With flowers starting to bloom and trees starting to bud, I’ve been enjoying the spring color outside. And it put me in the mood to make something colorful! I saw some Trix Marshmallow Bars at BettyCrocker.com and just had to try them out! I had forgotten how fun and colorful Trix cereal was–after all, I hadn’t had it since I was a kid.
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What’s thick, rich, chewy, and buttery with lots of pecan chunks baked in? Pecan Chewies, that’s what. I saw a recipe for these bars over at Southern Bite, and just had to try them. They look like blondies, but they’re much chewier…and so yummy!
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I’d never heard of Brigadeiro until Marieli, one of my readers, told me about this Brazilian-style truffle some time ago. I also read that it’s a popular candy in Brazil, was created in the 1940s, and is thought to have been named after Brigadier Eduardo Gomes. As Marieli says, “The ingredients are always the same: condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder.” There are some different versions, but she gave me the instructions for the traditional Brigadeiro. Marieli recommends using a large wooden spoon to stir the mixture if you have one, which I did, and it worked beautifully.
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If you are a fan of Downton Abbey (or even if you’re not), this is a recipe you may be interested in! It’s from a cookbook called Edwardian Cooking: The
Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook (softcover), which features 80 recipes inspired by this PBS series. Author Larry Edwards, who is also the food editor for the San Francisco Independent, includes lots of recipes for foods you would find at an Edwardian table including…
As I looked through my review copy one unusually chilly spring evening, I decided to try the Downton Pound Cake. Since I had to actually turn the heat on that evening, I thought I might as well bake something to make the place even more cozy! Besides, pound cakes are wonderful, and this recipe suggests drizzling the cake with some melted dark chocolate, so I was sold on that! 🙂
I have to say, though, that this is not your typical, fool-proof pound cake. This is very crusty on the outside (which is a little different for a pound cake) and has a dense, moist texture on the inside. I just want to mention that so you’re not disappointed with the crusty outer part. Everyone I served it to really liked the crustiness, however. This cake has a wonderful almond flavor, too! You may think putting a whole Tablespoon of almond extract is too much, but it really isn’t in this cake. It did have a somewhat splotchy coloring when I took it out of the pan after baking, and perhaps it was because I used too much oil when I was greasing my pan–the recipe says to give your pan a light coat of oil, but I’d rather over grease than under grease to prevent a cake from sticking. My cake came out of the pan pretty easily–I had to loosen the edges a little with a knife before removing, though.
The splotchiness doesn’t really matter anyway if you drizzle the top of your cake with dark chocolate, like I did–in fact, I highly recommend doing that! It’s wonderful with the dark chocolate on top–I don’t think the cake would be as good without the chocolate. I just melted a 10-ounce bag of dark chocolate chips in the microwave–I melted the chips in a small microwavable bowl for a minute, then stirred, then melted and stirred every 30 seconds till all the chips were melted–it only takes about 2 to 3 minutes total microwave time to melt all the chips. After the chips were all melted, I also stirred in 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to make the chocolate extra creamy and easier to drizzle.
DOWNTON POUND CAKE from Edwardian Cooking: The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook
Makes 1 bundt cake
- 3 cups flour (I used all-purpose unbleached flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon almond extract
- Optional-1 (10-ounce) bag of dark chocolate chips for drizzling over cake
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly brush a bundt cake pan with oil or use a cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and pale.
Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Remove half of the egg whites and stir them into the pound cake batter. Fold the other half of the egg whites into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Place into the oven and bake 60 to 70 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan 10 minutes.
Remove cake from the pan and let cool on a wire rack until ready to serve. Note: If you want to do the holiday version, simply melt some dark chocolate with a touch of butter and drape it along the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides, and scatter some slivered almonds (I melted 1 (10-ounce) bag of dark chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil for my glaze, and decided to leave off the slivered almonds. Make sure you stir in the coconut oil after the chocolate chips are melted).
One thing I did a little differently from the recipe: I couldn’t find my egg separator, so I didn’t separate the yolks from the egg whites when I was mixing them in the batter. I think the pound cake would have risen a little more had I separated the eggs and whisked those egg whites, so be sure to follow those recipe instructions for best results. Despite my not doing that though, the cake still turned out good and tasted yummy!
The book doesn’t include any photos, but there are lots of great-sounding recipes. Are you a Downton Abbey or a pound cake fan? Or both? 🙂
Linked to Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Inspire Me Monday.
Chocolate cupcakes are a great dessert any time of year, and I was wanting to make something chocolatey. After trying several recipes that I thought were so-so, I went to Martha Stewart’s site and decided to make her Chocolate Cupcakes and Ultimate Chocolate Frosting with a few little changes. I’m so glad I did!
I really like these cupcakes! The batter is thick, smooth, and creamy. And the cupcakes rise and bake up so nicely with rounded tops. Best of all, they have a great chocolatey taste! The frosting is rich, thick, and definitely fudgy–much, much better than using a can of frosting!
CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH FUDGY FROSTING by NancyCreative, adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 12 cupcakes
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s brand)
- 3/4 cup unbleached flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or substitute sour cream)
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl or mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and blend well. Then add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour (if using a mixer, set the mixer to low speed for this).
Spoon batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 23 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean (I baked my cupcakes for 23 minutes).
Cool cupcakes in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. After cupcakes are completely cooled, frost with the Fudgy Frosting.
FUDGY FROSTING
Makes about 3 cups
- 3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Half & Half (light cream)–or you can substitute milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sift confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium-size bowl. Add butter, Half & Half (or milk), and vanilla. Stir ingredients until smooth.
Note: This is a very thick, fudgy frosting–if you want to frost your cupcakes with a decorator tip, thin frosting out a little by adding an extra 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Half & Half or milk.
If you’re not big on lots of frosting, these cupcakes are great with a lighter amount, too–if you like to frost lightly, you could halve the frosting recipe.
Hope you enjoy the cupcakes! Do you have a favorite chocolate cupcake recipe?
NancyC 