SRC: Eggless Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

I am very thankful that none of my children have food allergies.  A couple of my older brother's children do and it can make things rather challenging.  This cake, for example, would be a no-no because of the peanut butter frosting.  However, the cake unfrosted would be a great option for my niece Eva, since she's allergic to dairy and eggs....and this cake has neither.  That's really hard to find in baked goods.

That's why I chose this recipe to make for the Secret Recipe Club this month.  The blog I was assigned is called This Mama Cooks, where Anne-Marie's mission is to help busy families get on the road to living a more healthy lifestyle by sharing good-for-you recipes and lifestyle tips.  She even covers health topics like vitamins and nutrition, dental health and braces, skin products, exercise, and weight loss.  

I found several recipes I want to try, like Chicken, Sweet Potato and Apple Skillet, Slow Cooker Machaca Beef , and Huevos Rancheros.... but I just couldn't resist trying an eggless cake.  I made one about 10 years ago and remember really liking it......but for some reason hadn't made it again.  So I figured it was about time I gave it a shot again.  

I really like this cake.  Now, I'm not gonna lie, it won't replace Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cake as my favorite go-to chocolate cake recipe,  but it is a delicious alternative and sure does accommodate people with allergies better.  And even if you don't have allergies, it's great to make if you're having that cake craving and don't have an egg in the house.  

I did change up the frosting recipe, by using my favorite peanut butter frosting from Ina Garten......one that I also used on my birthday cake last year.  But really you could use whatever frosting you like.  

Eggless Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
(Cake from This Mama Cooks, frosting from Ina Garten)

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
9 Tbs. cocoa, sifted (1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs)
2 cups cold water
2 Tbs. white vinegar
3/4 cup oil (I used expeller pressed coconut oil)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer.  Combine well, but don't overbeat.
Pour into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting: 

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Grated chocolate for garnish, optional

Place the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

You know the old saying, "Better late than never"?  

So totally applies here. Nearly three months has passed since we indulged in this incredible cheesecake.    

This was the dessert I made for Christmas Eve......and I made a second one as a Christmas gift for my brother and his girlfriend.  

However, I think that peppermint is a perfectly acceptable flavor all year round, and I refuse to wait till next Christmas season to share this recipe.  

It certainly takes several steps and requires at least a couple of days to make, since you have to make the peppermint bark a day before making the cheesecake.  (Well, I suppose you could toss the bark in the freezer to firm up faster, so you could rush the process, but it doesn't hurt to plan ahead. )

But it is definitely worth the wait.  

Here's the breakdown:

Creamy white chocolate cheesecake on an Oreo crust, studded with chunks of white and dark chocolate peppermint bark, topped with a luscious white chocolate mousse, and garnished with those scrumptious little Andes peppermint baking bits (or peppermint candies if you prefer).  

Yep.  Pretty hard to resist.  And a perfectly festive finale to a Christmas Eve dinner, or a Christmas dinner, or a Tuesday night dinner.  Just sayin'.

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake 

(adapted slightly from Baked by Rachel)

Peppermint Bark: 

4 oz milk or dark chocolate

4 oz white chocolate

1 tsp. oil, divided

1/4 tsp peppermint extract, divided

Crushed candy canes or peppermint candies, powder removed

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. 

Prepare candy canes by unwrapping and tossing in a ziplock bag.  Smash with a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, or other heavy object.  Don't pulverize the candy, but don't leave any huge chunks either.  Place in a fine-mesh strainer and shake gently (over the sink or garbage) to remove the dust.  

In a medium sized bowl, place milk or dark chocolate and 1/2 tsp. oil.  Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals at 50% power.  Stir well after each 30 seconds.  When fully melted, add 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract. Stir well.  Spread out evenly on prepared pan.  Sprinkle with crushed candies. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chocolate has set.  

Repeat process with white chocolate.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Crust:

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (or 22 regular Oreos with filling - not double stuffed)

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

4 oz. white chocolate, melted (I used a Ghirradeli bar)

1-1/2 Tbsp. flour

1-1/2 Tbsp. heavy cream

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. peppermint extract

3 eggs

Peppermint Bark Recipe, broken into chunks 

Mousse:

1/4 cup heavy cream, chilled

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 oz. white chocolate, melted

1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Peppermint pieces, Andes peppermint baking bits, or shaved chocolate for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a blender or food processor, blend cookies until they're fine crumbs. Stir together with melted butter.  Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Set aside.

Reduce oven temp. to 325°.  

Cut up peppermint bark into small pieces.  Set aside

Melt 4 oz. white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.  Stir until smooth.  

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and mix well.  Scrape bowl well prior to each new addition and as needed.  Add melted chocolate, flour, heavy cream, salt, and peppermint extract.  Mix well.  On medium/low speed, add one egg at a time.  Mix until smooth, but don't overbeat. 

Stir in peppermint bark pieces by hand. 

Pour filling into crust and bake at 325°F. for 1 hour.  Turn off the oven.  Keeping the door shut, leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 45 minutes.  Remove and allow to sit for at least 1 hour before chilling.

Chill 4 hours or overnight before adding the mousse.  

To make the mousse, begin by making whipped cream. Pour the heavy cream in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  

In another medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese, melted white chocolate, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped cream until fully incorporated. 

Carefully remove the side of springform pan.  Spread mousse mixture evenly over cheesecake. Chill for at least a couple of hours before serving.  

Serve slices with Andes peppermint baking bits or crushed peppermint candies and chocolate shavings if desired.

Store covered in the refrigerator.

Family Update

It's been so long since I've posted a family update.....I can't possibly catch up

. 

We're getting more settled in but still have piles upon piles of boxes and stuff in the garage.  

It's hard to get motivated to go out there and work when it's so cold and we have all the necessities for day-to day life in the house. 

Oh, and apparently the Plunger Fairy has come and taken both of our plungers and left us nothing in return.....we've had the joy of a stopped up toilet and cannot find either plunger anywhere.  Joy. 

We're missing old friends and life in Virginia.....while at the same time enjoying new activities and meeting new people here....and spending as much time as we can with family.   

 Here are a few highlights from the past month or so.

We've joined a 4-H group that has several different projects for kids to be involved with....the girls are participating in a miniature horse project and Corban is doing robotics.  

The Mini-horse project is so awesome - the leaders of the club have a farm with about 10 mini-horses (and several full-sized) and once a month, the participants get to go out to the farm and learn all about taking care of the horses.The rest of the month (and meetings) are spent learning about horsemanship, hippology terms, etc.  My girls are the youngest in the group but are absolutely loving it.  

Marissa adores Gypsy - she's so gentle and compliant, easy to lead and great with kids.

Annika practicing picking a hoof.

Annika taking her turn leading Gypsy around a course of cones.  Eventually they'll be able to compete with the horses in contests, and even learn how to drive a little cart!

These two beauties live in a pasture back behind our house....we walked there a couple of weeks ago and discovered them....the girls are in love.

Every day that the weather is nice, the girls are begging to go back to see the horses. 

Even Ellia gets in on that fun.  She's too young for the 4-H group now.

In school, we had the joy of dissecting owl pellets.  Oh, you don't know what an owl pellet is?  That's okay, I didn't either.  So when owls eat rodents, they can't digest the bones and hair.  Their stomachs form the indigestible materials into chunks, which the owls vomit out.   Owl pellets.  Lumps of rodent hair and bones. 

Theoretically, you could find an entire mouse skeleton in a single pellet....we were not so lucky. (???)

We sure found a lot of tiny bones, though.  Very interesting.  

Moving on to something much prettier, Marissa and Annika are taking ballet classes from my lovely younger sister Anna.  We have to drive 45 minutes one way to get there, but it is totally worth it.  She's amazing teacher and the girls absolutely love it.  And her. 

Well, it's only a snippet and I could post much more......but life is calling. 

Chocolate Orange Muffins

Sometimes you just need chocolate for breakfast.
Well, I suppose "need" isn't exactly the appropriate term, but I can sure feel like I need chocolate.
Just every day. Or so.
Hmmmm. Wonder what would happen if I tried to break the chocolate addiction.
I don't want to find out.

Now, I had a feeling I would like these muffins, because although I have never actually combined chocolate and orange in baking before personally, I have tried and enjoyed the chocolate-covered orange sticks from Trader Joe's....and maybe a few other chocolate orange confections over the years.

(Can I just say, I got so spoiled living near a Trader Joe's in VA.....I miss it like crazy around here.  But at least now I have Azure Standard.....that's a huge plus.)

But I honestly had no idea how great these would be.  They might even qualify as cupcakes....except if there's no frosting, I insist they can be eaten for breakfast.  Yes, I made a huge batch, because 12 little muffins are not going to tide my hungry crew over in the morning.  Corban can eat at least 5 on his own.  Unless I'm also serving hard boiled eggs.....then he might eat 4 eggs and 3 muffins.  He's only 9 years old.  Sheesh.

I modified the original recipe by decreasing the sugar a little, adding flaxseed, and using some applesauce in place of some oil.  They turned out so moist, tender, and perfectly delicious.

Annika (5) made the comment, "When you're eating really good food, it's like music."

I think she got that quote from Ratatouille....but it was just funny to hear a five-year old saying that at breakfast.  She's never said that before, so I guess the muffins made quite an impression.

They definitely fit in the category of "really good food" to us.

Chocolate Orange Muffins 
Yield: 24 muffins (can easily be halved)

3 cups flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
4 t. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted expeller pressed coconut oil or butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup orange juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
4 T. cocoa powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees (for dark, nonstick pans) or 350 degrees for regular muffin tins. Line tins with cupcake liners or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a separate medium-size bowl beat together the eggs, oil or butter, applesauce, buttermilk, orange juice, vanilla and orange zest. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix together just until moistened. Don’t over mix! 

Pour half of the batter into another bowl.  Sift the cocoa powder in to one of the bowls and fold in half of the chocolate chips. Fold the remaining chocolate chips into the other “white” bowl of batter.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the prepared muffin tins, alternating the orange and chocolate batters. Fill the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 or 17-18 minutes at 325 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool the muffins for five minutes in the tins. Remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Source: adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Chocolate Mint Cookies

When Jocelyn posted these cookies a few weeks ago, I knew I had to make them.

I rarely use cake mixes and I buy Oreos even less frequently (and had never even tried the mint ones), but I just could not resist.  My next trip to Walmart resulted in the ingredients for these cookies just hopping right into my cart and a couple of days later I had the chance to make them.

Wowzer.

First of all, mint Oreos are dangerously addictive on their own.  As long as I pretended I didn't know the ingredients or calorie count, I could seriously eat them every day and not get tired of them.

So when you chop them up and add them into a soft chocolate cookie.....and add some extra chocolate mint chips on top of that....yeah. Ridiculously good. I'm pretty sure we ate the entire batch in about a day and a half.

They're actually very similar to another one of my favorite recipes, Fudgy Mint Cookies, but with cream cheese and the Oreo chunks added.  Extra indulgence, indeed.

I gotta quit making sweets for a few weeks.....I'm afraid my calorie consumption is higher than my calorie expenditure....at least, that's what the scale is telling me.  Not the news I want when spring and summer are around the corner.

But I couldn't resist sharing this recipe with you......and probably some others that I've not gotten around to posting.

Chocolate Mint Cookies 
adapted slightly from Inside BruCrew Life
Makes about 36 cookies

1 chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups mint Oreo cookie chunks

3/4 c. chocolate and mint chips OR Andes mint baking chips

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter, egg, vanilla, and cream cheese.  Add the cake mix and stir well.  Add the cookie chunks and mix again. Stir in the chocolate mint pieces by hand.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°.  Roll dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls. Place on un-greased baking sheet and bake for approximately 9 minutes.  Cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in a covered container.  

Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes

I have a never ending list of desserts I want to try, just because I love desserts.

And I'm a food blogger, so I always want new material to write about. 

Considering those two facts, there are many fabulous desserts that I have made once and

absolutely adored, but rarely (if ever) get around to making again.

That will not be the case with this dessert.

I can't even tell you how amazing it is.  

So rich and chocolaty, with a slightly firm and chewy exterior and edges, and a

warm, decadent, fudgy center just oozing out to coat every bite......

Grant's words as he sampled his first bite:

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

He was simply astonished that a dessert so simple could be so delicious.

I think the best way to prepare it is to make the batter and pour it into the ramekins ahead of time. While 

you're eating dinner, pop them into the oven. When they're ready, everyone should be finished with dinner and ready for dessert.  And believe me, when you smell these baking, you'll find room for dessert, no matter how full you are. 

Oh, and I have a confession.  I actually made them with the wrong amount of chocolate and didn't realize it until I was in bed last night, thinking about the recipe. 

See, it calls for 6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, and 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate. 

The Ghiradelli bars of bittersweet chocolate are only 4 ounces, so I had decided beforehand to use 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate instead of buying another bittersweet bar and only using half of it.  

Well, when I was actually baking it, I forgot to add the extra 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, so my end result was 2 ounces of chocolate short.  

And you know what?  

You never would have known. 

 I can't imagine them being any better than they were.  

But hey, maybe next time I'll add that extra chocolate just to see. 

I did not use any liqueur in my recipe - but I can't wait to try the raspberry version.  I'm sure it's just fabulous.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes 

(adapted slightly from Glorious Treats, originally from Paula Deen)

Yield: 6-8 cakes

6 (1 oz) squares bittersweet chocolate (I used 4 - a Ghiradelli bar)

2 (1 oz) squares semi sweet chocolate (I used Bakers)

10 Tbs. butter (salted)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbs. orange or raspberry liqueur (optional)

Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°F. 

Grease 6 (6 oz) or 8 (4 oz) custard cups/ramekins.  

Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler.  Add the flour and sugar to chocolate.  Stir a few times.  Add the eggs and egg yolks and stir until smooth.  Stir in the vanilla and liqueur if using.  

Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes if using 6 dishes, 12 minutes for 8 dishes.  The edges should be firm but the center will be jiggly or runny.  

Cool for a couple of minutes, then eat directly from dish or run a knife around the edge to loosen and invert cakes onto dessert plates.  

Dust with powdered sugar before serving, or dollop with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  

Linked to Crumbs and Chaos - Seasonal Inspiration and Trick or Treat Tuesday

Chocolate Chip Pull Apart Bread - SRC

This month I had the pleasure of being assigned to The Tasty Cheapskate for the Secret Recipe Club, where Jeanie highlights frugal recipes, eating well, and uses lots of butter.  I know we'd be great friends!
And she even has 4 kiddos, around the same age as mine.  She's got a great sense of humor and is very entertaining to read....and man, does she have some fantastic recipes.

I had such a hard time picking one to make for today.....with choices like Brownies with Browned Butter Frosting (I am SO making those....soon.), No-Rise Cinnamon Rolls with Blueberry Filling , Double Chocolate Breakfast Cookies (yes, yes, yes!) and Diana's Apple Cake of Awesomeness (which I actually made, and it was delicious!).

I ended up settling on this pull-apart bread - because I have been wanting to try different versions of  pull-apart bread for months and hadn't gotten around to it.

So it's basically a sweet and tender yeast dough, rolled flat and brushed with butter, coated with cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkled with chocolate chips. You cut it into strips, stack them on top of each other, cut the stack into sections, and stick them in a loaf pan.  Once it's baked, you slather it with a lovely cream cheese frosting and try to keep from eating the whole loaf before dinner.

I only have two things that I will change the next time I make this....

First, I'll add a little salt to the dough, maybe half a teaspoon.  I think all yeast doughs need a little bit of salt.  I'm changing the recipe to reflect that preference.

Second, I won't sprinkle the chocolate chips on until I'm stacking the strips of dough....because they all just kept falling off when I moved the strips.

Thanks, Jeanie, for such a scrumptious bread, and I love your blog and great collection of recipes!

Chocolate Chip Pull-Apart Bread (adapted slightly from The Tasty Cheapskate)

Bread:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 T. yeast
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2-3/4 cups flour (plus a little more if necessary)
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened or melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
2/3 cup chocolate chips, chopped

Frosting:
1/2 package cream cheese (4 oz), softened
2-1/2 T. butter, softened
1/2 T. sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 T. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the dough, heat milk, butter, and water together in microwave or on the stove until the butter melts. Cool (if necessary) to about 110°.
Mix in sugar and yeast.  Add beaten eggs and vanilla and stir well.
Stir in 1 cup flour.  Then add the second cup.  Knead in an electric mixer with the dough hook or turn out to a floured surface and knead by hand.  Add additional flour as necessary to make a slightly firm dough.

Put in a greased bowl, cover with greased wax paper or a wet towel, and let it rise until doubled, about an hour.

Once it's risen, punch it down, then put on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about 12x20".
Spread softened or melted butter all over the dough.
Combine the sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the top.

Cut the dough into 6 even strips.  Sprinkle some chocolate chunks on the bottom strip, then top with another strip.  Sprinkle that strip with chocolate and top with another strip.  Continue until you have one nice stack.
Cut the stack into 6 equal chunks.
Place the chunks in a greased 8x5" bread pan with the cut sides up.

 Let rise for 20-40 minutes.  Place pan on a cookie sheet in case it overflows (mine did...maybe my pan was too small!) and bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and no longer gooey.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Loosen the sides and turn it onto a plate (right side up) to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream.  Add vanilla.  Beat in powdered sugar until smooth.  Spread over bread while it's still warm.

Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday