Happy B-Day Big Sis (double chocolate-raspberry cake)

So this blog post goes out to my big sister, LB, for her big double digit 2-0 birthday. (Happy birthday big sis!) Somehow she manages to still get I.D'd when entering theaters, and still receives adorable little plush bears wearing Ralph Lauren bow ties. However, the time has arrived where it has become harder to squeeze so many birthday candles onto such a delicate and dainty chocolate cake without worry of wax and fire colliding together to melt the cake away.

As long hours and patience went into the cake, all was worth it when LB's face lit up from the final product. (Or was it more lit up from the many candles that had bombarded the chocolate?) Friends and family were delighted over this classic birthday cake, for it was simple yet elegant with the pleasurable Ghirardelli chocolate and rich raspberries which added a sweetly tart taste to top the cake off. I originally had made a raspberry filling, (which might i add took at least a good 25 minutes to "simply" squeeze all the juices out of the fresh raspberries) but I was not satisfied with the taste and did not want to ruin the cake so I forced myself to throw the filling away. (Tear.)With or without a filling, this classic chocolate cake will beat any body's chocolate cake any day! It is simple, yet oh so delicious with decadent flavors in every bite!

Ingredients:

1 package fresh raspberries

2 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli.. as always!)

3/4 hot coffee (you will not taste the coffee in the cake, it just brings out the richness from the chocolate)

1.25 cups of sugar

1.25 cups of flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 regular sized eggs

3/8 cup vegetable oil (I know this is an odd measurement, but trust me when I say it works the best)

.75 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons pure and all natural vanilla

Frosting:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

1/2 heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of syrup

1/5 cup unsalted butter

LETS COOK!

preheat the oven to about 280 to 300 degrees F. Grease two round pans (normal round cake pans) and line the bottoms with parchment paper. The re-grease, and make sure to grease the sides as well! Make the coffee so it will be hot enough to melt chocolate. As coffee is brewing, chop up chocolate into chunks and then combine with the coffee. Stir well until melted, then set aside. In medium sized bowl, sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Once all sifted, add salt to the mixture and set aside. In a VERY LARGE bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until frothy and thickened. While still mixing on a medium speed add in (slowly) the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Finally add the coffee and melted chocolate and beat until all combined. Separate the batter among both pans and cook for 30 to 45 min. While cake is in oven start on frosting. Over a double boiler add the cream, sugar, and corn syrup over medium-low heat. Whisk together and let sit over heat for good five minutes while chopping up chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth and melted. The add the butter in chunks and stir until melted. Set frosting in refrigerator until cake comes out and is cooled completely. Add frosting on top of one cake and then stack the other on top. Cover the entire cake in frosting, and garnish with raspberries, and enjoy!

Turkey Day Fave (Cranberry-Almond Spinach Salad)

Webster's definition of Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks and expressing gratitude through prayer. My definition of Thanksgiving: a day to indulge in lots and lots of good American food. Thanksgiving is a day that one can eat as much as they please without being judged, so why not enjoy the food we eat? That is why this year I decided to prepare a salad that was sure to make a second round around the table.

Thanksgiving is the start of fall cooking, therefore cranberries are all the rage in many of the side dishes; including spinach salads. It was a must to add cranberries for it's a popular favorite among many traditional Americans, as well are warm and toasty slivered almonds. This salad pairs between sweet-tang which comes from fresh, squeezed orange juices spritzed within the dressing and dried up cranberries sprinkled through out the baby spinach.

Ingredients:  (makes for large families)

2 packages fresh baby spinach

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup roasted or toasted almonds

1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

4 tablespoons orange juice

LETS COOK!

pick off every single stem from each leaf of the baby spinach (yes, this is very tedious). Place spinach in a serving bowl and add the cheese, onion, and cranberries. Thinly slice almonds and add to bowl as well.

In separate bowl combine balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing and orange juice. mix well together and pour over salad mixture when ready to serve.

Toss entire mixture together, and try to leave most of the cheeses, onion slices, almonds, and cranberries on top of spinach.

Serve and enjoy. (very simple, yet very good!)

Classic Cranberry Apple Crisp

The classic cranberry apple crisp has been a whopping success twice; once at Ol' Dave's famous Montgomery fish fry (or shall we call it more of a "nursing home gathering"?) and once at the past Thanksgiving dinner with the many aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Blake and I first found the recipe in the good and trusted Houston Chronicle and flung the casual dessert together in no more than thirty minutes, which brought us great praise from our oh so flattering family and friends living Montgomery. We knew the recipe had been a keeper when the pan was licked clean and about twenty other desserts on the dessert table had gone untouched. If the dessert had passed the "this-beats-my-grandmother's-apple-pie-any-day test"  then for sure it would be good enough for the fam. Therefore, my grandma and I made it for Thanksgiving dinner, which turned out to be an even bigger hit when paired with home-made whipped cream.

My dad is a down-to-earth and true southern man loving anything "Betty Crocker" style home-made desserts. From pineapple upside down cake and pumpkin pie, to coconut cream pie and banana pudding. But he now has a new favorite that has climbed its way to his top 10 list of best desserts thanks to my new cranberry-apple crisp recipe. This recipe is great to make as a true southern dessert. It may not appear as decadent and chic as the tiramisu cake or english scones, but heck this is one that taste triumphs over appearance any day! However, my personal chef slash grandma gave me the grand idea of adding a pop of color and flavor by adding a dollop of fresh, home-made whipped cream on top. (Which really "topped" this crisp off!...hah!)

Ingredients: 

3 cups chopped unpeeled apples

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats (preferably maple sugar flavored) 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup each: all-purpose flour and chopped pecans

1/2 cup melted margarine

whipped cream:

one small carton of whipping cream or heavy whipping cream

two to three tablespoons of granulated sugar 

LETS COOK!

for the crisp: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples, cranberries and sugar in 2-quart rectangular pan. In a separate bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, pecans and margarine. Top fruit mixture with oat mixture. Bake 45 min. or until bubbly and light brown. Serve with whipped topping

for the whipped cream:

pour all of the whipping cream into a medium sized bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for a LONG time! mix together until light and fluffy and no longer appears "liquidy". *but be very careful that it is not over mixed or it might start to form butter* once whipped, gently fold in sugar and stir well before serving.