Sometimes life and circumstances beyond my control collide in such a way I’m left feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious. This pretty much sums up the last two weeks spilling over to this week, too. Last Tuesday my youngest sister gave birth to her second son and I was busy caring for my nephew for a couple days. Then, my husband with our kids left for Ohio and Michigan for a family reunion while I stayed behind. Initially I stayed behind because of my sister’s pregnancy but then, my sister stationed in Germany was able to fly home and my other sister from Spokane is also arriving soon. This will be the first time my five siblings and I have been altogether since my dad passed away six months ago. For those of you who have been following my journey of having my mom move in with s on Everyday Alice, then you know it’s been a difficult transition for me. And if this week wasn’t already busy enough, we decided to unexpectedly make an offer on a bigger house to accommodate our growing family better. With mom living here now, one bathroom will not do for a family of six people, not to mention we are a bit cramped. As a result I’ve been spending practically zero time on my computer and all my time working on clearing blackberry brambles, laurel bushes, de-cluttering, and cleaning the house. Who knew getting a house ready to sell was so much work!? [click to continue…]
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Last year I posted my recipe for
Classic Vanilla Buttercream. It’s the recipe I use for decorating cupcakes and birthday cakes, especially if I know kids will be the ones eating it. For wedding cakes I like to use a more silkier type frosting that I’ll share with you in the near future. But for everyday cake frosting, the vanilla buttercream is what I use. From that post, I received many comments and emails requesting a chocolate buttercream frosting which could also be used to frost cakes and for piping decorations.
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Photo by Yvonne Duivenvoorden - provided by Chronicle Books
| Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe |
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Recipe type: Dessert
Author: Savory Sweet Life
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 2 hours 30 mins
Total time: 2 hours 40 mins
Serves: 8
A pudding cake is a definitively American, decidedly homey dessert, in which a cake batter is topped with some sort of syrup and then baked. In the alchemical atmosphere of the slow cooker, the cake part rises up through the syrup, or maybe it’s the syrup that sinks down through the cake. But at any rate, the exchange produces a moist, brownie-like cake resting on a swamp of chocolate pudding. To serve it, scoop up some cake with its pudding foundation and eat it with a spoon.
- Nonstick oil spray
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- tsp. salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
- cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- cup vegetable oil
- cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup boiling water or coffee
- Spray a 1½-quart soufflé dish with oil and set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ¾ cup of the granulated sugar, and ¼ cup of the cocoa in a mixing bowl. Add the milk, vanilla, and oil, and mix into a stiff batter. Scrape into the prepared dish and smooth the top.
- Mix the brown sugar, the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, and remaining ¼ cup cocoa in a small bowl; sprinkle in an even layer over the top of the batter. Pour the boiling water or coffee over all.
- Set the dish inside a 6-quart slow cooker and cover the top of the slow cooker with a folded kitchen towel, and then with the cooker lid. Cook on high for 2½ hours, or until the top of the cake is set and the bottom is still syrupy.
- Cut into wedges or spoon onto plates, using the syrup on the bottom as a sauce
Recipe reprinted with permission. From Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss
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I know what you’re thinking…. you’re looking at the photo above and wondering what the heck is that glorious chocolate dessert which you are now smitten with. It’s called chocolate pudding cake, and I know… you want to make it right now, don’t you?! Lucky for you, author – Andrew Schloss and his publisher – Chronicle Books want you to have this recipe from of the Art of the Slow Cooker cookbook. Before we get to the recipe, I want to tell you more about this cookbook and a new iPhone/iPad App of the same name.
The cookbook is a collection of 80 slow cooker recipes perfect for everyday cooking accompanied by GORGEOUS photos. Some of the other desserts in this cookbook include:
Slow Cooked Brandy Cheesecake
Ricotta Vanilla Bread Pudding
Caramelized Brown Betty
Savory recipes include:
Slow Cooked Teriyaki Chicken
Bistro Beef Stew
Bacon-Cheddar Grits
Slow cooker recipes never looked so good! [click to continue…]
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Last night while laying on my couch with a blanket, a box of tissue, and a cup of hot water with lemon, I watched the evening news trying to “rest” so I can recover from this flu or cold I caught. One of the evening stories was about how the middle class demographic around our country are also utilizing the food banks to put food on the table. The statistic I heard was that 1 our of 6 people living in our country go hungry each day.
Today I’m participating (along with other bloggers) in a virtual progressive dinner put on by Share Our Strength, on organization dedicated to fighting childhood hunger in the US. This year’s theme is Share Our Holiday Table. One dollar can connect a child to ten meals. [click to continue…]
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Happy Friday everyone! I have a very special recipe for you today prepared by my good friend, Aimée Bourque. Aimée is a devoted mom and food writer, editor for Simple Bites. Today she shares with us one of her most popular recipes – citrus cheesecake. I thank you in advance Aimée for what I know will be one of the best cheesecakes, ever!
Citrus Cheesecake- Guest Post by Aimée Bourque
At the age of seventeen, I was working my first restaurant job as the “salad and dessert” girl. I was always the first to get slammed with orders, and later in the shift, as the minutes ticked towards midnight, and the chef was already enjoying a cold beer, I would always have more desserts to plate, even though my feet were ready to call it a night. In between tossing Caesar salads and scooping sorbet, I had the most important job in the house, that’s right, washing dishes.
A professional kitchen is a tough environment for anyone, let alone a sheltered teenager. Still, night after night, I just ducked my head and worked as hard as I possibly could; after all, there was an occasional slice of The Cheesecake to hold out for. [click to continue…]
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