THIS THIN!

As for the "frosting" It's melted milk chocolate with a little honey and milk mixed in.

Chow!

It was John's birthday on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! So this past weekend was full of baking :) Since I already gave him his presents (Disturbed concert the previous weekend *insert head banging here*, and part of a wide screen TV (the other part was for Christmas lol)) I wanted to give him SOMETHING on his birthday...so I told him I'd bake him as much and whatever he wanted. We started thinking up what to bake friday night. Here's our list

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Poose Cookies (which I updated by taking 1/2 cup flour out and subbing in 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder... they were DELICIOUS!)
Pumpkin Muffins
Roasted Banana Muffins (but something a little different then the usual)
Skinny Boston Cream Pie (postponed till next weekend)

Can you tell I love to bake?? We also made a ton of good chow, went out to Sinbads for dinner on his birthday (which we totally realized was also the 3 year anniversary of the first time we went out for lunch together haha. Just friends at that point, a big group of us from the gym went to celebrate his birthday, who would have ever guessed we'd be where we are now! EEEEE! :D ). And of course we had to take a trip to Leaf and Bean for a mint mocha latte light for John and a chocolate raspberry coffee for me, yum!

We really are such party animals, I'm an old lady at the ripe age of 27 lol. So here's the new interpretation of my Roasted Banana Muffins! I deleted a few things, added some cocoa, some walnuts, and baked it in a ceramic pie plate.


Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased ceramic pie plate and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.


CHOW!!!! And hide this cake... it's possible it was totally demolished over the course of one day. Good thing we work out a lot :D haha!

Have you ever heard of Better'n Peanut Butter? It's this crazy stuff made from defatted peanut flour and it has half the calories of regular PB and only 2 grams of fat per 2 Tbs serving! I know seriously, how do they do that!?

Another Ellie, The Food You Crave! Page 282. Don't they just look delicious? If you are looking for a super sticky sweet dessert though... this isn't for you. It's described as the chocolate cupcake from your childhood all grown up. The frosting is really not sweet at all, it has a nice intense espresso flavor, almost a bit bitter, so if you like coffee, you'll like these... if you want total sweet... I'd skip the frosting for sure. The cupcake was ok... but nothing amazing, unfortunately, ... but they sure do look pretty :)

Mmmmmmm peanut butter... mmmmmmm I love me some peanut butter, so PB cookies make my knees bend... oh so tasty! I made these last weekend for one of John's neighbors who loves to snowblow the entire neighborhood every time there is a big storm. How awesome is that?? Once these came out of the oven I couldn't help myself, I scarfed down two before franticly packing them up and tossing on a coat to run them across the street (I had to get them out of the house otherwise I would have eaten them all!)

I made the recipe straight from Cooking Light, (except I used crunchy PB yum) I'll totally make them again and as long as I'm making them just for John and I, I'll try to eliminate the oil and replacing it with something else... I'll let you know how it goes! Until then, here's something to droll over.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy!)
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 large egg whites
* 1 large egg
* 12 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 2/3 cups)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate minichips (I used regular chocolate chips)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.


Nutritional Information
Calories: 128 (32% from fat)
Fat: 4.5g (sat 1.1g,mono 2.2g,poly 1g)
Protein: 2.3g
Carbohydrate: 20.5g
Fiber: 0.6g
Cholesterol: 6mg
Iron: 0.8mg
Sodium: 106mg
Calcium: 16mg

My one coworker described them "like a very thin crisp oreo cookie" ... sounds good to me right!?

Again, like I said in my original recipe pizzelle post, the only special thing you need is a pizzelle iron, otherwise these are as simple as you get!


Pizzelle Cookies
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter (melted)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
zest from one orange (optional)

BEAT eggs, add sugar gradually, add melted butter

MIX flour, cocoa, & baking powder

ADD dry mixture to wet gradually, stir in orange zest (if using)

DROP spoonfuls on a hot pizzelle iron and cook according to iron instructions (mine has a light that goes on and off when they are done) remove and cool on a wire rack, or roll into ice cream cone shape and set aside to cool.

You can take two of these and make nutella sandwiches, or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream... or just eat them all up plain!

Chow!

Friday was one of those days where everyone was either snowed in, or attempting to get home in the BAD BAD weather. The snow started around 9am and never stopped. Half way through the day our boss said, everyone go home! My boss rocks. Some of the many awesome things about working here are a) my boss is a total human and is always thinking about our well being, b) he gives us almost 2 full weeks off for christmas (WOOHOO!) c) he has a heated driveway and walkways here. I know a heated driveway?? It's seriously awesome, you never have to walk in the snow... except when it's snowing so hard and for so long (friday) that the driveway can't keep up!! You know it's bad when the driveway can't keep up.

Anyway, the drive home friday was an adventure, very thankfully my car (her name is iceskate) she has all wheel drive AND snow tires, both which I was so thankful for this weekend/ this morning. Yeah the roads STILL suck this morning. Since the gym closed friday due to snow I was left with no other option than to be a hermit friday night, and bake and crochet all night!!! WOOOHOOO (ok am I seriously an old woman... it's ok you can tell me :) )

One of the things I baked this weekend were some very thin crisp butter laden chocolate chip cookies.
(wait what??? butter??)
Yes, they were for John's neighbor, the big dude who I really don't like
(then why bake him cookies)
good question, because he has a snow blower and cleared off john's walkways and driveway all weekend long... for this, he gets cookies. Plus it's always good to bribe the guy with the snowblower, so hopefully he'll keep doing it all winter long... no shoveling for us! woohoo!

The cookies spread like mad so make sure to space these bad boys out. They can out totally flat and crisp/chewy, YUM. Eat with caution, these things are NOT good for you.


Crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies
1 3/4 cup white flour (seriously i used white flour NO WAY!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pound chocolate chips

WHISK flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

CREAM butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add egg. Stir in the vanilla.

MIX in dry ingredients (my dough was a little too dry so I added a little milk in)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 15 minutes (more for really crispy)

CHOW! and be prepared to get fat :)

This recipe is not for the faint of heart, or for anyone trying to keep their waist at its current circumference... because this stuff is going to blow you up like a balloon! It's basically a glorified way to eat mass quantities of butter, sugar, and chocolate... so are you all drooling now? Or running away in fear of your skinny jeans? This has to be the number 1 request from both family and friends, I go through pounds of butter making batch after batch of this to satisfy their sweet tooth. This stuff is totally pretty and wrapped in plastic wrap with a nice bow is a perfect gift for everyone you know (unless they are allergic to chocolate or nuts... if they are allergic to nuts just replace the almond topping with crushed candy canes, m&m's, or pretty much anything within grabbing distance... maybe not the cat though... that would be gross...)

Anyway... my coworker Niki introduced me to the recipe on Food and Wine and I am so thankful for it, since this is one of the gifts I give to all those hard to shop for guys in my family. Enjoy and let me know what you think!


Chocolate-Almond Saltine Toffee
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds (6 ounces)
Approximately 60 saltine crackers (not low-sodium)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350°, spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast for about 6 minutes, until golden.

2. Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or lightly buttered parchment paper. Arrange the saltine crackers on the baking sheet in a single layer, patching any holes with cracker bits; slight gaps are okay.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup and cook over low heat until the sugar is melted. Brush the side of the pan with a moistened pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals. Cook the syrup over moderate heat without stirring until it starts to brown around the edge, about 5 minutes. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup and simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon, until honey-colored caramel forms and the temperature reaches 300°, about 6 minutes longer.

4. Slowly and carefully pour the caramel over the crackers, being sure to cover most of them evenly. Using an offset spatula, spread the caramel to cover any gaps. Let cool for 3 minutes, then sprinkle the chopped chocolate evenly on top. Let stand until the chocolate is melted, about 3 minutes, then spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee. Spread the almonds evenly over the chocolate. Freeze the toffee until set, about 15 minutes.

5. Invert the toffee onto a work surface and peel off the mat or paper. Invert again, break into large shards and serve.

Sorry I didn't take a shot of it all broken up into pieces and wrapped up. I'll take one once I start the factory line of making this stuff close to Christmas :)

Ahh TCHO my good friend, you know it's a wonderful day when you get home from work to find a happy little package full of chocolate waiting for you. YUM!!

So far I've had the pleasure of testing three of their flavors; chocolatey, nutty, and fruity. Of those three, nutty was my favorite by far... but it's having a run for its money now that citrus is here! TCHO doesn't add flavoring to their chocolate, it's all in the way they roast the beans to bring out the flavor tones they want. This latest citrus batch from Madagascar is delicious, I truely think I could just sit and eat it all day long and not get sick of it.

It's amazing how you can really taste the citrus untones in this chocolate, for being dark chocolate it is not at all bitter and has a smooth finish. So go and order some citrus, and get some nutty while you're there as well :)

chow!

Oh and I almost forgot TCHO gave me some nibs to try too!!! Along with some recipes, one is for a cacao nib and pecan cookie... oh yeah I'm totally going to have to make that!! So check back to see what I think :)

So this month for cupcake hero we got to mix things up and pick 2 ingredients from the last year in one cupcake! It's funny I've actually used more than 1 featured ingredient in things before... but I wanted to try something new this round!! I decided on jalapeno and lime... sounded like a mixed drink to me :) and had good potential. And so I present to you...


First lets make the cake
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the key lime pie topping!

Skinny key lime pie
One 4-serving package (or half an 8-serving package) Jell-O Sugar Free Lime Gelatin
dessert mix
2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
8 low-fat honey graham crackers (2 sheets)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with gelatin mix and sweetener. Stir for at least 2 minutes (until completely dissolved). Then add 1 /2 cup cold water, the lemon juice, and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until slightly thickened but still mixable.

Next, stir in the Cool Whip. Mix until thoroughly blended (a wire whisk works best). Divide mixture among 5 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours).

Scoop key lime pie ontop of a cooled cupcake and serve immediately.

OK so I also want to submit the thing I made last month because I LOVED it THAT much. And I think it's better then the above recipe (which is good but this one is ... SO FREAKIN GOOD!!!!)

Hey guys it's time to vote for Iron cupcake!!! Voting started yesterday at noon... so you can go vote now!!! Click on this LINK or the picture of the iron cupcake badge above or the one in the sidebar and head over and vote for my Cupcakes! Yum!!!

Here is my entry. To see my recipe click HERE!


Thanks guys!!! I hope you enjoy the recipe totally give it a try!!

So I've joined another cupcake monthly challenge... IRON CUPCAKE!! Yes I know more cupcakes so tasty! Voting will begin on Sunday, August 31st at 12 noon at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Thursday, September 4 at 12 noon. So everyone you NEED to go vote for my cupcake please please please! :)

If I win I get all these cool prizes... provided by: ETSY artist CAKESPY, as well as to our corporate sponsors JESSIE STEELE APRONS; CUPCAKE COURIER and TASTE OF HOME

And the theme for Iron cupcake... a familiar one... Chili Peppers! We can use any kind of chili pepper, in any form... I chose the powder form... jalapeno powder (also known as chipotle powder) it isn't always easy to find, but wegmans being the best super market in the world carries it! I thought about what flavor combination would go well. I know the Aztecs are known for hot hot chocolate... so I started there. I found an interesting recipe for a chipotle flourless chocolate cake... mmmm. But I wanted to add something to cool off the taste buds after setting them on fire! This made me looking for some kind of liquid based milky cream to drizzle on top... hmm what else goes well with chocolate... coffee of course... ahhhh an espresso cream perhaps!? yes yes that is it! The best part is it uses silken tofu as the base of the cream, that means it's healthy right? Ehhh not so much, this recipe isn't really bad for you but it does have a good amount of chocolate and sugar... not that that is a bad thing! In this case it's a very very tasty good thing! I was able to reduce the amount of butter though :) and I used sugar not my normal splenda since I was baking these for some very special ladies I work with and one is pregnant and I wasn't sure if she's steering away from artificial products or not. OK ok I know you want to know the recipe! Here it is!!


Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the Espresso Cream!

Espresso (French Vanilla) Cream
slightly adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup firm silken tofu (about 1/2 [12.3-ounce] package)
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso(I used strong browed french vanilla coffee), cooled
  

Method
To prepare espresso cream, combine tofu, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup of brewed espresso in a blender; process until smooth. Chill.

Serve cream in a spoon or small dish next to the cupcake.


I love the idea of serving the cupcake unwrapped with a spoon full of the cream on the side... then your guests can pour as much cream as they want on top and chow!

The ladies I made these for had to say this...


Hope everyone loves this one as much as I do!!

Chow!!

Cupcake hero is being cohosted this month by Rachel of Tangerine Tart and Teri of the 90/10 rule and they made a very interesting choice this month... one you don't normally see in the sweet/dessert isle.. Jalapenos!

We can use the jalapeno in any form... I chose the powder form... jalapeno powder (also known as chipotle powder) it isn't always easy to find, but wegmans being the best super market in the world carries it! I thought about what flavor combination would go well. I know the Aztecs are known for hot hot chocolate... so I started there. I found an interesting recipe for a chipotle flourless chocolate cake... mmmm. But I wanted to add something to cool off the taste buds after setting them on fire! This made me looking for some kind of liquid based milky cream to drizzle on top... hmm what else goes well with chocolate... coffee of course... ahhhh an espresso cream perhaps!? yes yes that is it! The best part is it uses silken tofu as the base of the cream, that means it's healthy right? Ehhh not so much, this recipe isn't really bad for you but it does have a good amount of chocolate and sugar... not that that is a bad thing! In this case it's a very very tasty good thing! I was able to reduce the amount of butter though :) and I used sugar not my normal splenda since I was baking these for some very special ladies I work with and one is pregnant and I wasn't sure if she's stearing away from artificial products or not. OK ok I know you want to know the recipe! Here it is!!


Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the Espresso Cream!

Espresso (French Vanilla) Cream
slightly adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup firm silken tofu (about 1/2 [12.3-ounce] package)
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso(I used strong browed french vanilla coffee), cooled
  

Method
To prepare espresso cream, combine tofu, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup of brewed espresso in a blender; process until smooth. Chill.

Serve cream in a spoon or small dish next to the cupcake.


I love the idea of serving the cupcake unwrapped with a spoon full of the cream on the side... then your guests can pour as much cream as they want on top and chow!

The ladies I made these for had to say this...


Hope everyone loves this one as much as I do!!

Chow!!

ilyc
As I mentioned earlier this week I spent part of the weekend in the air conditioning at John's parents house, baking a cake with his mom. She had mentioned the previous week that it had been ages since she baked a cake from scratch... Well I couldn't let that go on any longer! So I showed up silicon cake pans and ingredients in hand to make the cakes. We did a combo of healthy/ not totally super healthy ingredients, still no butter but we did use real sugar and 1% milk(i left the skim at John's house woops!) oh the horror! hahaah I'm just kidding it's not THAT bad!

On a side note she said I sounded like a cooking show as we were making it. "Ok now we are going to drizzle the chocolate over the top... sprinkle some hazelnuts... now doesn't that look great!"

Easy Fudge Layer Cake
(recipe adapted from eating well magazine)

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Hershey's 100% special dark cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon apple sauce
1 1/4 cups 1% milk (i'll probably try doing it with skim next time)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs

for topping
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup 1% or skim milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup toffee crumbles
a little more powdered sugar for dusting the top

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour cocoa, baking powder, baking soda salt, and sugars. Form a well in the center and add apple sauce, milk and vanilla beat at low speed of a mixer 30 seconds or until ingredients are moist. Add eggs one at a time beating until well-blended.

Pour batter into pans. Sharply tap pans once on the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.

Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack.

While cakes are cooling, place chocolate chips in a microwave sage bowl and micowave for 1 minute, remove and stir until chocolate is all melting, add milk and continue stirring. Place back in the microwave for 30 seconds remove and stir until milk and chocolate are totally incorporated. Slowly add powdered sugar to thicken the sauce. Set aside.

When the pans are cool enough to touch place a rack over the top of the pan and flip the cake over, it should fall out of the silicon without any issue. (Seriously silicon pans rock my world, love it!)

Place 1 cake layer on a plate, and drizzle with half of the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle 1/4 cup hazelnuts and 1/4 cup toffee. Top with remaining cake layer; drizzle remaining chocolate mixture on top of cake and sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts and toffee. Dust with powdered sugar.

Chow!

yeah serious ice cream melting action going on in that bowl!

I don't know about you but it was hot humid and in the 90's here this past weekend... NOT normal Rochester June weather. BLEH! My third floor apartment is very much like a brick oven, and cooking dinner has translated to things like salads, cold sandwiches and cereal... nothing involving the stove or oven... it's just too hot! I must say though I still crave things like cake in this weather... but turning the oven on is NOT an option. So in dire times... *foodies please cover your eyes and ears... stop reading now!* ... cake mix must be used... *gasp* I know I know. But this is an occasion where I think it's ok to use cake mix. I love cooking from scratch cakes. (I made a lovely chocolate layer cake with John's mom this past weekend (she has central air wooohooo!) and I will post about that later this week) But for when I'm stuck in my oven of an apartment I go to a trusty box of Pillsburry dark chocolate cake mix. Those little mini bowls are all the rage now but they cost $$ for what you get. Don't be fooled by the marketing just buy a normal size box of your favorite cake mix and do as follows:

Mini Microwave Cakes (makes 1)
4 Tbs cake mix (your choice)
3 to 4 Tbs water

In a small microwave safe bowl mix cake mix with water. Stir until totally blended, microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Remove from microwave, top with ice cream (I've been using low fat cappuccino chip... delicious) and enjoy!

Chow!!

That's right a nice moist "hot out of the oven" cake in less then 2 minutes. Also none of the added oil or egg is needed since it's such a small portion, the water does it all! Hope you enjoy it when it's too hot to bake a cake from scratch!


Update: if you use a bowl that is somewhat thick you'll need to increase the time. a thinner bowl works best. Also microwaves vary in power so watch your cake carefully the first time you make it, it may need a little more or less time :)