Chocolate Zuccini Cake

Courtesy of My Baking Addiction
Adapted From: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients for the cake…
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream or yogurt
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-Process Cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty (I left this out)
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10" zucchini, about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips

For the ganache…
6 ounces of heavy cream
9 ounces of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

**NOTE/CONVERSION: If you are using regular natural cocoa powder, add and additional 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda!

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.Stir in the sour cream or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
3. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, till the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. Cool on a rack. Yield: 24 servings.

To prepare the frosting, heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Wait 3-5 minutes then stir to combine. It may take a few minutes of stirring for the ganache to come together… but it will :) It will thicken as it cools… when warm (but not hot) pour over cake and smooth with offset spatula. Allow frosting to set for about 30 minutes before serving.

Fresh Fruit Edible Arrangement

Pretty much pick your favorite fruits in season and use cookie cutters, mellon ballers, decorative cutters, and knives to achieve variety in flowerish shapes. Attach the fruits to kabob scewers using a longer and a shorter to give different lengths.

Special Notes:
I wish I had looked at my sample while actually putting together my arrangement. I would have attached the flower pieces of fruit on an angle instead of putting it in the side. I looked online for samples to follow using Eddible Arrangements and it brought up a bunch. The mount for the scewers I used was a Granny smith apple dipped in lemon juice. It was a great firm foundation and gave great support. Using a taller container to put them in also rather than shorter is good. This is my first attempt at something like this and It was tall and the sticks were in full view. Play around with this when it isn't for a special occasion and then you can spike the fruit pieces more than once to adjust if necessary to achieve the look you want then when the real occasion comes you will have worked out the flaws.

Make your own Butterfinger bars

Listed at ask.com as Nutterfingers
Homemade version top pictured with real Butterfinger bottom

Not even close to a butterfinger so go into it expecting something different. They were okay. Kids were thoroughly disappointed since they LOVE Butterfingers. I'll have to keep looking. However I did make the mistake of not adding the Corn Syrup until after it reached 300 degrees and I wonder if it made that much of a difference because mine weren't the texture nor hardness of a butterfinger. I recommend not doubling just to make sure you like it first.

These candy bars are covered with chocolate and filled with a light peanut center that shatters into thin, crispy layers when you bite into it. They resemble the popular Butterfingers candy bar. This recipe yields 10 4-inch bars, but can be easily doubled and made in a 9x13 pan.

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 pound chocolate candy coating
Preparation:
1. Prepare an 8x8 pan by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Place the peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside for now.

3. Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil, and stir in the corn syrup. Insert a candy thermometer.

4. Continue to cook the syrup, boiling it without stirring, until it reaches 300 degrees on the thermometer. Watch the pan carefully, as the sugar can quickly rise in temperature and burn at such high heat.

5. Once it candy reaches 300 degrees, immediately remove it from the heat. Quickly stir in the peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla and stir until it is smooth.

6. Pour the candy into the prepared 8x8 pan, and allow it to sit for about two minutes minutes. While it is still warm and pliant, take a large knife and score it into ten pieces: make a cut down the center, then cut each half into five pieces, for a total of 10 candy bars. Allow the candy to set at room temperature, for at least 4 hours or overnight.

7. Once the peanut candy is completely set and firm, prepare the chocolate for dipping. Place the chocolate candy coating in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave it until melted, stirring after every minute to prevent overheating. Stir the melted chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes to cool it slightly. Line a baking sheet with foil and set it nearby.

8. While the chocolate is cooling, carefully cut or break the peanut candy into bars along the scored lines.

9.Using two forks or dipping tools, submerge one bar in the melted chocolate. Remove the bar from the chocolate, allowing the excess chocolate to drip back down into the bowl. Place the dipped bar on the foil-lined sheet. Repeat the dipping with the remaining bars and chocolate, and place the bars in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set the chocolate. Once set, the bars can be served immediately. Store remaining bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

The Perfect Pound Cake

Well don't go by the name it is truly hard to class something as perfect, but a pound cake this is. I found the outside to be a little dry. I acquired the recipe from http://sweetmelissasundays.wordpress.com/ and you can go there for the complete text if you wish.

In large bowl combine:
3 eggs room temperature
1 cup sugar
whip until smooth

In medium bowl combine:
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
wisk until well blended

In small bowl combine:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt and cool to warm:
6 Tbsp unsalted butter

Take 1/3 of the flour and sift onto the egg mixture and wisk in gently until blended then pour 1/2 of the cream mixture and again mix until blended, repeat until flour and cream are mixed in. Be careful not to overbeat and add in the butter gently folding. Once well blended pour into greased and floured loaf pan or other baking pan.

Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. If doing mini cakes cut time in half.