Triple Chocolate Orange Passion Cake

I originally saw this cake in "Cakes From Scratch in Half the Time" by Linda West Eckhardt and I tried her recipe. I felt it needed a little something and I played around and adapted her recipe. I hope you think that the changes I made really make it over the top.  I haven't had any complaints. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
2 large eggs
2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sifted cake flour (sifted before measuring)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder (See note from here http://ladybugtreats.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-few-basic-pointers.html)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons espresso powder (again, really, read that blog post!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk (that blog post, it's a good primer, I'm telling ya!)
1/4 cup canola oil (ok, if you don't have canola, you can use vegetable oil, but when you use it all up, just buy canola in the future, okay?)
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange**

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FROSTING
6 tablespoons soft, unsalted butter (go ahead, read that blog post!)
1 pound (1 box) sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon orange oil ****
1 teaspoon espresso powder (there's that blog post again)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I like Scharffen Berger)

Clementine or orange slices for decoration (optional)
additional bittersweet chocolate for dipping (optional)


** You CAN use the same orange for this! How? Carefully using a zester, remove as much orange zest as possible without getting into the bitter white pith. Your orange is going to look pretty wild like it has been "scored" all over. Once you can no longer get any zest, cut the orange in half crosswise; the orange is pretty fragile at this point.  Invert each orange half over a juicer "cone" and extract as much juice as you can without getting into the pith; take whatever pulp you can get - you want the flavor and it will not affect the texture of the finished cake. Your zest may be in long strips, but you want them in as small pieces as possible before adding them to the batter. Either using a small knife or herb shears, cut or mince the zest pieces into as small pieces as possible prior to adding into the batter, trying to avoid releasing the orange oil from the zest. (I've found that using kitchen shears and mincing the zest directly into the batter releases the orange oil into the batter without loss of flavor and no loss of little zest pieces.)

****You can use orange extract if you are unable to find orange oil, but the difference in the finished product is like M&M's versus Godiva Truffles. Both will give you the orange flavor, but the orange oil will bring you to your knees and make you swoon. www.Boyajianinc.com sells citrus oils (and many other flavors) at reasonable prices and is also available at some Costco and Sur La Table stores.


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and arrange the rack in the middle of the oven. Using two 9" or three 8" shiny aluminum round cake pans, spray with Baker's Joy or Pam for Baking. Remove eggs from fridge and allow to come to room temperature (approx 30 mins) or put them in a bowl of hot tap water for about 5 minutes. Place a kettle on the stove bring about two cups of water to a boil.  Place the unsweetened chocolate squares in a one cup glass measuring cup and melt in the microwave on high power for about one minute. The squares may still hold their shape, but stir with a small rubber spatula until all remaining lumps are melted; if necessary, return to microwave for 10-15 seconds and stir again until lumps are completely gone.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt and espresso powder into the mixer bowl. beat on low speed for 30 seconds then add, on at at time, the milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest. Beat at 2 minutes at medium speed scraping the aides of the bowl. Add boiling water to the orange juice until it makes one cup then add slowly to the melted chocolate until incorporated. Add chocolate-orange-water mixture to the batter and stir until just blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick comes out clean, 15-20 minutes. (Layers are really thin and batter is much more watery than you'd expect.) Cool the pans on a rack for 5 minutes, then flip the layers out onto the rack to cool.

WHILE THE CAKE IS BAKING
Make the frosting: In a stand mixer bowl, cream the butter with half the confectioner's sugar on low speed, then add the cream, espresso powder and remaining confectioner's sugar (sifted together), salt, and orange oil.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high about one minute in a small bowl (same process as for the cake, but it doesn't need to get HOT, just barely melted without lumps) then scoop the chocolate into the frosting and continue beating on low to medium until smooth and fluffy. Let the frosting stand while the cake cools.

FOR THE GARNISH
Melt two squares of bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave until smooth and without lumps. Peel and section two clementines and remove as much of the pith and membrane as possible.  Dip the individual slices into the bittersweet chocolate coating about halfway up each slice. Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl and place the slices on a sheet of parchment on a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator to firm up completely while the cake continues to cool and is frosted.

TO COMPLETE IT ALL
Transfer the bottom layer to a cake plate (flat side up) and add about 1/3 of frosting and smooth with an offset spatula. Put the remaining layer on top (flat side down) and frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.  Arrange the dipped clementine slices around the base of the cake (or if you're like me around the top of the cake so that everyone gets one with their slice!) Put cake in the fridge to allow it all to firm up (otherwise, cake will be very wobbly, as the frosting is soft and the layers are thin. The original recipe recommends putting toothpicks into the layers to stabilize them. Personally, I *hate* cutting into a cake and finding toothpicks or something that's supposed to give it "structure"... I'd rather put it in the fridge and allow nature to stabilize it - since it should be kept cool anyway because of the cream in the frosting... but again, that's one of the ways how I tweaked it from the original author's recipe.)

This cake is ultra-rich and I really don't think I *could* eat a big slice. Although, I'd be willing to try in the name of research... I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and friends have. I know it sounds complicated, especially for those of you baking for the first time "out of the box", but it's really not. Trust me. If my 14-year-old daughter can make this, YOU can! Now, grab a fork and dig in!

Are you following me on Pinterest? You should be!

A few basic baking pointers

Before I get into a bunch of posts about recipes for cakes or sweets, there are a few basic things that I need to make clear. I use a lot of things that not everyone has in their kitchen.  Sorry... that's how I roll.  Because I have a bakery out of my home, I have splurged on a few things that make my life easier or ingredients that I know make the difference in the finished product.

Not everyone has these items in their pantry and for the most part, there's really no need for you to go out and shell out the Jeffersons for these items. (No, I'm not that flush that I'd be spending Benjamins on them!) But some of the ingredients do make a difference in the finished product and cannot be substituted. I'll try to explain the difference so that when you read my recipes later and I reference this post, you'll understand what you can and cannot substitute.  Capice?

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE...

COCOA POWDERS
This is a biggie. (I know! Who knew??) There are so many different kinds of cocoa powder out there it boggles the mind. However, they pretty much fall into two basic camps: Dutch processed cocoa  and Non-Dutch processed (or "regular" cocoa). (Read the label: If it says treated with alkaline" or "alkalized" those are synonymous with being Dutch processed.) Here's the scoop: Cocoa is naturally slightly acidic which can give it a bitter flavor and when it's been Dutch processed, some of the bitterness has been removed making it less acidic; the result is a darker, mellower cocoa flavor. However, because it's less acidic, it reacts differently with the other leavening agents (usually eggs, baking soda, baking powder, buttermilk or vinegar) and will result in a batter that doesn't rise as much, leaving you with cakes or cupcakes with more like pudding than a cake. What's the bottom line on this? Regular cocoa and Dutch-processed cocoa are not interchangeable in recipes and you need to pay particular attention to which type the recipe calls for.  I use a double Dutch processed cocoa from www.KingArthurFlour.com that is so dark I was once accused of dying my cakes dark brown! It's almost black and gives them a really rich chocolaty flavor. Just be sure to read your recipes closely and pick your cocoa accordingly. If it doesn't call for Dutch process specifically, use regular cocoa, but for goodness sakes, don't use stuff off the supermarket shelf. It really is worth it to go to Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table or www.KingArthurFlour.com and pay a few dollars more for a better grade of cocoa. If you don't believe me, make side-by-side batches of your favorite recipe with Hershey's or Nestle's cocoa and a batch with Droste or Valrhona or Guittard and taste test the difference for yourself. You'll be amazed and once you try the better cocoas, you'll never buy cocoa from the grocery store again!

FLOURS
All-purpose Flour. Cake Flour. Self-Rising Flour. Whole Wheat Flour. Gluten-Free Flour. Bleached Flour. Non-bleached Flour. Holy Mackerel - who knew you needed to decipher the label and have a degree in food science to know which flour does what!?!?! They're not all the same and can't be used interchangeably because some have added ingredients that you may be adding to your recipe and it will change your finished product. Also, depending on the brand of flour you use (I'm partial to (you guessed it, King Arthur brand flour!) they will have different protein contents, which affects their baking time and properties. Basically, what it narrows down to is this:

• All purpose flour- usually has 10-12% protein content, which traps a lot of carbon dioxide as it bakes and leads to a strong rise leading to an airy product. This is appropriate for most cookies, pizzas, and breads. It can be bleached or unbleached without difference in finished performance. You might notice that it says it's "enriched" or "fortified", but all that means is that iron certain B vitamins (mainly thiamine and folic acid or folate) have been added to the flour during processing to make up for the loss of nutrients during processing.  This was done partly to help prevent occurrence of babies born with neural tube defects by increasing the intake of folic acid by pregnant women and women prior to becoming pregnant. It's a good thing :-) (http://www.marchofdimes.com/baby/birthdefects_neuraltube.html That's the nurse in me coming out to say "Hi!" there!)
• Cake flour - this is a more finely milled flour than the previous flour and has a lower protein content than all purpose or bread flour. Usually, cake flour has about 6-8% protein content (except KAF, which has a 9.4% cake flour and also contains some cornstarch,) which yields a denser cake than one made with all-purpose flour. The lower the protein content, the softer the flour, which is better for cakes, cookies and pie crusts because it doesn't trap as much carbon dioxide gas bubbles as it bakes leading to that denser, moister product. 
• Self-rising flour - this is a flour to which leavening agents have already been premixed.  The ratio is typically around 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt per cup of flour. Because this is a premixed and fixed ratio, the end products tend to be consistent in the amount of rise they achieve and this is a good choice for biscuits, scones, and muffins. 
• Whole Wheat flour- flour that includes the whole grain - germ, bran, and endosperm (compared to refined or all-purpose flour, which is the endosperm only) which has a textured brownish appearance. Whole wheat flour goes bad (or rancid) much quicker than all-purpose flour because it has a higher oil content from the germ and bran of the wheat grain. You can store whole wheat flour longer by refrigerating it or keeping it in a cool area. Foods made with whole wheat flour require either additional yeast, a longer rising time or both due to the "heavy" nature of the flour. Most of the time whole what flour is used 50/50 with all purpose flour to decrease the density of the finished product.  
• Gluten-free flour - flours made from grains that do not contain gluten protein. Primarily used by those who had Celiac disease, it is now becoming more widely used for those with gluten sensitivity or suspected sensitivity or those wishing to avoid gluten in their diet for weight loss purposes. Gluten is formed by the strands of protein in wheat, rye, spelt, barley, and kamut grains. Technically, corn and rice also contain gluten, but they don't contain the type of gluten that causes reactivity in those with Celiac disease, so they are not on the list of "banned" grains. Care must be used when choosing a gluten-free flour for several reasons: careful reading of ingredient lists may be vital since gluten come in many forms: vegetable proteins and starch, modified food starch (when derived from wheat instead of corn, malt, malt flavoring, including maltodextrine, dextrine unless specifically labeled as corn malt. Many ingredients contain wheat or barley derivatives. Additionally, when baking with a gluten free flour, you'll usually need an emulsifier such as xantham gum (a thickener that works to bind the baked good together like the strands of gluten protein.)  
• Bleached vs non-bleached flour - almost all cake flours are bleached, with the exception of one KAF product. In the European Union, all bleaching agents have been banned. Bleaching serves no purpose to your finished product but only serves to make your flour look whiter. If you're not going for a pure white cake/bread/cookie (which you never will get the moment you add an egg... think about it!) there is no reason to purchase a product bleached with either chlorine dioxide, calcium peroxide or benzoil peroxide. (Yeah... the stuff that's in Proactive for acne!) Oh, and it breaks down the gluten formation when it's bleached, so it makes the flour less "effective", for lack of a better term, so why do we still do it here in the USA??? As for me, I just go ahead and purchase the non-bleached all purpose flour and the non-bleached cake flour. I'd rather be safe than sorry, but that's my $.02.

ESPRESSO POWDER
This sounds like just an "upgrade”  to instant coffee, but it's soooooo much more.  I buy mine from www.KingArthurFlour.com and it's a superfine powder that adds a boost to the chocolate flavor in recipes without overpowering it with a coffee flavor. It's not gritty like instant coffee but dissolves instantly and completely (it's the consistency of flour almost) and I usually sift it into my other dry ingredients so it's completely incorporated throughout the mixture. This is extremely sensitive to moisture and will clump and harden easily, so I keep it in a zipper lock plastic bag inside of a Tupperware or Rubbermaid plastic container. (Note: this picture shows the small size, but I buy the honkin' huge size that comes in a zippered plastic bag with a brown kraft paper exterior. Not pretty, but I'm paying for what's on the *inside*! Plus, it's cheaper in bulk!)

LYLE'S GOLDEN SYRUP
Ahhh. This British import is concentrated cane syrup and is delightfulness in a bottle (although it also can be found in a can, but I digress...) In some recipes it is used in place of corn syrup but the flavor is so much more. It's got almost a burnt sugar flavor taste to it that is so rich without being overly sweet. it's available at a lot of stores in their "international" section or can be found near the corn syrup. I've also found it in Meijer and Glen's and at www.KingArthurFlour.com. (Yeah, I'm addicted to that website and there shop a lot when they have free shipping, especially good for when I'm buying 50# of flour at a time!) Try it once and you will be amazed at the taste; and for those of you that are trying to cut out the amount of corn syrup in your diet, this is a way to do it without sacrificing taste. The bottle says it's great on waffles and pancakes - I could see that, but I'd want to use the whole bottle!

MADAGASCAR BOURBON VANILLA EXTRACT
The good stuff!  If you've ever used imitation vanilla extract, smack yourself upside the head right now! There is no substitute for the real deal. I buy this by the quart for $40 at - you guessed it - www.KingArthurFlour.com. The floral overtones and the rich vanilla flavor cannot be recreated by any chemical imitators. It does tend to get some settling of the vanilla bean at the bottom, so be sure to shake before measuring. Sometimes I like to mix it up and try Tahitian vanilla or Mexican Vanilla for a different flavor, but this is my old standby and it never fails me and never disappoints. And really - at $40/32 oz, it's only $1.25 an ounce - cheaper than what you're paying for grocery store imitation!

BUTTERMILK POWDER
Now, when I bake for customers I don't use this because I'm usually baking enough to warrant a quart of buttermilk at a time; but when I'm baking for my own family or for a bake sale for school and I have a recipe that calls for cup of buttermilk, this powder is perfect. A couple tablespoons of this powder added to your dry ingredients and increase your wet ingredients by a cup of water and there's really no noticeable difference in the finished product. It tends to clump and get hard so I put the can inside a zipper lock plastic bag to keep the moisture out as much as possible and I do sift the powder in with the rest of my dry ingredients so it's incorporated well.

CAKE ENHANCER
This powder does exactly what its name says it will.  It makes your cakes lighter, fluffier and moister and stay fresher longer. It can be used with regular wheat flours and with gluten-free alternative flours without significant changes in performance. This product MUST be sifted into your dry ingredients as it has a tendency to clump and those clumps will NOT break down during ordinary mixing. Once way to help avoid that is to keep this in a zipper lock plastic bag inside a Tupperware or Rubbermaid container; by doing this, mine hasn't clumped so far.

A REALLY GOOD SIFTER

Yes, I sift *everything*. Some recipes call for sifting the ingredients before measuring (really... read the recipe all the way through before you even start making it to be sure you've got it in your head because some of these are a little convoluted!) Even if the recipe doesn't call for the dry ingredients to be sifted, I still do just to break up all the clumps; it makes for a much smoother batter and a lighter cake.  I also sift my confectioner's sugar every time so that my frosting never has any clumps of sugar in them.  It does make a difference in the finished product and, again, if you make a batch side-by-side the old way and this way, you'll be amazed at the difference. Trust me on this one. Most times, I don't even "sift", I just measure everything through a metal sieve/strainer set on top of the mixing bowl and that provides enough aeration to make a difference and the holes are small enough to break up any clumps. It's not rocket science... it's baking :-)

HEAVY CREAM, 1/2 AND 1/2, AND MILK
This is not the time to be using fat free products. I don't care if Paula Deen's son is writing a whole cookbook about how to "lighten up" the recipes, I'm serious! The fat content of your dairy product plays an essential part of your finished product and you need to use the full fat dairy.  I drink fat-free milk on a daily basis and I'll go buy a quart of whole milk to bake with (or a gallon if I've got a big order.) You can freeze milk without a loss of flavor if you don't use it all before the expiration date, just be sure to mix it thoroughly after thawing and before measuring. If I have a recipe that you can substitute Greek yogurt or something lighter, I'll let you know. But really, isn't it about having the most incredible dessert? You're not eating the whole darn thing yourself are you. (ARE YOU???!!!) You're sharing -right??? So it basically amounts to about an ounce of milk in your slice of cake, so the extra 8.4 calories (each) can be worked off by washing the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher! Really - do the math and don't feel guilty; your taste buds will thank you and your hips won't care. (Math= 150 calories for 1 cup whole milk; 83 calories for 1 cup fate free milk. 67 calorie difference/8 people (huge-sized pieces!) = extra 8.4 calories each. I kid you not!)

BUTTER
Land o' Lakes unsalted. Seriously, that's all I'll use. I buy it at Christmas when it's on sale for the ridiculous low price of like $2.50/pound (instead of the normal price-gouging $3.99 or so) and stock up with as much as my chest freezer will hold (or my I can get away with before my husband does a double-take!) Honestly - a friend's son even did his science fair experiment on different butters and how they tasted and Land o' Lakes won hands down! So, it's been scientifically proven (at least to me and my taste buds) and I get consistent results. Whatever brand you choose to bake with, choose unsalted butter for baking.

SUGAR
I've gone back and forth between C&H when we lived in California and Domino when we've lived in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The only thing I can say is, don't buy generic or store brands. Once I started sifting all my dry ingredients, it became apparent to me that store brand sugars consistently had many more large crystallized sugar "clumps" than the major commercial manufacturers. I don't know why and I don't really care (well, yes, I do because they're making me spend more money on Domino right now!) but it will affect the finished product because these clumps can't be mixed out. If you don't sift your dry ingredients, these crystals will be pockets of crystallized sugar that can result in a burnt taste if they're against the pan or overly wet batter if they melt while baking. For consistent results, I'm sticking with a company that all they do is sugar processing - they seem to have it right, so Domino it is right now. If you're on the west coast, C&H is a fine product also.

Sanding sugars are something you may want to consider for cookie decoration or sprinkling on top of your cupcakes or rolling the edges of your cupcakes or the cupcake tops in. Williams-Sonoma has a line of sanding sugars that comes in a lot of really bright vibrant colors I love, are resealable, stackable, and aren't too big of a grain. They also have a larger style that is more of a decorative sugar that looks like a bugle bead that I use less often as more of an accent. There's also silver dragees which look like mini reflecting balls, and miniature pearls as well as decorative balls of every color and shape (they look like miniature gumballs, a lot of them!) Then, there's always edible glitter, which really isn't a sugar, but kind of falls into this category because there's not another one for it... It just adds a touch of, well, reflective glow or glitter to your frosting without adding taste or color. It looks like specks of translucent plastic that catch and refract light. That's not to be confused with Luster Dust, which is an edible powder that is painted on your product that makes it look silver, gold, pink, or whatever color you've painted it. This stuff is so concentrated that 1/4 ounce has lasted me a year! You need so little of it to get the effect you're looking for it's crazy, but this stuff will get on everything just like glitter... you will glisten in places you swore you didn't touch with this! I use it a lot on fondant or gum paste (like making a unicorn horn silver or coins gold.) A little goes a looooooong way.


LATE ADDITIONS!

Adjustable measuring cup! This thing is a life-saver for sticky or gloppy things like peanut butter, mayonnaise, honey, corn syrup or Lyle's Golden syrup. It can be adjusted anywhere from an ounce to two cups and the inner portion slides up and down so that all the ingredients are expelled and you get all your measured ingredients into your batter/mix. A lot of recipes will tell you to spray the inside of your measuring cup with non-stick spray and then measure your sticky stuff and "it will just pour out" but so will the non-stick spray; those chemicals I don't need in my baking, thanks! This is awesome and oh-so-handy and while it says "hand wash only" (Because of the gasket between the two "sleeves") I've never used it for more than about a cup's worth of ingredients so I've never had to worry about ingredients leaking so I just put it in the top rack of the dishwasher. (I know, I know... so lazy!!!) but again - when I'm baking, I'm mega baking, so forgive me!!

Digital Scale
I use this all the time to measure chocolates, dry ingredients, finished products, (for labeling, which is a requirement in Michigan...grr...!) and for those recipes by international chefs that are listed as "30 gm of butter" or "200 gm of flour". This has a handy-dandy ability to switch back and forth between standard (ounces and pounds) and metric (grams and kilograms) which is nice. It also makes it easy when your recipe calls for adding ingredients in divided portions, you can do more than guesstimate, you can be totally accurate! For a lot of things, I measure on a paper plate and you can zero out the weight (or tare) once the plate is on to get a completely accurate weight. The front plate is removable so that you can see accurately if your receptacle is bigger than the base of the weight, which is also handy-dandy. It weighs up to 11 pounds, which means you can also weigh ingredients in bowls, if need be, but it's precise down to small weights in such that I have a recipe that calls for 1/2 small box of vanilla pudding and I can weigh that precisely.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND FORGET ABOUT THE...

CAKE BATTER PEN
This is basically a hollow plastic tube with a writing "tip" and one end and the other end screws off to fill with batter. Don't waste your time.  Really - mine was ten bucks down the drain (in more ways than one!)  Too much batter sticks to the inside of the "pen" for my liking and I've found that you need to fill it several times to fill it for a batch of cupcakes. (One standard batch of cupcakes being 24-30 cupcakes. I, on the other hand, normally bake 60-90 cupcakes at a time, so this thing is even more useless for me.) So, what can you use instead that will make filling your cupcake tins quick, painless, and relatively uniform? A standard ice cream scoop; one with the lever for clearing the bowl of the scoop is the preferred kind. One scoop of batter (slightly rounded) is the perfect amount to fill each well of a standard cupcake tin and makes uniform cupcakes or muffins. It still allows room for crumble topping on muffins and a good amount of frosting on cupcakes. Save the batter pen for playing around with fancy pancakes if you so desire but even then I'd use dollar store condiment bottles, being the cheapskate I am.

NUTMEG GRINDER

Okay, so I bought one last year with the Williams-Sonoma gift card my daughter gave me for Christmas. It was really cool to pull it out and put freshly ground nutmeg right on top of my eggnog. But then when I was drinking it, I noticed it was really nutmeg shavings and not ground nutmeg like you're used to, so that was odd.  Then, the next time I went to bake something, I tried to grind it into the measuring spoon and it was all over the paper plate I had under the spoon (instead of all over the counter, thank goodness!) and I noticed that those were some pretty big shavings of nutmeg compared to what you get commercially.  Now, no doubt they're fresher and so the taste is much more flavorful (robust? pungent?) than you're used to, but really - how often do you use nutmeg anyway? These six little nuts are going to last me until I retire and I consider myself in the Martha Stewart baking category.  Save yourself the $28.50 and go with McCormick - I doubt you'll regret it. Besides, it's kind of annoying that it takes up so much room in my cabinet and it "leaks" nutmeg out of the bottom into my cabinet.

WILLIAMS-SONOMA SPATULA AND SPOONULA

Okay, I have been, in the past, a huge fan of their silicone spatulas with the wooden handles. Two years ago when I opened my bakery, my husband bought me for Christmas a set of engraved spatulas with my bakery's name on the handles. I don't know where they're getting their handles from these days, but you'd think for $30 they'd last longer than the ones I've had for 5 years! They're splitting, they're warping, they're bowing when I scrape out the bowl... in short, I don't even use them because I'm afraid the stupid things are going to snap in two one of these days! What a waste! Not to mention the fact that I have to take the head off to put it in the dishwasher and wash the handle by hand because it can't go in the dishwasher.  Now, I like the fact the head is heat resistant up to 500 degrees so I can use it when I'm melting chocolate, when I'm stir frying, when I'm making soup or when I'm mashing potatoes. But, what good is the head if the handles are flimsy? They've just come out with new spatulas with stainless steel handles, BUT the handles are made in CHINA and they still say that "the removable head is dishwasher safe"! So, again, tell me why you make something that the head and handle can't just be plunked into the dishwasher together and are made in the USA??  The quality of the newer products just aren't what they used to be so I've switched my allegiance to Sur La Table's brand. They're prettier (they have Ladybugs on them!) they still are heat resistant, and they've got a better feel in my hand and I'm not getting splinters using them. (Really, I was from the W-S product!) For the same price, they've got my business. Sorry, W-S, your cost-cutting has lost you sales not only from me, but look on your website and you'll see from other reviewers that we all feel the same way. Now, why they can't just make an integrated plastic handle like they do at the dollar store, I'll never figure out; maybe they're afraid someone will rest it on the edge of their 500 degree saucepan and melt it. That, I'm thinking, would be *their* problem.

A FEW WORDS FROM OUR...
Okay, and just to be clear, no... I am not a paid sponsor nor do I receive free products (I wish!) from King Arthur Flour or Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table or any other website I have mentioned on her. I pay them for their products because I think they're superior. They're not paying me. I'm not being compensated for my views on my blog. I do, however, get a professional discount at W-S, but so does any professional chef who applies for and receives their professional card. Now, if I could get that at KAF, I'd be a happy camper...

Buffalo Chicken Dip - Super Easy!

Superbowl Sunday

It's kind of a BIG deal in our house.  We don't care who plays (okay, we girls *usually* don't care who plays) and I, for one, am still on a "Not watching any NFL games while Michael Vick is wearing a jersey" ban (especially since my hometown team signed the convicted felon... but that's a story for another post!) But it's a big day for watching the commercials and eating appetizers. In fact, it's the only day of the year when I specifically do NOT plan dinner and we plan an appetizer-only menu. We actually start planning about two weeks ahead and get input from the whole family and try to make sure we get all the major food groups represented: Chicken, Beef, Cheese, Peppers, and Deep Fried. LOL No, we actually *do* try to have veggies... with ranch!

Anyway, at Thanksgiving, my niece Kate made this fabulous Buffalo Chicken dip that everyone was scarfing down.  Seriously.  If my husband and kids could have had a telescopic wand come out of their mouth they would have Hoovered the stuff right into their mouths. They begged me to get the recipe for Superbowl Sunday. Kate and I spent Thanksgiving gabbing and catching up since I hadn't seen her in about two years (we live 900 miles apart) so I didn't taste the dip. I got the recipe from her and realized quickly what all the fuss was about.  Oh, yeah - it's that good.  Superbowl Sunday will never be the same in our family.


As Kate says, "Here's the Ridiculously Easy Recipe" for Buffalo Chicken Dip
Makes 16 servings

one half cup Chunky Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
1-1/2-3 tablespoons Buffalo Sauce (I use Frank's Original Red Hot) *You will need to adjust this to taste.
one 10-ounce can chunk chicken, drained
one 8-ounce package of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened, 
one medium stalk celery finely chopped - about one half cup

Pita Chips or Rye Chips or Fritos Scoops to serve with Dip




Place drained chunk chicken in bowl and shred. (This can be done many ways - with a fork, with beaters, or with a spatula. You can search for the different methods of shredding chicken on Pinterest.) Once shredded,, it should look like this:

To the chicken, add the blue cheese dressing, softened cream cheese,  and Frank's Red Hot. Heat in microwave 2-3 minutes on 80% power and stir until thoroughly combined. Heat another 1-2 minutes on full power (depending on the wattage of your microwave) until just bubbling.

Stir in diced celery to hot chicken-cheese mixture and serve with your choice of dipping chips. I prefer Rye chips while my husband prefers Fritos Scoops (more dip per scoop ratio!) Again, sit back, relax, and accept the compliments because this bad boy will be selling itself!

***Now, we used 2-1/2 tablespoons of Frank's Hot sauce, but we like our stuff HOT. (We lived in Southern California for 6 years, so we developed a taste for it!) Start at the low end and you can always add more. Kate makes hers with 1-1/2 tablespoons. Find your happy place and go with it :-)

This recipe is easily doubled (in fact, it usually is in our family!) and can also be served with celery stalks for dipping and as a side to Buffalo wings (mostly because we're not huge fans of Blue Cheese dressing, so I try to use it all up at once when guests are over!) I know there are a lot of different recipes out there for this, but this one is quick, easy, and I have yet to see left-overs from it!

Make Ahead And Freeze Appetizers

For years, my family has this go-to recipe for family gatherings or potlucks that everyone loves and thinks is awesome.  I always let them believe it's so fancy, difficult, and time-consuming; well, surprise! They're not.  If they were, they wouldn't be something I'd be bringing to gatherings all the time, now would they?

These appetizers can be made with either shrimp or crab and frozen until you need them. For 48 pieces of appetizers, you'll need: 

One 6-package of English muffins

one stick margarine, softened 

one tablespoon mayonnaise

one teaspoon dill weed

one half teaspoon garlic powder 

one six ounce can crab or shrimp (your choice)

one jar Kraft Old English Spread

Split English muffins in half crosswise and place on cookie sheet. Open the can of crab and drain thoroughly. Place in mixing bowl with remaining ingredients and combine using electric mixer until completely incorporated.  Mixture should resemble a thick paste. 

Using one tablespoon measuring scoop, put 1-1/2 scoop on each muffin half and spread evenly to the edges of each muffin. 

 Cut each muffin half into quarters BEFORE freezing (very important to cut before freezing - they're very hard to cut afterwards!)

After freezing, they can be stored in a zipper-type freezer bag until you're ready to party!  (Note*** If you're making these the day of your party, you STILL WANT TO FREEZE THEM before baking because otherwise the cheese will melt all over your cookie sheet when you bake them. So go ahead and plan ahead - then you'll have time for the manicure the day of the party!)

Once the date of your shindig arrives, place the desired number of pieces on your cookie sheet, bake from frozen at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes (until golden and crispy) and enjoy the compliments! 

Also, these are great for unexpected guests or when you want a snack yourself when dinner's delayed or just a little something with your glass of wine before dinner.  Because you've frozen them on the cookie sheet, they don't stick together and you can pull out as many or as few as you want to make at a time. However many you make, I have *yet* to have any leftovers!

Well, I hope you enjoy these tasty treats from my house to yours. Simple food that people will say "Can I get the recipe for..." while you  make them think you slaved for hours! Shhh! It's our secret!

Welcome!

Well, Hello!
I see you found me! My name's Mary Anne and by day I'm a scrub-wearing, chart-toting, shot-giving, brow-wiping Registered Nurse at one of Michigan's Finest Teaching Hospitals. By night, I'm a apron-wearing, recipe-testing, cake-making, frosting-decorating, home-based-bakery owner-operator under Michigan's Cottage Farm Bill.  

I've had my home-based bakery for about two years now and  it's been going very well, thankyouverymuch! However, I recently relocated with my family from the U.P. down to the metro Detroit area and since I'm trying to kickstart my business down here, I thought I'd blog about it to see if that helps build my customer base and some traffic.

I specialize in cupcakes and specialty cakes but I also make truffles and candies as well.  At times, I'll blog about things I make for my family, because that's how this all started out, back in the day. How did we get our name? For years we've called our youngest two daughters "Ladybugs", which was a nickname given to them by Bernadette Castro, a 7th and 8th grade aide at St. Michael's School in San Diego. The name stuck as a way to remember "Miss Bernie" and our time living in "America's Finest City".  The products we sell are those same treats requested by our children again and again, so we started selling them to friends and acquaintances.  

Sometimes I'll blog about organizing and decorating my new house (which, is a challenge for me... if only there were Garanimals for decorating! LOL! I'm not the most savvy decorator so I use Pinterest as a jump-off point for inspiration.) Luckily, I have some very talented friends that I may invite to guest blog on the topic. Or I'll blog about what's for dinner - because life isn't *always* about dessert - but it should always make time to include it.

You can follow me on Facebook and Pinterest, too. I have a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor (you have to if you're a nurse!) and I'm sometimes a bit saucy ;-) That being said, if this isn't your cup of tea, skip on by.  If it is - sit back, relax, and DO try this at home!

Mary Anne