Ingredients:
Cake:
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with non-stick spray. Use a paper towel to make sure spray gets into every corner of the pan and dust with baking cocoa. Turn bundt pan over and shake out any excess cocoa powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Add in canola oil, buttermilk, vanilla paste. Mix on medium speed just until it starts to come together. Mix eggs in, one at a time. Slowly pour in boiling water. Mix for 2-3 more minutes. This batter will be thin. Pour batter into bundt pan. Sprinkle chocolate onto batter; mix in with a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow cake to cool 15 minutes. Turn cake pan over onto cooling rack and carefully lift pan to remove cake. Cool cake completely. Transfer to a serving platter For the Cherry Jam Frosting: 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup butter, softened 2 - 2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste 3-4 Tablespoons cherry berry jam In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the cream cheese and butter; mix until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and jam and mix again. Pipe onto cooled cake. Refrigerate any leftovers
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These decadent chocolate donuts are not only lower in fat then their 'fried' counterpart, they are easy to bake. The beautiful 'orange jazz' dark chocolate glaze enhances the overall flavor. Forte Chocolates shared some of their chocolate bars with me, and they are wonderful for baking both savory and sweet dishes. The chocolates at Forte are created by Master Chocolatier Karen Neugebauer, among one of the top Chocolatiers in the World today. Forte Chocolates motto is "Celebrate Life with Chocolate" which I wholeheartedly agree with! ~Enjoy! Diane
Baked Chocolate Donuts with Forte Chocolates Orange Jazz Glaze Donut Ingredients: dry: 2 cups Cake Flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 Tablespoon chocolate powder 1 teaspoon salt wet: 3/4 cup heavy cream 2 eggs, slightly beaten 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla paste Directions: Preheat oven to 425 Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Add in all the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fill each pan cavity approximately 2/3 full (the batter will be thick, I use a ziplocked bag with the batter inside, twist bag, push all the batter to one lower corner, snip with scissors and fill pans.) Bake 7-9 minutes or until the tops of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing donuts from pan. Finish donuts with my Forte dark chocolate glaze topping recipe *below. Chocolate Donut Glaze: 2 1.58oz Forte Orange Jazz Chocolate Bars 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons light corn syrup 2 teaspoons water Directions: Place all the glaze ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring in-between until all ingredients are melted and mixed. You can dunk warm donuts or wait until they are completely cooled. *We like eating warm donuts, fresh from the oven with the rich glaze...oh so good! Recipe Yield: Makes & Glazes 12 Donuts ********* I want to thank Forte Chocolates again for sending me chocolates and for being a sponsor for #choctoberfest 2018 If you would like to find out more about Forte Chocolates, click HERE. They do have a coupon code to use as part of celebrating Chotoberfest - buy two bars and get one free! How awesome is that?! Coupon Code: CHOCTOBERFEST2018 Please note too that Forte has a promotion starting October 15th for their Facebook and Instagram Followers called: The Forte Holiday Bake-Off! All opinions expressed on my website and this blog post are my own. ********* Scones! I love any scone - be it my savory scones, or in this case, a new addition to my sweet scone line-up, chocolate! My Decadent Chocolate Scones are the perfect compliment to your day. You'll love the rich taste that this chocolate scone offers, mixed with its light and airy traditional scone texture. This scone pairs perfectly with your morning coffee without leaving you feeling 'overstuffed' or 'weighed down.' As Brand Ambassador for Rodelle, they provided me with their Vanilla Paste and Chocolate Extract, which enhances the depth and richness of these scones, and the Gourmet Dutch Processed Cocoa is a true "must have" for your baking pantry. I hope you bake some of these for yourself! ~Enjoy! Diane Decadent Chocolate Scones Ingredients: 2 2/3 cups All-Purpose Flour 1/3 cup Rodelle Gourmet Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso granules 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon table salt 8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small dice 1 1/2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Vanilla Paste 1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Chocolate Extract 1 large egg 3/4 cup + more as needed, Milk powdered sugar, for dusting *optional Directions:
**BAKING TIP: Mix 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, sprinkle on your parchment-lined (or lightly greased) baking sheet. Use this sugar mixture in place of the usual flour, to keep the scones from sticking to the pan/parchment as you shape scones. Kitchen Note: Want to switch it up a bit? Add some heat to your chocolate scones with a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flake. Special thank you to Rodelle for providing me with their fabulous baking products. For more information, or for ordering their kitchen baking essentials, please visit their website at www.rodellekitchen.com
I have made fudge in all sorts of ways from baking to microwave and I've found the one way that is almost fool-proof and leaves you with decadent fudge that is smooth and delicious! Microwaving promotes uneven heating and the end result can be a grainy fudge, making fudge using corn syrup and a candy thermometer can fail if you don't reach soft-ball stage (who needs that stress LOL) Try this recipe! One saucepan, one 8x8 parchment lined baking dish and you're good to go!! ~Enjoy! Diane
Stove-Top Easy Fudge Basic Recipe: 3 1/2 cups of any chocolate chips (*3 cups chocolate if adding nuts, dried fruits or candies) 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup nuts, dried fruits or candies, etc... Line an 8x8 pan with parchment (I let the parchment run up the sides To just lift out once cooled) Stir all ingredients together over medium heat, constantly Stirring to prevent scorching. Once melted and thick, pour Into prepared 8x8 dish and set in fridge to cool (about 1 hour) (remove fudge using parchment on sides of dish, and cut into squares.) Diane's Kitchen Notes: *use good chocolate that you enjoy eating I used Ghirardelli and Lindt Chocolates *White chocolate may appear runnier when pouring into 8x8 Then Dark or Milk Chocolate (that's normal) *Spices - I add a bit of espresso powder to my chocolate fudge And I added nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla & cardamom to my chai fudge Add spices, extracts in 1/2-1 tsp increments until your happy with the taste. *Cutting - I remove my fudge to a large cutting board covered in foil, then true up the sides of fudge if needed (cook gets the fall-off!) Cut into 6x6 rows for 36 pieces.
This is 'candy making' - no oven involved. Actually quite the opposite, you want a cold kitchen, cold filling and to refrigerate these when done. These get the 'base' filling mixed together with your favorite liqueur. You pick your filling too - do you want dark, milk or white chocolate? I went with Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, melted and added to the filling mix. I then used white chocolate and milk chocolate 'melting chocolate/bark" for the coating. As for the liqueurs - that is completely up to you! I went with Bailey's, Frangelico & Kahlua - we like the Bailey's the best but, they each have their own flavor profiles, I do have some orange infused brandy for making dark chocolate truffles as well...if you don't want to spend a lot of money on large bottles of liqueurs to use, do what I do and buy the 'sample sizes' from the liquor store...if you want to make them non-alcohol, just substitute in some flavorings that you like - like peppermint, orange, almond or cinnamon... same for the "toppings" that you roll the truffles in, I used: sprinkles, chocolate drizzle, crushed nuts and the 'traditional' cocoa powder. Traditional being that truffles are to resemble 'dirt clods' and not be 'perfectly round'...they are usually make with dark chocolate and brandy and rolled in cocoa powder to resemble 'dirt'... I must admit, I will gladly "eat dirt" with these around!! These little gems are now a yearly tradition and highly requested by friends and family. Hope you enjoy this #Choctoberfest recipe. ~Enjoy! Diane Chocolate Truffles Ingredients: 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, sift first then measure 8 oz. softened cream cheese, room temp 1 (11 oz.) bag Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips 3 Tbl. liqueur/s, *see note below Topping Choices: finely chopped nuts candy sprinkles cocoa powder toasted coconut finely crushed toffee espresso powder crushed hard candies Coating Choices: melting chocolate, (dark, milk or white) Directions: Melt your white chocolate chips for filling, in a microwave safe bowl according to package instructions (usually 30 second intervals until all melted). Once melted, set aside to cool slightly. Place cream cheese into mixing bowl, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar to the cream cheese, while on low to medium speed, until well mixed. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, as needed. Add in melted but, slightly cooled chocolate chips. Mixing well. Place all of your filling into a shallow baking dish and stir in 3 Tbs of a liqueur. OR divide the filling into half or thirds: *Note: Divide mixture into baking dishes: Using One Liqueur: don't divide filling and add 3 tbs liqueur to filling mix Using Two Liqueurs: divide filling into half and add 1.5 Tbs liqueur to each filling mix Using Three Liqueurs: divide filling into thirds and add 1 Tbs liqueur to each filling mix Mix in well. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. It will chill faster if spread evenly and thin in baking dish or bowl when placed in fridge. When very cold, using a melon-baller or small spoon, shape mixture into 1″ balls. Dip into melting chocolate and place into topping of choice, use fingers to sprinkle nuts or powder over top of truffle too (if coating in nuts or powder after dipping into chocolate, let the truffle set in the nuts until hardened/set before moving to a parchment lined container. Keep refrigerated until serving in an airtight container. Makes approx 4-5 dozen. Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |