Molten Chocolate Cakes

This is just what mine looked like!

Last night I hosted a lovely little dinner party for a former co-worker and her husband and son.  I was going to make an easy cake recipe but then saw the recipe for these cakes in my binder and remembered how much I wanted to try them.


I was a little nervous because they seemed so fancy but they were easy to make.  I didn't have bittersweet chocolate, just milk chocolate, and it tasted just fine.  Actually just fine is an understatement.  These little cakes were so delicious.  I put them in the oven just as we were sitting down to eat.  We were still eating when the timer went off.  I took them out of the oven and let them cool on the stove top but I worried the chocolate in the middle would harden or just not turn out right.  


Happily, they turned out fine.  It was ooey and gooey on the inside and had a great chocolate taste and texture.  They popped right out of the ramekins too and looked so good with the powered sugar on top.  If only I had some raspberries or a mint leaf to garnish them with... next time.  Because I will be making these again and again.  They are that good!


Molten Chocolate Cake  

Spinach Cheese Swirls

I saw a picture for these spinach cheese swirls in a Pepperidge Farms magazine ad.  I checked out the web site, found the recipe, and have made them twice.  I really enjoy working with the frozen puff pastry because it makes the dish seem a bit more fancy. 

This was not too hard to make.  I used feta cheese instead of the Munster and used some dried oregano too.  The hardest part was slicing it.  I tried a serated knife first but  I just made a mess.  So I ended up using a very large and very sharp knife.  It was easier to cut with that knife and not too much filling fell out.

I thought the spinach, feta and oregano combination was a good one and these appetizers were a hit!  The swirls would good with any kind of filling too, so be creative when you try these out.

Here's the link to Spinach Cheese Swirls

Braised Chicken with Prunes and Cream

I found this recipe in one of my back issues of Everyday with Rachael Ray.  I was not really thinking about using it for my blog (hence no pictures) but after tasting it I had to write about it. 

The recipe was easy to follow.  I did not have sherry vinegar to soak the prunes in so I just used my cooking sherry.  Also, the prunes I had weren't dried but I used them anyway.  The two cups of broth did seem like a lot to put in, but I let it simmer away with the lid off the pan for a while and the liquid did reduce.

I served the chicken over rice and it really was a fantastic recipe.  The combination of cream, prunes, and chicken may not sound that great but it really works!

Here's the link to Braised Chicken with Prunes and Cream

Sour Cream Pancakes

In the last issue of Country Living there was a nice little article about a Vermont maple syrup farm and the family who has been running it for generations.  The article also included many maple syrup infused recipes.  Do you think that the family is like Buddy from Elf, putting maple syrup on the spaghetti?

I saw the recipe for sour cream pancakes and immediately whipped out my griddle.  Now you may remember I just found a new pancake recipe that replaced my old Bisquick standby.  Well I may have a recipe to replace that one.

I cut this recipe down to a third when I made it.  Even when I did that, the recipe still called for a cup of sour cream, which I thought was a lot.  I did not cook them in butter but just used some cooking spray instead.  But the pancakes were so, so good!  There was not much of a sour cream flavor but they were buttery and tender but thick.  I gave Baby Gordy some pancake (his first ever) and he loved it!

This will be my new go-to pancake recipe, as long as I have enough sour cream!

Here is the link:
Sour Cream Pancakes
Note: I did not make the maple-pecan butter but I'm sure it would be delicious.
pics to follow

Chocolate Peanut Pave Cake

Dear Readers,
I have to apologize for not writing since last month! I will blame it all on my nine month old who refuses to nap!!  I have still been trying new recipes and making some mental notes on each so I can create new entries.  Here is the fist of a few:


In the pages of February's Good Housekeeping I saw a picture for this cake and HAD to make it.  It is a Chocolate Peanut Pave Cake.  Check out the link- the cake is gorgeous!
So I made it two nights ago for Valentine's Day.  The recipe was easy, although a bit time consuming.  I liked spreading the batter out on my jelly roll pan to make a thin cake that would be cut into layers.  I had never done that before.  


The batter was easy to make but when I folded in the chocolate into the egg mixture it was a speckled brown.  Maybe I needed to stir it more?  But the cake came out a non-speckled brown color, although not the dark chocolate color in the picture.  The cake was surprisingly easy to assemble.  The frosting was easy to make and I liked using the semi-sweet chocolate to make a fabulous ganache.


While spreading the frosting over the cake I got crumbs into the frosting and was cursing myself for not doing a "crumb layer" of frosting.  Not that the directions called for it, but Martha would have done it.  Next time.


I did not however make the pave topping.  I just used some peanut butter to make hearts all over the top of the cake. It was a little more festive for Valentine's Day (actually I snipped the hole to big in the bag and a huge glob of peanut butter came out so I turned it into a heart).


So everything up until now was fine.  When I tasted the cake, I was disappointed. I thought that the cake was dry and it did not have that great chocolate flavor I was expecting.  I wasn't crazy about the chopped peanuts in each layer, maybe that just added to the dryness of the cake.  On the other hand, the frosting was delicious! I mean really delicious and I'm not a frosting lover.


I think that if I do make this cake again, I would use a boxed cake mix for the cake, skip the chopped up peanuts and just frost between the layers and the outside of the cake.  Or maybe I'll just make the frosting and eat that right out of the bowl...


Here is the link:
Chocolate Peanut Pave Cake


ps- pictures to follow!