Candace in the Kitchen

Archive for September, 2009

Mary of Passionate Perseverance chose Beatty’s Chocolate Cake for the second September recipe.

I just realized that I forgot to put in the 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Oops. The cake seems moist, so I think it will be fine.

Ingredients:

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions:

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Buttercream:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder (I am going to omit this since I’m not sure how much she likes coffee)

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don’t whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake. (I added some chocolate shavings around the sides)

Inrgedients:

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed

3-4 shallots, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 T olive oil

salt

pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Toss all other indrgedients together and put on foil lined baking sheet.

Cook for 15-20 minutes tossing occasionally.

Ribs are pretty easy to cook. Once you get them prepped you just throw them in the oven or on the grill for a few hours, baste with BBQ sauce and serve.

I found this rub here and adapted it according to what I had on hand. I made a double batch  to make sure that I had enough. It was too much so I just stored the rest in a ziploc bag.

Ingredients:

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C paprika (I only had smoked paprika so I used less than this so it wouldn’t be overly smoky)

1 T black pepper

1T salt

1 T chili powder

1 T garlic powder

1 T onion powder (I omitted because apparently we are out…)

1 t cayenne pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

To prep ribs: remove the membrane that covers the bones. You should be able to grab it at one end and peel it off completely.

Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the rub and massage with fingers to coat.

Put on a large baking sheet and cover with foil.

Refrigerate at least 3 hours, overnight if possible.

To cook:

Remove ribs from refrigerator and place in a 250 preheated oven.

Bake covered for at least 2 1/2 hours, checking occasionally and basting with pan juices.

After the 2 1/2 hours brush with BBQ sauce (recipe below) and either put on the grill for 25 minutes or increase the oven temperature to 450 and bake for an additional 25 minutes, basting occasionally, until browned.

BBQ Sauce:

There are really no precise measurements for this. You just add stuff and taste it until it tastes right to you.

I’m listing the ingredients starting with what you need the most of down to what you need the least amount of with guesstimates on how much I use. After adding those amounts taste it and add more of what you think it needs. Helpful, I know.

Ketchup (1.5 C)

Molasses (3/4 C)

Cider vinegar (about 1/4 C)

Lemon juice (about 1-2 T)

Soy sauce (just a dash)

Mix all ingredients and baste ribs. Heat extra sauce to serve on the side for dipping.

This was a gift for Kelly’s birthday. We get this delicious candy from a local chocolate shop and they call it “seafoam” candy. When I googled to find a recipe to make it at home they were all the same. Cook sugar and corn syrup and then pour it over beaten egg whites. It just didn’t sound right but I made it anyway.

Well I was right. That turned out to be more like what I have always heard called divinity. It was okay, kind of like a chewy marshmallow.

I found another recipe that seemed more like what I was looking for. It’s really easy, in fact, the hardest part of the whole thing is dipping it in chocolate.

Source: Cooks.com

1 C sugar

1 C light corn syrup

4 t baking soda, sifted

Chocolate, melted (I used Hershey’s Special Dark chips)

Heat sugar and syrup in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 300 degrees.

Quickly stir in baking soda and pour into a 9×13 dish. (I lined it with foil but wax paper would probably be a better choice.)

Let cool and set completely and then break into pieces.

Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

Dip the pieces of candy into chocolate and set on wax paper to harden.