Hershey's Chocolate Cake, Icing and Brownies

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate"Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 C sugar
1 3/4 C all purpose (plain) flour
3/4 C cocoa
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 C milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 t vanilla extract
1 C boiling water

Oven= 350F
2-9" round cake pans, greased and floured

1. Combine dray ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
4. Pour in to pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
5. Check with a wooden pick, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
6. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans.
7. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.

Icing

1/2 C butter
2/3 C cocoa
3 cups of icing sugar (this may be too much but was the original recipe)
1/3 C milk
1 t vanilla

1. Melt butter and then stir in the cocoa.
2. Add sugar and milk alternatively and beat on a medium speed.
3. Add more milk if necessary.
4. Stir in vanilla.

Hershey's Best Brownies

Ingredients

1 C butter
2 C sugar
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
1 C all purpose flour (plain flour)
3/4 C cocoa
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 C chopped nuts

1. Heat oven to 350F and grease and flour a 13" x 9" x 2" pan.
2. Melt butter, stir in sugar and vanilla.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition.  Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; beat until well blended.
4. Stir in nuts and pour in to pan.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.
6. Cool completely.

Bûche de Noel (our Boxing Day treat)

Bûche de Noël Recipe

Ingredients

• For the cake
• Butter, for the pan
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• Pinch of sea salt
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 1/3 cup light muscovado or dark brown sugar
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• For the chocolate chestnut mousse
• 3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 13 ounces unsweetened chestnut puree
• 1/4 cup light muscovado sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

• 
  
• 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Butter a 10-by-13 inch jelly roll pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper as well.
• 2. Sift the cocoa into a bowl and add the salt. Whisk the eggs and muscovado or brown sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is pale and mousse-like, 8 to 10 minutes. Lightly fold in the cocoa in two additions. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it using an offset spatula. Give the bottom of the pan a couple of sharp taps on the work surface to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake the cake for 8 to 10 minutes, until set and springy to the touch.
• 3. Place a clean kitchen towel on your work surface and sift a fine layer of confectioners’ sugar on the towel. Carefully turn the hot cake onto the towel. Starting at one short end, carefully roll the cake up with the towel and the parchment paper. You should end up with a short, fat roll. Let cool for 40 to 60 minutes.
• Make the chocolate chestnut mousse
• 4. Gently melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Let cool to room temperature.
• 5. Beat the chestnut puree, sugar, and vanilla in a food processor until creamy. Add the cooled chocolate and mix until combined.
• 6. Beat the cream until it forms soft peaks, and then gently fold it into the chocolate chestnut mixture in two additions.
• 7. Carefully unroll the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Spread the top of the cake with half of the chocolate chestnut mousse, then roll the cake up again and transfer it to a platter, seam facing down. Smooth the rest of the mousse over the exposed surface of the cake. If desired, using the tines of a fork, make lines along its length to replicate tree bark, swirling the ends to create a log effect, and making a few knots on the log, too.
• 8. Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour. If keeping it for longer than this, loosely cover the cake with plastic wrap and let set at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
• 9. Just before serving, shower the bûche de Noël with confectioners’ sugar.

from Green and Black

It's late summer and there are blackberries everywhere free for the picking.  What better way to live more with less than to harvest from the hedgerows.  Below are some recipes for your pickings!

Bramley Apple and Blackberry Cake 

This recipe could be made less expensive by replacing the bramley apple with windfall apples you may find along the roadside.  It would be better if the apples were on the tart side since Bramleys are a cooking apple.

Ingredients

• 175g butter , plus extra for greasing
• 300g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
• 4 Bramley apples , (approx 800g/1lb 12oz)
• squeeze lemon juice
• 284ml carton whipping cream
• 225g golden caster sugar , plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
• 3 eggs
• 300g blackberries 

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Grease a roasting tin (30x20cm) with butter, dust with a little flour, then set aside. Peel, core and slice the apples into rings, then toss in a little lemon juice to stop them going brown.
2. Tip the cream and butter into a saucepan, bring up to the boil, then set aside. Whisk the sugar with the eggs until they thicken and turn pale, about 3 mins. Whisk the buttery cream into the eggs, then fold in the flour until completely smooth.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and arrange the apple slices over the top. Scatter over the blackberries, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 50 mins-1 hr until golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin and serve cut into squares.

Blackberry Chutney

• 500g blackberries
• 140g caster sugar
• 140g red onions , sliced
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh root ginger
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 150ml white wine vinegar 

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the vinegar, in a large saucepan. Stir mixture over medium heat until the blackberries burst. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the vinegar and allow the mixture to simmer uncovered for 10 mins. Cool, transfer to a sterilised jar and seal immediately. 

Blackberry and Apple Bakewell Pudding

• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 400g blackberries
• 150g butter , softened
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 3 whole eggs plus 1 yolk, beaten
• 150g ground almonds
• 1½ tsp almond extract
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• a handful flaked almonds
• icing sugar , for decoration 

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the apples and demerara sugar in a pan. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the apples have softened. Stir in the blackberries. Tip into an ovenproof dish, approximately 20cm x 30cm and cool.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together then gradually beat in the eggs. Mix in the ground almonds and almond extract. Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder and fold in.
3. Spoon the almond mix over the cooked fruit then level out. Sprinkle over the almonds. Bake for 40-45 minutes until risen, golden and cooked through. Dust with icing sugar to finish. 

Blackberry and Apple Yorkshire Puddings

• 25g butter
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 4 apples (Cox's are good), peeled, cored and cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 egg white
• 2 eggs
• 140g plain flour
• 200ml full-fat milk
• 150g punnet blackberries
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil 

1. Heat oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9. Heat the butter and 100g of the sugar in a frying pan, throw in the apples and cook over a high heat for 3-4 mins until slightly caramelised and just starting to soften. Set aside.
2. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, then whisk in the rest of the sugar, the whole eggs, the flour and the milk. Stir the apples and the blackberries into the batter. Place a 6-hole non-stick Yorkshire pudding tin over a high heat and add a splash of oil to each hole. Spoon a large ladleful of batter into each hole, making sure all the fruit is used. Put the tin in the oven and leave for 15 mins, without opening the door, until puffed up and golden. Remove from the oven and carefully place each pudding onto a plate. Serve immediately with custard or vanilla ice cream.

Apple and Blackberry Loaf
 

• 250g self-raising flour
• 175g butter
• 175g light muscovado sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 rounded tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 small eating apple , such as Cox's, quartered (not cored or peeled)
• 2 large eggs , beaten
• 1 orange , finely grated zest
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g blackberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C. Butter and line the bottom of a 1.7 litre loaf tin (see tip below). In a large bowl, rub the flour, butter and muscovado sugar together with your fingers to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 level tbsp of this mixture into a small bowl for the topping, and mix in to it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.
2. Coarsely grate the apple down to the core and mix in with the eggs and the zest. Stir the baking powder into the rubbed-in mixture in the large bowl, then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't overmix.
3. Gently fold in three quarters of the berries with a metal spoon, trying not to break them up. Spoon into the tin and level. Scatter the rest of the berries on top. Sprinkle over the topping and bake for 1¼ -1 hour 20 minutes. Check after 50 minutes and cover loosely with foil if it is browning too much. When done the cake will feel firm, but test with a skewer.
4. Leave in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out, then cool on a wire rack. Peel off the paper before cutting. Will keep wrapped in foil or in a tin for up to 2 days. 

 Apple and Blackberry Crumble

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 120g plain flour
• 60g caster sugar
• 60g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces

FOR THE FRUIT COMPOTE

• 300g Braeburn apples
• 30g unsalted butter
• 30g demerara sugar
• 115g blackberries
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• vanilla ice cream, to serve 

1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Tip the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the butter, then rub into the flour using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture. Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins or until lightly coloured.
2. Meanwhile, for the compote, peel, core and cut the apples into 2cm dice. Put the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cook for 3 mins until the mixture turns to a light caramel. Stir in the apples and cook for 3 mins. Add the blackberries and cinnamon, and cook for 3 mins more. Cover, remove from the heat, then leave for 2-3 mins to continue cooking in the warmth of the pan.
3. To serve, spoon the warm fruit into an ovenproof gratin dish, top with the crumble mix, then reheat in the oven for 5-10 mins. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Devon Apple Cake

Ingredients

500 grams of Bramley Apples, peeled, cored, diced
175g slightly salted butter, softened
175g light muscovado (brown) sugar, plus 3 T(tablespoon)
2 medium eggs, beaten
250g self raising flour
1t (teaspoon) baking powder
1 t ground mixed spice
1 t ground cinnamon
100 g sultanas (raisins)

1. Make apple sauce from apples and 2 T of water. Cool.
2. Pre heat oven to 160 C (325F)
3. Grease a 20cm loose-base cake tin or a spring form tin and line with grease proof paper.
4. Beat together butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices and add half to the bowl. Stir in. Stir in apple sauce and sultanas. Stir in remaining flour.
5. Put mixture into tin and then sprinkle remaining sugar on the surface.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients

125g (4¼oz) butter
300g (11oz) caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g (9oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
250ml (8oz) buttermilk (if unavailable use plain yogurt and milk mixture)
250g (9oz) rhubarb, chopped
1 tablespoon plain flour
Topping:
50g (2oz) butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
225g (8oz) brown sugar

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

2. In another bowl, sift together 250g flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add sifted ingredients alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture.

3. Toss rhubarb with 1 tablespoon flour and stir into batter. Spoon batter into buttered 23x33cm baking tin and smooth the surface.

4. Blend together 50g butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over batter.

5. Bake at 180 degrees C (gas mark 4) for 45 minutes.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

A delicious sour cream coffee cake, baked in a tube pan.

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour, sift before measuring
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 ounces sour cream (1 cup)

 Topping

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Preparation:

Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder. In another mixing bowl cream together butter with sugar until fluffy and light; add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing just until flour is blended. Blend in sour cream then stir in remaining dry ingredients.
Spread half of batter lightly into a greased and floured 10" tube pan. Sprinkle half of Topping and spread with remaining batter. Sprinkle with remaining Topping. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake Topping: Mix together flour, sugar, salt and chopped pecans. Add butter in small pieces. Work butter in with hands until mixture is crumbly.

Chocolate Lime Flourless Cake

I love this time of year because it gives me a reason to experiment with recipes I wouldn't normally try because there would be no one around to eat them other than me.  So, this year I made a Christmas cake using a packaged mix.  It had Delia Smith's name on it and followed her famous recipe!  It was great fun to try out and I can see the attractions of a mix, which has everything measured out for you and with the fruit pre-soaked in brandy.  I only tried the cake yesterday though I had made it in mid-November.  I have been adding a bit of sherry each Sunday.  I'm not keen on brandy and have always used sherry instead.  This cake was a bit of a mixture, with brandy soaked fruit and a regular top up of sherry but it did taste wonderful.

Today I decided to try a new recipe, a chocolate lime cake made without flour.  It was wonderful in its own way.  Light and rich with chocolate.

Ingredients:

150 grams (g) dark chocolate chopped
150 g of unsalted butter (though I used salted and it was fine)
6 eggs, medium
250 g caster sugar
100 g ground almonds
4 teaspoons (t) best quality cocoa powder
zest and juice of a lime
icing sugar, for dusting the cake


Oven temperature:  180 C
Pan: 23 cm spring form cake pan, cover the bottom with parchment paper and butter the sides

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together.  I used a pyrex bowl suspended over a saucepan of boiling water.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together until they are pale yellow and frothy and have increased to 3 times the original volume.

3. Mix together the ground almonds and cocoa powder.  Fold into the egg mixture.

4. Next fold in the slightly cooled chocolate and butter, followed by the zest and juice of the lime.

5. Pour into the prepared cake tin for 40 to 45 minutes.

6. Check your cake after 35 minutes.  I tested mine with a tooth pick and it came out clean at this point.  It is possible my oven was too hot, though I did use an oven thermometer.

7.  I served it with cream with sugar and lime beaten in but I think that in future I would use plain cream or ice cream since the cake is very rich.

Italian Sponge Cake

I rather like the sound of this cake. It is used in a recipe for Tirame-Su (Pick me up cake) which is found in Venetian restaurants.

Pan de Spagna (Italian Sponge Cake)

5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups white cake flour, sifted
1 t vanilla essence
1/2 t grated lemon rind

Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat till lemon coloured. Add the sifted flour, a little at a time, mixing in well. Add the essence and rind.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the flour mixture.

Butter and flour a cake tin about 10"/25 cm in diameter. Pour in the cake mix and bake in a moderate (350F/180C) oven for 40 minutes.

Turn out on to a cake rack and cool

To make Tirame-Su using Italian Sponge Cake, use the following instructions:

1 Italian sponge cake (baked in a 14"/35cm pan)
1/2 cup strong black coffee
3 1/2 fl oz / 100ml kirsch or Tia Maria or any other favourite liqueur
1lb 2oz / 500 g cream cheese sweetened with icing sugar to takst
unsweetened cocoa powder

Cool the sponge cake and split in half. Mix together the liqueur and coffee and carefully sprinkle half over bottom half of cake. Spread some cream cheese over this half and place the second half on top of this. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the rest of the liqueur and coffee and spread the rest of the cream cheese over the top and sides of the cake. Sieve a thickish layer of unsweetened cocoa powder over the top and transfer to a serving plate. This cake should only be about 2 in/5cm in height and should be fairly moist without crumbling inside.

Sponge Cakes

It has been a long time since I posted here. I seem to have ground to a halt on my writing, which includes my blog writing. I had never made a sponge cake until late May of this year, when I saw a recipe by Hugh Firnly-Wittingstall in the Guardian weekend magazine. I've made it 3 times since and really like it but it isn't as light as I have heard that sponge cakes should be so I am in search of the perfect recipe. Here is my first and I shall make it tonight.

Sponge cake recipe ingredients: Serves 4

100g butter
100g caster sugar
100g self raising flour
Vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
2 medium eggs

Sponge cake recipe cooking instructions:

1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 190°C.

2. Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy.

3. Beat the eggs in basin or cup and add to the mixture a little at the time, with the flour keeping the same smooth and creamy consistency.

4. Making sure the mixtures does not get too wet or dry as you go when you have used all the flour and the eggs.

5. Add the vanilla essence and a pinch of salt, mix for a few minutes.

6. Divide into two lined, or non-stick sponge tins, put into a moderately hot oven, middle shelf.

7. Put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes (it is important that the oven is well heated).

8. Put to cool on a rack to cool.

9.When cool put one upside down on a plate spread with jam, you can also put fresh cream in at this stage, put the other piece on the top and dust with icing sugar.

I rather like Delia Smith's instructions for her sponge cake so I will try that one later in the week. Now I just have to decide who to give these cakes to so that I don't eat them all myself!!

Orange and Apple Cake

I thought this sounded good and when I get some marmalade, I will make it. In fact, I think I'll ask Cliff to buy some tomorrow.

220 g of butter at room temperature
210 g brown sugar
4 eggs
250 g whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t of baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
200 g apples
100 g raisins
125 g marmalade
finely grated zest of orange
Demerara sugar

Cake Tin: 20 cm round cake tin, with removable base

160C / 1hr 15

1. Cream butter and sugar until light.

2. Whisk the egs.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

4. Core and roughly chop the apples. Apple sizes should be less than 1 cm square.

5. Add raisins to apples and then mix in the marmalade.

6. Add egg mixture to creamed butter and sugar a little at a time.

7. Gently fold in the flour.

8. Fold in the fruit mixture along with the orange zest.

9. Spoon in to cake pan and sprinkle demerara sugar on top of cake.

10. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until skewer come out with no cake attached.

11. Cool before serving.

Chocolate Zucchini (Cougette) Cake

This cake is so easy to make and so good to eat that I may never use another recipe for a cake again!

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 cup oil (6fluid oz)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour (8 oz in a liquid measure cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (courgette)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Beat the eggs, oil, sugar, salt and vanilla until well blended. Sift four, soda, cinnamon, and cocoa, and mix well with the egg-sugar combination until smooth. Stir in the zucchini (courgette) and nuts. Pour into a cake pan about 9"x9" and bake at 350F or 180C for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. (The cooking time will depend on the size of the pan.) I prefer serving this cake slightly warm from the oven and without icing.