Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake

Every now and again I miss Georgia.

I don't miss the 110 degree weather with 200% humidity, swarms of gnats, living in the middle of nowhere, dealing with snarky college students, or being in grad school... but I do miss living near Savannah and fresh pralines on River Street.

Savannah is a city with character- not to mention home of the great Paula Deen and her fabulous restaurant Lady & Sons (I've been lucky enough to eat there not once, but three times and man oh man, her fried chicken is good!)

When my grad school roommate decided to get married in Savannah and asked me to make her cake, I knew one of the tiers had to be the Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake that I found a few years ago in Southern Living.  I have been waiting for a special occasion to try this cake for a long time and what better occasion to do you get than a Savannah wedding?

You can't go to Savannah and not stop at River Street Sweets for a free praline so the choice was a no brainer..  lucky for me she liked the idea as well.

With the wedding in just 3 weeks (yes, I'm traveling with another wedding cake!), I had to try out the cake before serving it at the bow-tie affair. If you are a fan of chocolate and pralines you're going to love this cake. It is out of control rich, which in turn makes it out of control delicious.

Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake
Southern Living Magazine
Bake time: 22-24 minutes Oven: 350

1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour 2 or 3 8-inch round pans and line bottom with parchment paper.
Cook butter, cocoa and water in saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 2 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool. I repeat, LET COOL COMPLETELY- put it in the fridge, put it in the freezer, whatever you do, let it cool completely.
Let cocoa cool for about 10-15 minutes in fridge.
Meanwhile, beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.
Pour cooled cocoa mixture to buttermilk mixture beating until blended.
In a small bowl, combine/whisk flour, sugar and salt.
Gradually add flour mixture to cocoa/buttermilk mixture, beating well after every addition (Your batter will be thin).
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to wire rack and cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing from pan and allowing to cool completely.
Allow cakes to cool for at least 1 hour before trying to frost.
One cake is cooled, begin to prepare chocolate ganache and praline frosting.

*The original recipe spreads Chocolate Ganache between each layer of cake as well as the sides and then tops the cake with the Praline Frosting. Because I will be decorating the wedding cake with fondant I knew I needed a smooth surface so I made this cake like I would be making hers, with the Praline Frosting between layers and frosting the outside with the Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
1 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter

In a glass bowl, add chocolate chips and whipping cream.
Two ways to make this:
1. Heat in a double boiler, whisking until smooth. Once chocolate is melted remove from heat and gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
-OR-
2. Microwave 2 to 3 minutes until chocolate is melted, stirring at 1 minutes intervals. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
Allow to cool briefly and whisk until spreading consistency.


Don't make the Praline Frosting until you're ready to frost your cake because it hardens VERY quickly.


Praline Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Chop pecans and place on baking sheet or shallow pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pecans are toasted and fragrant.
In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, whipping cream and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for about 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Gently stir in toasted pecans allowing mixture to thicken and cool slightly.
Use immediately

*If you have left over frosting you can use it to make your own pralines. Simply lay parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet and place spoonfuls of praline frosting on sheet about an inch apart. Allow to cool and harden for about 20-30 minutes.

Happy Baking!  

"Off with her head!" Queen of Hearts Cake

This week I'm back on the east coast (for work), basking in the cool weather that Rhode Island always promises to bring. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to RI without taking some extra time to see my loves in Newport though, so I left early Saturday morning to spend one awesome night with my friends- catching up, laughing too hard, eating way to much delicious food and dancing the night away.

One of our fave restaurants Salvation Cafe.. 

My friend Liss takes the greatest pics.

But before I could leave to enjoy this good quality friend time, I had to finish the project that I had started earlier in the week.

This cake went to the same couple that requested the Strawberry Cake.. only this time the decorations were a little more elaborate and took a little more time. The couple was hosting a Halloween/Birthday party and they wanted a cake that represented Jenny's character: The Queen of Hearts.

The cake was my Favorite White Cake filled with layers of Chocolate Ganache and Strawberry Filling. 

"Off with her Head!"

Happy Baking!

Ode to a Childhood Favorite: Fudge Rounds

As a child we weren't allowed sugary cereals in the morning, my mom packed us a well balanced lunch, we always had a glass of milk with dinner and we had to eat at least half of the vegetables we had on our plate- even if that meant plugging your nose and chugging your milk after each bite...I totally didn't do this, I'm just giving an example of what a silly child would do....


My mom packed my lunch almost every day of my childhood...ok, maybe she packed my lunch all the way into high school,  but she had to make my little brothers' lunches anyways so it just made sense to make mine as well! Don't judge. You're just jealous my mama loved me so much :)

As I mentioned before, our lunches were always well balanced: a sandwich on wheat bread, a little bag of chips, a piece of fruit or maybe some veggies, a juice box and a sweet treat to round it all off- normally something of the Little Debbie variety.

My love of sweets started early. Not to say that my salami and butter sandwiches weren't delicious (yeah, I was a weird kid OK!) but it was the desserts of my childhood that stick out in my mind.

When Jamieanne of The Sweetest Kitchen announced this month's Mystery Box Challenge: Childhood Memories, my mind immediately wandered to the days of Doug, POGS, recess and Minnie Mouse lunch boxes.

Every afternoon I would open my lunch box excited about what may be inside... what will the dessert be today? A Nutty Bar? Oatmeal Cream Pie? Fudge Brownies? Star Crunches? Or my absolute favorite: Fudge Rounds!!

For this month's Mystery Box Challenge: Childhood Memories, I am honoring the Little Debbie Fudge Rounds in cupcake form.

So here's to you Fudge Rounds, delicious chocolate cookie sandwiches, filled with a delicate chocolate cream, drizzled with even more chocolate, making children happier one individually wrapped cookie at a time.

Fudge Round Cupcakes
Chocolate Cupcakes, filled with Chocolate Cream and topped with Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Cake
You can use any chocolate cake recipe you'd like, but I highly suggest my Chocolate Layer Cake recipe: this one.

Quick Chocolate Ganache
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

In a double boiler (heat small amount of water in a small pot until simmering, place heat proof bowl over pot) heat cream until warm. Add chocolate chips and whisk constantly until chocolate is completed melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
Reserve 1/2 cup of ganache and place in fridge.
Set aside the remaining ganache for later use.

Chocolate Cream
1/2 cup chocolate ganache, completely cooled*
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat cream with hand held mixer until soft peaks form.
Add powdered sugar and beat until just blended.
Place in fridge to chill for about 15 minutes.
Add cooled ganache to chilled whipped cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
If cream seems a little soft after the addition of chocolate, return to fridge to stiffen for about 15-30 minutes.

* I can't stress how important it is that the ganache is completely cooled. If you add the ganache and the whipping cream doesn't seem to be setting, place back in the fridge to chill a little longer before trying to beat it again.

Assembly

Make sure your cupcakes are completely cool before embarking on the assembly.

Filling: Prepare a pastry/decorating bag with star tip or filling tip if you have one. Fill bag with chocolate cream (save some for decoration). Press tip into each cupcake and lightly squeeze in filling, slowly pulling tip out of cupcake as you squeeze.

If you're squeezing too hard your filling will explode out the top, so be aware of the pressure.

Frosting: Place a spoonful of chocolate ganache on each cupcake and softly spread across top, creating a smooth layer of ganache on every cupcake.

Decoration: Change tip on decorating bag to a 1 or 2 tip. Squiggle filling on top of ganache to resemble a Fudge Round.

I think I did Little Debbie proud 

Happy Baking!!

What was your favorite childhood dessert??

Don't forget to head over to The Sweetest Kitchen for some delicious voting!

Voting starts on the 21st!

The winner of September’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; a $5 electronic gift card
• Bakerella; an autographed copy of her new book Cake Pops
• Beanilla; 2 each of 4 special vanilla beans
• Hello Hanna; a pack of Sweet Stands cupcake stands
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25
• Tundra Books; a selection 3 very sweet children’s books

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

Dulce de Leche Decadence

About a month ago it was Mountain Man's birthday so instead of sending him something in the mail (knowing it would take at least a week to make it to GA) I decided to wait till he was coming to visit to make him his birthday cake. Last year I set the bar pretty high as far as birthday cakes go when I made a cake for/of him and his brother climbing a mountain- complete with little fondant replicas of themselves. I was very happy with the way it turned out and I think Mountain Man and his brother were pretty satisfied as well :) 

Of course, this year I knew I had to make something good, but instead of going with something eye catching I decided to make something super tummy worthy (not that the other cake didn't taste good as well). Mountain Man definitely likes his fair share of Mexican food and goodies, so when I came across the recipe for a Mexican Chocolate Cake (thank you Betty) I knew it was going to be a winner. It also went perfectly with my new obsession of Dulce de Leche which I've been trying to incorporate into something since returning from Miami. When all was said in done I had figured it out.. Mountain Man would be getting surprised with a Dulce de Leche filled Mexican Chocolate Cake covered in Chocolate Ganache, which we later went on to call Dulce de Leche Decadence. So let's break this down..

First off, you might be thinking, well what exactly makes a chocolate cake a Mexican chocolate cake? It's not like Mexico is really known for their chocolate?? but what they are known for is adding a little cinnamon to their chocolate. The first time I actually ever had this glorious combination was when I was much younger. My best friend at the time was part Mexican and her mother made the best hot chocolate- which of course contained cinnamon. I can still remember coming in for snacks one cold afternoon and watching her mother make us hot chocolate on the stove top with warm smell of cinnamon and chocolate simmering in the sauce pan. The next time I was really reminded of this wonderful combo was at Mountain Man's house one afternoon as I searched for something to pour over my ice cream- courtesy of a little bottle of Nestle's Abuelita's Chocolate Sauce.

Dulce de Leche, or the creamiest, most wonderful caramel ever, is also one of the easiest things ever to make. It also has the shortest ingredient list of all time- one can of condensed milk. That's it.. I never knew dulce de leche was that easy!? And it's just so good... I'm thinking about just having it on hand from now on to pour over top ice cream or anything for that matter.

And what better to cover an already amazingly rich cake than with chocolate ganache?

Mexican Chocolate Cake

recipe from none other than Ms. Betty Crocker

Oven: 350 Bake time: 35 minutes

Yields 2 round cake pans*

3/4 cup hot brewed coffee

1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

3 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Prepare cake pans- grease and flour.

Beat coffee, cocoa and cinnamon with a wire whisk until smooth-set aside until mixture cools a little bit.

In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl (love my kitchen aid) beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. 

Stir buttermilk and vanilla into coffee mixture.

Starting and ending with flour mixture alternate with coffee mixture into butter mixture. Beat until all ingredients are combined and batter is smooth.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them and leaving to cool completely.

 *I actually used a loaf pan for this cake because I was tired to making only round cakes. It still turned out, but if you want to do this you need to increase your baking time about 20 minutes more or so.

While the cakes are cooling, its time to make the filling.

Dulce de Leche

Increase oven temperature to 425. Pour one can of sweetened condensed milk into a glass baking pan and cover with foil. Place the filled baking pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water just till about halfway up the pan that is filled with the milk. You're creating a water bath for the milk so that it doesn't burn. Place the two pans in the oven and bake for at least an hour. You might want to check on it about half way through to see if more water needs to be added to the outside pan- you don't want your milk to burn! After about an hour, check to make sure your condensed milk has become a golden amber or browned a bit (if it hasn't give it a few more minutes) and remove from oven. Once it's cooled, mix with a whisk until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels

2 TBS butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream *add more to make thinner/pourable

In a saucepan, heat heavy cream until hot and mix in chocolate and butter, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat.

*Don't start to make your ganache until you're just about ready to pour it over your cake.

Assembly:

1. No matter how many layers you choose to use, round or rectangle or square, always remember to level off your layers!

2. Place your first layer on a cooling rack (I should have done this, but instead ended up with a mess) and spread a good amount of dulce de leche over top. Don't worry if it starts to ooze out a little bit. Repeat process with other layers.

                                    

3. Once you last layer of cake is placed on top.. get your warm ganache and pour it over top your cake, letting the ganache fall over the edges of the cake. When you feel like you've got a good layer, smooth out the sides with the flat end of a butter knife or spatula. If you're not satisfied with the smoothness (I never am) wait for this layer of ganache to cool and then pour another layer on.. I mean who doesn't want double the chocolate anyway!?

Let the ganache cool and harden over the cake before serving.

The aroma of cinnamon and chocolate baking in the oven is unlike any other and you will most definitely not be disappointed with this cake. Just to show you what I'm talking about, I'll share this story with you: MM's parents came to visit this early this week. Before we went out to dinner Tuesday night his mom and I indulged in a small piece of cake (as an appetizer of course) and she loved it. When we got back from dinner she asked for another to take on the road with them as they made their way back down the road. Then, when his brother came into town last night he informed me that she asked for another piece upon his return :)

Happy Baking!

Banana Cupcakes 3 Ways

I definitely didn't want to make my trip to visit Cailin in Miami empty handed... I mean, not only is she one of my best friends, but she was the one that I made my very first cake for! I went back and forth about what I wanted to bake and then it came to me one afternoon as I realized I still had 3 lovely bananas waiting in the freezer for me, just begging me to be a part of something yummy. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to try out a few new icings I've been wanting to make...soo the end result?? Banana Cupcakes 3 Ways.

The recipe I used actually comes from one of the most amazing cupcake books: Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Honestly, if you ever want to make a fun cupcake or just look at some fun things you can do with them, this is the book to have.. they do some amazing things with cupcakes and offer step by step directions to make the creations using simple ingredients in very creative ways. My mom got me the book this year for Christmas and I was excited to actually get to use a part of it finally. Along with all their fun creations, they offer the recipes for their Favorite Homemade Cupcakes and some icings as well. For these cupcakes, I made my own icings.

Banana Cupcakes

courtesy of Hello Cupcakes! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

Makes 18 standard cupcakes

Oven: 350 Time: 15-20 min

1 2/3 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 medium ripe bananas

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 stick butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

In another bowl, mash bananas and buttermilk.

In yet ANOTHER bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.

(Make sure the bowl you use for this mix is the largest- If you're using a Kitchen Aid mixer, beat the butter, sugar and eggs in there and add the other bowls ingredients to it)

Once the butter sugar and eggs are beat, add the flour mixture alternatively with the banana mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin tin and pop into the oven!

While the cupcakes were baking I got to making my 3 different icings. I went with a Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream, Chocolate Ganache and Peanut Butter Buttercream. Since I was using three different icings I made pretty small batches... icing is something that is hard to mess up and it's really all about getting the right consistency which can always be adjusted by adding more sugar or adding more butter or liquid depending on what needs to be done. If you ever have any questions PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email me, I'll be happy to try and help :)! The following recipes will be for about 1/4 of a full recipe...that means they can easily be doubled if you were using only one of the icings. A conversion and general rules for icing is up on the Tips & Tricks!!

Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream

4 TBS butter

2 TBS crisco

1 TBS cinnamon

1 TBS Honey

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar*

1/2 TBS water (just to get the right consistency)

Cream butter, crisco, cinnamon and honey. Mix in powdered sugar.

Feel free to add more cinnamon or honey depending on your tastes.

*I'm guesstimating on the sugar because I was using a 1/3 cup.. I just added 1/3 cup of powdered sugar until I got the right consistency.

Chocolate Ganache

This recipe makes about 1 cup of ganache.

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 TBS butter

1/2 bag chocolate chips

Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. In a small saucepan, heat cream to just a boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate and butter and stir until smooth. Let sit and cool for a few minutes before use.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

4 TBS butter

2 TBS crisco

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar*

1/2 TBS water (give or take)

Beat butter, crisco and peanut butter. Mix in powdered sugar. Add water if necessary.

*Again, I added the sugar by 1/3 cup increments... use your best judgement when making your icing!

Well, now that the cupcakes are iced and the kitchen is clean, I've got to finish packing and get ready for some fun in the sun... I'll let you know what the consensus is regarding the favorite combo :) MIAMI HERE I COME!!

'Holy Chocolate' Chocolate Cupcakes

If you like chocolate then you will love these cupcakes. It starts with a Chocolate Cupcake, add a little Chocolate Ganache and top it off with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

After the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I used a serrated knife to cut a small cone out of the center of the cupcake. The hole is then filled with Chocolate Ganache, and then topped off with the frosting. It's like a fudgey surprise in every bite :)

Chocolate Cake

350 degrees. bake time: 20-30min

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup baking cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 cup buttermilk

-Beat sugar, butter, vanilla, almond. Add eggs one at a time

-Mix flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt

-Add dry ingredients into sugar mixture alternating with buttermilk 

   *when alternating always start with dry and end with dry ingredients*

-Prepare cupcake tins pour batter into cups

 

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cupcakes or 3 8-inch round cakes. This is the same chocolate cake recipe I used for the Mountain Man Cake.

Chocolate Ganache

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy/whipping cream

6 tbs butter

In a double boiler melt chocolate and whipping cream- whisking constantly. Once melted add in butter and whisk until smooth. Take off heat and let cool before using.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

3/4 cup shortening (I use Crisco)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup (give or take) Whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cocoa powder

1/4 cup chocolate syrup (if you have it handy)

about 1/4 cup chocolate ganache

Beat shortening, butter and vanilla until creamy- mix in chocolate ganache. Slowly add powdered sugar and cocoa. Add chocolate syrup and whipping cream to reach the best frosting consistency. Depending on how chocolate-y you want the frosting, feel free to add more cocoa powder, syrup or ganache. 

*You can also just use melted chocolate chips if you haven't made the ganache.