Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting - Happy Graduation!

This past May/June, we celebrated 3 graduates in my family: my brother and my two cousins.  These three young ones will start college in the fall and I feel super old!  Ah-hem.  Anyway, I decided to get off my lazy butt and start blogging again since I have failed to keep this blog going!  I figured the most appropriate recipe for me is my "Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting."

I baked this cake for the graduates to enjoy.  I was actually asked to bake a cake after my aunt and her husband tried my carrot cake and fell in love with it (I will post that in the near future)!  They actually wanted me to bake another carrot cake, but I vetoed since that took a lot of labor on my part (sorry! but next time!). 

Also, my sister is engaged and getting married in another year or so (she has yet to select a date).  I've volunteered myself to bake her cake!!! Okay, yes... a task that might be a bit too much, but if it turns out bad I can always run to HEB, right!?!?

So on to the cake... I mixed and matched recipes because I wanted to play with the American Test Kitchen cookbook my dad recently purchased, but I wanted to try out this butter cream frosting I found online (my sister told me she wanted butter cream frosting and not fondant for her cake). 

My cousins thanked me for a delicious cake and my aunt even called to tell me that my cake was the first to go (out of 3 cakes they had that day!).  So I am very pleased to post this on my blog.  I hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Cake: (adapted from America Test Kitchen)

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso or instant coffee (optional, but highly recommended)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350 degree F
2. Line two 9" round pan with parchment paper on the bottom (grease the sides)
3. Whisk the cocoa and water together in a small bowl
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder  
5. In another bowl, whisk together oil, egg, vanilla and cooled cocoa misture
6. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan
8. Bake between 25 to 30 minutes (to see if the cake is ready, take the cake out, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake.  When the toothpick comes out clean and with a few crumbs, your cake is ready)
9. Allow the cake (in the pan) to cool on the cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Afterwards, flip the cake over to remove from the pan and allow it to cool for 1-2 hours. 

While the cake is cooling, you should make your butter cream frosting.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting: (adapted from ezrapoundcake.com)

• 9 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2.5 - 3 cups of confection's sugar (powder sugar), sifted

1. Melt the chocolate (you may either melt it in the microwave or over the stove) and let it cool to room temperature
• If you opt for the microwave, make sure you do not burn the chocolate! Just melt in increments of 2 minutes
• If you opt for the stove, either use a double-boiler pan or in a heatproof bowl, set it over boiling water (make sure they do not touch... I place a rack in my pan and place the bowl on top). 
2. Beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy
3. Add milk
4. Add chocolate and mix until incorporated (about 2-3 minutes)
5. Add vanilla 
6. Gradually add 2.5 cups of confection's sugar (on low speed) until the frosting is creamy and silky (add more sugar if needed)

Cake balls made easy!

Hello... I know I went MIA for a while, but now I'm back (and with a super easy recipe too!).

I've noticed a huge craze for cake balls and I've seen tons of recipes for them as well.  In fact, my friend bought me one from Starbucks because she was surprised I haven't tried one out yet. Let me tell you... they are yummy, but not so easy to make (at least the coating of the cake ball isn't).  However, after much "research" I found an easy way to make cake balls! WOOHOO!

First, pick up your favorite cake mix box (i.e. Duncan Hines or Betty Crockers).  I picked the cheapest box there was, which ended up being Duncan Hines.  My favorite flavor: red velvet :)  So yes, I went for my favorite cake mix and I also picked up a whipped cream cheese frosting by Duncan Hines as well.  

Now... make the cake as directed on the box.  After the cake is ready, allow the cake to cool down (takes about an hour).  Then crumble the cake with your hands! Yes... in a bowl, crumble the cake and add half the container of frosting to the bowl.  Make sure the cake and frosting is thoroughly mixed... if the cake mixture feels dry, then add more frosting.  

On a cookie sheet (with parchment paper on top), mold the cake mixture into a ball and place it on top of the cookie sheet.  I used my hands to do this, but if you want less mess then I suggest using an ice cream scooper (a small one).  Once you've finished making the balls, place them in the freezer or the refrigerator and let it "harden" (takes about another hour or so).  

Once the cakes are ready, it's time to dip them in chocolate!  Now, I'll admit, my first few cake balls ended up poorly because I was trying to use white chocolate and it just did not coat well and I kept burning the chocolate (yes, they were wasted).  However, I used dark and milk chocolate and that worked out.  Make sure you buy a few packages of either chocolate chips or chocolate bars because it takes a lot to coat the cake.  

Follow the directions on the back on how to melt the chocolate.  Then, dip the cake balls one at a time in the chocolate.  Place it back on the cookie sheet and either refrigerate them or freeze them for another hour.  Viola! You've just made cake balls!  Now, you may decorate them with sprinkles prior to placing them in the fridge.   

My cake balls apparently were super tasty and moist (I used almost the entire container of frosting).  

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cream Pie

I have a very easy dessert recipe for anyone who doesn't want to bake or worry too much about measurements. This delicious cream pie is ready in about 2 hours max! And its so tasty!

Okay, what you need is:

• 1 gram crust (I usually get the Oreo one)
• 1 regular tub of cool whip (make sure this is at room temp and you may use fat-free)
• 1 large bar of chocolate or a bag of chocolate chips (can be mint chocolate chip or a Hershey's almond)

Now, make sure the cool whip is at room temperature. In a large bowl, whip the cool whip. If you have a chocolate bar, break up the chocolate and microwave it for 45 seconds. Make sure its melted and if the chocolate isn't melted, then heat it again for 15 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted, stir the chocolate in with the cool whip. Mix it evenly and then pour it onto the crust. Freeze the pie for at least 2 hours and viola! You have an awesome creamy chocolate chip pie! ENJOY!