Super Sophisticated One-Bowl Chocolate Mocha Cake Truffles

   These are not cake balls.  

   They are not the "cake pops" you bake in a machine. 

   These are the kind of cake truffles that at first make you think, "What has our society come to?" But then, "Who were the geniuses who thought of this?"

   What is is it? It starts with a simple chocolate cake (do not use box mix, from scratch is just as easy and tastes so much better).  Then, mix it up with a cup of frosting (I used mocha flavored).  Freeze spheres of the mixture and then coat them in smooth, melted chocolate. Oh yeah, and you need sprinkles.  Trust me on this.

   The result: chocolate heaven.  It's so rich and decadent, but it's portion control, right? Seriously, go make these.  It's for your own good. Unless, of course, you have dietary restrictions.   

   How to make a friend instantaneously: give someone a cake truffle. (Truffle just sounds so much more sophisticated than "ball."  "Cake spheres" is also acceptable.  And, yes, chocolate cake mushed up with icing is sophisticated.)

   You could also put these on a stick and call them cake pops, but really, it's just so much more awkward eating these like lollipops. Really, are you supposed to lick them?

   

You wanna know how to make these? Well, of course you do. And bonus: you only need one bowl. Less dishes to clean *woot*!

First, make a really easy-peasy one-bowl chocolate cake.

Bake it in any kind of pan you want.

Make the super delicious frosting. (I cleaned the bowl I used for the cake batter--not cheating)

This...do it. Dump the cake into the bowl with the frosting. You  don't have to wait for the cake to cool down, in fact,  it's easier to shape it if the cake is warm.

                                      

Yes.

Spheres--Freeze these for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Otherwise, they will lose their shape.

Melt some good quality baker's chocolate using the double boiler method. This has a better flavor than those candy melts you can buy at craft stores.You need about 12oz.
I should have made the batter in a glass bowl so that I could have melted the chocolate in the same bowl (washed.)

  Finally, dip the chilled cake spheres into the chocolate. Spoon chocolate over the areas you can't reach.  Place the cake truffles on wax paper until the chocolate hardens. Feel free to use any extra chocolate to cover some strawberries or any thing else you can find in your kitchen.
  These are so much better than actual chocolate truffles.

Chocolate Cake Truffles/Sphere/Ball/Pops

makes about 24 1.5" spheres

Components

1/2 recipe One-Bowl Chocolate cake (below) or other cake of choice

1/2 recipe Mocha Buttercream (below) or other frosting of choice

12 oz good quality semisweet baker's chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Assembly

1. Dump the cake into the bowl with the frosting while the cake is still warm.  Mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.  Shape into 24 1" balls (about 1/8 cup of the mixture).  Place balls on plates lined with wax paper and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. 
2. Bring a pot of water, with a glass or metal bowl on top, to a simmer over low heat.  Make sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.  Add the chocolate and stir constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, but keep the bowl over the warm water so that the chocolate stays melted.
3. Dip the chilled cake spheres into the chocolate one at a time.  You can use a spoon or meat fork to do this.  Use a spoon to pour chocolate over the areas you missed.  Let excess chocolate drip off and place cake truffle onto a plate lined with wax paper. Decorate with sprinkles while the chocolate is melty.
4. I suggest that you keep the cakes you aren't dipping in the freezer to keep them cold.
5. Let chocolate on cakes harden before enjoying.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

makes 2 9" round cake layers

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling hot water or coffee (coffee brings out the chocolate flavor)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter and flour two pans lined with wax or parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer or by hand for 2 minutes.
4. Slowly pour the hot water or coffee into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing the batter.
5. Pour the batter evenly among pans and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. (If making cake truffles, you don't need to let it cool and you only need half the recipe).

Mocha Buttercream

makes about 2 cups, which frosts 12 cupcakes (halve if using to make mocha cake truffles)

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2-1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifting optional)

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

Directions

1. Beat room temperature butter for a minute or two until it is creamy.
2. Add the sugar bit by bit, beating until well combined after each addition.
3. Scrape the sides of the bowl once all the sugar's added and whip for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and espresso and whip until combined.

Dinosaur Love Story *rawr*

Red Velvet Macarons with Chocolate Ganache Filling

   This is why I love February 14th.
   This is my second time making macarons. I was at first a bit intimidated when I came across Not So Humble Pie's troubleshooting guide. I mean, there are so many things that can go wrong.  Now that I've made them a couple of times, though, I think that they're pretty simple.
     A lack of certain materials prevented me from making macarons earlier.  To make them, you'll need a kitchen scale (to make exact measurements), a piping bag, a mixer, and almond flour. Almond is kind of expensive and hard to find. I got mine from a health food store. You can make your own by putting almonds in a food processor, but you'll need a nice machine to make it fine enough.
    Also, superfine (or castor) sugar is suggested for this recipe. It will make the texture of the macaron less grainy since it has smaller grains.  However, it's almost impossible to find in stores, so you can just pulse regular sugar in a blender or food processor for a minute until it's powdery.
    Another side note: many macaron makers suggest that you use aged egg whites. These are egg whites that are put in a bowl covered with a damp paper towel in the refrigerator for a few days.  This isn't essential, though, and I just used room temperature egg whites.
     To be honest, though, even if they don't look perfect, there's a 99% chance that the macarons will taste good and that everyone will forgive you.
     Anyways, I made these for Valentines Day, as you may have guessed.  Also, you may not know this, but they satisfy not one, but two of the things on my list in the 2013 tab.  Namely: "something red velvet" and "macarons."  I don't really like using food coloring (how I was raised), but red velvet and macarons both need it. By combining them, I have saved myself the trouble of using a lot of food coloring twice :).
      Before you make the macarons, make sure you remember these things:

• Make exact measurements and measure by weight, not volume.
• Wipe your bowl and beaters with lemon juice to help the egg whites whip up better.  
• Don't over beat the egg whites; it'll make the macarons grainy.
• Don't over or under mix the batter.  The batter should drip off the spoon in ribbons when you lift it, but shouldn't be too liquidy.
• Tap the pans after you pipe the batter to prevent cracking.
• Let the piped macaron batter sit on the baking sheets for 30 minutes to 2 hours (depending on humidity) until it is firm on the outside.
• Only bake one sheet at a time.
• Refrigerate for a couple of days before eating to improve the flavor. 

     Now you're ready to make an awesome macaron!

This is what superfine sugar should be like.

Soft peaks

Batter should drip in ribbons.

Pipe the shapes with a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.

I printed out some heart shapes on paper and put them under  the parchment paper to make piping easier. Don't forget to remove the templates after the macarons have set for 30 minutes!

Make sure you let the batter set for at least 30 minutes (depending on humidity) until the surface is firm.

After baking. See the feet!

Really simple ganache filling.

 Enjoy! I hope that you have a wonderful Valentines Day filled to the brim with chocolate!

Red Velvet Macarons with Chocolate Ganache filling

makes about 25 heart-shaped macarons (50 cookies, more if shaped like circles)

modified from Edible Mosaic

Ingredients

8 oz powdered (confectioners) sugar

4 oz almond meal (almond flour)

1/2 oz (12g, 2tbs) unsweetened cocoa powder 

A couple pinches of salt

5 oz egg whites (from 4 eggs) room temperature

3 oz superfine (castor) sugar (or blended granulated sugar)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tsp red food coloring (I used Wilton icing colors--it's more concentrated)

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Line two pans with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together almond meal, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Discard any almond pieces that are too large.
3. In a glass or stainless metal bowl, whip the egg whites for a few seconds until frothy.  Gradually add superfine sugar while still beating the egg whites.  Whip egg whites to soft peaks.
4. Add vanilla and food coloring to egg whites and beat for a few seconds just until incorporated.
5. Add a bit of the dry ingredients to the egg whites and gently fold in with a spatula. Fold in a circular motion until incorporated. Keep adding the dry ingredients this way until it's all incorporated.  Fold the mixture until it's thin and drips from the spoon like a ribbon, but isn't too liquidy.
6. Place batter into a piping bag with a large, round tip.  Pipe the batter in even sized shapes onto the baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Lift the pans a couple inches above the table and drop.  Repeat about five times to eliminate air bubbles and prevent cracking.
7. Let pans rest for 30 minutes to an hour until a dry shell forms on the surface. One it is formed, preheat the oven to 300*F.  
8. Bake one sheet at a time, for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the macarons. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
9. To make the filling, bring the heavy cream to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and blended.  Whip with a beater until cool and stiff.  
10. Pair up cookies with similar sizes.  Pipe or spoon some filling onto one cookie and gently press the other half on top.
11. Refrigerate for a day or two to improve the flavor before serving.  Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. 

   

   
   

Dumplings 饺子

   
     As I mentioned earlier, I have been making Chinese food to celebrate Chinese New Year. Today I will be sharing a recipe for traditional dumplings.
     I tell you, there are a lot of genius things in this world, and wrapping meat in dough and boiling it is one of them.  There are a lot of different kinds of dumplings out there, but to me, this is the only real one.
     Like many of the foods I make, this recipe is inspired by my grandma.  Only until I made these dumplings myself could I really appreciate how amazing she is at making them.  She can swiftly roll out a perfect circle of dough and wrap the dumpling before you can blink.  That comes with experience, I guess.
     Dumplings are one of my favorite foods, and if you've tried them before, you'll know why.  The outside is chewy and the inside is flavorful and moist.  I like the pork and vegetable kind, but any type of filling works. You can also pan-fry them or steam them, and they'll be delicious in a new, wonderful way.  I'm always in the mood for dumplings.
     Jiaozi, or dumplings are a Chinese New Year tradition.  In Chinese class, I learned that the name originated from "jiaozi," the first paper currency in China.  Dumplings were shaped like Chinese gold ingots, and therefore eating them symbolized wealth.
     There are two different ways to wrap dumplings: the popular Northern way (commonly seen in cartoons) and the Southern way (shaped more like gold ingots).  My family always does it the second way.

   
      For some fun, I put a chestnut in one of the dumplings so that whoever got it would have "good fortune" for the year.  My older sister got it.  It's kind of like putting a baby in a king cake for Mardi Gras.
       I hope you enjoy!

Chinese Dumplings 饺子

makes about 40 dumplings

For the Wrapper

3-1/8 cups all-purpose flour (1/8 cup = 2 tbs)

1 cup hot water (175*F)

1/2 cup room temperature water

1. Slowly pour hot water over flour while stirring quickly.  Stir quickly until all the water is incorporated.
2. Add the room temperature water little by little, mixing until incorporated. The dough will be sticky.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and firm, about 10 minutes. Add flour if necessary.
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
5. Divide into about 40 equal pieces (a scale makes this easier). Roll pieces into a ball.
6. Flatten the ball with your hand. Use a rolling pin to roll from the middle to the outside edge of the ball. Rotate the dough and repeat until you have a circle.

For the Filling

1 small head of nappa cabbage (about 12 oz), chopped into very small pieces or processed in food processor

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup of Chinese Chives, cut into small pieces

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

2/3 lb ground meat (chicken, pork, turkey)

A pinch of white pepper

1-2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs rice cooking wine or sherry

2 tsp sesame oil

1. Sprinkle the salt onto the cabbage and let sit for 10 minutes. This helps to draw the moisture out of it. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix the meat with the remaining ingredients.  
3. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the cabbage. Then mix it in to the meat mixture. Mix well.
4. For more flavor, let the filling marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator before filling the dumplings.

Assembly

wrappers

filling

small dish of water

1. Place a small spoonful of filling into the center of the wrapper.
2. Use your finger to brush some water around the edge of the dumpling wrapper.
3. Fold the wrapper in half and pinch together the edges.
4. Pinch the two corners together or pinch the seam together in a wavy pattern.
5. Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil.  Add some of the dumplings and close the lid until it is boiling again.  Boil for about 5 minutes. The dumplings are ready to eat when they are floating.
6. Serve warm and with vinegar. Freeze or refrigerate uncooked dumplings.

     

Steamed Buns and Vegetable Filling 馒头 包子

      Hey everyone! The first day of Chinese New Year was yesterday.  Don't worry if you missed it yesterday, because Chinese New Year lasts fifteen days. That's right--fifteen days of Chinese food!
      It you're not familiar with Chinese New Year, hear are some things to get you started.  First, Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar of the New Year.  This year, the first day of the lunar calendar was February 8th.  And also, this year is the year of the snake.  So there you go.
      This year, I'm making a bunch of Chinese food to celebrate, but it'll be kind of hard since my mom is in China.  I really wish that I could have gone to China with her, but I have school to worry about :(.  Whatever, I'm going to have some good Chinese food nevertheless.
      Steamed buns (pronounced mantou or Mahn-tow in Chinese) have always been a favorite food of mine. Partly because they're so simple.  They can be made with just flour, sugar, milk, and yeast, and you can fill them with lots of different fillings like red bean paste and pork. I prefer eating them plain or with a bit of honey on top.  I made two batches of dough, one sweeter one and one less sweet one.  The less sweet one I filled with a traditional tofu, noodle, vegetable filling.  Stuffed mantous are actually called Baozi.
      My grandma makes the best mantous in the world.  I can practically inhale them.  The recipe I used is hers, but some translation were kind of hard to make.  To measure the milk, my grandma just uses a bowl and to measure the flour, she doesn't spoon and level like a lot of people do.  This recipe is pretty accurate and makes perfect steamed buns.  Another side note: to have pure white, idealistic mantous, you'll have to use bleached flour.  I use unbleached flour, so they are not as white.
      Mantous are really easy to make.  It takes about 15 minutes to make the dough, 2-3 hours to rise, and 10 minutes to steam, though.  You can make the dough in a bread machine on the dough setting or by hand.

If you have a bread machine, put all the ingredients in the pan and set the machine to the dough cycle.

Otherwise, dissolve sugar in milk and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit 5 minutes.

Stir in egg.

Add flour and knead into a dough.
 

Let rise twice.

Cut the dough.

Steam.

Make a filling (optional)

Cut Dough.

Fill.

Wrap.

Steam.

Enjoy.

      These are perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even desert.  They are so versatile.  I love eating them plain for breakfast, with savory filling for lunch/ dinner, and with red bean paste in the middle for dessert.  They are so delicious and I never get tired of them.
      大 吉 大 利!

Steamed Buns 馒头

makes about 15 buns

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk (I used 2 percent)

1 tsp yeast

2 tbs to 1/3 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 egg (optional)

1 lb. flour (about 3 1/2 cups)

Directions

1. If using a bread machine, place all ingredients in pan in order suggested by the manufacturer.  Set the machine to the dough setting.  Check after 10 minutes to make sure that the dough is firm and smooth, and add milk or flour if necessary. After the machine finishes, take the risen dough out, knead it a bit, and put it back in the machine for a second rise until it's double again. Go to step 3.
2. If kneading by hand: mix sugar into milk and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit 5 minutes until frothy.  Then stir in egg and slowly add flour while stirring until a dough forms.  Knead on a floured surface until the dough is smooth and firm, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap.  Set aside in a warm place until double, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Take the dough out, knead it a bit, and put it back in the bowl to rise until doubled again-- another hour or so. 
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface.  Divide in half and roll into 2 logs.  If making plain buns, cut the logs into 15 equal pieces and leave the pieces as is.  If adding filling (recipe below), divide into 15 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Flatten the ball with your fingers so that is is a flat circle.  Place a spoonful of filling into the middle and wrap the sides of the dough over it. 
4. Place dough pieces about 1 inch apart into steamer pans lined with a moist towel. Place over boiling water and cover the pans with a lid. Steam buns for 10 minutes, then remove.
5. Eat warm, with honey if desired, or refrigerate for later.  Reheat by steaming them again for 5-10 minutes, or by putting a wet napkin over a couple and microwaving for 30 seconds per bun.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Tofu Filling

makes enough to fill about 15 baozi or 20 dumplings

Ingredients

1/2 tsp minced ginger

2 shiitake mushrooms, diced

1/4 cup frozen corn kernels

1/4 cup diced carrots

about 1 cup chopped Chinese chives

45g 5-spice flavored very firm tofu, diced (a little less than 1/4 of the package, about 1/2 cup)

about 1 cup of vermicelli or cellophane noodles, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and cut into small pieces

3 water chestnuts, skinned and diced (I used canned)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder

2tsp to 2 tbs sesame oil (to taste)

2 tbs water

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan.  Add ginger and saute. Add mushrooms, corn, carrots, chives, and tofu. Saute until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.  
2. Add noodles and water chestnuts, then stir in seasonings and water.
3. Remove from heat and let cool before using it to fill baozi or dumplings.      

Super Bowl Yums (Soft Pretzels and Chocolate Football Cookies)

    

        I hope you all enjoyed the Super Bowl! I myself had a lot of fun, and I was actually paying attention to the game this time.  You see, I don't really care about football, but this time I made a bet.  And I lost :(.  Whatever. 
        What better way is there to celebrate the Super Bowl than eating some good ole' American food? And by that I mean European soft pretzels.
        So, soft pretzels are really delicious and easy to make. There are a lot of flavor variations your can make, like you can dip them in cinnamon-sugar, sprinkle on some sugar, or wrap the dough around a hot-dog to make a pretzel dog.  I suggest serving it with just mustard. I was going to make my own mustard until I realized you have to make it ahead of time for the flavor to develop, so I used store-bought.  Mustard is actually really easy to make if you have mustard seeds and a blender.  There's some great info here.
        Soft pretzels are good for any occasion.  Is it someone's birthday? Give them a soft pretzel. Are you feeling sad, or celebratory?  Go to the kitchen and make soft pretzels, now.  I also find it perfectly applicable to the Super Bowl.
        Alton Brown actually adapted this recipe from a bagel recipe.  The processes and ingredients are really similar.  He featured the recipe on his show, "Good Eats," and there's a really helpful video of it here. I'm a big Alton Brown fan, and this recipe does not disappoint.  They just taste so genuine and are so soft and chewy.

Soft Pretzels

Makes 8 large or 15 smaller ones
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115*F)
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/4tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
22oz all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)
1 tbs vital wheat gluten (optional)
2 oz unsalted butter, melted

10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk + 1 tbs water beaten together for egg wash
Coarse salt for sprinkling

Directions

1. Mix water, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Sprinkle yeast on top and let it sit like that for 5 minutes until it is frothy. 
2. Add melted butter and flour and mix slowly until a dough forms. You can also use a dough hook on low speed if you have one. 
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured board (don't add too much flour) until smooth and elasticy, about 10 minutes. Or use a dough hook for 5 minutes.
4. Oil a bowl and add dough, flipping it over to coat in oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or moist towels and let rest in a warm place until doubled, 50-55 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 450*F and bring 10 cups of water and baking soda to a rolling boil in a large, wide pot. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with oil.
6. On a lightly oiled surface, split the dough into equal portions. 8 for large pretzels, 15 for smaller ones, or you could make a bunch of pretzel nibs about an inch long.  Keep the dough you aren't touching covered.  Pat a dough ball into a rectangle and roll into a tube, cylinder shape.  Roll out to a long rope with a width of about 3/4 of an inch.  You can shape these however you want.  To make pretzel shapes, make a U, cross the ends, and then twist and press the ends back into the U. 
7. Place a few pretzels (as many as you can fit comfortably) into the boiling water.  Boil for about 30 seconds and remove with a flat spatula onto a wire wrack.  Repeat with all the pretzels. 
8. Place pretzels on the baking sheets and brush with the egg wash.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt.  Bake in oven for 12-14 minutes, until dark golden brown.  Let cool on a wire rack 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

        These are chocolate roll out cookies with royal icing decorations.  They are really cute and perfect for any football celebration.  It's good because the cookies are brown, and so are footballs!
        They stay soft and taste like really nice brownies.  Yum!
        To make the cookies softer, you can substitute 1/4c of the butter with shortening, but since I don't use shortening, I omitted that.  To decorate it, just use a basic royal icing recipe.  What I did was just beat 2 egg whites until frothy and then add confectioners sugar in until the consistency was right. 
        Wow, February is a busy month.  There are so many holidays coming up.  There's this, then Mardi Gras, Valentines Day, and Chinese New Year (which I have to handle on my own since my mom is going back to China for 2 weeks!)
        I hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Roll Out Cookies

makes about 3 dozen
adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
 ½ tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and eggs.
3. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until well combined.
4. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 375*F. 
6. On a surface dusted with cocoa powder (or flour), roll out the cookie dough to about an 1/4 inch and cut into desired shapes (I just used a knife).  Place on baking sheets 1" apart.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before decorating.