Grandma Cook's Chocolate Cream Pie

My friend Tiffany has created 4x6 digital recipe cards. I love this idea! Then, if you need a quick gift you simply print out a few 4x6's. I'm in the process of creating mine. They will all have this format to keep it simple. As much as I would love to create different colors for dessert, main dish, etc. I decided to keep it simple or I may never finish the project.

So above is my Grandma Cook's recipe for chocolate cream pie. It can be tricky and not set up on you. It takes practice to get it just right and even then it might not set up. But when it does it is so worth it.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Don't make this cake unless you have vanilla ice cream on hand. :) So rich. It reminds me of the Chocolate Souffle Cake I get at California Pizza Kitchen. They serve it over a vanilla bean cream with a side of vanilla ice cream.
Flourless Chocolate Cake

Recipe courtesy Aaron McCargo Jr. (Food network)

Ingredients

4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick of cold butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ounces of hazelnut liqueur

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cocoa powder, sifted

3 eggs, beaten

Chocolate ganache, recipe follows

Berries, garnish

Powdered sugar, garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8 inch round cake pan with nonstick butter spray and line bottom with parchment. Put the chocolate, butter, vanilla and hazelnut liqueur in a large bowl on top of a double boiler. Stir the mixture frequently until combined and smooth. Remove the chocolate from heat and put the bowl into an "ice bath" to cool the chocolate. (Cook's note: This step is important so the eggs will not cook when added to the chocolate.) Mix in the sugar and cocoa powder. Stir in the eggs and pour into the prepared cake pan. Put the cake pan on a sheet tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and invert onto a rack over a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Pour the ganache over the cake. Allow the cake to cool and set for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh berries and powered sugar.

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate into a large bowl. Heat the cream in a small pot, over low heat, until hot to the touch. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Mix well with a rubber spatula until the chocolate melts.

My Own Notes.....

No hazelnut liqueur for me. I did add about 1 tsp. of Almond extract. I could have done without and it would have tasted fine.

Instead of inverting my cake I used a spring form pan. I lined the bottom with foil. After releasing the cake from the pan I simply slid my cake, foil and all, onto the counter to cool. I was worried I would mess up the inverting part. If I was serving it for guests I would probably try to do something nice.

I skipped the ganache part because I did not have heavy cream on hand. I simply sprinkled powder sugar on top. Still tasted yummy.

It was pretty easy to make and didn't require a lot of ingredients.

My Mom's Lemon Cupcakes

My Mom's Lemon Cupcakes

1 Yello Cake Mix

4 eggs

3/4 c. water

1 (3 oz.) package of Lemon Jello

3/4 c. vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together.  Follow directions on cake mix box for oven temperature and bake time.  I threw out my box accidentally.  I set my oven for 350 degrees and baked my cupcakes for about 18 minutes.

Frosting (make while cupcakes are baking)

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tbs. melted butter

juice from 2 lemons to thin frosting down

Mix butter and sugar together first.  Add lemon juice a little at a time to thin down mixture.  It should have a nice pouring consistency and be on the tart side.  Make sure your frosting is nice and smooth or you will end up with powdered sugar lumps on top of your cupcakes.  Just look at my picture above.  It doesn't taste bad but might look a little prettier without the white lumps.  :)

When cupcakes are removed from the oven and still hot, take a fork and poke holes into cupcakes.  You will pour the frosting into these holes.  I poked and poured at the same time so I could use the fork to hold open my holes a bit.  If you have icing left over, feel free to pour directly on top.  

Banana Popsicles

Okay, so this isn't an original idea by any means.  Julia is always asking for a "popcle" or popsicle.  I did find some popsicles that are rather small and only about 3 grams of sugar per serving.  But the other day I made a bowl of fruit for us to snack on and had half a banana left over.  So I cut it in two, stuck skewers in them, wrapped them in saran wrap, and stuck them in the freezer.  Today when she asked for a "popcle" I grabbed for a frozen banana and she didn't seem to mind.  

I always learn something after I make a dish.  And in typical teacher fashion, I like to "reflect" on what I could have done better.  I would definitely purchase some popsicle sticks instead of using skewers for this item.  So after I get more popsicle sticks I will be poking them into all sorts of fruits for my little girl to munch.  And I guess I could always cover them in chocolate and nuts someday for a special treat...just like at the fair.

Shish Keberries

I wanted a quick dessert that Cliff could possibly eat in the car on his drive to work.  I already had some cold strawberries sliced and found my bamboo skewers.  So I drizzled a little "Hershey's Shell Topping" and stuck them in the freezer to help the chocolate harden.  When I brought them out Cliff called the Shish Keberries and helped Julia master the technique of sliding the strawberries off without stabbing herself in the eye.  :)  Just a little twist on the chocolate covered strawberry.

Pastel de Tres Leches

My ingredients for the cake.

Julia found a "stool" to help her in the pantry.

My cakes cooling. I decided to make two cakes. If they were yummy I planned to send some with Cliff to work along with some strawberries. However, they called him and said that if he didn't want to come in that night he didn't have to! I love the Buellton office. This would have never happened in the San Jose office. Check out my strawberries below! They were so pretty.

My finished cake complete with strawberry on top. I forgot to thaw the cool whip so I had to wait until the next day to assemble the cake. Carianne, does it look similar to your cake?

1 paquete (18.75 onzas) de harina preparada para pastel blanco

1 lata (12 onzas) de leche evaporado

1/2 taza de leche condensada azucarada

1 envase (8 onzas) de crema agria

1 cucharadita de extracto de vanilla

1 envase (8 onzas) de crema batida congelada, descongelada

1/4 taza de almendras naturales rebanadas, picadas

1/4 cucharadita de Canela

Fresa (opcional)

Okay, now for the ingredients in English! You didn't know you were getting a Spanish lesson, did you?

Cake of Three Milks

1 package white cake mix

1 can evaporated milk (12oz.)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 container of sour creme (8oz.)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed (8oz.)

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Strawberries (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray. Make cake as per directions on box and whisk together. Spoon batter into pan and bake 35-40 minutes. Cool cake completely. Using a serrated bread knife gently slice crown from the top of cake to expose interior of cake. (Discard trimmings......into your mouth!) Combine evaporated milk, sour creme, condensed milk and vanilla in bowl and whisk until well blended. Slowly pour over cake. Sprinkle cinnamon lightly over cake then spread whipped topping over the cake. Carianne uses a half a bag of sliced almonds and sprinkles them over the whipped topping. Use the sliced strawberries to garnish. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Submitted by Carianne Perry

Luckily I had my iPhone with me today so I could look up the email Carianne sent with and buy the ingredients for this cake. I'm making it tomorrow! It sounds super easy and yummy.