Just a quick update.
This past weekend, the wife and I were asked to do a birthday cake for a friend (our first officially commissioned cake). Oh… and we had less than 24 hours to get the supplies, the theme and the cake baked and out the door. Outside of the fact that we used the cake recipe for the Easter cake, there is not much more of story behind this. I just wanted to share the final result.
I don’t ever recall having this before. I just saw the picture of a simple chocolate cake that serves a small crowd people and that filled the need I had for this past weekend’s festivities. This turned out different – GOOD different – than I expected as this was not the way I had ever made chocolate cake before!
2 tsp all purpose flour
2 c all purpose flour
2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c water
1/2 c butter
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa, divided
1/2 c low fat buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla extract, divided
2 large eggs
6 tbsp butter
1/3 c fat free milk
3 c powdered sugar
1/4 c chopped pecans, toasted
1. Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 13 x9 in pan with cooking spray, dust with 2 tsp flour.
2. Combine 2 c flour with next 4 ingredients in a large bowl, stir with a whisk. Combine 3/4 c water, 1/2 c butter, and 1/4 c cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add to flour mixture. Beat with a mixer at med speed until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 22 – 25 mins (closer to 25 for me). Place on a wire rack.
3. Combine 6 tbsp butter, fat free milk, and remaining 1/4 c cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and gradually stir in powdered sugar and remaining 2 tbsp vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 20 servings.
I wish I had alternate views of an actual slice for you but I had to leave the party a bit early to go to work. My husband saved me a slice and I ate it by the time I remembered I needed another pic :-p Anyway, as you can see the frosting has a light crispness to the very surface. The frosting is distinct yet the moistness of the cake (I believe d/t the buttermilk) blends nicely with it and gives it a definite richness. Very good! I would definitely make this again for a large event. You can make this the night before and let it cool overnight to save you time.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 298
Fat: 10 g
Protein: 3.1 g
Carbohydrate: 49.8 g
Fiber: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 44 mg
Sodium: 188 mg
In 2009, the wife and I decided to start an Easter Brunch Holiday tradition – The yearly Easter Egg Cake. (the original cake and recipe can be found here) Each year we intended on simply trying something new, something creative, and sharing the joy with the family…
Here is the result of the 2010 Easter Egg Cake effort – The Fabergé Egg Cake.
Here is the base cake, fresh with Fondant.
Adding the ribbons…
And the final Cake…
Again, this cake reminds me that, yes, I/we should be baking for a living.
So here we are. . .dessert time again. I needed something to bring in to work yesterday and wanted to use ingredients I had on hand. Needless to say, chocolate and mint is another favorite pair of mine. So decadent and good – you’d never know these were low-cal!
Bottom layer:
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c egg substitute
1/4 c butter, melted
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (16 oz) can chocolate syrup (about 1 1/3 c)
Mint layer:
2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c butter, melted
2 tbsp fat free milk
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
Glaze:
3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter
1. Preheat oven to 35o.
2. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar and next 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a prepped 13 x 9 baking pan. Bake for 28 mins. Cool completely in a pan with a wire rack.
3. Combine powdered sugar and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.
wow. . .this was super green. . .like Shrek.
4. Combine chocolate chips and 3 tbsp butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over mint layer. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 20 pieces.
The bottom layer was a bit moister than I expected but still very good. I wonder if it may needed to have been in the oven a few minutes longer. Other than that I had NO complaints whatsoever – delicious!
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 264
Fat: 8.7 g
Protein: 2.8 g
Carbohydrate: 45 g
Fiber: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 38 mg
Sodium: 139 mg
Let’s hear it for the scones, again! Okay, I’m just going to tell you now – this is a very traditional scone in that it is a bit more on the ‘bitter’ side. Most scones you see now are sweetened by what’s added into or on top of them (IE. chocolate, fruit, icing, etc.). So I don’t want you to be surprised. Despite that, I still really liked the coffee and nut flavor and they are perfect paired with your daily coffee or espresso (I have a great connection with this – my friend makes and sells his own). If you’re up to it – here you are!
Ingredients:
2/3 c low fat milk
2.5 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2.25 c flour
1/3 c sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinammon
1/4 c chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbsp finely chopped walnuts
2 tsp low fat milk
2 tsp sugar
1. Combine 3/4 c milk and coffee granules in a microwave safe bowl – heat on high for 1 minute. Cover and chill completely. Stir in egg and vanilla.
2. Preheat oven to 425.
3. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients into the bowl. Cut butter in with a pastry blender. Stir in walnuts. Add milk mixture, stirring until moist (dough will be sticky).
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into an 8 in circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut dough into 10 wedges (do not cut all the way through the dough though so as to retain moisture). Brush with remaining milk and sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 10 servings.
***Van, these would be the third scones I’ve made and I will tell you – each time the dough seems like a sticky mess but apparently they are supposed to be that way. Adding more flour will make the scones too dry. So if you care to try again don’t fret if the dough seems “off”.
Like I said, I really enjoyed these but because I’m a chocolate freak I will probably add some chips in there the next time 
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 207
Fat: 7 g
Protein: 4.9 g
Carbohydrate: 31 g
Fiber: 1 g
Cholesterol: 35 mg
Otherwise known as seven layer bars (but I counted in this recipe and I didn’t find seven – so I’m not sure what constitutes an actual “layer”) these are ooey, gooey, and absolutely delicious! These are quite simple and since I have never made them before I just stuck with the original recipe I had on hand but the possibilities are endless here. My friend who doesn’t even like coconut said she liked these. You be the judge.
1.5 c graham cracker crumbs (about 9 cookie sheets)
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp water
1/3 c semisweet choco chips
1/3 c butterscotch chips
2/3 c flaked sweetened coconut
1/4 c chopped pecans, toasted
1 15-oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 in square baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Place crumbs in a bowl and drizzle with butter and water. Toss with a fork until moist. Gently pat mixture into an even layer in the pan (do not press firmly because the milk needs to seep into the graham cracker crumbs). Sprinkle with chips. Top evenly with coconut and pecans. Drizzle milk evenly over the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Yields 24 small bars or 16 medium sized bars.
What was left 5 hours later. . .
The bottoms came out pretty moist, especially the center pieces. I think I would leave them in the oven a bit longer so the crust is harder. But other than that the taste is wonderful
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 123
Fat: 4.4 g
Protein: 2.1 g
Carbohydrate: 19.1 g
Cholesterol: 5 mg
Sodium: 64 mg
Fiber: 0.5 g
So I went with this recipe because I wanted to use what I had on hand – and we ran out of the chocolate hazelnut drops. Holy crap these were so good! Definitely not your average chocolate chip cookie. Add these to your gourmet cookie box collection – that’s my goal, you know!
Heaven’s ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
scant 3/4 c superfine sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp orange extract
2.5 c flour
generous 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
salt
1.5 tbsp each superfine sugar and ground cinammon
1. Preheat oven to 375 and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat your butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until well combined then beat in egg yolk and extract. Sift together your flour and pinch of salt into the mixture and add the chocolate chips. Stir until thoroughly combined. Keep in mind the batter may be somewhat crumbly.
3. For the coating, mix your tbsps of sugar and cinnmmon. Scoop out dough by tablespoons and form into balls and roll them in the coating. Place on your cookie sheets spaced well apart.
4. Bake for 12-15 mins and let cool on cookie sheets for 5-10. Then transfer to wire racks with metal spatula. Makes 30.
Guaranteed to make your kitchen smell so delicious!
Enjoy these as much as I have =D
Not too long ago I made an apple streusel muffin that was very good. Well. . .I came across this recipe and decided to try it since I needed more homemade breakfast goods on the kitchen counter. Let’s just say the first apple muffins are now complete history. I believe, yes, I believe my husband ate 3 out of the dozen the first day. These are so moist and satisfying and for being low-cal I fell in love!
Your supplies:
3/4 c plus 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/2 tsp ground cinammon
1 c each flour and wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c canola oil
2 large eggs
1 c natural applesauce (= 2 small individually packed applesauces)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c lowfat buttermilk
1 golden delicious apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1. Preheat oven to 400 and prep your muffin pan. In a small bowl mix the 2 tbsp of brown sugar and pecans. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl mix together flours, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl mix remaining 3/4 c sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each. Then add applesauce and vanilla. Whisk in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with buttermilk. Gently stir in apple.
4. Fill your muffin pan and sprinkle with sugar/pecan topping. Tap the pan to remove any air bubbles (did not know this previously!). Bake for 20 mins and let cool on wire rack for 15. Enjoy!
sorry about the flash - took this with my phone :-p
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 219
Total Fat: 8 g
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 35 g
Fiber: 2 g
Hello. My name is Eileen and I am a chocoholic. . .I once again hit the jackpot with these cookies. Hazelnuts are my favorite nut and although I think almost anything is good drenched in dark chocolate – this combination is incredibly satisfying. But that’s just my opinion. Feel free to form your own once you’ve made these 
Supplies:
1 c softened butter
scant 3/4 c superfine sugar
1 lightly beaten egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c ground hazelnuts
1/3 c semisweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp chocolate and hazelnut spread
salt
1. Preheat oven to 375 and line your cookie sheets with parchment.
2. Mix your butter and sugar with a wooden spoon and then beat in yolk, and extract. Stir together flour, cocoa, and a pinch of salt, add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips and stir until thoroughly combined.
3. Scoop out tablespoons of the mixture and shape into balls. Place on sheets and use the dampened end of a wooden spoon to make a hollow in the center of each cookie.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes and let cool on the sheets for 5-10. Then transfer to wire rack to cool completely and fill the hollows with the spread. Makes about 30.
Let me count the ways. . .
Incredibly decadent :9
Yeah, I wasn’t counting calories with these.
Enjoy!
So by a friend’s special request I decided to take this cake on. From all the recipes I read I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge. The ganache was my preference out of all the different ways you can present the cake – surprise, surprise. So if you like angel food and would like to attempt it yourself, here you are
You will need:
Beating on LOW, add flour mixture and extracts slowly. Make sure you fold in the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl. Spoon into an angel food cake pan. Move a knife through batter to remove air pockets. Bake 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger. Invert pan onto a tin funnel to cool completely. 
To remove the cake from your pan run a knife around the rim of the cake pan just to get the ‘crust’ away from the pan. Then firmly spank the sides of your pan. 
***This was the first time I made this and so being the type of person I am I made a second pie to taste test it myself before giving what I made to someone else. However, I decided to put a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom so that others in my household would partake of it too. I had to increase the baking time by about 5-7 minutes. The custard filling came out exactly as I expected and the chocolate, although I even questioned throwing that in there, was really good. Even my husband who doesn’t care for custard thought it was a nice touch.
This goes to show you: don't shift the pie while it is baking. The nutmeg will move over! Errr. . .
. . .with the chocolate layer . . .
From what the recipe stated each slice (8 per pie) has approximately 225 calories (without chocolate).
I don’t know why I’ve held off on this recipe. I’ve had pretty good success with a few other muffins I’ve made for breakfast-on-the-go and one or two “fails”. This is one of the ones I like the most! And if you’re into supplementation and good-for-you ingredients the flaxseed will probably be appealing to you. Moist, not overly sweet, and just the right size (don’t be fooled by mega muffins!) here you are. . .
Ingredients:
1 c flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c packed brown sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp apple pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
2 tbsp canola oil
3/4 c shredded/peel apple (1 medium)
2 tbsp finely chopped pecans
1 tbsp flaxseed
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1. Preheat oven to 375 and prep your muffin pan (12 ct). In a large bowl, stir together flours, 1/3 c br sugar, baking powder, apple pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
2. In medium bowl lightly beat eggs and stir in buttermilk and oil. Add this mixture to flour mixture and stir until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in shredded apple and spoon all of this into muffin cups (fill about 3/4 full).
3. In a small bowl combine pecans, flaxseed and 1 tbsp br sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spoon this mixture over top of muffin batter.
4. Bake for 18-20 min and cool in muffin cups on wire rack for 5 minutes. Makes 12 servings. Enjoy!
You'd be proud of your muffins too
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 163
Total Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 39 mg
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 25 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sodium: 167 mg
For crying out loud, how did I stray from low-calorie dessert treats? Okay, this was totally worth it. Soft, buttery, and tastes very gourmet – here is your new favorite cookie. Don’t eat them all at once, please; otherwise, who else would know you bake so well?
Components of heaven:
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c superfine sugar (this is now the sugar I carry on hand at all times)
grated rind of an orange
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp orange juice
2.5 c flour
1 tsp ground ginger
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
salt
1. Put first three ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Beat in egg yolk and orange juice. Stir flour, ginger, and pinch of salt into the mixture until thoroughly combined. Shape dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 30-60 mins.
2. Preheat oven to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment (I will comment on this later).
3. Unwrap dough and roll out between 2 parchment sheets to a rectangle. Using a sharp knife cut into 4 x 3/4 in strips and put them on the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for about 5 and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Put chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of gently simmering water, then remove from heat and cool. When it is cool but not set then dip cookies in 1/4 to halfway (whatever you prefer) and put on wire racks and let set. Makes about 35 cookies.
Fabulousness dipped in even more fabulousness. . .
A few things:
When a recipe tells you that you need to chill the dough, this is to make it easy to handle. So when you’re working with the dough, once it reaches room temperature again, it becomes pretty slippery and very soft so it is best if you can work fairly fast. As you can see I tried to get all the cookies to be of the same size and shape but I took my time rolling the dough out and cutting it out in strips and the dough became pretty soft again.
Additionally, I only had so much parchment paper left and so I used a baking spray on my cookie sheet. I have one extra large Ultrabake cooking sheet which I absolutely love because my cookies never burn and come out perfect every time. However, I had extra dough and ended up using another cookie sheet with spray and the cookies browned so much faster and some even burned (you can probably notice it in the upper RT corner of the photo). If you’re into baking cookies often, definitely invest in a good cookie sheet – saves money in the long run.
Be careful when dipping your cookies in the chocolate because they might break!
These cookies are approximately 110 calories each – Blah!
So I found a more “reasonable” recipe after the sugar cookie post – and what I mean is that the dough was more malleable and didn’t make me want to pull my hair out. This was still time-consuming because I used cookie cutters but the chocolate drizzle is easier to deal with than sprinkles and decorative sugar. I will leave that to the pros for now. These were excellent! I decided to double the recipe this morning and I yielded a TON of cookies! So these are perfect to share with others
You will require:
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 c superfine sugar (caster)
1/2 c sweet butter (I used regular)
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1. Mix together first 3 ingredients and then stir in melted butter. Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and then add to egg mixture. Chill until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 375 and prep your cookie sheets. Roll the dough out between parchment or plastic wrap to about 1/8 in and use cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets and bake for 10-15 mins until golden.
3. Cool on wire rack. Dip fork into melted chocolate and drizzle onto cookies. Allow to set on parchment and then enjoy!
I had fun with these - used cookie cutters kids would enjoy!
Cookies galore - this is the second sheet out of 4 large!
***Alternately instead of the cinnamon you can use ginger or the grated zest of 2 lemons (4-6 tsp) and add to egg and sugar mixture.
***This is NOT low cal 
Nutritional Information (per cookie):
Calories: 65
Total Fat: 2.8 g
Cholesterol: 8.7 mg
Sodium: 63.6 mg
Carbohydrate: 9.5 g
Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 0.9 g
Seems like I can’t go one week without baking something for breakfast – but that’s a good thing, right? This bread sounds rich, but it’s not. It has just the right amount of peanut butter/chocolate flavor to leave you satisfied.
You’ll need:
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
2 tbsp canola oil
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c fat free milk
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp fat free milk
1. Preheat oven to 350 and prep your loaf pan.
2. In large bowl, combine brown sugar, peanut butter, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat with electric mixer until combined. Beat in egg whites and oil until combined. In a small bowl, combine flours and alternately add this and 1 c milk to peanut butter mixture beating on low speed after each addition. Transfer 1/2 c of the batter to small bowl and stir in cocoa powder and 1 tbsp milk.
3. Spoon half the light-color batter evenly into prepped loaf pan. Then drop all the chocolate batter by small spoonfuls on top of batter in pan. Spoon remaining light-color batter over it. Using a narrow metal spatula, swirl batters to create a marbled effect.
4. Bake for 50-55 mins or until inserted toothpick in middle comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for about 10 mins and remove from pan and continue to cool on wire rack. Makes approx. 12 servings.
I probably could've done better with the "marbling" effect but still tastes delish!
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 181
Total Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrate: 28 g
Fiber 1 g
Sodium: 177 mg
