The Savage Chocolate Beast - Brownie Pudding Cake

Every once in a while, I am gripped by the Chocolate Beast.  There is no calming this terrifying manifestation of hunger. That is, except for Mom's Brownie Pudding Cake.  

It's quite the enigma, really.  From the top, it looks like a dense brownie-esque type chocolate cake, yet hidden underneath the deceptively cakey looking surface, is a raging sea of molten chocolate pudding.  OMG I love this thing!  And while I love Molten Chocolate cakes, I will always have a soft spot for the Pudding cake of my childhood.  Richly chocolatey, decadently moist and literally dripping with warm chocolate pudding sauce...  Yep, the ONLY thing that can stop the Chocolate Beast dead in it's tracks.

The recipe sounds a little odd, but trust me; as strange as it looks, it will be awesome in the end.

Brownie Pudding Cake

 

1 cup AP Flour
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
6 TB natural Cocoa Powder (not Alkalized); divided
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 cup Whole Milk
2 TB Light Olive Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 cups Water

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees and butter a 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish.
Combine Flour, Granulated Sugar, 3 TB Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, and Kosher Salt in a bowl, whisking to combine.

Add Milk, Olive Oil and Vanilla extract, then stir with a spatula until a smooth batter forms.

Pour this into your prepared baking dish.

In another small bowl place Brown Sugar and the remaining 3 TB Cocoa Powder; mix with a fork until the cocoa is completely dispersed through the Brown Sugar.

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the cake batter in an even layer.

You can stop here and refrigerate this part for up to 24 hours, but bring it back to room temperature before continuing.
When ready to bake, gently pour the 2 cups of water over the crumb mixture. (the brown sugar, cocoa and water combine to form the pudding ----  Don't ask me how it exchanges places with the cake batter underneath... It's part of the magic)

Carefully move the pan to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before serving... You want to serve it warm, but not too warm.
Using a spoon, cut chunks of the brownie cake and move them to a dish, but don't forget to spoon some of the delicious pudding over the top.

Serve with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream... Your choice... 

Ah!  At last....  the Chocolate Beast has been satiated!

Mangia!!
~~

Happy Halloween! - Spooky Cake Pops

So I have a nephew... Actually I have 4 nephews, 2 nieces and a godson, but that's beside the point.  My youngest nephew, Marshall, saw the October issue of Family Circle which just happens to be covered with cute Halloween cake pop characters.  As a consequence, every time I have gone over to his house for a visit, since the beginning of September, I am asked the same question.......

"You make a cek pop Unca Sane?"  (he's 3)

So, not wanting to disappoint such a young soul who is so excited over the coming of Halloween, I am making cake pops this year.  LOL

Normally I am big on homemade desert type stuff.  OK, I am big on homemade anything.  But I have to admit that I am able to overcome this aversion to all things processed under certain circumstances.  Thus, I am not making the cake from scratch...  I know it's shocking and frightening, but hey, it IS Halloween after all.

A warning though...  Not all cake mixes are created equal.  It seems that some of the major brands have reduced the amount of "mix" in the mix. Duncan Hines has retained their 18.25 oz mixes, but Betty Crocker and Pilsbury have reduced the mix to a mere 15 oz.  Not being particularly familiar with cake mixes in general, I don't really know how much this would effect the final outcome... Maybe they added more DATEM or some other strange binding/leavening substance that makes up for it.   Maybe they found a way to harness Dark Matter, I don't know... But I am not taking any chances... So, I used my favorite cheating box mix.  I will be honest, the fact that Dr. Oetker cake mixes are organic soothes my conscience a little bit as well.

Now, cake pops are held together with frosting... Everything I have read calls for tub frosting from the store.  NO WAY...  I may occasionally cheat on the cake mix, but I DO NOT cheat on frosting.  After all, cake, as a general rule, is nothing more than a vehicle to get frosting in your face.  I refuse to allow an opportunity to make delicious frosting go by and purchase store bought chalky frosting that has been sitting in a plastic tub on a store shelf for lord knows how long.  Completely out of the question.  Thus, I am making Cream Cheese frosting to bind the cake pops together... Just a standard Cream Cheese variety, nothing really all that fancy, but it will do the job.  I have ulterior motives as well, I don't make Cream Cheese frosting very often, cause I don't make Carrot Cake that often.  :)

As far as dipping goes, I am breaking my rules again...  Oh, I could try to work with White Chocolate, but I am just going to have to dye it with Orange food coloring anyway.  And I have to watch the temperature like a hawk, because white chocolate is the really finicky.  So, in order to avoid a potential disaster at the 11th hour, I went and purchased the Wilton Candy melts...  Orange and White (yes, I even bought the white ones)

OK, so now that I have come clean about how much cheating I have done, lets get on with it, shall we? 

1-18.25 oz Cake Mix (I chose Chocolate, but other flavors will work too)
8 oz (226g) Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 oz (113g) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
pinch of Kosher Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
optional - 1 tsp Orange Zest (to go with the chocolate)
1 3/4 cups (6.6 oz)(189g) Confectioners' Sugar
Lollipop Sticks
Candy Melts (your choice of colors)
     Orange - Pumpkins
     White - Ghosts, Mummies, and Skulls
     Black - Bats, Black Cats (I am not covering these)
     Green - Witches (I am not doing these either)
Assorted candies
     Tic Tacs for Pumpkin Stems

Mix the cake according to the package directions.

Pour into a 13x9 dish and bake for about 30-35 minutes (or according to the back of the box)

Cut the cake into quarters and, working with 1 quarter at a time, begin tearing the cake into crumbs with a fork.

Continue in this fashion until you have a whole bowl full of fine cake crumbs.

Cover with plastic and chill while you make the frosting.

Beat Cream Cheese and Unsalted Butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, until fluffy.

Add a pinch of salt and Vanilla, then beat a little longer.

Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the Confectioners' Sugar in 4 additions, ensuring that the previous addition is completely incorporated before adding the next.

When all the Confectioners' sugar has been added, continue beating for an additional 2 minutes to ensure that there are no lumps.

Reserve about 1/4 cup of frosting in a small bowl for later (you will need it for the sticks)

Remove the cake crumbs from the refrigerator and add the remaining frosting.

Stir very gently until the frosting is completely incorporated

(don't worry, it will mix in completely, just be patient)

Cover with plastic and chill again, for about 2 hours. (the colder your mix is, the less likely you will be to have flat spots on your cake balls)

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper or plastic wrap.
Remove the cake crumb mixture from the refrigerator and roll into walnut sized balls. (about 2 TB) using a medium-small cookie scoop.

Place on the baking sheet, then cover with plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove the tray from the refrigerator, grab the sticks and the reserved frosting......

Dip the end of each Lollipop stick in the reserved frosting and skewer each cake ball. (Melted Candy actually works better for this)

This time, don't cover the cake balls with plastic wrap, simply place the pan in the refrigerator over night. (The frosting needs to be nice and hard or the cake pop will begin to spin while you are dipping)

Melt your chosen color of candy melts over simmering water.

Begin dipping each Cake Pop, allowing the excess to drain off. (There is an additive called "Paramount Crystals" that helps to smooth out the candy, but I could not find them)

Stick the end into a hunk of Styrofoam and allow the candy coating to set.

Originally, I had intended on painting faces on the pumpkins and ghosts, but alas, I am out of time.  Since I will be at work until 6pm on Halloween it just isn't going to happen this year.  (Next year I will PLAN a little bit better now that I am fully aware of the amount of time this takes) 

For Pumpkins...   Place a Tic-Tac in the top, to form a stem, before the Orange coating sets....

When the Coating has set completely you can paint faces with black food coloring, mixed with vodka. (Not exactly the smoothest dipping job, so I am calling these, "Heirloom Pumpkin Cake Pops")  LOL

For Ghosts.....
Dip in White Coating and let it set completely. (If you like, you can paint faces in black)

For Mummies.... 
Once the coating has set completely

Place a small amount of the coating in a squeeze bottle, and squeeze "bandages" across the cake pop.

Allow this to set completely as well.

Use a fine brush to paint little green "glowing" eyes with food coloring.

There you have it...

There are a lot more things you can do, but I decided to reign myself in at 3 different pops due to time constraints. Don't think for a second that I didn't toy with painting a hockey mask on one of them, but the kids don't have any idea who Jason Voorhees is, so it was kind of a "moo" point.  (That's a "Friends" reference for my SIL)

Maybe next year, if I plan this out better, I will make witches, skulls, pirates, spiders, bats and black cats.  Maybe even a couple zombies...   LOL   We'll see.

Mangia!!
~~

It's Your Move - Chocolate Mint Checker Board Cake

Back in the olden days of my youth, the only January birthdays in my family were myself and my younger brother (as opposed to my young-est brother)  Yep, I am the oldest of the three, and as of Tuesday last week, I just got older.  (sigh) 

We grew up, eventually, and my youngest brother (as opposed to young-er) married a January "baby".  Cool, one more January birthday in the middle of winter...  Then my younger brother (as opposed to young-est) had 2 kids, BOTH of which were born in January.  So now, all of the sudden,  we are celebrating birthdays from the ides of January onwards, being the 13, 18, 24, 25, 29.

But we have trimmed down on the Birthday cakes a little.  I had brownies, my younger brother wants Cherry Pie and my sister in-law wants Rolo-cookies.   LOL  But there is still one nephew left, and this was his cake.

Normally he's a chocolate and cherries kind of kid.  So I assumed that he was going to ask for a Black Forest Cake, like last year (The same as his older brother had in October).  But he surprised me by asking for a Chocolate and Mint cake (Evidently he has developed a taste for York Peppermint Patties)  So this is what I came up with, sort of a York Peppermint Patti in reverse, using the same "base cake" that I use for the Fleur de Sel Caramel cake that I found in the Bon Appètit magazine a couple years ago.

Chocolate Mint Checker Board Cake

2 cups (14 oz) Granulated Sugar
1 3/4 (8.5 oz) cups AP Flour
3/4 (2.5 oz) cup Natural Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp Aluminum Free Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2 large Eggs
8 TB Unsalted Butter, melted
1 cup Hot Water
1 TB Espresso Powder
1 cup Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Mint Italian Buttercrème
Mint Chocolate Buttercrème filling
1 box After 8 Mints
15-20 Hershey's Kisses (Milk Chocolate or Caramel filled)
15-20 Hershey's Kisses (White Chocolate ones)

The best way to go about this cake is to have everything in the ready, cause it all comes together REALLY quickly in the mixer, SO...... Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the bottom only, of two 9-inch square cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper then Butter and Flour the parchment; set aside.

So, sift Sugar, Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt into the bowl of your mixer.

Whisk the Eggs.

Melt the Butter.

Mix the Espresso Powder and Hot Water together.

And measure out the Milk and add the Vanilla...

 OK, Your ready to go. Let's Make Cake!

Start the mixer on Low speed (so you don't have a flour bomb going off in your face)

Add the milk first. 

Then, once everything is nice and damp, add the beaten eggs.

Once the eggs have been incorporated, add the melted butter mixing until just blended.

Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes; until it becomes slightly "fluffy" looking.

Lower the speed of the mixer and add the espresso/Hot water;

beating until blended (the batter will be really thin).

Divide the batter between the pans (about 3 1/4 cups in each pan).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 - 35 minutes.

Cool cakes on a rack for 10 minutes, then cut around cakes with a knife or offset spatula and turn out onto racks, peeling off parchment to cool them completely.

Then wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator while you make Italian Buttercrème.

NOW it's time to assemble.....

Schmear a dollop of the buttercreme on a cake board.

Lay down the first layer and top with the Chocolate/Mint Buttercrème filling.

Place the second layer on top.

Then apply a thin crumb coat of the mint buttercrème to the entire cake.

 Chill for 1 hour to set the buttercrème (cover the remaining buttercrème with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature) before applying the final coat.

Spread the final layer of buttercrème over the cake, making sure the top is nice and flat.

Lay down the mints to form a Checker board pattern.

I am gonna take a moment here and talk about mints.
I figured that the Giradelli mints would work just fine.

I know they have the stamp on the one side, so I figured I would just flip them over.

Well, I guess not.

That is why I decided on After 8 Mints.

Once you have placed your mints, simply apply a the Kisses/Hugs in a chess or checker set up. (white on one side, and milk on the other)

And there you have it.  Any one fore a game of Chess?

Mangia!!
~~