Eat: Easy Eggless Chocolate Cake

A few weeks ago, I shared the delicious Peach Upside Down Cake I made for Father's Day. Knowing my family to be serious dessert-lovers, right beforehand I decided to add another cake to the day's menu. This Easy Eggless Chocolate Cake lives up to its name and was the perfect choice for a last minute dessert. It has a short list of ingredients all likely to be in pantry--thereby avoiding a trip to your grocery store. It is also quick snap to prepare; within 10 minutes of starting this cake, I had it baking in the oven.

 

Depending on the topping you use, this cake can go in several different directions. I've made it twice and both times I paired it with a batch of homemade chocolate sauce. A plated piece of chocolate cake drizzled with a simple sauce presents beautifully, saves you time, and cuts calories.

Easy Eggless Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, stir together the "dry" ingredients: all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and coarse salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture and add the "wet" ingredients: vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar, and cold water.

Whisk until well combined and pour the batter into a greased 8-inch round baking pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack prior to flipping onto a serving platter.

recipe source: martha stewart

Eat: Peach Upside Down Cake

This Peach Upside Down Cake is one of the two desserts I made for Father's Day. My family tends to prefer chocolate confections, so I really did not expect this to go over well. That's also why I made a second cake with a homemade chocolate sauce (stay tuned for that one!). Much to my pleasant surprise, everyone devoured this beautiful peach cake with barely a leftover piece to spare!

Obviously, this cake is gorgeous and presents wonderfully—that's actually what first motivated me to make it. What you can't appreciate unless you try it is the unique texture. When I poured the batter into the pan, it was almost completely full. Worried it would surely spill over while baking, I repeatedly checked the oven. Fortunately, these efforts weren't necessary as there was zero overflow. Instead, the batter is meant to rise only a little, making the cake quite dense and moist. Also, the cake itself is not particularly sweet since it's topped with (amply sweet!) carmelized sugar and peaches. All in all, a very unusual but fantastic dessert.

Peach Upside Down Cake
Serves 8-10

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter (divided)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2-3 large peaches, sliced (around 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, aluminum-free
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to  350°F.

In a small sauce pan, combine 3 tablespoons of the butter and all of the brown sugar. Heat on medium-high until the sugar is melted, stirring continually. When it starts to bubble, remove the pan from heat and pour the carmelized sugar into a greased 8" or 9" round baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the caramelize sugar around the pan (essentially lining the bottom of the pan with sugar).

Arrange the peach slices in the pan, creating a visually appealing pattern (remember this will be the top of the cake).

In a large bowl, Beat the remaining stick butter and sugar together until they are combined and smooth. Add the vanilla, then beat in one egg at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix together the the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the batter. Now add the milk, then the remainder of the dry ingredients. Don't overmix the batter. Pour the batter over the peaches in the pan, spreading it around to fill in the spaces between the fruit.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until the edges of the cake pull from the sides and the center is not gooey. Take out of the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Flip the cake onto a serving platter. If able, serve warm.

Note: When flipping the cake out of the pan, wear your oven mitts! There may be small streams of caramelized sugar that can burn your hands.  

recipe source: use real butter

Eat: Chocolate Mud Cake & Kahlua Coffee Cookies

My recent flurry of travel has reminded me how fortunate I am to have people I can count on for time-consuming favors. Like dropping me off at and/or picking me up from: the train station, the bus station, and the airport. Such dependability and helpfulness should be rewarded...with baked goods! Here are a few of the recipes I've tried lately.

Chocolate Cobbler Mud Cake

For my parents, I baked a chocolate cake. I inherited my seriously sweet tooth from them and had a feeling this confection would hit the spot. My parents spoke so well of it that I made a second cake for my coworkers (snagging two pieces for myself and Matt first!). The original post on Southern Plate refers to this dessert as a "cobbler", which is definitely a misnomer as it features neither fruit nor crumbly crust. The finished product has a thick layer of chocolate pudding with fudgy cake on top; therefore I am renaming this concoction a "mud" cake. It is wonderfully rich and moist, plus all of the ingredients are likely to be found in the average kitchen pantry.

1 cup self-rising flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 3/4 cup hot tap water

Mix together the flour, sugar, and cocoa. Then stir in the milk, vanilla, and oil. Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 inch pan.

Combine the brown sugar and cocoa in a small bowl. Sprinkle the blend evenly over the cake batter. Very slowly and gradually, pour hot water over the entire thing. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.

Kahlua Coffee Cookies

For my in-laws, I baked a batch of to-die-for cookies. Imagine a normal double chocolate cookie but with coffee grounds and Kahlua. Oh my word. Fortunately, I did save a few of these for us! I love coffee-flavored desserts and these are so dark and flavorful that just one or two make for a satisfying snack. I slightly modified a recipe from the Food Network . I wanted to make a large batch, so I used smaller spoonfuls of dough. The end result was thin, crispy cookies. If you prefer the opposite (thicker but fewer cookies), adjust the spoonfuls accordingly.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips + grated chocolate, to taste
1 stick of butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons Kahlua
2-3 tablespoons instant coffee (or espresso) granules
1 tablespoon coffee grounds

Mix together all of the dry ingredients first, then add the remaining. Scoop heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet (a few inches apart) and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees F. Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Eat: Praline Pumpkin Cake

Everyone has their preferred season and autumn is definitely mine. What's not to love with all of the changing colors, unpacking of long forgotten sweaters, and multiple federal holidays? Not to mention that the season contains my birthday and wedding anniversary. Here in St. Louis, though, we’ve been enjoying an “Indian Summer” with average temperatures in the eighties. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. I'm certainly glad to bask in the extended heat but it just doesn’t feel like fall yet. I have taken a few measures to battle this, including a significant collection of harvest décor in and around my home. I also brought my autumnal motivation to this week’s dish: Praline-Pumpkin Cake. Yes, it is as good as it sounds. Pureed pumpkin, candied pecans, pumpkin pie spice, and caramel sauce should definitely get you in the spirit of fall. Before you know it, you will be whipping up some apple cider and reaching for your warmest slippers and Snuggie.

Be forewarned that this dessert is seriously sugary. Depending on how sweet your sweet tooth is, you may want to skip some of the optional toppings or remember to cut thin slices. I opted to make a round two-layered cake for a more elegant presentation, but this cake could easily be modified for simpler construction in a 9x13-inch baking pan.

TIME: 2 hours & 15 minutes (including baking/cooling time)
YIELDS: 16 servings (small slices)
MY SOUNDTRACK: The Avett Brothers

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (see below to learn how to make your own)
1 container cream cheese frosting
Optional: caramel sauce, additional chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Stir together the butter (I cut it into smaller portions), whipping cream, and brown sugar. Cook over low heat in a 1-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Pour praline blend into two ungreased 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Sprinkle each evenly with the ¾ cup of pecans.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, water, oil, eggs, and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice. If using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until moistened then on medium speed 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir for several minutes, taking care to break up any lumps.

3. Carefully spoon batter on top of pecan-praline mixture in each pan. The batter will be too thick to pour.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cool approximately 5 minutes in pans, then remove the cakes and transfer them to a cooling rack. Let them sit for about an hour, cooling completely.

5. Stir the remaining ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice into frosting. Place one layer on a serving plate, praline side up. Cover the top with frosting. Top with the second cake layer, praline side up, and ice the entire cake with remaining frosting. The rough texture of the pecans will make it difficult to frost the cake completely (as you would a traditional cake) but it still presents nicely. An alternative is to use half of the frosting for the middle layer between cakes and the other half on the top of the cake.

Optional: drizzle the cake with caramel and sprinkle additional pecans on top.

This week's recipe can be found on Betty Crocker's wonderful website.

How to make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice…

Mix together:
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground all spice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Yields 1 teaspoon