Chocolate Divine Layer Cake

Moist Layers of chocolate cake are nestled between these generous layers of cream cheese. http://www.treatsontuesday.wordpress.com

There are some desserts that just make you plain angry. Angry that you can’t stop eating them. Angry that it is just so tasty and you lose all willpower. Yes, this is one of those desserts. Be warned.

Chocolate Divine Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 & 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Spray each pan again and coat with a thin layer of flour.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the boiling water; the batter will be very thin.

3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each layer comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Make the cream cheese filling. When you’re ready to assemble the cake, remove the layers from the refrigerator. If needed, level each layer with a serrated knife or cake leveler. 5. Place the bottom layer on a cake plate. Evenly spread about 3/4 cup of the cream cheese filling over the cake, leaving about 1/2 inch margin around the edges. Top with the second layer and repeat. Finally, top with the third layer.

Cream Cheese Frosting 1 cup cream cheese 3/4 cup butter 1/2 tablespoon vanilla 6 cups powdered sugar Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed for about one minute. Add the vanilla and beat one minute more. Reduce the mixing speed to low, and add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time. Once the sugar is completely incorporated, beat at medium speed for about two minutes or until fluffy.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

Ready to get your green on? Or at least eat it? These Andes Mint Cookies are easy to whip up. They look like you spent a long time on these — and will taste like it, too. I’d like to think they are second cousins to these cookies from a few weeks ago. They have a similar base. These are great to make with little helpers, as there will be leftover mints to crack open and spoons to lick. You’ll see.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

• 1 1/4 c. Butter, softened
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• 3/4 c. cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 18 pieces of Andes Mints

Cream butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly incorporate the rest of the dry ingredients. Once fully mixed, roll them up into balls onto the baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Once they come out and are hot, place 1/2 of a mint on top of each cookie and let rest for a minute there to melt.

After they start to melt, you can swirl the mints on top of the cookie with the back of your spoon

.

This will frost the cookie. Then, after you have frosted all the cookies, you will need to find someone to lick the spoon.

That shouldn’t be too hard, right? Now, go enjoy your day since this was a breeze.

Rolo Stuffed Cookie topped with Sea Salt

Who are we kidding? The price of gas is creeping back up, but has anyone bothered to check the prices of Rolos? WHAT!? One of my favorite candies is getting less affordable.

So, call is a splurge, but I think you’ll agree it will be worth it. Luckily this batch only requires 24 of those precious nuggets that you roll a rolo to your pal.

Éclairs

First let me “D-éclair” this is not a cake walk. This recipe is time consuming; generally saved for birthdays or special occasions. When we do make it, we usually triple it in order to please everyone — each needs his fill of one… or five éclairs. 

Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Coconut Cupcakes

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

I love my sugar cookies soft. If you don’t, this recipe isn’t for you. But these turn out right every time. And just in time for Valentine’s. Adorn these cookies just the way you want. I’ll include my frosting recipe as well.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This is probably one of the first cookies I learned to make when I was young. When I was a senior in high school, my parents moved to Texas and allowed me to finish my cherished years in high school in an apartment in Arkansas with my brother who was in college. In an attempt to cure some homesickness, I traveled to visit my family to Amarillo via a sketchy Greyhound bus. While I was gone, my brother got a craving for these cookies I had made him once before. Upon arriving back to our apartment, I opened up our fridge to find a bowl full of dark brown, gooey liquid. I then heard my brother admit, “Oh yeah. I tried making those cookies.” Apparently he didn’t add quite enough flour. I’m sure he wasn’t planning on even getting to the baking step because I witnessed this same brother, a few years later as we both ventured to college to Utah,  lick a bowl clean full of a Jiffy blueberry muffin mix prior to the oven preheating to make his muffins. He does love batter. Those with raw egg aversions, turn away.

Apple Pie

Now, who doesn’t like apple pie? Who doesn’t like apple pie that was possibly cooked a few minutes too long like the one in this picture? Don’t worry. It still tasted great. Just note, when it suggests bake 30-40 minutes. The 35 mark didn’t cut it.

Apple Pie (from the Lion House cookbook)

Triple Layer Carrot Cake

Triple Layer Carrot Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart


Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans 
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 3 large eggs 
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup water 
• 1 pound carrots (8 to 10 medium carrots), peeled and shredded on a box grater or in a food processor (about 2 3/4 cups)