 Brown Sugar Chocolate Bundt #choctoberfest So excited to be working with our Gold Sponsor for #Choctoberfest 2018. Imperial Sugars are new to me but, what a great product! I am so happy they sent me their sugars and to use as baking season ramps up for the Holidays. *********** A little bit of Imperial Sugar History: "In 1843, along the banks of Oyster Creek in what would later become Sugar Land, the Williams brothers built a mule-powered sugar mill, began grinding sugar cane, and a Texas legacy was born. The Imperial Sugar Company is the one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the State of Texas and was founded by one of the original 100 families brought to the state by Stephen F. Austin. Imperial Sugar provides high-quality sugar and sweetener products and over 100 years of time-tested recipes. Our family of products includes granulated sugar, light and dark brown sugar, free-flowing sugar, powdered sugar, sugar shakers and Steviacane® (Stevia + sugar blend). Imperial Sugar products are 100% pure cane sugar, non-GMO and provide consistently delicious results." Make sure to visit Imperial Sugars Halloween Contest!! ********** Brown Sugar Chocolate Bundt Cake Ingredients: 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened 1 cup packed Imperial brown sugar 1/2 cup Imperial granulated white sugar 1/2 cup sour cream 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract 1 teaspoon chocolate extract 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup cocoa Directions: Preheat oven to 325º F. Prepare bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add sour cream and then incorporate the flour, salt, vanilla, chocolate, baking soda and cocoa. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Allow to rest in Bundt pan for about 10 minutes to cool before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. This cake is great frosted or unfrosted but, since Halloween is approaching, I opted for a pumpkin theme.
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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 
Baked Chocolate Donuts with Forte Chocolate Orange Jazz Glaze
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. ********* 
This is one of my favorite weeks of the year, because #Choctoberfest is finally here! From now until the end of the week, I am joining forces with over 100 other bloggers from around the world to post delicious chocolate recipes. Every day, #Choctoberfest bloggers will be celebrating all things chocolate - milk, dark, white, bittersweet, semi-sweet, and cocoa! We are starting with a #Choctoberfest prize pack from our generous sponsors. Scroll down to learn how you can enter to win. One lucky winner will receive the following:
 Instant Pot Cashew Chicken My favorite item to cook in the instant pot - chicken. The chicken turns out perfectly cooked, moist and tender without being tough or overcooked. Instant Pot tells folks to cook chicken at 6-8 minutes and most recipes call for 10 minutes. I have found that if its 2 pounds of chicken or more, 12 minutes cook time yields the results we like. You may need to adjust your timing to your liking as you use your Instant Pot more and more. You can also control the "heat" in this recipe to your families liking. I use hot chili oil in this dish but, red pepper flake works well too. I hope you enjoy this recipe, its a mix of savory chicken with a slightly sweet sauce and the cooked cashews lend a buttery tone to the dish. ~Enjoy! Diane Instant Pot Cashew Chicken Ingredients: 2 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces 1 sweet red, orange or yellow bell pepper; cored, seeded, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small can of diced or sliced water chestnuts 1 small onion, diced 1 cup cashews unsalted 1 tablespoon sesame oil 4 tablespoons soy sauce* 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tsp minced garlic 1/2 tsp red chili oil 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 cup chicken broth* ground black pepper Directions: I use my 6 Quart Instant Pot Lightly pepper the chicken *optional, add all ingredients to Inner pot of your Instant Pot. Stir until combined. Close lid, make sure the pressure cooker is sealed. Cook on High Pressure/Meat for 12 minutes. Use an 8 minute Natural Release. Turn off the heat. Release the remaining pressure. Open the lid then select the Sauté function, on LOW. In a small bowl or cup combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water, whisk until well combined with no lumps. Add the mixture to the Instant Pot and stir to combine. Cook on Sauté function for a few more minutes, stirring gently, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. If you want an even thicker sauce, mix one more tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and add it to the pressure cooker. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped green onion. Serve over cooked rice or noodles. *Recipe Note: you can use low sodium soy sauce and chicken broth. |
