Festive Fudge: Raw chocolate fudge with walnuts

by Sarah Steimer

This was my favorite fudge of the batch! Like Caitlin’s peppermint fudge from yesterday, this used a couple of special ingredients to stay a little more fluffy and less dense than fudge made with condensed milk.

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Zucchini brownies (with a slow cooker option)

by Sarah Steimer

I really wanted to make some sort of dessert to bring in for my coworkers. I started to preheat my oven while I mixed the ingredients and right before popping the pan in the oven, I couldn’t help but notice that it only climbed up to 200 degrees and just stopped. Fantastic. The solution? Slow-cooker brownies. I’ll explain how to do both in this recipe just in case you are unlucky enough to find yourself in my shoes one evening.

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Yellow cake with chocolate frosting

by Sarah Steimer

This was my first time making yellow cake from scratch – although I’ve made plenty of chocolate cakes (using this stand-by recipe). The walnut topping is totally optional, I just thought it needed a little flourish.

For the yellow cake:

Makes enough for one, 8-inch round cake, single-layer.

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter softened, plus more for parchment
• 1 1/3 cups cake flour sifted, plus more for parchment OR 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
  

  I’ll admit that if I’m going to foray into unknown baking territory, I always head for Martha Stewart’s website.

Butter an 8-inch cake pan. Cut a circle out of parchment paper, using the pan as a guide, and place the circle at the bottom of the pan. Butter the top of the paper and lightly flour the pan, tapping off the excess.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and then beat in the eggs one at a time. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the milk. Martha Stewart’s recipe said to start and end with the flour additions, but I didn’t do this and everyone survived.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325 for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan (don’t forget to take the parchment paper off) and cool on a rack completely. Do not ice the cake while it is still warm.

My cake, which I made with all-purpose flour, was maybe a little more dense than it would have been with cake flour. But it was still moist.

For the chocolate icing:

Cut this recipe in half if you only make one layer of cake.

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk (again, used skim)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter. Add the cocoa powder and whisk to combine.

Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating with an electric mixer as you go. Can add additional milk if needed. Stir in vanilla. Use immediately.

Cake recipe adapted from: Martha Stewart

Icing recipe from: Hershey’s (right on the side of the cocoa box)

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Loving Cup: Coconut hot chocolate

by Caitlin Saniga

I liked this cocoa because the coconut flavor is subtle and the drink isn't overly sweet.

• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%.)
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken in pieces (I used the cheapest bar of dark chocolate I could find, Cadbury. I had no complaints!)

Mix coconut milk and milk in a small pot over low heat. Cook until simmering, about 3 to 5 minutes.

With the heat still on low, add in chocolate and stir until it’s melted and fully incorporated with the milk. Remove from heat, ladle into cups, and serve immediately.

Makes 4.

Recipe: Appetite for China

Photo: Caitlin Saniga

*During the month of January, we’ll post six hot chocolate recipes as part of Loving Cup, all of which can be found here.

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Loving Cup: Peanut butter-Nutella hot chocolate

by Caitlin Saniga

Many people prefer to use whole milk for hot chocolate (because it's thick), but I didn't have any, so I added some heavy cream to the mix.

• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons Nutella
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• pinch of salt

Heat the milk, cream, Nutella and peanut butter in a small saucepan until the Nutella and peanut butter melt and the milk is hot. Sprinkle a pinch of salt into the drink, and serve warm.

Recipe adapted from: The Chocolate Peanut Butter Gallery

Photo: Caitlin Saniga

*During the month of January, we’ll post six hot chocolate recipes as part of Loving Cup, all of which can be found here.

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