Chocolate and other food groups

Sarah made this one recently from scratch. It turned out great! She's definitely got my baking genes. Devil's Food Cake 3/4 c. butter, softened 1 1/2 c. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 2 eggs 1 3/4 c. flour 1/2 c. cocoa 1 tsp. soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 c. buttermilk 1/2 c. boiling water Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs; beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture. Add  boiling water; beat until smooth. Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 pan or two 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes (slightly less time for rounds) or until tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before frosting. Enjoy! And a couple of tips: Need buttermilk for a recipe, but don't have any? Make your own sour milk. For each cup of buttermilk, substitute by adding 1 Tb. vinegar to regular milk. Let mixture set for about 5 minutes before add...

Very tasty and easy. I'm making this for dinner tonight! Sherilyn's White Bread 1 Tb. yeast 1/4 c. warm water 2 c. hot water 1 Tb. butter or oil 2 tsp. salt 5 3/4 c. to 6 1/4 c. flour (if you use some wheat flour, use a little less - don't use all whole wheat flour) Soften the yeast in 1/4 c. warm water. Combine 2 c. hot water, sugar, butter, salt and 2 c. flour. Add yeast. Add more flour until it gets too stiff for mixer. Then add enough extra flour until you have a good stiff dough. Let rise until double. Put into 2 greased loaf pans. Let rise again. Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350. Makes 2 loaves. How to dress up your bread loaves: For a shiny finish, brush with 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tb. water. Sprinkle with seeds or coarse ground salt. Brush loaves with coating after forming loaves into pans, but before it rises. For a soft finish, baste loaves with melted butter mixed with 1 Tb. milk before final rise. Slash with a sharp knife before basting for the 'split loaf...

I got this great book from the library called, "The Clever Cook's Kitchen Handbook." I have decided it's one for my wish list. I keep seeing things on here I want to share. It seems like every page has some great hint on it I've never heard before. It also has over 900 recipes. But since the title of this blog if "Chocolate and Other Food Groups" it seems only right to share a few hints on working with this most basic of all food groups. 1. So what is the difference between semisweet and bittersweet chocolate? Not much. Different companies will market theirs as semisweet, and yet it will taste more bitter than one called bittersweet. The real difference is the the amount of sugar each contains. Semisweet, bittersweet, or dark, it all has lots of intense cocoa flavor with no milk added. 2. What's the best way to melt chocolate? I like the double boiler methods for large amounts and the microwave for small amounts. To use a double boiler, you put a s...

Here's a tip for slicing cheesecake. Use a length of dental floss to cut through the cake. You can also use a long knife. Dip it into hot water for a few seconds, then cut straight down. Black Forest Cheesecake 1 c. chocolate water crumbs (crushed Oreos work here) 3 Tb. melted butter 2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese (16 oz. total), softened 2/3 c. sugar 2 eggs 1 c. chocolate chips, melted or 6 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted 1/4 tsp. almond extract 21 oz. can cherry pie filling Cool Whip or sweetened whipped cream Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Combine cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Blend in melted chocolate and extract. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 for 45 to 55 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of the pan, but cool completely before removing rim of pan. Chill. Just before serving top with cherry pie filling and whipped cream. Tip: So how do you know when your cheese...