Chocolate Cake

Not a very good pictures but do not judge the taste by its look. I made this cake for my youngest son during his kindergarten graduation last May. It’s one of the easiest cakes that you can prepare on any occasions. I am not going to make this entry any longer so here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Cake:
Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix

Frosting:
1 container Betty Crocker chocolate frosting

Topping:
1 jar of maraschino cherries
2 dozens kit kat wafers

Filling:
1 cup whipped cream
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. sugar

Red ribbon

Preparation

1. Prepare the chocolate cake according to its package direction.
2. While the cake is baking, prepare the filling.
3. Mix all ingredients for filling and set aside inside the fridge.
4. Let the baked cake cool completely before filling and frosting.
5. Carefully cut the cake into two layers.
6. Place the filling on top of the first layer.
7. Place the second layer on top of the first layer cake with filling.
8. Now you can start frosting.
9. Slowly arrange the kit kat wafers around the frosted cake.
10. Tie the red ribbon around the cake to hold it.
11. Top the maraschino cherries and you’re done.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

The kid’s enjoyed these easy to prepare and delicious chocolate cupcakes. I used the left-over butter cream for frosting that I have made during Zack’s birthday two weeks ago. Hey! If you have the money to spare then grab the finest cocoa powder you can find. One of the secrets of the melt in your mouth chocolate cupcakes is a good quality coco powder (that based on my experience). I have tried the cheapest or store brand coco powders and they can’t compare and I guess you all know the reasons why.

There are so many cocoa powders available out there and your choices are endless. But here is my short list of the Cocoa Powders that I like best:
Valrhona Cocoa powder, Hershey’s Cocoa powder, Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, Ghirardelli unsweetened Cocoa.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
¾ cup All-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking oil

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until soft.
3. Add sugar, beat about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined.
5. In another bowl, place all dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
6. Add ½ of the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar, eggs mixtures. Beat it just to combine.
7. Add milk and vanilla. Beat
8. Add the rest of dry ingredients. Beat until combined.
9. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3’s full.
10. Bake for about 20 minutes or when toothpick inserted comes out clean.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. And frost the top of each cupcake with your favorite frosting. You can add sprinkles or nuts or fruits, if desired.

Enjoy!

Black & White Brownie Cupcakes

I made these Black and White Brownie Cupcakes two weeks ago to satisfy my sweet tooth. The recipe was taken from Kusina Ni Manang. It’s my first time to make this kind of sweet and I was surprised that it turns out really good. The kid’s got all excited and cleaned the platter in a flash. Oh! I used the Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix instead of the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix that Manang used because I was not paying attention and picked the wrong box. I did not add any red wine too.

Black and White brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate BrownieMix1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. In a medium bowl, stir together brownie mix, water, oil and 1 egg until moistened (about 40 strokes). Line muffin tin with paper cups and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Using electric mixer, mix cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla on medium speed for 1 minutes or until smooth. For each cupcake, place rounded tablespoon of cream cheese mixture on top of batter. Bake 28-32 minutes. Makes 16 cupcakes

Green Tea

Green tea cake is one of our favorites. I never bake one yet but will try one of this days. I can only but them at the International market (an hour drive). It's delicious and Joe is crazy about it. I bought couple of boxes the last time I went to the market because it was for sale "who knows why".