Where the Hell Have I Been?

I'm Back. I don't know what happened over the past month and a half but apparently I got way too busy with school, and slacked on posting here. If there's anyone out there that still checks this blog periodically, I should be back to at least my regularly weekly post, and since I'm on Christmas break now I for at least the next 3 weeks I should be able to do a few extra posts. Even though I might not have been updating here with recipes, I have definitely still been cooking and baking plenty of cakes, so this is going to be a summary slide with pictures of what I've been making and eating over the last month and a half, and within the next day or two I'll update my perfect cake recipes, but until then here's some pictures to wet your appetite (maybe get you to start drooling) and to prove I haven't been a completely lazy bum lately. Enjoy!

Cakes:

Ridiculous Chocholate Triple Layer Halloween Cake w/ Reese Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate, and Vanilla Buttercreams (I don't know what took so long for me to get this one up because it was insane)

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake w/ Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercreams

Chocolate Cake w/ Cookies n' Cream and Chocolate Buttercream

Banana Cake w/ Chocolate and Peanut butter Butter Creams

Yellow Cake w/ Homemade Whipped Cream Center and Maple and Chocolate Butter creams

White Triple Layer Wedding (Anniversary) Cake w/ Vanilla Buttercream (For my parents 33rd anniversary made on request by my Mom)

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake w/ Cookies and Cream and Chocolate Butter creams (for my brother's 27th birthday, this is his favorite flavor combination)

Triple Layer Yellow Thanksgiving Cake w Chocolate and Vanilla Butter creams

Chocolate, Chocolate chip Cake w/ Chocolate Malt, Caramel and Vanilla Butter creams

Every Saturday throughout this college football season my brother and I went to our one friends house and watched football from Noon until at 11:00 PM (this is where a lot of the cake eating takes place), we watch football, make a lot of bets, and bitch and moan about losing more than we win, on the bright side we always eat a big gluttonous dinner, then follow it up with one of my cakes Long story short our friend's favorite college team is Florida State, his favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate malt with caramel, FSU somehow snuck into the ACC championship game so on the final day of the regular season when this game was played I made this cake, to commemorate the great college football year we had. Touching I know.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate chip Cake w/ Chocolate and Vanilla Butter creams

I haven't just been baking!:

Turkey Stuffed Hungarian Hot Peppers

Spaghetti with Sauce Amatriciana

Linguine with Red Clam Sauce

Pork Chop with Caramelized Onions and Polenta

Whew! I think that's at least most of it, I'll be back in a day or two with a recipe or two, enjoy the pictures for now, and remember:

Eat well, Live well

Mission: Perfect Cake, Part 4 Chocolate Cookies 'n Cream Marathon Cake

At the end of September my brother ran the Akron Marathon. This was his second marathon, he ran the Cleveland Marathon in the spring, well, I'm not sure there is any better food to splurge on after running 26.2 miles in about 3 and a half hours than cake. This was my third attempt at a chocolate cake and it is definitely improving. I think I'm starting to get a little bit of a grasp of what each ingredient of the cake actually does to the cake, and why they are needed. Once again it might not be perfect yet, but I know I'm headed in the right direction. This cake held together a lot better than the last two chocolate cakes, the texture is getting closer to how I like a cake to be. This time around I used milk chocolate as well as bittersweet in even proportions, and I think I like it more than just milk chocolate. It makes the chocolate flavor of the cake stronger, and hold up more to all the icing. Other changes I made were adding another egg, a little more flour and heavy cream, and a little bit more baking powder. Next time around I think I will try adding even more baking powder, swap the heavy cream for buttermilk and add a little bit of oil to hopefully moisten it up even more. Just because the recipe isn't perfect yet doesn't mean I don't recommend giving it a try yourself, it is still a really good, and it's never a bad thing to have a fresh homemade cake around.

Chocolate Cake Part 3

2-8" rounds

1 stick of butter, room temperature

2 1/8 c flour

3 eggs

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c heavy cream

8 oz bitter sweet chocolate

8 oz milk chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a bowl over top a pot with boiling water and melt the chocolate and butter together. When it is fully melted set aside and allow to cool.

As the chocolate and butter is cooling mix together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.

In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugars together, until the color lightens and it gets a fluffiness to it. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

When the chocolate is cool mix it in with the creamed sugar and butter and egg mixture, and whisk well to fully incorporate. Then add the heavy cream to this, and again whisk well to combine.

Finally add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir well to fully incorporate them together, but be sure not to over mix it, a few lumps never hurt anyone.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eat well, Live well