Moist Chocolate Layer Cake with Peppermint Cream

Seems like the pumpkin phase just left us, and now it's Peppermint!  As I was putting away all the Christmas decor, it seemed such a shame to just toss the peppermint candy.  At a recent Relief Society dinner, my wonderful friend Pat (who is a fabulous caterer) served a delicious dessert.  Using a Costco American Chocolate Layer Cake, she stepped it up a notch by topping slices with whipped cream and crushed peppermint candy.  

I did a lot of searching online for a similar type of cake, and found one on King Arthur Flour website.  It guides you through a unique mixing method where the fats (butter & oil) are incorporated into the dry ingredients first, then adding the liquids and eggs.  I thought it looked interesting, and it turned out well.  A little more bother than I usually like to go to, but I would make it again. 

It is a moist, rich cake - but not overly so.  That makes it a good recipe for topping with a decadent frosting, or even dusted with powdered sugar.  It becomes more moist the longer it stands.  With a cake this size, it was in my kitchen for over 2 weeks through the Christmas holidays.  We chipped away at it, and it was more moist every time we had a little slice.  

Moist Chocolate Layer Cake  
(by kingarthurflour.com)

2-1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1-3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, very soft
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
4 large eggs

Prepare your pans first.  This recipe works well with either of these options:  three 8" rounds, two 9" rounds, one 9" x 13" pan, or two muffin tins (24 cupcakes).  Preheat oven to 350°.

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl.  Measure in all the dry ingredients.  Sift/shake into the bowl to eliminate lumps (this was faster than I anticipated and worked well)

*Key to success with this recipe is having your milk, butter, and eggs at room temperature.  You can speed this up by placing your eggs in warm water for about 5 minutes, and also heating your milk briefly in the microwave (about 20-30 seconds)

Add the butter and mix at low speed for about a minute.  Now add the oil and continue mixing until it resembles coarse sand.  

Combine the water, milk, and vanilla - adding all at once to the dry ingredients.  Mix for about 1 minute, then scrape bowl and mix 30 seconds more.

Now add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of bowl often.  Batter will be thin.  Transfer batter to prepared pans, smoothing in the pan with an offset spatula.  For cupcakes, measure a heaping 1/4 cup into each well.  Bake about 34 minutes for 9" x 13" pan, 28 minutes for 9" layers, 24-26 minutes for 8" layers, 21-23 minutes for cupcakes.

Cake is done when top springs back when touched lightly with finger in center.   The cake will begin to pull away from the sides as well.  Allow to cool, then decorate as desired.

Peppermint Cream:  Whip heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Top slices with cream as desired, and garnish with crushed peppermint candy.  Serve immediately.

Lemon Buddies

Move over Muddy Buddies... there’s a new treat in town.  Although these will never take the place of our all-time favorite snack - they will sneak up and grow on you before you know it.  With just the lightest touch of lemon, paired with white chocolate - they are almost as irresistible as the chocolate/peanut butter variety.  (Get a napkin...)

Like most families - we enjoyed making Muddy Buddies as soon as we heard of them.  My kids say they are addicting, and ask me not to make them except for when we are all home and it’s a sure thing they will get scarfed in a hurry.  If they hang around on the kitchen counter - they cannot be ignored.  

Lemon Buddies have the same power.  I was skeptical about using lemon juice - thinking it would make the Chex less crunchy.  But once they are spread out to harden - the tiny amount of extra moisture seems to dissipate almost immediately.  

I found I had to use another cup of powdered sugar to adhere to the coating - or they didn’t look as appetizing.  What’s a little more sugar - when it’s swimming in it already?  If you have white chocolate morsels that are past their expiration date (and hence, don’t melt as well) - the extra butter & lemon juice solve that problem.  But fresh is always best (of course).

These are fantastic - and a nice switch from the standard “Buddies” that we’ve had for so many years.  They have been a tradition to make every spring and fall for as long as I can remember.  

(And they make a great peace offering for someone you need to apologize to...)  Good luck stopping at one serving - a mere 1/2 cup?

For the recipe with step-by-step directions - go to:

www.changeabletable.com

Food Storage Fudge

If I were to print the real title for this fudge, I could host a competition in how fast you can “click away”... After all - who worries about fudge in their food storage anyway?  If you have an extra can of beans (pinto beans for instance) that you aren’t motivated to use right away - you’ll be surprised at what they can yield. 

So... why Pinto Bean Fudge?  I made this to take as a sample to one of the ward conferences that I visit as part of my church calling in the Stake Relief Society.  Our Stake Presidency asked us to put together and present a Powerpoint presentation on how to navigate (and use) a marvelous website called providentliving.org.  This website teaches how to live “providently” - a novel concept for the economic climate we are all experiencing right now.

You’ll find many resources there to help you in your efforts to live providently.  We recommended using a Food Storage Cookbook - which is where we found this recipe for fudge.  

Now, granted - food storage is not a way to stockpile fudge.  But - it is a great way to use old dry beans.  If you have had dry beans stored for years - check this resource out (HERE) to know how to prepare them to use in this recipe.

I have to admit - when I made this and took an initial taste - I was less than impressed.  I let it stand (covered) overnight and took it to my meeting - ready to apologize for it’s nastiness.  

I was surprised that everyone who tasted it loved it, so I gave it another chance.  It had miraculously morphed overnight.  My explanation is that the beans somehow softened and the grittiness disappeared as it mellowed within a few hours.

For this 'food storage' recipe - go to:

www.changeabletable.com  

Re-Purposed Candy Cane Hearts

When I saw this great idea - I thought of my grandchildren and how fun it would be to find another use for those pesky after-holiday candy canes.  These are fast, easy, and incredibly creative.  So don’t delay - snatch some out of the clearance baskets full of after-Christmas candy. 

Before every holiday I find myself hesitating to purchase candy.  In my mind’s eye I can visualize baskets of candy at 75% off the day after - and usually it motivates me to hold off.  

Today I was walking through my local Sam’s Club and found this huge tub of mini candy canes for $1.91.  It made me remember a post at freidalovesbread.com (one of my favorite food blogs).  Since I was watching my grandchildren over the weekend, I dropped one of these in my cart and hurried home to try Freida’s method.

There are so many other things you can do with these besides hang them on a Valentine’s tree (which was where I wanted to use these).  Check out the link below for ways to use these from the blog where Frieda discovered them... 

Don’t you just love cheap fun?

For links & complete instructions - go to:

www.changeabletable.com

Day twelve (of sixteen days of GREEN) - "Pebbles 'n Foam"

I love divinity with toasted pecans, so it only made sense to try pistachios.  I changed the flavorings from just vanilla, to a combination of almond flavoring with vanilla.  After adding a tiny bit of green paste food coloring, these were a good fit for St. Patrick’s Day.  Pistachios - with their natural green color, are perfect for this Irish candy.   I just had to get silly with a new name - after all, St. Patrick’s Day could use a new generation of candy.  

Whenever I visit a vintage candy store (where they let you stand at the counter and choose a sample) I bypass the fudge and covet the divinity.  I guess I prefer divinity because I know (by experience) that it is a miracle every time a batch turns out perfectly.  

I’ve given up on divinity for 15-20 years now.  My first few attempts were while standing at the kitchen counter with two or three toddlers wrapped around my legs asking when I would be finished.  Those days are gone, so I was ready to give it another try.

If you can get two things right, you WILL have perfect divinity.  Those two things are:

Correct Temperature:  use a properly calibrated thermometer (digital is so much simpler nowdays) - and adjust it for your altitude.  I do that by measuring what temperature water boils at my altitude, and then adjust up or down (DOWN for my 4,300 foot altitude). 

Weather:  This is one way to say it... “The weather determines whether you’ll like it!”  Because of the high amount of sugar, divinity will act like a sponge to the air around it.  If the day is humid (over 50%), then it will not dry properly and will usually end up a gooey mess.  Final word - DRY days only.

This recipe is the standard you will find in any cookbook and website out there.  I’ve only changed the flavoring ratio, and the type of nuts - as well as adding green paste food coloring.  The almond flavor really went well with the pistachios - fun for a change!

Even if you've given up on divinity - give it one more shot.  (Just check the weather first)  

You'll find this recipe, and lots of step-by-step photos at:

www.changeabletable.com

Remember, I'm still happy to receive your green recipes & website links by email at:

appetersen@changeabletable.com

Donna Lee's Buttermints - takes more than just LUCK for these creamy little bites...

I always looked up to my mother's friend, Donna Lee when I was growing up.  Every Christmas she made to-die-for creamy buttermints for her gift to all the neighbors.  I’ve tried to duplicate them several times, but I’ve never mastered it until I had a lesson firsthand from my neighbor JoAnn.  It wasn’t until then that I had my first success.  These are still not foolproof, but I’ve raised my success rate to a whopping 50 percent (& counting!)

I’ve decided these are better to make at a less stressful time of year than the Christmas holidays - but a holiday no less.  GREEN buttermints are just right for St. Patrick’s Day as well.

I have to admit I haven’t made these for a few years because they are just too tempting.  If I know these are in the house, (it doesn’t matter how deep I bury them so to make them INCONVENIENT to get to) - I’m like a heat seeking missile and I go for it.  It’s sad to have absolutely no willpower.  But if you taste these, you’re hooked for life!

I snapped these photos three years ago, so please forgive how awkward they appear.  And it's hard to show you just how creamy they are.  They literally melt in your mouth.  You will need peppermint OIL, not extract.  And it’s helpful to have a marble slab - but if you have a granite countertop (and if by some chance, it’s COLD) you’re set.

It wouldn’t hurt to round up some teenage boys who have a little muscle... you will appreciate that when it comes time to pull the mints.  Perhaps it won’t hurt to work out your “mother arms” (as my daughters call my jiggly upper arms)  I can’t wait till my grandchildren are old enough to help me with these - but six little ones under the age of six sounds a little risky?!  I think I’ll wait a few years for that bonding experience.  

Here are a few of the DEEP, DARK secrets...  

The biggest secret is LUCK - followed by: 

1. Only make them on a clear day with no rain or snow. 
2. Find the magic temperature - at our house and with our thermometer that is 252 degrees 
3. Pull them for the magic amount of time - only until they begin to turn just a hint of a “satin” look, slightly white with a “string” in the strand.  
4. You will find that even when you make two batches exactly the same - sometimes only one will work.  If that happens, add water and boil them down again!  I’ve never had success 100% of the time - usually only half of the batches work - but it's still worth it.

And now, so you don't have to depend purely on LUCK - consult this link for all I ever hope to know about making creamy buttermints  (HERE)

Kit Kat Squares - Twix or Kit-Kat, you make the call...

Just to cover myself - these are not identical to what we all know as Twix OR Kit Kat bars, but they are just as addicting and satisfying.    They seem to be a nice compromise when you are craving a crispy wafer, with a touch of butterscotch/peanut butter/ and chocolate...

I think it’s about time for a bit of an indulgence after more than three weeks of “cold turkey” without much sugar since the Christmas holidays.  Like most of you, I’ve tried to cut back on the caloric craziness and eat more sensibly.  But sometimes you need to have one naughty indulgence so you can carry on.  

I found these on grandmasdesserts.blogspot.com a long time ago - and I was saving them for a week just like this one.  This recipe makes a healthy (?!) portion - so prepare to give some away so you don’t eat the entire batch yourself.

And just so you can have an intelligent discussion about which candy confection it reminds you of - here are some visual references to help you make your own decision...

For the recipe for this incredibly easy January indulgence 
- go to:  www.changeabletable.com