Candy Dish Blog

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¥

Flickr user Chotda feeds our imaginations with this beautiful chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge frosting, covered in candy. I like the composition, except I think there’s a bit too much of the wall showing above the cake. All the same, the main subject (that’s the cake, in case we need to back up a step) really grabs my attention and the candies sitting on top are tempting all by themselves. The natural lighting is great as well, a bit bright on the left side but evening out quickly. Nice effect. Good going, Chotda!

Is it time for lunch yet?

Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!

My daughter Maggie added to our candy cake collection this weekend with her own personal rendition of “Chocolate Financier” from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard.

Our friend Ruth loves dark chocolate and so Maggie promised her a baked-from-scratch-with-love cake for her birthday in late July.

Here’s Ruth’s review: The cake “brought rounds of mmmmms and ahhhs after dinner, a swoon at first bite. It has lovely complex flavors, the chai tea added a bright finish without dominance. It was sweet without overwhelming sweetness-a delightful bittersweet edge…It was a wonderful taste sensation-I will be talking about it for ages.”

If you would like to make a “swoon at first bite” dark chocolate cake, here’s the recipe, with a couple of notations:

• Use 70% bittersweet or higher to get a deep chocolate flavor
• One chai tea bag provided the “bright finish”
• If you want to preserve the heart healthy properties in the cocoa you might want to substitute baking powder for making soda based on this article from FoodNavigator.com, which says Hershey researchers have discovered that cocoa powder helps preserve the natural heart health.

CHOCOLATE FINANCIER WITH GANACHE AND RASPBERRIES

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 10 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour OR almond meal (we found almond meal at Whole Foods)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 7 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Master Ganache (recipe follows)

Place oven rack in center of oven. Spray a 10×2-inch round cake pan with pan spray, line with a piece of parchment paper, then coat paper lightly with pan spray. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until solids separate and brown to a dark golden color, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool at room temperature until it reaches 70 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Don’t chill; it needs to remain liquid. Set aside.

Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate. Tap bowl on counter to settle chocolate into cream, then let stand 30 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir in a circular motion, starting from center of bowl and working out to sides. Stir until all chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Set aside at room temperature to cool to 70 degrees F.

Sift together almond flour, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or use a large bowl and hand mixer. Turn mixer on low speed and mix dry ingredients 30 seconds. Add egg whites all at once and mix on medium speed 3 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix 30 seconds.

Add melted butter all at once. Be sure to scrape in all browned bits from bottom of pan. Mix 30 seconds on medium speed, then turn mixer to high speed and mix 3 minutes more, scraping down sides of bowl well.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 15 minutes. Rotate cake for even browning and bake 15 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then invert onto rack, remove cake pan and parchment and cool completely before decorating and serving. Wrapped airtight, financier will keep at room temperature up to 2 days or in freezer up to 2 weeks.

MASTER GANACHE

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Using a serrated knife, finely chop chocolate into 1/4-inch pieces. Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Immediately pour boiling cream over chopped chocolate. Tap bowl on counter to settle chocolate into cream, then let stand 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir in a circular motion, starting from center of bowl and working out to sides. Be careful not to add too much air to ganache. Stir until all chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. It may look done after 1 minute of stirring, but keep going to make sure it’s emulsified.

Let ganache stand at room temperature until it cools to 70 degrees F. (about 15 minutes in a

Maggie’s 21st birthday was yesterday, August 3.  I need a really good deep chocolately recipe for this celebration this weekend – a WOW cake.  Any ideas?

I spent the week in Albuquerque, where my wife attended the annual conference of the System Dynamics Society. One of the benefits to being married to a brainy Ph.D., as I am, is first of all, she can help me with the Sunday crossword, because let’s be honest, I am usually only good with the easy clues, but also that there are a million societies and organizations that have meetings in various beautiful locations. As a spouse, I am an automatic add-on for any trip. The company pays for her to go, so my coming along is often just the cost of a plane ticket.

The great thing about this particular society is that they do the food part of their banquet very well. Look at this chocolate cake. The cake part was rich, almost gooey chocolate and the icing was rich, almost gooey chocolate. Put those two ingredients together and you have a cake that is worth traveling two-thirds of the way across the country for. I wanted to save some for Susan but thought of no good way to preserve it, so I had to do the hard work of eating it myself. Plus, I let my lovely wife have a bite as well. I guess she earned it by putting up with me and letting me come along and meet her brainy colleagues.

Let me do my own little system dynamics model here. If you are not an SD person, feel free to skim this. If you are an SD person, feel free to mock my simplistic model and likely misuse of key terms and ideas. It’s fair game, as long as I get the cake. Taking a stock of hungry people and feeding them delicious chocolate cake encourages retention of members and encourages new members as the as yet uninitiated hear about the great cake. These are two reinforcing loops that will maintain and increase the membership, or at least attendance in the annual meeting. Let the mockery begin.

Where is the last place you had really delicious chocolate cake?