Cake balls

Cake balls are fun, easy to serve and easy to eat.  They are highly addictive, be warned.

I have made cake balls a few times and have always been pleased with the results.  I have always used my own cake and homemade frosting so I know the ingredients are top quality.  My best are the ones that come from Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe and Fry's Fudgy Icing (recipe below).  The combination does not disappoint, especially once dipped in good semi-sweet chocolate and shared with a friend.

After you dip these, you can sprinkle things over them right away before they set if you like (sprinkles, nuts, coconut).

So, here's how it goes.  Bake a cake, cool.  Make a batch of frosting.  (If you make one 9" cake, make enough frosting that would just cover it, I'm guessing 1 cup or so.)  Crumble your cake in a big bowl into crumbs, seriously, break it up.  Even if it has a nice crusty edge on it, break it up nice and small, forget the crust, what you're going to make is so much better anyhow.  Dump your prepared frosting on top and mush it all up.  I've started with a pastry cutter and then moved to my very clean hands to completly incorporate it.  It should be mushy.  Put it in the fridge for about an hour to chill and harden.  Take a heaping tablespoon of the cake / frosting mush and roll into a nice ball.  Repeat until all your mush is gone (eat as much as you want as you go, of course).  Chill again while you gently melt your chocolate.  Roll each ball in the chocolate and let chill again.  Serve, eat, devour, or freeze for later (they do freeze well).  This can be done with scraps and leftovers as well, throw them in a bag in the freezer and when you get enough cake bits, make some cake balls.

You can use any combination of cake and icing flavours to suit you, here are some suggestions.  If you want, you can stick a lollipop stick in each one before you dip them, then you have cake pops, fun too!

Fry's Fudgy Icing

from my mother's Fry's cookbook and in my repetoire since 1997

3 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup milk

-mix butter and cocoa well, add vanilla.  Alternate adding the icing sugar and milk to desired consistency.

late-at-night cake for one

Sometimes, you just have to have chocolate cake.  Some of those times, it's 9pm and you're not going to bake anything; that's when you pull out this recipe for mocha microwave cake.  Oh yeah!

One-Minute Mocha Cake
(can be gluten-free!)
adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons white flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut or veg oil (or applesauce or mashed banana)
• 2 tablespoons milk of choice
• 1 Tbsp brewed coffee or espresso
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

The original recipe uses instant coffee granules if you don't have leftover coffee.

Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. Add liquid, stir, then transfer to a little dish, ramekin, or even a coffee mug. Microwave 45-50 seconds (or more, depending on how powerful your microwave is). If you don’t want to eat it straight out of the dish, be sure to spray your dish first (and then wait for the cake to cool before trying to remove it).

If you're wary of consuming a minute amount of coffee that close to bedtime, here's another one that's just a chocolate cake.  I vote for not including the egg in it and it's a bit more fudgey. 
I've tried both recipes for about 55 seconds in my microwave and they've come out great most of the time - I have to admit, now and then it'll come out wet or rubbery, but I blame that on sloppy measuring.  When you're working with small quantities, it makes a difference when you round a teaspoon or measure flat like we were taught in Home Ec in high school.
If you're not lookin' for a chocolate fix at all (you're not a woman, are you?) check these out, I can't vouch for them though, I gravitate to the chocolate recipes. 
Pssst, I know you're reading my posts, why not say "hi!" or write a note here, I'd love it!

Dishes

I actually like to wash dishes.  This is handy because there are a lot of dishes to wash in the run of a day here.  We don't have many dishes which is also handy because then they can't pile up.  I also have some control issues.  My partner does a fine job of washing them but I still enjoy doing them so I know they are clean.  I don't know, I guess there are some things I should let go of.

How do you feel about doing the dishes?  Do you like to let a machine do it?  If so, who empties and fills it?

Photography

I'm no photographer but will be working hard to improve for your viewing pleasure.  Tips and hints are greatly appreciated.  I'm using a digital camera, usually on a "point and shoot" setting.

Bread

As stated in an earlier post, I like to make bread for my family. 
Here is a picture of two white loaves and two challa loaves.  The challa was fun to make and even more fun to weave with six strands.  I did hoped it would be a bit more dense, eggy and sweet than this was.  It was yummy and quick, but not what I was looking for I guess. 

 

 

I have not succeeded yet in finding a wholesome, nutritious bread recipe that works as well as this one does.  It is a white bread.  Gasp!  Yes, we love it and it gets great reviews from my family.  It freezes well, makes awesome toast, French Toast and sandwiches.  It doesn't stand up very well served in a hot sandwich (with gravy over it) but I have a strong aversion to soggy bread anyhow, always have, so that was not a requirement for me in an everyday bread recipe.

This recipe makes two loaves.  I have only recently begun doubling it and getting five loaves out of it.  An energy saver - both my energy and my oven!

I played with the recipe a bit, thinking it called for too much sugar but have since gone back to using the full 2/3 cup.  I have replaced the sugar with 1/2 cup of honey and it was okay too.  I have replaced up to a cup of flour with other grains (flax meal, wheat germ, oat bran, whatever is on-hand) and it has come out well, very well in fact.
I use my KitchenAid mixer to to most of the kneading.  I let the yeast proof in the mixer boal, add the oil, salt and six cups of the flour all at once (not what the recipe says) and let it go on level 2 for about six minutes.  Then, I take the dough out and knead it old-school.  I love this part, you can really feel it coming together and when it gets too tight and when it's a smooth dough you know you're going to have great bread.  I spray oil the mixer bowl (technically it's still dirty because I haven't washed it yet, but there's nothing in it or stuck to it) put the dough in it, grease the dough lightly, cover with a glass pot cover or plastic wrap.  I've heated the oven up for 1.5 minutes and the oven is off but slightly warm.  Rise for one hour, punch down, shape, rise in greased pans for about 30 minutes, heat oven up, bake 30 minutes (on the dot in my oven with my pans - my old dark bread pan requires five extra minutes to brown the crust), take out of pans immediately, let cool and eat.

Amish White Bread
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour

-In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.               

-Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

-Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

-Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

You really should let it cool before you slice into it and slather it with salted butter or peanut butter or your Nanny's homemade jam (we're so spoiled).  If you cannot wait and must cut it open right away, turn the bread cut-side down on the cutting board until it is cool.  Bag it, freeze it, eat it.  SO GOOD!

Important tip when baking bread that I learned from my Mum is to take the bread out of the pan immediately after taking it out of the oven to keep the crust crisp and not soggy.  She used to butter the top of the bread right away too, but I find that messy to work with the loaves after the fact, so I don't do that.

 

Go buy some yeast and use it!  Tell me how it works out, I'd love to know!

Bacon (Part1)

Everything is better with bacon.  (Great article on real bacon here.)  I said that a few days ago and can't get it out of my mind.  On that morning, I had made a homemade version of a McGriddle sandwich.  I did not make maple syrup crystals but I did put some table syrup in the pancake batter, which I will do again.  I did, however, discover my new go-to recipe for light, fluffy, sweet pancakes that were a dream to work with and eat.
Here is my new pancake recipe:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
¼ cup milk (or more to desired consistency)
¼ cup table syrup (I did not use real maple, I don't know why but this was great)
- In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients.  In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredieants.  Pour wet over dry and mix a bit.  Leave medium sized lumps. 
- Drop by ½ cup measure onto hot pan (a water drop should bounce when you drop it on)(I heat my pan to a 4.5 on my stovetop with a scale of 10).  Flip when bubbles cover the top and edges are getting dry.  Flip only once, cook to cooked in the centre.  Eat immediately, or keep hot in a hot oven, or freeze for a toaster treat later!
Note: I usually add grains and things to my pancakes, but this is a fun, "bubble gum" version.  I substitute up to half the flour with a combination of flax meal, wheat germ, oat bran or oats.  Go crazy and find your own happy.  I guess you could sub some applesauce for some oil too.
Directions for a breakfast sandwich:
lay 1 piece bacon (or two, whole or crumbled in a neat pile) on your frying pan
cover with about ¼ cup pancake batter and cook as if it were just an innocent pancake
make a second pancake, with or without bacon
keep pancakes hot
fry an egg (I love to use bacon fat for this)
Now the fun part, on your favourite plate lay 1 pancake (bacon to the inside perhaps), top with a slice of processed cheese (or not, my kids did not like this with processed cheese), tuck the egg on there, top with a second pancake and voilà, a breakfast of champions!  You can also add sausage patty in there if you want to, I haven't done that.

Here's the money shot, batter smothering bacon:

And here's my sandwich:

YUMMY!

This looks daring and I haven't tried it, just thought I'd share chocolate bacon cupcakes.

Carob raisin clusters

I do so love carob chips!  It brings me right back to some time in my childhood when my Mum was on a fad diet (it was the 80's, who wasn't?!) and she was trying to convince herself carob was a viable substitute for chocolate.  Well, it isn't BUT it IS great all alone with no excuses.  Today, I melted some and added a tiny bit of coconut oil, raisins, chopped peanuts and sunflower seeds for a snack.  I LOVED IT!  My kids, though, not so much.  One actually spat it out, the rest just didn't eat more than one bite.  I recommend you go to your nearest bulk food store or health food store and get a tiny amount - you will either love it or hate it.  It's safe for dogs if you want to make a treat for Rex too.  I've got to go now, my dough has risen.