Candy Dish Blog

Sadly, football is wrapping up.  College football has been over for about a month now, and the Superbowl is this Sunday.  Where has the season gone?

Since we’re in the middle of a blizzard here in DC, I don’t think I’ll be doing anything too exciting for Superbowl Sunday since I can’t even see my car.  Instead, I’m thinking of baking a cake for me and the fiancé!  Hey, I gotta show him my Betty Crocker side every once in awhile to assure him I’m wifey material.   We managed to attend 6 Virginia Tech games this year, but I stumbled across this stadium cake pan a little too late in the season to be able to bring it to tailgates.  If your mailman won’t overnight the pan to your house in this snowstorm, you could always make an easy football pull-apart cake made of delicious chocolate cupcakes!

Since I’m not a Saints or Colts fan, I’m thinking of decorating my stadium for both teams.  Any thoughts as to what candies I could put on top?

Turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey pot pie, turkey and waffles, refried turkey, turkey a la king, turkey stir fry, turkey, turkey, turkey. All these leftovers are a lot to swallow, aren’t they?

Janet over at Dying for Chocolate has some great recipes that will allow us to use those pesky leftovers in new, inventive ways through the assistance of our old friend chocolate. The one the really grabbed my eye was a chocolate mashed potato cake. Check it out:

1 1/2 cup self rising flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz. organic fair-trade dark chocolate, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cooked mashed potatoes (make sure they weren’t seasoned)

Cream butter and sugar with potatoes. Then add melted chocolate or cocoa. Add beaten eggs alternately with flour and salt. Pour in milk and mix well. Grease 9 inch square pan. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Top will be firm and spring to the touch when cooked. Let cake cool and turn onto wire rack. Frost with a good chocolate ganache when completely cooled.

A “good” chocolate ganache? Is there another type? Thanks, Janet – you are a lifesaver!

Leftovers by Tiffany Bridge.

Cocoa adds an extra flavor dimension to a classic angel food cake. Serve this accompanied with a scoop of Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate Sorbet, or drizzled with Hot Fudge Sauce. Fresh fruit is also a good accompaniment. The cake travels well, too, so pack some slices in with your next picnic.

Makes one 10 X 3 ½-inch cake, 14 to 16 servings

• 1 cup sifted flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups superfine sugar
• 12 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a 1-quart bowl, thoroughly blend the flour with the cocoa powder, salt, and ¾ cup of the superfine sugar. Set this mixture aside. Place the remaining ¾ cup superfine sugar in a measuring cup near the mixer.

In the grease-free bowl of an electric stand mixer using the wire whip or in a mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, whip the egg whites on low speed until they are slightly frothy. Add the cream of tartar and whip the egg whites until they begin to mound. While the egg whites are whipping on medium speed, slowly sprinkle on the remaining ¾ cup of superfine sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, then continue whipping the whites until they are firm, but not dry. Blend in the vanilla, then remove the bowl from the mixer.

Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the whipped egg whites, 3 tablespoons at a time and gently fold them into the whites, using a long-handled rubber spatula.

Turn the batter into a 10 X 4-inch tube pan, preferably with a removable bottom. Use the rubber spatula to smooth and even the top. Tap the pan on the countertop gently a few times to eliminate any air bubbles.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven until it is golden brown, springs back when lightly touched, and a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert it onto its feet, or hang it by the center tube over a funnel or the neck of a bottle. Leave the cake to hang for several hours, until it is completely cool.

To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and around the tube. Gently loosen the cake from the edges and push the bottom of the pan up, away from the sides. Run the knife between the bottom of the cake and the bottom of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate, then reinvert, so it is right side up. Angel food cake is best cut with a serrated knife using a sawing motion.

The cake will keep at room temperature, well wrapped in plastic, for 3 days, or it can be frozen for up to 3 weeks. If frozen, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.

Recipe from CandyUSA.com.

Cocoa by elana’s pantry.

Several weeks ago I mentioned to my co-worker, Ali, that we were planning a baking with chocolate week on the blog. A few days later I received an e-mail from her with the subject line “Simply the best cake ever!”

That’s a bold statement, no?

According to Alison, the cake below is “awesome”.  She described it as “rich and chocolatey with glorious cream cheese frosting.”  Her mother, Gale, found the recipe in the Joy of Gardening Cookbook, by Janet Ballantyne.  I love that the recipe calls for zucchini which I happen to think pairs wonderfully with chocolate.

The recipe is below, with a few special notations from Gale in red (including the recipe for the previously mentioned cream cheese frosting).

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 T. vanilla extract
2 Cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
1/3 cup cocoa
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/3 cup buttermilk or sour cream
3 cups coarsely grated zucchini squash
1/2 cup chopped nuts
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the chocolate and oil in a small saucepan over very low heat.

Cream the butter until light; add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat well.  Add the melted chocolate and mix well.

Sift together the dry ingredients and stir them into the batter with the buttermilk/sour cream. Mix the zucchini and nuts in the batter.

Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.  Divide batter between pans.  Bake on middle shelf of oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool the cake completely before frosting with whipped cream or your favorite topping.
 
My favorite topping for this cake: 

Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar 

 Cream together the butter and cream cheese until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar until well-blended, using more sugar if necessary to get a spreading consistency.
 
(Even better after cake has been refrigerated or frozen!!!)

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Gale.  Feel free to whip one up and send it to work with Alison the next time you’re in town. 

Crazy Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Τϊζζ¥

Many thanks to Tomi, who pointed me to this recipe. I made a vow to Susan not to bring up this topic but since one of our loyal readers has brought it up, I feel free to address it. The issue is what part of the candy corn is the top. This caused a big row last year on the blog. She says the white part, which is completely wrong, and I say the yellow part. My reasoning is that on the cob, the broad yellow part is on the outside, so that must be the top of the candy corn kernel.

She actually yelled at me, “Candy corn does not grow on a cob!” I maintain that to be the truth, and Candy Scientist Laura even explained how it is made, but for as long as we call it candy corn and not candy triangles, the corn metaphor stands. I didn’t make it up. Don’t yell at me, Susan. As the old song goes, the candy corn grows as high as an elephant’s eye.

We cobists are happy to see this recipe because it gives us an idea of what the fabled candy corn cob would look like if it did exist. Here is the recipe, from the Food Network:

Trim the ends of a store-bought jelly-roll cake to make a corn-cob shape. Cover with a thin layer of vanilla frosting, then cover the cake completely with candy corn, inserting the tips into the cake so that only the yellow ends are visible. Roll out a package of green fondant (we used Wilton Primary Colors Multi Pack, available at baking and crafts stores) until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 2 leaf-shaped pieces and arrange around the cake to look like husks.

Thank goodness Rob and I are in good company on this issue. If the Food Network people are on my side, I can’t be wrong. After all, they probably know the people who drive the combines on the fondant farm. I bet their Thanksgiving tastes a whole lot like Halloween.

Flickr user SmallThingsIced really got my attention with this photo of a cake that looks like a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar. Yes, it is a cake, the chocolate bits covered in a chocolate fondant and the rest in buttercream icing. It is beautiful work and looks delicious, even if it does not have the candy content of some previous cakes.

Now here is a philosophical question – if it’s a cake in the shape of a chocolate bar, does that make it a chocolate cake?

As our resident sports expert Tori pointed out, football season has begun, which means that pretty soon you will be having friends over for Sunday afternoon parties – chips, dip, cocktail weenies and barbecue sauce (another of Mother Weaver’s specialties) and some great desserts. Need a new snack to add to the table?

Barbara here in our DC Candy Hideaway has an excellent idea. Take a bag of M&Ms and mix it about half-and-half with salted cocktail peanuts. Mix and serve. If you have not tried this, it’s wonderful, simple, fast and does not require cleanup, except for the empty M&Ms bags.

Try making candy cakes like Susan S does or maybe even a football cake, or at least a football-shaped cake. We wouldn’t any footballs harmed in this exercise.

What sweet snacks are you preparing for the big game?

M&Ms by katiescrapbooklady.