Moist Chocolate Sheet Cake

After school I gave two of my boys a choice of three different goodies to make for them...it was one of those kind of days a momma has to cheer up her kiddos.  They chose this chocolate sheet cake.  It is very moist and delicious!  One of my older boys said that he had to get a glass of milk to go with the cake.  That all the "good" chocolate cakes require milk to go with it.  All he could say once he had a bite was, "MMMMMMMMM."  (He is one of my picky eaters when it comes to chocolate cake.) lol  I packed a piece in their lunches with wax paper around it.  They all ate their cake on the way to school! That's one way to keep the other kids from wanting some!!! lol

The recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman.  I was impressed with how quickly it all seemed to be put together.  I love that the frosting doesn't taste like powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter

4 tbs heaping cocoa

1 cup water

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp lemon juice

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium saucepan, bring to boil butter, cocoa, and water, stirring well.  Boil for 30 seconds and remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, and salt.  Pour the chocolate sauce into the bowl and mix well.  Try to get as much of the flour lumps out as much as possible.

In another small bowl, mix together the milk, lemon juice, beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla.  The chocolate mixture should be cool to the touch by now.  Add the liquid and mix well.

Spray an 18x13 sheet cake pan with a nonstick cooking spray.  Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it out as evenly as possible.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, test with a toothpick for doneness.

While the cake is baking, you can prepare the frosting.  

Frosting:

3/4 cup butter

3 tbs cocoa

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan (I reused the same to make the batter), melt the butter and cocoa.  Remove from heat.  Gradually, add the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, stirring well between intervals to get to a smooth consistency.  

After the cake has cooled for about 5 minutes, spread the frosting on the cake.  The frosting will harden as it cools on the cake.  Garnish with sprinkles or chopped nuts.

Chocolate Cheesecake (1st Attempt)

Many years ago, I got some springform cake pans for a gift.  They have sat in my kitchen mocking me, every time I looked at them.  I was intimidated to use them to make my own cheesecake.  Yesterday, I conquered that fear!  While the appearance is not perfect, the taste is de-li-cious!  

The recipe I used did not educate me enough about how to prevent cracks in the cake...I did not know that would even be an issue!  Needless to say, I will try these tips later to get my perfect cheesecake.  My husband was very skeptical about me baking my own cheesecake vs. buying one.  As rich and full of flavor, it was everything he hoped and expected from a store-bought dessert, but from Angela's Kitchen, aka Me.  The recipe is from Allrecipes.com.  (Please make note that this is my first time to make this cheesecake.  If you are apprehensive, please read the tips posted earlier in the paragraph.)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

1 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers

1/4 cup sugar

24 oz cream cheese softened

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups chocolate chips

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mash together the butter, crumbs, and sugar.  Spray your springform pan with a nonstick cooking spray.  Press the mixture evenly in the bottom of a 9-inch pan or a 10-inch pan,   if you don't want as tall of a cake.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually, add the sweetened condensed milk, until nice and creamy.

Add your melted chocolate.  I melted mine in the microwave for 1- minute, stirred, then for another 30 seconds.

On low, mix the chocolate with the cream cheese.  Add the eggs and vanilla, but do not overmix.  

 Pour the "dreaminess"into the pan.  I've heard that placing the springform pan in a water bath helps prevent the cracks.

Bake for about 50-65 minutes.  When the middle is tested, it will still be creamy.  I read that if the center 3" seems wobbly, it's ready and that it will continue baking as it cools.  The toothpick should not come out "dry" when tested.  Let cool until at room temperature, then place in refrigerator.  Garnish with chocolate syrup.

Moist Chocolate Pound Cake

Going through my recipe folder and came across this Chocolate Pound Cake recipe that my mom gave me a while back, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I have no idea where the recipe came from.  My boys were excited to have it in their lunches.  They even wanted it for breakfast, of course!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour 

2 cups sugar

1 small box chocolate instant pudding powder

1 stick butter/margarine

4 tbs cocoa

1 cup water

1/2 cup veg oil

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together in a large bowl the flour, sugar, and pudding.

In a medium saucepan, heat the following ingredients together:  butter, cocoa, water, oil, and salt.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Remove from heat for about five minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Then, add the chocolate sauce to the flour mixture in the large bowl.  Stir well.  Then, gradually add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

In a measuring cup, combine the water, milk, and lemon juice.  Let sit for a minute or so.  This is a substitute for buttermilk.  Then, add the baking soda and vanilla to the "buttermilk."  Mix well and stir into the batter.

Pour batter into a greased and "cocoa-coated" bundt cake pan.  The recipe says to bake for 45-55 minutes.  But, I ended up doing 65 minutes.  Test with a tooth pick.  The edges should pull-away from the pan.  Let cool some before taking out of pan.  I was happy that the cake came out with no problems.  

Coat with your favorite frosting/glaze.

Chocolate Orange Cake Balls

These are very easy to make and are rich in flavor.  It's been a while since I made them last.  Glad to be able to use up a container of frosting in my pantry that I got cheap last year.

Ingredients:

1 9x13 pan of Orange Yogurt Cake

1 chocolate frosting tub

chocolate almond bark

In a large bowl, crumble up the cooked cake and let cool slightly.  

Pour the frosting all over the crumbled cake & mix well.  With an ice cream scoop, dish out the frosted cake and place on a wax lined cookie sheet.  Place in freezer for over an hour, until hardened.

Melt a few squares of the chocolate almond bark in the microwave for 1 minute, stir, and for another 30 seconds.  The chocolate should be creamy; do not overcook.

Coat the chocolate cake balls into the chocolate almond bark and place on wax paper to cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Orange Yogurt Cake

In my freezer, I have some yogurt that I made and need to use up.  This cake will go in the lunches made for school tomorrow.  The recipe is adapted from thekitchn.com. Thinking of using this to make some Chocolate Orange Cake Balls.  We will see....

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
2 1/2 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix very well with a mixer the yogurt, oil, sugar, eggs, and orange extract for about a minute.  Then, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir well.

Line your 9x13 pan with parchment paper, and pour the batter into the pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

This is a very moist cake with a hint of orange.  Or you may substitute vanilla extract in place of the orange flavoring.

This Isn't a Brownie, But a Cake?

Saw an episode on t.v. featuring Barefoot Contessa.  I have never heard of her before, but liked her simple style.  In the episode, she was making her Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes with chocolate syrup in it!  The recipe I found was for an 8" round cake pan.  I wasn't sure it would work to feed my family of 6!  So, I went recipe hunting for one that was similar, but would work in a 9x13 pan.  This recipe is modified from GroupRecipes.com.  

I knew it would be moist, like a brownie, because of the oil in the recipe.  I wonder what kind of outcome you would have if you used something like applesauce in place of the oil.  It also seemed weird that only 1 cup of flour was needed in this recipe.  I've made flour-less cakes before and was not pleased with all the expense and labor to make it; I thought most cakes had more flour in them.

Normally, I would add chocolate chips to my chocolate cakes, but this is so amazingly rich and moist, that there is NO need.  It also is very good, that it doesn't need to be frosted with icing, in my opinion.

Most of my kids prefer to have a chocolate cake over another flavor.   Chocolate cakes have normally not been my favorites, as they are "dry" in taste.  But, I thought I would give this a trial run to see how it would work as a birthday cake.  Unfortunately, his birthday is not tomorrow.  So, we must wait with anticipation to make this amazing rich and moist brownie  cake again.  However, we probably will frost this cake for Birthday Boy!

*If any of my friends have heard of this Chocolate Syrup Cake before and not told me about it, shame on you!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup oil

4 beaten eggs

16 oz chocolate syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour 

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, mix well the sugar and oil.  Add the beaten eggs to the mix.  Make sure the sugar gets dissolved in the batter.  Set aside and make the chocolate syrup or use the pre-made kind.  Stir in the chocolate syrup and vanilla into the batter.  Add the flour and baking powder and mix well.

Line your 9x13 pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Moist Chocolate Cake

This cake is a definite favorite of my family's.  I don't normally like to eat chocolate cake, because it is normally "dry."  Adding the chocolate chips makes it better, in my opinion.  Also, I feel like I'm eating somewhat "healthy" with the oats in it.  It is similar to a family recipe when I was little.  I do like that it has "simple" ingredients within.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

6 tbs cocoa powder

1 tbs baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup veg oil

2 tbs vinegar

1 tbs vanilla

2 cups cold water
1/2 -1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, & salt.  Make 3 separate holes in the mix.  Pour veg oil in one, vinegar in another,  & vanilla in the other.

Pour cold water over all & mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips in pour batter into pan.

Spray with a non-stick cooking spray either a 9x13 pan or a bundt cake pan.  Bake for 45-60 minutes; test with toothpick.  (It took 60 minutes for my bundt cake pan.)